I'm so confused about full disk encryption. help :(

Solution 1:

I've been using Ubuntu with full disk encryption for over a year. The Alternate Install CD for Ubuntu 12.04 makes it easy. During the installation, when it asks you how you want to partition your disks, one of the options will say something like "Guided - set up LVM with encryption." Just select that one and it will do all of the advanced work for you. All you need to do is come up with a passphrase and you're set.

Solution 2:

Basically until you fully understand it, why take the big risk of doing it and risking data loss? It is only a good idea if you have really sensitive data on a hard drive on a laptop that could go missing. Otherwise your login password is going to give fair security.