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UAC is not the only way, nor is it the correct way.

After all, what good is user confirmation in that case?

How does the user know what the code is REALLY going to do after it gets admin privileges?

Figuring it out is worse than trying to solve the "halting problem".

Unlike the Halting Problem, the users don't even get a true description of the program ( unless you count having access to the binary object code), nor do they know what all the inputs are going to be.

Their options are:
a) Make a guess, hopefully a correct guess (education helps, but even the educated can only solve specific halting problems).
b) not run any new/nonbundled programs
c) only getting code from a "trusted repository" ala Debian/etc. Forgive me if I consider that dismal. Also, if Microsoft did that people would cry "Monopoly!".

After so many decades, we're stuck with these crappy options because of crappy primitive operating systems.

Crappy Unix style security (omnipotent root vs "everyone else"), or the usually impractical SELinux (who really thinks that's Desktop ready?), or Vista UAC. There's a glimmer of hope with AppArmor but it's still far from "Desktop Ready".

If people think that's as good as it can get, I say they're not thinking or trying hard enough.

For example here's what I came up with just a bit of thinking:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/156693

An analogy:
With the Halting Problem, the user has to figure out whether the program will halt or not.

With my approach, the program says "I want at most 30 seconds of CPU time", the user says "sounds reasonable. So, OK", the O/S then runs the program, and if the program is still running 30 seconds of CPU later, the O/S kills it. So no need to figure out whether it will halt or not. It will halt - the O/S ensures it.

Whereas if the program says "I want infinite CPU time", it should be easier to train the user to click "No" or click "Too bad, you only get 30 seconds (you don't get to turn my machine into a zombie)".

Detail: the program says which privilege template it wants, and if it matches the user's expectations, the user says "OK" (and possibly checks the "remember this decision for this program"), then the O/S _enforces_ the privileges - so the program only gets what it asked for.

For example, if a program claims to be a "guest flash/shockwave applet", it is unlikely to need access to your microphone or your personal Documents and email. All it needs is the ability to draw graphics, get keyboard and mouse input when in foreground, play sounds, write and read from its temporary scratchpad directory. If it wants network access it better ask for "guest flash/shockwave applet (with network access)", otherwise the O/S should not allow it network access.

Whereas if a program that initially claimed it was a "flash game", but when the user attempts to launch it, the O/S says it is asking for "Full System Privileges" (with all the scary red warnings), I think it's a lot easier to train users not to click "OK" (or at least call for help when they see "red").

Yes, UAC is better than nothing and the sandboxing in Vista is better than what you get in XP and default Ubuntu, but I thought Microsoft hired all those super smart people who can pass all those fancy interviews.

Maybe they did think of something better, but UAC is just Microsoft's way of shifting the blame to the users "aha - you disabled UAC, so it's YOUR FAULT, not Microsoft's". Cheaper and simpler to do that? But they still said it took them 6 billion dollars and many years to develop it!

Maybe a lot of it went into DRM and getting it to kinda work...

My suggestion isn't fantastic, but it's definitely better than UAC.

I'm just showing how things can be better. I'll be happy if people come up with something far better than my suggestion.

p.s. if anyone says it doesn't work just because I left out all the pages of details that

Firefox 3 doesn't display JPEGs without massive banding effects on a 16bpp X display. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox-3.0/+bug/249436 Firefox 2 handles them fine. It would be nice to see this bug fixed.

This might be a bug with nVidia's drivers more than anything. I experienced similar problems with the default drivers in intrepid, but the issue is fixed for me in jaunty. See this bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/269904

Of course, this assumes you're using the defective drivers in the first place...

Yes, Linux is a great OS, but it simply doesn't have photoshop or anything that compares to it. GIMP is a clumsy hack and is frankly like Paint in comparison.

