Ubuntu Hardy Heron Announced

Jono Bacon, Community Manager for Ubuntu, has announced development on the next version of the popular Linux distribution name "Hardy Heron". "Not only will the Ubuntu community continue to do what it does best, produce an easy-to-use, reliable, free software platform, but this release will proudly wear the badge of Long Term Support (LTS) and be supported with security updates for five years on the server and three years on the desktop. We look forward to releasing the Hardy Heron in April 2008."

I guess they were scared of copyright issues...

[The Orange Mage]

...because I would have loved to see a Hungry Hippo release.

Re:

[DoofusOfDeath]

I guess you haven't heard [bustedtees.com]...

Re:

[JimMarch(equalccw)]

Meh. We'll still call it that :). But what's next? Ignoble Iguana?

Re:I guess they were scared of copyright issues...

[ArcherB]

Meh. We'll still call it that :). But what's next? Ignoble Iguana?

Bleeding Beaver, Timid TubeSnake, Leaping Lemming...

Re:I guess they were scared of copyright issues...

[Khaed]

No way, the L release should be Llama. Lovable Llama.

Picture it: A Llama in a leisure suit.

Re:

[jefu]

the L release should be Llama. Lovable Llama. ... A llama in a leisure suit.

A post that somehow makes this poem from Ogden Nash inevitable, but perhaps this is a good reason to imagine the lovable llama in pajamas (risking a possible salacious interpretation) :

The one-l lama,
He's a priest.
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama.*

*The author's attention has been called to a type of conflagration known as a three-alarmer. Pooh.

ObMrGarrison

[sharkey]

Bleeding Beaver

I just don't trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn't die.

Re:ObMrGarrison

[ArcherB]

Bleeding Beaver

I just don't trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn't die.

It does have a 28 day release cycle.

Re:

[aichpvee]

Oh no! 28 - 5 = 23. And as anyone can tell you, 5 is nothing but 2 + 3. The combined ASCII values for "hardyheron" equal 1076. int(1076/23) = 46. 46 / 2 = 23!

Re:

[balster neb]

If I had any say, it would be called the Indignant Ichthyosaur.

Or maybe the Ignominious Ibis.

Re:

[FlyByPC]

Meh. We'll still call it that :). But what's next? Ignoble Iguana?

Better than Itchy Icthyosaur...

Re:

[ben0207]

Ignoble Iguana? Wouldn't that be SuSE?

Re:

[DiamondGeezer]

Lets hope Ubuntu get bought out before they get to 'X'

O'Reilly Books?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

It seems that these releases are targeted for distinctive Victorian-period engravings.

Re:I guess they were scared of copyright issues...

[Kenshin]

That's reserved for the next version of Windows.

Re:I guess they were scared of copyright issues...

[Oktober Sunset]

And how did you feel, being denied these hungry, hungry hippos?

Re:

[EdBear69]

I'm waiting for Busty Bunny...

Re:I guess they were scared of copyright issues...

[paeanblack]

As opposed to a Spoonerism of Hairy Hard-on?

Kinda dirty?

[kidcharles]

I've got a dirty mind, but this name conjures up images of a sex-crazed bird terrorizing his native wetlands.

Re:Kinda dirty?

[bazorg]

well I was hoping that the "H" release would be Horny ______

Re:

[haeger]

I'm sure most people will end up calling it "Horny Heron" at some point. I'm sure...

Hey, that's my nickname [wikipedia.org].

 

.haeger

Re:

[Xtravar]

I keep wanting to read "hardy heroin"

So maybe it's a drug-addled, sex-crazed bird terrorizing his native wetlands.

Re:Kinda dirty?

[kidcharles]

Well, "hardy" does not literally mean "hard," but it sounds like perhaps a nickname about a heron with a constant erec...wait, why am I explaining myself to a cranky, humorless AC?

Re:Kinda dirty?

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I'll start calling myself Cranky Coward!

Re:Kinda dirty?

[Cranky Coward]

Too late...

Silly

[hhlost]

Apart from being silly, the code names add confusion to Ubuntu's already-confusing version numbering system.

