Live Forever

The response I got from my colleagues for my last post was incredible. Seems like LIVE CDs were exactly what the doctor ordered. Quite a few have started looking at Linux without fear in their eyes and quiver in their voice.
Here's a little more about Ubuntu LIVE distribution:

The company behind Ubuntu (Canonical) believes that it should be FREE. No installation charges or service fees or anything of the sort. The latest release Ubuntu 8.0.4 aka Hardy Heron has met with a lot of success. So much that people actually want to install it permanently on their systems alongwith Windows.

Have you have tried Ubuntu?
Do you want to install it?
Are you afraid of the dangers of installing Linux without certified professial assistance?
Shifting partitons, creating swap partitions, making space available for Linux give you the creeps?
Are you scared that valuable data might be lost while trying to install Ubuntu on the hard disk?
Never fear, because Wubi's here.

Wubi comes with the Ubuntu release nowadays. It can also be downloaded from its site. As usual, hunt for the site's name (Hint: try "wubi installer for Ubuntu"). The minimum size for Ubuntu partition using Wubi is 4 GB.

If you have Ubuntu ISO image, copy the Wubi installer to the same folder. Run the executable.

• Enter the Username and password. This will be your user id and password to log into Ubuntu.
• Choose the installation drive.
• Specify the size of installation. This is the amount of space allocated on the harde disk.
• Click Install!

Once Ubuntu is installed, a folder will be created at the location specified during installation. An option to boot into Ubuntu will be available after restarting.

If you think that you are just not a Penguin lover, you can always uninstall Ubuntu from Windows by using the eternal Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.

If you have any queries or suggestion, do leave them as comments. I'll reply as soon as possible.

Live Linux, Use Windows

When I first started writing a blog I had decided it would only contain things that mattered to me. Events that influenced me. However, there's more to me than just watching TV and laughing my head off at the news channels.
I also happen to be a software engineer.

Loving computers actually leads to the development of hatred towards Microsoft. Yes, Microsoft has done a lot of great deeds with the release of Windows. The tremendous growth of Windows enabled computers to become personal. An interface that was beckoning to newbies to usher in a new era in technology. Millions and millions of people worldwide use Windows. But there is a dark side too. In an attempt to snuff out the competition, Microsoft violated quite a few laws. A lot of companies were bought out by Bill Gates to ensure his monopoly. Many ideas were lifted without acknowledging the original authors. Even C# was blatantly copied from Java (And Vista (not including Aero) was copied from Mac OS X)!

And thousands use Linux! Linus Torvalds had no idea that his kernel would spark a new revolution against the monopoly of Microsoft. If you want to join in the revolution without getting your hands dirty, let me tell you how.

Most people are scared of Linux. Its an entirely different interface, totally different coding and absolutely different perspective. Not to mention the different types of distributions available in the market. The perfect blend to make an average Windows user shudder with fear.

Let us suppose you are in love with computers. You have a plain desktop PC at home with the usual Windows and you like all the features it provides. However, you have heard a lot about Linux and want to try it. But there is a small problem! You do not want to let go of Windows. You haven't decided to make the switch to Linux and would like to use it on a trial basis before you actually decide to take the plunge.

The various organizations backing Linux saw this problem. And they came up with a novel idea. Why not install a Linux distribution to a CD so that whenever a person wants to use it, he/she can pop in the CD and boot from it. No installation necessary! Welcome to the world of LIVE CDs!
A LIVE CD contains an entire Linux distribution on it. The beauty of the thing is - No installation required! To use Linux use the following steps:

• In the BIOS setup (displayed by pressing F8 when the computer is started), the boot priority of CD should be above the Hard disk.
• Put the Live CD in the CD/DVD drive.
• Restart PC
• That's it!!

There are quite a few LIVE CDs available. Most of them are FREE. I'm mentioning just two of them here:

• Ubuntu
• Knoppix

The ISO images can be downloaded from their sites. Just to give you a sense of adventure, I'm not mentioning the name of the sites. Discover them yourself!
Once you have downloaded the ISO file which is almost 700 MB in size, just burn it to a CD. And you are ready to go!
So if you ever feel the need to explore the realm outside Windows, feel FREE to try Linux, LIVE!

If you have any queries or suggestion, do leave them as comments. I'll reply as soon as possible.