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Author Topic: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)  (Read 10267 times)

Deozaan

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Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« on: March 21, 2010, 01:19 AM »
I'm officially starting the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx thread. I know it's about a month early, but I just found out that the Beta 1 is available for trial:

The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. This is the first Ubuntu 10.04 beta release, which brings a host of exciting new features.

Note: This is a beta release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released on April 29, 2010.

And here are a few changes in Lucid Lynx that I find interesting:

  • Mozilla Firefox's default search engine has been changed to Yahoo! The default Home Page will use either Google or Yahoo! depending on user setting.
  • Ubuntu One Music Store. Millions of songs are available for purchase from your Ubuntu desktop, integrated with the Rhythmbox Music Player and using Ubuntu One cloud storage for backup and easy sync. Watch http://one.ubuntu.com/blog for the public beta launch.
  • Ubuntu One File Synching. Select any folder in your home directory for sync, pick from your existing contacts when sharing folders. An updated preferences application has been added, with more features.
  • We now feature built-in integration with Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook, and other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel, which is built upon the Gwibber project, which has a completely new, more reliable backend built on top of desktopcouch. Gwibber now also supports a multi-column view for monitoring multiple feeds simultaneously.
  • New default open source driver for nVidia hardware

For more information and download links: http://www.ubuntu.co.../testing/lucid/beta1

Deozaan

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2010, 01:36 AM »
I guess I should mention that I'm currently downloading the ISO. It will take a while (I'm tethering my cell phone to my PC for internet connection) and then I'll need to figure out which machine to install it on, since there doesn't seem to be a way to do it my usual way with Wubi.

I'll likely reply with my experiences in a few days, but it may not work well without an internet connection in case I need special drivers or apps. Hopefully 10.04 will be able to handle my 3G tethering.

If anyone else is trying it out, I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences.

EDIT:

I just noticed this in the Known Issues:

Wubi as included on the ISO images is unable to enter its second stage of installation, so you will not be able to install inside Windows using just an ISO image in this beta release. As a workaround, users who are installing the Ubuntu Desktop Edition can download the stand-alone version of wubi from http://releases.ubun...u.com/10.04/wubi.exe which includes the fix for this bug. This bug will be fully addressed for 10.04 LTS Beta 2. (541607)

I didn't know that Wubi was included on the ISO, not that it helps in this case, but it's good to know that there's a link to a working version. The download is going to complete in just a couple of minutes now, so I guess I'll be able to give it a try using Wubi soon after all. :Thmbsup:
« Last Edit: March 21, 2010, 04:01 AM by Deozaan »

Armando

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2010, 02:27 PM »
Hi Deozaan,
So, what are your impressions so far ? Did you install the full RC Shipping version ?  :)
I installed Linus Mint Gloria edition (or was it Helena ?? Would have to check) a while ago on my child's computer. It works great.

Deozaan

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2010, 02:52 PM »
I just tried the final release (64-bit Desktop Edition) a couple days ago on my PC. Unfortunately it made a bad first impression:

Wubi had a big problem with my removable media drive and caused some installation difficulties. Apparently Wubi has had this issue for over a year (since the 9.04 version). I just never experienced it before because it was only about two weeks ago that I plugged in a USB 1.44MB floppy drive to this PC. Basically it popped up an error message that seemed to be stuck in an infinite loop, but after clicking "Continue" about 10-15 times it went on with the installation. I later went into my device manager and removed the floppy drive and now Wubi runs without issue.

One thing I forgot to try after it finished installing was watching a DVD from the vanilla Ubuntu software. During the installation, it advertised that you could do that and I know I've had trouble playing DVDs with previous Ubuntu versions, so I'll be glad if that works out of the box.

Ubuntu doesn't automatically find my wireless drivers (I could have sworn it did in the beta!) so I have no internet. No internet means I can't download the applications I want, nor can I try out the new "social from the start" stuff, which means I'm not using Ubuntu right now.

I guess I'll have to tether my phone's internet connection to it long enough for it to find the wifi drivers. I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier!

What I can say is that I'm not very fond of the new placement of the minimize, maximize, close buttons. They're on the left of all windows now. In the beta I thought they did that so that people would know it was beta and not to do anything important on a beta build. You know, change things up to remind people it was unstable. But I guess that's how Macs do it. [sarcasm]And you know how much everybody wants to have a Mac.[/sarcasm]

The new theme is kind of a nice change from the dirty, earthy brown to something more colorful.

But other than those few superficial changes I can't yet speak about the experience of the new release. I suppose with an OS that has a new release every 6 months you shouldn't expect an amazing new experience like you would for Windows. Ubuntu uses more of an iterative improvement process than the typical Windows model of "patch major bugs until the new version."