Compared to Photoshop, Gimp might be like Paint, but compared to Paint, Gimp really is like Photoshop :-)

Gnome, KDE and Explorer have nothing on the frankly revolutionary changes Mac has seamlessly implemented in the last few years. There are a lot of poorly implemented whizbang features like Time Machine's GUI or Safari 4's Top Pages, but there are also features like Spotlight, Expose, the new stacks in the Dock, and Quick Look.

Maybe you can check out

• Beagle
• Compiz
• Cairo-Dock
• gloobus

Call me back when Linux works with my hardware out of the box

Call me back when you buy hardware that works with Linux. :-)

Ever seen the bug reporting facilities?

Yes. Note how my bug (I was even considerate enough to include a patch--that means fix) was ignored for well over a year (the issue has since been resolved because Ubuntu's default Awk is no longer the bread-dead Mawk, but the annoying-handling-of-regexes-in-non-C-locales Gawk).

Furthermore, Canonical is a very small, four year old company that's just struggling to make their organization break even.

The issue is this: Canonical has bitten off more than they can chew. They simply don't have the resources in place to have a proper SQA process for all of the software they ship; having their SQA progress be having users submit bugs (which then get ignored) is a classic pattern of "making end users beta testers".

If Canonical wants to increase Linux adoption, they need to stabilize things. Linux desktop use is very low; at most 2% of desktop computers use some kind of Linux. Ubuntu has the potential to greatly increase that figure, but as long as their code is buggy as it is now, adoption will not expand beyond a small core of dedicated users.

Linux desktop use has gone from .5% to about 2% in the 12 years or so I've been paying attention; compare this to Firefox's increase in use from 0% to about 25% of desktop users in the same time period.

- Sam

Initially the kernel was compiled without the High memory enabled. Now it is. https://bugs.launchpad.net/dell-mini/+bug/286258

So true. This is offtopic but do you have any tips of how to speed up compilation on linsux?

I gotta compile my browser and video player before I can watch some pr0n action as is recommended on all linux forums.

BTW I heard that some rogue has silently introduced very subtle buffer overflows in part of the kernel. It explains why the linsux servers constantly get rooted.

Even slashdot servers crashed on new years.

http://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/612/

I mean seriously.. even my 2 yr old niece can crash linux.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/257666

Does anyone besides the basement dwellers (aka losers) here use this crap? Should MS throw cash at ubuntu just like they did for Apache?

LOL..

i know you asked about debian, but this is my reason in ubuntu : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/evince/+bug/44989

A lot of people claim it's a PEBKAC problem, but I STRONGLY disagree.

If you expect people to figure out whether a file is safe before "launching/opening" it, then you are expecting people to solve something arguably harder than the "halting problem" (which I hear is very hard, but still easier in comparison since you are given both the description of the program AND the finite input!).

I propose that:
1) Compliant programs be allowed to _request_ what they want to be able to do (by either using a finite and manageable set of standard sandbox templates, or in special cases a custom sandbox template - which can be audited and digitally signed by 3rd parties).
AND THEN
2a) The user be asked whether the request seems reasonable e.g. Fun Screensaver requests "Standard Screen Saver" privileges vs WARNING!! Fun Screensaver is requesting "Full System" privileges!
AND THEN
3) If approved, the operating system then enforces the requested template, so the program can only do whatever possible within the template sandbox.

Do note there's also:
2b) The request is silently approved if the OS has been told to remember the user's prior approval of the program and template (and the alt/whatever key was not held down while launching).
2c) The request is silently approved if the program and requested template is signed by trusted parties (e.g. OS vendor), and the alt/whatever key was not held down while launching.

I have proposed this concept before to Ubuntu and Suse, see:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/156693
(FWIW I've actually also suggested this to apple).

It'll be hard to implement, but I suspect it's easier than getting "Joe Sixpack" to reliably solve something harder than the "halting problem".

Lastly, much windows malware REQUIRE a brain to participate in order to spread. It's often harder to write malware that does not require a brain to spread. Many here think they're so smart, but would they really know what a devious binary or perl script actually does? Have they ever looked at the Underhanded C entries?

