Sunday, January 23, 2005

Ubuntu Linux Install

I decided to try Ubuntu Linux as my Linux distribution for the Mini. I downloaded the iso from a US mirror using my iBook. I attempted to burn it using disk utility but it kept crashing. I then reverted to using hdiutil, but it kept segfaulting. This seemed broken as I had recently burned some other CDs without any problems. Googling resulted in learning that others were having similar problems with the Ubuntu image, but using cdrecord things worked fine. I downloaded cdrecord and sure enough I was able to get a successful burn.

I booted the Ubuntu CD in the usual manner and it lead me through a text based installation with no issues. At one point if it asked me if I wanted to get the latest updates from the web and I said yes. It then wanted to download about 80MB of updates so I went to bed. I live in the middle of nowhere and only have ISDN, so I didn't want to wait the two hours for the download.

It finished the install and there I was right in the middle of Gnome login screen. The display was at 1600x1200 @ 60hz which is not great, but I assumed I just need to help the XFree86 configuration. A quick look at the Xfree86 config file confirmed that it had not recognized my monitor. The Ubuntu version I installed was 4.10. It was definitely the quickest and easiest Linux install I have ever done on a Mac. Ubuntu installs the Firefox browser, Evolution email, Open Office, and a postscript viewer among other things. It is based on Debian, and my first impression is very positive.

This blog entry was created on the Mini, using Firefox on Ubunto Linux. Things are progressing well. :-)