Ubuntu for Windows users

QUESTIONS that I get in the mail show that quite a number of Windows users are curious about what to expect when they make the jump to Linux.
While answering one such question this week, I realized that I’ve already written quite a bit about how things are done in Linux as opposed to Windows, but that these snippets were scattered over many columns over the last three years. I thought it might be useful to gather that information in one column, where it might help more Windows users to make the switch to Ubuntu Linux.

Watching DVDs
Rolfe Pope writes: “I am curious if you are still just a Linux person, how do you watch commercial movie DVDs?”
Normally, of course, I simply pop the DVD into my NextBase player and watch the movie on my 42-inch Phillips LCD TV. On those occasions that I do want to view a DVD on my Ubuntu PC, however, I usually use the VLC player, which can play almost anything that moves. (See the next part to find out how to install VLC and other software packages.)

The second part of Rolfe’s question, however, hints at some previous experience with Linux, as he asks about codecs, or the coding-decoding software needed to play various types of video files. Fortunately, installing these codecs has been simplified in Ubuntu 9.10 or Karmic Koala. Simply go to the Ubuntu Software Center and install Ubuntu restricted extras. Or, if you prefer, open up Terminal and cut and paste this line:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Installing software
Unlike Windows, you will not have to buy and install an office suite separately. OpenOffice is already installed when you install Ubuntu.
In Windows, you install new software by downloading and running a .exe file. Or, the .exe file might come in a CD that you bought from a store. In Ubuntu, most applications (called packages) are free, and you can download them and install them from a menu (Applications > Ubuntu Software Center from the top panel). More experienced users might prefer to use Synaptic (System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager) of the Terminal (Linux’s version of the DOS shell) to install programs.

Before installing any software, you must enter the password you created when you first installed Ubuntu. This simple precaution and the way software is distributed in general make it much more difficult for you to accidentally install a virus.
There’s a bus load of free software available. The Ubuntu Software Center lists more than 2,000 applications. It costs you nothing to try them out, and they’re easy to uninstall if you don’t like them.

Finding your files
Coming from Windows, you may find the absence of drive letters discomfiting. But once you understand how a Linux system is organized, you should have no problem finding your files.

On Ubuntu, the equivalent of Windows Explorer is called Nautilus. You can launch it by going to Places > Home Folder. The home folder is the one with your user name on it, and is roughly equivalent to My Documents in Windows. It should not be confused with /home, which is where everyone’s home folder (in a shared multi-user system) goes. So, if your user name is “bill,” your home folder would be /home/bill. If you shared the machine with Ted, his home folder would be /home/ted.
In Linux, you can hide a folder or a file by starting its name with a period. To see hidden folders, go to View in Nautilus and check Show Hidden Files.
If you have more than one hard drive, it will show up in Places. When you use it for the first time, Ubuntu will ask you for your password before it mounts the drive to make it accessible.

USB drives are normally detected when they’re plugged in, and Nautilus will automatically show you the contents of the drive.

Burning CDs
Gnomebaker is the default CD burner installed with Ubuntu, but there are other choices. In the Ubuntu Software Center, you can find Brasero. Xfburn, X-CD-Roast and the one I prefer, K3B.  To turn audio CD tracks into MP3 files, you can use Audio CD Extractor and to rip DVDs, you can use AcidRip.

Do you have a Windows-to-Ubuntu question? Drop me a line.