Unless the user receives a .desktop file, which works like a Windows shortcut or pif --- i.e., a .desktop file can be executed by double-clicking without it being marked executable. Congratulations, you lose.

Okay, so you have browsers do the OS X thing and mark downloaded .desktop files as being I'm-dangerous-I'm-from-the-Internet? Then you run into the Dancing Bunny Problem -- users will just click OK to see the cool thing they just downloaded.

Today, Linux (and to some extent, OS X) users are clueful enough to not descend to that level of stupidity. But as we see Windows decline in marketshare, more reckless users will end up in other operating systems and engage in the same kind of behavior that gives Windows such a bad reputation today.

We're dealing with a social problem here, not a technical one. Either we lock computers down so that users cannot run arbitrary programs on them, or we educate users to use their computers responsibly.

Firefox is way more stable in my experience under MS Windows (and maybe WINE?) than under LINUX/X.

Admittedly I'm probably more of a 'power user' than most, but the thing that kills me about LINUX Firefox
is its GROSS instability under heavy load (e.g. problematic on both Fedora and Ubuntu 64 bit editions anyway).
It takes anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours of ordinary use in order for it to just crash and close down on me with no core dump.

This is on systems with 8GB RAM (so it is not a resource shortage), not using FLASH or similar plugins, and not always / generally using proprietary ATI/NVIDIA video drivers. Admittedly this often occurs with a high number of windows/tabs open (e.g. 85 windows, 500 tabs) -- just because that's a normal evolution of me leaving stuff open instead of closing them. However I've had it crash similarly frequently when only a few dozen windows/tabs are open, so it isn't strictly a super heavy load issue. Generally the crash is accompanied by some X windows system error, BadIDChoice or such. Here's a ~ 2 year old Ubuntu "confirmed" bug report listing very similar crash problems, though the exact X error seems like it could be a bit different here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/97492

I just don't get their LINUX quality control, this happens so repeatedly over numerous 3.X versions of FF that I must assume that an automatic test script that repeatedly opened / closed a few hundred windows mocking normal usage would repeatedly trigger this, yet after apparently a couple of years of the problem being unresolved I still see no diagnosis / workaround / fix.

This just doesn't happen under MS Windows, though I tend to load down XP / Vista SLIGHTLY less with open tabs / windows than on LINUX, but on LINUX I can run FF for hours or days if I'm lucky. On MS Windows I can run it for days or weeks, so this is rather embarrassing / frustrating since in all other day to day use respects LINUX tends to be equal or superior to MS Windows in stability / functionality.

No chrome (yuck), super unstable firefox, konqueror just doesn't compare, opera I'm not a fan of == unhappy LINUX browsing.

One thing Chrome got right is one system process per window, at least a single error doesn't take down HUNDREDS of open browser windows. Even better would be true error recovery so that any error would just cause the affected threads / tabs to be reloaded with no loss of context and not having the whole browser crash. The automatic crashed session recovery is about the only thing that has kept me using FF on LINUX, though it sucks to wait like 20 minutes for your pages to reload, and then never perfectly (lost form data / buggy reload processes / whatever).

like the FOSS cock up your ass? ME hardly sold any copies. Since Linux fags are used to being in the 2% of morons who use some weird OS which is useless on the desktop it seems like ME was a huge success, but in reality nobody even bought it. Oh yeah I've seen some smelly hippie "demonstrate" linux (aka prove that its useless) by showing people in the office some spinning cubes or some other crap by typing shit in the command line. Most people laugh and go home and play Assasins Creed or fuck their girlfriend while the hippie goes home and comments on slashdot how he "converted" people to linux and how "amazed" they were. hahaha.. i mean what a fucking joke. You fags cant even keep the OS running through the newyear -> http://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/612/

But whats funny is bugs like this https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/257666 Even my 2yr old niece can crash linux. Put in a SD card.. BOOM instant crash.

