Ubuntu Linux Review

JimLynch writes "Pardon me while I pimp one of my own stories. We've got a review of Ubuntu Linux up on ExtremeTech. Check it out. Overall we had quite a positive experience with it, we think it's going to be a good distro as it matures. If you're looking for an easy-to-install debian distro, give it a download." Update: 09/27 23:25 GMT by T : Eugenia writes with another review from USALug, and a 6-page comprehensive Ubuntu preview at OSNews, writing "Gnome's & Ubuntu's release manager Jeff Waugh also had an interesting interview detailing lots of interesting tidbits. The final version of Ubuntu is expected mid-October."

I've just got to ask..

What benefit, exactly, do Linux users get from the proliferation of distros?

-jcr

Re:I've just got to ask..

QUOTE " What benefit, exactly, do Linux users get from the proliferation of distros?"

One large benefit is the fact that every distro is different, has different goals and aspirations.

Some people want a server, some people want a desktop, some want to run an FTP server.

If your looking to say, run an ftp server, wouldn't it be nice to get a distro that has an ftp server built in to the kernel?

You're more likley to find the distro that does exactly what you want with so many distro's around.

That's the purpose, and advantage to the proliferation of distros.

Re:I've just got to ask..

One large benefit is the fact that every distro is different, has different goals and aspirations.

That's a feature, not a benefit. These are not the same thing. A benefit would be something like "not all distros are susceptible to the same failure modes", or the like.

So, what is the benefit of many distros, as opposed to (say) switches I can flip in a standard distro?

-jcr

Re:I've just got to ask..

You must be new here....

Don't take this wrong, but do you know a "linux user"? Most of us are little obsesive compulsive, erratic, and curious. We have nothing to do but become pastier and pastier while trying out distros.

In short....we get one more to play with, flame, fight and argue over, and most importantly compare/contrast/disect to our hearts content.

Re:I've just got to ask..

To translate Jeff's market speak: you get commercial support with Ubuntu.

Re:I've just got to ask..

What benefit, exactly, do Linux users get from the proliferation of distros?

No-one gets any benefit directly from the fact that there are a large number of distros.

However, for each specific distro, there is apparently at least one person who likes that distro better than the alternatives. Which is enough.

If someone decides he wants to make AbominationDistro, which is existing distro X but with the meaning of /etc and /usr switched around, and he creates it - more power to him, that doesn't influence me at all - and he has the distro he wants.

Re:I've just got to ask..

Eventually someone will get one right.

Longer/better review

I think the OSNews review posted today is better: http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=8407 [osnews.com]

Or

See the Debian Planet [debianplanet.org] story back on the 16th. Which linked you to the announcement [ubuntu.com] and also an interview [osnews.com].

Not Debian

Their packages are not binary compatible with Debian packages, so you can't mix them in a single install. Therefore, they're not really a Debian child, although they're related by starting with the Debian package selection, and bugfixing/certifying from there. More like a Debian half-clone, sent to finishing school. Which will have some effect on drawing away some community contribution to Debian, as a partial fork. Kinda like that clone beating his dad's time at the pub with his fancy accent, but then unable to get past Dad's doorman to use the penthouse jacuzzi.

Re:Not Debian

Most Debian packages work in Ubuntu. For instance, many people have successfully used the Debian mplayer packages from an unofficial mirror on Ubuntu. The reason why they suggest not mixing Debian packages into an Ubuntu install is because the versioning may be different and apt can get confused. Most Debian packages are present in the universe section of the Ubuntu repository, so it's not that big of a deal.

Re:Not Debian

Funny, I installed the 040925 nightly build on the weekend, and then added a nearby Debian mirror (unstable, of course) to the package list in Synaptic. The (20? 30?) packages I installed from sid all appear to work just fine in Ubuntu. You appear to be incorrect, please look around for some of the interviews with the Ubuntu developers (relevant section quoted in this comment [slashdot.org]). I understand that most of the Ubuntu developers are existing Debian developers, who can now work on Debian full time - this will help Debian rather than draw resources away. Based on what little I know about the people involved with Debian, I doubt that they would be likely to do anything that would mess up the distro which they love.

