new on the system.Besides identifying yourself, you'll also need to assign a name to the computer itself. Ubuntu uses this name when advertising its presence on the network, as well as when referencing the system in log files. You should select a computer name that's unique on your network, is less than 63 characters long, and does not contain any special characters (although hyphens are allowed).One final setting — you must determine whether you want the system to automatically log you into your desktop, or to prompt for your login password. I wouldn't recommend using this feature on laptops that you may accidentally leave behind somewhere. If you'll be the only one using the desktop PC (and there aren't any nosy people around) you can utilize the automatic login feature to save some time. Otherwise, set it to prompt you for a password each time you log into your system.13 Sit back and enjoy the show!As the installation process proceeds the installer presents a series of informational slides. Scan over these slides to learn about the features available in your new Ubuntu system. I cover each of these features more in-depth in the upcoming chapters.
After the Ubuntu system is installed on the hard drive, the installation program prompts you to reboot. The next time your system boots, you'll be in Ubuntu-land!
Your First Ubuntu Boot
After rebooting Ubuntu, it either logs you in automatically and takes you directly to your desktop, or you'll be greeted by a login window, depending on the setting you chose during installation. If you're greeted by a login window, click your user account, then enter your password into the password text box (you do remember what you set, don’t you?).
The first time you get to your user desktop, Ubuntu asks a few housekeeping questions. Follow these steps to make your way to your desktop:
1 If you have a network account from Ubuntu, Google, Nextcloud, or Microsoft, select the appropriate icon from the menu. If you don't have a network account, or choose not to use it, click Skip.Ubuntu can sync many of your network account features such as your desktop calendar, along with any files you have stored in common cloud accounts from any of the listed providers. Just select the account type you have from the menu shown in Figure 3-9, then enter your login information, and select the items you want to sync.
2 Select whether you want to use the Ubuntu Livepatch feature. To use it, click Setup Livepatch. If you choose not to use it, click Next.The Ubuntu Livepatch feature allows you to link multiple computers to the Canonical cloud network. Canonical is the corporation that sponsors Ubuntu, and provides some advanced features, some for free, and some as a subscription service. You can link up to three workstations for free, or pay to become an Advantage member to link more. If you participate in the Livepatch feature, Ubuntu automatically installs all updates on your system without you having to do anything!FIGURE 3-9: Select your online account to sync.
3 Select whether to send Ubuntu a report on your installation experience. After you've made your selection, click Next.Ubuntu developers use this information to determine what hardware was or wasn't detected properly on your system during installation, as well as what additional software you've installed after the installation. This information helps developers determine what to include or leave out in future versions.
4 Select whether to enable location services, then click Next.Location services allow applications to determine your location automatically without having to prompt you.
5 Take a quick scan of the additional software available to install in the Ready to Go window, then click Done.This is just a small sample of the software available for you to install. The Ubuntu software repositories contain hundreds of open source applications ready for you to install and use! I walk through the software installation process in Chapter 15.
Congratulations — you've made it through all the installation and post-installation prompts! By now your head is probably spinning a bit, so take some time to collect yourself, then continue on in the book to learn more about your Linux system.
Installing openSUSE
When you install from a full core Linux distribution, you're in for quite a surprise. If you noticed from the Ubuntu Live installation, one thing that was missing was choice. Aside from configuring your hard disk partitions, Ubuntu Live doesn’t provide you with much control over what is installed on your system.
Life is a little different working with a core Linux distribution, such as openSUSE. You have lots more choices to control just what software the installation process installs, as well as how the installer script configures things.
This section walks through installing from the openSUSE full installation DVD. The openSUSE distribution also supports a Live install version, but if you want choices, the full installation is the way to go! Just follow these steps to get things installed:
1 Download the full openSUSE Leap full installation ISO image file from www.opensuse.org.At the time of this writing the openSUSE distribution currently supports two versions of the distribution:Tumbleweed is a rolling release that contains the latest versions of software. It's primarily intended for power users and software developers.Leap is the stable regular release version that is designed for normal Linux users like us.
2 Burn the openSUSE Leap ISO image file onto a blank DVD disk, or use a program such as Rufus to create a bootable USB stick.These processes are described in detail in Chapter 2.
3 Boot your workstation using either the DVD or the bootable USB stick. Click Installation to start the installation process.When openSUSE boots, you're greeted by a menu, as shown in Figure 3-10.The boot menu provides lots of options, including letting you boot from a hard drive in your workstation in case of an emergency, or to just upgrade an existing openSUSE installation. You want to perform a fresh installation, so select the Installation menu option.
4 Select your language and keyboard, then click Next to agree to the license.As part of this first step the openSUSE installation automatically detects your network setting. If it has problems, it may ask you for specific network settings for your environment. If it can detect your network automatically, it shows a window for you to select the default language and keyboard, as shown in Figure 3-11.As with Ubuntu, the openSUSE installation script attempts to detect your keyboard, but if you're using a fancy keyboard (such as the Dvorak layout) you may need to manually select it from the list.FIGURE 3-10: The openSUSE installation boot menu.FIGURE 3-11: The Language, Keyboard, and License Agreement window.
5 Select whether to use the openSUSE online software repositories. Click Yes if your PC has connectivity to the Internet so you can keep up with software changes and install new software.Most Linux distributions maintain software in online repositories to make it easier for you to upgrade software packages and install new ones (see Chapter 15). The openSUSE installation allows you to choose whether to use the online software repositories. When you select Yes, another window appears showing the different repository options, as shown in Figure 3-12.FIGURE 3-12: Selecting online openSUSE software repositories.
6 Select Next in the List of Online Repositories window.By default, the installer selects the standard software repositories for finding updates, security patches,
