Ubuntu and VirtualBox OSE

[dustyjamessutton]

I have grown bored with Windows, and wanted to try something different. I have dabbled with Linux in the past, and never considered it ready to be a desktop OS, until Ubuntu that is. I am running Ubuntu 9.04 as my main desktop OS. So far I have everything working, including DVD playback, 3D acceleration via AMD's proprietary drivers from their website, version 9.6 to be exact. It's also the 64 bit version of Ubuntu and I also have adobe flash working in Firefox and Opera. Some things I still want windows for, so I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate x64 in a virtual machine via VirtualBox OSE. I have 3D acceleration enabled in Windows Vista also, but I still haven't tested it yet, but so far Windows Vista is doing all the updates and service packs ok inside the Virtual Machine. I will suggest giving Ubuntu a try, it's very easy to use, although I cant guarantee anything, because Linux can be tempermental with some system configurations and drivers. I did try the latest version of FreeBSD, but the X window system wouldn't run on my pc, so I will try it in a virtual machine.

[just brew it!]

I've generally found that 3D acceleration in VMs isn't quite mature yet. You may find that you need to back off on the 3D stuff.

Other than that, yeah running VirtualBox VMs on top of Ubuntu Linux works great. I use it both at home and at work. I've generally been using the non-OSE version, since the "personal use" license for the proprietary version is actually quite liberal -- you've even allowed to use it for free in a commercial setting, as long as you personally install it on the systems you use it on (i.e. you're not supposed to have your IT department do a mass deployment unless you pay for it).

[dustyjamessutton]

I've noticed text is more soft and easier to read in Gnome vs. Windows. Also, and this may just be all in my head, but I've noticed when listening to mp3's in Linux, the sound is smoother and easier to listen to, it almost sounds more "analog". The dekstop effects are definitely more fun than Vista's "aero" interface. I sound like I'm "raving" all about Linux, and I am. I guess I'm just so excited to finally see a real alternative to Windows that doesn't involve shelling out the money to purchase a Mac. One thing Linux could improve on is driver support, and the open source community is having a hard time keeping up on that. I am glad that ATI does a good job of providing drivers for their GPU's.

[just brew it!]

I've noticed text is more soft and easier to read in Gnome vs. Windows.

I think that is probably more due to choice of fonts and which font smoothing effects are turned on, rather than anything inherent to the OS.

Also, and this may just be all in my head, but I've noticed when listening to mp3's in Linux, the sound is smoother and easier to listen to, it almost sounds more "analog".

Is it running on the same audio hardware? If so, it is probably all in your head; if not, it probably comes down to quality differenecs in the DACs. Also note that you can't really compare Linux running native vs. Windows running in a VM (if that's what you're doing), since the VM's virtualized soundcard may be doing resampling or playing some other games with the signal.

The dekstop effects are definitely more fun than Vista's "aero" interface.

The Compiz effects control panel is what happens when you have a bunch of hackers on the Internet with too much time on their hands and a new toy to play with!

I sound like I'm "raving" all about Linux, and I am. I guess I'm just so excited to finally see a real alternative to Windows that doesn't involve shelling out the money to purchase a Mac.

Yes, I am quite excited about this as well. I use Ubuntu as my primary OS both at home and work now.

One thing Linux could improve on is driver support, and the open source community is having a hard time keeping up on that. I am glad that ATI does a good job of providing drivers for their GPU's.

With video drivers, the community's hands were tied because the manufacturers would not release detailed hardware specs for their latest products. ATI/AMD is now working closely with the Open Source community to remedy this, and so we should see full-featured Open Source drivers for ATI cards soon. And yes, as an interim solution, their proprietary drivers for Linux have improved a lot and seem to be quite reasonable now.

nVidia's drivers will probably remain proprietary for the forseeable future.

For non-video hardware, I would say that driver support on Ubuntu is in pretty good shape, probably even better than Windows. The only non-video device in recent memory that I've had trouble installing on Ubuntu was a 3G wireless modem; pretty much everything else has just worked when plugged in without even needing to manually download drivers.

[bdwilcox]

Also, and this may just be all in my head, but I've noticed when listening to mp3's in Linux, the sound is smoother and easier to listen to, it almost sounds more "analog".

It could also be the codec used to decode the MP3 stream. I believe Windows uses the official Fraunhofer codec for MP3 decoding. What Ubuntu uses I don't know, but I doubt it's the Fraunhofer codec due to licensing fees and other legal entanglements.

[Nitrodist]

The readability is definitely going to be higher because the default fonts and sizes they use are larger for one, and perhaps the font that's the default (Sans) is more readable.

However, you can get the same fonts from Windows to Ubuntu, if you want. There's the ttf-liberation ones I think, and also the msttcorefonts package.

[just brew it!]

However, you can get the same fonts from Windows to Ubuntu, if you want. There's the ttf-liberation ones I think, and also the msttcorefonts package.

The msttcorefonts are the actual MS ones, packaged up in a way that skirts the legal issues surrounding redistribution of the MS fonts.

The ttf-liberation fonts were independently developed, but have the same metrics (i.e. the same character widths) as MS Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier New, so setting them as the default fonts in your web browser should make pages render essentially the same as they would render on Windows. I prefer the ttf-liberation fonts over both the default fonts used by Ubuntu, and the MS core fonts; in particular, I find the ttf-liberation monospace font (the replacement for Courier New) to be much cleaner and more readable than Courier New. One of the first things I do when I set up a new Ubuntu box is install the ttf-liberation fonts, and change all of the default system (and web browser) font settings to use them.

[bdwilcox]

The msttcorefonts are the actual MS ones, packaged up in a way that skirts the legal issues surrounding redistribution of the MS fonts.

Those TTF fonts were actually released, for free, by Microsoft on their old Typography web page that discussed fonts, font anti-aliasing, and sub-pixel rendering (now known as ClearType); this is why these MS fonts can be distributed for free. On that same page they also offered the Windows 95 Font Smoothing extension and the TrueType Font Properties Extension.

[just brew it!]

The msttcorefonts are the actual MS ones, packaged up in a way that skirts the legal issues surrounding redistribution of the MS fonts.

Those TTF fonts were actually released, for free, by Microsoft on their old Typography web page that discussed fonts, font anti-aliasing, and sub-pixel rendering (now known as ClearType); this is why these MS fonts can be distributed for free. On that same page they also offered the Windows 95 Font Smoothing extension and the TrueType Font Properties Extension.

It is actually more complicated than that. Yes, they were released for free; but there was a stipulation that they only be redistributed in their original form, i.e. as Windows installer executables. So they're not compatible with the standard mechanisms that Linux distros use to manage software repositories and package installation. The work-around used by distros like Ubuntu is to download the Windows installer, then run a tool that picks apart the executable to extract the font files. The process is automated now, but back in the day installing them was a bit of a hassle because you had to do it manually.