Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope Now In Beta

An anonymous reader writes "To little fanfare and not much news coverage, Canonical released the beta of Ubuntu 9.04 'Jaunty Jackalope.' I tried it on a Dell Mini 9 using the Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) and it's fabulous! Much better than the sad 'Dell Desktop' that it shipped with. Finally, someone has broken the 25+ year old too-many-open-windows-and-chaos desktop paradigm with UNR's task oriented layout, which is perfect for small netbook screen sizes."

Comments

It's a beta..

[3.5 stripes]

That's why there's not much fanfare.

It's for people willing to experience a few issues, or a few bugs, to make the product which comes out with lots of fanfare more solid.

Re:It's a beta..

[jdgeorge]

I don't see any reason to make a huge deal about any "new" Linux release.

Well, two things:
1. Yeah, that's the kind of news only Nerds would care about! Can't they find an appropriate forum for that?
2. This is not about a new "Linux" release. It's about a new Ubuntu beta. By contrast, This is a story about a new Linux release.

Re:It's a beta..

[Matt Perry]

This is not about a new "Linux" release. It's about a new Ubuntu beta. By contrast, This is a story about a new Linux release.

Alright, Stallman. We get it already.

Re:It's a beta..

[More_Cowbell]

Now that was funny, but he's got a point. Every time a story like this is posted, someone has to complain that it made the front page. Personally, I read lots of tech-related blogs (Engadget, Gizmodo, Wired, etc.) daily, and /. is the only place I find news about Ubuntu releases.
This release may even be the final kick in the pants I need to try and dual boot my laptop. (I tried a live CD of 8.10 and the CPU and fan seemed to be pegged while it was idle for some reason so I never went for it).

Re:It's a beta..

[Billly Gates]

It certainly is a Linux release.

The kernel by itself doesn't do anything and a distribution with the latest software is a major release just like Vista is windows even though it comes with more than just a kernel.

Re:It's a beta..

[piripiri]

Never heard of OSNews ?

Re:It's a beta..

[Anonymous Coward]

This is not about a new "Linux" release. It's about a new Ubuntu beta. By contrast, This is a story about a new Linux release.

Alright, Stallman. We get it already.

That may be fine if YOU get it, but there are thousands of other people that don't get it.

Re:It's a beta..

[johny42]

There's not much fanfare, because most Linux distributions (and Ubuntu in particular) have regular release schedules. And this isn't even a release. By the logic of TFS, we could as well celebrate the coming of spring (the beta version of summer 2009).

Let me be the first to ask....

[ControversialMatt]

What the heck is a Jackalope?

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Spazztastic]

What the heck is a Jackalope?

A mix between a Jackolantern and an Antelope.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Dunbal]

I dunno, but it's probably going to break my sound drivers... again (sigh).

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[corsec67]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope

"The jackalope -- also called an antelabbit, aunt benny, Wyoming thistled hare or stagbunny -- is a fictional animal and a cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope, goat, or deer, and is usually portrayed as a rabbit with antlers."

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[mrdoogee]

Wrong! It's a mix between Hugh Jackman and a Cantaloupe.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Bwian_of_Nazareth]

Jackalope

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Anonymous Coward]

So you have no access to google, or wikipedia... or for that matter, access to any major search engine?

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Spazztastic]

"a fictional animal and a cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope, goat, or deer, and is usually portrayed as a rabbit with antlers."

I knew I had been drinking too much when I saw one of those...

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Tibor the Hun]

Citty-frakkin'-slickers... Jackrabbit and an Antelope. We've got them all over western Nebraska...

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[SeePage87]

Double wrong! It's a misspelling of the shocked question, "Jack eloped?!?"

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[azaana]

I thought it was a hare which had antelope's antlers on top. Or is Jakolantern another name for a hare.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Em Emalb]

Wrong again!

Its a mix between Jack Nicholson and....your mom.

(Happy Friday folks)

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[tecnico.hitos]

Jackalope is actually just a poor sick rabbit. The alleged horns are tumors.

Well, I guess unicorns, Nessie and Bigfoot are still up.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Anonymous Coward]

Having lived in Nebraska (western even), It does not surprise me that you believe they exist.

Been snipe hunting lately?

As the saying goes; Nebraska is a good place to be FROM!

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[quangdog]

While you are out snipe hunting, could you pick me up a left-handed smoke shifter? Thanks.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[jo42]

I'm still waiting for the "Gracious Goatse" release of Unbuntu.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Tibor the Hun]

Yeah, I'll get you one. Those, we've got TONS of in eastern Nebraska.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a step lower on the food chain from a Gorilla Bear.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Anonymous Coward]

Gratuitous Goatse or Gaping Goatse would be better

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[rackserverdeals]

Citty-frakkin'-slickers... Jackrabbit and an Antelope. We've got them all over western Nebraska...

You Rube! It's a myth!

There's no such thing as western Nebraska.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Anonymous Coward]

An antelope that masturbates constantly...

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Matt Perry]

I'm still waiting for the "Gracious Goatse" release of Unbuntu.

There were plans for that version but the release slipped through the crack.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[jd]

Isn't it something Michael Jackson bio-engineered in Neverland?

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[drop table user]

I'm still waiting for the "Gracious Goatse" release of Unbuntu.

Rumor says it will ship as soon as "Horny Herring" is out the door.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Jerry]

Actually, a JACK rabbit with antlers. Ordinary rabbits or bunnies are too small to grow antlers.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[BitZtream]

Isn't that what Hugh Jackman is?