And hurts Ubuntu

[ACS Solver]

I've said it before and say it again... these silly names are hurting Ubuntu. When you need to convince a boss that installing Ubuntu on office computers is the way to go, you'd need a more professional sounding name. "Windows XP" or "BeOS 5" sounds fine. But "Ubuntu Hardy Heron" does not. Sure you can use the 7.10 number, but it seems that the Ubuntu community prefers not to use the numbers, and these silly names actually crop up within the OS more.

Re:And hurts Ubuntu

[nuzak]

> Sure you can use the 7.10 number

They do. On the front page of ubuntu.com. The only place I know of where they show up programmatically is in sources.list.

Anyway, corporate only cares when they're reselling. You saying it's hurting Ubuntu doesn't present any actual evidence that it is, and the bald assertion is hardly new or insightful.

Re:And hurts Ubuntu

[hhlost]

I develop a medical database that requires a server to be installed locally, for security reasons. I try to convince the hospitals to let me use Ubuntu instead of MS Windows for obvious reasons, but so far have been unsuccessful. My latest attempt was thwarted, at least in part, when the IT staff had a good laugh at the "Feisty Fawn" name.

Re:

[nuzak]

I'm inclined to agree with the other respondent: the problem was not the name.

Why Ubuntu on the server anyway? For support? Vanilla debian would do just as well otherwise.

Re:And hurts Ubuntu

[EvilRyry]

Few reasons I'm considering moving my business servers to Ubuntu...

-I've had much fewer bugs in Ubuntu server installs than with Debian Etch. Bugs seem to get patched faster as well.
-Software is more up to date
-3rd party Ubuntu debs are becoming increasingly popular

Re:

[nukem996]

If you neeed a server and want something really secure you should be pushing Redhat, CentOS(free version of Redhat), or Fedora. All very secure with SELinux enabled by default, and very mature. I'm currently doing medical research and its all on Fedora.

Re:

[LingNoi]

Redhat, co are Grandpa's old distros. We use Ubuntu at work and it is much easier to manage because I already run it on the desktop.

Re:And hurts Ubuntu

[popejeremy]

If a "professional" IT department is going to choose software based on who has the best name, they're already fucked.

Re:

[toleraen]

I dunno, FreeBSD is pretty decent from what I hear.

Re:

[smellsofbikes]

>If a "professional" IT department is going to choose software based on who has the best name, they're already fucked.

People vote for the guy with more hair. Taller men are paid more. People vote against stem cell research funding if their voting place is in a church, and vote for school funding taxes if their polling place is in a school.

Here are precisely all of your options: expect other people to be 100% rational and spend your life disappointed, or realize that people are primarily emotional and c

Re:

[smellsofbikes]

Not only that, but also humans are fantastic at post-decision rationalization. We'll tell ourselves we decided something for good, logical reasons, and even make some up and convince ourselves that's why we chose things, but psychologists that spend a lot of time watching people, claim that most of the time even when people give reasons for their choices, it's likely those reasons don't have much to do with their choices.
Another way of putting the Carnegie claim, which I base on having read books like "The

Re:

[Scarblac]

Why should the Ubuntu organization put any effort whatsoever into convincing irrational people to use their operating system? They're not selling anything. Advertising is for a company that wants to convince irrational people to buy their product so that they can make lots of money. Ubuntu doesn't want to make lots of money. Based on Ubuntu's actions, I'm guessing it's enough for them to make a great system and then let the people who are smart enough to appreciate it enjoy it.

From their About us [ubuntu.com]: Ubuntu

Re:

[Braino420]

They're not selling anything.

Ubuntu doesn't want to make lots of money

This is the first I've heard of this, can you tell me how you came to these conclusions? I always thought they sold support and that Mark Shuttleworth is a venture capitalist. Looks like they're selling stuff and want to make money to me. Is it possible that maybe you were talking out of your ass? Oh, and this "Ubuntu organization" you're talking about is called Canonical (the ones that handle the money, you should look it up!).

Re:And hurts Ubuntu

[StikyPad]

Yeah, I'm sure Symantec wouldn't have any problems if they renamed their product to CockBlocker Deluxe.

A good name won't necessarily win, but a bad name will always lose.

