Hey Ubuntu, Stop Making Linux Look Bad

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Tassidar

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It’s the same old story. A new Ubuntu release, a new series of pain and frustration.

Canonical releases a new version of Ubuntu every 6 months, come what may. Unfortunately what most often comes is a system full of bugs, pain, anguish, wailing and gnashing of teeth - as many “early” adopters of Karmic Koala have discovered.

The problem is, Ubuntu makes Linux look bad. As more and more people make the switch to free software this is not a good thing. Linux is meant to be stable, secure, reliable.
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http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7600/1.html


I recall also that Eeebuntu has changed to Debian out of frustration with Ubuntu.

Comments?
 
Ubuntu is based on Debian IIRC...

Anyways... you get what you ask for with cutting-edge releases. If you stick to stable releases, you won't have bugs and problems.

I must say, the Ubuntus I have downloaded so far, performed extremely well without any bugs or issues.
 
So far I havent had issues with the new ubuntu itself, but thats due to grub2 not working and not being able to find a working fix yet. But judging by my switch to jaunty as it was released I have to say I didnt have any issues at all, everything worked as it was meant to, didnt find anything seriously broken.

On the other hand, the problems listed on that site arent problems I would have, but only time will tell how well 9.10 works for me because Im sticking to my dual boot of win7 and 9.04 till the grub2 issue is resolved properly.
 
I must be honest, I have been having such network issues with the new Ubuntu it is ridiculous. The Windows machines can see the Ubuntu 9.10 acting as a file server. (Using Samba) However the other Ubuntu machines refuse to see it.

These days I honestly don't know which Linux distro to use?
 
@Lino

How are you accessing the shares? Give each pc a static IP with network mask and no gateway. Access shares by opening nautilus and entering smb://st.at.ic.ip/

I had uber issues like you but with Hardy, nothing ever saw the Hardy shares! But with Karmic networking just worked for me!
 
I run it on an MSI Wind U100 netbook. Despite all the issues it runs better than Windows XP on the machine - only slightly better though.

I have had a few annoying issues:

  • When I boot up the netbook the brightness applet gets stuck in an infinite loop and increasing and decreasing the brightness. The screen flashes like it is 1999 :)
  • Getting my HSDPA 3G USB modem to work reliably is almost impossible. Plug it in and no option to connet in Network Manager. Unplug and plug in and the option is there. Try to connect and it won't. Try 10 times and it won't. Then it connects. Reloaded XP and it works fine. Go to Ubuntu and it doesn't. Incredibly annoying!

I am really starting to believe that they should move their release cycle to 12 months instead of 6. When you look at the number of bugs that get ignored due to them rushing to get the release out you can see why some people have issues. Get the quality right and then worry about new features :)

That said I still enjoy running Ubuntu on the netbook and so I hope they can bump up the quality. And all the posts (okay maybe one or two) I am reading on planet.ubuntu.com basically trashing people who had problems with the install and "debunking the myth of the broken ubuntu" aren't helping. If something is broken and some arrogant person starts chirping you for it you aren't going to be very happy/inclined to stay with the OS.
 
pkid said:
I run it on an MSI Wind U100 netbook. Despite all the issues it runs better than Windows XP on the machine - only slightly better though.

I have had a few annoying issues:

  • When I boot up the netbook the brightness applet gets stuck in an infinite loop and increasing and decreasing the brightness. The screen flashes like it is 1999 :)
  • Getting my HSDPA 3G USB modem to work reliably is almost impossible. Plug it in and no option to connet in Network Manager. Unplug and plug in and the option is there. Try to connect and it won't. Try 10 times and it won't. Then it connects. Reloaded XP and it works fine. Go to Ubuntu and it doesn't. Incredibly annoying!

I am really starting to believe that they should move their release cycle to 12 months instead of 6. When you look at the number of bugs that get ignored due to them rushing to get the release out you can see why some people have issues. Get the quality right and then worry about new features :)

That said I still enjoy running Ubuntu on the netbook and so I hope they can bump up the quality. And all the posts (okay maybe one or two) I am reading on planet.ubuntu.com basically trashing people who had problems with the install and "debunking the myth of the broken ubuntu" aren't helping. If something is broken and some arrogant person starts chirping you for it you aren't going to be very happy/inclined to stay with the OS.
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Hi PKID.

What 3G card do you have? Perhaps someone on the forum can help.

I'm also starting to wonder about a 12 month release cycle.

At any rate, Ubuntu's slogan is Linux for human beings. That means it's philosophy should first and foremost be that it is usable. I think they should stop trying to be so cutting edge, and concentrate on getting things right. The alternative would be to do something akin to Fedora and RHEL. IOW, create a testing OS that is cutting edge and is used to feed into the stable distro.

