got my first Linux install up and running!

jellybean stonerfish

On Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:35:06 -0500, Anonymous wrote:

> I wouldn't cripple what's a very secure and time tested way of doing
> things just for some whiner with a ***** attached to it, no matter how
> good the ***** is. And from the sounds of it the ***** isn't all that
> terrific.

There are two types of men who say things like the above. One can't get
any ***** or doesn't like the taste. The other gets more than he wants.

Those who can't get enough understand why the OP is trying to keep his wife
happy.

stonerfish

ray

On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:21:55 -0500, OhioGuy wrote:

> I got Ubuntu installed on a second hard drive, so now I get the menu and
> can boot into it or Windows XP on the other drive. I think it's kind of
> nifty.
>
> My wife, on the other hand, hates it enough that it caused a huge
> argument. She is extremely upset that now there is a password to mess with.
>
> Ubuntu forced me to enter a username and password by default. I had no
> idea how to get around this and set it up like Windows XP, which doesn't
> require a username and password to be entered before using the system.
>
> Can anyone please help me? There has got to be some way to:
>
> A) set up Ubuntu so nobody has to enter a username and password
>
> &
>
> B) perhaps set it up so that the menu defaults to Windows XP for now, and
> not Linux?
>
> I think that would make my wife happy. I could still choose Linux
> whenever I wanted to play around with it, but it wouldn't seem intrusive to
> her, like I was trying to force something onto her.
>
> Thanks!

Since you've 1) received the info you need to do the tasks and 2) gotten a
bunch of smart-assed responses, I'll just add my two cents worth:

FWIW - three years ago at the local library, we installed Linux on the
vast majority of the public access internet computers - without telling
the patrons and without any 'training' - just did it. Currently we have
nine Linux computers, one XP and one vista. To date, there have been zero
complaints about Linux. It was what was there and folks adapted quickly
and easily.

In dealing with friends and associates, I've found two kinds of folks who
have been here and used our Linux computers at home (five Linux computers,
networked - I believe one of them can boot xp though we haven't done that
for over a year). One type are folks who are not particularly computer
savvy and simply need to get a job done. These folks adapt quickly and
easily to our Linux systems to do what they need/want. The other type are
pseudo tech savvy folks who think they know a lot about computers and have
invested much time in MS systems. Almost universally they reject our Linux
setup from the get go. And though they may use it when forced, they always
grumble about 'having to learn a new system'. Your wife does not fit
neatly into either category, but is closer to the second. The modern
Linux desktops, particularly KDE and Gnome are not so different that they
should pose any problems to someone accustomed to using a computer. It is,
IMHO, no more or less difficult than using MS - it is just a little
different. Have patience, and try to urge her to give it an honest go - if
you can get her to agree with that, she'll probably have very few real
complaints.

Yes, it's true that traditional Unix type logins are better for security,
but in your case that hardle seems to be an issue.

BTW - a migration strategy that has worked for some is to install
OpenOffice and Firefox on the MS system first and get the user accustomed
to that - then changing to Linux is less of a deal. And, BTW, there is a
desktop called XPDE (xp desktop environment) which is installable on Linux
- perhaps that would ease her transition - she would hardly be able to
tell the difference.

limestone-cowboy

OhioGuy wrote:
> I got Ubuntu installed on a second hard drive, so now I get the menu and
> can boot into it or Windows XP on the other drive. I think it's kind of
> nifty.
>
> My wife, on the other hand, hates it enough that it caused a huge
> argument. She is extremely upset that now there is a password to mess with.
>
> Ubuntu forced me to enter a username and password by default. I had no
> idea how to get around this and set it up like Windows XP, which doesn't
> require a username and password to be entered before using the system.
>
> Can anyone please help me? There has got to be some way to:
>
> A) set up Ubuntu so nobody has to enter a username and password
>
> &
>
> B) perhaps set it up so that the menu defaults to Windows XP for now, and
> not Linux?
>
> I think that would make my wife happy. I could still choose Linux
> whenever I wanted to play around with it, but it wouldn't seem intrusive to
> her, like I was trying to force something onto her.
>
> Thanks!
>
>


I was having problems with two Linux installations and one XP Pro
install on the same PC with grub installing into different places.

Try installing startup manager
()
Should be simple enough for you to sort out.

