Slashdot Mirror

I'm sure he'll end up at a company where his talent's can be used to further Linux's position in the desktop marketplace.

Yeah, I know one

If their employment page is any indication, I'd say Ubuntu will be very soon.

Is there something that needs to be configured to make it suck less?

This patch will do it.

1: Mark has stated several times that he has planned in case something bad like that happened.
2: One of Ubuntu's Goals is to sell support for businesses and be self funding so that it doesn't rely on Mark.
http://www.ubuntu.com/support/paid
3: He does have other projects. Ubuntu is just one of the projects that he is funding to make a free desktop environment that can be deployed in Africa which Mark comes from.

Also see:
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarkShuttleworth
http://www.ubuntuvideo.com/mark_shuttleworth_inter view

They will answer a lot of the questions you have.

1: Mark has stated several times that he has planned in case something bad like that happened.
2: One of Ubuntu's Goals is to sell support for businesses and be self funding so that it doesn't rely on Mark.
http://www.ubuntu.com/support/paid
3: He does have other projects. Ubuntu is just one of the projects that he is funding to make a free desktop environment that can be deployed in Africa which Mark comes from.

Also see:
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarkShuttleworth
http://www.ubuntuvideo.com/mark_shuttleworth_inter view

They will answer a lot of the questions you have.

Didn't this happen with DVD's also? Wasn't there a big thing about that t-shirt with the CSS key on it?

So, I can see the libs for this getting pushed to servers located in countries where consumers are allowed to consume the content that they paid for, similar to the current dvd situation. So, for me, I only add the repository of whatever server, or even visit said server myself (perhaps with a secure, or tor connection) to download the library for my own use.

So, while I don't agree that it is "right" to "censor a number," it won't really affect me, or anyone else interested in seeing said number. That is, if I decide to go ahead and purchase that DRM'd crapware, which probably won't be any time soon.

On second thought, to be safe, I should probably grab said lib now.

1. Ubuntu is buggy. What's worse is the bugs are big gotchas right on top. Buggier than Debian's Testing. 2. Windows is probably less cosmetically buggy and will only get better by the important Q4 sales. Meanwhile, Ubuntu has rushed onto the next version.

1. Windows is buggy. What's worse is the bugs are big gotchas and many of them are security-related. Many obvious holes have already been found in Vista, indicating that it's crap through and through. 2. Ubuntu will not be discontinuing bugfixes etc in the current version. But Microsoft is about to completely abandon Windows XP.

3. What's Mark's business model?

3. No one cares. It's irrelevant to the quality of the operating system.

4. Is Mark going to have support minions waiting by the phone when they can't get their printers to work? Or will it be the usual "24-hour support" meaning those really thorough how-to's that kind of apply to your situation and unfinished threads in their forums.

4. You are fucking lazy. Just going to ubuntu and clicking one or two links got me to Professional support services from Canonical Ltd.

By the way, Windows doesn't offer any free support, either. In fact, AFAIK the only support available to the home user is by-the-minute. If your problem is due to a bug, you will have to pay for the call up front and hope that your problem is classified as a bug so that you can have your money refunded... eventually.

Ubuntu delivers a forum you can use to find answers to many problems. Microsoft doesn't. So even if you're not willing to pay for support, Ubuntu has you better-covered.

5. What will Microsoft give to Dell to sweeten the pot and shut out Linux?

This is the only good question you ask. Is this just another ruse? I don't think so, but anything is possible.

Dell To Offer Ubuntu

LONDON, 1st May 2007 - Canonical and Dell are pleased to announce a partnership to offer Ubuntu 7.04 on select desktop and notebook products. This is a tremendous step forward for Ubuntu, our users and customers. More about the announcement is available on the Dell website. We believe that Dell's decision is a strong endorsement of Ubuntu and to the work of many in coding, translating and promoting open source software. It is also testament to the demand that exists for Ubuntu. Canonical is honoured to play a leading role in making Linux more widely available to everyone. Jane Silber Canonical - Director of Operations

Man, tell me about it. I'm still exhausted from typing "emerge gspcav1"...Glad I'm not using Ubuntu, or I'd have to do about twice as much work! ("gspcav1" being much shorter to type than "gspca-source"...)

