BillyBen.com

I’ve always been into alternative operating systems. I mean come on, there has to be more to computing than Windows. Linux has always fascinated me. It has this hacker/geek stereotype but offers more freedom than most commercial operating systems and is largely free.

Anyway, long story short. I decided to install Linux on my desktop computer. My distro of choice was Ubuntu for which I have five LiveCDs which they sent me for free. It was simple to install. I popped in the LiveCD and restarted my PC. It booted up and ran the full OS from the disk albeit with limited usability. I clicked the Install icon on the desktop and answered a few simple questions, most of which were just confirming things the OS had already detected such as my timezone, language (I guess when you pick your timezone it sets the language as the default one for that location), and then just my name, desired username and password, and desired computer name. It then asked me where I would like to install.

This bit was incredibly important, as a first time Linux user I did not want to have just Linux installed on my computer for two reasons. Firstly, if anything went wrong with Linux I still need a computer and secondly it’s a family computer and other people need to use it. I also have a lot of stuff on my computer which I didn’t want to get rid of by reformatting.

The installer had a built in partitioner. I normally have three partitions but I needed another two for my Linux installation. A small 512mb swap partition (I don’t know what that is but I would guess it is sort of like additional RAM or something) and then my main Linux partition. I decided I would need about 20gb for this partition. The minimum you can have is 2gb for the system files. Anyway, I didn’t have free space on my HDD so I had to resize the other partitions which I was reluctant to do as it may damage them but I decided to try it anyway and everything went smoothly.

After making a partition the install process took about 15-20 minutes and then I rebooted my PC. It launched a program on the boot screen asking which operating system I wished to use, the default being Ubuntu Linux. The login screen came up almost instantly, a far cry from booting up a Windows OS, even on a high end system. After putting in my user name and password I was welcomed by the Ubuntu desktop. Straight away it asked me if I wished to install system updates which I accepted. The 127 updates took about 5 minutes to install which was very impressive.

Then I played about for a bit, changing my wallpaper and the likes. Then I needed to address a serious issue. As I was the only person who would be using Linux and the rest of the people in my house would remain on Windows I thought getting asked which OS they wanted to run every time they booted the computer up may get a little annoying. I wanted some way that I could press a key to launch Ubuntu and if this key wasn’t pressed Windows would load up instead. This is where Linux’s flexibility really became useful. Opposed to Windows in which system files aren’t very friendly and they do not want you to play around with Linux provides documentation on editing system files. The file I needed to edit (’/boot/grub/menu.lst‘) opened in a text editor and was full of comments on how to change the variables. A couple of button presses later I was all sorted.

Something that really impressed me when I was changing the system files was the way that although Linux encourages you to customise your system unlike Windows, it also prompts you for a password before you make any major changes. This gives you time to think about what you are doing and consider whether or not your actions will harm the system’s stability.

Next was something I was concerned about, installing software. This is notoriously hard to do as a beginner and I didn’t really have a clue where to start. I wanted to download the only two programs I really use, Firefox 2.0 (v1.5 was included in Ubuntu anyway) and Flock. Both simply download as a tar.gz which is like the Linux equivalent of a .zip file. After extracting the folder I was confronted with loads of files. None of which said installer or anything similar. After looking around it became apparent that these programs did not need ‘installing’. They ran as soon as they were extracted. I placed them in ‘/usr/lib/’ which I guess is the equivalent of ‘C:/Program Files/’ and they run fine.

As Ubuntu came with everything you could possibly need I can’t even think of something I could download to actually try installing software properly. It has everything I can think of. The only thing I haven’t yet figured out how to do is play my MP3s which are in my ‘My Music’ folder in my ‘C Drive’ as Windows refers to the drive. The media player says something about needing a required something or other to play the file. I guess I’ll figure that out eventually.

So far my impressions of Ubuntu and Linux are extremely good. It’s a bit less user friendly than most OSs but it’s different and I like that about it.

Anyway, I’m off to go urban exploring. I’ll leave you with a screenshot of my desktop.

Click here for the screen shot

technorati tags:linux, ubuntu, geek, os, pc, windows, computers, noob

Now that the 3rd generation consoles are here we yet again have that difficult decision of what to console to fork out for, hopefully not going and buying them all this time.

Currently there are three main contenders; Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PS3, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Nintendo Wii
Yes…a third generation console…I think not.
The Wii is a novelty. FACT. How can something the size of a portable DVD player even hope to stand in the way of the 3rd Generation Titans? With less processing power than the original Xbox what hope can have against the PS3 or Xbox 360 with over 5 times the power? Also the game graphics are frankly shite. The reason the Wii is selling, and it is selling, is just the simple novelty of swinging your arms around frantically holding a snazzy TV remote.

The Wii could have been something great had they just made something else completely. It’s like bringing out an EyeToy console, totally stupid. They could have brought a similar controller with any other console, especially with the new possibilities available with the other 3rd Generation consoles. In fact, the Wii is not even really a 3rd Generation console, nor should it be classed as one. It has nothing particularly new and embarrassingly does not support High Definition.

I would be extremely surprised if the Wii lasts the full year, once the novelty wears off people will get sick of its stone age graphics and limited gameplay. The only good thing about the Wii is the unlimited amount of Urine-related jokes that can be made about it.

Sony PlayStation 3
Well before the 3rd Generation consoles were actually released I decided I was going to get a PS3, not even vaguely looking at an Xbox 360 as I battle with some desperate mother to get the last one in the store at Christmas.

Oh how wrong I was. The PS3 is possibly the worst design ever, probably scaring even this guy. The controller looks like it would be more suited to the Australian Outback than your sitting room. As a once self-proclaimed PlayStation fanboy I am greatly disappointed in Sony. The PS3 had my name all over it and then they went and spoilt it all. Looking at the past the PS2 was HUGELY popular and had a massive amount of market dominance over the monstrosity that was the Xbox. The controller was, until recently, the best controller ever made, the range of games available was unparalleled by anything other than the PC, and it came out earlier than the Xbox (which had a shit controller, a shit list of games, and was…well…shit).

This time round Microsoft and Sony have totally swapped over, this time the PlayStation taking the Xbox’s role and vice-versa. I’m not the only one who thinks the PlayStation 3 is crap, the whole world seems to think this as well.

Microsoft Xbox 360
Where to start? This console is the mother of consoles. I can seriously not find anything which I would want in a console which the 360 does not have. It has all these snazzy features which you find yourself thinking “Dear God! Why has this never been done before?”. Just the little things like pressing the logo on the controller switches the console on and you can switch it off from the dashboard rather than have to actually get up!

Xbox live has even more brilliant features, the ability to download game trailers and demos is genius. Fair enough the demos are massive files but if you’re going to buy a game why not try it out first? Then there are the themes and additional content you can download, fair enough a lot of this costs money but they’re not stupidly priced and someone does have to make them.

So far I’ve have also been well impressed with Xbox live on the whole with it’s GamerScore and Reputation encouraging you to play games both online and offline and act muturely when playing online. The marketing for Xbox live is also well-thought up, most games offering 48 hour free Gold membership when you purchase the game.

And the controller, jesus. I hated the Xbox controller and as an ex-PlayStation fanboy couldn’t see things getting any better than that of the PS2 controller. How wrong that theory was. The 360’s controller is so perfectly modelled and fits so snugly in your hand the PS2 is uncomfortable to go back to. They scraped that white and black button fiasco and opted for a similar system to the PS2 with 4 ’shoulder’ buttons, using triggers rather than ‘R2′ and ‘L2′ really makes games feel better. It just feels more natural to pull the triggers than press a button when shooting or w/e