Monthly Ubuntu Releases Proposed 284
An anonymous reader writes "Scott James Remnant, the former Ubuntu Developer Manager at Canonical and current Ubuntu Technical Board leader, has proposed a new monthly release process for Ubuntu Linux. He acknowledges that with the six month releases there are features that end up landing way too soon, leaving them in a sour state for users. With his monthly proposal, Remnant hopes to relieve this by handling alpha, beta, and normal releases concurrently. It's unknown whether Canonical will accept the policy at this time."
Re:reinstall montly (Score:5, Informative)
Debian does have rolling releases, it's called Testing and Unstable.
Re:Oh, it's clear something has to change! (Score:3, Informative)
I might not have been clear. I use Ubuntu (LTS) as a fire-and-forget (for three years) installation for non-tech-savvy users (Read: my mom, my mother in law... You know *those* kind of people). Personally, I do manage to run a Debian installation and once you do set it up like you want it, you'll be fine. However, you can't use Debian as a fire-and-forget installation if you want things that people require from their modern day desktops. This is mainly due to the "free-at-all-costs" stance.
That's fine, I understand that it's a good thing, and I can live with it. Try to see it from a user perspective though. I trained them for years (even while still on Windows) that they should use Firefox for browsing and Thunderbird for email. The migration to Ubuntu was easier because of this knowledge. My support calls are next to nothing ever since I switched them to Ubuntu LTS. That's how I want it, and I know the distribution will keep itself healthy. Do I have the guarantee with Debian backports? Does it get as much "love" as the main branch? I sincerely doubt it. Going with official Mozilla downloads is a no-go, as I'd have to login remotely to their system to update it every time I hear of a greater security issue.
There are other things, like for example the only large support call I had this year. That was Ubuntu, so it probably wouldn't have been avoidable at all. My mother in law had a big issue with a PDF. Turned out it was a PDF with a form and the built in PDF reader (evince, I think) didn't handle that. At least, I could remotely login and install Adobe Reader from the repository. I know Ubuntu has it. Debian might in the non-free section, but I'm not sure.
Sometimes it's the small things. I happen to be multi-lingual. In Ubuntu there is a great tool in "System"-"Administration" called "Language Support". It's basically a hub for anything language related: Want the interface in Dutch? Only want the German spellchecker? It's there, it's a click or two and it's installed. Debian simply doesn't have an equivalent (or I didn't find it).
While I agree that Gnome2 is great and Unity and Gnome3 are definite steps backwards, the Debian themes do look a bit dated. I can live with it. It's fine, I found that the "Shiki" theme is great even though I prefer a light-theme. On Ubuntu Radiance is what I use and I love it. Still, for me, lacking compiz and a bit dated theme is okay. However, my users are used to the polish Ubuntu gives. I'm, pretty sure my users won't miss compiz if I'd take it away, but the polished themes are something else. We know it's just eyecandy and not important, but how would you feel if you're used the the Windows 7 interface (which I dislike, but that's not important) and gave you a Windows 2000 interface (Which I loved). You'd probably wouldn't be happy (I'd be, but put yourself in the shoes of a non-IT user).
It's lots of these little things. I'm certain it's completely because of my inability and incompetence. I'd be glad to read a how-to for achieving just that: have a modern multi-lingual, proprietary-software, friendly, Linux desktop that doesn't look like made in 2000 which I can install and forget for three years.
I actually wrote a bit about trying to achieve this. Feel free to read it: You don't realize how much polish Ubuntu provides... [slashdot.org] and Backports is the magical word.... [slashdot.org] and finally I have to give Ubuntu 11.04 some slack. [slashdot.org], which I need to include because it shows that the problems I had with Ubuntu aren't limited to Ubuntu itself.