In closing - ME is unlike Vista, which is a success. In terms of marketshare, anyway. Win 7 will be too. Unless the market gets scared of some commenters here. What do you think? LOL. To any non-tech person reading this, most /. comments; ranting about micro$oft are like white noise. Very peaceful and can be ignored....

For your amusement, I put up a bit of Python code which displays the epoch time in realtime on the command-line.

Useful for counting to things! Get it at Launchpad (branch).

For your amusement, I put up a bit of Python code which displays the epoch time in realtime on the command-line.

Useful for counting to things! Get it at Launchpad (branch).

I ain't saying nothin'. It's the users the ones who are doin' the talkin'

I looked at all of these links and personally I never experienced ANY of these bugs during my 2 1/2 years with Ubuntu. I did have some problems, granted, but I also installed Windows XP at least 20 times in 3 years because it screwed itself up so badly that it couldn't be saved. So this is a common experience for all OSs. I don't want to play that blame-game anymore. Windows is buggy, Linux is buggy. Windows has shit support hotlines and costs lots of money, Linux has enthusiastic users (which sometimes don't know their ass from their face) but is free. Some of the things you linked here were "I hate Ubuntu because I had that problem" type blogs. No explanation of what actually happened just "I used it and it was shit". A post titled "Ubuntu sucks ... get a Mac" is not exactly what I would want to use to make a point. One of the things you linked was an OpenOffice bug. How do you make an argument out of that. That's like saying "MS Access crashed on my SQL database ... windows sucks". Apples and Peaches wha...?

Ubuntu is buggy. Period. The fact that Vista, or any Windows for that regard, might be buggy too, does not invalidate that perception.

Ack! You're right about that. But let's be fair. You use Ubuntu's bugginess to discredit it as a "good desktop" and I do the same for several Windows versions. We're all happy.

Don't compare apples to oranges. Compare Ubuntu (a distro, or a complex of distros) to other distros: CentOS, PCLinuxOS, LinuxMint, Mandriva, OpenSUSE, Slackware... you get the idea.

It was YOU who started the apples and oranges cars against Operating systems analogy. Nevermind.

I stand by my point. Putting a slow, buggy distro with a GNOME frontend = big mess. I've seen that before (summoning Red Hat Linux versions from the dead...).

You might get a decent implementation of GNOME on another distro, who knows... (Debian, perhaps?). You might also get a good, stable distro who also happens to be very fast (Vector Linux).

But these two damning factors (GNOME and a slow, buggy linux) are present in Ubuntu and this is a trend that is only going to get worse as far as I can see.

Maybe slow and buggy is the compromise to make for the regular user? No, but seriously. I use Ubuntu for a while now, I did have problems, still have some inexplicable bugs but compared to some of the other distros the work that has been put into the usability outweighs these minor flaws for me. Compared to the non-existing debugging in Windows I even fixed a host of my problems myself simply by analyzing the error logs and actually looking through the sources. That might not be the average user's business but at least I can do it here. Back to Linux in General: I tried installing Arch Linux one of the distros that is heralded as exquisit, I got it onto my machine and got stuck. Gentoo, same thing, compiling everything as a guy like me with ten years Windows experience and all time already spent on learning other Linux basics? I tried but failed miserably. I don't know

Oh boy, let's see...

I don't know which Ubuntu you are talking about but the three machines that I run don't have any problems that they wouldn't have under (or because of) Vista. And I can maintain all three free of cost. ... Just because it doesn't fulfill your expectations doesn't mean it's not a good desktop. Windows doesn't fulfill mine ... so what do you say to that?

I ain't saying nothin'. It's the users the ones who are doin' the talkin'. Ubuntu is buggy. Period. The fact that Vista, or any Windows for that regard, might be buggy too, does not invalidate that perception.

Correction: It's a FREE Ferrari that outruns the MS Ferrari at many many occasions and you don't have to buy a special screwdriver for thousands of dollars to open the hood. What is KDE then? A Lamborghini in first gear? Same here, they do a lot of stuff but it has it's problems too.

