Is Ubuntu Linux the ideal desktop Linux?
A couple of years ago, I played around for some time with Ubuntu Linux on my former desktop PC, an AthlonXP 2600+ with all the trimmings. It was good, but seemed to be lacking in things that I just couldn't put my finger on. Was it a reliability issue? Needing a bit of refinement? Not quite the level of support and development that I was seeking? Maybe.
Recently, I had installed KDE as the desktop GUI for my usual OpenBSD 4.0 install, on my Dell c840 laptop. I usually used Gnome as a GUI on Linux and Unix-like setups, but had read a lot of good things about KDE on OpenBSD. Having a spare 40GB 2.5" hard disk for the laptop, I decided to dust off my old Windows 2000 CD and install floppies and install the M$ OS, for those rare times that I need it. Not wanting to waste a whole hard disk on an operating system that I would rarely use, I decided to dual boot it with Linux. Initially, I had opted for kUbuntu, as I had become quite impressed with KDE on OpenBSD, but found too many dependancy problems with various pieces of software that I wanted to use.
Installing didn't take too long, then the process of updating various components and I was already aware that there are some peculiarities with X.org and the c840 display hardware. On went the nVidia GLX driver, but I had already manually prepared the xorg.conf, to allow me to run at the native resolution for the flat panel, 1600x1200. Now that everyting was installed, updated and settled in, I could start poking around to see just what I could expect from Ubuntu's latest offering.
If you need help setting up Ubuntu with the nVidia drivers on a c840, you can find the xorg.conf file on the site, with some further instructions, or a tarball with the xorg.conf and the one additional file that's needed.
Now don't get me wrong, I love my OpenBSD setup and use it for all the important stuff like developing, handling my important email accounts, online purchasing and banking, monitoring servers and so on. Where OpenBSD falls short of my needs and this is not actually criticism of the OS, is when it comes to widespread software and hardware support. Various pieces of hardware just won't play with OpenBSD, the most frustrating of which being a D-Link DBT-120 bluetooth dongle I have. I can use my iPod and my external USB DVD re-writer on there, through a PCMCIA USB2.0 card, but then I have to resort to the command line for writing CDs and DVDs reliably. The Acer Labs chipset on the USB2.0 card plays well with OpenBSD, Linux and Windows, as does the NEC IDE bridge in the external caddy. Once you get those working, it's pretty much a given that a standard ATAPI DVD rewriter is going to tag along.
In a Unix-like environment, I like K3b for burning CDs and DVDs, which isn't available as a package or port on OpenBSD. As I'd also had trouble installing various multimedia packages on kUbuntu, I knew that to satisfy my needs it would have to be the standard Gnome based Ubuntu. So on went the burning package and the others I'd been missing and then I started to have a sniff around to see just what else was available. Making Firefox and Opera media streaming friendly, was straight forward enough, using MPlayer and its codec collection as a base. Then I found GoogleEarth was available for Linux, which given the nVidia hardware in the machine, was a viable bonus. Having played around with that for a while, I got me a minimum subscription for Cedega, to see how that was fairing up these days and was still disappointed to see that my favourite, World Championship Snooker 2003, still won't work in it.
Then I read up a feature about VMWare, which I had yet to play with on one of my own machines, so I downloaded and installed that and was very surprised at how well it ran Windows 2000. Due to the way that VMWare works, I can't get my graphics hardware setup in the virtualised Windows, so couldn't try any gaming in there, but I'll settle for my proper install of 2000 for those needs. USB devices aren't that clever either, especially the iPod, but again, I've already got that covered. Where I really want to run Windows on anything like a regular basis, is for the odd bit of conversion of Windows specific files that can't be done on Linux, as well as playing Microsoft DRM file formats streamed over the web.
This is where VMWare and a vitrualised Windows 2000 install comes in really handy. After installing and updating 2000 on the virtual machine, getting the sound card and external DVD rewriter available to VMWare, installing antivirus and the small amount of Windows only apps that I can't do without, I got myself a new subscription to PremiumTV's online football services for Bristol City. At long last, I can now listen to commentary and watch the video highlights and interviews, courtesy of the virtual Windows, whilst doing some of the other things that I have to do on a regular basis, but will not trust Windows itself to be the platform for such activities.
IF I need to copy something between the Linux host OS and the virtualised Windows, I simply fire up an SSH server in Linux and then use Putty/PSCP to make the transfer over the virtual Gigabit ethernet connection. Now I have the best of all worlds and can have some fun on my machine again. Whereas OpenBSD is, for me at least, the ultimate in security and reliability as a day to day usage operating system, I had made certain sacrifices to use it. Now I can achieve the vast majority of my creative and recreational activities in Linux and where I really have to use Windows for something, I can most of that done in the VMWare environment. For the hardware bound stuff and the odd bit of PC gaming, I can just reboot into Windows proper, but my paranoia won't allow me to do anything important or criticial on a Windows platform, despite the network security of my LAN being protected by OpenBSD servers and my own usage following best practices, to avoid malware infections and compromise. Armed with a DVD backed up compressed archive of the virtual machine image files, I can drop this Windows 2000 install onto any VMWare server install I care to.
The moral of this story, is there has never been a better time to ditch Windows and get away from the security headaches and other vulnerabilities that it presents. Unless you use your machine primarily for gaming, there's not a lot stopping you from switching from Windows, these days. The vast, vast majority of things can be achieved through Linux. Even many Windows games can be run through Cedega or its truly free brother Wine and you can re-install your Windows inside a nicely wrapped up virtual machine, courtesy of VMWare. The deciding factor for me was Microsoft DRM formats and VMWare has provided the solution for that. At long last, my laptop is well and truly mine again, with no restrictions. I can still stay secure when I can multitask with some online streaming. Gaming tends to take the whole machine anyway, so I'm reasonably happy to reboot into Windows proper to do that, on those very rare occasions where I do play games and the xBox won't suffice.
For those that are interested, pop over to Ubuntu's website to find out more and get a free download. You can see what's on offer and get easy instructions on getting and installing a wide range of software, at UbuntuGuide. Have fun!
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