Peter's Blog

Installed Ubuntu linux. Posting this from Firefox running on Ubuntu.

The installer created a version that worked pretty much automatically. The only tweeks I had to do are:

• the installer hardware detection could not find my old dlink de220 ne2000 compatible ISA network card. I had to switch terminals and run:

  modprobe ne io=0x300 irq=9
  

  switching back to the installer, it found the network and was happy. It downloaded a load of updated modules from somewhere via the nerwork. It configured everything via DHCP, even found the name servers.
• Once Ubuntu was installed it ran ok but network was dead again. I had to edit /etc/modules to add the line

  ne io=0x300 irq=9
  

  and restart (although a modprobe would probably have done the trick).
• I used the network manager to change from the DHCP setup to a manual one so server has a static IP address.
• I edited /etc/apt/sources.list to add a 'universe' repository so I could use the Synaptic package manager to install packages unapproved by Ubuntu. This allowed me to install xawtv. I also installed 83 module updates.
• Ran xawtv from the command line and it Just Worked: the hardware detection had found my Pinnacle PCTV Rave and loaded all the bttv modules. Ubuntu seems to use a 2.6 kernel, hence my old problems were resolved.

Ubuntu observations:

• Don't like the brown colour scheme.
• root account is disabled! Everything has to be done via sudo. Apparently Max OS/X works this way. I was able to edit the config files above using 'sudo vim '. Sudo keeps prompting for passwords.
• Synaptic package manager looks nice, nicer than dselect (old text based apt tool I used to use on debian with weird key assignments).
• Samba network client Just Worked: was able to find Windows XP pc and poke around.
• Not bowled over by the documentation on the Ubunto web site. Mostly Wiki notes, often directing me to Room 101, a catchall.
• Modern X has much nicer fonts than Suse 6.4 vintage.