Why Ubuntu is so internet dependent?

[vasantbhusare]

Hi,
Just a month before I come to know about UBUNTU o.s.
I am a windows user, as most people.After installing UBUNTU on my desktop and found that it is very much depend on internet.Every time I tried to install something it asks for internet connection.
I have following questions:
1. Why ubuntu is so ineternet dependent?
2. How it can be used(installed rather) at the places where no internet is available?
3. I searched for how to install application without internet, I found that there is very lengthy process to do that which can not be followed by a new new user.
Why ubuntu applications/softwares can not be installed like windows i.e. just double clicking on the setup icon?

I would like to have answer to these questions.
I want to spread UBUNTU to my native place where internet is not available.

Thanks.....

[techieMoe]

Hi,
Just a month before I come to know about UBUNTU o.s.
I am a windows user, as most people.After installing UBUNTU on my desktop and found that it is very much depend on internet.Every time I tried to install something it asks for internet connection.
I have following questions:
1. Why ubuntu is so ineternet dependent?

Ubuntu uses the apt system to handle software installed on it. The easiest way to get something installed is to connect to an online repository and download the program along with all the necessary libraries and dependent programs it needs in one fell swoop.

I'm not saying this is the *best* way, particularly for people without internet connections, but it's the most convenient way for those who do have one.

Apt can be configured in such a way that instead of searching online, it will try to search from a local repository of packages from either your harddrive or a removable disc (DVD, etc). Debian does this, but I'm not sure if it's configured to do so out of the box.

2. How it can be used(installed rather) at the places where no internet is available?

You can install Ubuntu just fine without any net connection, as long as you're happy with the default set of programs it offers. If not, try and find a distribution based on Ubuntu that offers a more robust selection (Linux Mint for instance).

If all else fails, order or download the full set of Debian DVDs and install a system from that. It's not the most elegant way, but you'll have access to pretty much the whole Debian repository on the discs.

3. I searched for how to install application without internet, I found that there is very lengthy process to do that which can not be followed by a new new user.

That depends entirely on what program you want to install. If the program is available in a pre-packaged format like DEB, then it's usually a double-click, click, OK, Finish procedure not unlike Microsoft Windows. If the program requires some external library or utility program Ubuntu will try to search the repositories (again, online) to find it and install them for you.

Why ubuntu applications/softwares can not be installed like windows i.e. just double clicking on the setup icon?

As I said, some can, but Linux systems are never guaranteed to have a particular standard set of libraries like MS Windows. The only thing necessary for a distribution to call itself "Linux" is the presence of the Linux kernel. Everything else is optional. Therefore it's not smart programming practice to have your program install and assume all the parts it needs are already there.

I would like to have answer to these questions.
I want to spread UBUNTU to my native place where internet is not available.

Thanks.....

If the people you're giving this to are okay with the programs already installed, this isn't an issue. Ubuntu does not require an internet connection to install or run, only to add more things to it.

[markharding557]

a dvd edition of ubuntu is here
Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)

[Bemk]

1. Why ubuntu is so internet dependent?

TechieMoe has answered this question already fairly well. However, there's a reason why Linux tends to connect to the web. This reason is historical, and most users with a full time connection find it convenient so they didn't change it.

The historical reason is simply because Linux is open source and everyone in the world can contribute to it through (you guessed it) the internet. This system has been in place for as long as open source software exists.

[waterhead]

I recently installed Ubuntu 9.04 on a PC, for a friend's 5 year old daughter (get 'em while their young). After installation, I connected to the internet and updated the system, as I always do.

He then told me that this PC won't be connected to the internet, to protect his daughter. I tried to change the configuration to use the DVD for installing software, but was unable to. Once you have installed from the repositories, you must always use them. Otherwise you end up with dependency errors, because of version mismatches.

The moral of this story: If there is no plan on this PC being connected to the internet, don't update using the internet, EVER! Only use the DVD, and the GUI found here:

Applications-->Add/Remove...

If you install from the DVD, it should automatically be configured to use it as the software source.

[saivin]

Just to add, its not issue with Ubuntu only. Almost all linux distros are like this.

You can get necessary Ubuntu packages (.deb format) from online and install it with 'dpkg' in the same fashion as you install .exe file in Windows. The following is one such place to get .deb files. www.getdeb.net (Please note that I'm not promoting that site. I have not used that site, it was one of the results of google search.)

[Bemk]

Another option is to just download the packages from the repositories, through a browser, and download it's dependencies, as noted on the site (http://packages.ubuntu.com for Ubuntu and Debian -- Packages for debian)

[elija]

Technically, Ubuntu is no more internet dependent than Windows (and for all I know MacOS). You download your software and updates from the internet. It is fair to say that you can buy Windows software on CD in many cases.

[oz]

I agree with elija that Ubuntu is no more interenet dependent than any other Linux distro, or than Windows for that matter.

With either, you get the full OS on a disk, you intall it, then you need the internet for any updates and upgrades unless you leave it as is until the next release comes along, then you repeat the process. To add software, you either find it on a disk somewhere, or you download it from the web, just as you do with Windows and other Linux distros.

[Bemk]

I also agree, and in some ways Ubuntu is even less dependent of the web than Windows is.
I can't do a fresh install, and immediately do word processing in Windows, I first need to download it. With Ubuntu I can just pop in the CD and, heck, I don't even have to install to get it to work!

However, Ubuntu still is Linux, and Linux has been able to grow this much because every one could participate in development, as they were connected to the web. The whole development of the open source world has been dependent of the web. You can't say that of Windows, can you?

Windows has evolved to a world with the web, but Linux was born out of the web, to put it that way.