It's different that easybuntu or automatix in that it's not a meta package to download the codecs. Instead, it's an interface that any other application can query when they are asked to open/run an unknown mime type. For example, the first time you try to open an MP3, your music player will ask gnome-app-install to download and install the codec required to play MP3 files. Same for WMV, DivX, etc.
I've used it and it works very well, much better than the old "Unknown Mime type" error message that didn't even tell you what codec you needed. Easybuntu and Automatix should not be necessary anymore for proper media playback on Ubuntu.
Oh, and Feisty automatically downloaded and installed the nVidia binary driver for me when I turned on 3D effects, flawless! It even downloaded and installed an updated binary driver when I upgraded my kernel! Feisty has made huge improvements in desktop usablity.
I'm not sure about daily releases, but the Herd CD would probably be more stable to install as they are checked for package dependency issues. Once you install, you can always "apt-get dist-upgrade" to get all the newest packages.
Unless you particularly want to wait for the Herd 6 CD, which probably won't have much changed from Herd 5, why wait? This isn't like a Windows "Beta", which won't be stable until SP2, I've been using Feisty since Herd 2 and have only had minor problems with package updates. Since Herd 5 was released, the updates have been mostly small changes, so I still recommend downloading it instead of waiting.
Chances are whatever is keeping X from working for you won't have changed even with the official release, it sounds like you are using some very new, very old, or very rare hardware combination that Ubuntu's automatic configuration is choking on.
I guess someone who makes national news and reaches millions isnt something you want in your "Internet Strategy".
Someone who makes national news and reaches millions with a message you did not approve is exactly what you don't want in any strategy. What if the next ad calls someone "macaca" or "fag"? Campaign messages are very tightly controlled to avoid self damage, you don't want anyone doing anything unpredictable.
There Herd 5 CD is already stable, there will be a Herd 6 CD in mid-april that will be more like a release candidate. I wouldn't call the current state of Feisty "alpha" anymore.
Have you tried the Ubuntu LiveCD? Do you have problems with X using that, or just when you install? You can get the latest Feisty Fawn beta here: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/feisty/herd-5/ it's already quite stable (I'm using it to type this message). If the LiveCD works, it should install fine. Try it without proprietary drivers first, they can sometimes cause problems.
Are you using 3D acceleration or not? Also what video card and driver are you using? Posting the error message and log from X here could probably net you an answer. The only times I've had problems with X have been related to incorrect drivers or my own screwups editing xorg.conf
I've been using Ubuntu since 6.06 with no problems. I've been running Feisty Fawn since the first of the year and it runs great, compiz using proprietary nvidia drivers were easy to install. My only complaint is that the standard "Desktop Effects" dialog has no options (just enable/disable wobbly windows and cube), and using gconf-editor required a lot of trial and error. But after learning the settings it is amazingly customizable.
Venus likely had a very strong magnetosphere similar to Earth's early in it's lifetime, but it's core has since solidified or undergone other changes that caused it to lose that magnetosphere.
Venus's current magnetic field doesn't come from the core, like Earth's does, it comes from the interaction of the solar wind with Venus's ionosphere. This produces a much smaller and weaker magnetic field, but still produces a barrier at an average of 300km above Venus's surface. Venus is currently losing it's upper atmosphere to the solar winds, but this magnetic field is offering some protection, and it probably had much more protection in the past.
Mars's magnetic field is weaker than that of Venus, producing a barrier below the 300km altitude, exposing more of it's atmosphere to the solar winds.
... and the fact that Earth has three times Mars' gravity has nothing to do with it ?
Venus doesn't have a significant magnetic field, is closer to the sun than Earth, and seems to be able to hang on to a high-pressure atmosphere just fine.
Venus has a significantly stronger magnetic field than Mars, which has virutually none. Mars's lower gravity does raise the atmospheric ceiling to about 11 km, higher than Earth's 6 km. However, Earth's magnetosphere extends protection out about 70,000km in the direction of the sun. If Mars has a magnetosphere as strong as earth's, it could easily maintain an atmosphere even at 1/3 gravity.
