Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) is coming!
Ubuntu 9.10 (codename Karmic Koala) is coming soon! Gone are the days when Linux desktop is just for computer enthusiasts! Each release of Ubuntu brings new improvements in usability and stability, and 9.10 is no exception. I invite you to check out the feature list and download or order a CD to be shipped out to you completely free of charge!
For those of you still reluctant to try it, you have a number of non-invasive options.
The least invasive is to just try running Ubuntu inside a VM. Just grab a free copy of VirtualBox and give it a shot! Another option is to install Ubuntu on your computer side-by-side with Windows using something called WUBI. To do that, just download or order an Ubuntu CD, pop it into your computer while still running Windows and enjoy! No formatting or repartitioning!
Remember, if you're stuck, help is always there.
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So far, so good.
The in-place upgrade from 9.04 -> 9.10 seems to have worked pretty well. No issues for networking or other show-stoppers. It did take awhile though.
There are a few minor interface tweaks -- The biggest change I see is the UI around software installation. While Synaptic is still there, the primary installation UI is called 'Ubuntu Software Center' and it presents a MUCH nicer overview of the available software packages (some 2000+!).
Very impressive. -- p
Re: So far, so good.
Yes, but can it make you coffee in the morning? ;) Actually it's a pretty polished upgrade from what I have seen - I am impressed. Has the ATI driver support gotten better though or are you better off ripping it out and using an el-cheapo NVidia GeForce card?
Linux powered coffee
Yeah, sure, it can make you coffee. We even have documentation for that. I'm sure that as a developer you can appreciate the value of good documentation. ;)
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Coffee.html
It's a tad involved, but nothing you can't handle. In the end, you get a special device /dev/coffee that can be used as such:
echo cappuccino > /dev/coffee
If you'd rather not muck about in kernelspace (if only Microsoft stopped doing that with Windows...), you can also try your luck in userspace... it's a bit more complex, though, outlined here:
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Coffee-4.html#ss4.1
...And I quote from the above section:
You will have to build an executable that will take the following steps:
* Get permission to use I/O address space, by calling kernel, with the call ioperm: eg ioperm( BASE, range ,1);
* Perform an out request instruction, to set the 0-5V voltage to the parallel port, eg outb( 1, BASE );
* Wait enough time so the coffee is made. It would be nice if that time is read by looking at the command line.
* Then it will turn off the coffee-machine: outb( 0 , BASE );
* Before ending it should give back the parallel port with an ioperm( BASE, range, 0);
* Change BASE = 0x3bc for /dev/lp0, 0x378 for /dev/lp1, and 0x278 for /dev/lp2; range=8.
It would be useful if you had that program setuid, so that everybody can drink coffee! You BOFH!
This howto covers a number of other options for making coffee with Linux, including basic network-aware and more advanced clustered (with failover redundancy) implementations.
With regards to the ATI driver, I'm not too sure. Last time I tried ATI's handiwork was a year ago, and it hadn't improved a lot... Much like its Windows counterpart, the Linux ATI driver was more about fluff (e.g. the ATI Control Center application that would make even the most experienced nuclear reactor operators and Windows Vista users scratch their heads) than stability, features and performance.
Having said the above useless comment :), here's a few links that might help...
http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Main_Page
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
Also note that the open source driver works well too... with most cards. Good enough to run compiz and play back high def video fullscreen in most cases. Not fully hardware accelerated, though, so playing back high def video will put unnecessary load on your CPU. Intel GMA and MS Vista users should be used to this. :)
I'd probably get an NVidia
I'd probably get an NVidia card and save yourself some headaches. I have an ATi card in mine and it took a lot of tweaking to get dual screen as well as 3D support going, in Jaunty. Surprisingly, I didn't have to reconfigure when updating to Karmic Koala.
Also updated (well, fresh install) a colleague's netbook to 9.10 and it fixed a wireless issue she had. Took about 30 minutes for a fresh install.
Yeah, and thanks for it!
My netbook only has a tiny solid state drive (12gig? Is that right, Mike?), and JJ was running a little sluggishly in spite of 2 gigs of ram. (Bad partition?) But it's ZIPPY as anything now. Yay KK!
No problem :)
Yes, 12 GB total, a 4 and an 8 GB SSD.
(Good thing Canonical didn't use 3-word code names)
Oh yes that could have gotten
Oh yes that could have gotten ugly. :)
If I had had a large HD, I could have upgraded it myself, I think. Push-button linux!
As a mac user who uses a PC at work, linux wasn't that hard of a learning curve. I particularly like the way it manages the installation of new software. It feels very organized.
Netbook Remix?
Hi! I'm curious, are you using the Ubuntu Netbook Remix or the regular version?
Regular version
I've been meaning to try Netbook Remix on my own netbook but haven't gotten around to it. It's still has 8.10, regular.
When I originally got it a
When I originally got it a year ago we tried eeebuntu and edubuntu, but Jaunty Jackalope ran best. Now Karmic Koala is running really nice, and I haven't tried the remix. I literally use it as a netbook; mostly online stuff. Firefox & IM mostly. I moved my personal email to gmail so I can access it easily from the eee, too. The more cloud things go, the better for the eee. I've started to think that space on the hard drive really is for the OS and very little else.
I also have a 64gig USB key. I keep my media on that and play it on the eee, so I don't need it's hard drive for that.
Do you recommend the remix? Since I keep no documents on the eee, I'm happy to use for experimental installs.
Re: So far, so good.
I'm now over a months on 9.10 and am rather liking it. I can see some UI improvements since 9.04, and a few other small improvements. And though this is definitely a testing dist, I've yet to see any issue with it. Still using an nVidia card with two monitors in rotated (eg. portrait) mode, which I find making better use of desk space than monitors in landscape.
As for coffee, well, let's just say that the watercooling rig is being put to good use in the mornings. =)