Don't compare apples to oranges. Compare Ubuntu (a distro, or a complex of distros) to other distros: CentOS, PCLinuxOS, LinuxMint, Mandriva, OpenSUSE, Slackware... you get the idea.

I stand by my point. Putting a slow, buggy distro with a GNOME frontend = big mess. I've seen that before (summoning Red Hat Linux versions from the dead...).

You might get a decent implementation of GNOME on another distro, who knows... (Debian, perhaps?). You might also get a good, stable distro who also happens to be very fast (Vector Linux).

But these two damning factors (GNOME and a slow, buggy linux) are present in Ubuntu and this is a trend that is only going to get worse as far as I can see.

Having that handed out as a flagship Linux desktop is like having a Ferrari in first gear.

btw, want a decent Linux desktop and don't want to use KDE? Great, just use XFce, which is a great desktop too.

So, who is the fanboi here...? ;-)

No Free Software or Open Source project has, AFAIK, been started to 'battle' Microsoft.

While I generally agree with you, beating MS is at least on of the objectives of OSS community. You must not look as far as Ubuntu to see this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1 And this is not pure fanboism or irrational hate of the Men. Any community cannot be certain in it's future as long there exist huge international company which consider this community as enemy. Its pure self preservation instinct.

Why is this always seen as a battle between linux and Microsoft? Who said that we 'have to beat Microsoft'?

This guy did:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1

Ah, NM, seems it was fixed mid-2008:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/screen/+bug/106995

Bug Number One

Maybe because Ubuntu say so themselves?

...what is it about Ubuntu that's making Microsoft target them specifically?

Somebody showed Steve Ballmer this bug report?

Bug #1 (liberation):
Microsoft has a majority market share

Here's a real benchmark: several Ubuntu flavors can't write to god damn floppies and the problem is deemed of low importance.

THAT SUCKS!

Seriously. There are no trivial fixes for a user (compiling and installing a new OS version is not something most people have the time for during a normal day and thus not trivial).

I've been using Ubuntu for a while and seldom need to use floppies but now I did and I couldn't take it for granted. Such dismal support for legacy standard equipment (and the attitude to fixing it) has me reconsidering the wisdom of going all Ubuntu on the desktop computers.

I value the ability to easily install, manage, and update all my software through a uniform interface to trusted repositories.

Until you run into a niche app that's not in the official repository. How many weeks does a needs-packaging request in Launchpad typically take, even if the free app builds from the source tarball with few to no issues? Or until you run into a type of app not well served by the free software community, such as non-puzzle games or (say) retail/warehouse management.

I appreciate efficient shortcuts like higlight-and-middle-click to copy text.

I appreciate not having to connect an external mouse to my notebook computer just to copy text.

I've also had, by far, less hassle installing Linux than Windows.

For most people, installing Windows happens automagically even before the computer is put into the foam and cardboard packaging.

Value to me is reliability, choice and quality of software, and minimial fuss with configuring devices and hardware.

Value to me is seeing the operating system's logo on the box of a peripheral to ensure driver compatibility, and I see a lot more four-color flags than penguins at a typical Best Buy. Value to me is not having to repurchase perfectly working hardware that happens not to have a driver on Linux. Had I known that I would eventually want to switch to Linux a few years later, I would not have bought a Microtek ScanMaker 4850 flatbed scanner, which isn't in SANE and whose manufacturer never returned my e-mails.

...hmm let's see... gettext anyone? I mean, we recently uploaded our strings to one of those sites (https://launchpad.net/rosetta) where open source translators work together... for free we now have 12-something languages and a lot of corrections to even the original strings.

https://launchpad.net/rosetta: Launchpad Translations (codenamed "Rosetta") is a platform for open source application translation on the internet. It lets anybody help translate their favorite open source application into their favourite spoken language.
Launchpad supports most localizable open-source applications.

And have you submitted bugs that cannot be reproduced? Because this is what the OP was talking about.

Yes. And it was addressed by very enthusiastic developers.