I also agree that denying problems exist is not going to help anyone.
 
Happy Camper said:
@Lino

How are you accessing the shares? Give each pc a static IP with network mask and no gateway. Access shares by opening nautilus and entering smb://st.at.ic.ip/

I had uber issues like you but with Hardy, nothing ever saw the Hardy shares! But with Karmic networking just worked for me!
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Thank you

When it sometimes actually sees the shares it refuses to access the shares with errors usually unable to mount location:mad:

This is driving me nuts so much so I reinstalled Windows 7 on the laptop just so that I can access my servers shares.
 
Linouser said:
Thank you

When it sometimes actually sees the shares it refuses to access the shares with errors usually unable to mount location:mad:

This is driving me nuts so much so I reinstalled Windows 7 on the laptop just so that I can access my servers shares.
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Did this happen on a fresh install of Karmic or an upgrade from previous version?
Fresh install on Karmic and networking worked right outta the box for me, I was shocked, shocked I tell you :D
Seeing as you've just installed win7 why not try a fresh install with karmic, dual boot? All i did to get networking going was to go to 'network' and give myself a static ip and subnet mask, left the gateway blank. Shared a folder on my desktop and bawb was my uncle! I never even touched samba configs!
I know I had the unable to mount shares in Hardy all the time, it was a royal pita, that's why I ask if you did an upgrade or fresh install, perhaps there were some residual config files hanging around and causing this?
 
pkid said:
  • Getting my HSDPA 3G USB modem to work reliably is almost impossible. Plug it in and no option to connet in Network Manager. Unplug and plug in and the option is there. Try to connect and it won't. Try 10 times and it won't. Then it connects. Reloaded XP and it works fine. Go to Ubuntu and it doesn't. Incredibly annoying!
Click to expand...
There are unfortunately a number of nasty bugs with Huawei modems on Karmic. They are all in fact bugs in the Linux kernel and not directly the fault of Ubuntu.

As I recommended a number of times before the release... Don't upgrade to Karmic yet if you use an E220 modem as your only connection to the internet.
 
ambo said:
There are unfortunately a number of nasty bugs with Huawei modems on Karmic. They are all in fact bugs in the Linux kernel and not directly the fault of Ubuntu.

As I recommended a number of times before the release... Don't upgrade to Karmic yet if you use an E220 modem as your only connection to the internet.
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Ag nee!!!!! :eek:

I use a E220 modem. Not my main connection though. Will or has this been fixed?
 
Also doesn't help when people post one line comments like "It worked fine for me" as their sole so-called "proof" that everything works. I may not use linux anymore but remember how frustrating getting support used to be. Hope you guys come right, eventually.
 
The release was less than a week ago, considering that it's open source I think it's a damn fine attempt at a decent OS. Of course there are going to be a few glitches and bugs but give it a little time and these annoyances shall surely be fixed yes?
Half the fun of setting up Linux is the mission to get *some* things to work, it may be annoying but at least you walk away from it having learned a thing or 2 about how the OS actually functions. I like the empowerment that Linux gives to me as opposed to the windows drivel that is served to me. Yes, I am a fanboi, so shoot me :D
 
The modem issue does not worry me too much. Still going to load Karmic. Really looking forward to it. If the few glitches does not get sorted with updates etc then i will just load Linux Mint 7 as a backup. Not sure how to dual boot though. Is it straight forward to load two different distros onto one lappie?
 
This is what happens when you have a fix released cycle, they should only release once a package is stable and only include new stuff once matured.
 
This has been discussed to death, and then some, on the Ubuntu forum as well.

Karmic has only just been released, give it a month or so to stabilise. Also, stick with LTS, or known stable, releases for mission-critical setups, or if you don't want to play on the cutting edge of Ubuntu.

B
 
Aqua_lung said:
This is what happens when you have a fix released cycle, they should only release once a package is stable and only include new stuff once matured.
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That's what the LTS releases are for, which come out every two years. 8.04 was the previous one, and 10.04 will be the the next one.

B
 
I think I will use the LTS releases from now on. Makes sense. They come out every 2 years? I don't need the cutting edge features. I like the long battery life and speedy performance it gives me on the netbook. If the stable version will give me that with everything working then I am happy to wait to upgrade.

I have a HUAWEI K3715 USB modem. Does anyone know when the fix will be included in the kernel so mine will work :D
 
Tassidar said:
http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7600/1.html


I recall also that Eeebuntu has changed to Debian out of frustration with Ubuntu.

Comments?
Click to expand...

So? Windows have been doing it for years. Every week (or second week) they come with updates and patches you have to download.

Users are already used to this. And Ubuntu just made use of this mentality and started doing the same with Microsoft, make **** look pretty so users can adopt it early on, hook them on the operating system so they won't change and boom. Marketshare.
 
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