Re:

[Knuckles]

And who prevents him calling in this documents by its official name, Ubuntu 7.04? Or is he selling Windows Longhorn in these docs, too?

Re:And hurts Ubuntu

[nuzak]

Firefox has a component named "libpr0n". It's developed by an organization named Mozilla (which also develops a full suite named Seamonkey), and the fundamental basis of its UI technology uses an XML namespace defined by a uri of, get ready for it, http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there. is.only.xul [mozilla.org]

If you are in the business of reselling a distribution, you may have a point. If you cannot sufficiently hide the development names of pieces of your system from dour humourless micromanagers, then you cannot do your job, full stop. This may or may not be your fault, but it's hardly a reason to keep dragging out the same tired old "the name is too silly" argument. Serious people take Mark Shuttleworth seriously, and it's not just because he has money.

Re:And hurts Ubuntu

[kebes]

That's really too bad, because obviously important tech decisions should not be made based on the product name. If the product does the job, then that's what should matters. Besides, many software names sound goofy until you get used to them--I'm sure some people thought "Dreamweaver" was a rather ambiguous and strange-sounding name, but once it attains mindshare, the name gains the appropriate recognition. Same goes for "Powerpoint," "Photoshop," "Apache," and so on.

Besides, as others have pointed out, the discussion should not have gotten to "Feisty Fawn" in any case. That would be like discounting Windows Vista because "Longhorn" sounds silly. "Longhorn" was a pre-release code-name, with the final release called "Windows Vista." Similarly, "Feisty Fawn" is a pre-release code-name, with the final release called "Ubuntu 7.04."

I don't want to insult your coworkers, but as far as I'm concerned, allowing jokes about a product name to cloud one's technical judgment is not at all professional. And I really don't think the solution is to refrain from using pre-release code-names (which are helpful to the programmers)... because people making unprofessional judgments will just focus their baseless ridicule on something else (icons, artwork, color scheme, website, forums, personalities of people involved, etc.).

Why were you suggesting Feisty instead of the LTS?

[Chuck Chunder]

For that sort of installation it sounds like the LTS edition would be much more preferable. Ie it is supported for longer (much longer if you only need the server installation) and will have a one hop upgrade to the next LTS (rather than a two stop upgrade from Feisty).

If you aren't telling them you want to install "Ubuntu 6.06 Long Term Support" then frankly you are shooting yourself in the foot.

Re:

[howlingmadhowie]

here's a list:

code name --- release name

• warty warthog --- 4.10
• hoary hedgehog --- 5.04
• breezy badger --- 5.10
• dapper drake --- 6.06
• edgy eft --- 6.10
• feisty fawn --- 7.04

let me guess, at the moment you're using a springboard-whidbey combo?

Just use the adjective.

[SanityInAnarchy]

When I say we're installing "Ubuntu Feisty", sure, it sounds... different. But it doesn't actually sound stupid, like it would if I said "Feisty Fawn".

Same with Gusty. In fact, Hardy works even better.

I also tend to like names that don't actually offend programmers. Windows XP seems to me a deliberate attempt to steal the XP acronym -- and they have. XP used to stand for "Xtreme Programming", which is actually a very useful concept, and one which might have avoided some of the dumber problems Windows has had.

And they do this all the time. .NET, Word, Office, Internet Explorer, etc. They choose names that are so generic that you get most people confusing them with something else almost instantly. It's difficult to talk about a "Word processor", because most people hear that and think MS Word. It took Firefox long enough, and we still have to deal with people who think the Internet is Internet Explorer.

So now we have names like "Ubuntu" and "Hardy", and I think they work well -- they're distinctive, and they don't actually sound like anything else in the same field.

Re:And hurts Ubuntu

[owlstead]

They've got their uses. If I look for a problem specific to a version of Ubuntu, the Google searches are much more precise than when I just use the version number.

Re:Silly

[HomerJ]

There's an argument to be made for the goofy "code names". However, they are just that, code names. As far as version numbers, they make about as much sense as any. Higher versions get bigger numbers. 8.04 is a later version than 7.04. 7.10 is going to be a later version than 7.04, but behind 8.04.

What exactly is so confusing about it?

