As Linux owes much of its growth and development to the Internet, it should come as no surprise that there is a wealth of information about Ubuntu available to you online. In addition to the usual news, how-to, and download sites, you will also find a variety of tutorials, forums, blogs, and other sources of useful information—all of which you can turn to as you use and learn more about your system.
Forums
When you are looking for advice, trying to solve a particular problem, or just looking for some general tips, online forums are the way to go. Fortunately, Ubuntu has a forum all its own, and since Ubuntu is primarily a desktoporiented Linux distro, you are likely to find many fellow newbies and newbiefriendly posters there, rather than the hard-core geekiness you might find on some other sites. There are, of course, other newbie-friendly forums, which, although not Ubuntu-specific, should also be able to provide you with lots of helpful information.
Regardless of which forum you are posting in, just be sure to mention that you are using Ubuntu, which version you have (Feisty Fawn, in case you forgot), and that you are new to Linux. And remember to always seek clarification when you get an answer you don’t understand. The same poster will usually come back and clarify things for you. You should feel right at home at most of these sites, though you will probably come to like one or two more than the others.
http://www.ubuntuforums.org The official Ubuntu community forum. Always a good place to start when you’re in a fix, have a question, or just want to find out what’s going on.
http://www.ubuntux.org/forum Another slightly smaller Ubuntuspecific forum. A good place to turn if you find UbuntuForums.org a bit too much to wade through.
http://www.kubuntuforums.net A forum dedicated to Kubuntu, an official Ubuntu edition based on the KDE desktop environment.
http://www.justlinux.com If you can’t find what you want in the previously mentioned forums, you can try this or the following two forums dealing with general Linux issues. You are sure to find many Ubuntu users on any of them.
http://www.linuxforum.com
http://www.linuxquestions.org
Linux Reference
These are sites, many of which are geared towards newbies, where you can learn more about using Ubuntu or Linux in general.
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/ubuntu:feisty An unofficial Ubuntu startup guide.
https://help.ubuntu.com Official documentation for the current release of Ubuntu.
http://www.tuxfiles.org Lots of tutorials and information for Linux newbies.
http://www.linuxcommand.org Learn to use commands in Linux.
http://www.linux.org News, book reviews, downloads, and all sorts of other stuff—all about Linux!
Blogs
A lot of great information can also be found in blogs. In these, you can discover the findings of fellow users as they try new things, share tips, and offer solutions to problems.
http://ubuntu.wordpress.com Ubuntu news with some tips thrown in.
http://www.ubuntux.org/blog Mostly an Ubuntu-oriented news blog.
http://www.ubuntugeek.com Despite having the word geek in the name, this is a pretty accessible set of mostly useful Ubuntu system and software tweaks.
Hardware Compatibility Issues
If you want to find out whether or not your hardware is compatible with Linux, or if you want to read up on other matters related to hardware support, take a look at the following sites:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport Ubuntu-specific hardware compatibility information.
http://www.linuxcompatible.org/compatibility.html Numerous compatibility lists, arranged by distribution.
http://www.linuxprinting.org A great spot for reading up on printer compatibility issues.
http://www.linmodems.org Find out if your modem is supported.
http://www.sane-project.org Check to see if your scanner is Linux compatible, and look for fixes if it isn’t.
http://www.linux-laptop.net Have laptop, want Linux? Check it out here.
http://www.tuxmobil.org Info for using Linux with anything that isn’t stuck to your desk (laptops, PDAs, phones, etc.).
Wireless Connections
If you use a wireless card to connect to the Internet and have trouble getting your card to work, or if you just want to know where all the free wireless hotspots happen to be, the following sites should help.
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux
http://www.ezgoal.com/hotspots/wireless
Free Downloads
If you find yourself looking for more goodies to play around with, you should be able to find plenty of free stuff to download at one of these sites.
Applications and Other Packages
http://sourceforge.net
http://www.freshmeat.net
http://www.gnomefiles.org
Free Fonts
http://www.fontfreak.com
http://www.fontparadise.com
http://fonts.tom7.com
News and Information
These sites are mainly informational, keeping you abreast of what’s going on in the Linux world. DistroWatch focuses on the various distributions available out there, whereas Linux Today and LinuxPlanet fit better in the online magazine/newspaper genre.
http://www.distrowatch.com
http://www.linuxtoday.com
http://www.linuxplanet.com
Magazines
If you are more of a tactile type who enjoys the feel of paper pressed between your fingers, then you might like to turn to some of the Linux magazines available at most major newsstands. All have a good deal of online content, so even if you’re not interested in the pleasures of holding a magazine in your hand, their sites are worth checking out.
http://www.tuxmagazine.com
http://www.linux-magazine.com (European)
http://www.linuxmagazine.com (US)
http://www.linuxjournal.com
There are two (unrelated) magazines sharing almost the same name:
One of these is from the United States, one from Europe. The newbie who wants some pizzazz in his or her reading materials, plus some useful tips, and some things to play around with should go for the European version. The US version is targeted toward business users and power geeks, not newbies.
Books
Once you’ve finished working through this book, you should be able to do just about whatever you want in Ubuntu. Still, your interest may have been piqued enough that you would like to find out a bit more about Linux. Here are some books that might help in that quest.
How Linux Works by Brian Ward. (No Starch Press, 2004.)
The Debian System by Martin Krafft. (No Starch Press, 2005.)
The Linux Cookbook 2nd Ed. by Michael Stutz. (No Starch Press, 2004.)
Running Linux by Matthias Dalheimer and Matt Welsh. (O’Reilly Media, 2005.)
Linux Multimedia Hacks: Tips & Tools for Taming Images, Audio, and Video by Kyle Rankin. (O’Reilly Media, 2005.)
Linux Pocket Guide by Daniel J. Barrett. (O’Reilly Media, 2004.)
Ubuntu CDs
To order an AMD64 version of the Ubuntu Desktop CD, get a replacement for the i386 version that comes with this book, or get the next version of Ubuntu when it comes out (if you don’t want to or can’t download it), just place an order with any of the following sites. Remember that those from Ubuntu will be free, while those from other suppliers will cost you a little ($5 to $10 or so) but will be delivered much faster.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com
http://www.cheapbytes.com
http://www.linuxcd.org
Source of Information : Ubuntu for Non-Geeks (2nd Ed)
No comments:
Post a Comment