Add deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-experimental/ubuntu intrepid main
and upgrade to 4.2RC.
I'm not sure whether they will push 4.2 into the backports repo but this doesn't mean you can't have it.

What's annoying is that they used to have separate settings, or at least a setting specific to the terminal and then the global setting. Then, in 2.24 (I think it was 2.24), they replaced it with a single setting. I wasn't the only one who was pissed. In fact, here are some links to blogs and bug reports:

http://www.chrishowie.com/2008/03/28/gnome-terminal-cursor/
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=342921
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/+source/gnome-terminal/+bug/188732

Ubuntu Marketing team ? https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-marketing

I am a marketing droid. One of the things that has always been confusing to me is how I sign up. There seems to be lots of places where a developer can sign up, or even just start coding in spare time, submit a few changes etc. Perhaps I haven't looked lately, but I don't see any places that want my help.?

Maybe you didn't :)
This was the first hit of a simple Google search for me.

The fix is already included in the accepted updates:[...]

Just run apt-get update && apt-get install acpi-support.

Before the update don't forget to check whether you have the bug:

This problem has been confirmed in Ubuntu as well as in other distributions and on MacOS X and Windows.

Symptoms of this bug are:
* Frequent HD clicks -- more than one per 3 minutes while idle, louder than the typical access sounds. Often more than twice per minute. On some disks, the click is very quiet
* Rapidly Increasing Load_Cycle_Count as displayed in the final number in
sudo smartctl -a /dev/hda | grep Load_Cycle_Count
(where /dev/hda is replaced with your own hard disk device)

[...]

Reasonable Limits / Criteria for a fix:
* There should be fewer than ~15 load cycles per hour, except during heavy usage while on battery.
* This provides a life expectancy of over four years, which is reasonable for a hard disk.

link
smartctl is in the smarttools package.

I'm not sure about anybody else here, but I was surprised to see that they mentioned that this will benefit 'Desktop' users.

They mentioned it because it does hit the desktop: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.22/+bug/131094

Users notice this a ***lot***: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.22/+bug/131094

This somewhat deflates the excitement evident in the OP. I mean, I know what he's talking about, these apparently random 1-2 second FREEZES while working, but if the guys in LKML arn't talking about it it's probably not being really worked on.

I know, it looks like someone's pet bug made the cover of /. today. For the record, here is my pet bug: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1

This post is TOTALLY offtopic. Really you need to split these up and file them as bug reports over on launchpad. I'll post a couple of comments answers but I'm not going to follow up on any of this (even if you answer any questions I ask).

- switching from dual display to presentation (clone) and back totally messes up x config, I have to uninstall and reinstall nvidea drivers

Talk to NVIDIA (Linux web forum) about this. It's their code you're running and they are probably the only ones who are willing to fix it.

- in dual screen mode, nautilus opens on the first display. I have to open terminal and run nautilus& to lunch it on the second display

You can't drag it? I don't quite understand...

- in dual screen mode, keyboard keeps focus in the previous screen. I have to minimize/maximize a windows on the "new" screen to move keyboard focus

Are you using desktop effects? (Do windows fade and slide etc?) If so this sounds like a bug in compiz...

- RDP client crashes X windows in some cases (it does not close the drop down list of used servers... and bang)

Hmm. I'm really curious now as to whether you are using compiz. Regardless your best bet with this one would be to be to see if you can capture a backtrace of the crash with debug symbols and to file a bug report against the RDP client (I'm guessing you're using tsclient) in launchpad.

- oh and NO it's not AN ERROR if I close the RDP window. If I want to reconnect, I will, don't hide under my active windows and bring RDP windows back in 30 seconds. That's just plain stupid.

I guess file an enhancement request on tsclient in launchpad.

- java and window decorations don't play well together (popups without buttons etc.)

I really would like to know whether you are using compiz. If you are I have a feeling this was a known "bug" in the Java bug database for a long time but the fix is not yet in Ubuntu.

- How about opening a connection to a new server in a new tab, not in a new nautilus window?

