installing ubuntu is just as hard as it is to install any other OS.
1. download iso from the ubuntu site
2. burn iso to disk (or usb but that's harder and boo hoo we are 5 year olds that dont know how to do computer so we dont do that)
3. insert disk in computer you want to install ubuntu on
4. reboot computer, mash f keys (this differs from bios to bios)
5. change boot preferences to boot from CD instead of hard drive
6. reboot
7. ubuntu now gives you an ability to run a livecd or install
8. follow the instructions on screen
i'd like to note that these steps are exactly the same for installing windows. (except that you cant run a livecd of windows)
debian even has a webinstall where you download a tiny iso, and during the install of debian you download the rest of the OS.
so network drivers probably aren't a problem, and if they are they are probably just as much of a problem for windows.
What's all this "iso" stuff? How do I burn it to a cd? When I have a windows computer, windows is already installed when I buy it.
There are basically four ways to install something on ubuntu:
way one: (this automatically installs dependencies)
1. open terminal
(optional step: type apt-cache search [searchterm] to search packages)
2. type sudo apt-get install [packagename]
3. type password
4. type Y
How do i know the packagename? Whats the password? Why can't I just buy a cd, or download an installer, and just install it?
way two:
1. open software center
2. search for the thing you need
3. install
That at least seems easy enough. But how do i get to the software center? and what if the thing I want isn't in the software center?
way three: (this is what steam uses)
1. download .deb file
2. double-click .deb file
3. confirm that you trust this file
4. install
Like an installer on windows, right? but where and how do I get these? and How do i know if I trust it?
way four: (rather uncommon)
1. download weird package
2. open terminal
3. navigate to weird package
4. type "./executablename" or "sh startscript"
HUH? What? How do I use this "Terminal"? How am I subbosed to navigate to the wierd package? Too much typing.
(bonus way 5: COMPILE FROM SOURCE
1. download source
2. open terminal
3. navigate to source files
(optional step: type sudo apt-get install g++ to install a c++ compiler)
4. type "sudo make install" )
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! What's compilign? why cant i just run my stupid program? *hides*
Also, how do I run any of these programs once i get them? where's the start menu?
ps: i usually use windows, just not now because i dont have a hard drive atm
I do as well. All spelling and grammar errors intentional.
being an idiot intentionally is dumb.
For 1 you'll usually know the packagename you need, because it is, as I said, documented on the download page. and you need to remember a password for windows too every time UAC asks you something (which is every five seconds). And an installer would be the .deb file.
the software center is rather obviously on the task bar, and there's even something resembling a start menu (i'd also like to note that windows 8 removed the start menu
)
"how do i know if i can trust this" is a dumb thing too, because every time you download an .exe in IE it tells you that the file could be malicious, and whenever you install something it also pops up a message "do you want to allow this program to modify your computer". And a lot of other M$ products contain various safeguards against "untrusted files". Windows has it WORSE than Linux in this regard.
there's plenty of things you can do wrong on windows too.
(4 is, as I said, rather uncommon)
(and you never actually have to use way 5 unless you want bleeding-edge stuff or you're a hardcore FOSS supporter that wants his software to be 100% botnet-free, in which case you're probably using gentoo instead of Ubuntu (which actually contains some proprietary parts iirc))
iirc you can buy some computers with linux preinstalled too, and saying windows is popular because windows is popular is... true, I guess, but I was comparing the complexity of INSTALLING ubuntu to the complexity of INSTALLING Windows. If your computer comes with an OEM copy of Windows, you're not installing it.