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking as a midwesterner, this is just plain wrong.

Everyone knows it's a mix between a jackrabbit and an antelope. We used to watch them harass the cows on the ranch I grew up on in Northern Nebraska.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[HatofPig]

Now I do want to be a Jackalope.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[icannotthinkofaname]

That would be the worst (or, if you're completely twisted, like me, best) default wallpaper ever for any operating system ever.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[pHus10n]

What's this "Goatse" thing you're referring to? Do you happen to have a picture of it, so I can understand?

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[wonmon]

Don't bother upgrading to "Trickling Tubgirl"... runs like shit compared to earlier releases.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Silas is back]

Let me be the one to help you: Jackalope.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[jamstar7]

Half jackrabbit & half antelope. Looks like a rabbit with spiked horns. You'll see a stuffed one at the register in cafes around here sometimes, and a few jackalope post cards as well for sale.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Mozk]

Do you know where I can find some WLAN cable?

(Also, I'm from Omaha.)

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[schickb]

It is a rabbit with a nasty cancerous virus. Just want I'd like my desktop named after!

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[martin-boundary]

There's no such thing as western Nebraska.

Please! There are kids reading this site!

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Anonymous Coward]

I am waiting "Speedy Slashdot" release of the Ubuntu.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Hucko]

Sir, please relearn the english alphabet.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Wamellx]

Wrong again! It's western Kansas that's a myth.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[McKing]

Whoosh!!

That's the sound of that joke going right past you.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[gid]

Just installed it on my mini 9. No sound... again. *sigh*

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[tkw954]

Actually, a JACK rabbit with antlers. Ordinary rabbits or bunnies are too small to grow antlers.

They're also too small to mate with deer.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Hucko]

I call "Plop". I shudder to think what such an author might label as humour.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[tezbobobo]

Actually, the'hole thing' was 'swollen out of proportion.' I heard it stemmed from fears the name would become the butt of jokes.

Re:Let me be the first to ask....

[Crayon Kid]

I'm still waiting for the "Gracious Goatse" release of Unbuntu.

I'm waiting for "Pink Pony".

Netbook Remix Interface

[CFBMoo1]

I've been running it on my two EEE's for a long time. That interface is the bees knees for those things. That was distributed on the UbuntuEEE fork that later turned in to EasyPeasy. I'm really interested in trying out 9.04 though.

Re:Netbook Remix Interface

[nschubach]

Bees knees are far to easy to break. ;)

Re:Netbook Remix Interface

[chill]

Have you been bitten by the bug where netbook-launcher sits at 100% CPU utilization? I had to remove it because it was making my EEE unusable.

Re:Netbook Remix Interface

[Anonymous Coward]

Grammar is far too easy to break as well!

Re:Netbook Remix Interface

[Abreu]

Ah, so that's why my Acer suddenly became so slow?

Re:Netbook Remix Interface

[chill]

Yeah, open a terminal and run "top" or use the System Monitor and check processes. Then kill netbook-launcher and watch your machine spring back to life.

I've just uninstalled it for now and installed gnome-menu and am using a normal, but slim, desktop/menu and it works fine. If they fix the launcher, great. If not, so be it.

Screenshots

[Thelasko]

Here are some screenshots for Alpha 6, but does anybody have screenshots of Beta?

Not that they will be all that different.

Re:Screenshots

[AvitarX]

You can see the new wallpaper anyway.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-9-04-Beta-Screenshot-Tour-107809.shtml

Re:Screenshots

[Thelasko]

+1 good job!

Re:Screenshots

[Anonymous Coward]

Those screenshots are not of Remix. The Remix display format is different because it has to work on smaller screens. Here is a link to the real images. http://linux.softpedia.com/progScreenshots/Ubuntu-Netbook-Remix-Screenshot-42748.html

I have been using Remix on my Lenovo S10 for about a month and it is quick, clean, solid, and helps make my S10 a joy to use. (Ubuntu still has a problem with the mike, though).

I love Remix!!!

Re:Screenshots

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is a link to a video of the Remix screen shots.

http://www.canonical.com/projects/ubuntu/unr

Re:Screenshots

[muszek]

I've "burned" the beta on a pendrive - the wallpaper is different than @ these screenshots. The new one is kinda ugly, AFAIR even the GTK theme is different (back to human).

BTW, it's funny how they always release those super hot screenshots some time (1 or 2 days) before a new release is made. And it always gets to the front page of digg, linked from lifehacker and so on. I could never understand the point of doing this, apart from an obvious reason, which is getting visitors cheaply. They show a few dozen of screens with apps that haven't changed at all.

So

[Adolf Hipster]

I upgraded to the 9.04 alpha like 3 days ago. Is there anything different from that version?

Re:So

[Keith_Beef]

You could look at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/jaunty/beta to find out.

Or wait until Saint George's Day.

Note: This is a beta release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released on April 23rd, 2009.

K.

Re:So

[compro01]

That page specifies what has changed compared to 8.10, but not compared to the latest alpha.

Re:So

[Ynot_82]

if you keep your machine up to date,
then you have the beta already
you don't need to reinstall or anything

Re:So

[gbarules2999]

Not really. It's been about the same since early March. It's just stabilising at this point.

Re:So

[Keith_Beef]

Maybe this will be more use, then.

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+milestone/ubuntu-9.04-beta

It wasn't really difficult for me to find it, starting from the page whose link I posted...

about three click and twelve seconds, all told.