So I guess that's all I have to say about Ubuntu 10.04 for now.


I'll also try out the Netbook Remix edition on my netbook in the next few days and see how that goes. It should have an easier time finding proper drivers and things, so I'm expecting a better initial experience.

Armando

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2010, 04:35 PM »
Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer my question. Your experience seems to somewhat mirror many reviews I've read. Keep us posted !

Deozaan

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2010, 05:44 PM »
Okay I gave it another try. I'll post about my Desktop and Netbook experiences separately.

Desktop:

I connected my phone to give me internet access long enough to download the wifi drivers. While I was doing that, I realized why I was so sure the beta worked with my wifi adapter without a problem: Because I didn't have the internet then, so the only way I could get online was to connect my phone. Yeah, I feel kind of silly now. :-[

Also when I went to install the wifi drivers, it listed two NVidia drivers. I installed the recommended one but I still wasn't able to do all the desktop effects and stuff. So then I installed the not-recommended one and things worked.

I tried sticking a DVD in and seeing if it would play. It doesn't. It opens in Movie Player by default, says I'm missing a codec or something like that, and asks if I'd like to find it. I clicked yes but it couldn't find anything.

So I opened up Synaptics Package Manager and did a search for DVD, found a bunch of packages that were mostly to do with ripping or converting formats. One of them was called Ubuntu-Restricted-Extras, which installs support for MP3 files, Microsoft fonts, Java RE, Flash, LAME, and DVD Playback. But it says that it doesn't install a certain library and won't allow you to play encrypted DVDs. And links to the Playing DVDs web page. Apparently in some countries it's illegal to watch your own DVDs due to the requirement of needing to decrypt them to watch them first. Sounds messed up to me but whatever. The instructions on that page were simple to follow, and after taking the 3 steps listed, DVD playback pretty much "Just Worked," but it's not exactly Linux n00b friendly.

Playing DVDs requires you to:
  • Install a movie program that doesn't come with Ubuntu. (I chose VLC Player)
  • Install the libdvdread4 package (for Ubuntu 9.04 and later)
  • Enter a command in the Terminal

That's not exactly hard to do, but considering that I only found the URL for that in the first place because I had enough experience to use Synaptics Package Manager to search for DVD and found something I'd previously seen before, which linked to the site, etc. It's just a relatively, needlessly complex process for something as simple (in the mind of the end user) as sticking a DVD in and watching it.

I was thinking of what a hassle it was and how something as simple as this would keep me from recommending Ubuntu to my Grandma (for example), but then I realized I would never expect my Grandma to install any OS and set things up for herself. I would either have her order one already set up by the manufacturer or I'd get things working myself and then let her at it.

So in that regard, I think Ubuntu just might be ready after all for the "average Joe/Jane" who only uses a PC for internet, e-mail, and word processing.


I still don't like the minimize, maximize, and close buttons on the left side. Not only are they on the left side, but they're out of order. It's close, minimize, maximize. So it's not just a mirror image. The other thing is that my mouse is never on the left side of the window. The UI practically demands the mouse to be on the right side of the window with scroll bars and things, so it makes no sense to make the user drag the mouse over to the other side of the screen to close an application. I know it seems like such a small thing, and if only the rest of the world were so lucky to only be upset over moving a mouse a few inches to the left, but it sure is annoying! Thankfully Chrome uses it's own custom skin and keeps the Windows style Min, Max, and Close buttons on the right side. :D


Another thing that continually frustrates me (especially on a fresh Ubuntu install) is how the package installer works. There are three main ways to install/update software: There's the Ubuntu Software Center, the Synaptics Package Manager, and the Update Manager. I don't know exactly how it works, but they all use the same thing and you can only use one at a time. Anything else you try to do to download/install software/components/updates also uses the same thing. So if you went to the Software Center first and queued up 15 applications to install, you have to wait until they're finished before you can install your proprietary drivers, or another language pack, or even check for updates to your software.

I can understand the need to only install one thing at a time, but it should at least be smart enough to add it to a queue so it will be taken care of, and not lock out the entire system from looking for more updates while something is downloading. In fact, it would be great if it could download things more than one at a time.



And once again, as it always happens with me when I try out Ubuntu, I don't know what else to do with it. The three main reasons I use a PC are for:

  • Internet
  • Video Games
  • Programming

The internet works on Ubuntu, once you have your Wifi drivers installed. The video games I play pretty much require Windows. I haven't tried Wine or Play On Linux but I've heard they're not always very good. Besides that, most of my modern PC Games have been purchased via Steam, and I don't think that works well in Wine. And as for programming I typically program using an engine that doesn't support Linux.