Re:

[stefanlasiewski]

Because the usage is inconstant. One person may say "I'm using Feisty". Someone else may say, "I'm using 7.10". To the casual user, there is no obvious relationship or distinction between the two names.

And really, some people talk about 7.04 and 7.10 as if they are different major releases. But the numbering scheme suggests that 7.10 is only a minor release. And the two releases have different 'Code names', which makes it seem like there is a major difference between the two. That's confusing.

Re:

[hhlost]

Ok, perhaps "non-standard" would have been a better term. And I really should have left the already-confusing part out, because my real concern is that, as someone posted above, convincing someone that the best platform for their needs is "Hardy Heron" in a professional environment is difficult, and embarrassing. Linux has the reputation of being usable only by teenage computer geeks and this does not help. Yes it's a code name, but it's used in public much more than most code names, and regardless, there's

Re:

[Khaed]

So use a different distribution. I know that's sort of the flaming typical reply, but really, there are a lot of options out there. It'd be much easier to pick a different distro than change Ubuntu and the entire community (which seem to overwhelmingly prefer the nicknames).

While we're talking about names: Hardy Heron is still a much better name than "The Gimp." That's the number one bit of software I'd like to see get a name change in the OS world.

Re:Silly

[ianare]

The version numbers are actually quite logical - first number = year, second number = month. So 7.10 means october 2007, 8.04 means april 2008. It actually makes more sense than a lot of other software release numbers.
As far as the code names, well they are silly, but silly can be good. All too often we take ourselves a little too seriously. If you're pitching it to the boss (who is very much against silliness - the stupid bastard), then go by: Linux Operating System Long Term Support edition v 8.04 or something like that ...

Re:Silly

[thegnu]

It's the most logical versioning system I've ever seen, because you know how old the release is. And you can't get confused by anything, at all. Higher number? Newer OS. Lower number? Older OS. As a practice, try arranging the following versions in the right order:

6.06
5.11
7.04
8.04
7.10
20.01

I bet you can do it. Plus, tell me when they were released. Now rearrange the following and tell me what date they were released (month/year):

Windows Vista
Windows 3.11
Windows XP
Windows Millenium
Windows NT 4
DOS 6
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 SP1
Windows 2000 SP2
Windows 2000 SP3
Windows 2000 SP4
Windows XP SP2
Windows XP SP1
Windows NT 4 SP1, etc

As far as silly codenames go, someone might want to know how Feisty Fawn compares to Longhorn, or Dolly, or some crap:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_codenames [wikipedia.org]

So people wouldn't build a business on Zamboni, would they? How about Fidalgo? Would you manage your mail with Touchdown? How about let your kids run Whistler? I mean, really. You should berate people for being morons if they can't read a code name without letting it alter their opinion of the viability of the product in their IT infrastructure.

If people don't like things made by people with a sense of humor, maybe they should get the fuck out the tubes and stop blocking my passage.

Re:Silly

[wile_e_wonka]

I think the code names are intended to be pre-release--once released the code name is officially dropped for a version number (though the code name is unofficially retained by most users including myself). "Silly" or otherwise unusual code names are common in the technology world--My personal favorite is Apple's internal names for the Power Mac 7100 [wikipedia.org].

Ubuntu's version number system is very simple, straightforward, and understandable--it consists of two numbers taken from the date of the release it is applied to: [year].[month]. Very simple, huh?

In Ubuntu's case, it is wise for them to use a code name prior to release, given their version number system, because a any delays could render the version number less meaningful (the author notes that Ubuntu uses a predictable release pattern with new releases every 6 months, but I think the makers of Ubuntu are being cautious because everyone knows delays can occur).

Re:

[hhlost]

It's confusing because I'm retarded. Wait, no I'm not. It's confusing because I expect version numbers to go up one at a time. Windows XP is actually Windows NT 5.1, which came after Windows NT 5.0 (Windows 2000).

Re:

[Reapman]

You realize Ubuntu did'nt make up this system, right? Ever hear of Longhorn? MS, and pretty much every development shop in the known universe, uses code names too, no sane person would say let's install Dapper Drake! They'd say Ubuntu 6.06 (or just 6, or just UBUNTU)

Runner Up

[Anonymous Coward]

So much for Ubuntu "Horny Homo". Just kidding, I'll still call it that.

