Thread: Ubuntu: Ditching the GUI - Help!

I've been running Ubuntu for a couple of months now on my super-super low-powered nettop. It's been fine in every single way, but I've been trying to learn all the unix commands as well because I'm cool.

I know some people who live in emacs or shell. I'm wondering what common tools do people use for applications that are designed for the 21st century in basic text mode i.e. tty1-6. I'm looking for the following:
Web browser (I've tried lynx and I'm not too impressed, any suggestions?)
Email client
IM client with XMPP/AIM support (finch is awesome. any other favorites?)
WIFI connecter... I really need this. I don't know much about drivers, could someone elaborate?

I know most applications that run on Ubuntu can be drawn with X without having to launch GDM. But I'm not too sure how they work. Could someone explain the whole window management thing to me?



I'd also appreciate any explanations for a couple of commonly used Linux tools because I'm too lazy to read the man pages. Amongs which are grub, top, ps, grep. Also, any other commands I should be aware of? (Besides the obvious cd, ls, mkdir, cp, rm) Killer apps and favorite commands?

I'm currently using Lubuntu and planning to switch to other distro.

Here is my setup:
Browser = chromium (you could also try uzbl which is still in alpha)
Email = thunderbird (I would try mutt but I receive emails which are better read with images)
IM = pidgin + facebook chat plugin (don't know if the plugin works in finch)
WIFI = I don't know why I don't see any option to connect to wifi now (it worked before). I don't use wifi now so it's fine. Try searching for your machine if it has problems with wifi.

Originally Posted by overdigested

I know most applications that run on Ubuntu can be drawn with X without having to launch GDM. But I'm not too sure how they work. Could someone explain the whole window management thing to me?

I'm not an expert but I think ubuntu-desktop automatically launch X so you don't have to type a command.

Grub = GNU GRand Unified Bootloader. This is what you see before you boot Ubuntu. It's not a command you use every often.
Top = I think it's a list of all processes
grep = it's like searching for patterns; more like regex.

Example: grep "UFW BLOCK" /var/log/messages
It lists all messages that have been blocked by ufw

Instead of reading man page first. You could try "grep --help"

Also, this just came out. It'll help you familiarize commands.
Ubuntu Tips Applet Fills Your Brain with Useful Command Line Knowledge

firefox :P the best lool

have you tried ktorrent? its one rocking client!

Hi there!

I own a pretty low-powered netbook with linux, so perhaps my configuration will be of some help. Just as a disclaimer: I use Debian, not any variant of Ubuntu. But these are pretty similar and practically all you can have on one, is possible on the second.

I also use X server, yes with GUI for most apps. But I still consider myself pretty lightweight.

So:
1) Window Manager:
Drop GNOME (it's the default on Ubuntu), it's bloated and pretty resource-hungry. Forget about KDE or Xfce, too.

Go for something lighter....I use LXDE (I think Lubuntu uses it) and it's great - very fast, responsive and still incredibly intuitive and easy to use.

There are also many others, that need EVEN LESS horsepower: IceWM, Fluxbox, E17 (it's quite nice actually, try it sometime)... do a search and you'll find good tutorials on how to install, configure and use them.

2) Web browser:
I may second the chromium advice above, but if you look for FAST, LIGHT, FULLY FEATURED web browser, you just MUST try Opera...that's what I use for most purposes and it never failed me.

I also don't know if it's just me....but have you guys noticed that Chromium is DAMN SLOW with more than few tabs open on Linux, too?

Dillo/lynx/links2/w3m are my picks when you're willing to go more extreme.

3) IM:
Here I don't have much to say. Finch is awesome...however I'm using Pidgin (isn't that light after all, I know).

4) E-mail:
Little experience on this field, I always used some kind of browser plugin for Gmail.

5) WiFi:
Wicd is your choice. Works out of the box on most configurations, is very nice and quick. If you're willing to learn: it also has nice command line interface.

6) Torrents:
rTorrent is my client of choice, it works in terminal only.

Here's a very nice tutorial on it: Howto: Use rtorrent like a pro « Motho ke motho ka botho

If you don't want it (understandable, though it may change with time :) ), try Deluge/Transmission.

7) Console:
Keep using it and it will become a pleasure to write commands, I promise!
When I was a noob I found the whole concept scary and weird, but sooner or later you WILL WANT to use "screen". Do a search and you'll likely find worthwhile explanation on it.

About "living in shell concept": it's hard, but possible. Here are some suggestions from me:
Web browsing: lynx/links2/w3m
IM: you know the answer, and it's FINCH.
Torrents: rTorrent
Mail: Mutt
Wifi: Manual configuration of /etc/network/interfaces (I can describe WPA2 conf. for you if you want), or WICD-cli.

And yet again: you'll NEED screen to put it all together.

Have fun with penguin.

Sonia.