Hmm probably best to file an enhancement request over on the GNOME bugzilla.

- Flash stops working. I just see a gray square where flash is supposed to be.

64 bit Firefox using 32 bit Flash via nspluginwrapper I'm guessing. There is a 64bit Linux Flash plugin that is in very early beta that MAY work better for you (I've heard mixed things mind). Also make sure you're using Flash 10 whatever route you are taking.

- Firefox is not very stable.

Might be because of extensions or plugins or you may have found a problem page or your memory might be faulty or Firefox might be buggy or... You are going to have to sit down and capture the issue in Firefox this then file a bug report in launchpad.

- Windows would become gray and unresponsive when there's a lot of disk activity.

You're using compiz aren't you? The greying is compiz telling you that the window HAS become unresponsive! As to why this is happening on I/O it probably varies from program to program. Too little information to many possibilities to say more.

- I've seen ubuntu crash on my much more times than I've seen BSOD on the same HW.

Quite possible. I've seen Linux stable on some computers and fla

This post is TOTALLY offtopic. Really you need to split these up and file them as bug reports over on launchpad. I'll post a couple of comments answers but I'm not going to follow up on any of this (even if you answer any questions I ask).

- switching from dual display to presentation (clone) and back totally messes up x config, I have to uninstall and reinstall nvidea drivers

Talk to NVIDIA (Linux web forum) about this. It's their code you're running and they are probably the only ones who are willing to fix it.

- in dual screen mode, nautilus opens on the first display. I have to open terminal and run nautilus& to lunch it on the second display

You can't drag it? I don't quite understand...

- in dual screen mode, keyboard keeps focus in the previous screen. I have to minimize/maximize a windows on the "new" screen to move keyboard focus

Are you using desktop effects? (Do windows fade and slide etc?) If so this sounds like a bug in compiz...

- RDP client crashes X windows in some cases (it does not close the drop down list of used servers... and bang)

Hmm. I'm really curious now as to whether you are using compiz. Regardless your best bet with this one would be to be to see if you can capture a backtrace of the crash with debug symbols and to file a bug report against the RDP client (I'm guessing you're using tsclient) in launchpad.

- oh and NO it's not AN ERROR if I close the RDP window. If I want to reconnect, I will, don't hide under my active windows and bring RDP windows back in 30 seconds. That's just plain stupid.

I guess file an enhancement request on tsclient in launchpad.

- java and window decorations don't play well together (popups without buttons etc.)

I really would like to know whether you are using compiz. If you are I have a feeling this was a known "bug" in the Java bug database for a long time but the fix is not yet in Ubuntu.

- How about opening a connection to a new server in a new tab, not in a new nautilus window?

Hmm probably best to file an enhancement request over on the GNOME bugzilla.

- Flash stops working. I just see a gray square where flash is supposed to be.

64 bit Firefox using 32 bit Flash via nspluginwrapper I'm guessing. There is a 64bit Linux Flash plugin that is in very early beta that MAY work better for you (I've heard mixed things mind). Also make sure you're using Flash 10 whatever route you are taking.

- Firefox is not very stable.

Might be because of extensions or plugins or you may have found a problem page or your memory might be faulty or Firefox might be buggy or... You are going to have to sit down and capture the issue in Firefox this then file a bug report in launchpad.

- Windows would become gray and unresponsive when there's a lot of disk activity.

You're using compiz aren't you? The greying is compiz telling you that the window HAS become unresponsive! As to why this is happening on I/O it probably varies from program to program. Too little information to many possibilities to say more.

- I've seen ubuntu crash on my much more times than I've seen BSOD on the same HW.

Quite possible. I've seen Linux stable on some computers and fla

It sounds like the default configuration uses screenshots as input for the various screensavers. This is not a good default, if it's really set up like this. On the other hand, there's a reported bug where nVidia drivers cause the screensaver to be transparent--the desktop is visible behind it. So maybe it's that particular issue. (If it is, someone who's seeing it should confirm that it's still present.)

