Interviews: Ask 'Ubuntu Unleashed' Author Matthew Helmke

Matthew Helmke (personal blog) is the author of the newly published 11th edition of Ubuntu Unleashed (published by Pearson); this updated edition of the book will cover the OS through Ubuntu's 15.10 and (forthcoming) 16.04 releases. Helmke is also a former Ubuntu Forum administrator, a musician, an entrepreneur, and a long-time Slashdot reader who now leads a "nice quiet life in Iowa." Ask Matthew about what it's like to be a Linux book author and community leader, and his thoughts on Canonical, the goods and bads of modern Linux distributions, and the future of Ubuntu -- especially relevant with the upcoming release of the first Ubuntu-based tablet. (Remember, Matthew isn't responsible for gripes you may have with either Ubuntu or Canonical, but he might have some good solutions to particular problems.) Ask as many questions as you'd like; we just ask that you keep them on-topic, and please stick to one question per post.

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Comments

frosty

[edittard]

The Unleashed books are still going?

Correction: Books are still going?

Re:frosty

[fahrbot-bot]

The Unleashed books are still going?

Correction: Books are still going?

When the Apocalypse comes and you're frantically looking for something to charge your Kindle so you can read your digital copy of "Surviving the Apocalypse" I'll be sitting by the campfire, thumbing through my hard copy - which can *also* be used to start the campfire.

Re:frosty

[sinij]

Yes, because reading about Ubuntu is exactly kind of information one would need to survive when the apocalypse comes.

Re:frosty

[fahrbot-bot]

Yes, because reading about Ubuntu is exactly kind of information one would need to survive when the apocalypse comes.

My comment was (obviously) in response to the general "Books are still going?" comment, not the Ubuntu book specifically.

Slashdot != Iowa?

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> long-time Slashdot reader who now leads a "nice quiet life in Iowa."

Are you saying that if you live in the American midwest, you have to give up reading SlashDot?

Re:Slashdot != Iowa?

[blackomegax]

Having lived in Iowa, they don't have internet. Just endless stretches of farmland.

Re:Slashdot != Iowa?

[gstoddart]

Where everybody surfs corn. ;-)

Future of Linux on the Desktop

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm curious as to your thoughts on the future of Linux on the desktop. With SecureBoot and UEFI, the formerly simple process of trying out distros like Ubuntu has become something of a PITA. Do you think we have a future for Linux on the desktop, or are PC's going the way of locked-down bootloaders like many cell phones?

I'm not upgrading Windows beyond 7

[Anonymous Coward]

Since I'm not upgrading Windows beyond 7, due exclusively to Microsoft's new explicit policy of tracking every little thing I do on my computer, what distribution would you recommend? I am a long-time Linux user and enthusiast admin, but the problems I have encountered using Ubuntu Desktop have been simply silly, including my AMD Radeon HD 4XXX card completely losing driver support (believe me when I say the card is completely unsupported by all projects), a Linksys Wi-Fi card completely losing driver support (these last two happened after an update, not version upgrade), monitors not being recognized and having to manually configure Ubuntu to support the resolution settings, plus Wine being a crazy-klunky glob of instability for running MS Office, which is still far superior to Office alternatives for my usage.

Windows 7 expires in 2020 and I'm still unclear as to which direction I am going to end up going. And, omg, I'm even looking at Apple.

segmentation

[blackomegax]

Ubuntu as is, is basically forking itself into the mobile version (and IMO making it all kinds of 'crap' in the process). This process has caused Ubuntu Desktop to stagnate like a mofo since 2013. 16.04 isn't looking much better in this regard. Is anything going on to ~innovate~ the user-facing side of Desktop Ubuntu? Mir feels like vaporware, Unity hasn't changed at all. 8 might be good but is also vaporware. Canonical has a wonderful opportunity to steal vast shares of the windows market with MS spying going on, but is letting the OS stagnate to chase some pipe dream of mobile they'll never gain a real foot-hold in....

Re:segmentation

[myrdos2]

So you want them to change the GUI for the sake of not letting it stagnate? Reminds me of the old quote: "They call it UX now. It used to be called UI, but after a while everyone knew what that word was and how to use it."

I, for one, would be pretty damned happy if my skills in any given desktop weren't obsolete after 3-5 years. Keeping it the same, now that would be innovation.

What support channels are recommended for noobs?

