Being the OS whore that I am (XP, Vista, OSX & XP within OSX running in this household don’t you know…) it was inevitable that I was going to end up playing with Linux.
Mum’s old computer arrived just before Christmas and with it being half-term I thought I’d have a go. Initially i was concerned because it’s an old, slow bit of kit which, despite having a network cable attaching it directly to the Livebox, refused provide an internet connection.
I downloaded the latest Ubuntu disc image onto the Mac and burned it to CD. Then I changed the boot sequence on the old PC so I could boot off the CD and watched as Ubuntu smoothly installed itself…
I was delighted to see that the old machine was running more quickly than with XP, and was surprised to see Firefox, Open Office and a range of other pieces of software already installed and ready to go.
Firstly I had a click around to see what was where. It all seemed fairly straightforward, and it was obvious where everything was. Another great thing was that the computer was now on the internet – no connecting to networks or configuring required. Just on the internet. Simple.
Just as when I first started playing with OSX I wanted to see how things work behind the scenes and that seems fairly simple. In short, I’m initially impressed. Or at least I was.
If I was to ever start using Linux properly (on a main, everyday computer for example) there would be some things I’d have to be able to do. Internet. Sorted. Office apps for Work. Sorted. Simple graphics. I’m sure there’s something. Music – I own an iPod. I looked at this issue before installing Ubuntu and I knew that iTunes wasn’t available. There were others though, so once I’d had my first bit of a play I looked into this.
Amarok & Banshee were both recommended in a couple of places. As I understand it they both allow access to iPod features and although you can’t play AAC tracks they are both pretty good. Not perfect, but good. I can settle for that. So I downloaded them both and extracted the archives. And that’s when I hit a wall.
Banshee had an install file so I tried that. Nothing. The install text file gave instructions I’m going to have to sit down and read through very slowly – it’s not obvious…
For example, from the Banshee FAQ :
Q: Where do I get avahi-sharp?
A: Avahi.org (http://avahi.org/), specifically from this page http://avahi.org/wiki/DownloadAvahi. If you are using Ubuntu Dapper or Debian Unstable avahi sharp is fixed. Issue the command apt-get install libavahi-cil.
Q: Why do I get the error don’t know how to handle application/x-id3?and/orQ: My MP3 files will not play?
A: This is caused by not having MP3 support in your version of gstreamer. For Ubuntu Dapper, sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3 should do it.
It seems they’re very helpful on how to download and very helpful on how to use, but swimming in techno-babble when it comes to installing…
Amorak had almost nothing – a text file telling me to see the website for installation details and that’s it. So I went to the Amarok website and found installation instructions in Portuguese & French but not in English. I looked elsewhere and my very basic understanding suggests that I have to install five or six other pieces of software before I can even think about making Amarok work. So I gave up.
It might be that I’ve been spoiled, that I’ve had everything done for me, but this is rubbish. I know it’s free but surely I should be able to just download a program, identify the “install”, “setup” or “run” file and that’s it. Or am I missing the point of open source? Do you really still have to be an enormous tech geek to extend it? Isn’t just being a normal geek enough?
This computer’s staying here in my office so I’m going to have Ubuntu to play with for the coming weeks and I’ll see how I get on. So far, it seems that the operating system itself is very easy to install and use, but it’s a right pain to add anything to it.
More to follow…
There are usually 2 main ways to install software on Linux systems.
One way (the ‘hard’ way) is to download the source code and then compile it. This isn’t as hard as it seems once you get used to it, though you do have to often install other software and libraries (known as dependencies) before you can install the software you want (which often involves installing other software and libraries (known as dependencies) before you can…… which can go round in contusing and frustrating circles!)
The alternative is to install files precompiled for your system (for example, RPM files for Red Hat derived systems). Depending on how you do this you will often be able to get the installation application to sort out, download and install the dependencies for you.
The easiest way to do this is to use a Package Manager program (such as Synaptic on Ubuntu iirc). Fire up the program and search for the software you want, click a few buttons and sit back and watch the progress bar then away you go. There are other ways of doing this, but this will get the results you want with the least grey hairs – this is a bit of an oversimplification, but it’s close enough.