Ubuntu for a newbie?

[decay]

:agree:

very much so, ztiffritz.

i see Linux as a much more viable solution for older non-Mac computers.

[freeradical]

You can always run NetBSD on your SE/30...

http://www.netbsd.org/ports/mac68k/

Ot this on your G4...

http://www.netbsd.org/ports/macppc/

[yeoman]

Well, that's a lot to absorb. I have dabbled with windoze mostly to learn stuff and not to use productivity. Thus it's more curiousity to take a look at Ubuntu. I'll keep reading but was thinking perhaps someone might know of a link to a stable intel-compatible virtual disk file than will play nicely with VMWare?

[ztirffritz]

Have you looked at the vmware website? They used to have a list of pre-configured VMs that one could download. I haven't looked recently.

[ztirffritz]

http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/752043

[Jimmypoo]

Use AIX on a PPC. It works on the Power7 !!!

[rz]

Go to Borders or Barnes and Noble and get one of the "Ubuntu" magazines. It'll cost you about $15, but you'll get a DVD with all the current variations of Ubuntu (Kubuntu, Mythbuntu, Xubuntu, netbook version, etc). Plus they have a bunch of articles aimed at newbies on how to use it. Most of the articles assume the newbies are coming from the Windows world though, so be aware of that.

[yeoman]

Great tips - thanks much. Fingers crossed!

[what4]

Ubuntu netbook 10.10 is pretty intuitive, although it is set up to accidentally make certain folders hard to find. I suspect the full version of Ubuntu is less button-driven than the netbook version, which would be good.

The netbook version is simplified to the point that, at times, it is harder to figure out.

Ubuntu 9.04 was faster than 10.10, but harder to find your way around in. (E.g., it lacked an Applications folder.)

[decay]

http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/560173
Linux Mint 9 Desktop with VMware Tools

This is Ubuntu in mint green meaning it is more complete and has everything out of the box.

Linux Mint 9 Isadora image with VMware Tools

A new Mint bonbon has just been released. It is based on Ubuntu 1004 LTS and probably the last one with the "old style" Gnome environment. As usual, the Mint distro offers a rich desktop with some proprietary drivers and packages preinstalled that are missing in Ubuntu. Later we may have the LXDE version also, because the last one made a really good impression.

This Mint VMware image has VMware Tools installed and everything seems to work. So this appliance could be your formula one racer with the fastest "from out of the box to full desktop experience" your computer ever saw.