Linux Loopie
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| ColonelPanik Nov 13, 2008 11:17 AM EDT |
If you put an infinite number of monkeys in front of an infinite number of keyboards you will get an infinite amount of cr@p! |
| zenarcher Nov 13, 2008 11:40 AM EDT |
I'm far and away no expert on Linux. I'm just an old retired guy who worked on hardware back when we were working on the design of the 5 1/4 inch floppy drive, to give you an idea. And, I've never been a fan of Ubuntu. I spent three years trying to get a good Ubuntu install, while happily using several other Linux distributions. I'd never tried GNOME nor any Debian based distribution, either, staying with KDE, since that was the first desktop system I encountered. But, here I am, defending Ubuntu. This past week, I decided to give another try with Ubuntu 8.10. Likewise, thanks to numerous "minor" issues with KDE4, I decided to give GNOME a try, as well. I have no idea of what sort of spectacular changes nor radical new look Ubuntu has promised, but I have to say this for them. Ubuntu 8.10 has been the best experience I've had with Linux...period. All the minor annoyances I've been enduring with Mandriva, OpenSUSE and Fedora are gone. This version of Ubuntu worked so well with my test box that I'm in the process of switching all four computers in the house over to Ubuntu.....and not looking back nor missing a thing. So, if it comes down between "radical" and working without a pile of minor annoyances, I'll say I'm perfectly happy just as it is. That's good enough for me. Everything just works right and that's not something I ever expected to hear myself say about Ubuntu, of all distributions. If nothing "radical," nor "spectacular" appear for the next couple of releases, I won't be too disappointed. Again, this is just one person's thought and experiences and I know there are many others. But for me, I'm not complaining. |
| Sander_Marechal Nov 13, 2008 12:00 PM EDT |
Quoting:This version of Ubuntu worked so well with my test box that I'm in the process of switching all four computers in the house over to Ubuntu... Don't. *Every* distro has quirks and so does Ubuntu. You may want to test it for longer than a week before you switch all your computers over. Not that I agree with Linux Loop by the way. From what I have seen 8.10 is a pretty good release, but there are always snags. |
| ABCC Nov 13, 2008 12:18 PM EDT |
Don't you think it's all just a bit rich coming from someone with an orange website? |
| zenarcher Nov 13, 2008 12:23 PM EDT |
Sander, I know what you are saying. It seems that you escape one glitch, only to gain another. I have to say, I think this switch for me to GNOME from KDE has really helped. I've always had weird sound issues, which I think were related to KDE and are completely gone with GNOME. It's going to be a learning curve with GNOME, however. Being in the "over 60" age group, learning curves are a bit scary. On the plus side, being retired, I don't have anything else to do all day. *LOL* |
| Sander_Marechal Nov 13, 2008 12:35 PM EDT |
@zenarcher: That could be true. IIRC KDE 3.x was kind-of locked into OSS while te rest of the world moved on to Alsa and PulseAudio. You may want to try KDE4 (that's not married to OSS either) but I think that is as much a learning curve as Gnome is. |
| zenarcher Nov 13, 2008 1:05 PM EDT |
@Sander. The majority of my minor issues began with KDE4, it seems. Most were not present with KDE3.5. With KDE4, I've encountered some minor problems with certain system sounds I have, cutting off, part way through playing. Likewise, I've had some problems with KDE4 and my Nvidia video cards, using the newest Nvidia drivers. Mandriva had some workarounds, which helped a bit. In any case, I don't seem to be experiencing them with GNOME, at all. The driver issue seems to be worst with my Nvidia 8000 series video cards. I'm starting to like GNOME...it's just taking some time to learn how to customize different features, but I'm learning! |
| herzeleid Nov 13, 2008 1:27 PM EDT |
I've had a similar experience as zenarcher. Since 2004 I'd been running suse everywhere, and I used kde on the desktop. The combination of curiosity about ubuntu and the problems with kde4 led me to try ubuntu 8.04, and I found that it made gnome palatable even to an old kde bigot like me. At this point, my home servers and laptop have been converted to ubuntu. My home desktop is still suse 11.0, but I'm still considering it's fate. I'm running ubuntu on my desktop at work as well. I've used a lot of distros, starting with SLS in 1993, and I mean full time linux use - and it just seems to me that ubuntu is doing a lot of things right. Is there room for improvement? Sure, but I don't see anybody else getting there any faster. |
| dinotrac Nov 13, 2008 2:30 PM EDT |
Sander - KDE 3 is married to OSS? I don't think so, amigo. KDE has supported ALSA happily for a loooooong time now. |
| jdixon Nov 13, 2008 2:42 PM EDT |
> KDE has supported ALSA happily for a loooooong time now. Agreed. Now some applications still give me problems (sound in VMware Server, for instance), but KDE itself works fine with ALSA. |
| montezuma Nov 13, 2008 2:52 PM EDT |
