[Ubuntu-US-CA] First Linux Experience

[Mr. Andrzejak]

An excellent read! Thanks so much. I am new here to Ubuntu California and
glad to be part of everything.

Please allow me introduce myself. My name is Dave and my IRC nick is
MrAndrzejak. I have been using Ubuntu since April of 2007... the 7.04
release. It was a gigantic leap of faith on my part switching to a linux OS.
It was something I was quite interested in, but didnt know much else about
linux besides the $90 Redhat boxes sitting at CompUSA all those years. I
remember quite clearly so many people thought I was nuts switching over to
Ubuntu. Im a web designer and graphic artist in my spare time, so the use of
Photoshop was extremely important to me. I also had a hard time grasping
with the fact many of my games would not work either :)

Originally, I had problems with my self-burned discs. Nero, Roxio, ImgBurn,
etc all gave me problems and unusable discs. I ordered the free ShipIt disc
from ubuntu.com and received it quick... in just about a week. Everything
installed fine and I was on my way.

After I made the switch, GIMP was so daunting that I decided took a break
from design work on the computer to learn and enjoy my new Ubuntu OS. With
Wine, I found it very easy to make the switch by installing Dreamweaver and
Photoshop CS. So many things have happened in my life since discovering
Ubuntu... I got married, bought a house, my mom passed on, became the
parents of some crazy cats and a crazier mini pincher dog, the economic
downturn hit hard and so on. Ubuntu has led the way for me. It is easy to
work with photos, easy to burn discs, easy to watch movies, you name it I
can do it. In fact the small business I work for uses only Ubuntu now.
Several members of my family use Ubuntu with little problems to speak of. I
do have a few people I have yet to convert! My wife who uses ICQ video to
chat with relatives in Europe as well as her needs to use MS Office for work
(spreadsheets). I also have another relative who wont make the
switch because of their need for MS Office as they are an editor.

Recent computer experiences... my wife picked up a nasty virus on her main
laptop. It took me over a day to track down and fix the problem. Too bad she
doesnt use Ubuntu! A neighbor was about to buy a new computer because their
XP was so slow. I checked it out. P4-3 ghtz with 1GB RAM. Big 300GB hard
drive too. I didnt understand why they needed a new computer until I turned
it on. It took 9 minutes for Windows XP to boot up! I cleaned things up for
them, installed another 1GB RAM and got the boot time down to 3 minutes.
They were literally overjoyed! With their approval, I put Ubuntu on (9.04 I
think) and they fell in love with it. All they use the computer for is
sending email too. Less than a minute boot up for their shiny new Ubuntu.
They rarely need help with the computer, it still runs great 6+ months later
and they dont have annoying pop ups from MSN they used to get when it was
XP. Im sure many here can relate to similar situations.

So, I did get my important games working ;) "Mafia" works great, Future
Pinball, Live For Speed, to name a few. Since Ive been with Ubuntu for a few
years now, I cannot do without GNU Backgammon, the various Mahjongg games
available and Regnum Online... but who has time for games!

I hope to become more active in the Ubuntu community and the California team
somehow. Not sure where I fit in yet! I do want to write something more than
this about my Ubuntu experiences, bu this will have to do as I am
practically walking out the door on a Friday afternoon!

Kindest Regards. Dave

PS... a many thanks to all in the IRC who have helped me solve pretty much
all of my lingering problems! Hopefully I can be of some help now.

PPS... Im slowly learning GIMP and liking Inkscape a lot!



On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 3:18 PM, Grant Bowman <grantbow at ubuntu.com> wrote:

> Last week I met Robert Livingston at the Noisebridge.net user group
> held every Wednesday.  He authored an article in 2005 about his
> experience building his first Linux computer that I still find
> relevant and inspiring, reminding me of some of the things I felt
> early on.  I hope you find this article relevant and inspiring too.
>
> LinuxWorld Conference and Expo 2005 by Robert Livingston
> http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2231
>
> Grant Bowman
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CaliforniaTeam
>
> --
> Ubuntu-us-ca mailing list
> Ubuntu-us-ca at lists.ubuntu.com
> Modify settings or unsubscribe at:
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-us-ca
>
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