And if that is still not good enough, then I suggest you go back to whatever you usually do when you don't get everything spoon-fed to you.

K.

Re:So

[GMFTatsujin]

Worst haiku ever.

Re:So

[supersloshy]

Actually, IF YOU READ TFA, it states that if you already have 8.10 or an earlier release then you'll only get the updates for that release (obviously). You can only update to the beta if you choose to. Basically all that it does is removes your old official repos, switches to the Jaunty ones, temporarily disables your 3rd-party repos, and updates/installs the new packages.

Re:So

[supersloshy]

crap I forgot to read the parent of the earlier one... disregard this and my earlier post X_X

Re:So

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for making me laugh so much ... classic!

Bluetooth networking w/ Windows Mobile???

[GweeDo]

I love 8.10 on my Dell Mini 9 w/ Ubuntu Netbook Remix. The only thing I need still is to be able to use my Windows Mobile Phone as a modem over bluetooth (currently USB only).

Re:Bluetooth networking w/ Windows Mobile???

[PrescriptionWarning]

I was able to follow some FAQs that had me use PPP to forward ports over bluetooth, though it was used to get my palm mobile phone to load the internet over bluetooth. I imagine you could do the same but in reverse though its certainly no easy task.

Re:Bluetooth networking w/ Windows Mobile???

[jd]

I have problems with 8.10 on my somewhat ancient Dell Dimension 2100 - lots of problems with latency and task switching - and I've yet to get the kernel to build from source for it. (Given I've built Linux kernels since the 0.9 days, it's not from lack of experience.)

(The latest Fedora won't install on it at all. Hard lock-up when booting the GUI installer.)

Sure, you expect support to decay for older machines, but this is hardly a Viglen 386SX we're talking about (Pentium IV is still in-vogue), I've upgraded the RAM, hard drive, DVD drive, ethernet and sound card, so it's all well above what these distros expect as minimum hardware.

I'm considering 9.04 not because I'm particularly in need of new features, but because I can't get the existing features to work with the way the distro is built. If 9.04 doesn't improve, I'm giving up on other people's distros and patches, and building the whole damn thing from the vanilla sources from scratch.

What happens after Shuttleworth stops funding?

[Anonymous Coward]

What happens to Buntu after Shuttleworth stops funding it? Does it merge with some other distro? Does it get sold to Google?

Re:What happens after Shuttleworth stops funding?

[LingNoi]

Why would he stop funding it? It's starting to make a profit so there really isn't a reason to stop, in fact, if it's starting to make a profit maybe he's already stopped funding it.

Re:What happens after Shuttleworth stops funding?

[Anonymous Coward]

• Why would he stop funding it?
• there really isn't a reason to stop
• maybe he's already stopped funding it.

You went from "no" to "yes" faster than a drunk girl on prom night.

A jackalope is...

[spinochet]

a rabbit with antlers.

Intel regressions not yet solved

[Anonymous Coward]

Users of Intel video chipsets have reported performance regressions in Ubuntu 8.10 compared with previous releases. (252094) Although these performance issues have not been resolved by default in Ubuntu 9.04, a new experimental acceleration architecture option, DRI2/UXA, is available for Intel graphics users. Our testing has found this provides significant performance improvements for many users, but has also shown risk of severe stability problems, thus we are not yet providing to the general public. You can opt-in to enable this by running "sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf", and adding Option "AccelMethod" "UXA" to the Device section of your xorg.conf. Users wishing to maximize stability should stay with the standard default acceleration method, "EXA".

Re:Intel regressions not yet solved

[Anonymous Coward]

That is great to know!

Re:Intel regressions not yet solved

[the_one(2)]

It should also be noted that the beta still has problems with pulse-audio. I was pretty disappointed when i heard the crackly startup sound in ubuntu when I installed alpha 5. I believe it has gotten better since then but it's still not good. From ubuntuforums:

Re: New pulseaudio, problem again!
The current version, 0.9.14-0ubuntu10, has tuned delay parameters and reenabled glitch-free.

Most users will experience some audio aberrations (again) while the GNOME login sound is played. After approximately five seconds, the watermark size and buffer size will have settled, so you should no longer experience audio aberrations until the next time that the daemon autospawns.

I am attempting to address the major problems incrementally. For most Ubuntu users, this means:

1) daemon crashes to due snd_pcm_update_avail() not handling -kernel and -lib bogus data;
2) daemon autospawn race conditions;
3) daemon watermark/buffer size instability on initial spawn (which is the cause of your audio aberrations with system sounds).

Re:Intel regressions not yet solved

[BikeHelmet]

Heh... I'm running Ubuntu on an old computer with a VIA chipset. For this Unichrome Pro IGP, EXA is unstable and I have to use XAA.

Looks like I need a new IGP. :D I'm two generations out of date.

Re:Intel regressions not yet solved

[Jerry]

Since I bought my Sony VAIO VGN-FW140E/H last August I have been using Mandriva 2009 PWP, featuring KDE 4.1.3. It did not support the G45 video chip, so I had to settle for a VESA video setting at 1440X900 and was one of many who posted a bug report at the xorg bugzilla site. The fix for the grey screen was found in February so I expected the fix to trickle down to Mandriva in the late summer.

I heard that Jaunty Jackalope was sporting KDE 4.2, so I booted the LiveCD to check it out. I was STUNNED to see a 3D accelerated video WITH 1600X900 resolution. The sound was fantastic, too.