What do you think of the declining popularity of Java?
Declining popularity? I remember recent studies showing that Swing is the most used UI toolkit, I believe Java is the most used language for corporate and commercial web applications, and Java programmers are in higher demand than ever. What makes you think it's declining in popularity? Maybe it's lost its "cool" factor to Ruby and Python, but not popularity.
Mac wins, you can run windows, fedora, debian, whatever you want. You can prototype networks build linux servers windows servers and your grandma can still get to her email without tech support telling her to disable her firewall. This is *the* ultimate desktop, windows should be deployed where best, linux should be deployed where it's best suited and the human interface should be Mac OS X.
Sounds great, where can I get a copy that I can install on my Dell?
Yeah. Because the ability to have people send you more unwanted advertising is a feature everyone looks for when buying a new phone.
No, but getting a $700 phone for $100 is a feature everyone looks for, and most people are willing to submit to unwanted advertising to get it. It's the same reason Dells are so popular.
It's all for nothing unless you can get Mars to produce a significant magnetic field. The reason Mars has so little atmosphere now is because it's been stripped away by solar wind. Earth would have met the same fate if it were not for it's magnetic field. So until you can solve that problem, you'll have to keep replacing the any atmosphere you produce.
You are obviously not a software developer. Things you are asking for are not design limitations, they are technical limitations.
Media categorization based on content (images, music, etc) is just now stating to become viable due to new algorithms and faster hardware. Google probably has the infrastructure to do it, but your PC doesn't. It's not like what you see in the movies, computers are made for processing quantitative data, not qualitative data.
Sun attempted to make drag-and-drop program development/extension with their Java Beans, but the problem turns out to be much harder than you would think. You can't make a program do something it wasn't designed to do.
Are you telling me that your MSSQL DBA is incapable of learning MySQL? It's not that hard, I did it when I was 19 from a single O'Reilly book and some testing. I once had to show an MS SQL DBA what indexes are, and how to use them, so maybe the barrier to entry as an MS DBA is lower than for other databases. Kind of like why you pay more for a C++ or Java developer than a VB developer. Maybe that's why you don't pay your MS DBA much money, he's incompetent?
Have you thought of asking your MySQL DBA if he can administer your MS SQL servers too? If he's worth his 96k, he can. By the way, you could never get a DB2 or Oracle DBA for 65k, does that mean that they are sub-standard to MS SQL as well? I think not. You get what you pay for. If you're happy with play toys you can pay a child to use them, if you want expert tools you need to hire experts.
Many of the reasons people pay for software that can be had for free don't apply to geeks. We aren't readily fooled by scams like the one the other reply to yours mentioned. We tend not to need software support, don't want a dumbed down yet premium cost interface for acquiring software, and don't usually have the kind of limited Internet connections that lead people to order CDs of software that can legally be downloaded instead.
Not only that, but all those Grandma's out there who can't seem to use Linux are also afraid to install any new software, be it OpenOffice or MS Office. Having it pre-installed is, for them at least, worth the $50 convenience fee.
I stand by my comment to the extent that if Dell did offer a $50 OpenOffice option, there would definitely be posts in the ensuing Slashdot article griping that that it wasn't free.
If Dell doesn't offer an OpenOffice option at any price, there would definitely be posts in the ensuing Slashdot article griping about that too. In fact, this very article already has some speculative preemptive griping about them NOT offering it.
This is Slashdot, any article about any topic will have posts with people griping, you know that.
While SiteAdvisor seems to be complaining about FreeDownloadHQ misleading people into subscribing to their website under the guise of selling the software, they are not complaining that they are charging for the software itself, which in fact they are not. Your article also links to http://www.spreadfirefox.com/node/19766 where the Firefox community agrees that FreeDownloadHQ is well within their rights to sell a subscription to their software listing service, even if that listing includes free software.
So again, the complaint isn't that free software is being sold, it's that FreeDownloadHQ is misleading consumers about what they are paying for and why.
