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Ubuntu 6.06 'Dapper Drake' Beta Available

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the penguins-in-tophats dept.

Beuno writes "Ubuntu 6.06, aka 'Dapper Drake' has just gone into a stable Beta phase after 5 very successful Alpha versions. There have been a ton of improvements ranging from a new spiffy graphical installation, Gnome 2.14.1, Kernel 2.6.15.6, X.org 7 and a new and improved caramel colored theme. The server version has had kernel tweaks and an easy LAMP installation. A full list of new features and screenshots and be found at the official site. Downloads at the usual place, just try to use torrents please."

23 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Best Bug Report Evar! by Synesthesiatic · · Score: 4, Funny
    Microsoft has a majority market share

    It's nice to see a distro with a sense of humour. I especially like that the severity is set to critical.

    1. Re:Best Bug Report Evar! by aerthling · · Score: 2

      More sad than funny. I remember visiting 5 computer shops in the large town (50,000+) in which I reside in during semester, looking for a copy of Fedora Core, and none of them had any other OS in stock than Windows. One owner even told me that Linux was a dirty word in his store. I was slighly flabbergasted.

    2. Re:Best Bug Report Evar! by jb.hl.com · · Score: 2, Informative

      You do realise that Fedora Core isn't a boxed operating system and isn't available in stores, don't you?

      --
      By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
  2. Upgrade from Breezy - FTA by QuaintRealist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    gksudo "update-manager -d"

    And the update manager gets the beta for your existing Breezy install. Just tried it on one box, and it worked without a hitch. Each round of upgrades gets a little smoother. I was worried about the 6-month release cycle when Ubuntu first announced it, but the ease of transition lately has made this a non-issue, at least for me.

    --
    Using plain ol' text since 1968
  3. What does Ubuntu have... by baadger · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...that other reasonably polished Gnome distributions don't?

    I'm really curious. All the 'why I use Ubuntu' type opinions i've read seem to be focused at the n00b. What's in it for a the more experienced Linux user (but not a mad bash hacking pro)?

    1. Re:What does Ubuntu have... by Simon+(S2) · · Score: 2, Insightful
      What's in it for a the more experienced Linux user (but not a mad bash hacking pro)?


      It Just Works©
      --
      I just don't trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die.
    2. Re:What does Ubuntu have... by B5_geek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Ubuntu is not _just_ for n00bs.

      Does a 'n00b' system admin run Debian?
      not usually.

      Debian is preferred because
      (a) "apt-get" makes life so blindingly simple that you don't need to worry about 90% of the hassels that come with other distros (rpm-hell anyone?)
      (b) It's stable
      (c) "It Just Works!" (tm)

      Ubuntu is: ALL the best of Debain + Quicker updates.
      How long did it take for Debain to support SATA in the stable release? Too damn long!

      Ubuntu is not totally user friendly, ie it wasn't untill Dapper that there was a GUI for setting up a pppoe internet connection. (try telling Mom to: open a terminal, type pppoe-conf, and follow the prompts.)
      Sounds great on paper.

      My mom, Uncle x2, wife, Mother & Father in-laws, and CLIENTS all run Ubuntu because it is easier for me to manage/admin.
      I'm not a n00b. I got desperately tired of waiting for Debian Stable. Now I have all the good of Debian + modern packages.

      --
      "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
    3. Re:What does Ubuntu have... by baryon351 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What's in it for a the more experienced Linux user (but not a mad bash hacking pro)?

      Only speaking for myself and others like me (which may not be much different to yourself judging by your description) ubuntu comes with a lot less fucking-about-with-inanities than other distros.

      I like that I installed dapper and everything worked. I don't mean "it booted to a desktop and I needed minimal fiddling to get my camera working, oh and sometimes sound drops out but I got that fixed in half an hour... and I can't use my music player yet cos it won't mount", I mean I can install it and there's everything working and working well.

      Don't get me wrong, I do like to jump down into the OS and screw about with things from time to time. I figure if I want to do things unique to myself that's what I'm going to have to do, and any linux distro will give me that. It's just the core simple things that I feel any OS should do well out of the box that many other distros have missed. They've come mighty close, but don't QUITE get there fully. Like installing SuSE and not having sound working like it should. Like installing debian and having an endless argument with fonts. Like installing fedora and finding it plays downloaded movies fine, but the ones from my camera are missing audio... even if they play audio fine on linspire but the video skips frames. It's those little core things that are so braindead simple they should always work first go, that when they don't they make me really feel like I'm working for the other distros when I have to screw around to get them working, instead of the distro working for me.

      Recent Ubuntus have been the only ones that are fuss-free for what I consider those core elements of a desktop machine. Other people might have different core wants of course, and different hardware that other distros handle better - but meh, I'm not those other people. Works for me.

