FAO fo3nix & ChuckFickens

[logic]

Hi,
have taken your advice and now running Ubuntu 9.04
finding a few minor issues with it, but it is working much better than Freespire,Main probs are,
can't load Skype,
e/mail seems a bit clumsy, after being used to incredimail.
But still learning, Thanks for your help chaps,
Pete.

[ChuckFickens]

how are you trying to load skype?

Try this link, it should prompt you to open the file with the package manager, put your password in and it should work.

http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-deb

Hmmm, incredimail is rubbish, you are far better off away from it! it's well worth taking the time to get used to a proper mail client!

[fo3nix]

I've never used Incredimail, so don't even know if it's web-based or a client program.

I believe Ubuntu comes with Evolution, which is like Microsoft Outlook in that it combines a calendar, mail client and contacts.

Another option is to try Thunderbird. This is also available for Windows, and is very popular. Made by the same people that make Firefox. It's just a mail client, but can use an extension called Lightning to add a calendar, or use another Mozilla program called Sunbird, which is a standalone calendar program.

Whenever installing anything with Ubuntu (Linux in general), it's best to get the things from official repositories (repos) first, and only from a website as a last option.

A repo is just a machine storing programs ready to download, that have been checked by the maintainers of Ubuntu, so are likely to be free of viruses, spyware, etc.

If you click System -> Administrator -> Synaptic package manager (I think that's the link) from the top menu bar, you will be presented with a list of programs and other items, available in the repos.

You can use this to download programs from, such as Thunderbird. Just search for what you want, read the description to make sure it's the right thing, and tick the tick box, and click update.

https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/

There's some really good documentation there, that should get you started.

Some programs, like Skype, aren't open source so can't be packaged by other people (such as the maintainers of Ubuntu). With these things, you have to download the package from the website, as Chuck recommends.

[logic]

It's all very interesting,
I think i may well get to like this system,
pete.

[ChuckFickens]

Incredimail is a overly fancy all bells and whistles type mail client that really annoys the receiver of the emails as it tends to send non-standard HTML email with lots of pretty effects that make the sender go oooo and the receiver go arrrrrggghh!!. Ubuntu does come with evolution, which is actually a pretty good mail client.

I'm not sure if skype is listed in any of the official repositories Ubuntu, I'll check when I get home, but the link to the Debian package I gave should install it fine (again I'll double check that when I get home)

As Fo3 said, the best way to install software in ubuntu is using the package manager and although Fo3's directions to the package manager will work, it's quicker and easier to just click on the applications menu and select add/remove.

If you have any more problems with skype let us know what the problems are and I'll try and replicate them at home to find a fix.

[fo3nix]

Just to explain the difference:

Both the program 'Add/Remove Programs' and 'Synaptic Package Manager' do essentially the same thing.

They both grab software from the Ubuntu repos, making it easy to install and remove software (when new programs are installed, the files that are made are recorded, so to remove, they simply trace back their steps).

Add/Remove is designed for end-users, in that it only shows programs to download.

Synaptic Package Manager is designed for admins, who may want to download programs as well as other more advanced additions.

I agree with Chuck, it's probably better to stick to using Add/Remove.

Both should work as well for adding and removing programs.

Enjoy playing!

One such thing to do (I'll let you try and figure out by playing, or reading in the help files linked above), is to enable to Multiverse and Universe repositories, and add the ubuntu-restricted-extras file (in Synaptic only I would think). This adds support for some types of music files, and DVDs too I believe.

[logic]

OI, you two,
I'm a thick old 70 year old, and you are using words that iv'e never heard before in my life,
so if you are kind enough to continue helping, please bear in mind that I'm a thicket in this field,
and thanks again.
pete.

[fo3nix]

Just play about with it.

If it all goes wrong, you can just reinstall again.

Don't be afraid to poke about a bit, it's the best way to learn.