quick guide for windows to kubuntu kk transitioners... after first boot in kk

[kapil]

Following is the checklist i follow whenever i fresh install kubuntu. (personal preferences may differ)

Steps for installation of Kubuntu.

1. Installation

1.1 Partition
10 GB for root ext4
2 GB for swap
rest for home ext4

There are many posts regarding the installation.. so i thought i will spare that.
what is important for the x-windoze user is the later part.. the applications... so here goes.

2. Essentials

2.1 Open konsole and enter following command so that you have the latest list on your pc:

  sudo apt-get update

2.2 Get rid of that dumb startup screen (i personally don't like the boot up screen.. and hey it is bit fast this way)

  sudo cp /etc/default/grub ~/Documents/grub_backup
  sudo nano /etc/default/grub

replace "quite splash" value of GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT with ""

  sudo update-grub

2.3 Drivers
Drivers for most of the laptops can be easily installed
GoTo: K->Applications->System->Hardware Drivers
install drivers which suits your hardware (preferable one is that which is recommended by kubuntu)

3 Softwares

First of all backup the sources list.. just in case.

  sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list ~/Documents/sources.list_backup
  sudo apt-get update

3.1 yakuake (kool way to use konsole)

  sudo apt-get install yakuake

3.2 synaptic (similar to add remove program)

  sudo apt-get install synaptic

3.3 firefox (our beloved browser)
simplest way of installing firefox in kk is launching it from Kickoff
K->Application->Internet->Mozilla Firefox browser installer
alternate way:

  sudo apt-get install firefox

but i prefer the one which is by default used in openSuse. it has firefox & KDE integration.
look 4.1 for that.

3.4 vlc (plays almost any audio/video which you can throw at it)

  sudo apt-get install vlc

3.5 digikam (very good photo editing software. IMHO it is better than picasa)

  sudo apt-get install digikam

3.6 photorec (data recovery software)

  sudo apt-get install photorec

3.7 klamav (there is no need for antivirus on kubuntu.. but this antivirus is for poor windoze fellas)

  sudo apt-get install klamav

3.8 rar file support

  sudo apt-get install rar
  sudo ln -fs /usr/bin/rar /usr/bin/unrar

3.9 KDE Partition manager

  sudo apt-get install partitionmanager

4. Following are third party software and require few additional commands.
Keep following window open:
Go to K->System Settings->Add Remove Software->Settings->Edit Software sources
For adding third party repository
->Other Software->Add
For adding authentication use konsole as it is easy. directly copy paste the line as i mentioned for authentication.

4.1 firefox-kde (ff kde integration)

  Add repository: ppa:debfx/firefox-kde

  sudo apt-get install firefox-3.5-kde

4.2 songbird (claimed as firefox of music player. powered by mozilla. syncs ipod, music players. huge number of plugin.)

  Add repository: deb [url]http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu[/url] karmic-getdeb apps
  Authenticate: wget -q -O- [url]http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key[/url] | sudo apt-key add -

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install songbird

do check out the plug-in "media flow" it is awesome...

4.3 picasa (photo editor for the dummies )

  Add repository: deb [url]http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/[/url] testing non-free
  Authenticate: wget -q -O - [url]https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub[/url] | sudo apt-key add -

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install picasa

4.4 wine (must for the transitioners from windows.. who have something to bank on.. if nothing works )

  Add [url]http://wine.sourceforge.net/apt/[/url] binary

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install wine

and that's all folks!

restart your kubuntu.. and enjoyyyyyyy..


Do let me know if this is of any help to you.
and suggestion are welcome..i will try to make windoze ppl comfortable on kubuntu

[Telengard]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

Nice

Alternative method: The Perfect Desktop - Kubuntu 9.10.

This tutorial shows how you can set up a Kubuntu 9.10 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge. Kubuntu 9.10 is derived from Ubuntu 9.10 and uses the KDE desktop instead of the GNOME desktop.

I want to say first that this is not the only way of setting up such a system. There are many ways of achieving this goal but this is the way I take. I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

I have used their guides for past editions of Kubuntu, mostly just to get some ideas on what to install. Nowadays I usually know exactly what I want without giving it much thought.

[askrieger]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

Nice post, but I've got a comment and some questions:
(0) Before installing ANY Linux distro the new Linux adventurer should compress his windoze partition to it's minimum possible size using a windoze file defragmenting program. (I haven't used windoze in so long that I can't even recommend one.)

(1) If you remove the grub startup screen, how does the new user get back to the old, unreliable, virus-laden, expensive-to-upgrade, but familiar, windoze system that he might not be ready to get rid of?