Re:

[Nimey]

You got a purty mouth.

Re:Runner Up

[howlingmadhowie]

someone was there before you: http://gaybuntu.com/ [gaybuntu.com]

Hope they get it right this time

[goldspider]

Yeah, I already know this is going to -1 hell. I don't care. I'll keep it short at least.

I tried to install the AMD 64-bit version of Feisty, and the CD wouldn't even boot. None of my hardware is exotic by any stretch of the imagination, yet the GUI installer wouldn't even load. A few inquiries on the Ubuntu forums got a few suggestions to try the non-GUI install. I don't feel I should have to slog through a text install in the year 2007, so I didn't give Feisty a second thought.

I'll try Hardy, but it

Re:

[desenz]

I had the same problem. I had to go to the text mode installer, or I got strange colored lines. Maybe like a refresh rate was way out there or something.

Re:Hope they get it right this time

[ericrost]

What were you trying to install on? There are several problems on laptops that can be solved with a bootline option or two (I had to do this on an amd64 HP lappy).

When you say AMD64 and not exotic in the same sentence, you're kidding yourself btw. Nothing has shaken out as standard in the chipsets or BIOS's yet. That's why you have a little tweaky tweaky (esp since there are some MANY damned broken BIOS's out there).

Re:

[everphilski]

I've had a 64 bit AMD processor for almost 2 years now. Cheap-ass no-name motherboard. And I've had Fedora Core running on it for damn near that long, no tweaking.

Re:

[ericrost]

And I've got Ubuntu running on mine with a bootline tweak, but Fedora 7 wouldn't boot. Go figure, just like I was saying, things aren't standard on 64 bit platforms, broken apic's is the biggest problem I've come across.

Re:Hope they get it right this time

[MobyDisk]

Your information is out-of-date. AMD64 has been around since April 2003, and Windows/Linux has been working on since before it left the factory. Actually, all AMD motherboards since that time are 64-bit, even if nobody runs the 64-bit OS's.

Re:

[rolfwind]

Why don't you try Gutsy Gibbon (available now but only as Alpha - Tribe 5, released in October) before waiting almost 7 months or more for Hardy Heron.

Re:

[Lumpy]

don't matter, I haven't tried the GUI install on several PC's since 6.xx it has been broken on the 64 bit AND 32 bit side for a while for some hardware combinations. Specifically with older Nvidia cards for some reason. But I have seen the problem on a machine without nvidia and still require CLI install.

x64 worked for me

[bcrowell]

I'm not saying it's your fault, or you must be wrong, or anything like that, but I installed Feisty on my AMD x64 machine, and it worked just fine. The graphical installer worked fine. Firefox and flash worked fine. So although you've clearly experienced a problem, it's not a problem with all x64 systems, and it may not even be an x64-related issue at all. BTW, if the CD wouldn't boot, one thing to check would be the checksum on the ISO file, if you downloaded it.

Re:

[DarthVain]

yeah I have had very mixed results with Linux. Depending on my system, some work, some don't, and some work sort of. My old school Dell 4200 (P3800, etc...) could not run any Ubuntu. It could run Xandros, Mepis (forget spelling), and a few others. My new system (C2D 4200, ok that is a bit weird.. anyway..) could run the LIVE version of Fawn, however when I would try and actually install it, it would not boot (ok it would boot, the OS just wouldn't load). However I had a hard drive failure and for like 2 wee

Re:

[DarthVain]

I think I read a post about Linux Mint as well, I might have to try that out as well. Hopefully they will follow the the new Ubuntu version or it will install properly using the Fawn version.... Sound like what I am looking for... Though I know I will probably still have to go through a litany of installs for Windows codecs, and all the other stuff that is missing etc... Though it sounds like I would have to do less to make it usable.

Re:

[cerelib]

I'm curious. Did you check the integrity of the download with the SHA/MD5 checksums provided for the download before burning it to media? Also, did you happen to try the "Alternate Install" CD as well?

