I love the ideal of linux and the whole open source paradigm. Windows and Macintosh really have a strong grip on the market at the moment and for good reason. While i much prefer the linux operating environment the fact is that there is a much wider range of software and users for its competitors.

 I don't recall ever setting up a windows system that didn't install without any major malfunction. Most times i have installed a linux flavour i have needed to make many tweaks and sometimes major changes to boot files or kernels, just to get up and running.

Here is the log of my Ubuntu/XP dual boot system ... for technophobes this means i can boot to either operating system. My first step was to download and burn a linux rescue boot disk which allowed me to boot into a temporary operating system and manipulate the partition structure on the hard drive. I previously had several partitions (ptn) in addition to the windows ptn so i resized the windows ptn to 30GB and merged all the rest into a single partition leaving me with one 30GB windows partition sda0 and free space. In the free space i created the essential linux partitions which eventually gave me the following:

• sda0 60GB windows NTFS
• sda1 20GB linux ext2 (no ext3 was available)
• sda2 2GB linux swap
• sda3 60GB FAT32

I realize the ubuntu install disk will allow me to organize partitions and format however i prefer to prime the hard drive prior to sliding an OS onto it. The next step is to boot from the ubuntu install disk.

The ubuntu 7 install CD is freezing on the preloader graphic until i hit ctrl+alt+del which allows it to progress. After multiple complaints about configuring the webcam i am finally presented with the ubuntu live desktop which shows an install icon at top left. I execute the install file and the operating system begins its install asking me a variety of questions relating to language and location. After continuing to install for a while the system freezes on detecting hardware which i let sit for around an hour with no further progress. I figure the acer orbicam was upsetting the chi force of the whole ubuntu balance so i need to find a way to kill it.

Blacklisting the module that handles the webcam should get me further but first i will take advice and try installing from an alternative boot disk that uses a different kernel and a simple text based install without the frills and laces. After downloading the iso file and burning the IMAGE to a CD using nero on windows i restarted the system with the new CD inside. It also froze on booting until i pressed ctrl+alt+del I kept receiving the same error over and over in a tediously finite loop complaining about the webcam and gspca_core.c component but eventually installs OK. Upon reboot i get the same looping error message so it is time to boot from the live CD again and kill the gspca. I reboot to the live desktop and mount the linux system by creating temporary mount point. THe live CD reported that mounting a filesystem to the standard /mnt could result in a system lock. I create the temp directory and mount the linux partition.

> mkdir /mnt/tmp
> mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/tmp
> cd /mnt/tmp

I disable the gspca from starting by appending the blacklist file with: blacklist gspca

> sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
> blacklist gspca (add at the bottom)
> ctrl+s (saves)
> ctrl+w (closes)

Now i reboot. Incidentally upon installation i was informed that installing the grub boot loader on the MBR should present no problems so i went ahead with it. The system reboots OK and grub asks which OS i should load. I choose the ubuntu option and the system boots up nicely with sound and all. I test the internet connection and find that the wireless network is not functioning but the wired nic works OK. A quick grep of my wireless driver ipw3945 shows that it is installed although i can;t get any life out of it. I assume it is the WPA encryption causing issue so i read up on getting this to work with ubuntu. I found that i need to append another file: sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces and comment out everything other than “lo” entries in that file and save the file. Then create a file called /etc/default/wpasupplicant, add entry ENABLED=0 and save that file.

> sudo touch /etc/default/wpasupplicant
> sudo /etc/init.d/dbus restart

After this i could connect to the wireless network and all in the world is good. I update ubuntu which takes around 25 minutes on my 512K DSl connection. Ultimately i found the process rather easy compared to earlier wrestles with fedora. While i love linux it really has a major shortcoming for the average end user of operating systems. Support for hardware is slow coming out for the many and varied linux distros which means an upgrade or install from a windows nurtured user can be frustrating. While i have had little trouble getting linux to run on desktop computers i have had nothing BUT trouble getting it to install and run effortlessly on my laptop. Users these days like to be spoon fed and certainly do not want to have to append system files with code strings in order to check their email. At the moment windows and macintosh certainly have more user friendly system .... at a cost.