(2) The last time I looked, the Karmic version of my favorite music player (Amarok) no longer listed Shoutcast music streams. This is apparently an ideological-legal dispute involving licenses that may never be resolved. I was forced to fall back to Realplayer in order to listen to Shoutcast streams. Does either VLC or Songbird give you Shoutcast?

(3) Does a new user really need a partition manager?

(4) What does Picasa do that Digikam (part of KDE) doesn't?

(5) Why add Wine, when the easiest thing for the new user to do is to leave his windows "stuff" intact? Most Linux programs (like Open Office, or Koffice) recognize, can deal with, and even generate M$ proprietary data file formats like M$ office documents.

[Telengard]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

I won't pretend to answer for the OP, but here are my thoughts.

(0) Don't confuse defragmentation with Windows disk compression. Defragmentation is necessary for all Windows systems, but Windows disk compression is only rarely needed (and has some limitations.) I usually use Windows built in defragmenter utility, but have also experienced good results with JkDefrag (GPL Free Software.)

(2) VLC does support Shoutcast streams, at least the last time I checked it did. MPlayer might also, but I haven't tried it.

(4) Wine is still almost impossible to avoid for Windows transition-ers. As long as there are Windows programs without equally useful Linux equivalents there will be a need for Wine.

[wizard10000]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

(4) Wine is still almost impossible to avoid for Windows transition-ers. As long as there are Windows programs without equally useful Linux equivalents there will be a need for Wine.

Maybe for gamers

I've used Linux for quite a few years and used it exclusively for the last three although I'm still tied to Windows at work. I've installed and used wine exactly once - every other time there's been a Linux equivalent to whatever Windows program I had or needed.

The only exception I've had to deal with is that there isn't anything in Linux that can open an MS Visio drawing in its native format but these days I just export the drawings as .svg and open them in inkscape.

[Telengard]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners


I certainly don't consider myself to be a gamer as much as I used to, even though I do still play games. I'll explain myself a little further.

Unique programs:
Even though there may be similar programs on Linux, sometimes you want to use one specific program and similar is not good enough. Usually these are games, so this is the case in which I would concede your point.

Utility and ease of use:
Even though there may be a Linux program which does the same thing, it does not work the same. Usually the Linux program may be very powerful but the user interface is so clunky or hard to learn that it just isn't worth the hassle. Admittedly this doesn't happen as often any more, but when you want a program that works similarly to the Windows program you already know you may be better off using the Windows program through Wine.

I made Kubuntu my full time primary OS as of April 11, 2009. I would not have done so if I did not have complete confidence that I would be able to do everything on Linux that I used to do on Windows. To that end, I spent many months (years really) moving away from Windows in small steps.

I began by switching away from commercial Windows software with proprietary data formats to open source and Free software. Eventually I found that I could do all my daily computing with open source and Free programs. This took years, but it was well worth it because I found open source and Free programs to be superior to their commercial counter parts in almost every case.

I experimented with several Linux distros in virtual machines, initially in MS VirtualPC. Later I found VirtualBox, which proved to be another example of a superior open source program. When I realized I could also run my VirtualBox VMs in Kubuntu, that really sealed the deal for me. I spent many months with Kubuntu VMs before I ever installed it on a physical machine, and I think most transition-ers would benefit greatly from doing the same.

I installed Kubuntu along side Windows XP on my Dell desktop. This way I can always go back to Windows if I ever need to. So far I have not needed to, and I only run use XP to do updates.

I bought an extra copy of Windows XP to install on a VirtualBox VM. I haven't needed it yet.

I experimented with Wine to see what would work and what would not. Although I did not try many programs, I was quite surprised that some programs worked fine even though I did not expect them to.

Sorry for rambling so much, but I hope you can see that I have been very careful to make sure I don't lose anything in my Kubuntu transition. The new PC I just bought doesn't have Windows at all. It runs Kubuntu 9.04 Jaunty exclusively right now, but later will run 10.04 Lucid.

[askrieger]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

My real point (I suppose I should have made it explicitly) is that the original post SEEMS to suppose that the new user is dipping his or toe into the Linux pool by installing Kubuntu as the sole operating system on a secondary (old,slow) machine.

To my mind, the best way to try Linux is to install it in a new partition in the free space on your biggest, fastest desktop and watch Linux's no cost*, open source* applications blow the doors off their windoze equivalents while looking at the VERY SAME data files. Otherwise, you wind up with my "My windoze using friends can't open .ods spreadsheets", or "everything loads more slowly under Linux (on my Pentium 2 machine) than under windoze (on my quad-core Opteron with the three hard drives in RAID 5)". This is only SLIGHTLY exaggerated.

In addition, for any given application, (e.g. listening to music), there are at least three (usually more) viable applications that an individual might prefer to use for a specific reason.

*avoiding the free "as in speech, as in beer" thing.