Re:

[ericrost]

Fairly untrue. I have full hardware support, just a broken bios. The only thing I have a "separate" version of is Firefox, so I can run flash. Everything else works just fine as 32 bit packages on a 64 bit distro through compatibility libraries (ia32 I want to say, but I don't have my installed package list in front of me as I'm on my Windblows box at work).

Re:

[ericrost]

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_i nstall_DVD_playback_capability [ubuntuguide.org]

sudo apt-get install subversion

I parsed it as "Hearty Heroin"...

[nweaver]

I always knew the FSF crowd were on some good drugs...

Before the site is slashdotted...

[Nimey]

Introducing the Hardy Heron
August 29th, 2007

I am delighted to have the pleasure of announcing the Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04), the next version of Ubuntu that will succeed Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu 7.10, due for release in October 2007). Not only will the Ubuntu community continue to do what it does best, produce an easy-to-use, reliable, free software platform, but this release will proudly wear the badge of Long Term Support (LTS) and be supported with security updates for five years on the server and three years on the desktop. We look forward to releasing the Hardy Heron in April 2008.

With the opening of each new release cycle of Ubuntu, we have more and more opportunity at our fingertips. Not only are our friends in the upstream world constantly innovating and extending their applications and software, but the Ubuntu community continues to see incredible growth in its diverse range of areas such as packaging, development, documentation, quality assurance, translations, LoCo teams and more. Each new release gives us all an opportunity to shine, irrespective of which bricks in the project we are laying, and this is at the heart of our belief - working together to produce an Operating System that will empower its users and shape the IT industry, putting free software at the corner-stone of our direction.

Most people only ever see the end-user view of Ubuntu, running it on their desktops, servers and mobile devices around the world. For these users, Ubuntu provides a simple, convenient means to do what they want to do easily, effectively and without unnecessary complexity. For many of us though, we want to open up the hood and understand how the system works and how to extend and grow it. Thousands of us get out of bed every day, united behind Ubuntu, ready to make a difference, working together to make our vision happen.

Importantly, our ethos of collaboration and freedom extends to the development process as well as the end product. As such, the Ubuntu development process is a very open, transparent one, and anyone is welcome to get involved. It works like this:

        * Everyone is welcome to think of and develop ideas for features that could be present in the Hardy Heron release. These ideas are written as specifications (detailed documents outlining how the idea would work and be implemented). You are welcome to add your specifications to https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu [launchpad.net].
        * In October 2007, we will hold the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and generate a schedule of sessions to discuss these specifications. The sessions provide a means for interested parties to help scope out the proposed feature and determine methods and plans to implement it. The Ubuntu Developer Summit is a semi-virtual event in which those who cannot attend can dial in with VoIP and use IRC and collaborative editing with Gobby to take part in the summit.

Everyone is welcome to participate, everyone is welcome to get involved, and everyone is welcome to help shape the form of the Hardy Heron. Let's work together to shake things up, make things happen and make the most compelling Ubuntu release yet. Start your engines...

Spoonerish

[minginqunt]

Ubuntu Hairy Hardo... I mean, er, Hardy Heron, was announced today to much polite coughing.

More bad news!

[Anonymous Coward]

No sooner does Yahoo report that worldwide illegal drug use isn't growing for the first time since drug prohibition started producing illegal drug use in the mid 19th century [yahoo.com], then slashdot reports that Ubuntu Hardy Heroin is Announced!

Damned drug smuggling penguins...

Release Name suggestion

[Nonillion]

Hey, Ubuntu developers. I'd like to suggest the name for your next release.. "Killer Green Bud"

Re:

[everphilski]

Ubuntu Geico Gecko!

Think of the profitable commercial tie-ins!

Hmm...

[cromar]

Great Ganja
Green Ganja
...
Golden Ganja

You ever install Ubuntu... on weed? Oh, there's some crazy shit, man. There's a penguin in the distro box. Has he got a gun? I dunno! RED TEAM GO, RED TEAM GO.

The release after? - Irksome Iguana?

[bushboy]

Irritable Ibex?
Interminable Impala?
Ingrate Ibis?

what's really in Gibbon and Hippo?