This laptop has been runnning Kubuntu 9.04 since ALPHA6 and KDE is now at 4.2.1. It is very fast and stable and fits this Sony like a silk glove!

Re:Intel regressions not yet solved

[pavon]

Thanks. I guess I'll be sticking with 8.04 again.

Re:Intel regressions not yet solved

[Clarious]

Screw PulseAudio, I still don't get why we need another problematic Sound Server. I am using OSS v4.1 and it works great for me.

On AAO?

[kmahan]

Have they solved the problems of wired networking on the AAO? Since they broke it with a patched up Intrepid (though the original unpatched Intrepid works).

Re:On AAO?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes. And I expect wireless networking to work out of the box by release too.

Yeee!

[Aphoxema]

I got a Wind a month ago and the first thing I did, and I seriously mean first thing, was install Ubuntu (8.04) on it as a second boot. Last week I clobbered the restore partition and Windows entirely and now it's all Ubuntu.

I got the version without bluetooth. Last week I managed to take the adapter I got for it, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833242001 and put it inside where the stock adapter would go. There was even a harness for it taped inside of the unit, so I just cut down the wires I needed and soldered it to the male end of a USB connector. I even put a piece of foil and tape over the adapter to keep noise from interfering too much with it.

I love the simple hacks they did with Netbook Remix, it makes things feel so much simpler, and when I get the touchscreen mod that'll go good with it.

I know, not much on topic, I'm just excited about my laptop.

Not quite

[WindBourne]

Jack Rabbit and Antelope. We have them here in the west :)

Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[Hadlock]

I thought they "fixed" the brown desktop theme? There are blue desktop screenshots but that's for KDE or some such.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[WebCowboy]

I thought they "fixed" the brown desktop theme?

These are screenshots of the Alpha version. From my past experience Alpha releases do not change the default theme from that of the previous release. When I set up an Intrepid Alpha system it just used Hardy's desktop. When it upgraded itself to Beta the theme changed to some sort of generic polkadot wallpaper with everything else kept the same. When it went into full release the theme changed to the real Intrepid one.

Wait another month, and by then you'll certainly have your new colour scheme.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[gbarules2999]

The default theme is still the same (I know; I'm looking at it) but it comes with some pretty nice alternatives in the Themes window.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[migla]

I thought they'd change the brown in 9.10, Karmic Koala. Shuttleworths announcement of KK: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2009-February/000536.html

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[Abreu]

I thought they "fixed" the brown desktop theme? There are blue desktop screenshots but that's for KDE or some such.

WORKSFORME

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[Stormwatch]

You sure you're not looking at screenshots of Kubuntu?

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[Hadlock]

There was a slashdot article two months ago about how ubuntu was moving away from the brown theme as standard to something a little more inviting. I pointed out that the blue theme was KDE: either I wasn't very clear or your reading comprehension is very low.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[Stormwatch]

Strange, I always thought the brown theme was really cool.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[Hadlock]

It's very functional, but something blue or green would have been a better choice IMO.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[Stormwatch]

Thing is, those are too common. Brown, on the other hand, makes Ubuntu unique. It also gives it a certain "ethnic" image; as I recall, african art traditionally uses a lot of brown and orange.

I know, to some new users it may be scary to see those colors and realize: 'This is not Windows. It does not even tries to look similar. It's a completely different thing.' For the same reason, I find it very comforting.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[mspohr]

I understand that some people don't like the default desktop theme.

What I don't understand is why they don't just change it. There are 10 different themes in the default distribution and more are available. You can even make it look like Windows.

Hint: right click on desktop and choose 'Change desktop'... it's not really very hard.

Bonus! You can also change the desktop wallpaper to ANYTHING you want.

Changing the desktop takes much less time than whinging about it on /.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[mok000]

No, not for Jaunty. Mark Shuttleworth has announced that the color scheme will be revised in the "Karmic Koala" release, 9.10.

Re:Wrong color desktop? Re:Screenshots

[MrHanky]

The reason is, of course, that these people are massive wankers and wish to spend their time promoting the wanker cause by posting comments to web sites demanding that everything should look like everything else and that conformity is the only way forward.

What you should be asking...

[WindBourne]

what happens if *ubuntu becomes profitable? Most likely means that at least one major monopoly has been broken, and a number of truly competitive markets have been created.

Re:What you should be asking...

[Tubal-Cain]

what happens if *ubuntu becomes profitable?Most likely means that at least one major monopoly has been broken...

What, Red Hat and Novell aren't profitable?

Re:What you should be asking...

[Beuno]

It's pretty close: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?pagewanted=3&_r=2&ref=business

Re:What you should be asking...

[Xtifr]

what happens if *ubuntu becomes profitable?

For a normal company, it would mean that it would become easier to pay their employees. For Ubuntu, it would mean that Mark Shuttleworth will have to find some other sink for his billions. :)

Most likely means that at least one major monopoly has been broken

Nope, doesn't mean that at all. There are already Linux companies making a profit. Making a profit simply means that you take in more money than you spend. It doesn't say anything about the size of your market share (although a large market share means you can take advantage of economies of scale, which can help make a profit). It is at least theoretically possible for a Linux company to make a profit with an installed base of only a few dozen. Which would hardly be a threat to anyone's monopoly. Now Ubuntu's business model means that they're going to have to have a much higher installed base than that before they are in any danger of making a profit, but they could still quite possibly make a profit without making a dent in any existing monopolies.