Regards

andrew

On 2008-01-09, Chris Game <> wrote:
> On Wed, 9 Jan 2008 15:49:42 +1100, andrew wrote:
>
>> SWMBO can always be a problem with a move to Linux. From long
>> experience the only solution is to have a 'main' computer for
>> her, running XP and a 'lesser' computer running Linux for
>> yourself.
>
> Yes, I can just imagine the scene in the Andrews' household when
> Andrew tries to persuade a long suffering partner to use
> Vim/Mutt/SLRN instead of modern stuff:
>
> Ms Andrew:"You mean it's complicated because people actually like it
> that way???"
> Andrew:"Er, yes!"
> Ms Andrew:"Give me strength!"

No it is worse. There is a special 'look' she gets on her face and she
says 'really' or nods her head every couple of minutes and does not
listen at all ....

Andrew

--

Ann K.

On 2008-01-09, OhioGuy <> wrote:

[snip]

> Ubuntu forced me to enter a username and password by default. I had no
> idea how to get around this and set it up like Windows XP, which doesn't
> require a username and password to be entered before using the system.
>
> Can anyone please help me? There has got to be some way to:
>
> A) set up Ubuntu so nobody has to enter a username and password

You want autologin. System, Administration, Login Window, Security.

> B) perhaps set it up so that the menu defaults to Windows XP for now, and
> not Linux?

Change the default setting in /boot/grub/menu.lst . See


--

Ann

Nomen Nescio

jellybean stonerfish wrote:

> On Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:35:06 -0500, Anonymous wrote:
>
> > I wouldn't cripple what's a very secure and time tested way of doing
> > things just for some whiner with a ***** attached to it, no matter
> > how good the ***** is. And from the sounds of it the ***** isn't
> > all that terrific.
>
> There are two types of men who say things like the above. One can't
> get any ***** or doesn't like the taste. The other gets more than he
> wants.

You're making no sense at all.

Most of your obtusely described "type two" personalities would also be
"type one". IOW, your failed attempt at wit really only describes one
class of individual on both sides of the conjunctive "or", so it pretty
much falls over dead of a suicide.

And you neglected the whole of what's commonly referred to as real men
anyway, who generally get just what they desire with rare exceptions
that are dealt with in understandably mature and manly ways.

>
> Those who can't get enough understand

I'll bet you do.

Those of us who get all we want understand too. We understand that some
of you have no choice but to live the life of sniveling manginas if
you want any at all, and we laugh about that all the time.

All BS aside, the problem here isn't passwords, or Linux, or anything
like that at all. If your S.O. actually *fights* about having to enter
a password to access an *alternative OS* for ****'s sake, you
desperately need to either find a different partner or become eternally
celibate. That goes for men *and* women. If your husband is that big of
an asshat, kick him to the curb like so much rubbish. He's probably
beating you anyway.

Christopher Hunter

andrew wrote:

> No it is worse. There is a special 'look' she gets on her face and she
> says 'really' or nods her head every couple of minutes and does not
> listen at all ....

I had one like that a few years ago. I've now moved on to Wife 2.0 - this
one works /much/ better!

C.

NoStop

Christopher Hunter wrote:

> andrew wrote:
>
>> No it is worse. There is a special 'look' she gets on her face and she
>> says 'really' or nods her head every couple of minutes and does not
>> listen at all ....
>
> I had one like that a few years ago. I've now moved on to Wife 2.0 - this
> one works /much/ better!
>
> C.

I used to dual-boot, but now I run Ubuntu exclusively.

Cheers.

--
Boot It Up!

OhioGuy

Thanks everyone - my wife can live with it now, since she knows she has to
turn the monitor on first, then catch the boot menu. I used your advice to
remove the username and password login, which was quite painless.

Now my son likes to play the "worm" game, which is a lot like an old one
called "snake" or something like that I remember from the 80's.

One thing that really surprises me is that it doesn't seem to have any
support for playing a DVD or video file! It isn't connected to the
Internet, so I guess there is no way we can download the relevant video
codecs.

On XP Pro, I just use VLC Media Player to play everything, except for
DVD's. I'm still using the free NVDVD I got with my trusty old Nvidia TNT2
video card about 8 years ago. It seems to be the smallest program I've been
able to find, and it has very little graininess compared to some of the
bigger programs.

clay

OhioGuy wrote:
> Thanks everyone - my wife can live with it now, since she knows she has to
> turn the monitor on first, then catch the boot menu. I used your advice to
> remove the username and password login, which was quite painless.
>
> Now my son likes to play the "worm" game, which is a lot like an old one
> called "snake" or something like that I remember from the 80's.
>
> One thing that really surprises me is that it doesn't seem to have any
> support for playing a DVD or video file! It isn't connected to the
> Internet, so I guess there is no way we can download the relevant video
> codecs...

The 'illegal' stuff is not open source so it's not included in the install.
you can grab the w32codecs from medibuntu, throw them on a floppy to
xfer, and install them manually.