[rgbe]

I have been using Linux since the good old days of the late 90's. I was using Debian until Ubuntu came around in 2004 and switched. Ubuntu was amazing in terms of how it made Linux more usable. However, as time went along Ubuntu was no longer so cutting edge and no longer resonated with me, so I have switched back to Debian. Anyway, all this time as a Linux user it's been a rough ride, every laptop I have purchased (I haven't had a desktop for 15 years) has had issues with Linux. Most common issues for me are that wi-fi drivers don't work and graphics card drivers are unstable. I choose Laptops that are going to give me the least problems by researching them thoroughly beforehand. The most recent laptop (HP ProBook) came with the option of having SUSE Linux installed by default, I thought this would be perfect, but the wi-fi did not work unless you had the correct version of SUSE installed. I am experienced at debugging and resolving issues, a new user would require a lot of patience, technical no-how just to get Linux functioning before they can use their PC. Although you can use Linux without the console, it is difficult to never have to go to the console. The console requires a paradigm shift for many users. In a nutshell the first hurdle for Linux is a massive jump, and only few are brave/curious enough to take it.

So my question is: What support channels would you recommend for new Linux users?

Why Ubuntu

[frovingslosh]

I'm a life long computer user and have been considered very knowledgeable in some operating systems, but so far I can't claim to be knowledgeable or even comfortable with Linux, although I would like to gain that knowledge. I'm leaning towards Debian. Is there any reason that I should try to learn and use Ubuntu over Debian? If something has been dumbed down at the loss of flexibility or usefulness I would not consider that a "feature".

Re:Why Ubuntu

[frovingslosh]

MINT? You tell me what you use but offer absolutely no information to support it. Might as well be saying " My God is better that your God ". So I give very little value to your input. I've actually seen Mint and used the Live DVDs. As a Live DVD I like it better than Knoppix, which I have used for many years (without really gaining the knowledge of Linux that I would like). But as far as I know Mint is based on Debian and I see no reason to to install Mint over Debian. Maybe you need an install dumbed down, I don't need or want that.

Re:Why Ubuntu

[Threni]

I looked at debian and it looks tedious to install and i decided i could if i devoted time and energy to the project i could probably install it but would rather just install ubuntu and get on with it.

Mint is ok and i used it until I got fed up with the lack of support; it's easier to get help when you have ubuntu; also, when you install ubuntu you don't immediately get errors due to poorly configured software before you've even finished logging it. Unity may be shit but at the end of the day I'm not going to be spending a lot of time fucking around with the ui; as long as i can launch apps i'm happy.

Re:Why Ubuntu

[b0bby]

When you say "I can't claim to be knowledgeable or even comfortable with Linux" I agree with the ac, Mint is a good choice. I claim to be reasonably knowledgeable about and comfortable with Linux, but I don't have time to want to mess with every little thing. Mint gives me a reasonable desktop quickly, with good hardware support, so that I can spend time doing the things I actually use a computer for rather than troubleshooting drivers and suchlike.

For servers I use CentOS, for desktops I use Mint. But if you prefer Debian for either, you should use that.

Re:Why Ubuntu

[Anonymous Coward]

Go for Debian. The only downside from ubuntu is the lack of PPA which some pre built binaries offer so conveniently only for Ubuntu. Obviously you are prepared to read debian wiki, come to IRC ( OFTC ) and ask questions if you face real trouble some issues. The dpkg bot in #debian channel will give most of the basic answers. Some silly stuff which debian would create problems are drivers like broadcom,nvidia and ATI. Following the debian wiki should fix all your issues. Its only a bit hard to start with when compared to ubuntu and seeing what you have written I could confidently count you among future debian user. I have been using debian for 6 years and not a single issue has popped up. Its just rock solid and sometimes the stability gets too boring.

By the way you could also just use the Linux Mint debian edition repo's and just install their green themes if you like them!

Re:Why Ubuntu

[KGIII]

Not too long ago, I went on a distro hunt. I've used Linux, off and on, for years - except I never really used it. Oh, it was installed and even kept updated but I'd just boot to Windows. I also come from a Unix background. However, my brain was getting mushy and I wanted to ensure that I was still learning new things. I opted to facilitate this by simply getting rid of Windows and using only Linux. So, I did my distro hunt...

I can not tell you what will be best for you. However, I've actually tried almost every single one of the major distros and a lot of the small ones. DistroWatch? Yeah, I tried them all - even the little ones. Many of those got tried on bare metal but most got tried in a VM. I mean, yeah, all of them. I might have missed one or two but that's probably because they appeared to replicate work from others.

So, in the end, I did use Mint Cinnamon for a while and it's still installed on one of the laptops that I have with me. However, I decided that I like the simplicity and speed of LXDE (amazing on recent hardware and good-enough on older hardware). I'd also decided that the ecosystem provided by Ubuntu was the best one for me - it's the largest and is generally helpful. I could do more customization but I opted to just use Lubuntu. No distro has my particular needs completely met so I just start from there and do my installs and changes as required - it was the least amount of work.

LXDE is speedy, like I mentioned. It's also rather familiar to most people. I did a dock of my own and set that up. I've been learning more and more about it as time goes on. There's still a lot more for me to learn (a good thing) and it keeps me interested (also a good thing). I've been content enough with my choice to let my MSDN subscription lapse. I don't use any Windows except for my phone. I can't. Well, I could but it'd take some effort. I just had to make the switch, make sure that I'd no longer be able to boot to Windows, and things have gone well since.

