The first time I ever installed a UNIX system, I loaded System V on a proprietary server called a Quotron 1000. You performed the installation by restoring a dd tape and booting into a simple configuration script. The script let you select the applications you wanted and then installed them in a preordained configuration.
Installing Ubuntu 9.10 Server is a strikingly similar experience. Boot from a CD, run through a character-mode installation routine, select the package tasks you want, and reboot.
What's different is that the Ubuntu installer is hiding an enormous amount of complexity that the Quotron install script, by virtue of its dedicated design and mission, never had to deal with. Linux has basically spent two decades coping with the sprawling diversity in hardware and software that accompanied the commodity server platform and the open-source movement.
We're not done yet, either. Configuring most Linux applications to do what you want is laborious and error-prone. Which is why I'm posting this blog series as I install and configure Ubuntu 9.10 Server with Subversion, Trac and MediaWiki in support of a personal development project. Service to the community aside, I'll need the reminder if I ever have to do it again.
Installing an Ubuntu Development Support Server
The first step is to install Ubuntu and the necessary applications.
Riding the Tiger Wiki article: Installing an Ubuntu Development Support Server contains step-by-step instructions for this.
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