I converted a ~40GB partition and it took a while (I didn't time it... between 1 and 2 hours).

Per Ted Ts'o The fix is checked into e2fsprogs 1.41.4 but release is waiting for a couple other high priority bugfixes to be released. If you want it now, you can pull it from his git repo

It's easier to moan on slashdot ..

https://launchpad.net/auto-ndiswrapper

I'll try what you posted and see if it works for me. Thanks for the link. I guess valuing my time is considered moaning on slashdot, go figure.

It's easier to moan on slashdot ..

https://launchpad.net/auto-ndiswrapper

PCA isn't terribly complicated if you use a library to take care of the matrix stuff. I rolled my own code in Ruby and it takes a bit under 40 lines (search for 'PCA'). Use the Ruby interface to the GNU Scientific Library and it's plenty fast.

Personally, my nomination would be still having to edit fstab as root to permanently mount a network share. Mapping a network drive is dead simple in Windows. It should be just as easy on Ubuntu.

You may want to suggest this improvement or report the behaviour as a bug.

that and broken/less functional extensions, some buggy, broken and others that the creators don't bother to update, not mozilla's fault but still, most of the reason a lot of us geeks use FF is due to the extensions it has... Oh and on a completely unrelated note, the KDE3.5.x branch isn't even in the ubuntu repos any more, though there are unofficial repos for the branch [sorry but KDE4 although pretty, is otherwise crippled] here is the repo for KDE 3.5.x Ibex in case anyone wanted it:

http://ppa.launchpad.net/kb9vqf/ubuntu [total of two one for each main and source] although something of note is boxee and songbird which are pretty new [boxee being in alpha] both are worth a look.

I had the same experience and resolved it with disabling the disk in the GUI too. As you mention, it would be nice if VirtualBox would at least try to boot the VM even if a disk or two went on vacation (especially if it's a CD/DVD).

I've found VirtualBox to be much more pleasant than VMWare Player. Mainly due to:
  - not so hard to get it working on 0-day kernels
  - really annoying VMWare keyboard bug
That keyboard bug might be fixed now but the way VMWare (didn't) handle it is enough to move me on to more pleasant pastures.

Hi!

We typically call Drizzle a fork, since we do have a common ancestor at this point (though it is doubtful you could apply a patch between the two). We are pretty up front about this though. Drizzle is supported by Sun which the article does not mention, though we are different in that we have patches that have to date come in from 30+ companies.

OurSQL is more of a distribution then anything else. Their tree is a collection of patches they apply at each release.

Cheers,
      -Brian

BTW, Ubuntu's "Netbook Remix" desktop is absolutely brilliant on tiny netbooks like the 701. It's as easy to use as the Xandros desktop, but fully functional and customizable.

Nice trolling.. Too bad that in the few minutes it took you to type your deluded fantasies, a few thousand people just bought PCs with Linux pre-installed .. ahh.. crap I mean.. OSX .. oh no.. Thats right it was Vista..

Tell me, why is linux even relavant? I mean , 1%? Seriously.. after SEVENTEEN YEARS of development, all they can manage is 1%.. WOW, just WOW. Might want to contact Microsoft, They'll tell linus how to write a decent OS that 90% of the world uses... :(

Bugs like https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/257666 really scare me. If my 2 year old nephew accidentally puts the SD card in... boom.. instant crash. I guess its a good thing I dont use OSS malware.

So, Will you now do the penguin dance for me?

Hope they get an interface speed increase in Linux (Ubuntu) too. It's been plagued for quite some time now: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-789894.html, https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/174209, and http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-426722.html

A NAS system is a great idea. Definitely something we would consider adding to our roster of appliances.

I've added this to our blueprints on Launchpad.

Thanks!

I'm such a wonderful guy I just went and updated my package for qgtkstyle, for intrepid only (Sorry, hardy is over...) You can get it at my ppa. It'll be a while before I am making packages for Janky Junkpile or whatever the next build is called :)