Thank you (My story)! ...and is there an idiot's guide to Kubuntu?

[Karl]

For a final we are allowed to use our laptops, but we have to have everything formatted so that there is nothing on the computer except the OS. My handwriting looks like a third graders, while I can type around 100wpm (if I'm going for 100% accuracy), so the choice was simple. I put in an old Windows XP CD that was sent to me, I deleted all the partitions, and started the process while I got up to go get find the drivers disc. Well, I didn't find a drivers disc. Instead, like out of something out of a comedy, I found a picture of a disc that had a little message from Dell printed on it - it said, tauntingly, "You don't need drivers..."

Apparently there was a recovery program on one of the partitions I deleted, but at this point I wasn't worried. I went to the manufacturer website and downloaded what I can only assume are drivers (it was sort of vague... lots of numbers and codes - not so many descriptions.) And so when XP finished installing, I tried installing the drivers. But whenever I would try to run them they would say that they needed SP2 installed to work, or it would just give me some weird error. Well, I needed my computer to take my final! Seriously, I can't handwrite a 2000 word essay in 2 hours! My fingers would fall off! But anyways, when I had googled trying to find help, I saw some people mention that Kubuntu worked awesome for them for their e1505s. So, I used a different computer to download and burn an .iso Kubuntu, I popped it into my lobotomized laptop, and I hoped really intensely that it would work.

At first I was worried, because during the install process I got this message:

"The security updates on security.ubuntu.com couldn't be accessed, so those updates will not be made available to you at this time. you should investigate this later.

Commented out entries for security.ubuntu.com have been added to the /etc/apt/sources.list file."

(I think this was just because it couldn't access the internet.)

Kubuntu saved me... and my grade.

Not only did it work, but with only one exception, things work better now than they did with XP. And that is WITHOUT downloading any drivers! I was able to use OpenOffice to write my final, and the free burning software to burn it to a disc and hand it in at the end of class. I never thought that it was possible for a single disc to work so well without having to hunt down the drivers! It is amazing! I am still amazed!

Unfortunately, I also have no clue how to get my wireless to work. And after writing a 3,750 word term paper in 5 days, and bombing a statistics final, and not doing especially well on an ethics final, I'm sort of demoralized. I feel so stupid, and tired, and dumb. And I want my internet to work! I've read a couple guides that were supposedly newbie-esque, but they didn't seem to match-up with what I was using - there are no wireless network . When I put in the CD it says 7.10 i386, and so I think that it is Gutsy Gibbon.

The Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945 Network Connection driver for Linux appears in the "Restricted Drivers" thingie. And there isn't a check by it, but once I log in, in administrator mode the check appears next to it. And it says that it is in use, and the LED for the wireless keeps flickering so it is doing SOMETHING. But it doesn't appear in...

So, as I write this I decided to double check and make sure that I was giving you guys good information. And it then occurred to me that perhaps while they called it eth0 and eth1 that it didn't stand for ETHERNET connection. So I went in, and enabled them. And then I RIGHTCLICKED the connect picture.

OMFG.

I HAVE INTERNET.

I AM DANCING AROUND. NO JOKE. AFTER ALL NIGHTERS AND BOMBED FINALS, THERE IS GOOD NEWS. AND IT IS ALL THANKS TO KUBUNTU. THANK YOU. THANK YOUUUU... I AM NEARLY IN TEARS. WOW. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WORKS. I REALLY SHOULDN'T BE GETTING THIS EMOTIONAL OVER SOFTWARE.

I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO USE MY COMPUTER AGAIN.

:_)

Thank you for reading my message. I just felt like sharing. I don't need an idiot's guide anymore... I just need to be able to read my gmail and PsycINFO and JSTOR. *cries*

Thank you Kubuntu...

[Snowhog]

Re: Thank you (My story)! ...and is there an idiot's guide to Kubuntu?

"And another escapee from the Redmond Institute of Win-dased Sheeple, having come across the Oasis in the wilderness that is Linux, is welcomed to the freedom of choice and personal empowerment."

Don't worry, that blazing light you see is only the truth that has been hidden from you during your imprisonment in the Dark Zone! But be warned: continued exposure to Linux will lead to increasing levels of euphoria. You have been warned.

[integr8e]

Re: Thank you (My story)! ...and is there an idiot's guide to Kubuntu?

That's pretty much incredible! I've just had a few experiences pulling all-nighters before finals myself, and certainly wouldn't have been able to accomplish as much as I did without Kubuntu. It's good stuff, I wish more people knew about it

You probably have the most inspiring Kubuntu testimony I know of, and as I was told when I first started poking around with Kubuntu (back in August), "Welcome!"

Snowhog,


Edit: I can't stop grinning, I think I've concocted a bad case of . . . euphoria

[Karl]

Re: Thank you (My story)! ...and is there an idiot's guide to Kubuntu?

Thank you for the welcome, and I thought it was quite inspiring too. That is why I wanted to share it. :_) Now I am going to go pass out. Thank you Kubuntu people, thank you!!!

[integr8e]

Re: Thank you (My story)! ...and is there an idiot's guide to Kubuntu?

Something else you might find helpful, if you would like to play DVD's or various audio formats such as WMA, you'll want to check into adding the Medibuntu repository. You can find the libdvdcss* and w32codecs there.