Ubuntu 8.04: A Glimpse into the Future of Ubuntu

http://www.techthrob.com/tech/hardyalpha4.php

 

the "unlock" thingy has been on kde for ages but it's a nice addition to gnome ^^ Is it stable enough to be used has a primary OS?

 

I sure hope 8.04 fixes sound and DMA on my Acer 5920!

 

See also https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyHeron/Alpha4

 

Theres Kubuntu aswell
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/HardyHeron/Alpha4/Kubuntu

 

It's looking good. I've been toying with the idea of getting a spare laptop of some sort to run Linux on, Ubuntu 8 is looking promising in that regard.

 

April 2008 looks like a nice release point. Not too long now =)

 

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080202-first-look-ubuntu-8-04-hardy-heron-alpha-4.html

 

lol, the ubuntu team does it again. just when you think they've done everything they could, BAM, they announce a whole slew of sweet new features... and then some. i'd take it over mac or windows anyday

 

I don't think that the listed improvements are very impressive, considering that they are just programs that can just as easily be implemented by other distributions. Ubuntu developers should focus on Ubuntu exclusive improvements like the Restricted Driver Manager.

 

Quoted for truth

 

This is just it: Ubuntu really doesn't need more bells and whistles, it needs bugfixes, setup wizards and better compatibility. It only takes one essential feature to fail to work and the OS becomes useless. Moreover, 'fail to work' doesn't even mean that Ubuntu cannot support something, it means the particular user in question can't get it to work. Big difference!

Every time I install Ubuntu on a new PC, or do a version update, I now reckon on spending around half a day getting wireless networking up and running, which is just plain ridiculous. Even now, neither my PC nor my wife's will connect automatically at start-up to my network, because I use a hidden SSID. Yet it can connect, and when connected it remains stable - so the hard part is obviously done, it's just a silly UI limitation that's now causing the problem.

I sometimes feel as though Linux developers only work on things they personally want to work on, and regard a problem as 'solved' once their own system is OK - forgetting that what really matters is whether a feature works for a majority of relatively non-technical users who don't understand how Linux works and have no desire to understand either. Much as I hate to admit it, I have to admire the extent to which Windows 'just works', and if I can't get something to work it's usually because there's a real problem, not just user error.

You have to ask: why is it that I can have windows that wobble and my virtual desktops on the sides of a spinning, shiny cube - yet there are elementary bugs in setting up printing, networking and file management?

Someone, somewhere has lost the plot IMHO. I'd love to see just one release which contained no new features, but which instead fixed annoyances.

Chances of it ever happening?

 

Alpha 5 released: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/hardy/alpha5

 

I see already that they have added the new kernel, which is big for me. This means I no long have to rely on third party drivers to make my touchscreen work.

Now once Mint uses the Hardy Heron system, I'll be in business.

 

There are bug fixes happening all the time. If you don't have your automatic updates turned on, all it takes is a casual sudo apt-get update and upgrade to keep your system up to date.

Wireless is one of the biggest headaches developers have to deal with. There are solutions being developed all the time, but it's a massive beast to bring down.

As opposed to working on things they don't personally wish to work on? How can they squash bugs that they don't know about? As for developers only fixing problems that exist on their own hardware, how would it be possible to fix bugs on hardware that they know nothing about?

Bugs are fixed as they are reported. If it hasn't been fixed, it'll hang around until someone does fix it. If your specific bug hasn't been reported, who is going to fix it?

Developing new software is infinitely more interesting than getting rid of bugs, so it's only natural that new material is constantly being developed. I've never personally had a problem with something as simple as printing, so that sounds like something that is purely specific to yourself. If it's a bug that hasn't been reported, post it yourself! You can whine all you want but nothing can get fixed unless someone knows about it.

Every new release fixes a whole array of bugs. It also introduces brand-new software, which in turn creates more bugs. It's a cycle that is constantly being refreshed. If you need the latest cutting-edge software, you're going to encounter the latest cutting-edge bugs. New releases exist solely to introduce new material while simultaneously making massive changes to the underlying structure. If all you did was fix bugs your work load would never change and you would cease to step forward, since it's impossible to make it compatible with every piece of hardware ever released out of the box. Not to mention the problems that arise when brand-new hardware hits the market. All you can do is solve problems as they show up.