Of course, it helps that I have some familiarity and some history of use. I used to use Solaris everywhere, it was even on our workstations, and then migrated to Windows. I'd tried Linux not long after it came out. I liked it. I even kept it installed on a partition on almost every box. I just, well... I wasn't booting to it except to try something out, update, and maybe show someone something. It was just there and I wasn't using it.

That said, if I had to ask Matt a question...

"If you could change any one thing about Canonical, the organization, what would it be? For me, I'd probably change the clique nature that we see in some of the mailing lists, on the forum, or even at live events. It's great that they've an official @ubuntu.com email address but, really, they've not actually done much in the way of contributing - ever. It's seemingly more a pissing match and a popularity contest than it is about the benefit that some provide to the community.

"If I could change anything, I'd change that. However, if you can snap your fingers and make any change to Canonical, what would that change be - and why? If that question is difficult to answer due to politics or any other reason, you can change Canonical to Ubuntu itself. I'm interested in both, if you want to go that far but I'm limited to one question per post."

Re:Why Ubuntu

[KGIII]

As a second question, I've been tasked with writing a book about business management. I've actually been taking this project a little more serious than I'd expected. Yet, it comes down to actually doing the work, examining the structure, working on the layout, figuring out the goals, and deciding on things like verbiage - I end up getting stuck and just meandering off to do something else.

What motivates you to write? That's pretty much it. In my case, the result will be "open source" and free (as in beer) so finances aren't actually a concern. Money just isn't going to motivate me, I've got enough. It just reaches the point where it's somewhere between overwhelming and just a ton of work. It seems insurmountable at times and some method of motivation might help.

Re:Why Ubuntu

[basile]

I think it is useful when you have commercial intentions.. many IT managers would appreciate to have support subscription. Why I choose Debian for myself? basically because its FREE with whole word sense... on this economical dominated world its nice to see a community still motivated by gnu philosophy... and feels even better when you are using "The Universal Operative System". =)

Are there solutions out there that simplify Linux?

[rgbe]

I reply to my own post to ask another question, because the context is relevant.

Are there any solutions / techniques out there that simplify driver installation and configuration in Linux / Ubuntu? I am ask just in-case I am missing it.

Cool

[koan]

Good read

Re: Is there a way to get systemd to not throw awa

[Anonymous Coward]

I haven't used stderr in over a decade. systemd is correct in getting rid of it.

Re:3D graphics fanciness for the new now?

[KGIII]

This is not quite what you asked for but I had stumbled across it, emailed it, and was able to pull it out of my archives.

http://eaglemode.sourceforge.n...

Give the video a peak - it's an interesting method to navigate your computer. I've never tried it and I'm not actually sure what I was doing when I bumped into it back in September but there it is.

Pipe output when running a Systemd service?

[tetraverse]

"stderr? This is driving us nuts when we have about six hundred Ubuntu servers, and simple problems are harder to solve because stderr is not displayed in the terminal or saved in the journal. Is there a way to get systemd to not throw away...

How to Pipe Output to a File When Running as a Systemd Service?

Amen to that: Car Analogy Alert

[bdwoolman]

Why do OS designers (or, more accurately, the suits who manage them) feel moved to swap around the main controls for known tasks with each new release? It is so silly to have such a steep learning curve for new versions. Windows 8 was too stupidly different (not hard, but different) from its predecessors. And it was obvious to anyone with the common sense that God gave a parakeet that people would hate doing familiar tasks in novel ways. People want to do stuff they are used to doing, Don't they? But boy do people despair of gratuitous novelty.

If auto designers did what OS designers routinely do, then we would be steering with a stick one year and with our feet the next. Accelerating with our thumbs one year... (Oh, wait! We DO do that.) But it's okay... We can still use our foot pedals. Why not design something more stable, faster and more bullet proof? It is no accident that schools are gravitating to Chrome OS, which is essentially a browser, which everybody already knows how to use. Chromebooks are admittedly cheaper. And there is no doubt that functionality and choices are sort of basic and limited in Chrome. But ask the fast food industry how restricting choice and reducing ambiguity actually improves the user experience. I use Mint because I hated Unity. Again... Why ax the steering wheel in favor of a cyclic? Why, I ask... Why? Why? Why?

Yes sir. We have the no-how on the project.

[bdwoolman]

Somehow I like 'no-how' better than 'know-how'.

"Son, Do you have the know-how for this? "

"Yes! No-how, no-way, Sir."

Do you think Canonical will get huge?

[LichtSpektren]

Do you foresee that one day Canonical will be up there with Google, Apple, and Microsoft in terms of being perceived as a software tech giant?