Re:What you should be asking...

[WindBourne]

Nope, doesn't mean that at all. There are already Linux companies making a profit.
Ubuntu is MOSTLY geared towards the desktop. If he is profitable, then the Linux desktop is profitable. If that is the case, the monopoly is broken.

Re:What you should be asking...

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

Ubuntu is MOSTLY geared towards the desktop. If he is profitable, then the Linux desktop is profitable. If that is the case, the monopoly is broken.

MS has never had an absolute monopoly in that there have always been people making money selling desktop Linux, even if all they did was repackage another company's work and resell it. In terms of economics or EU law, MS won't be at risk of losing their monopoly status on desktop OS's until their market share drops to about 70% and they're currently at about 99%.

Re:What you should be asking...

[styrotech]

He's talking about the RPM monopoly :)

Re:What you should be asking...

[Tubal-Cain]

(Score:1, Troll)

Stupid mods...

Re:What you should be asking...

[caffeine_high]

Made me smile. Pity about the moderators.

Re:What you should be asking...

[Nevyn]

Or not. The quote says "we are creeping towards $30 million" and that this would make Canonical "self-sustaining", for regular updates, which is their current model of very little development and a lot of marketing.

So, yeh, it's possible that "creeping towards" does actually mean "really close to, and getting closer every day" and not just "going from 1 to 2 million this year". But I bet against that, personally.

And who is paying that $30 mil, is it desktop people ... or self supporting server users like the French govt. / Wikipedia. My guess is that any money is coming from the later.

So at the end of the creep towards $30 mil, what do you get? Still not enough money to fund actual development (feel free to log bugs and RFEs at bugzilla.redhat.com), and a focus on servers instead of the desktop for what little work they do (because that's who is paying).

Re:What you should be asking...

[Xtifr]

No. Being profitable still only means that income > expenses. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with market dominance, which is what's used to determine monopoly. I can sell a single Linux desktop system, make a profit, and not affect any monopolies that may exist in the desktop market whatsoever. Apple's been earning profits in the desktop market all along, and that hasn't affected the reality of the 800-pound monopolist in the desktop market.

Furthermore, Shuttleworth has enough money (and Ubuntu is cheap enough to produce) that he could probably take over the market, drive any existing monopolists out of business, and establish himself as the new monopoly, without ever once showing a profit. It would take a seriously implausible series of events for that to happen, but it's theoretically possible, and emphasizes my point that monopoly and profits are two completely unrelated, orthogonal concepts.

Webcam

[Niris]

Now if only they'd get Pidgin or something to work with webcams for IMing. Still can't get it to work on aMSN or Mercury :/

Re:Webcam

[ianare]

Pidgin will be replaced by Empathy in future releases. It's still needs some work, but looks promising - it's very modular and integrates nicely with the rest of GNOME. It has video chat support.

Re:Webcam

[Niris]

Didn't know about that, awesome. Thanks :D

Re:Webcam

[QuantumRiff]

Sadly, Empathy has Jabber video chat support. Their MSN and ICQ chat is still handled by libpurple, which is pidgin.

Re:Webcam

[nappingcracker]

Where is that? I saw it as a feature of GNOME 2.26, but there was scant info about it. Got the scoop on Empathy video?

Re:Webcam

[Anonymous Coward]

I dunno... Empathy is really the perfect example of what people are talking about when they say "The GNOME Mindset".

I mean, you can't even change the ugly default font, and trying to alias yourself doesn't work. (Yes, it bothers me that I see different account names referring to myself across several protocols/conversations instead of a global one!)

And you get none of the "integration benefits" on a non-GNOME desktop, and I happen to be an Xfce user. Sorry.

Pidgin has its own problems, but I'll probably be sticking with it for a while yet...

Re:Webcam

[Anonymous Coward]

Not intending to troll, but that's pretty much what you get for choosing a closed in protocol like that.

Jabber and libjingle are open, and well supported by many more free software apps than the closed protocols. If the people you IM regularly are really worth talking/webcam chatting with, then they'll be willing to move to Jabber with you.

Otherwise, they probably don't deserve to talk to you.

What kernel is in this release?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm trying to look on the Ubuntu servers but they're getting hammered right now.

Will this Ubuntu release be using 2.6.29? The previous kernels have a serious filesystem issue that often kills the whole machine on high performance systems. Supposed to be fixed in 2.6.29.

Re:What kernel is in this release?

[MarcoG42]

I upgraded from Intrepid to Jaunty during Alpha 6, which at the time was using 2.6.29. I upgraded this morning, and it appears they have reverted to 2.6.28. I'm not sure why.

Re:What kernel is in this release?

[Tubal-Cain]

Will this Ubuntu release be using 2.6.29?

I doubt it. Aren't the odd-numbered point releases the "development branch"?

Re:What kernel is in this release?

[Anonymous Coward]

Heh... no. That was done away with a long time ago. :)

Re:What kernel is in this release?

[Anonymous Coward]

Jaunty ships with 2.6.28, but there is a Kernel PPA that you can use if you want to change kernel. There is currently no support for Jaunty, but I expect that to appear in the next few weeks.

Note that these kernels are vanilla kernels, so they lack any Ubuntu-specific patches.

Re:What kernel is in this release?

[williamgrant]

Jaunty has always used 2.6.28 - never 2.6.29.

