Running “sudo rm -rf /” deletes your Linux or Mac OS X while it is running.
Running “sudo rm -rf /”
You probably wouldn’t want to do that unless you’re really really bored.
I’m terribly sick of finding out how to make Windows Vista boot first using GRUB, so I posted it here. I dual-boot Ubuntu and Windows Vista and spend most of my time using Windows Vista. Hope it helps you guys too.
First, you’ll have to launch your terminal in Ubuntu. It’s probably at Applications > Accessories > Terminal.
Type this in terminal
gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
You’ll be prompted for you password as this operation requires elevated permissions.
There are some GRUB settings that you can consider changing:
timeout sec
You can change it to 5 seconds like I did so it loads into your OS faster. I’m always away from my computer during the boot up ’cause I hate to watch things boot up.
timeout 5
default num
Changing the default startup OS is extremely helpful.
default 6
(Booting up to Ubuntu or Windows Vista using GRUB.)
Why set default to 6? Windows Vista is the at position 6, remember that programmers, unlike my kindergarten teacher, loves counting from 0. From the above picture, my ‘default’ should be set to 6. It may be different in your set up.
Below is a preview of how the GRUB options look like, from the item 0 (Ubuntu) to item 6 (Windows Vista).
## ## End Default Options ##
title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
root (hd0,1)
kernel ...
initrd ...
quiet
title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,1)
kernel ...
initrd ...
title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic
root (hd0,1)
kernel ...
initrd ...
quiet
title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,1)
kernel ...
initrd ...
title Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+
root (hd0,1)
kernel ...
quiet
### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root
# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Windows Vista/Longhorn (loader)
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1
The above codes worked for me and I hope it is helpful for you. This should work for Windows XP too I guess. Please know what you’re doing before you save anything. You may want to backup menu.lst too.
Finally I got some time away from my work and I decided to explore something new. I decided to install Ubuntu. I am familiar with Windows and the Mac but I haven’t really touched Ubuntu. So I shrink my Windows Vista partition by 60 GB and throw in Ubuntu to dual-boot.
Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system, it is free and open-sourced. I downloaded the CD image, burned it and restarted my computer. I was greeted with an Ubuntu startup screen which is really good so far.
I should add that prior to the installation, I did not read much documents except for one that tells me that it’s possible to dual boot Windows Vista and Ubuntu. So this Ubuntu thingy is totally fresh for me.
It didn’t take long to go into the Ubuntu screen, I am plesantly surprised that you can immediately start to use Ubuntu without installing it into your harddisk, it’s something really cool although that really isn’t what I want. I continued through the installations, selecting the partitions and formating it. It requires a bit of experience, make sure you don’t format your Windows partition or you’ll go crying for several days.
The installation is straightforward. Upon restarting, the Ubuntu screen prompted me to eject the CD too, that’s quite thoughtful. Once I loaded the Ubuntu screen, I eagarly explored everything I can click. I installed all the updates, download more programs and installed more updates.
Ubuntu manages to install the right drivers for every device I have. I thought my Microsoft keyboard volume buttons wouldn’t work but it did! The only button that didn’t work is the Windows button.
What I like about Ubuntu:
- I love the automatic updates feature. It’s quick and easy to use and updates all your software at once. The downside to it is that Ubuntu don’t always have the latest program files in their repository unfortunately. But it’s much better than Windows Update that doesn’t update a whole lot of other non-Microsoft applications. That’s how auto-updates should be.
- Ubuntu felt faster and has a decent interface. It’s definately better than Solaris but not as good as the Windows and Mac interface in my opinion.
- Ubuntu did right which sorting the applications menu in Internet, Programming and Games and blah blah. Windows tend to use the software publisher’s name which is nonsense. I can’t remember who publish what sometimes. That is why in Windows Vista, there is this little search thing to help you. But seriously Windows should just throw away the idea of installing based on application publishers.
- I really like that Ubuntu buddle OpenOffice, Firefox and a bunch of other cool tools. You can go to Add/Remove Applications to should what you want. It can be sorted by priority and there is this rating that you can follow. I installed almost all the 5-star programs to try. I mean it’s 5 stars, it should be pretty good.
What I don’t like about Ubuntu:
- There ought to be a much easier way of installing themes, learn a thing or two from Mozilla Firefox. Installing themes is just too user-unfriendly in Ubuntu.
- It’s not easy to install programs that you download from somewhere other than the Ubuntu repository. I am all for the idea of setup wizards actually. It’s easy to use and quite customizable.
- Somehow… I could get my display driver to use 1440 x 900 pixel desktop. I have to use 1280 x 800 instead which kinda upsets me for the past hour.
- And the fonts aren’t as pretty as the ones found in Windows or Mac. There isn’t much to choose from too. I would prefer a more familiar-looking font to ease my transition towards Ubuntu.