If Dell charged for OpenOffice, open-source advocates would scream bloody murder (OMG it's supposed to be free, why does choosing OpenOffice add $50 to the price of a PC?)
Name one instance where selling open source software has caused any large group of people to complain? The only complaints I have ever heard is when the company selling the software is also violating the license is some way (usually not distributing the source). I doubt anybody would complain if Dell charged $50 to install and support OpenOffice.
I was saying, "If I were Dell, I'd make my own distro". Now, sure, of course, Dell will probably go with someone else's distro (i.e. Redhat or Novell), but personally, given Dell's resources, I would build my very own, either from scratched or based on a very good/versitile distro like Debian. I would start with an open source operating system and build it up specifically to support my hardware, changing it to fit my vision of what I wanted my computers to be.
In essence, rather than tacking on someone else's distribution, I would go the Apple route and take full control of hardware and software, but be more open in order to win the geek vote. It would be a dangerous move, but if I were the CEO of a company like Dell or HP, I'd have people working on a home-grown Linux distro (perhaps in secret).
Then Dell becomes a software company and has to create, staff, and fund a software division, has to provide technical support for their software, etc. What Dell should do is find an eager to please Linux distributor, I'm guessing Novell, who will provide them with the software, maintenance, and support they need for a very small OEM licensing fee, and Dell just does what they do best: sell cheap hardware. Dell doesn't want to compete with Microsoft, but using an outside software vendor, especially one with comfy agreements with Microsoft already in place, provides the lowest barrier to entry, and a negotiating term with Microsoft.
Dell's biggest obstacle to selling Linux is the fact that most Dell PCs are 'subsidized' by all the crapware that people pay Dell to have preinstalled. Until someone starts making crapware for Linux, Dell's Linux PCs are likely to stay more expensive than their Windows counterparts.
Just think, a week from now, we'll be commenting on all the articles documenting the plans falling from the sky, governments folding, stock markets crashing and burning. Toasters and Microwave ovens slaughtering entire familys before they escape to live in cross breed sin near Three mile Island and Chernobyl.
I've been preaching this for a while now - Vista isn't at fault here - the hardware manufacturers are! Stick it to them - they have had 6 years to prepare for the launch. It's also been over a year and a half that Vista has been availble from MSDN and such.
It doesn't matter whose fault it is, Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista or the hardware vendor, the fact of the matter is that people expect their computers to "Just Work"(tm). All my grandma is going to know is that under Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista, her sound card doesn't work, but under Windows XP it did. Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista needs to support this hardware out of the box, and until it does, Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista will never be ready for the desktop.
Seriously, you Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista fanboys need to stop living in denial and admit that Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista has some serious problems that make it unusable for most people.
Upstart is similar in concept to Launchd, but was written from scratch by Ubuntu. It is event-driven, not runlevel driven, which gives it some very interesting abilities that I'm sure will be exploited in creative ways in the future. I would be surprised if we don't see it included in Suse and Fedora in the near future, and a package is already in Debian experimental.
Slashdot Mirror
Congratulations, you've just invented Synaptic.
It's different that easybuntu or automatix in that it's not a meta package to download the codecs. Instead, it's an interface that any other application can query when they are asked to open/run an unknown mime type. For example, the first time you try to open an MP3, your music player will ask gnome-app-install to download and install the codec required to play MP3 files. Same for WMV, DivX, etc.
I've used it and it works very well, much better than the old "Unknown Mime type" error message that didn't even tell you what codec you needed. Easybuntu and Automatix should not be necessary anymore for proper media playback on Ubuntu.
Oh, and Feisty automatically downloaded and installed the nVidia binary driver for me when I turned on 3D effects, flawless! It even downloaded and installed an updated binary driver when I upgraded my kernel! Feisty has made huge improvements in desktop usablity.
I'm not sure about daily releases, but the Herd CD would probably be more stable to install as they are checked for package dependency issues. Once you install, you can always "apt-get dist-upgrade" to get all the newest packages.
