Ubuntu and its close cousins Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu are all designed with ease of use and familiarity in transition in mind. These distributions focus on keeping things simple and clean to help smooth out the learning curves when you are adapting to a new system.
The Ubuntu installer (Ubiquity) is a prelude to the simplicity of the Ubuntu system, breaking down the install process into about 10 clicks. Canonical Ltd., the support company behind Ubuntu, has even made it easy for people to obtain installation media by offering to mail CD-ROMs, free of charge if needed (https://shipit.ubuntu.com/login). If you have a fast Internet connection however, you can download one of the many ISO images for free from one of the many mirrors around the world (www.ubuntu.com/ getubuntu/downloadmirrors). The list of mirrors is huge to make sure there are plenty of servers available for people to download from. If one is not available, or unresponsive, try another.
The download mirrors can be a bit confusing, so there is also an enhanced download page (www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download) available to make things more clear. The current, stable offering at the time of this writing is Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn). Ubuntu 7.10 is scheduled for October 2007, so you may have that option available instead. The enhanced download page currently offers the following Ubuntu install media in both Desktop and Server options. The Server option is geared towards people who do not need a full-blown Desktop system.
• Ubuntu 7.04 — The current stable release of Ubuntu. This is the most commonly selected version.
• Ubuntu 6.06 LTS — The Long Term Support offering of Ubuntu for people who purchase three-year Desktop support, or five-year Server support options. Other options you need to select on the enhanced download page are:
• Standard personal computer — This option is the typical choice for most users. 64-bit desktop and laptop CPUs from both AMD and Intel will run this fine if you don’t have special RAM or application requirements.
• 64-bit AMD and Intel computers — This option is for computers that have a need for large amounts of RAM, or specifically, a 64-bit platform to run applications.
• Sun UltraSPARC–based — This is Ubuntu for hardware based on the Sun Microsystems UltraSPARC RISC platform. A nice alternative to Sun Solaris (works fine on an Ultra 60).
The Alternate Desktop CD option has some extra functionality built in, such as Logical Volume Management (LVM) support (LVM is covered in Chapter 7). If you need LVM, at least at the time of this writing, you will need to check this box. Lastly, click the Download button.
After your download is complete, you may want to browse through the list of mirrors above and obtain the MD5SUM file for the version of Ubuntu you downloaded (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM). This can help verify the integrity of the ISO image. Most open source software will have such a digital signature available, and we recommend that you verify this prior to installation, or before burning the ISO image to CD-ROM or DVD.
If you desire more security for your downloads beyond the MD5 checksums, look at SecureApt. For more information on how APT uses digital authentication and encryption for software packages, visit the SecureApt section on the Ubuntu help web site (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SecureApt).
Source of Information : Wiley Ubuntu Linux Toolbox 1000 plus Commands for Ubuntu and Debian Power Users
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