Oh, and your analogy sucks, too.

Re:Not Debian

They contribute changes to the upstream Debian package. Some of their developers overlap. They have a page clarifying their relationship to Debian [ubuntulinux.org], and they recognize that they are a subset. It would take a profound level of arrogance to imagine replacing a distro as broad as Debian, and arrogance appears to be absent from Ubuntu, from the name on down.

You seem pretty hung up on the potential for a fork - odds are, we define the word "fork" differently. I view Ubuntu as a short-term, temporary fork, similar to the branches in the Mozilla project, where every new release is effectively a short-term departure from a frozen snapshot of the trunk, which returns to the trunk to refresh and renew on a regular basis. I also do not view it as the end of the world. Unlike rpm based distros, most Debian-based ones (or at least those that lasted, anyway, progeny, etc) do not appear to fork to the same degree as RedHat / Mandrake / ten thousand others.

You might find the following blog entries from Jeff Licquia (a Progeny developer) interesting. He's got a lot better perspective on the issue than most:

• Being Debian [licquia.org]
• Ubuntu and Progeny [licquia.org]

Ubuntu universe is a snapshot taken twice a year, without any security fixes or updates. I have run sid for several years now, and quite like living on the bleeding edge - I do not plan on updating only every six months, and I also don't worry too much if anything breaks beyond my repair skills - that is why /home and /var live on their own partitions. But Ubuntu fills a gap for someone who is not ready to deal with sid on a regular basis - who wants a different compromise of stability and freshness than the regular Debian release cycle.

Wireless Card

Finally, we were disappointed (but not surprised) that Ubuntu did not detect or configure the wireless card in our laptop. We've come to expect this, unfortunately. But it would sure be nice at some point if we could connect wirelessly right after installing a Linux distro, with no extra effort required.

I don't know what brand of wireless card it was, but if it was one with a Broadcom chip inside, well your SOL on that one. If they would give out the specs, we'd have drivers for them.

Ubuntu?

Could someone please explain where the name came from? I'm picturing African shields and spears flanking my computer.

Re:Ubuntu?

Google: Ubuntu: An African Assessment of the Religious Other

http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Afri/AfriLouw.htm

and a lot of other things.. but I'm too lazy to look for them.

Poor review

The review concludes that one of the few disadvantages of the disro is 'no VPN wizard'. Now isnt that a bit too picky !!! I would understnad if they mentioned the Text based Installer, no pakg selection , bad install documentation etc. but no VPN wizard is absurd.

software and hardware

In case you're wondering, it holds recent versions of software (Evolution 2.0, Gnome 2.8, ...).

The main thing, it seems, is that this disto provides a spoonful of sugar to make the Debian medicine go down. But this sugar may not be enough for laptop users. Quoting from the article, we were disappointed (but not surprised) that Ubuntu did not detect or configure the wireless card in our laptop. So that spoonful of sugar may be deceptive ... some real skill may be required after the pointy-clicky stage. Is it a good thing to mix the difficult and the simple?

Works with my Apple G5

Well at least we have to give Ubuntu folks some credit. This is the only linux distro that installed on my Apple G5. Installation was real easy on G5. They have PPC32 support only. PPC64 support coming soon. For those of us looking for an alternate OS for their G5 without paying yellowdog or without having technical expertise for debian and gentoo, Ubuntu is the distribution. The only problem sound card is not recognized. Even the thermal driver is working.

Why you should care

Several people have already posted comments asking why the world needs yet another Linux distro.

I wrote a Slashdot comment explaining why Ubuntu is interesting. Click here [slashdot.org] to read it.