    4. Re:What does Ubuntu have... by baadger · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm using gentoo amd64 atm and the only complaint I have is there is no easy way to get many browser plugins working with the firefox-bin or opera (32-bit) packages.

      The last attempt I had at installing Ubuntu Breezy was a disaster, the partitioning situation was pretty poor (I already had 3 primary partitions, 1 windows, 1 freebsd and 1 extended and the Ubuntu installer couldn't seem to cope with it) and then after the thing was installed it refused to boot (just hung).

      Things for me 'just work' just fine with Gentoo, my question is: *what am I missing* by not using Ubuntu?

    5. Re:What does Ubuntu have... by mbrubeck · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Here are some things Ubuntu has that (many) other distributions don't:

      1. New stable releases twice a year.
      2. Security updates for at least 18 months for each release.
      3. One of the fastest response times for security updates.
      4. Simple, well-integrated software installation and update tools (synaptic, gnome-app-install, update-notifier).
      5. A huge, up-to-date package repository based on Debian Sid.
      6. Single disk with both LiveCD and graphical installer (new in Dapper).
    6. Re:What does Ubuntu have... by glarvat · · Score: 3, Informative
      I've been using Linux full time since '97. I'm no crazy kernel hacker, but I've done my share of development. Although Ubuntu is the first Debian based distro I've used, it's by far my favorite. I started with RedHat, then SuSE, was with Mandrake for quite some time, then Gentoo, now Ubuntu. The two main reasons why I love Ubuntu are:
      • Package Management
      • Sudo

      The package management has all the ease of Gentoo's 'emerge,' but without the compiling. Plus, you don't have to worry about something breaking as often. One thing I used to hate about the old RedHat/Mandrake package management was that you'd try to install an rpm, only to be told you don't have its dependencies, you'd get those, and then you'd have new dependencies to track down. I'm told yum has fixed that, but I haven't bothered to look. I know it's much better with up2date on the RHEL4 side, but it still feels less polished than Synaptic.

      Before Ubuntu, I'd never really used sudo, but now I find it difficult to go back. To me, it's just a cleaner way to do system administration, and it certainly helps promote never logging in as root. All of the system administration is sudo oriented, whereas ini RHEL4 you still need to know the root password. On a machine with shared administration, it just seems more clumsy.

      I know distribution choices can be a touchy subject, but I definitely prefer Ubuntu. The whole system just feels cleaner. As a more experienced user, I like it because it stays out of my way and lets me get my work done as quickly and painlessly as possible.

    7. Re:What does Ubuntu have... by just_another_sean · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well just going by your post and obvious affection for Gentoo, I'd say not much.

      If you've already made up your mind and like a distro, quirks and all, chances are you won't really get any new, instant, where-have-you-been-all-my-life gratification from another distro, even a quality, polished distro like Ubuntu. Gentoo is also a quality and polished distro, just aimed at a techier crowd then Ubuntu.

      Me, I like slackware or debian. But I recommend Ubuntu to my firends and family that don't know or care what "a linux" is. I think that's the appeal of Ubuntu. It's got some Debian in it at the bottom so when I have to support I'm comfortable. My mom likes it because it works and she doesn't have to call me as much anymore becuase her computer is "acting slow".

      You are probably at "power user" status or beyond if you are running three OS's on one machine so if you have invested some time and emotion in Gentoo and it works well for you then you probably aren't really missing anything available in another distro.

      People rail on and on here and elsewhere about how the Linux Community needs to come together and pick a distro, get their shit together and market Linux properly, etc... For the sake of people like you and me, I sure hope that never happens. I like choice and freedom, lot's of it!

      --
      Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
  4. Why Ubuntu wins for me.... by danpsmith · · Score: 4, Interesting

    One word: community. Anything that you can think of you can find a guide for for the most part, just by Googling. The chat has to be one of the only friendly ones I've seen in the linux community and the boards/wiki are impeccable. They didn't attempt to make me feel like a moron just for not knowing something, and they didn't feel I needed to be pressured into using Linux for every application, just supporting the cause and attempting to learn was enough. I've been waiting for dapper drake to take flight for a while nos so I can get my hands on XGL and get it actually working permanently on a computer. I might have to try out the beta early now that a beta has finally been released.

    --
    Judges and senates have been bought for gold; Esteem and love were never to be sold.
  5. Alpha, Beta, or Final? by HavokDevNull · · Score: 2, Insightful

    After reading the story yesterday on /. http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/18/ 0047245 I downloaded the latest Alpha (/. says beta Ubuntu say Alpha) And for being Alpha it is very very stable. I got XGL working in less than 3 mins, all codecs, plugins, and java installed in 10 mins, and runs rings around Fedora Core 5. It's as responsive as my Gentoo install, seems to me anyway.