Re:What kernel is in this release?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is stupid that Jaunty use older release (2.6.28) of the Linux operating system.
They really should move to 2.6.29 release some point between the Jaunty lifetime.
But it does not matter for normal folks. They do not even care what release of operating system they are using, just that it works.

Netbook remix? For Intel Atoms, it would seem

[Bearhouse]

Find out more here:

http://www.canonical.com/projects/ubuntu/unr

Selected quotes:

"Ubuntu Netbook Remix is optimised to run on a new category of affordable Internet-centric devices called netbooks. It includes a new consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily get on-line and use their favourite applications. This interface is optimised for a retail sales environment."

Wonder what that last bit means? It flashes 'buy me now!!!! 50% discount!!!' on the screen?

"A remix is a 'respun' version of Ubuntu built for a specific purpose. Although Canonical has encouraged community projects to use this terminology for some time, this is the first time that Canonical has used it. We are using it to differentiate from an 'Edition' which we consider a complete version with daily builds suitable for the average user with no additional work beyond installing the CD."

"All of the initial Ubuntu Netbook remixes combine optimisations from the Moblin project for Intel® Atomâ processors and it is specially designed for netbooks. Intel and Canonical are working to create a new computing experience across a rapidly expanding category of portable devices."

Wintel is dead, long live Buntel?

lpia?

[radish]

Does this version come with the lpia kernel? I recently got a Dell Mini and am still using the lpia-enabled 8.04 distro it comes with. I'd like to give Netbook Remix a go but I'm concerned that the stock x86 kernel will reduce battery life (which is already not quite as great as I'd hoped for).

Anyone know the status of the lpia stuff?

Re:lpia?

[spikeb]

it is i386

Re:lpia?

[Enry]

Does this version come with the lpia kernel? I recently got a Dell Mini and am still using the lpia-enabled 8.04 distro it comes with. I'd like to give Netbook Remix a go but I'm concerned that the stock x86 kernel will reduce battery life (which is already not quite as great as I'd hoped for).

Anyone know the status of the lpia stuff?

I have 8.10 running the lpia port on my mini 9. I found some site online that showed how to install and configure the UNR components so that it looks like the 8.04 version.

8.04 had a few serious issues (like using ssh over wireless) that made me drop it pretty quickly. The 8.10 kernel doesn't like one of the WPA modes and will hang hard if you try to connect, so I'm looking forward to 9.04 and upgrading to that.

On a side note, I wanted to compile some software for my mini without wasting its SSD with gcc and all the development tools I need. You can easily install an lpia port in VirtualBox and it works quite nicely.

Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[RingDev]

Anyone know of a remote desktop solution for Ubuntu that can connect to a Windows 2k or newer box? I've been thinking about making the jump, all of the other tool I need to do my standard work at home I know where to get. But I need to be able to remote into work over a VPN to Windows servers.

-Rick

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[Bios_Hakr]

Not the best solution, but I run VirtualBox inside Ubuntu to get access to my legacy apps.

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[bWareiWare.co.uk]

rDesktop is the equivalent to Windows Terminal Services Client, never had any trouble with it.

Ubuntu on my mini-9 had this this, and 'tsclient' a graphical frontend, pre-installed.

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone know of a remote desktop solution for Ubuntu that can connect to a Windows 2k or newer box?

You mean besides the terminal server client (tsclient) and VNC? No, I can't think of one.

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[mweather]

Ubuntu ships with an RDP client.

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[ardle]

VirtualBox (deb available via package manager) to create a Windows VM.
Install Windows in that VM.
Download and install your VPN client to your virtual Windows.
Worked for me :-)
Useful link: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VirtualBox. The VirtualBox configuration bit is useful here: as I said, VirtualBox (Open Source Edition) is available in Ubuntu Package Manager, so you don't have to do the apt-get stuff...

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[Xtifr]

Anyone know of a remote desktop solution for Ubuntu that can connect to a Windows 2k or newer box?

Yes. Ubuntu. RDP works out of the box--I use it nearly daily. Applications->Internet->Terminal Server Client. There's also an panel applet front end if you'd prefer that--very handy if you have several Winboxes you need to connect to on a regular basis.

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[Anonymous Coward]

Terminal Server Client (package name tsclient) is installed by default.

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[Anonymous Coward]

rdesktop -g $RESOLUTION_SETTING -a $BIT_DEPTH -u $USERNAME $IP_ADDRESS

example:

rdesktop -g 1024x768 -a 16 -u billg 192.168.0.2

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[ConceptJunkie]

I connected to work via the VPN and used KRDC to connect to my desktop XP machine running the Remote Desktop dealie for about a year. Finally I traded my desktop at work for a laptop so now I just use the laptop to VPN to work directly. It always worked fine for me, although I could never get the PTPP VPN to work with Linux. However, I was able to use the Java-based Juniper VPN with Linux... sometimes. Getting Java stuff to work on Kubuntu has always been hit or miss for me, but I blame Java and its "write-once-struggle-futilely-everywhere" philosophy.

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[Darkk]

I'm using Ubuntu 8.10 and PTPP VPN works fine with the VPN at work which is running Windows 2003 Server.

There is a bug in the network manager that handles the VPN connections in Ubuntu. They fixed that in 9.4.

So give it another try. Google it!

Re:Random Ubuntu/Linux question

[Anonymous Coward]

Rdesktop also works great.