Okay, in fairness, it actually was kind of a pain finding this package in the first place, but other than that, the three different types of webcams I have floating around all DO seem to "just work" with it. And don't let the "2.6.19" thing on the Gentoo package page fool you - it seems to at least compile for 2.6.21.

Now, does anyone have any good recommendations for webcam capture software? (How the heck do I get mencoder to use the webcam for input, anyway?...)

No you didn't have to wait till the next release of ubuntu, they offered the package in the backports repository however this repository isn't turned on by default for fear of breaking things. See this

Meaning what, it doesn't work? You didn't like the wallpaper? You can't configure it to your liking? None of the half dozen or so desktop environments (compared to the lone Vista equivalent) will work for you? It doesn't consume enough memory and CPU resources for you? You just wanted to make a snide anti-Ubuntu remark?

Dude, just grab some old unused PC from your garage or somewhere and install Ubuntu on it. Play around with it, then let us know how it went. You will be surprised, more knowledgable, and not a penny poorer. Well, OK, you may need to spend a quarter on a CD blank. Of course, they'll give you one for free if you are nice about it and have some patience.

"dist-upgrading"

You are not supposed to just edit /etc/apt/sources.list and run apt-get dist-upgrade. Ubuntu has complications in the upgrade more complex than the package manager has been made to handle.

The correct thing is to run update-manager (the update GUI). See http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading. To be honest, I'm not surprised it broke.

Some people just have combinations of hardware that cause problems. Such is life. :( I recommend Feisty to people who get WGA troubles, but if their hardware isn't supported from the Live CD (including wireless if relevant), I wouldn't bother. It just gives people a bad feeling if they see me sitting in front of a text prompt for hours.

You can get a cd for free, here. They offer 6.06 (the LTS release) and 7.04.

No cost, but it may take a few weeks to get it.

Do ubuntu zealots use default brown 'diarrhea' theme?

http://www.ubuntu.com/files/u3/desktop-tn.png Looks more like broken toilet than a desktop to me.

Microsoft will offer a minimum of 10 years of support for Business and Developer products. Mainstream support for Business and Developer products will be provided for 5 years or for 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer. Microsoft will also provide Extended support for the 5 years following Mainstream support or for 2 years after the second successor product (N+2) is released, whichever is longer. Finally, most Business and Developer products will receive at least 10 years of online self-help support.

Consumers get a little less time:

Microsoft will offer Mainstream support for either a minimum of 5 years from the date of a product's general availability, or for 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer. Extended support is not offered for Consumer, Hardware, Multimedia, and Microsoft Dynamics products. Products that release new versions annually, such as Microsoft Money, Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft Picture It!, and Microsoft Streets & Trips, will receive a minimum of 3 years of Mainstream support from the product's date of availability. Most products will also receive at least 8 years of online self-help support. Microsoft Xbox games are currently not included in the Support Lifecycle policy.

Ok. Minimum of 5 years. Seems kinda short, I guess. What's Ubuntu's policy?

From their announcement https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/ 2005-October/000038.html:

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a
fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of
excellent packages installed by default, every other package you can
imagine available from the network, a commitment to security updates
for 18 months after each release and professional technical support
from many companies around the world.

18 months. Now for the price, that's exceptional, but your argument had nothing to do with price, and everything to do with version upgrades. If updates are your metric for determining whether users are "forced" to upgrade, look no further than the announced support cycle for Ubuntu 5.10.

They looked like they'd gotten better, no doubt. With 6.06, you get 5 years of upgrades--the same minimum guaranteed by Microsoft http://www.ubuntu.com/news/606released:

Ubuntu is freely available, including security updates for five years on servers, with no restrictions on usage and no requirement to purchase support contracts or subscriptions per deployment.

But wait. The 7.04 release of Ubuntu reverts back to 18 months--they say that the 6.06 series was a "long term support release" https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/ 2007-April/000102.html.

Ubuntu 7.04 will be supported for 18 months on both desktops and servers. Note that 6.06 LTS is a long-term support release, and so users requiring a longer support lifetime may choose to continue using that version rather than upgrade to or install 7.04.