    I'm very very impressed, IMHO Mark and the Ubuntu gang are going places in hurry if they keep this up. So the question that comes to my mind now is, would I install this on my mom's computer for her to use 24/7? My answer is I don't t think I would on this release (flight 6) but I will as soon as the final comes out in June, and that's

    --
    Sig
  6. I'd download it... by mypalmike · · Score: 4, Funny

    But I'm still waiting for the last Ubuntu release to finish compiling on my computer!!!

    Oh, wait... Wrong distro joke.

    --
    There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
  7. Eewy GUI by BoredWolf · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When did techies decide that the GUI was the most important aspect of an OS? What keeps us from identifying the benefits of the 2.6.15-r6 kernel (such as SATA RAID support)? We need to stop identifying the pecking-order by how slick an interface looks. I'm sure some people are tingling with anticipation that they'll have "caramel colored theme", but it would be more useful to detail the benefits of switching. Even on the Ubuntu site, the seem to be more focused on a Graphical Shutdown for a "more professional and user friendly feel overall". If you're trying to reinvent Windows, go right ahead. If you want a streamlined, efficient, and powerful OS that will appeal to converts and linux zealots alike, start pushing something other than Gnome's 'Windows XP feel'. Those of us that know linux know there are many GUIs out there for our enjoyment, and regurgitating old news about an interface that is independent of your distro doesn't pique my interest. People need something to differentiate Ubuntu from every other distro out there. I can put Gnome on my linux box, but that doesn't make Gentoo into Ubuntu. Let people know why they should opt for Ubuntu instead of RedHat or YellowDog...

    --
    "Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
    1. Re:Eewy GUI by nmos · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When did techies decide that the GUI was the most important aspect of an OS? What keeps us from identifying the benefits of the 2.6.15-r6 kernel (such as SATA RAID support)?

      Probably because anyone who knows what a kernel is can install whatever one they want on any distro. A really pollished (not just pretty but actually works right) GUI is a lot harder to graft on to a distro that doesn't already have it.

    2. Re:Eewy GUI by mixmasta · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because it is the only thing left to do on Linux.

      Technically it is mostly finished, but lots of work still needs to be done to improve ease of use. Hence, that's where the excitement is.

      --
      #6495ED - cornflower blue
  8. Re:What does Ubuntu have... n00bs are good stuff by From+A+Far+Away+Land · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The thing that makes Ubuntu the distro to have is that it has a growing "n00b base". This benefits experienced Linux users, because if they are running the same distro as the people they will end up supporting, then the Linux community as a whole becomes stronger and easier for people to get into. Wouldn't it be nice to run the same system as everyone else you know, and still be using Linux?

    --
    Oh You POS
  9. See Debian. by matt+me · · Score: 2, Insightful

    To comparing Ubuntu to say Fedora Core, you have to look behind the sticky smiley usable faces and compare the old clockwork beneath of Debian against Red Hat. I think the biggest answers here are a) speed and b) .deb package management. I use Fedora Core, and it is officially a beast, and managing .rpm's through yum isn't perfect.

    But the real differences aren't in the software. It's the attitude and community. Ubuntu loves you. Ubuntu is your friend. It smiles when you see it on the street. Those behind Ubuntu hav the right attitude, although sometimes a little patronising, it is one that *will* make *something* happen. This great, I think we can trust Ubuntu not to become hypocritically evangelical and sell out like Firefox.

    AOB: Hell! My easter egg's dissapeared from within foil. Tell me I didn't just eat it...

  10. Graphical Installer by stu42j · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It looks like the "new spiffy graphical installation" only works under the LiveCD. Perhaps the Ubuntu folks should work with the Debian folks to finish the gtk frontend for d-i. That way they could have a "real" graphical installer.

    http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/GUI

  11. Re:notification - wtf by mbrubeck · · Score: 2, Informative

    The reboot option is displayed only for kernel updates, as you suggested. Users of released Ubuntu versions receive updates only to fix security holes and other critical bugs, so it's probably a good idea to recommend that they reboot into the new kernel as soon as possible.

  12. Just Imagine How the Final Will Turn Out... by alphasubzero949 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've been using Dapper as a primary OS since Flight 5 and have been extremely impressed with the stability, considering the warnings and alpha status. Today was supposed to be the release of the original 6.04 if I am not mistaken (before Shuttleworth announced the delay). If they can iron out whatever small bugs remain in the beta until June 1, imagine how rock solid Dapper is going to be. At this point, when you couple the (almost) ease of use and the large forum community this is as close to LotD as you could get. It won't be long before you begin to see more and more comparisons between OS X, Windows, and Ubuntu. Things are going to become very interesting.

    I have already converted a few to Ubuntu from Windows and even rekindled some PCs that were collecting dust because of FUBARed Windows systems.