My experience with Ubuntu...not great

[Aryan Ameri]

On Wed, 2009-11-04 at 04:00 -0800, Microbe wrote:

> OK, let's get Skype going.  I downloaded the proper version only to
> have the install fail with the friendly message about a dependency
> needing dbus >= 4.3 I think it was.  At this point I can imagine the
> average mug giving up and I wouldn't blame them, but I was
> determined.

One of the habits that Windows users find difficult to shake off when
using Debian/Ubuntu is installing applications directly from the
provider. In Debian/Ubuntu, we really don't install software from the
provider directly. Rather, we let another developer, usually someone
from Ubuntu or a third party developer, 'package' the software for us,
to make sure that it works with our distro, that security is being
maintained, and that newer versions of the application are automatically
installed. This has many advantages. In fact, the biggest reason my
girlfriend loves Ubuntu is that all updates for all applications happen
in one central place, and she doesn't have to worry about this program
and that program always wanting to update themselves. 

In order to get mp3 playback and skype etc. working on Ubuntu, as others
have suggested, you need to add the Medibuntu repository to your list of
repositories (this can't be added to Ubuntu by default because it covers
software such as mp3 which is covered by software patents in the US and
therefore can't be legally distributed there). You should also install
the package called 'Ubuntu-restricted-extra' to get Java and Adobe Flash
and some other desktop necessities working. 

One good place to start is this blog post called "10 Useful Things to Do
After Installing Karmic Koala". I don't recommend doing all those 10
things, but doing 1, 3, 5, and 6 is probably a very good idea to have a
usable Ubuntu system. 

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2009/10/10-useful-things-to-do-after-installing.html

Oh, and BTW, welcome to Ubuntu! Hope you like it out here. 

Cheers

-- 
Aryan Ameri