Be Excellent To Each Other

Wow. For the last couple of years I've been trying to get a linux working on my mainbox, with mixed results. None of my wifi adapters have ever been able to handle WPa for some reason and my main cd drive has never really allowed it to install due to some random hardware conflict. I've hosed a couple of XP partitions and so on for good measure.

Then yesterday Wondergnome chucked an Alienware Area51 desktop replacement machine my way. I was running XP and the monitor would turn off frequently. The machine would overheat, a birth defect in many Area 51 laptops.

So I threw Ubuntu Hardy on there, installed while the screen was playing silly fuckers as well - so my menu choices were made by shining my head torch at a half-inch square of the screen at a time, wherein if the text was in a certain colour you could just make some of it out. Nonetheless, the format and install went without a hitch! Thus Ubuntu Hardy is the easiest to install OS EVAR.

Oh, and it works, too. gorgeous crisp display which don't go crashin', browser runs fine and all sorts. I'm gleeful because I am just used to having this partially functioning free OS which never makes it into use.

Ubuntu is really good - I use it on my servers. It has it's faults (and I don't like the brown-ness) but it's the best desktop distro, IMO.

?

Yeah how do I make it not be brown?

There's some choices for themes but they seem to be all of an ilk

Have a look at this list. I haven't replaced the default theme in Linux in a few years but the last time I looked it was a fairly simple matter. Shout if it's trickier than I remember it.


It says a lot that when my Windows installations inevitably stop working, it's usually faster (and easier) for me to download, burn and install the latest Ubuntu, than to just reinstall Windows (and hope I have all the right drivers) - to get back to internet access and SSHing into remote server boxes. Yo.

Sigh.

NLite - For XP

VLite - For Vista

Assuming the driver pack installation time is the same, those two programs do everything you need to do a fresh install of XP.

Sigh.

The problem with those fine tools being that you have to be already aware of them, have configured them ready for use, and have them with you. Less handy if it's just you, the coat on your back, plonked down in front of a machine to do work,which then dies. In that situation, 'Shit, install Linux!' has been the fastest and best solution for me. In a techy Ray Mears situation.

Er... Yeah.

CUS is correct.

I, however have recently tried OpenSuSE 11, and my is it slick. I prefer it over Ubuntu, to be honest.

Both are good choices, mind.