- I really missed things like iTunes, Windows Live Messenger, Photoshop and Microsoft Office 2007. My friend is telling me that I can use Wine to get those back but it’s okay I guess. I intend to use Ubuntu for development and testing. [GIMP is not Photoshop, stop promoting it as a Photoshop alternative. It's so insulting for Photoshop.]
After my two-hour try out, I think Ubuntu is good. Not great, just good. There are a couple of times when you’ll really need command prompt to proceed, that’s not really the human way that Ubuntu keep advertising. Eventually I would love to see Ubuntu installers being made, easier installation of themes and my favorite 1440 x 900 screen resolution.
If you have Windows and you’re feeling adverturous, do give Ubuntu a try, you may just be pleasantly surprised. But don’t be all ready to throw away your Windows, Windows still win in many areas, in particularly embracing the human way of installing and uninstalling programs.
The fact that Ubuntu is free must not be used as an excuse why it can’t be better than Windows or Mac. If so, Ubuntu’s no-cost deal would backfire and discourage innovation and competition. Ubuntu must challenge the paid operating systems to become better. Perhaps another 10 years, Ubuntu would be the standard operating system. Perhaps… Many perhaps.
Despite abilities to shoot cob webs and looking nerdy in real life, Spider-man isn’t spared from office hours annoyances such as the Windows 98 blue screen of death (BSOD).
So you know what Green Globin use in his oh-so-secret lab, it’s not that advanced.
I bought my son this Mega Bloks set this evening:
Imagine my elation when I discovered that a clever designer managed to sneak a Win98 BSOD into the set!
The problem with Windows Vista is the confusing editions. There is just too many editions. Windows should really just have two editions maximum - the Home Premium one and the Ultimate one. Or perhaps just have one - that worked well for Apple.
Hi, I’d like to buy a copy of Vista.
Which one would you like?
(The Joy of Tech - The many editions of Windows Vista. The original watermark says joyoftech.com.)
I was looking at the break down of operating system share for the blog since I have nothing to do today. Not surprising that Windows is top actually.
* Windows (90487) - 80.9 %
* Unknown (16540) - 14.7 %
* Macintosh (4180) - 3.7 %
* Linux (600) - 0.5 %
* Unknown Unix system (22) - 0 %
* Symbian OS (10) - 0 %
* OpenBSD (9) - 0 %
* Sun Solaris (2) - 0 %
I was thinking like, huh, there are people using OpenBSD and Sun Solaris? Oh wow… And Symbian OS too. I think it would be a deprived experience if you view //beconfused through a mobile phone. I haven’t tried it as I don’t have a phone that can actually do that. Anybody tried viewing my blog in a mobile phone?
On Monday, I actually went for a Linux talk. I do not use Linux. I don’t really know what that is for. I don’t think it’s for the desktop. I know it’s more for the servers.
But anyway, I went to check out the seminar. Just for fun. [And for the Apple iPod Suffle that I could stand a chance of winning - I didn't win.]
It is my first Linux seminar. I just went there so that I can understand more about Linux. I have been hearing a lot about Linux, I got to know what the whole thing is about.
It says the topics include:
* Linux is Better For Business!
* Tools to Develop New Applications on Linux
* Tools to Support Linux Based Team Development
Great. I am interested in the application development part of Linux. That would be interesting for me. So I went there. It’s quite packed. Jakob Carstensen and Siva Anne speaks in the seminar, I don’t know who they are but they’re people from IBM.
Yup - IBM. The whole Linux seminar is essentially a _IBM-has-Linux-solutions-so-please-buy-our-development-tools_ talk.
Well, it’s part of some IBM Technology Submit. The seminar is okay. Not fantastic, just okay. I find biotechnology talks more exciting at times. Perhaps it’s because I don’t know what Siva Anne is refering to sometimes. At the end of the submit, I stil have no idea what Eclipse is. To me, it seemed like a class library like Java. It gives a common interface much like windows forms. And at the same time it seemed to be an integrated development environment or an extension of some sort. I am totally confused.
The seminar consists of:
* 15% for pro-Linux education
* 25% of the time talking about IBM commitment and involvement in Linux and the open-source community
* 40% of the time goes to introducing the products that IBM offers for Linux
* 10% for giving away free gifts that I didn’t get
* the rest are strictly for Microsoft jokes - I mean - what is a Linux seminar without Microsoft jokes!
At the end of the seminar, I understand IBM offers products for Linux which is great - Rational, Tivoli, WebSphere, Lotus etc.. I don’t understand Rational at all. They went through the entire presentation (in a Windows machine) about this Rational application development tool without seeing a damn screenshot. What the fuck is IBM thinking!
They introduce Linux, that’s great. And so I wonder - how does Linux look like. And both fellows are using a Windows machine. I don’t get to see Linux. I don’t get to see Rational. Not even a single screenshot available - just a bunch of penguin pictures.
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