It'll happen when you (and others) help out by posting their bugs so they can be fixed.

I think my favorite idea lately is the Ubuntu 5-A-Day project. Everyone does five bugs a day, every day. With even a hundred people contributing, that's 500 bugs each day that could get solved. Launchpad is currently indexing 187860 bugs reported across 1525 projects. As you can imagine, it's not easy for a handful of people to fix. Even the most basic users can help out, so why not do so?

April can't come soon enough. I can't wait to see how 8.04 turns out!

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I appreciate the feedback.

I do have automatic updates turned on, but from reading the change logs associated with those packages that get updated, most of the changes are security fixes rather than improvements to functionality. Functional changes seem to have to wait for the six-monthly major release.

I don't doubt this for a moment. In the case of the particular example I quoted, though, it's apparent that the difficult bit has already been done - it can connect and is stable and reliable once connected. I submitted a feature request, as have several others, but as yet, nothing.

Lol I think you misunderstand - I'm referring to the boring bit where you perform regression, compatibility and stress testing on the cool new code to make it fit for general release. Nobody enjoys this bit, but in a commercial project it has to be done, of course.

Here's where I think a major step forward could be taken just by improving communication between developers and users. It seems that they are two quite disparate communities with very little overlap, the former documenting issues in a structured way using bug tracking software, and the latter using online support forums.

I can't say I've ever seen the developer of a program step in to a discussion on, say, ubuntuforums.org, and say "that sounds like a bug, I'll take a look and get back to you", or "you just need to configure xxxx". Instead the onus seems to be on the (non-technical) user to identify what is a bug as opposed to user error and then to submit it - something I just don't believe most users are, or necessarily should be, qualified to do.

 

I definitely agree. A lot more could be done if the users could more effectively communicate their bugs with the various teams, instead of the clumsy systems currently set up. I have to feel for those addressing problems on the forum; with so much noise it's quite apparent that many will never be able to find the help that they are looking for.

Not to mention that for most users, the sheer frustration of having something not function as intended is enough to put them off of it for a while. They don't even want to begin figuring out why it's broken. I'll admit that I'm personally guilty of this on more than a few occasions.

Yeah, that unfortunately happens when there are hundreds of thousands of bugs to squash. If it isn't marked "highly critical" it just blends into the background and disappears.

I'm really glad that you at least took the time to submit a bug report. It may not be fixed soon, but at least it stands a better chance than if it weren't documented at all. It's quite refreshing to be able to step away from those that choose to complain without taking even a tiny bit of action.

 

Alpha 6 released: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/hardy/alpha6

 

Sync my Blackberry, and I'm there BABY !!

 

+1 on this. I was aware of bug reporting early on in my Ubuntu experience, but intimidated by the thought of submitting bugs when the problem was my own stupidity. Plus it was old hardware I was messing around with and kinda figured nobody would care.
When I got my new Acer lappy recently I reported bugs on everything after looking around for clues and finding other folks with same problem and/or no obvious fixes. If all I did was proclaim my stupidity to the world, so be it

We're all adventurers on this brave endeavor and I'm just trying to keep up. At least Launchpad hosts a place to post bugs, and there's a reasonable chance that it might get addressed in the next release.

Microsoft isn't that responsive.

 

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/syncing-blackberry-on-linux.html
http://www.linux.com/feature/123251
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=190938

Not quite plug-n-play yet, but if you feel like working it out it's entirely possible.

 

Hawk...thanks, I've seen all that. I've concluded the best way to sync my Blackberry with Evolution is to sync Evolution with ScheduleWorld, then Sync my BB directly with ScheduleWorld via the BB plugin. Same difference and less hoops to jump through. I've just started working on it.

 

Excellent. Looks like Ubuntu is becoming as protective as Windows Xp, as easy to use as Windows 98, and as pretty as Windows 7.

 

Ubuntu 8.04 Beta released: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyHeron/Beta

 

Cool....actually, the one I'm interested in checking out is the Kubuntu KDE4 beta....let me get started...

