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This chapter is from the book

Getting Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an entirely free OS, and when you have a copy of it, you can give it to as many people as you like. This free characteristic of Ubuntu means that it is devilishly simple to get a copy. If you have a DSL or better Internet connection, head over to www.ubuntu.com/download, and select your country from the list of download sites. You can then select a desktop or alternate install CD based on your platform and download it.

If you are willing to wait, you can get a physical Ubuntu CD mailed to you from https://shipit.ubuntu.com. You will need an account on the Launchpad site to use the ShipIt service. If you don’t have one, just click on the Create a New Account link to create one. To use ShipIt, fill in the simple form and submit it. Your CDs will then be sent out.

You can also buy an authorized CD from a number of distributors, details of which can be found at www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/purchase.

Burning a CD

When you download an Ubuntu CD, you download a special .iso file, which is the same size as a CD (around 650MB). This file is an “image” of the installation CD. When you burn the .iso file to the CD-ROM, you have a complete installation CD all ready to go.

You need to use a CD-burning application to burn your .iso file to the CD correctly. Inside the application there should be a menu option called Burn from Disk Image or something similar. The wording and details will vary by the program that you use to burn the image. You should select the .iso file, insert a CD, and after a few minutes, out will pop a fresh Ubuntu installation CD.

To give you a head start, the following subsections present instructions for burning a CD in some popular tools.

In Windows with ISO Recorder

To burn your .iso file with the freely available ISO Recorder, first go to http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com, and then download and install ISO Recorder. To burn your image, follow these steps.

  1. Insert a blank CD into your CD writer.
  2. Locate the .iso file you downloaded, right-click it, and select Copy Image to CD.
  3. Click Next, and the recording process begins.
  4. When the image has been written, click Finish to exit ISO Recorder.

In Windows with Nero Burning ROM

To burn your image using Nero Burning ROM, follow these steps.

  1. Insert a blank CD into your CD writer.
  2. Start Nero Burning ROM.
  3. Follow the wizard prompts, and select Data CD.
  4. When the wizard finishes, click Burn Image on the File menu.
  5. In the Open dialog box, select the .iso file, and then click Open.
  6. In the wizard, click Burn to create the Ubuntu CD. When completed, click the Done button to exit.

In Linux with GNOME

To burn your image using Linux with GNOME, follow these steps.

  1. Insert a blank CD into your CD writer.
  2. In Nautilus, right-click on the file you just downloaded, and choose Write to Disk. The Write to Disk dialog box opens.
  3. In the dialog box, choose your CD writer and speed, and then click on Write. The Writing Files to Disk Progress dialog box opens, and Nautilus begins writing the disk.

Burning with Mac OS X

To burn your image using Mac OS X, follow these steps.

  1. Load the Disk Utility application (found in your Utilities folder).
  2. Insert a blank CD, and then choose Images > Burn and select the .iso file.
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