So we're back to 18 months. Microsoft's stated support minimum is more than 3 times longer than Ubuntu's, except for the aberration of Ubuntu 6.06.

So who's 'forced' to upgrade in order to keep support?

I mainly focused on Ubuntu because that's what the person you replied to was talking about. Redhat, arguably the best known Linux vendor, gives their cycle here: http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/errata/ They give you 7 years of

Microsoft will offer a minimum of 10 years of support for Business and Developer products. Mainstream support for Business and Developer products will be provided for 5 years or for 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer. Microsoft will also provide Extended support for the 5 years following Mainstream support or for 2 years after the second successor product (N+2) is released, whichever is longer. Finally, most Business and Developer products will receive at least 10 years of online self-help support.

Consumers get a little less time:

Microsoft will offer Mainstream support for either a minimum of 5 years from the date of a product's general availability, or for 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer. Extended support is not offered for Consumer, Hardware, Multimedia, and Microsoft Dynamics products. Products that release new versions annually, such as Microsoft Money, Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft Picture It!, and Microsoft Streets & Trips, will receive a minimum of 3 years of Mainstream support from the product's date of availability. Most products will also receive at least 8 years of online self-help support. Microsoft Xbox games are currently not included in the Support Lifecycle policy.

Ok. Minimum of 5 years. Seems kinda short, I guess. What's Ubuntu's policy?

From their announcement https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/ 2005-October/000038.html:

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a
fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of
excellent packages installed by default, every other package you can
imagine available from the network, a commitment to security updates
for 18 months after each release and professional technical support
from many companies around the world.

18 months. Now for the price, that's exceptional, but your argument had nothing to do with price, and everything to do with version upgrades. If updates are your metric for determining whether users are "forced" to upgrade, look no further than the announced support cycle for Ubuntu 5.10.

They looked like they'd gotten better, no doubt. With 6.06, you get 5 years of upgrades--the same minimum guaranteed by Microsoft http://www.ubuntu.com/news/606released:

Ubuntu is freely available, including security updates for five years on servers, with no restrictions on usage and no requirement to purchase support contracts or subscriptions per deployment.

But wait. The 7.04 release of Ubuntu reverts back to 18 months--they say that the 6.06 series was a "long term support release" https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/ 2007-April/000102.html.

Ubuntu 7.04 will be supported for 18 months on both desktops and servers. Note that 6.06 LTS is a long-term support release, and so users requiring a longer support lifetime may choose to continue using that version rather than upgrade to or install 7.04.

So we're back to 18 months. Microsoft's stated support minimum is more than 3 times longer than Ubuntu's, except for the aberration of Ubuntu 6.06.

So who's 'forced' to upgrade in order to keep support?

I mainly focused on Ubuntu because that's what the person you replied to was talking about. Redhat, arguably the best known Linux vendor, gives their cycle here: http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/errata/ They give you 7 years of

Microsoft will offer a minimum of 10 years of support for Business and Developer products. Mainstream support for Business and Developer products will be provided for 5 years or for 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer. Microsoft will also provide Extended support for the 5 years following Mainstream support or for 2 years after the second successor product (N+2) is released, whichever is longer. Finally, most Business and Developer products will receive at least 10 years of online self-help support.

Consumers get a little less time:

Microsoft will offer Mainstream support for either a minimum of 5 years from the date of a product's general availability, or for 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer. Extended support is not offered for Consumer, Hardware, Multimedia, and Microsoft Dynamics products. Products that release new versions annually, such as Microsoft Money, Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft Picture It!, and Microsoft Streets & Trips, will receive a minimum of 3 years of Mainstream support from the product's date of availability. Most products will also receive at least 8 years of online self-help support. Microsoft Xbox games are currently not included in the Support Lifecycle policy.

Ok. Minimum of 5 years. Seems kinda short, I guess. What's Ubuntu's policy?

From their announcement https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/ 2005-October/000038.html:

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a
fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of
excellent packages installed by default, every other package you can
imagine available from the network, a commitment to security updates
for 18 months after each release and professional technical support
from many companies around the world.