Unless you particularly want to wait for the Herd 6 CD, which probably won't have much changed from Herd 5, why wait? This isn't like a Windows "Beta", which won't be stable until SP2, I've been using Feisty since Herd 2 and have only had minor problems with package updates. Since Herd 5 was released, the updates have been mostly small changes, so I still recommend downloading it instead of waiting.
Chances are whatever is keeping X from working for you won't have changed even with the official release, it sounds like you are using some very new, very old, or very rare hardware combination that Ubuntu's automatic configuration is choking on.
There Herd 5 CD is already stable, there will be a Herd 6 CD in mid-april that will be more like a release candidate. I wouldn't call the current state of Feisty "alpha" anymore.
It sounds like you have some video chipset problem. Can you post your xorg.conf?
Have you tried the Ubuntu LiveCD? Do you have problems with X using that, or just when you install? You can get the latest Feisty Fawn beta here: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/feisty/herd-5/ it's already quite stable (I'm using it to type this message). If the LiveCD works, it should install fine. Try it without proprietary drivers first, they can sometimes cause problems.
Are you using 3D acceleration or not? Also what video card and driver are you using? Posting the error message and log from X here could probably net you an answer. The only times I've had problems with X have been related to incorrect drivers or my own screwups editing xorg.conf
I've been using Ubuntu since 6.06 with no problems. I've been running Feisty Fawn since the first of the year and it runs great, compiz using proprietary nvidia drivers were easy to install. My only complaint is that the standard "Desktop Effects" dialog has no options (just enable/disable wobbly windows and cube), and using gconf-editor required a lot of trial and error. But after learning the settings it is amazingly customizable.
To clarify my last post a bit:
p ers/venus_mag/p ers/mars_mag/1 .htm
Venus likely had a very strong magnetosphere similar to Earth's early in it's lifetime, but it's core has since solidified or undergone other changes that caused it to lose that magnetosphere.
Venus's current magnetic field doesn't come from the core, like Earth's does, it comes from the interaction of the solar wind with Venus's ionosphere. This produces a much smaller and weaker magnetic field, but still produces a barrier at an average of 300km above Venus's surface. Venus is currently losing it's upper atmosphere to the solar winds, but this magnetic field is offering some protection, and it probably had much more protection in the past.
Mars's magnetic field is weaker than that of Venus, producing a barrier below the 300km altitude, exposing more of it's atmosphere to the solar winds.
Once again, links:
http://www-spc.igpp.ucla.edu/personnel/russell/pa
http://www-spc.igpp.ucla.edu/personnel/russell/pa
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast31jan_
Too weak to act as a radiation barrier yes, cosmic radiation can penetrate Venus's magnetosphere, but it is strong enough to contain the atmosphere.
Venus has a significantly stronger magnetic field than Mars, which has virutually none. Mars's lower gravity does raise the atmospheric ceiling to about 11 km, higher than Earth's 6 km. However, Earth's magnetosphere extends protection out about 70,000km in the direction of the sun. If Mars has a magnetosphere as strong as earth's, it could easily maintain an atmosphere even at 1/3 gravity.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Magnetic_field
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars#Atmosphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere#Earth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Magnetosphere_
Declining popularity? I remember recent studies showing that Swing is the most used UI toolkit, I believe Java is the most used language for corporate and commercial web applications, and Java programmers are in higher demand than ever. What makes you think it's declining in popularity? Maybe it's lost its "cool" factor to Ruby and Python, but not popularity.
Here's a couple of links from this year to back me up:
http://www.jasonkolb.com/weblog/2007/02/programmi
http://www.tiobe.com/tpci.htm
Sounds great, where can I get a copy that I can install on my Dell?
No, but getting a $700 phone for $100 is a feature everyone looks for, and most people are willing to submit to unwanted advertising to get it. It's the same reason Dells are so popular.
It's all for nothing unless you can get Mars to produce a significant magnetic field. The reason Mars has so little atmosphere now is because it's been stripped away by solar wind. Earth would have met the same fate if it were not for it's magnetic field. So until you can solve that problem, you'll have to keep replacing the any atmosphere you produce.
