Two years ago, I wrote a series about the Gentoo Install process, a fairly long commentary on the Gentoo Linux handbook and installation.

Well now I attempt a similar task. This time I aim at someone who is interested in getting into computing using Linux but does not have a lot of experience in computing.

Gentoo is aimed at highly technical users. So this time we will instead use a distribution called Ubuntu Linux, the slogan is "Linux for human beings" and one thing Ubuntu is good at is getting less technical users setup quickly. The version is 7.10 aka Gutsy Gibbon, which came out a few days ago.

The guide is very long already, so we will cover getting the CD another time.

a. Boot Screen

Put the CD in. Hopefully you will get the following screen:

The option you want is the first one, you can press enter. If you do nothing then it will automatically choose the first option anyway.

The other options are not important right now. In the rare case that the screen goes funny, then you can restart your computer and select "Start Ubuntu in safe graphics mode".

If you put the CD and you don't get this screen, then you refer to a future post that I will link in when I have written it.

b. David Hasselhoff mode

While the system is loading, there is nothing to do here but wait a few seconds or so, if your computer is old then it might be a couple of minutes.

Feel free to sing the theme tune from the 1980s TV show Knight Rider until it is done.

c. Live CD Desktop

When it is all done, your computer should show a nice shade of brown as below.

There are a number of things in the left hand corner worth noticing. Let's zoom in a bit:

Firstly, there is the Applications menu in the top-left corner, this is like the 'Start Menu' in Windows, it allows you to start your applications.

Secondly, there is an 'Examples folder', this contains some example files that you can play with.

Thirdly, and getting to the point, there is an 'Install' icon. Double-click it with your mouse pointer.

This brings up the 'Install' application on to your screen, as shown below.

Now we get to the real work!

This Installer program is going to help your install Linux on to your computer. You have to tell it some simple pieces of information. There are seven steps to the programme.

1. Language selection.

Let's zoom in again:

On the left hand side of the program window, there is a choice of languages. Hopefully a language that you understand is in the left. Don't worry at this stage if you need more than one language, you can add others later.

When you have selected a language, press forward.

2. Where are you?

The second choice is where you live. When the computer knows where you live, it can then try to set the clock for your timezone.

You have a map of the world. Click on roughly where you live and the map will zoom in. For example, I live in Britain, so the map looks like this:

Now click on the nearest city to you (so I click on London) and the computer sets my time to the correct time. Press Forward to continue.

3. Keyboard Layout

The third piece of information the computer needs to know is what kind of keyboard you have. It will try to guess but the following screen let's you choose more specifically.

If you are not sure what keyboard you have, don't worry, just test it by typing in the box at the bottom of the screen. You can change it anytime later of course, so no need to spend too long on this. Press Forward to continue.

4. Prepare disk space

Some people find this the one slightly more difficult question because there is no right or wrong answer, the answer will be different for everyone. Don't worry, I can't choose for you but I can try to explain the question.

`Click here to read about disk partitions`_.

So the first choice given is to reduce the size of an existing partition. The second is to use an entire disk. The last option is to do something more complicated.

If you want to keep your existing operating system (e.g. Windows) as well then you will probably want to do shrink an existing partition (i.e. the first option in the screenshot).

I chose the second option to use the entire disk and wipe everything off that was there already.

See it wasn't that hard was it? Press forward when you are done.

**5. The First Rule about Fight Club... **

... is You Don't Talk about Fight Club.

The installer will mop up any extra issues based on what you have done so far. This will vary according to your situation. For example, if you have Windows then it will ask if you want to import your usernames and documents.

6. Who are you?

The next screen requires you to specify your name, your preferred login and password name, and your computer name.

Choose a strong password, and either remember it or write it down. If you forget your password then you will have to start again.

7. Ready to install

You are now given a summary of what you have specified.

This is your last chance to back out or change your choices. When you press "Install" the computer will do what you have told it to do.

a. Go and have a cup of tea

Your job is done and now your computer takes over. You can now have a break, go feed the cat or whatever. How long it will take will depend on the speed of your hard-disk and processor as it copies everything over.

If you need something to do then can surf the Internet using Firefox or watch the included video of Nelson Mandela:

b. Installation complete - restart computer

When the computer is finished, you are then offered the chance to restart. If you are doing something on the Internet then there is no rush, the computer will wait until you are ready. Any documents that you have saved inside the LiveCD environment will be lost on reboot, so email them to yourself or copy them onto the hard disk.

c. Remove the CD

When the installation is done then you will need to remove the CD.

d. Log in

Your computer will boot up to your new Linux operating system:

Log in with your username and password that you created earlier.

e. Look for notifications

There is no rest for the wicked, and an angel's work is never done. As soon as you log in, your new system will start begging for your attention.

I have two notifications, as we can see if we zoom in:

Let's deal with them one at a time.

f. Install Updates

So we start by clicking the orange and white icon to install the updates.

This brings up a new window as follows:

We simply click 'Install Updates' and it automatically downloads and installs the latest software.

g. Manage restricted drivers

A bus-driver controls his/her bus and makes it do what it needs to do, such as going forward at the correct time and stopping at the bus stops. Likewise, a device driver is a small piece of software that tells computer hardware what to do. So a wireless driver tells the wireless card to send a packet somewhere, the printer driver will tell the printer to print, or the graphics driver will tell the graphics card to put images on the screen.

Many drivers on a Linux system are provided through the Linux Kernel Organization, however the drivers to do with the graphical subsystem (called 'X') are provided through the X.Org Foundation, some other types of device have drivers provided via elsewhere.

To get to the point, my second notification was about my graphics driver:

So I have a choice of two graphics drivers. The open-source driver supplied by the X.Org Foundation or the proprietary driver supplied by the manufacturer of my graphics card, the 'restricted driver' to use Ubuntu Linux's terminology.

Let's imagine that we do not understand this option, we can click 'Help'. Whenever you do not know what something does, click the Help button to learn more.

So we receive a nice three part answer to our problem. In this case my graphics card manufacturer, Nvidia, keeps everything secret from its customers. So if I use the restricted Nvidia provided driver, it might be more powerful, but if there is a problem then we have to wait and hope that Nvidia cares enough to fix it. However, the X.org driver is completely in the open, the code behind the driver is not only available for public peer review, but anyone in the Linux/open-source community can improve the driver or fix problems with it.

This comes down to personal preference. Some people only use the open-source driver on principle, while others merrily use the restricted driver. A third approach is to use the open-source driver to start with, and only switch later on to the proprietary and restricted driver if you find that you need to.

That is quite enough for today! In a future post we will do a quick tour of the default applications. Play on!

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