 

Upgrade looks easy. :smile:

Not to hijack this thread or anything, but does 7.10 have a built-in firewall?

 

RC has been released...I will download it as soon as I can
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2008-April/000110.html

 

Awesome ill check it out.

 

Upgrading usually doesn't work out. Seems like none of the major operating systems have it right; Linux, Windows, or Mac OS.

 

I upgraded fine from 7.10 to one of the betas. Just keep running sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get upgrade until it works.

 

Maybe they have smoothed out the issues when I tried to upgrade from 6.06 to 6.10. Btw, I don't think that that is the right command:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

That'll do it in one try. Why would you have to issue those commands multiple times?

 

Your right, I forgot to put in sudo apg-get dist-upgrade after apt-get update. running the commands more than one lets programs that could not be upgraded for dependency reasons upgrade themselves.

 

The proper way to upgrade is to issue:

Code:

$ update-manager -d

Or you can use "--devel-release" instead of "-d". You will get a notice that a new distribution is available. You can then ask for the upgrade.

Reference:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HardyUpgrades

All other methods are risky.

 

Because most of your problems are hardware related and without help from the manufacturers it will take ages to fix... For example every hp printers I plug to my laptops, even a 15 years old deskjet, works because hp has took time to create a printing service for linux. You can use a spinning shinny cube only on the most common brand of graphic chips because only those have provided drivers that allows that.

 

I'll look at this method. Thanks for the tip.

 

Running 8.04 again. Very nice. The only problem is that the Firefox 3 beta crashes X. Haven't figured out why since it worked just fine a few weeks ago. Oh well, I can use FF2 until 3 comes out.

 

It works fine for me. what do you mean it crashes X? How can he take the whole xserver with it? The worst I've seen is just FF3 crashing and disappearing because of flash...

 

I've had FF3 crash on me but it was just FF3, not X. I've seen it freeze a few times too. I was not able to trace the cause.

I must say that the hype about FF3 being sooooo much faster has not materialized in my case, and it cannot be blamed on starvation (IFL90, T7300 cpu, 2 gig ram). Maybe it is because of the way I use it.

 

I have been using Hardy Heron amd64 only since beta 6. So far I love it. I only wish I could use a 32 bit browser so flash would work. Lots of sites use flash so it forces me to boot in to Vista 64 which allows use of 32 bit browsers.

 

I have no idea how it takes X with it. It happens when I use FF3 beta to visit Ubuntu Guide, ironically enough. I have compiz enabled of course but I can't think of what is causing it.

We have the same computer right...IFL90?

 

FF3 froze X twice this morning on my machine. By "froze X", I mean X was no longer responding at all. I turned off compiz and have not had any problems since. But then again I used FF3 with compiz on for quite a while before I ran into this problem. So I don't know whether it is just chance that turning off compiz fixed the problem.

 

Thanks I had previously run that script but did not notice you needed to select 7.10.

 

I just used the upgrade guide that Lemur provided, and it worked. For those who go ahead and do the upgrade, remember to clean up your system:

sudo apt-get autoclean

It went better than my past experiences. It did, however, break my Compiz installation. It also threw my video driver out the window.

 

I did not have problems with compiz but I ran into video driver problems. I did this:

That's a cut and paste from my guide for the IFL90:

http://lddubeau.com/avaktavyam/linux-on-a-compal-ifl90/

 

I have an ATI Radeon 9600 on my T42; I tried three different drivers to fix my 3D acceleration, along with a couple of different online guides. In the end I decided to cut my losses and use the Windows Way; I nuked the HD and now I am running a fresh Heron system.

 

I've been using my Gateway 7450X with a Radeon 9600 as a test machine for various distros. I just slapped Hardy on it and it works fine.

 

Interesting. I wonder if there are differences between our hardware that would explain this.

 

Maybe, but I'm running the nvidia 169.09 compiled from sources instead of the 169.12 in the repo because they were giving me pink shadows with compiz....

 

Oops... I saw your signature and saw "nVidia" there and then I assumed.

 

Maybe. What causes such problems is often hard to figure out. I've turned compiz back on without problem so far. But now I'm using KDE (3.5) instead of Gnome.