PeanutButterandJelly $andwiches, and then create one more good password
to use with a password manager program like KeePassX (available in the
Ubuntu software repositories; see Chapter 9, “Managing Software,” for
details on how to find and install it), which can generate long, completely
random passwords for you and keep them in a list that can only be viewed
by accessing your system and then accessing the program, both of which
will use good passwords. Let’s get back to the installation.While you are answering the questions asked by the installer, the Ubuntu
install begins to copy files to your hard drive. Performing these tasks in
parallel makes the process even faster than it used to be. When you have input
all necessary information and as the installation completes, you see a series of
information screens that are filled with interesting content about Ubuntu and
are worth reading while you wait.
When the process is complete, you are prompted to restart the computer. Do
so and remove the install media when it is ejected. Then log in when the
reboot is complete. That’s it.
In previous editions of this book, this chapter was longer and described a
process that was sometimes confusing and fraught with peril. The Ubuntu
developers deserve high praise for making the installation so incredibly easy
and fast. The Linux kernel supports more hardware than ever before, and the
Ubuntu kernel gurus (who make the decisions about what hardware modules
to enable, among other things) do a great job, and most hardware works out of
the box.
First Update
It used to be that the first thing you needed to do with your new system was
update it to the latest package versions. You would do this mainly to ensure
that you had the latest security updates available. Remember the first
installation step, where we recommended checking the box to have software
updates download during the installation process? If you did, the updates
were acquired during the installation, and your system should already be up-
to-the-minute current.
If you want to double-check that you have all the current versions of software
and security updates installed, read Chapter 9, “Managing Software,” and
Chapter 10, “Command-Line Beginner’s Class,” for more information.