Ubuntu

I've spent the last couple of days distro hopping on my netbook and ended up with a pretty impressive UNR (Ubuntu Netbook Remix) 10.04. It had been happily running Linux Mint 8 XFCE with full Compiz effects before that.

A few weeks back Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, asked it's users which non-free applications they'd like to see made available in their Apps Store. The idea as far as I can work out is to take these figures to vendors like Adobe to try and convince them to port applications like Photoshop and Dreamweaver to Linux. The idea is to prove to Adobe that there's a market for their investment. There's one small problem however.

The last couple of weeks saw the release of both Windows 7 and Ubuntu Linux 9.10, both of whom had people throwing launch parties to celebrate these events but something didn't sit right with me about the idea of Microsoft doing them. It's taken until now to organise my thoughts and explain what I mean.

While listening to the Ubuntu UK podcast interview with Matthew Paul Thomas from Canonical about the Ubuntu App Store a few thoughts occurred to me. Before I start with them, what is the Ubuntu App Store? The easiest description would be the merging of 4 separate applications normally found on Ubuntu Linux for installing, removing and updating applications into one single application with the added ability to include paid for software. Think Apple's App Store, but with added freedom.

This post is aimed at helping new Linux users start to find their feet with some of the differences in the way things are done in Windows compared to Linux. My screenshots all come from Linux Mint7 XFCE CE, which is fully compatible with Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty, so the same applies. All mainstream Linux distros suitable for newbies will have a very similar approach although the exact tools may vary slightly.