You are obviously not a software developer. Things you are asking for are not design limitations, they are technical limitations.
Media categorization based on content (images, music, etc) is just now stating to become viable due to new algorithms and faster hardware. Google probably has the infrastructure to do it, but your PC doesn't. It's not like what you see in the movies, computers are made for processing quantitative data, not qualitative data.
Sun attempted to make drag-and-drop program development/extension with their Java Beans, but the problem turns out to be much harder than you would think. You can't make a program do something it wasn't designed to do.
Maybe you would be happier with the HollywoodOS
Hmmm, something doesn't seem right here....
Are you telling me that your MSSQL DBA is incapable of learning MySQL? It's not that hard, I did it when I was 19 from a single O'Reilly book and some testing. I once had to show an MS SQL DBA what indexes are, and how to use them, so maybe the barrier to entry as an MS DBA is lower than for other databases. Kind of like why you pay more for a C++ or Java developer than a VB developer. Maybe that's why you don't pay your MS DBA much money, he's incompetent?
Have you thought of asking your MySQL DBA if he can administer your MS SQL servers too? If he's worth his 96k, he can. By the way, you could never get a DB2 or Oracle DBA for 65k, does that mean that they are sub-standard to MS SQL as well? I think not. You get what you pay for. If you're happy with play toys you can pay a child to use them, if you want expert tools you need to hire experts.
This is Slashdot, any article about any topic will have posts with people griping, you know that.
While SiteAdvisor seems to be complaining about FreeDownloadHQ misleading people into subscribing to their website under the guise of selling the software, they are not complaining that they are charging for the software itself, which in fact they are not. Your article also links to http://www.spreadfirefox.com/node/19766 where the Firefox community agrees that FreeDownloadHQ is well within their rights to sell a subscription to their software listing service, even if that listing includes free software.
So again, the complaint isn't that free software is being sold, it's that FreeDownloadHQ is misleading consumers about what they are paying for and why.
Name one instance where selling open source software has caused any large group of people to complain? The only complaints I have ever heard is when the company selling the software is also violating the license is some way (usually not distributing the source). I doubt anybody would complain if Dell charged $50 to install and support OpenOffice.
Then Dell becomes a software company and has to create, staff, and fund a software division, has to provide technical support for their software, etc. What Dell should do is find an eager to please Linux distributor, I'm guessing Novell, who will provide them with the software, maintenance, and support they need for a very small OEM licensing fee, and Dell just does what they do best: sell cheap hardware. Dell doesn't want to compete with Microsoft, but using an outside software vendor, especially one with comfy agreements with Microsoft already in place, provides the lowest barrier to entry, and a negotiating term with Microsoft.
Dell's biggest obstacle to selling Linux is the fact that most Dell PCs are 'subsidized' by all the crapware that people pay Dell to have preinstalled. Until someone starts making crapware for Linux, Dell's Linux PCs are likely to stay more expensive than their Windows counterparts.
Or fighter jets losing all navigation and communication systems mid-flight?
It doesn't matter whose fault it is, Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista or the hardware vendor, the fact of the matter is that people expect their computers to "Just Work"(tm). All my grandma is going to know is that under Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista, her sound card doesn't work, but under Windows XP it did. Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista needs to support this hardware out of the box, and until it does, Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista will never be ready for the desktop.
Seriously, you Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista fanboys need to stop living in denial and admit that Linux^H^H^H^H^HVista has some serious problems that make it unusable for most people.
Upstart is similar in concept to Launchd, but was written from scratch by Ubuntu. It is event-driven, not runlevel driven, which gives it some very interesting abilities that I'm sure will be exploited in creative ways in the future. I would be surprised if we don't see it included in Suse and Fedora in the near future, and a package is already in Debian experimental.
For more on Upstart, check out its website: http://upstart.ubuntu.com/
The original Ubuntu feature request that lead to it is here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReplacementInit (Discussions at the bottom as to why Launchd was not used.)