hey indygunfreak i think ill stick with ubuntu and use the gnome mods you posted...i just hope i can figure out how to apply them and things so you guys may see another post on how to mod out gnome to be OS X like, btw dream linux did not work out i couldn't get my dvd roms to play anything at all or mount and networking issues like crazy and no reply from their tech support.

First to clear up any misunderstandings... I'm running Ubuntu 7.04(Feisty). Most of these instructions *should* work for you w/o any major hassle, but I don't know the differences in our two distros repositories. If you have problems, you can either upgrade Christian Edition to Feisty(I just noticed its on their website as of June 1), or you can install standard Ubuntu Feisty, and install the bible programs and filtering software via the repos (I imagine they are probably there if you know what you're looking for).

I looked in the standard Ubuntu Feisty repos, and Blender and Picasa are there, but inkscape and NVU, and gimpshop are not. So for Blender and Picasa, use Synaptic and that will be the easiest way to install those two.

I did some horsing around because I was bored, and found you probably have a couple of options w/ the other 3. Most of the below is fairly simple, I finished it in about 40min(would have been quicker, but I messed around trying to get inkscape working in Wine with no success. )

First, with Gimpshop. I done some Googling, and most sites say the differences in Gimp and Gimpshop, are mostly cosmetic. Gimp is in the repos. If you still want Gimpshop, the link below has a link to the .deb file, which you should pretty much be able to download, double click to install. The link to it is in the very first paragraph at the top, *Ubuntu .deb file*

http://plasticbugs.com/?page_id=294

Second, NVU... I had some problems getting NVU compiled(which isn't unusual for me) and I couldn't find an available repository..., So I downloaded the Windows full install .exe and installed it with wine. It appears to work fine with wine version 0.9.37.

http://www.nvu.com/download.php

If you need Wine, its extremely easy, and the instructions on their site are very clear...

http://www.winehq.org/site/download-deb

Inkscape... They have instructions on their site on how to compile the program for Edgy, I done it under Feisty, and didn't have *to* many problems. I followed the instructions below.... You'll probably find it easiest to just copy and paste these lines one at a time in a terminal.

http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/CompilingUbuntu

and was fine till I got to the next to last line. Then I got tossed into dependency problems. At that point, because I'd added the repository, I simply opened synaptic, and searched for inkscape, and installed it that way, and let Synaptic deal with the dependencies. It appears to be working fine. Also, the second line(where you add the repository) isn't very clear, only copy/paste from echo to main.. don't copy/paste anything after the >>>

For Autocad.. I don't use autocad, but I believe there's a couple options. Qcad is in the repos, but thats all I can really tell you.

http://www.qcad.org/

Sounds like a lot, but it was really pretty easy.

IGF

I cannot let this post go past without a plug for the very wonderful Sabayon (http://www.sabayonlinux.org/ ). Don't be put off by the colour scheme as you can easily change that. One of the great things about Sabayon is that it comes with a LOT of software 'out of the box'. So it will include all the necessary stuff to do what you want. The only disadvantage of this is that it is a huge download, over 3GB, but you can get a mini version. Another point to note is that there is a new version (3.4) due for release in about a month so you may want to wait for that?
There is a good review of the latest version here:
http://techgage.com/article/sabayonlinux_33/
I used to use Mandriva and good as it is, Sabayon is better! Sabayon has also overtaken Mandriva in the distrowatch.com charts!

Sabayon is a good distro a little flashy for my taste, but a little bloated. Only thing I don't particularly care for, is to my knowledge, it has no package manager, and is pretty much completely source based. I've always had issues with compiling, maybe its because I don't do it enough, but it rarely works for me.

Support is difficult to find sometimes, at least it was for me. Support is where Ubuntu soars. At almost any given time, you can sign on to any IRC client, and get on the Freenode network, and there will be at least 900 people discussing Ubuntu in #ubuntu. The least amount of people I've saw in there, is 4-500. I've learned a lot by just being in there, and not asking/answering questions, and watching more experienced users answer questions.

IGF

indy i also have normal ubuntu as well the fawn version so yea i am installing that right now the install froze on me once but i think it was my computer being stupid , my mchine isn't all that new so sometimes i have to baby it, its a 2.1 ghz processor and 768 MB of Ram (not quite a gig) stupid PC800 Dell. i hate dells but anyways i will try the stuff you posted indy as for the sabayonlinux i am not sure it would run well on my machine if it is real flashy and i think installing those programs and my bible programs will be a good compromise with the future mrs. so anyways thanks for the help guys and i may b epostin gif i have any stupid ubuntu questions i was wondering if i could have the server the #ubuntu channel is on. I use to be an IRC moderator back in the day for Chatnet years and years ago.... anyways thanks guys its installing like a dream im off to work by guys.

Dustin

If you continue to have problems installing, and you haven't tried the Alternate Install CD.., it would probably work better. Its text based, but its still very easy. I almost always have to use the text based installer, because I have dual monitors, and it always goofs up the live CD's for some reason(worked fine before I had dual monitors)...

My laptop, will install Xubuntu from the Live CD, but Ubuntu, it needs the alternate install(Don't ask me why)... So I've just gotten in the habit of always using the alternate install..

If you install Xchat, or XChat-Gnome, or irssi, or whatever IRC client you want. Search the server listing for "Freenode".. Sign on to that server, then go to the room #ubuntu.

IGF

arg, strangest error, the install will get up just a little pass 50 freeze for a little bit and then post a message saying that not all files could be copied this is usually due to errors on the cd or the cd is dirty..

strange.. it sounds lik emy stupid cd rom is just skipping or something, could be because my dvd rom i am using is too slow to install but i am giving it one last go around before i download the text based one..

It does have a package manager (Kuroo)but it is not in the same league as say Synaptic. However, installing packages is very easy in Sabayon. In a terminal just type:
But actually because Sabayon comes with so many packages you actually have to add very little, if anything extra.

No doubt about that! Ubuntu has now reached critical mass where it is popular because it is popular. That is not to say it is not a good distro, it is. However, there are others that are just as good if not better in their own way. Sabayon is definitely a distro to watch (pardon the pun). In 12-18 months it is going to be in the top five on distrowatch.com, it has already overtaken Mandriva

thanks for the help guys i have ubuntu installed finall, and i am runing the package manager to do upgrades and stuff. I have been getting the erro though when i run the upgrade wizard or what ever you want to call it it tells me their is an error and to go to my terminal and type sudo apt-get install -f and when i do it gives me an error. So i am in package manager trying to reinstall things etc.. fun fun fun.. linux never goes easy for me never..

Dustin

I've had that problem before, but running the command always fixed it. Make sure you run the command exactly as it says in the error message(I thought there was a dpkg command in there somewhere)...

IGF