Kubuntu with KDE 4.2.1

[Anonymous Coward]

Kubuntu with KDE 4.2.1 looks fabulous too! Just installed Kubuntu Beta and KDE is totally sweet in this release. There is even a native KDE4 Network Manager that looks great and works well.

The Plasma widgets remain a bit crashy and buggy - Comic Strip won't take the configure button off even after Strips are added, Moving widgets crashes Plasma etc.

But yeah, getting there. By KDE 4.3 release things ought to be totally rocking.

Try it out people - you won't be disappointed.

Re:Kubuntu with KDE 4.2.1

[indi0144]

Sure I will try it this time. I tried Ubuntu 9.04 Alpha AMD64 the good thing it's that the new kernel supports all my hardware and it's a lot faster but I have problems with the nVidia 180 drivers on an integrated GeForce 8200. Not even editing the xorg by hand can get the stuff to display properly.

Err, theres only DVD download option via torrent but since you can update to stable release from beta I think it's worth it.

http://torrent.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/jaunty/beta/dvd/

I hope it works fine with unetbootin, installing from USB takes no more than 20 minutes including language updates :)

Re:Kubuntu with KDE 4.2.1

[Anonymous Coward]

As a matter of policy I avoid anything nVidia like the plague - my desktop came with Nvidia card but I threw it away for older, reliable, cheap ATI x1650 - don't have to worry a bit about kernel and drivers and I still get decent 2D/3D acceleration.

Not saying you should do the same, but for me NVidia isn't worth its problems on Linux.

Re:Kubuntu with KDE 4.2.1

[indi0144]

Yes I was aware of that even as I never had problems with GF fx5200 or fx440 in the VGA days. The problem is that my 8200 is integrated (GeForce 8200 chipset) and performs rather well, the integrated vga-dvi-hdmi-hybrid SLI-DX10 for under $75 USD just closed the deal for me.

That said I'd go with ATI if I feel that I need it because I'm not much into gaming. And I just don't want to have another fan on my PC. I'm one of those anal about silence.

After all I'm sure is not problem from the 180 drivers but from the Alpha release.

Re:Kubuntu with KDE 4.2.1

[indi0144]

Sorry to reply to myself but theres a desktop version available for torrent download:

http://torrent.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/simple/jaunty/desktop/

The DVD is not seeded properly. :|

See Boundin from Pixar...

[Anonymous Coward]

See Boundin from Pixar...

!Ubuntu

[Tubal-Cain]

Finally, someone has broken the 25+ year old too-many-open-windows-and-chaos desktop paradigm

Palm? DOS?

I've been using this for a month with ext4

[revjtanton]

I installed this a month ago almost by painstakingly finding the i386 iso of Jaunty and installing the netbook remix stuff independently.

I've got a eee 900 with the 16GB SSDHD and let me tell you: this thing boots and runs quick! I've tried XP and the UNR Ibex version and the Jaunty build using ext4 filing system blows everything else out of the water with all variations of start-up times. There are problems, however, with certain aspects of the remix.

There is significant lag issues with the interface itself. I believe this may have something to do with the size of my swap partition, but thus far I've been too lazy to format or change anything since the partial upgrade a few days ago.

Its only the remix that reacts slow, everything else is fast, fast, fast! ext4 certainly adds something to boot times and it looks like this Ubuntu build will really be one, coupled with netbooks, that can somewhat pierce the Microsoft stronghold on the general public....eh, probably not.

Re:I've been using this for a month with ext4

[Gothmolly]

What can you possibly need swap for on a Netbook?

Re:I've been using this for a month with ext4

[revjtanton]

That's what I thought too...why would the swap matter, especially when it comes to this problem? I was poking around trying different forums to see if anyone has had a similar problem and everyone seems to say it has something to do with how the gma950 processes the graphics of the interface, and apparently increasing the size of your swap to at least the same size as your RAM fixes the lag. I haven't tried it myself, but I'm planning on messing with this netbook a bit more this weekend now that the beta is more out there (there will more forum posts of bugs, fixes, and challenges to fix :) ). I am skeptical that this will solve the lag problem, but we'll see.

Re:I've been using this for a month with ext4

[abreiner]

suspend-to-disk and for extra memory since netbooks come with little memory

Re:I've been using this for a month with ext4

[meringuoid]

What can you possibly need swap for on a Netbook?

I've been running my Eee 901 without swap ever since I installed Ubuntu over the godawful Asus distribution that came with it. I don't notice any performance issues; however, without swap, hibernate doesn't work. I understand it needs a swap partition large enough to dump its entire RAM state when it hibernates, so that it can switch off completely and pick up again where it left off; without that it can only suspend, which saves a lot of power but still has a small drain on the battery.

Re:I've been using this for a month with ext4

[Anonymous Coward]

And is it wise to have a swap partition on an SSD? A friend of mine uses a throwaway SD card for swap on his Eee 900. But with a decently sized RAM I don't see the need for swap at all.

Re:I've been using this for a month with ext4

[Anonymous Coward]

I suggest you dont run EXT4 on an EEE. Indexed filesystems kil your SSD faster. i know it sucks, but a small price to pay.

Re:Netbook remix? For Intel Atoms, it would seem

[Chris Pimlott]

The Atom CPU is listed as a minimum system requirement, it should run just fine on a 'normal' Intel CPU (and I'd wager it's fine on AMDs as well).

Re:Netbook remix? For Intel Atoms, it would seem

[migla]

"Ubuntu Netbook Remix is optimised to run on a new category of affordable Internet-centric devices called netbooks."