[bcrowell]

It would be interesting to know more about what's planned for Gibbon and Hippo. I'm currently running Feisty on all my home and work machines, and in general it works great. TFA does have a link to a wikified wishlist for Hippo, but that's not the same as knowing what the focus of the release is really going to be: usability, innovation, stability? I'd guess the focus won't be innovation, since they're going to make it a long-term support release.

Here's my person impression of what's already okay in Feisty, and what needs to be improved.

Already okay in Feisty:

1. 64-bit support is perfect, as far as I can tell. I hear a lot of people complaining about it, but all I can say is that I'm running the default packages for firefox, flash, and java, and everything Just Works. The flash and java applet plugins work fine for me. AFAICT, some 64-bit enthusiasts are upset that they can't run these plugins as native 64-bit apps in a 64-bit native browser. What I can't figure out is why that matters...? If it works, it works.
2. Wifi just worked for me, and is now sufficiently integrated with the Gnome gui to make it easy for my 11-year-old daughter to deal with it on her machine.
3. The kernel has built-in support for AMD's Cool'n'Quiet energy-saving technology.

Problems with Feisty:

1. ACPI power management doesn't work. This is a particularly bad problem for laptops. My laptop would shut down as soon as Gnome started, because it believed the battery was dead, when it really wasn't. Hibernation has never worked on any machine I've tried it on. Sleep typically doesn't work. To be fair, this may not be the fault of the linux/ubuntu developers; apparently a lot of hardware manufacturers refuse to supply enough information to allow kernel developers to know what hardware registers need to be restored when waking from sleep or hibernation.
2. Getting a working java runtime is still more work than it needs to be. At the very least, you have to enable a non-free repository, and then add an obscurely named package. I assume this is basically a licensing issue, and will go away as the open-source runtime matures and has the rest of its proprietary components replaced with free ones.
3. CUPS and printing suck to high heaven. This is the single biggest problem I'm facing now. It's not as much of a disaster as it was in earlier versions like Breezy, but it's still a disaster. I have pages and pages of notes on how to get my printer working with Feisty, and it still doesn't work very well -- the printer freezes unpredictably and needs to be power cycled. No, this is not a case where the problem is just that the manufacturer won't release specs; it's a Brother laser printer, and Brother actually hired the CUPS developers to write GPL'd drivers.

Re:

[jimicus]

CUPS and printing suck to high heaven. This is the single biggest problem I'm facing now. It's not as much of a disaster as it was in earlier versions like Breezy, but it's still a disaster. I have pages and pages of notes on how to get my printer working with Feisty, and it still doesn't work very well -- the printer freezes unpredictably and needs to be power cycled. No, this is not a case where the problem is just that the manufacturer won't release specs; it's a Brother laser printer, and Brother actual

How great...

[Pecisk]

Article is about that finally another Ubuntu LTS is comming and everyone and his/her dog bitching how silly Ubuntu code names are. Not about bugs, not about how to help to solve them, but about FUCKIN FREAKIN code names!

If you choose software just by code names, you are completely lost. And if you thinking that word "Hard" is embarrassing, you definitely have too less sex, and never have thought what "Longhorn" actually can mean.

(ooh, there goes my karma)

In a mean time, click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heron [wikipedia.org] to see man with...ohhh, it is just bird. Nevermind.

LTS

[Tribbin]

Hardy Heron: Me support you long time.

I fear Ubuntu might have trouble developing names

[jollyreaper]

Allow me to submit a few they could choose from in the future.

Irritable Iguana
Jocular Jellyfish
Konstipated Kangaroo
Llustful Llama
Moody Moonbat
Naughty Nautilus
Onomatopoeic Ocelot
Pervy Penguin
Quizzical Quetzalcoatl (we can use mythological beasties if BSD can use daemons)
Randy Rhino
Secret Squirrel
Truculent Tapir
Unctuous Ungulate
Vituperative Vole
Woeful Walrus
Xenophobic Xenu (posted here previously, I like)
Yearnful Yak
Zoophilic Zebra

No, linux is not ready for the desktop.

[AbRASiON]

I've been experimenting with Ubuntu for about 2 years now on and off, I try it each new release.

I've tried every release from 5.04 onwards, each time I've had difficulty getting things working.
Initially intel 2200 wireless cards, then after purchasing a new card, getting WPA to work.
Now, finally WPA is out of the box on atheros cards however my rt2500, not so much.

