I outsmarted myself this morning in attempting to download and install the Debian client for SecondLife my package manager got “smoked”. Oh, well it was time for a rebuild and that’s what’s going on right now. That’s the beauty of Ubuntu. I backed up my files to DVD and popped in the Live CD on this Dell 6400 and while it’s installing my new system, I’m writing about it on my blog. You just can’t do that in Microsoft Windows. I thought too that if this were a Windows system reinstall I’d have lots of applications to reinstall. I’d have to get out CDs, DVDs and documentation. I’d have to resurrect anti-virus serial numbers etc. Not so with Ubuntu. In a few minutes the OS install will conclude, I’ll add some extra packages, but the base system will be ready and of course there won’t be any anti virus to worry about.
I don’t think I’ll try that Second Life install again right away but even if I do it’s much simpler to go back to square one with Ubuntu 7.04 than it is with any version of Microsoft Windows I’ve ever used.
The installation is complete now. I should have timed it but I’m sure even with the backups I’m well under an hour. Any version of Windows even with the hardware I have would be a two hour job plus I don’t know how long it would take to download the updates.