18 months. Now for the price, that's exceptional, but your argument had nothing to do with price, and everything to do with version upgrades. If updates are your metric for determining whether users are "forced" to upgrade, look no further than the announced support cycle for Ubuntu 5.10.

They looked like they'd gotten better, no doubt. With 6.06, you get 5 years of upgrades--the same minimum guaranteed by Microsoft http://www.ubuntu.com/news/606released:

Ubuntu is freely available, including security updates for five years on servers, with no restrictions on usage and no requirement to purchase support contracts or subscriptions per deployment.

But wait. The 7.04 release of Ubuntu reverts back to 18 months--they say that the 6.06 series was a "long term support release" https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/ 2007-April/000102.html.

Ubuntu 7.04 will be supported for 18 months on both desktops and servers. Note that 6.06 LTS is a long-term support release, and so users requiring a longer support lifetime may choose to continue using that version rather than upgrade to or install 7.04.

So we're back to 18 months. Microsoft's stated support minimum is more than 3 times longer than Ubuntu's, except for the aberration of Ubuntu 6.06.

So who's 'forced' to upgrade in order to keep support?

I mainly focused on Ubuntu because that's what the person you replied to was talking about. Redhat, arguably the best known Linux vendor, gives their cycle here: http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/errata/ They give you 7 years of

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors

About 100 different FTP sites for Ubuntu. Twenty three in North America alone, and close to twice that in Europe. There you go. Now you don't have to worry about Ubuntu anymore.

PS - any legimate file for download is available via FTP or HTTP.

a lot of bugs in the beta I have on my home computer, they should not be in the final release (For example gdesklets on AMD64)

apt-cache policy gdesklets
gdesklets:
    Installed: (none)
    Candidate: 0.35.3-4ubuntu2
    Version table:
          0.35.3-4ubuntu2 0
                500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ feisty/universe Packages

The universe repository is not supported.

a lot of bugs in the beta I have on my home computer, they should not be in the final release (For example gdesklets on AMD64)

apt-cache policy gdesklets
gdesklets:
    Installed: (none)
    Candidate: 0.35.3-4ubuntu2
    Version table:
          0.35.3-4ubuntu2 0
                500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ feisty/universe Packages

The universe repository is not supported.

Help, anyone?

You can find a patch for this problem here.

You do realize that Intel CPUs are 64bit too now (like since 05), right? The download choice for Ubuntu actually says "64bit AMD and Intel computers" http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Or you could actually listen to the FAQ and call it 7.04.

Note: The official way to refer to a released version of Ubuntu is by the number, not the name. Thus the current version of Ubuntu is 6.10, not Edgy Eft. (Apparently it's a bit outdated.)

You're actually supposed to use the version numbers.

From the FAQ: Note: The official way to refer to a released version of Ubuntu is by the number, not the name. Thus the current version of Ubuntu is 6.10, not Edgy Eft. (Apparently it's a bit outdated.)

Upgrading using the alternate CD/DVD
Use this method if the system being upgraded is not connected to the Internet.

1. Download and burn the alternate installation CD
2. Insert it into your CD-ROM drive
3. A dialog will be displayed offering you the opportunity to upgrade using that CD
4. Follow the on-screen instructions

If the upgrade dialog is not displayed for any reason, you may also run the following command using Alt+F2:

gksu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

Note that for Kubuntu the upgrade dialogue will not be displayed and you will need to install gksu before running the above command (it will not work with kdesu).

Here's where you should go to install codecs:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormat s

Please don't do this!

All you need to do is open the file (mp3, avi, wmv etc.), and Totem will offer to download and install the codec for you.

To play most DVDs you'll need the libdvdcss2 package.

Again, there's no need to install this. A better way is to install the package "libdvdread3", and then run: sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh

The Nvidia drivers are somewhat of a pain. Try the guide here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowt o/Nvidia

From the Ubuntu FAQ's, it's pronounced "oo-BOON-too", so apparently some people do have trouble pronouncing it ;)

It isn't needed in Feisty. It isn't even useful in Feisty, except for DVD support (and there are easy instructions at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormat s to install that the "Official" way).

