Software is usually known as  packages in Ubuntu. There are two ways to install  packages in Ubuntu

1. The Hard way

2. The Easy way

The hard way is by using the terminal. You have to remember that the definition of hard depends on th user.

Go to Applications->Terminal. Type the name of the package you want. Suppose I want to install VLC media player.I type the name vlc in terminal. This is to check if the name I have typed is correct. If it is then the terminal will give the prompt

The program ‘vlc’ is currently not installed.  You can install it by typing:

sudo apt-get install vlc-nox

Just folow the prompt and type the line and it will install the package for you after typing the root password.

The easy way  is using the Synaptic package  manager.

Go to System->Administration->Synaptic Package manager. It will prompt you for the passsword.

In the quick search bar type the name of the required package. Right click on the check box of the required package and select Mark for installation. Then finally click on Apply and you are done.

Flight gear is the mother if all Linux games. It is all one of the most expansive and realistic flight simulators around. Just fire up Youtube  Metacafe and search for a video on Flightgear. It is so accurate that it is used for teaching purposes also. It is also absolutely free. However it has a high learning curve and so it will take a long time to master.

And don’t expect to shoot down other enemy aircraft. That is the job of a combat flight simulator.

Danger from the deep is an open source submarine simulator which allows a player to pilot a variety of WW2 era diesel submarine. Its has ultra realistic and allows the player to experience an authentic environment of a real WW2 submarine during wartime and promises loads of fun and hours of gameplay.

Click on the screenshot to download from the official website.

If you read the caption you might think that the game developer Valve has created a version of their addictive game Counter Strike for Linux. I wish that was true. Fear not. there is an equally addictive game for Linux called Assault Cube. Actually its not just for Linux but it will work on Windows and Macs (cross platform).

Its free, Open source, runs on Linux. features in game chat,its a first person shooter,has thousands of maps with hundreds of players at a time, its very light on system requirements , doesn’t  require a  high speed internet connection and its very very addictive.(Phew!). I might sound like a fan boy, because I am one as its very addictive.

Download the game from their official site

http://assault.cubers.net/

I haven’t got any screenshots yet but will add them as  soon as possible.

Rpm and deb files are similar to exe files for Windows. They are officially  known as packages  in the Linux community. Rpm stands for Redhat  Package Manager and Deb stands for Debian. Rpm files will work only on derivatives of Red Hat Linux like Fedora and Deb files will work only on derivatives of Debian Linux like Ubuntu.

Google’s Chrome Browser isn’t available for Linux. However that shouldn’t prevent you from using both. A developer known as SRware Iron has taken Chromes source code, its open source and ported it to Linux. It looks and feel the same as on Windows. However their is one good feature about the modified browser. They have removed some of the Googles monitoring software from the browser which gives you more privacy making it more lightweight without a compromise on privacy and feautres.

The download is not in a packaged format (rpm or debian)  and therefore is not distro dependent.

It can be downloaded here.

http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php

Good luck!

Who said Linux has a shortage of Games?

I love train Simulators, but I had to say goodbye to them since I started using Linux as all of them were written for Windows. However while surfing the net I stumble upon a Rail Sim that blew  my brains out. It was Open source it was Free, has Great Graphics. it has hundreds of routes and trains and the best of all it runs on Linux. In fact if you are using Ubuntu you need not go to the website  to download it. It will install if for you.

Its called OpenBVe

This is a Open Source Train Simulator based on the free BVE Train Sim for Windows.Here are the screenshots!

Cab View

External View

For further Information go to their websites.

http://openbve.trainsimcentral.co.uk/use/download_unix.html#openbve

http://www.railsimroutes.co.uk/index.html

More topics will be added soon …!

If you want to use Linux for the first time.  These tips will make it a much more trouble free experience.

1. Choose the most user friendly version of Linux like Linux Mint.
2. Go for a dual-boot with Windows rather than a full install.
3. Be careful with the partitioning if you have Windows, Delete or resize a Windows partition.
4. Delete the partition from Windows itself to make things easier.
5. While installing switch of the Internet connection. (It might install updates automatically).
6. After installation please do not update the system as it is not necessary.

After installing Linux the first thing users do is to update their Linux system following the prompt by the update manager on the task bar.

My advice is don’t  do it,especially if you are a beginner or have installed an Nvidia driver. The drivers are compiled specifically for your system. An update will change the nature of your system. Therefore the drivers may not work properly with an updated system and new users might think that their system has crashed!!. So please update only if their is a genuine problem or only if you are an advanced user !

Get used to the feel of the current system then change it.

The motto of the story is “If it ain’t broken don’t fix it “

Linux is not as user friendly as compared to Windows.  Linux still uses the command line extensively for installing and using applications whereas the command line is unheard of in Windows.

However that does not mean that you need to know rocket science to use it. Linux is getting more and more user friendly by the day. It is far more easy to use than the first Linux distro.It has come a long way since its initial arrival into the computing scene. Ubuntu Linux has finally brought Linux enormous desktop user  support.

Linux has many distro with varying levels of user friendliness. Arch Linux being the toughest and Ubuntu being the easiest.