Are There Many Bloggers Running Linux?

By nickwBlogger

I’ve been running Gentoo for about 3yrs now, and have managed to do most things pretty well with regard to my daily work. However, an increased interest in video blogging (watching, not making) has tipped me over the edge.

Gentoo is pretty hardcore, and I think it’s probably served its purpose now, which was to teach me how to really “do” linux. Now I think I’m going to give Ubuntu a try, as I’m told that it handles all types of media very well — particularly im fed up with having to wget raw video rather than just watching it in Firefox.. and I know that at least one tech blogger I know and value the opinion of on such things is pleased with it on a T43p

So, the questions is: Are there many of the Performancing bloggers running Linux, and specifically Ubuntu?

And if so, what are your experiences?

powered by performancing firefox

20 thoughts on “Are There Many Bloggers Running Linux?”

  1. Though Ubuntu is a great tool, you still need to add some tweaks to feel it like it is yours:

    1. set-up the dual-monitors: quite a pain first time I tried it, until a friend told me aboout Xinerama (which is included in Ubuntu)
    2. set-up ClearType fonts (I still think Windows fonts are a lot better than Ubuntu’s)
    3. automatix install (great tool for codecs and drivers – Nvidia)
    4. Dreamweaver install under wine (though there are some dev tools in Ubuntu and *nix, I still think Dreamweaver is the best tool outthere – I love the sitemanagement features)
    5. Online poker clients usually need Windows, thus I installed VMWare server – which is free now – and windows98 for that.
    6. Finding the perfect blog publishing tool (tried bloGTK and gnome-blogger or whatsitsname and hated them. I liked w.bloggar, but I finally established PFF as my main blogging tool – I would have wanted something not linked to the browser)

    These should be about it I have to say that I made the final change to Linux (both on my laptop and 2 desktops) 2 months ago and now I feel almost weird when using Windows now.

  2. Bill, have you tried the package libflash-mozplugin? You can get it from the Ubuntu Universe repository or from this address

    Let me know if that works for you.

  3. I have been running Ubuntu on an old G3 Mac iBook, installed using these instructions Dual boot Mac OSX and Ubuntu Linux, and although it is a pretty decent set-up, there is no flash plugin for the Power PC. This is obviously a pain for watching video and other media in firefox.

    If you are running Ubuntu on an Intel (and I would assume AMD) based PC it’s great, but on the Power PC it has it’s limitations.

  4. I crowed about how easy an install it was in my LJ blog, and a visitor took that as a go-ahead. For him, it got only partially installed and left his drive unbootable. Fortunately, he was clever enough to be able to fix the MBR.
    IF Ubuntu works, it is very nice indeed. I use Mactel, Win X64 and XP 32-bit also, but Ubuntu is now my favorite, despite being on my slow two-year-old Acer notebook.
    The greatest benefit for me is the awesomely clear anti-aliasing. (OMG, I hope I remember how i set that up so I can duplicate it in future!) For me, optimizing for best shape type works best. That’s a huge benefit for somebody composing and staring at a screen over 10 hours per day.
    Ubuntu really has snowballed to well beyond critical mass. And the enthusiastic users in the useful user forum clinch the deal.

  5. I switched for good after trying Ubuntu. The only problem I had setting up Ubuntu was with a ‘winmodem’ on my computer. I purchased a real modem, and the problem was fixed. I have been using open-source applications almost exclusively for several years, and the OS itself was the last step. The ease of install and configuration sold me. Upgrading versions from ‘hoary’ to ‘breezy’ to ‘dapper’ was a snap. I had more issues upgrading versions of Windows.

  6. I haven’t fully started using Ubuntu yet, but I have been hearing very good things about Automatix It makes installing many of the popular things in Ubuntu quite easy. I heard about it on a Lifehacker article.

  7. I would presume that the package has all the dependencies inplace, however I am sure it does require beagle either way.

  8. Ubuntu is simply the best OS around. completed with ubuntuforums.org, of course. Any problem you have odds are that someone had the same before and it’s already solved on the forum. Even specific media. It has even a tutorial to install internet explorer 6 on ubuntu (yes.. the one from Microsoft) full loaded with all the bells and whistles.

    Honestly, there’s no reason to use other OS now.

    Ricardo, the evangelist 😛

  9. George,
    Thanks for the link, I really want the SLED menu in my ubuntu install, can’t wait to test it out. (I assume you need Beagle installed?)

  10. Thanks Matt,

    Hey, this thing even connected to my razr with no hassle or configuration whatsoever — it really does just work..

    sheesh, i sound like an advert.. but man, i’ve not been this happy about new software in a very long time (if ever), it really is fantastic!

