[Wftl-lug] Build a Ubuntu Box

[gar at meamil.net]

I can second that.  Building a desktop is pretty straight forward, and a low end barebones kit will get you most of what you need.  TigerDirect has several, but so do lots of other companies.  For my desktop, I paid the Microsoft tax, and got the lowest end Dell desktop I could find. It does all I need and more. 

When I was still in Salt Lake City, I gave a far from technically inclined friend a copy of Marcel's Ubuntu book. She was able to install Ubuntu from the book, and has been very happy with it.  It was quite the upgrade from Windows 98 for her. 

A note about Nvidia, I try to buy their boards too. However, whenever I update the kernel in RHEL, I have to rebuild the Nvidia kernel modules. Its not a difficult thing, but something to keep in mind, when you reboot and X fails to load. 

----- Original Message ----
From: Bob Irwin <rhirwin at lmi.net>


Donna,
    Building up a "desk-top" machine is not difficult nor particularly 
expensive.  Assuming that you want a basic machine, I would recommend 
something like a "barebones" kit, adding the drives of your choice, 
which will need to include a CD/DVD reader/writer and hard disk drive.
  
If your kit comes with a motherboard that had a display chip on board, 
use that.  If not, get a display board.  I would recommend a board with
 
the NVIDIA chipset, as they only use one driver for all their boards 
(the last I heard, anyway) and it is well supported in Linux.  Add a 
keyboard and mouse and you are set to go.  The only tool I have ever 
needed to assemble a machine was a Phillips screwdriver.  The kits that
 
I have assembled have come with instructions, and it is really a 
straightforward job.  Get a copy of Ubuntu, either by asking Canonical 
for one, or buying a book on Ubuntu with a CD or DVD included.
  Marcel's 
book is excellent, but the people at Canonical have written a good one 
too.  Once the box is assembled, pop the DVD or CD into the drive and 
the rest is a piece of cake.  Ubuntu is slicker than snot on a doorknob
 
to install on a machine.  Just answer a few questions and the rest is 
automatic.
    Try this website as an example, although there are more, I'm sure.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=31&name=Barebone-Kits

    I'm sure that there are any number of us on the list including 
myself that would be willing to help if you need any hand-holding
 during 
the process.  If you want more help, give me your phone number outside 
the list.  Good luck!

Bob



Donna Simonds wrote:
> Eric:
> Could you or anyone else out here help me find info on building a 
> Ubuntu 7.10 box. There is some info out on building a low cost 
> computer using 7.04 by Dave Shields but not much.
>  
> Donna Simonds
> DMSimonds is empowered by Ubuntu
>  
>  



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