[Telengard]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

*avoiding the free "as in speech, as in beer" thing.

Don't avoid it. If there is a chance of confusion just direct people to FSF.org. The whole idea of Free Software was totally lost on me until I read about it myself.

[askrieger]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

Again, I did not make myself clear. There are A LOT of OPEN SOURCE licenses, although there is only one Free Software License. Please see this Wikipedia article for the distinctions that I was trying to avoid.

Personally, I try to avoid the FSF site unless I'm trying to download a manual.

[kubicle]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

Alternative method: The Perfect Desktop - Kubuntu 9.10.

Graphics:
The GIMP - free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop
F-Spot - full-featured personal photo management application for the GNOME desktop
Google Picasa - application for organizing and editing digital photos

F-spot and picasa over digikam? Seriously?
(Right, I'll let that slide since you mentioned that "that this is not the only way of setting up such a system.")

[kapil]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

Most of the questions of askrieger in first post are already answered by other bros..

i wasn't talking about the GRUB screen.. i was talking about stupid "kubuntu + progress bar" screen
(i don't know how to attach image... else i would have still.. i am talking about http://linux.activityworkshop.net/li...tu8.04boot.jpg image)

(3) Does a new user really need a partition manager?

it atleast gave me a better "picture" of what all hard disk i have with how much of them occupied.
and important for ppl like me who used windows+linux for some time.
but now.. since i have given my complete hard disk to be used by kubuntu.. i don't think i will use it for making partition changes.

and yes askrieger you are right.. if one wants to see the power of kubuntu, one must install it on fast machine.. it is giving me superfast experience on my laptop (in relation to windoze)

well.. regarding picasa.. i just shifted to kubuntu a week back.. and wanted a software which i can work upon righton.. in that respect picasa is good.. else i could have said photoshop which i really adore.
and frankly.. i don't know which app to choose..
it gets confusing when there are more than 5 apps present in linux and one don't know the pros and cons for each. so some one just tell..
here this works for songs.. this works for video.. this works for photo..
a new system should "just work" (taking the quote from 'oneliner for kubuntu' to make it different from ubuntu forum)

[Telengard]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

F-spot and picasa over digikam? Seriously?
(Right, I'll let that slide since you mentioned that "that this is not the only way of setting up such a system.")

Seriously, the only thing I was trying to point out is the cornucopia of software choices available to Linux users in general, and to Kubuntu users specifically. I would prefer to work with Kubuntu's bundled apps as long as they do what I want. I have really gotten attached to Gimp though

I wasn't talking about the GRUB screen.. i was talking about stupid "kubuntu + progress bar" screen
(i don't know how to attach image... else i would have still.. i am talking about http://linux.activityworkshop.net/li...tu8.04boot.jpg image)

I had a feeling that might be what you meant. You can take a screenshot of it by booting Kubuntu in a virtual machine, such as with VirtualBox.

[kubicle]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu karmic transitioners

F-spot and picasa over digikam? Seriously?
(Right, I'll let that slide since you mentioned that "that this is not the only way of setting up such a system.")

Seriously, the only thing I was trying to point out is the cornucopia of software choices available to Linux users in general, and to Kubuntu users specifically. I would prefer to work with Kubuntu's bundled apps as long as they do what I want. I have really gotten attached to Gimp though

I wasn't really serious myself, we all have our preferences.

and frankly.. i don't know which app to choose..
it gets confusing when there are more than 5 apps present in linux and one don't know the pros and cons for each. so some one just tell..
here this works for songs.. this works for video.. this works for photo..

The truth is that likely they'll all "work". Unfortunately no one but you can tell you which of the apps works *best* for you, since no one else knows your preferences/needs/workflows.

For a "not-quite-golden-rule", I'd first either:
1. pick kde apps when running kubuntu and gnome apps when running ubuntu...just because they usually integrate better to the respective desktops, and are most likely to work in a similar fashion to other apps you have installed, or
2. pick apps you're already familiar with (in windows) if a linux version is available, to ease the general learning curve.

Once you've gotten your feet wet, so to speak, it's a good time to explore what else is available.

[kapil]

Re: quick guide for windows to kubuntu kk transitioners... after first boot in kk

from lessons of my endeavour with kubuntu kk in last couple of month.. i have made some changes in parent article..i hope it will be helpful

@askrieger: yes.. you were right.. i did not use partition manager even once.. and in last couple of months have reinstalled kk 3-4 times
so i have shifted partition manager down the que.

@kubicle & Telengard: i am using digikam since i was suggested this gr8 app.
really cool.. renaming, resizing, minor touches all are very easy to do in this..
i never thought i would say this.. but given choice between picasa and digikam.. i would go for digikam.
and F-spot... it is just like copy of picasa..
though personal preferences will vary