Booting Ubuntu Linux Live CSCI 130 – Fall 2008 Action Lab Dr. W. Jones

Introduction – What is Linux Linux is an operating system Linux is FREE Linux is perfect for software development – Many common IDEs and compilers are FREE Linux is perfect as a SERVER – Web, , ftp, NFS file, application Linux is NOT great for 3D gaming – Not many titles are released for Linux There are many ‘distributions’ of Linux – Ubuntu, RedHat, Fedora, Debian, Suse, Gentoo, Slackware, etc

Booting Ubuntu from Live CD There are many ways to install Ubuntu. Some (common ways) require resizing and re-partitioning your hard drive. Since you’ve probably already got Windows XP or Vista running on your laptop, a fast and safe(er) way to test- drive it is by booting the OS directly from the CD.

Booting Ubuntu from Live CD cont In order to boot from the CD we must make sure that there is a proper boot order. The computer must attempt to boot from the CD first before the hard drive (HDD).This can be done two ways. (keep in mind that your laptop may already be configured this way) If you have a newer laptop, it may have an option presented after a restart just as the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) posts. This option may be referred to as a “Boot Menu”. If so, hit the specified key to allow the system to boot from the CD first. If you do no have this, you’ll have to enter the BIOS and configure the boot sequence manually. You may need to ask your instructor for further information.

BIOS Post Screen Place the Ubuntu CD into the tray, and boot to the CD (using the methods previously described)

Menus FireFox Networking After Booting Into Ubuntu You’ll See Now we should do some initial configuration The “Panel”

Adding “Widgets” to the Panel Right-click on the panel, and click “Add to Panel” I personally like: Frequency Scaling Battery Monitor System Monitor Weather WorkSpace Switcher Screen Lock Don’t spend too much time on this, since we’re booting from the CD, any changes here will be lost. You can use a USB key to store the changes, but that is beyond the scope of this exercise.

After Adding Widgets You’ll See HINT: You can configure many widgets by right-clicking on them.

Check Out What’s In the Menus Just look around and see the names of what is there. We’ll be needing a terminal later, so go to: Applications  Accessories Then move the mouse over “Terminal” and LEFT-CLICK and click “Add to Panel” Now might be a good time to “get on the network” The idea here is to learn a little about what Linux has to offer.

Getting On the Network Click on the network icon and select CCUUnwired. If this is not available, your wireless chipset may not be ‘easily’ supported by Ubuntu. Try connecting your laptop to a wired Ethernet connection. As you laptop connects, you’ll see some animation here. After successfully connecting to wireless, you should see:

Adding New Free Software Synaptic is one way of searching for and adding new software. It can be found in: System  Administration  Synaptic

Let’s Download a Linux-type Zip File Linux often uses a tar.gz file type to agglomerate and compress multiple files You may need to set the preferences in Firefox to ask you for a save locations. (you’ll want to specify where to save files) Go to: Save the hello_py.tar.gz file to /home/ / Then open a terminal using this icon you installed on the panel.

Unzipping the file Once the terminal appears, you should be able to type “ls” at the command prompt and see your files. Keep in mind, Linux has all the same abilities to use things like “explorer” and other GUI interfaces in Windows using point and click, but for the sake of learning something new, we’re doing it this way. You should see the file: hello_py.tar.gz At the prompt, type “tar xvfz hello_py.tar.gz” You can use the tab key to quickly spell out the rest of the name for you, type typing just the first couple letters of the filename and then press tab. Now, press enter. Now type “ls” again, what do you see now?

Changing Directories (Folders) Type “cd hello_py” This switches you to the “hello_py” subdirectory Do another “ls”, what do you see? There are many Linux commands, don’t worry if you feel a little overwhelmed at first

Running a Python Program from the Command Line Type “python hello.py”, press enter Type “./hello2, press enter Is there any difference in output? Check out the code on the next slide:

Invoking the Python Interpreter This one has executed using the python command at the prompt: This one already had a directive at the top telling the shell where to look for the required interpreter.

Now For Some More Fun Go to the synaptic package manager Search for “chromium” Install it Run it by going to “Applications  Games  Chromium”