Category: Ubuntu

Ubuntu names can be tricky. I’ve heard it proposed that the various official flavors of Ubuntu be retitled from their current names of Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu to the possible new names Ubuntu Gnome, Ubuntu KDE, Ubuntu Xfce, and Ubuntu Education Edition, respectively (or some variations thereof). As it stands now, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and… Continue reading Ubuntu religious editions controversy: it’s all in the name, folks…

In March 2005, I had no idea that I would be a full-time Linux user. I had no idea I would be a regular member (God forbid a moderator) of a Linux forum. I had no idea part of my Psychocats website would be dedicated to Linux tutorials. Now it’s June 2007, and I already… Continue reading I’m retiring from the forums for the near future

I guess I’m a little late getting the news (the article was written on May 23), but I checked out my referrer links and found that the Psychocats Ubuntu website is mentioned in a PCWorld.com article: Switching Desktops on Ubuntu: Here’s how to test-drive the ‘Big Three’ desktop environments on Ubuntu Linux and switch among… Continue reading Psychocats mentioned in PC World!

Debian has a reputation as being rock-solid, and I think it deserves that reputation for the most part. Its latest version (Etch) was released a couple of months ago, but I didn’t bother to try it until a couple of days ago. I was pretty impressed at first. It did seem quite stable. The look… Continue reading I’m a Ubuntite (or My Adventure with Debian)

The problem It happens just about once or twice a week that a new Ubuntu user starts a forum thread or posts a blog entry about what Ubuntu “needs” to do to… fill in the blank (be easy enough for “Joe sixpack” to use, win the desktop, beat Windows, gain market penetration). The reaction The… Continue reading Practical steps to make Ubuntu better

The issue If you’ve ever tried to get multimedia and DVD playback working in Ubuntu, you’ve probably heard about two software packages called w32codecs and libdvdcss2. Those will certainly help you get functionality, but are they legal? I’ve often seen people asking other Ubuntu Forums members if the codecs are legal, and there’s a lot… Continue reading The Legality or Illegality of w32codecs and libdvdcss2

I’ve read—both in forums and in the press—a lot of misinformed or maliciously twisted comments about Linux over the past two years as a Linux user. Here’s my collection, including both pro- and anti-Linux statements. My Linux examples have to do with Ubuntu, because that’s the Linux distro I use. There are too many Linux… Continue reading Linux Myths and FUD

As a Ubuntu Forums member trying to help new users out for the past two years, I’ve seen it happen too many times: A long-time Windows user hears about how great Ubuntu is, downloads the ISO, burns it to CD (or “burns” it to USB), installs Ubuntu, tries to use it, finds the hardware isn’t… Continue reading A home user’s successful migration strategy from Windows to Ubuntu

I sometimes get annoyed by “blog” postings that are just collections of links (even though I think that’s how blogs started out—someone correct me if I’m wrong about that). I’ve seen requests for this often enough, though, that it may be a list of links people actually find helpful. If you want to buy a… Continue reading Linux Laptop Resources

With the release of Dell’s Ubuntu computer line only two days away (less than two days, depending on where you live), there’s still a lot of speculation about what this might mean for Linux on the desktop. Many are optimistic. Some believe this will mean more open drivers and better hardware support. Others think this… Continue reading Dell Ubuntu computers: not a bang, but a whimper…