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Ubuntu and UserLinux to Combine?
An anonymous reader submits "With all the noise about Ubuntu, and no sarge release in sight, we haven't heard much from UserLinux in recent times. Even Bruce Perens has admitted that the "lack of a Debian release is becoming a critical problem". Now, Ubuntu has invited UserLinux to combine forces. More distro consolidation -- without a corporate buyout in sight!"
One person posts a suggestion on a discussion list. No one has yet responded positively or negatively. Ten minutes later it is a story on Slashdot?
I'm going to post somewhere that I'm taking over IBM. Let's see if "RevMike to take over IBM" becomes a story in the next ten minutes!
If you want to try a server running Ubuntu, here it is: Lafayette LUG
AFAIK GNOME is 1st class citizen of Ubuntu. Will there be re-run of GNONE vs KDE
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
Voila', first class KDE on Ubuntu. It works like a charm, switched it to default yesterday - mostly because it's faster than Gnome and konqueror rocks.
Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
I thought UserLinux already decided the same thing?
Ubuntu | UserLinux
It is very true that there are way too many Linux distros out there, but staying informed about the top 10 is normally a good idea. Just go to http://www.distrowatch.com/ and check the list. Not that UserLinux is in the top 10, but still a good idea.
I reject your reality and substitute my own.
Ubuntu is Gnome. Kubuntu is a community run effort to bring KDE to the Ubuntu platform.
I think Kubuntu has the opportunity to be big. I was running Ubuntu since about October or so, switching to Hoary about a month ago, but yesterday switched to Gentoo and KDE just to see what's happening in the KDE world after a couple years of running Gnome. Gnome isn't exactly zippy even on fast machines. I love Gnome, but KDE 3.4 is a freaking speed demon.
We now have 4 paid editors at Technocrat.net and we're running Slashdot for Grown-ups. Please try it out.
Now, about UserLinux: Debian will resolve its problems. We're trying to help. And the project will go on. There will be a commercially-supported UserLinux release about a day after the Debian release. There is nothing else but the Debian release on the critical path.
I have been acquainted with Mark Shuttleworth since the early days of Debian and fully support Ubuntu. UL will borrow from Ubuntu where appropriate. But UL seeks to do all development directly within the Debian organization, in order to achieve maximum transparency and public participation (a better explanation is in the UserLinux white paper). So, where UL borrows from Ubuntu, the result will be checked into Debian.
I would have liked everything to go a year faster, but I'm convinced that the UL rationale is still valid and is important to the future of GNU/Linux.
Thanks
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
Right here.
This guy is way out there
UserLinux answers "no" (in European).
--
make install -not war
I've heard so much about Ubuntu for so long and being a long time Debian user I felt I had to try it. Allow me to be the lone voice of descent here but I really think this has a long way to go from becoming a user oriented desktop. I think what Ubuntu gives you is sane defaults, faster releases, and tested unstable, this is great for a regular Debian user who has to configure Debian to make it more useful for desktop use, but for a regular computer user or even a new computer user I still don't think it's anywhere near ready. Synaptic is still too complex a procedure for average users to install software with, a normal user wants to click "Software to do my taxes" and have it ready, not struggle with package management. The system administrative tools are still so immature I find myself constantly retreating back to hand configuration, if the install made a mistake configuring hotplug and it slows down my boot process there was no way to disable that from my bootprocess graphically. A default install will wipe a user's drive unless they know how to repartitian a drive on their own. Which makes me worried to ever give an inexperienced user a CD.
For experienced users the one thing that really annoyed me was the complete lack of GCC in the default install. They had time to package a windows version of openoffice on the install cd and didn't deem it necessary to have basic development tools. When I boot Knoppix I can compile an entire LFS system while running on the CD alone, I can't do that with a default install of Ubuntu.
Having said all that there are things Ubuntu is doing right. I like the disabling of Root and enabling the user to do more with the desktop. I can't remember how many times I get pissed off by Debian when I can't do something necessary like configuring a printer, or looking up my IP, without become root. I like the small install size, though what is up with all the python tools? I like that they package only the most useful desktop programs in default install thought I wished they'd give you more options to add programs on the default install. And the hardware detection for a Debian distro is one of the things every Debian user pray for.
Er, when you run the install CD, it asks you what language you want to use, and what keyboard layout you want. You CANNOT install Ubuntu without going through these 2 screens, so I'm guessing you skipped past those and then complain? You're 100% wrong on this. Sorry.
I'd like to remind you, folks, that it's year 2005 we're talking about here. Every god damn Windows app can accept unicode, and Windows itself can accept any language in five mouse clicks.
Try the preview of the new version released several weeks ago. A Unicode world has been both the default and assumed everywhere in development Ubuntu for nearly six months now. You can select a language at the GDM screen and get it up and running with full internationalization quite easily. The language-support and language-package project that Ubuntu is running is doing great things for l10n but help from those communities that speak the language and use the input methods is going to be essential.
I haven't skipped it. I _want_ the UI to remain in English. However, I also want to be able to type in my native language. In FC3 I can do this in three mouse clicks by adding another keyboard layout. In Ubuntu I need half a day of RTFM to do the same thing and then it's not guaranteed to work everywhere.
*cough*CP/M*cough*GEM*cough*Apple Macintosh*cough*Desqview*cough*
Is this a sigs-optional kind of place? 'Cause I am totally down with that if you know what I mean.
I'm running hoary, not warty, so I'm not sure if it makes a huge difference... Especially since Hoary is slated to be released April 6th or thereabouts.
However, I can go to system->keyboard layout and select any damned keyboard layout I want from the list.
There's some valid bitches about Ubuntu, but that isn't one. Try upgrading your system, you might be amazed at what is out there. Hoary is quite a bit more polished than warty. It's also relatively trivial to upgrade from warty to hoary.
Oh, and as for working KDE as well? Again, update your system and try the kubuntu-desktop meta package.
-- Gary F.