I’ve been a Java developer 6 years now and I never owned a Linux at home before. How embarrassing that is. Since I have an unused PC at home, I decided to start using one. There are so many flavors of Linux out there, but which one is the best for me? Easily, Ubuntu is the best choice for me. It is so easy to install and it is perfect for a beginner like me. Unlike those early years of linux where you have to memorize all those command lines to complete the installation, Ubuntu can be installed with several clicks of a button. I did it without reading any manual or documentation.
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I’ve downloaded the Ubuntu version 8.10 and burn the image into a single CD. How come it has small footprint for an OS? The installation only come with basic functionality and it let the user to add on other features or packages from Ubuntu archive sites. But don’t underestimate it when I said it only comes with basic features. With basic installation, you will have the complete range of applications from media player, office suites from Open Office, FireFox browser, games, and a lot more other stuff. I was really impressed.
After completed the installation, I can customized my Ubuntu by downloading the packages from Ubuntu archive to suit my needs. Like myself as a developer, I would need stuff like maven2 and subversion. How do I get them? Well, I don’t believe it myself when I did it for the first time. To get these stuff installed, I just need to type below command:
> sudo apt-get install maven2
> sudo apt-get install subversion
After typing each of above command, Ubuntu will actually goes online to the Ubuntu archives and download the package together with dependency packages. There are thousands of these packages in Ubuntu archive to suit for many needs. Depending of what you need to do, I’m sure you can customize your Ubuntu to meet your needs. You can go to http://packages.ubuntu.com to check out the myriad of packages available.
Eclipse also can be installed easily with get-apt command line.
So far my experience with Ubuntu has been great. I’m moving on to a better place now, it’s called Linux world. :)
