Configuring and priming Ubuntu 7.10

November 10, 2007 7:49 AM

I've got a fresh new install of Ubuntu 7.10 on my laptop (it's dual booting w/ xp) and I'd like the hive's recommendations on how to proceed from here. What should I configure first? What apps I should add next?

My laptop is part of a 3 pc LAN with one shared printer (on another pc) and a stand-alone scanner. They are all ix86 architecture. Getting ubuntu communicating to the shared printer and the other computers is important, so advice on the best way to do this would also be awesome.

posted by JaySunSee to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Great! I've been a convert since Edgy and haven't looked back.

As for printing, it should be relatively simple. I assume it's shared off a Windows PC? If that's the case, just go to System > Administration > Printing and add a New Printer. Select Windows Printer via Samba, type the PC's name and hit browse. Most of the standard drivers should be available.

For apps, what do you want to do with it? It comes with quite a few pre-installed, but you can go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager and browse the repositories all day long.

MeFi Mail me if you need any more help. I'm glad to help out!
posted by cdmwebs at 8:30 AM on November 10, 2007

Great choice! It's fun, isn't it?

I would recommend clicking on the Add/Remove Programs menu choice under Applications (top left). Make sure that you check the box labelled 'Show unsupported applications', and poke around for some fun finds.

I like Ardour, KStars, Armegatron, but you will surely find lots to experiment with.

Enjoy! This Ubuntu release is truly remarkable. PM me if you have any questions.
posted by toastchee at 11:51 AM on November 10, 2007

I too run gutsy. I hope you love it as much as I do. :) I'd say you should play with Audacity (sound editor program), and tomboy (comes by default).

I installed apache on my laptop and set myself up with a dyndns domain and ddclient. That way I can stick stuff in /var/www and paste people a link practically anywhere I go. Note that this won't work if you're behind NAT since dyndns will list your publicly-addressable IP.

What do you want to do with your machine? Seriously... you can do just about anything you can think of.

As with the other folks, I'm happy to answer questions if you send them to me directly.
posted by tarheelcoxn at 9:34 PM on November 10, 2007

Deluge for torrents.
posted by pompomtom at 11:17 PM on November 10, 2007