I've always pronounced it oo-BUN-two. I never bothered to look it up and it wasn't anywhere obvious.

Looks like we were both wrong on one syllable.

http://www.ubuntu.com/aboutus/faq

How do you pronounce Ubuntu?
Ubuntu, an African word from Zulu and Xhosa, is pronounced "oo-BOON-too".

How do I use APT to upgrade from my Edgy install to Feisty?

Assuming you mean apt-get or aptitude: preferably not at all. Read http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading
If you insist, click the link at the bottom of the page.

Nitpick: APT is the Advanced Packaging Tool, and you always use it automatically when upgrading a Debian-based system, even when you don't use apt-get/aptitude but update-manager, as recommended at the above link.

If I recall correctly you just need to make sure Eft is completely up to date before dist-upgrading to Fiesty. Apt changed sometime in Edgy so you need to make sure you are using the latest version of Apt before you begin grabbing Feisty packages.

I'm sure a search on the Ubuntu Wiki will turn up more specific details.

Here is the official guide from ubuntu.com: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading

First make sure your computer is fully up to date (with Edgy). Then follow these instructions:

1. Open System -> Administration -> Update Manager
2. A button on the top of the window will appear, informing you of the availability of the new release
3. Click Upgrade
4. Follow the on-screen instructions

That page also has a link on how to upgrade manually from a command-line, but it's not recommended.

But Ubuntu still uses init, and inittab, and /etc/init.d/rc to launch upstart, so the same starting point applies, and you can still follow the threads in the same way, it's just that they follow a different route.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/ 2007-February/000098.html

Agree or don't, Ubuntu technical board seems to have decided that Ubuntu-PPC will be unofficial, unsupported distribution because of... download numbers :)

So, I don't want to start an argument here about that decision but doing my job as a person lived 2 hours of fan noise hell on my Quad G5: If you really want to install, make a clone of your working environment so when you hear fans full speed or someone makes fun of you at their support channel, you can revert back very quick without downtime.

I wouldn't post this warning if Ubuntu people were ethical enough to warn end user about unsupported situation right at downloads page. If I really wanted to run Linux , I would run Yellow Dog Linux btw. At least they don't take decisions based on... download numbers!

I had the same problem, so I tried Xubuntu. Works Great.

Some leenks:

http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/feisty /release/xubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/feisty /release/xubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso.torrent

I had the same problem, so I tried Xubuntu. Works Great.

Some leenks:

http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/feisty /release/xubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/feisty /release/xubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso.torrent

Except that distros begin to migrate away from sysinit. Ubuntu uses upstart, which works differently: http://upstart.ubuntu.com/

Try Alternate Install CD for your platform - it uses Debian-style (text mode) installer

http://releases.ubuntu.com/feisty/

• If it (current Ubuntu installation) ain't broke, don't fix it. Why risk messing up a current installation of OS and applications with a one-day-old version of Ubuntu? I'm sure Ubuntu upgrades (about every six months) are much smoother than other operating systems (years between versions), but shouldn't most people wait a little while until bug reports/fixes have been addressed?
• Dapper Drake (6.06 LTS) is supported (security and other updates) until June 2009 (3 years of support since release). Feisty Fawn is supported until October 2008 (18 months).
• If you want updated applications for older Ubuntu versions, there's Ubuntu Backports.

I've been waiting for UbuntuStudio myself and a quick look at this list shows that the packages are there. No more stuffing around to get things working with an upgrade! Joy!

iPod: works out of the box
DigiCam: the very vast majority works out of the box (and simpler than Windows, plugging it in opens a management app)
iTunes: complain to Apple and/or help her a bit: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormat s/iTunesMusicStore
Multimedia: 7.04 will prompt you and offer to install support for proprietary codecs. DVD needs a tiny bit of help: http://medibuntu.sos-sts.com/

Oh come on: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
Doesn't get easier than this.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes

In case you are running Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Java

Nice try, but you have missed this link with exactly the user friendly information that an ordinary computer user would need. Note that even if you don't know what an .iso is, you can request to have a printed CD delivered to your home.