Not so much optimised, that the installer would allow me to see any buttons (such as "next", "back", "cancel" or whatever they may be, I can't see them!) on the 800x480 screen of the eeepc 701...

I managed to install it by pressing tab and enter blindly at appropriate times, though.

Gotta 2nd the netbook stuff, it's shiny...

[otis wildflower]

... I installed the netbook-desktop stuff on my new Aspire One, and it's quite nice once you get past losing titlebar, etc.. Now if only I could select icons to hide from alt-tab popup task switching, and if only I could have Verve commandline (or, dare I dream, KDE3 'run command') in GNOME...

MOD PARENT UP

[Anonymous Coward]

Ubuntu isn't getting a new colour scheme until 9.10 (Karmic Koala). Sort it out mods! :)

Finally???

[karbonKid]

"Finally, someone has broken the 25+ year old too-many-open-windows-and-chaos desktop paradigm with UNR's task oriented layout."

Umm... tiling window managers have been around longer than non-tiling ones. You can blame apple for making windows overlappable. The 'task-oriented layout' is nothing new or innovative - see wmii, awesome, xmonad, dwm, etc. etc. (even fluxbox, with its 'tabs', actually) for examples of modern X11 window managers that offer similar functionality, plus much more...

Personally, I started using wmii a few months back and haven't looked back since.

Why the stupid names?

[Anonymous Coward]

Killer Kiwi
Lazy Lemming
Mousy Mick
Nasty Nutjob
Overt Obesity
Proud Papa

I'm using it

[marco.antonio.costa]

I'm running the AMD64 version since Alpha 2 and I love the bastard. I've been using Ubuntu since 8.04 and it's the best since that.

Fast boot, fast operation, Java works, Flash works, Wine works, tho I still use WinXP to have the occasional left 4 dead funfest. :-)

I wonder what Ubuntu Zesty Zebra will be like if they keep this pace up. Very exciting.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix - Great on desktops too

[poopie]

I downloaded the alpha 6 netbook remix, put it on a USB stick, booted it on a Dell Optiplex 755, installed it, patched it, and am running it right now.

I think the "netboox remix" interface actually suits a lot of what people use computers for today... a glorified web browser... while not distracting the user with all the other windows, window decorations, virtual desktops, etc.

I'm a power user who loves those things, but I'm surprised how I feel somewhat freed up by not having to worry about them.

credit where due, I guess

[Eil]

"Finally, someone has broken the 25+ year old too-many-open-windows-and-chaos desktop paradigm with UNR's task oriented layout, which is perfect for small netbook screen sizes."

Yes, Nokia did, 4 years ago.
 

Next up...

[garethw]

Kinky Koala?

Uhh... What's a Netboot Remix? Do I care?

[grikdog]

Is this another bleeding edge geekjoy toy or something we can turn grandma loose on? The staying power of a 25+ year old windows paradigm should be suggesting something to someone. Personally, I hate it when software I trust, understand and appreciate gets "improved" into something strange and unusable. Life on the trailing edge is actually comfortable, where the OS keeps its stupid, once-was-enough learning curve to itself and lets mission critical apps get on with it -- like Hawkeye's criterion for a good nurse, from the original M*A*S*H.

Been using the alpha release for weeks

[cdwillis]

I've had no problems running 9.04 on my Eee PC 1000HE. I ditched the stupid netbook remix interface for the real desktop though. Q: Why is the Debian logo on the article instead of the Ubuntu logo?

MSI Wind

[1310nm]

I'm very surprised with how complete it is on the MSI Wind U100. The only thing not working right off the bat is the built-in webcam, which I don't use anyway. Also, Nautilus isn't able to connect to my Windows shares when I simply click on them, so I'll have to figure out why. I suspect either Nautilus isn't calling smbclient right or Windows 7's CIFS has compatibility issues with smbclient.

Other than that, suspend works, wireless works, Bluetooth works...and not just works, but works easily with a couple of clicks, which is seldom true for linux distributions. I installed it from a USB flash drive: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04/beta/ubuntu-9.04-beta-netbook-remix-i386.img

Disable USB in the BIOS

[Sits]

And you'll notice the BIOS goes quicker too :-) (obviously this isn't a practical thing to do)

And *gasp* - you're using swap on the "Gen 0" SSD of an EeePC? Stop! You'll "burn" a hole into your Gen 0 SSD where your swap was :-(

Re:Disable USB in the BIOS

[revjtanton]

That's a very interesting article. Last night after I took my netbook back to square one and installed some available patches I ended up with a fully up to day Jaunty build on ext4 with a gig of swap space. So far nothing has caught on fire, however there isn't a jump in performance in either direction compared to what was going on with my signifigantly smaller (300MB) of swap space.

I am very lazy. I really hope that the swap size really won't kill me considering how I'm using this netbook. I really only use it to hop online and listen to some NPR at work. The interface still lags like crazy, but I found a bug report detailing the issue. It looks like a patch is coming to fix this lag issue. I may have done all the work formatting and rearranging and of-the-such on a fools errand...especially after reading the link you sent!

Wrong Logo

[Anonymous Coward]

Ubuntu is not Debian and stories related to Ubuntu should not sport the Debian swirl.

Beta

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it doesn't work!!!

There are some mad kernel problems with my mobo and sata.... it boots to busybox...

waaaa

Exchange 2007?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does Evolution support Exchange 2007 now? That's been the big hold-up for me introducing Ubuntu into my office environment.