http://omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/ea-ga...ftware-center/

Two free EA games land in the Ubuntu software centre. Yes, they are web based games but let's all install them to show that there is an appetite for games to be ported to Linux.

EA? I don't care what platform they're on. Not for me, thanks.

Same as, also not too intrested either.

The real way forward for Linux Games is
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...linux-at-last/

And the bonus side of that, Ati Nvidia will get the drivers in order

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...Linux%20Gaming

If there is enough interest other game manufacturers may follow suit. It's worth bearing in mind.

I was going to install them, just for you, but I can't bring myself to do it.

I tried a demo of Tiberian Twilight(?) a year ago for old times sake. (I was a C&C addict a decade or more ago)

I was disappointed and dismayed to find that either my gaming skills had atrophied or a new generation of rubbish programmers had designed it.

I couldn't get anything to do even the simplest thing.

Mind you I didn't look for instructions. The original games had quite a fat book with them.

I'm dual booting with 2 HDDs in the machine. One has a full install of Windows 7 and the other a full install of Kubuntu. If I want to reinstall either, It's really simple and there are no issues with the 2 interfering with each other. The primary boot drive btw is the Linux drive and Grub finds windows without any issues.

The latest Linux Mint distribution release candidate Linux Mint 13 (also called Maya) is now available for testing.

http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/testing/

I downloaded the popular Cinnamon version of it, burnt it to disc and tested it live on my existing system and it looks and works great.

For anyone intrested in Cinnamon. You can keep a eye on Cinnamon progress via...
https://github.com/linuxmint/Cinnamon/commits/stable

http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?p=190

http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/

Just had a weird font problem with google-earth on Kubuntu 12.04. The font it was using for the side sections (Search - Places etc.) looked like the characters were made up of small parts of the font.

Fix was to run it like: google-earth -fn anythingyoulike

Doesn't matter what word you put after the -fn and it doesn't pick up and use font if you name an existing one. Change the launcher icon settings similarly and all's well.

I think you have to install the Microsoft fonts to get Google Earth looking right in this regard. Silly really.

Yup, I did that and Verdana etc. was looking good in Libre Office Writer, but it didn't affect the look of GE fonts.

Finaly throw in the towel..

http://blog.mandriva.com/en/2012/05/...the-community/

As most of the Devs jumped ship a while ago and set up

http://www.mageia.org/en/

Then the chances of it continuing in any format is looking slim
Shame as i remember using it when i first started using Linux, it was good, but then i found i could get better\more for free from other Distros, as Mandriva wanted to charge.

Its been 15mths since last release, so anyone who wants a play, you can now get a sample of the next release..

http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-i.../2012/20120513
But be warned its only at Alpha 1 stage

Sad this. It was the first distro I ever actually installed and used, though I was late to the party (2006). I don't understand the idea of giving it to the "community". Like you say, they buggered off to make Mageia!

It was the first distro i managed to get working back when it was Mandrake. I think it was 7.2 that actually worked on my hardware and i switched from Windows full-time when 8.0 came out.

I used it for a couple of years before discovering Debian-based distros and switching first to Progeny then Libranet, where i stayed, until v3.0 came out and they wanted silly money for it.

Well I've just had my first hour on Ubuntu 12.04 after being a life-long Windows person.

I ran it from the CD which is a great way to do it without all that installing nonsense. Great to try out and test.

Of course I managed to get it looking more like Windows pretty quickly

Autohiding the taskbar, sorry I mean Launch thingy.
How do you get rid of the bar at the top of the screen?

Only big WHOOOOOOOOOOOO! so far is that the windows close X is on the other side to windows - That will take some getting use to.

Now: What about drivers? - The graphics card is working just fine as it is, but how do you do driver loading in Linux? (I have some other things connected and don't know if they are running or not)

In windows you can go to the Device Manager and see what is and isn't working and after locating a driver, you can load/update it from there. With Linux do you just have to find a driver and run it to install it? Is there a place like Device Manager where I can see if things are going ok?

Overall I think this Ubuntu desktop is something I could get used to and will invest the time needed to learn. Gonna be a steep learning curve!

Running from the CD is fine to get an idea of what you get, but that's about it. Any changes to configuration, like putting the close X back on the right, will only be effective after proper installation (either stand alone or dual boot with Windows). If you really don't want to install it, then you can use VirtualBox or VMWare on Windows and run as many Linux distros as you like within that. It's also a good way to practice installing an OS, in the virtual environment those programs provide, ready for if you do take the plunge and install it for real.

If graphics are working well enough for you, then there's nothing to do as regards drivers. It's very rare these days that any device (other than graphics cards) requires special attention, and it's usually only required for very recent or obscure hardware. But somewhere in the launch menu you'll find an 'additional drivers' application which will detect any hardware (usually graphics cards) which have proprietary drivers available for them. It'll take a minutes or so to probe what you have and then it suggests drivers you may install with just a click (and your user password).

And, before you ask, there's no need to install antivirus software for Linux yet. There are so few exploitable vulnerabilities discovered for it, and they usually get patched pretty quick, that it isn't worth worrying about.

OK Thanks for the info, I'll install it as a dual boot and then play some more.

(After backing up my Windows install!)

You may want to look at this..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55iUm...81B5E5A886C76C

and if you want to customise it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Et7S...E87A5993505AC6

Check the short video demos out at bottom of the page.

If you install Ubuntu, there's a checkbox at install time asking if you want to install third party proprietary software. If you need stuff like Nvidia drivers, you can check this and it will get the current available driver. Leave it unchecked and you will have only the open source driver, which depending on your card will determine the experience you have. If you have a fairly recent card I'd go for the proper Nvidia blob. Tick the box and let Ubuntu take care of it.

You can't get rid of the bar at the top. It's part of the deal.

Not installed Ubuntu for a while, but is the Extra Codecs tick box still there as well, on the same page as the driver question.

If it is i would recommend Neda_Turk ticking that as well.

My only bugbear against Linux is you can't necessarily double click and have to resort to the terminal.

Although fully qualified from Z80/6502 machine code onwards, and interpreters, and compilers.
I still can't get my head around opening a terminal and sudo apt get whatever With hyphens.

I can't remember the syntax. Although DOS seems to be 2nd nature with switches and /? or help.

Software Centers are good. Still have no idea where they store the executables and config.

I wrote my first CV on a DEC-mini unix system.

I was only using it as a Word Processor. 'The Software Teams' were using it properly.

I remember trying to do things like

.bo (bold)
.ce (center)
.it (italic)
Curriculum Vitae

Times change. Oh well, I don't hold my ignorance against anyone.

Iirc, it's all in the one tick box. Ticking it gets you the MP3 support and the proprietary Nvidia driver.

Typically Ubuntu stores packages in /var/cache/apt/archives. You can double click to execute .deb files, which then open up in the Software Centre. Like in Windows though, be careful where you get them from and that they are trustworthy. Easy install comes at a price, as any Windows user will tell you.