Sure in Windows sometimes stuff doesn't work too but in order to get things like this fixed under linux is very very difficult.
(I've been using PC's for 16 years this year mind you)
I read forums I post on forums, I try my best to figure it out but it just doesn't seem that simple at ALL.

Sure it's free and yes the guys over at the ubuntuforums certainly defy the stereotypical 'rtfm noob!' responses of yesteryear in # ultimately though it's still just crazy hard and I really don't want much (promise)

The latest edition of Ubuntu (7.04 iirc) doesn't work properly on Dell 8600 displays, the driver is dead and glitchy weird scanlines appear on the display (mind you this has never been a problem before)
Sure you'll tell me it's a proprietary driver issue or ATI's fault and you'd be right but I'm typing this post from the perspective of a Windows user, I don't care, sorry but I don't - I just want it to work, I'd love to replace Windows.

I want to emphasize I'd be happy to persevere if say my graphics, sound and networking were fine, as long as I can sit on the couch and browse that's a great start, further issues like downloading things, burning dvd's, re-encoding media, manipulating images that is less important than the core functionality (although damned important too)

I do not want to use Windows Vista (don't get me started, terrible stuff)
I'm an end user and I'm a gamer but I'm happy to dual boot XP and Ubuntu or if I get sick of my Desktop PC and PC gaming, go entirely 360 / PS3 and Ubuntu on the laptop but... at this rate Ubuntu isn't happening for me, been trying so long with so little luck :/

I've no doubt some will mod this overrated others troll but this is how it is from 'our' perspective over in the Windows / end user camp, we just need it to work, I'll keep on trying eventually it will work, I hope.
(note: I am not saying it's all bad, synaptic is a fantastic concept, works well, free is awesome, overall UI doesn't seem too bad either)

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Nifty Names

[SpeedyDX]

If copyright was not an issue, I'd like to see Xenophic Xenu.

Re:

[naChoZ]

As for me, I'm looking forward to what they come up with for the letter X, and I'd like to be the first to suggest Xanthic Xerbus.

Sounds appropriate to me. It certainly seems as if Piers Anthony is in charge of Ubuntu's naming scheme.

Re:

[ericrost]

6.06 is already a LTS release. Same terms.

Re:

[JeremyGNJ]

One major difference. Redhad has money and corporate customers behind it. They can pay for employees to continue support it 5-7 years out. Even Microsoft says after 5 years its not worth spending the money...and if they wanted to plenty of businesses would PAY to have the support extended.

Ubuntu 6.06 is only ~1.5 years old. Only halfway there. Kind of remains to be seen if they can pull it off....especially with MULTIPLE LTS products in cycle. Under their plan to release a new LTS every 2 years, t

Re:

[ianare]

It's not uncommon for a server to keep on running without ever needing a complete system update for 5 years. We have a few mandrake 9 (released in 2002) machines that are running just fine, but it would be nice to have security updates and such for them.
Also, I think RedHat has 5 year support on their servers as well.

Re:

[Random832]

This is one thing that drives me crazy about Ubuntu... these names are elitist and completely unintuitive. There is no obvious relationship between the version numbers and the names.

Well, at least recently they collate in the same order

Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger)
Ubuntu 6.04 (Dapper Drake)
Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft)
Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)
Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)

Re:

[Cro Magnon]

What happened to the "C" version? And was there ever an "A" version?

Also, what will they do when they hit "Q"?

Re:

[imbaczek]

Quiet Quadruped.

Re:

[wile_e_wonka]

Here's a collection of the code names matched up with version numbers (though, as already pointed out, the fact that the code names slowly move up the alphabet is a pretty good indicator):

Re:

[Random832]

They are links. Have you tried clicking them? (and, underlines on links disappearing on mouseover has been a common design feature of websites for, like, the past five years)

Re:

[ericrost]

subject isn't a link, text bar comes up when you mouse over them.

Re:Wireless Support + Beryl

[Almahtar]

I can't tell you how many PC users have watched over my shoulder as I used Beryl and said "Wow... looks like Vista is worth the switch afterall, that's amazing."