Ubuntu 9.04
So I’m a big fan of Ubuntu. I’ve been using it for about three years now (I think the first one I installed was 6.10) and I’ve really enjoyed watching it grow. With each incarnation more and more worked and it got slicker and slicker. With 8.10 all but bluetooth ‘just worked’ on my Toshiba Tecra A8 and it was a beautiful thing.
With 9.04 I thought I’d install Kubuntu. Gnome is getting a bit tired I felt and KDE had apparently improved a lot since version 4 was released. There’s no doubt that KDE looked pretty slick but it was a nightmare with too much breaking too frequently including it just freezing at least once a day. Very frustrating. I’d also heard that dual monitor support had improved but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get my s-video out to work on my TV which it had with previous incarnations of Ubuntu. The image was very jumpy and unwatchable.
As an interesting aside, the partners of Linux Geeks appear to be important benchmarks in the blogsphere. My partner quite liked the look and feel of KDE and though it was more like the Windows look and feel. This surprised me, I always thought that Gnome was more windows-like and KDE was the fancy one that had taken a very different route. Reading around, apparently I’m the only one that thinks Gnome is more like windows than KDE. That said, who wants to be like Windows anyway? As if that’s an important bench mark – Linux needs to be Linux, not Windows or Mac.
But I digress…
So I slinked back to Ubuntu, and asked for forgiveness. I loaded it up and everything worked beautifully, including bluetooth for the first time. It’s also had a minor make over which is an improvement and I look forward to the major makeover promised with 9.10.
But this time Video just doesn’t work. No YouTube, No Vimmeo, and no avi files playing in Totem or VLC (which I love because it plays ANYTHING). So I gave it a week. Sometime drivers to come through in the first or second update and I don’t mind waiting, I realise there is a lot of drivers etc to take into account when dealing with an entire operating system and I forgive them for not getting every single one right first time around.
But now, some weeks on it still hasn’t been fixed so I hit the Ubuntu Forums and sure enough plenty of others have had the same problem. So the issue is known which means the first hurdle is overcome. There are a range of solutions suggested including upgrading to the new beta driver for Intel’s integrated video card which seems to be where the problem is. I gave it a go but it didn’t work.
I’ll hold tight for a little longer but very soon I’m going to have to go back to 8.10 and nobody wants me to do that.
On one of the forums about this issue someone wrote something to the effect of “It’s free software, what do you expect, stop complaining”.
The thing is that I expect a lot. I expect it to be better than a closed, proprietary system because it generally IS better and because there is an entire community of programmers working on it. The problem is out there for everyone to see so surely someone, or a group of someones can fix it quickly and easily. I realise that there needs to be some understanding that with a ‘release early, release often’ model that there may be a few hic-ups with the new release every six months. But I do expect them to be fixed quickly and with a simple click of the ‘install updates’ icon in the new notification system.
Get it together Ubuntu, this is an important one.
REPLY))
Ok, sitting on the Devil’s side of your shoulders
How can a business rely on an Open Source OS, or application when “business critical” components just don’t work.?. For my home machine, video is the most important aspect and would pay more (much more) for a system that just works without any technical interference. How could the french Govt operate if, after an update they couldn’t access any network? There would be MASSIVE cost implications even if it wasn’t fixed immediately. OK, a good project and UAT methodology could mitigate an issue like this proposal.
Why not set benchmarks? They are very important when attempting to achieve something. I whole heartedly agree that any Micro$oft app or OS is not something to aspire to, it did hurt a little when you included MAC OSX in your post… why oh why complain about the most usable intuitive OS interface seen in the history of personal computing? Sure, Apple eats children and charge$ through the teeth, which ultimately leads to class war and the apocalypse, but their human – machine interfaces are by far, the best, beyond any doubt. There are many usability studies that identify what visual and interaction elements are successful. I guess my main argument is that the MAC OS treats the user like an adult. The day to day actions are easy, there’s a terminal for the hardcore, and there now support for gamers. Non-PC users are unfortunately not treated like equals in the business place.
Could the biggest hurdle be something as simple as the definitions of a supported version. You refer to products by their version name… which means nothing to a basic user. If i get an app or OS, like you I expect it to work. Maybe there should be greater management of the definition of the various versions and which type of user they are best for. Apple have very successfully increased their market in home computing and have made their product based around that.
ok, back on the good foot. Oh man, I hope Ubuntu gets its act together. It’s a given that developing an Operating system is not simple, easy or straight forward. MS have nearly 90k employees (wikipedia page on MS) working on their products. The way in which Open Source development communities is amazing!!!
I hope Open Source is competitive for a few reasons:
1. The greater good: more democratic and open societies and communities are better for everyone
2. Open Source solutions are both flexible and innovative in ways that propriety apps can’t.3.
Propriety owned stuff is limiting and you feel like your at the kids table whenever decisions are made about the direction of development. I deal with vendors everyday and they do treat you like a sh1t eater. OS needs to improve, if only so we can hurt the thing that they care about $$$.
All in all, there will always be a need for:
– easy home use
– limited and secure (whatever the fvck that means – sorry I’m a mac user) business machines
– access and equity
I don’t believe that one solution can meet all these needs.
I love your(s and all other linux contributors) passion Ham. Open Sauce is Sourcy!
t
Disclaimer: I’ve only superficially used Ubuntu and do not and will not ever use a command line for anything. sorry, i just don’t care enough about the workings behind stuff. I just wanna get using.
REPLY))
Thank you for replying to my blog post…. with another blog post. Let me see if I can unpack a few of the things you talk about here. Here’s a very scattered response:
In short, you’re right pretty well across the board and Ubuntu have made a mistake here (although I’ve faith – based on their track record – that this will be corrected shortly). Hence, my post.
But in Ubuntu’s defence the 9.04 release is not a ‘stable release’. Ubuntu have prided themselves on having all their releases quite stable but they also put out a Long Term Stable (LTS) release every 2 years which is then supported for 3 years. The LTS releases ‘just work’. A non-LTS is supported for 18 months.
If I was the French government I would be using the LTS release. Moreover, you’d pay for support, as any business does with their Mirco$hit software.
“9.04″ is meaningful, it stands for April 2009. By contrast, that’s much better than the Linux kernel which is now at version 2.6.29.3.
And wasn’t there a recent update for Safari which broke some things? My point being that even Mac fucks it up sometimes. Also Mac’s control their content FAR more than I’d like them to. Remember, what’s important is that Linux is free as in free speech (not free beer).
I pretty well don’t use the command line. Those days are well behind us… but the option is there.
Ubuntu do set benchmarks and they meet them very well. They have a commitment to release a new version every 6 months – a very tight time line – which had advantages and disadvantges. Linux and related OS stuff has done very well with the ‘release early, release often’ philosophy which means that problems are run into but generally fixed very quickly because the community responds immediately.
There’s also the issue of ‘blame’ here. The problem is with Intel’s driver, not Ubuntu. Ubuntu’s mistake was to use the newer driver without testing it properly. And that’s the thing about Mac’s – they have the advantage of writing software for a very specific set of hardware components. Neither M$ or Linux have that luxury.
Anyway, in short, as I see it (this little blip aside) the ONLY thing that is now difficult to use with Linux is installing it – something you can’t physically get around. I’d also suggest that Ubuntu is by far the easiest Operating System to install – a LOT easier and user friendly to install than Windows. It is a viable alternative these days and I’m happy to come over and install it for anyone anytime.
Shut up Mac Fan Boy