Installing Linux Operating System - Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

I had thought of installing Linux long ago and have delayed and stalled and procrastinated.

In school this past year I became more convinced it had to be done because Microsoft had begun spying on people via Windows 10. Even more recently I saw how they had begun to take over my user account to force me into using the Microsoft account system. They want to hang onto customers, but not by offering better service or better prices, only by force.

Well, school is over and I'm studying a variety of things which may complement my schooling. I have looked a bit at the city's attempt to get a Municipal Area Network (a MAN) by participating in a contest run by Frontier Communications and I have been educated a bit about the state-wide effort to get broadband everywhere. I have studied the recent IBM computers to see what they are doing. There are a lot of them out there, so it may be good for me to know a few things before being asked questions. Their POWER processor (used in the AS400 and later) is still alive and evolving and their (newer) z/System processors are apparently doing very well. The limiting factor with IBM is their need to maintain backward compatibility. But, if someone wants to start with a z/System computer and add VMs with Linux or use only Linux, then IBM is onboard. They actually approve of Linux in a big way. They even have added something called an IFL to make their machines work better with Linux and they have a LinuxONE concept. Yes, IBM is perfectly comfortable with the Open Source world. The distributions of Linux they approve most are: Ubuntu, Red Hat, and SUSE. So, I've begun to look at installing those on my computer.

In fact, I now have a LiveCD (really a DVD) of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and have booted from it. It works just fine. I'll be installing it the rest of the way to my PC tomorrow. But, let me begin telling you about how I got this far. It's a bit strange.

I went to the http://www.Ubuntu.com webpage and began reading. instructions it was pretty horrifying. They didn't just say to download an ubuntu.msi file and click on it.

There is apparently an installer program which I have yet to find and the file you download from the site is an .iso file which can't be run as a program. I wasn't entirely stumped, but upset that these technically capable people still have a tin ear about the regular public. If you want to make your product accessible you have to do more.

Here's what I did instead:

Step 1:Discover how many bits your Windows computer uses for storage: Right-Click <Start>, select <System>, and look for System Type. My computer has Windows 10 and uses 64-bits for each character stored. Then, from Ubuntu.com, I downloaded the .iso file which is for a 64-bit computer. For my computer it was "ubuntu-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso". It's a big file, about 1.4 GB (1,400 MB).

Then I read other web pages for some instructions. I even found one Youtube.com video by a young kid (can't tell you his age, but he must have been <= 13) who knew how to install-to-dual-boot or install-toUSB perfectly and the video was helpful -- far more helpful than the Ubuntu.com site. I watched the kid's instruction video. He was very professional about it and gave all the important details. I couldn't have done better.

So, all it really required was media to boot from. My PC won't boot from any USB, so I had to look for some DVD disks (CD discs don't hold enough) and I found a package at Walmart. Thank you Walmart!

If you want to create a USB "LiveDisk" the kid's video said you need a tool to transfer the .iso file -- a Universal USB Installer (a UUI) and he gave a website. You will have to look this up and get this (or some other) tool for the job.

Step 2: I put in a new blank DVD (this won't work with a formatted disc) and knowing Windows 10 despite having no instructions from Ubuntu.com, I right-click on the .iso file and tell it to "burn to E:" (to the DVD).

It doesn't just copy an .iso file, it essentially opens a package (not unlike a zip file) and sets up enough file structure to put a bunch of files on the DVD. This gives me the essentials on the DVD

Step 3: On a pre-Win8 computer you have to get into the boot settings and set it to start from the CD-ROM drive. Well, I had already done this.

In fact, I have always had that as a default. It's not every day you put a bootable disc in the CD-ROM, so it doesn't hurt. then, when you do need it to boot it's ready. He also pointed out that on Win10 you go through the OS Settings to make an adjustment. I tried that and my computer didn't respond the same way. I'm not sure why. Anyway, I restarted the computer and it booted properly.

To adjust the boot order can be a little tricky. It may take a bit of practice. When you start/restart your computer there will be a quick display on the screen of some Fx function keys you can press to adjust your computer. You need to press the Function key which lets you go into the BIOS settings or Boot Settings. There you have an old-fashioned text-only display and you use the cursor keys or <Enter> key to move around. You navigate to the Boot section and Boot Device Priority. Here you want to ensure the CD-ROM (or USB if that is your desire and if it is possible) is first in the list and your hard disk drive is second. This way, when it boots, it will look to the disc in the CD-ROM (or USB) for the operating system to load. When you make a change, be certain to "Save and Exit". If you have the LiveDisk in the CD-ROM (USB) when it returns to booting, it will look there for the OS.

When I go ahead with the boot process it put the Windows window icon on the screen and I didn't know what it was doing, but then it brought up the boot loader menu and allowed me to pick LiveDisk Try Ubuntu. It loaded right up. No problems.

Step 4: I checked out the icons on the left side of the screen (the Launch bar) and I tried Firefox and everything worked fine, including the network connection.

I learned later that it changed something somehow because when I returned to booting Windows it had the time set incorrectly and I couldn't correct it.

There were 4 important steps, but there are a few more to fully install it on my hard disk. This is much less scary than anything the Ubuntu.com site suggested.

For tomorrow:

The kid went onto show how to partition your hard drive to install it there. It made perfect sense to me and I'll be doing that tomorrow. But, for now, know that getting a LiveDisk Ubuntu Linux is NOT hard and that YouTube.com videos can help.

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Suddenly, *******here*******, my Windows Operating system rebooted. I didn't ask it to. I wasn't given a choice to stop it. It just rebooted and installed updates for several hours. That's one more reason to switch away from Windows to an operating system that respects my control of my machine. Thank you Google (Alphabet) for keeping what I had written as a Draft.