I just installed Ubuntu...

[Transient]

...and I'm kind of psyched. I know absolutely nothing about Linux and I am totally aware that I am probably in way over my head, but I don't care because I'm fed up with Windows. So far I'm managing alright, though I still can't quite get my dual monitor setup to work properly. Plus my integrated sound card isn't being detected so I can't hear squat.

Tomorrow I'll look into a few programs I've heard of while browsing the web to learn a bit about the OS. I want to grab a media center program like MythTV for recording TV, and I want to get Photoshop/Illustrator working in Ubuntu and read something about needing a program called Wine to do that. So, are there any must-have programs out there that I should install?

Heh, I don't even know if "install" is the right word. I haven't actually tried to add any software yet, so I have no idea what I'll need to do. I'm guessing the terminal is involved, as I needed to use it earlier to get some fonts installed so that the text in Firefox wasn't teeny-tiny anymore. I typed something like "sobe app-get blah blah" and hit enter and a bunch of text raced down the window for a while.

[Fender]

heh gl

[^misantropia^]

Check out Synaptic, it'll make your life easier.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticHowto

[obsidian]

Congrats, posting this from my Ubuntu box myself...

Applications menu > Add/remove > Type in the name of the program you're looking for > select and press okay. It'll download and install everything for you.

First thing I installed was FireFTP, Deluge Bittorrent, and VLC. MythTV can be installed the same way. Other programs not part of the repositories aren't quite so easy, but that's a good start.

[Transient]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Between Add/Remove and the Synaptic Package Manager, I've been able to get quite a few things working the way I want them. I have to say, the visual interfaces of Linux-based programs and the GUI in general seems to be less shiny or refined-looking than OS X or XP/Vista, but what it lacks in visuals it more than makes up for in community support and seamless integration.

I installed ATI Catalyst Control Center after a few hiccups, though support for Linux seems to be lackluster. Sometimes videos are choppy and moving windows around/maximizing can be a bit dodgy at times. Not to mention I can't get proper dual monitor support. It works, just not at the right resolutions. Oh well, I'll bite my tongue. I got Amarok installed for listening to my music, and it works well enough. The built-in text editor, gEdit, is a good replacement for Notepad++, and Pidgin came preinstalled so I had instant messaging right out of the box. Firefox was working immediately, too. I haven't fiddled with OpenOffice yet, but I doubt it will give me any trouble.

I'm not even going to bother with Gimp. It's either Photoshop (via Wine?) or nothing for me. I NEED Photoshop, and if that means keeping XP installed alongside Ubuntu, then so be it. I'll screw around with MythTV next and see if I can't get my schedule set up before tomorrow.

Any other suggestions? This is kind of fun, I have to admit. Ubuntu is a brave new world to me.

[obsidian]

XBMC Media Center recently released the Linux version, not sure how that compares to MythTV, but you can give it a try.

[Cooldown]

Probably not the most ideal solution, but you can use virtualization software, eg. VirtualBox to run any Windows applications you need.

[Therac-25]

For the photoshop thing, you can give Wine a shot. Try the normal version of wine out that Ubuntu has. Some people have had luck installing CS2 with it. I've had good luck with the stock Wine (I ran WoW under it fine). I have Crossover Office that I got when they were giving it away free a while ago at work, which runs everything but Microsoft Access fine. CS2 gets "bronze" over at CodeWeavers for what it's worth. VMWare will run it fine if you really need it.

As for the dual-monitor issue, welcome to the fun of a transitional period. Xinerama was abandoned for multihead setups sometime last year, and that whole area is in the transition to Xrandr-based multihead support -- but some drivers don't necessarily support everything yet. The fun of technology transitions in open source is that everyone gets to participate...

[^misantropia^]

I'd recommend VirtualBox over VMWare. It's heaps easier to setup, for one. No more dicking around, compiling custom kernel modules when you upgrade your kernel.