    Ohh.one other thing that really impressed me, a small thing, but terribly important to me: When i went to look at the mouse pointers (remembering the week long agony of finding a large high contrast pointer for kde under gentoo some time back), i was bowled over to find not only large cursors, but a variety of them..

    hell im not even using the largest one hah..

    perfect

  12. I’m flirting with Kubuntu, and I have been for a while now. It seems to handle multimedia quite well, although it doesn’t do MP3 support out of the box (bizarrely). I’ve got a note on how to get around this on my Interweb World blog (but I won’t be as blatant as to link to it!).

    With a combination of OpenOffice and web-based applications via FireFox or Opera, Kubuntu is extremely usable, although I’ve yet to get the hang of WINE and port across Dreamweaver 2004. I’ve also taken on a bit of .Net development, so I’ll be kicking around Windows XP for a little longer….

    Good luck with your new install!

  13. I’ve been on Ubuntu for two versions now. I use it in a home networking environment (networked media server for Xboxen, print server, image storage). Even though it will run in a command line server mode, I kick it up in the default desktop. Works like a charm in my windows-based home network.

    I also have a laptop that dual boots Ubuntu..though the wireless drivers (broadcom) are challenged currently.

  14. If you are ready to download a few dependencies and do a bit of compiling, I highly recommend gimmie (http://www.beatniksoftware.com/gimmie/). It is still in development however I cannot fault it and it works much better than the traditional menus. If that isnt your thing you can always install the SLED menu (http://angelicpenguins.blogspot.com/2006/07/sled-menu-for-ubuntu-uslab-now-in-repo_14.html) or Ubuntu System Panel (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=222546)

  15. I had never used linux before but discovered ubuntu through my brother. Easy to install (even for a dodo like me), a doddle to use, pleasing to look at, interactive about future changes to the software. I like the fact that they send extra copies when you order it so that you can evangelize and pass to friends. Who can fault the mission behind it either – to provide free and easy to use software to Africa specifically, and the world in general!

  16. Well, that has to be the most painless install of an OS EVER…

    Im in Ubuntu, and all looks well. I have a bit of tweaking todo, and will use the resources you guys kindly posted — and check out the accesibility settings, but it all looks good so far…

  17. I do.

    Well, when I’m at home on my Desktop. Haven’t had the time to run it on my Laptop yet since I haven’t gotten my wireless card working yet.

    Before Ubuntu, I was a SuSe user. While I’m very, very excited about ubuntu and love it, I most say OpenSuse and the latest Suse 10.x desktops look awesome.

    Having said that, with enough time, you can pretty easily customize Ubuntu to rival any other distro out there.

    I’m not familiar with Gentoo, but the huge win for me was Apt-get, as with Suse and Red-hat, all I remember was dependency hell when installing rpm’s.

  18. I’ve been a Linux user for 8 years now, a Debian Unstable user for 7 of those, and since April, an Ubuntu user. I’ve been pretty pleased with Ubuntu, it feels well polished. My wife, not a technical person, has used Ubuntu with little problem or help from me. There is definitely less work in setting up a Ubuntu system versus a Gentoo system. I haven’t used Gentoo, but I have a lot of friends that do. You give up the flexibility and power that compiling your own packages (custom ebuilds, etc) gives you, but for me it isn’t worth the cost in effort.

    My blog is about Linux, Open Source, and programming in general. If there are any topics you think the blogosphere would benefit from (specific how-tos, etc), I’d welcome your input. Having this information that would answer questions like what you pose out there would be very useful, I think.

  19. I’ve been using Ubuntu full-time for several months. It works pretty well. As for media, be sure to check the wiki on how to get proprietary codecs working (MP3, WMA, etc.), then install MPlayer and Real Player to get embedded media to play. http://www.beginningubuntu.com/dapper_tips.html also tells how to set media up and several other first time things.

    Overall, I’m very pleased with Ubuntu and even got my mom to start using it. I’ve never used Gentoo though, so I can’t really compare the two.

  20. Ubuntu is hands-down one of the easiest distros I have ever used. It’s hardware support is simply awesome. Automatix provides nearly everything that is missing from the distro (http://www.getautomatix.com/). The community doccumentation will tell you how to do anything that is still missing.

    The community is full of great people that are a;ways willing to help (although that is the same for nearly any distro).

    Although many people seem to shun Ubuntu beacuse it is supposedly too simplified, I find it very capable in any situation.

    All in all it is great, but really you should use whatever works best for you.

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