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    The Shortest Path to Linux
    The Shortest Path to Linux
    The Shortest Path to Linux
    Ebook55 pages1 hour

    The Shortest Path to Linux

    By Ed Hurst

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    About this ebook

    If you really need MS Windows, stick with it. Helping people with Windows systems is the primary work in my computer ministry. However, my primary mission is to help people to need less help. If you can learn to make Windows work for you, it's not that hard to migrate to Linux. Not a comprehensive guide, this companion guide can help you explore the possibilities give you greater control over your own computers, and save you a lot of money. You'll gain from the author's long experience as a computer support technician, learning to avoid problems and gotchas not covered in the official online sources. Your old XP hardware is quite suitable for a currently supported Linux operating system and you don't have to relearn all your computer use habits to do it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEd Hurst
    Release dateNov 4, 2014
    ISBN9781311178466
    The Shortest Path to Linux
    Author

    Ed Hurst

    Born 18 September 1956 in Seminole, OK. Traveled a great deal in Europe with the US Army, worked a series of odd jobs, and finally in public education. Ordained to the ministry as a Baptist, then with a non-denominational endorsement. Currently semi-retired.

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      Book preview

      The Shortest Path to Linux - Ed Hurst

      The Shortest Path to Linux

      By Ed Hurst; Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2014 by Ed Hurst

      Copyright notice: The information, facts and data in this book are Open Source. The names Canonical, Ubuntu and Kubuntu are owned and copyrighted by Canonical, Ltd. Only the author’s composition in words, style of writing and editorial opinions are subject to author’s copyright. Make all the copies you need for your personal use, but please do not distribute those copies to others without authorization. The purchase price goes to support my computer tech support ministry.

      Cover Art: Young woman with a Linux laptop; composite from public domain images.

      Table of Contents

      01 – Why Linux versus Windows?

      02 – The Perils of Software Development

      03 – Why Kubuntu?

      04 – Peculiarities of Linux

      05 – Installation Considerations

      06 – Installation

      07 – System Settings

      08 – Software and Files

      09 – Internet Software

      10 – Trackballs and Windows-ware

      Read this first: This is not a comprehensive guide; such is available online for free. Rather, this is a companion guide for those considering migrating their computer from Windows to Linux. I went through the process of installation and setup personally, and am filtering my that encounter through more than two decades of experience working with Windows users, both as trainer and tech support. This guide will help Windows users to get their head around the substantial differences between their previous computer experience and their future with Linux. This guide also covers the likely problems and gotchas not discussed elsewhere.

      This book was originally composed as a free-standing webpage. It makes frequent reference to outside sources on the Internet. It also includes a significant amount of command line snippets that you will want to cut-n-pasted as you walk through the installation and configuration process. If your copy of this guide is printed on paper or some other format making such use inconvenient, you should contact me by email – ehurst at soulkiln dot org – and request a copy of the original HTML version. Simply request the Kubuntu Guide. It will arrive in zipped format and you should unzip it and save to some backup device. Once the basic installation is complete, you can then insert your backup device and refer to the various links and code snippets necessary to complete the configuration.

      In this edition, you will see sections of bold faced text representing things you should or could type into your computer’s commandline, or simply what is displayed there.

      01 – Why Linux versus Windows?

      If you like Windows well enough, there is no reason to change.

      The most tiresome thing I experience in reading about Linux is the mindless enthusiasm of those utterly lacking in empathy and a sense of proportion. Most of us tend to think: If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. That is foreign to Linux folks. The itch to tinker and explore is essential to how Linux in particular, and Open Source software in general, came into existence. But that doesn’t justify ignoring very real human needs. For most of humanity, computers are merely machines that save us time and make possible blessings not available any other way.

      This book is for folks who simply need to get work done on a computer; for you, something about Windows just doesn’t quite cut it. At the same time, you have use for shocking, dramatic changes in how you use your computer. Most especially, you have no use for changes simply for the sake of change.

      Here are some possible reasons you might have for switching from Windows to Linux:

      1. Licensing – Unless you are willing to take the risk of using pirated software, playing by the rules and laws that favor corporate software makers can be very expensive. Linux is free and the licensing generally affects only those who modify the software itself. You might have to pay for packaging, and there are some companies making software for Linux that isn’t free, but virtually anything you actually need can be downloaded for free. You can make

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