New Ubuntu 8.10 OS User - Any tips?

I just made the switch from Vista to Ubuntu and have installed a 30gig partition for it. Now i am migrating everything i have (which is not a lot) to the Ubuntu side. I only use my computer for: Second Life, Web Surfing, Graphic Editing, Word Processing. So this is a relatively easy switch for me, especially since I already use things like GIMP and OpenOffice.

Is there any tips or advice anyone has to give before i make the full plunge? Pros and Cons?

I already like the fact that it is so lightening fast compared to my Windows experience, and the moment the desktop appears you can start doing stuff without long waits for things to load like in Windows.

I never thought I would be geek enough to run a Linux OS

I also noticed that the LL Linux client is rather slow and clunky compared to the Windows client, unfortunately.

I am going to invest some time in the Cool SL Viewer Windilight linux version and see if there is improvement.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome then
one initiation rite is to let the new linux users open a console and type* in: glxinfo |grep direct
this gives as output either "direct rendering: Yes" or (surprise) "direct rendering: No".
The latter would explain, why the viewer is rather slow and clunky. Either way sooner or later someone will ask for the output (again using the console) of: lspci |grep -i vga
This will give information about your graphics card and help to find out if there is a driver which can perform faster.




*or copy and paste, or even better use the beauty of the primary selection: just select the text you want to copy and press the middle mouse button where you want to paste it.

Install Wine. It recently got to version 1.0 after 15 years of dev. That will help with some of those windows apps that just HAVE to be run.
Virtualbox may help run other win apps that wont run under Wine. It's a virtual computer inside the one you are running. I must use this for Second Inventory.
And good move Bri. Linux does have it's quirks but it's reasonably good these days for a cost free alternative to big bucks.

IDK I dont use wine for anything why put it in everything you need should already be there.
My advice would be signup at the ubuntu forums. They give great help there. I have been using ubuntu for over a year now got hardy 8.04. Next thing I would say is just because ubuntu comes out with a new version. like the one you are using think real hard before you change what you have READ READ READ! may save you a bunch of headaches.
Ive read some on 8.10 and i wont switch yet what i have now with 8.04 works.
Gimp works fine i even have wacom working. I dont use open office no need for it for what i do.

AND FOR SURE LOOK BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR TERM AND MAKE CHANGES AS ROOT!!
know what it is you are doing most things can be found in your add and remove programs and syn package manager. Linux can be a lot of fun to use and learn.
I also use linux puppy with SL running off my ram alone, no HD.

This morning i setup IDJC to run DJ here in sl all freeware now thats what I call neat!

im streaming onto my land now . still have issues to work out but 1 thing I Found about Linux user is when they can make a free program that work better then window pay to use they love to help each other. So good luck and Ask when your not sure

Your Linux viewer should run equally as good , if not, better than your windows viewer, one thing to check is that you have the correct display driver installed (you will want the proprietary driver). Ubuntu will notify you of this upon install, but can be missed on a fresh install as there are so many updates to download now, and a forced restart, it becomes a little daunting to the new user.

Anyway thats one thing to check that your using the right graphics driver, good luck .

Echoing what Billybob said: ALWAYS verify commands you are asked (usually by someone in a forum) to enter into terminal, PARTICULARLY if the command is preceded by "sudo", as this gives the command root (administrator) access to your computer!

==> If ANYONE tells you to type 'sudo rm -rf' into terminal, DO NOT DO IT! Consider reporting the jerk instead. rm -rf *, when given root access, will wipe not only your Linux partition clean, but every other partition you have mounted at the time!

The only other advice I have is, don't be afraid to experiment with programs. There are a lot of good programs available in Ubuntu's repositories that work well as replacements for popular Windows applications. You can find a fairly comprehensive list here:

http://www.linuxalt.com/