zenarcher, That has been my experience in the main with Ubuntu over the past few years. Ironically enough given your comments upgrading to 8.10 has been the worst upgrade experience of all. Two of my boxes refused to boot and a laptop had sound issues. I was helped enormously by this thread on the Ubuntu forums: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=966436 |
| Steven_Rosenber Nov 13, 2008 3:03 PM EDT |
Whenever I put a new computer into service, I go through a period during which I try out a number of distros until I find one that works and plays well with the system. For instance, on my Power Mac G4, Debian Etch configures perfectly and runs much faster than Fedora 9, which barely configures X. Of course I could take the xorg.conf from Debian and now make Fedora display better, but I won't get that speed advantage. That's with 400 MHz of CPU. On a 1 GHz or better CPU, these performance differences won't be as noticeable on the desktop. It's best to keep an open mind and learn what you can from the different distros in relation to your hardware. If you know why a certain feature works (or works better) in one distro, saving a copy of all relevant configuration files and steps you took will make future configuration go much more quickly. That said, I've spent quite a bit of time getting Ubuntu to do the right thing (and not either crash or render itself unbootable). I imagine that "your mileage may vary" is the thing to remember. I've done a few Ubuntu 6.06 LTS installs and can't remember having a single problem or crash. Things haven't gone as smoothly with subsequent editions, but when it comes to hardware detection, Ubuntu does very well. On my Gateway laptop, I'd like to run OpenBSD, but since that system detects none of my thermal and fan sensors, I can't do it. I'd prefer to run Debian Lenny, but unresolvable X issues led me to pull it. Now that I've gone two days without a Ubuntu crash, I'm feeling pretty good about running 8.04. Sounds a little pathetic, but there you have it. |
| tracyanne Nov 13, 2008 4:53 PM EDT |
I upgraded my partner to Mandriva 2009.0 (with KDE4) and a day later rolled her back to Mandriva 2008.1 with KDE3, she hated KDE4. |
| tracyanne Nov 13, 2008 4:55 PM EDT |
Prof reed, I don t botter. |
| Sander_Marechal Nov 13, 2008 5:14 PM EDT |
Quoting:KDE 3 is married to OSS? I don't think so, amigo. Well, that was one of the reasons that Phonon got pitched by the KDE folk last year on FOSDEM and T-DOSE. |
| dthacker Nov 13, 2008 6:17 PM EDT |
The art work is critical? The art work is the most important thing Ubuntu needs to deliver? Puh-Leeze. Shut up and code. Or document. Or contribute some artwork. Or just report a fugly bug and work with the developers to get it fixed. Linux, even if it's linux sponsored by a rich sabdfl, is still a "patches welcome" world. Dave |
| Steven_Rosenber Nov 13, 2008 6:42 PM EDT |
I agree that the artwork argument is pretty weak. It's easy to replace desktop wallpaper. I'd rather they focus on making things work rather than how it looks. Has anybody seen Debian's new Lenny wallpaper? I prefer the old version ... |
| garymax Nov 13, 2008 10:55 PM EDT |
THIS IS IT! THIS IS IT! THE TRUTH ABOUT UBUNTU FINALLY COMES OUT. NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE FINAL PUSH TO MOVE THE MASSES TO SLACKWARE! OH THE JOY...I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME... :-P |
| gus3 Nov 13, 2008 11:03 PM EDT |
I was wondering the same thing garymax. Why can't people see the Slackware light? |
| dinotrac Nov 13, 2008 11:21 PM EDT |
G & G - You kidding me? I wear slacks all the time. Lots of people do. |
| gus3 Nov 14, 2008 12:22 AM EDT |
A true Slacker doesn't wear slacks. He has nothing to prove, so he wears jeans instead. (Substitute "she" if appropriate. Offer void where prohibited. Do not taunt the Happy Fun Ball.) |
| jdixon Nov 14, 2008 1:06 AM EDT |
> Why can't people see the Slackware light? But if everyone used Slackware, then where would we be???? Oh, that's right, exactly where we are now: With one of the fastest, most stable, and most flexible operating systems in existence. Forget I said anything. :) |
| rijelkentaurus Nov 14, 2008 1:39 AM EDT |
Gotta be honest...used Slackware briefly recently just to try it out, was very impressed. Good stuff. |
| tuxchick Nov 14, 2008 1:57 AM EDT |
Old slack water, keep on rolling Mississippi moon won't you keep on shining on me |
| dinotrac Nov 14, 2008 2:17 AM EDT |
Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore! Leave no slack plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! |
| ColonelPanik Nov 14, 2008 12:00 PM EDT |
Debian>Ubuntu But that is just a user thing, you geeks wouldn't understand. |
| machiner Nov 14, 2008 1:26 PM EDT |
What credibility? Really - someone tell me because I'm feeling like I've been in a cave for a while. Last time I checked 15 years olds, or other fickle distro-hopping bastids, were touting Ubuntu. You know, I've always wanted Ubuntu to be what it has always wanted to be, but it is what it is, not what it wants to be. Does that make sense? lol computers suck - go outside and play |
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