A comment [slashdot.org] by Doc Ruby states that Ubuntu is not package-compatible with Debian. I said otherwise in my comment linked above, but I haven't checked it out for myself yet so I'm probably wrong.

steveha

My experience

New Linux user... it didn't find my sound card. I have no idea how to figure out where to start on that one, so... no sound. Also, the application installer thingy was pretty lacking. It kind of worked. It didn't find the latest versions of lots of various things, and the list was very short, but it kinda' worked. Other than that, it looked and acted like every other Linux distro that I've tried (I've tried about 6 in the past few months... I'm back to Windows). It worked for the most part, but nothing to get excited about. It did the basics. Unfortunately, it was still useless to my business. Bummer.

Oh great...

Me: Hey boss, why don't we standardize on Ubuntu Warty Warthog Linux on the desktop.

Boss: Say, that sounds like it will decrease our ROI, while providing value to our shareholders. However, why don't you install Ubuntu Warty Warthog Linux on one test machine, and Indigo Salamander Pumpkin Dog Linux on another machine, that way we can objectively compare their packaging systems.

Why it's called Ubuntu

Because it's Utnubu spelled backwards.

All I want to know

... is there an AMD64 (x86_64) version?

Where Ubuntu is coming from and going to

The name Ubuntu is zulu, a South African language, for God. The distro is compiled and managed by South African Soyuz tourist millionaire Mark Shuttleworth (Hey boet) and his company Canonical. There has been quite a bit of movement in South Africa over the past couple of years to get Linux into schools and small businesses, although the vast majority are still using pirated versions of Windows or whatever came with their computer.

This distro, from my point of view (I'm South African), makes excellent sense for people wanting to install Linux and basically just get up and working without having to fight through masses of obscure applications. It provides what 90% of average computer users need and use on their computers:Office productivity, mail, browser, messaging, graphics and media player. That's it, no fluff.

This distro is exactly what is needed (once they sort out the various bugs) for a home user or small business to get started. Given that there has only been a move to competition in the telcom business in South Africa this month, and that SA has had the world's highest rates out, wireless networking has not been a major feature in the SA IT landscape up until now, so I think that not working detection of Wireless NICs is not a major priority at the moment.

I'm really proud about this, as it gives SA its first distro aimed at the country.

Libranet

I'll wait for Libranet 3.0 [libranet.com], thanks.

For the love of H.P. Lovecraft

I thought the article was about Cthulhu Linux [cmu.edu] .
No wonder why the web page wouldn't load

i tried it yesterday...

and i'M constantly getting IRQ 193... nobody cared or something similar.

i've noticed this with Gentoo to, searched google, but didnt find a soulution.

Ubuntu looks great but my mouse curser was stopped working ever 2-3s for 0.1 sec or something like this. i think its somehow related to the IRQ issue.

(System is a P4C, 2.8 GHz HT activated, i865PE Board)

btw: the current Linux desktop (i think it was Gnome 2.6 or 2.8) looks much better then when i've tried it the last time (i think it was KDE2 or something).

Dear submitters

If you want us to bother reading your submissions and attached URLs, refrain from the use of such infantile terms as "pimp", "sweet", and similars and variants. You won't be taken seriously by the over-16 crowd using those kinds of words.

Re:Oh WHY

Yup, and a few more nights of piling up Mt. Dew cans all night while I play with yet another new toy :-)

Re:This review sucks

You're right the review sucks. For instance, under the heading 'Installation', it says,

"At the end of the installation, we were asked if we wanted to use APT (Advanced Packaging Tool) to update our system. We said yes and our system was updated over the Internet before we even booted into our Gnome desktop."

This totally glosses over the connection to the internet. Was it by broadband, satellite link or modem? Did the installer correctly identify the modem if there was one and did it create a connection to the user's ISP?
Mandrake 10 installation fails utterly in this task, particularly if the user has the misfortune to be in North America.

Re:This review sucks

Are you referring to my install? I put it on a laptop (dual boot with XP), desktop (another dual boot) and in a vmware VM running under Windows XP. I think three different installs covered it nicely.

ob. ICTGRMHSWY

In Catherine the Great's Russia, mare has sex with YOU!

Re:This review sucks

Why is this modded as a troll?? The review does clearly lack any information. At least it wasted my time, not that slashdot hasn't already.