More and more of you are jumping to Linux, so I thought I’d help you all hit the ground running.

The first thing I recommend is NOT installing 64 bit. 64 bit Linux is usable, but there are sometimes quirks that it would take an experienced user to get around. And if you’re an experienced user, you don’t need this guide in the first place. So go away. Install the 32 bit version of the OS.

This guide assumes you know how to install the OS (either via Wubi, a LiveCD, or an alternate install disc) and that you already know which flavor of Ubuntu (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc) is right for you. If you don’t know how to install or what version you want, make a topic about it on the forums and we’ll help you out.

So, after you get it installed you’re going to want to run the updates first. You’ll find an orange or red icon towards the top right of your screen. Click it and tell it to install the updates. It will ask for your password. Type it in there and wait for it to finish. It is probably going to take awhile, so sit back and relax.

After it finishes, it’s going to ask you to restart. Tell it to restart later, because we’re going to do some other stuff that requires a restart and we want to get that all over with at once.

The rest of the guide is going to require use of the terminal. You can access the terminal by going to
Applications->Accessories->Terminal

It may periodically ask you for a password after you input a command. Just type it in and hit enter, then proceed. The cursor will not move, so don’t expect it to when you’re typing your password. Just copy and paste any listed command that applies to you. I’ll mark which command applies to which users as I go along. A new command is indicated by a double spaced line, so they’re essentially separated by paragraphs.

Part One: Enabling your 32 Bit OS to use more than 4 GB of RAM[/u]
This only applies to 32 bit users that have more than 4 GB of RAM

Here are your commands. Enter them one by one, copying and pasting (using the right-click method) and hitting enter after each one.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-server linux-image-server linux-server

Part Two: Multimedia[/u]
This applies to everyone. It will install VLC, flash player 10, a PDF reader, all the codecs you need, DVD playback, a program to open zipped files and .rar files, and all sorts of other good stuff. If anyone wants to do any audio and video conversion or get their iPods working in Ubuntu, make a forum topic and I’ll help you.

Here are the commands. You’re going to eventually have to agree to a Java license. Just arrow over to “yes” and hit enter, then keep going.

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/`lsb_release -cs`.list –output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list; sudo apt-get -q update; sudo apt-get –yes -q –allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring; sudo apt-get -q update

sudo apt-get install vlc

sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-pitfdll libmp3lame0 non-free-codecs sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar

sudo apt-get remove kaffeine-mozilla mozilla-helix-player mozilla-mplayer mozilla-plugin-vlc totem-mozilla xine-plugin

sudo apt-get install gnome-mplayer gecko-mediaplayer

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread4 libdvdnav4 vlc

There you go. VLC will play most any file, and I recommend it. Totem will open by default when you stick a DVD in the drive, but I advise closing it and opening VLC. And I covered all of the browser plugins for both Firefox and Opera.

Part 3: Opera and Pidgin type stuff[/u]
The Opera browser is much more efficient than Firefox on Linux. Pidgin is a chat client that will let you use IRC, AIM, YIM, xfire, Facebook chat, and some others all at the same time.

By the time you read his guide, the final version of Opera 10 should be out. To install it, go to www.opera.com and download it. It should detect your OS. Save the file to the desktop. It will be in the form of a .deb file, which is the Ubuntu/Debian equivalent to a .exe in Windows. Just double-click on it and follow the prompts on screen. Easy enough?

Now for Pidgin. Almost everything is installed by default, but you need external plugins for things like xfire and Facebook Chat. Since Pidgin is pretty easy to figure out, I’ll assume you know how to set up your accounts (inputting username and password, selecting which chat client you want from the drop-down menu). If you need help, make a topic on the forums. Here we go.

For xfire, download this file:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gfire/files/gfire/pidgin-gfire_0.8.3-1_i386.deb

Again, it’s a .deb file so it works just like an .exe in Windows.

Now for Facebook:
sudo apt-get install pidgin-facebookchat

Then restart Pidgin. You should be ready to go.

That’s about all I’ve got for right now. If you have any questions, take them to the forums. You can find literally thousands of free programs in the Add/Remove section of your menu (top left). It’s a graphical installer, and it’s easy. Just make sure to set it to “all available applications” and you’re good to go.

For the fancy visual effects, you’re going to want to install Emerald and the Compiz Fusion settings manager. I’d tell you how to do this, but if you’re going this far you need to learn how to start doing things yourself. If you want a Dock, I recommend Cairo-dock. Google it.

If you want to do fancy 3D stuff, you’re going to need the Nvidia or ATI drivers for your card. Since it’s different for different cards, make a topic about it on the forums or look it up yourself.

Here are some great resources to check out if you need additional help:
ubuntuforums.org
ubuntuguide.org

The people on the Ubuntu forums are way smarter than I am when it comes to Linux.

So, that’s it for now. Restart and you’re ready to go.

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