I think that's enough writing for now. I'm going to take a break and write about my Netbook Remix Edition experiences later. But here's a hint:
« Last Edit: May 02, 2010, 05:48 PM by Deozaan »

Armando

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2010, 11:05 PM »
 ;D
Looking at the notebook loosing pieces...  Not sure I'll try it on my old notebook which is already a bit fragile. You desktop experience didn't seem too bad though.

IN any case, I think that's why I ended up installing Mint last time (1 y ago). I was also tempted by Suse, but there wasn't a live DVD handy and I didn't feel like downloading 4gb of data to discover that it didn't work at all... (Mandriva and PCLinux OS were okay but both had some touch pad issues that mint didn't have).

IIRC, DVD codecs, MP3, flash, etc. worked out of the box with Mint (main edition).


zridling

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2010, 08:12 AM »
Deozaan, I'm not an Ubuntu guy, but are you using the Gnome version? Try a different skin (window) to get those buttons on the right side. With KDE (I'm using openSUSE), there's a LOT of options for any customization you need to make in that regard. Good luck with installing it on a laptop. My biggest fear is waiting around to find drivers for the ordinary laptop's [unusual] proprietary hardware (here today, gone tomorrow).

Also, another reason I like openSUSE is its broader support for proprietary hardware.

zridling

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #8 on: May 03, 2010, 02:27 PM »
Neowin.net has the latest on the 10.10 netbook version that features a single menu bar design:

Ubuntu_10.04_Lucid_Lynx_Netbook_Live_USB.png

Innuendo

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #9 on: May 03, 2010, 10:24 PM »
I'm not a Linux guy (no zealotry here...Linux just doesn't suit my workflow),but I rather like the looks of that screenshot, Zaine. Nice layout....the sooner Linux quits mimicking Windows UI conventions the sooner we can all get back to each major OS (Linux, Windows and Mac) doing their own thing and the others taking the best of their competitors to make UIs better for everyone.

Deozaan

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2010, 07:00 PM »
Yeah, I'm using Ubuntu (Gnome), as opposed to Kubuntu (KDE) or Xubuntu (XFCE).

Neowin.net has the latest on the 10.10 netbook version that features a single menu bar design:

Wait, what? That's supposed to be new for October 2010? As in 5 months in the future? Your screenshot is actually how it has looked for over a year now, since the 9.04 Netbook Remix, and how it currently looks in 10.04, so I don't get what's new (except the color scheme which is new to 10.04). There are basically three versions of Ubuntu: Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Desktop, and Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Not sure where Neowin.net was for the last year, or even for the brand new release, but that look is not new to Ubuntu Netbook Remix Edition.

Speaking of which, this post is dedicated to my experience with the Netbook Remix Edition.

Good luck with installing it on a laptop. My biggest fear is waiting around to find drivers for the ordinary laptop's [unusual] proprietary hardware (here today, gone tomorrow).

The Netbook Remix edition is actually designed with netbook hardware in mind. So it installs flawlessly. With drivers working great for (almost) everything.

It's good and it works, but that doesn't mean it isn't without frustrations.

My frustration with it is really only that I expected it to be better. I figured that since it was built with Netbooks in mind, and since my perception is that netbooks are generally made up of almost the same hardware inside, that everything should "just work" and for the most part it does. One thing that never did work for me in previous Netbook Remix editions was that it doesn't recognize my built-in webcam. The new 10.04 version still doesn't recognize it. In fact, the first thing I ran when Ubuntu finished installing was Cheese, the webcam software, and the software locked up. That's not supposed to happen!

So it's really not as bad as I probably made it out to be from my "hint." Really my only frustrations have been the webcam not working and then trying to change and install things but it not letting me tweak stuff while my queue of 20 different software applications is being downloaded and installed.

I'm also frustrated with the fact that their idea of a version of Ubuntu made especially with small screens of netbooks in mind basically means making all the icons and everything so huge that it takes up half of the screen and you have to use scrollbars on everything to be able to see it all.

Huge Icons.pngUbuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
Games Scroll.pngUbuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

And there are other little things that are annoying. For instance, in Firefox, changing the toolbars to use small icons doesn't actually change the height of the bar. The icons get smaller, but the area the toolbar takes up is still exactly the same. So there's no reason to use small icons. I change to small icons even on my 19" monitors just to save the visual real-estate. But on a netbook especially, those 10 or so pixels would make a difference.

My idea of "optimized for a small screen" is to make everything minimalist and compact so I can see as much information as possible. But they did the opposite. It just feels so contradictory. It's like buying a Large Print edition of a book that's printed on paper the size of 3x5 notecards: Sure, the whole book is there, but you'd be turning the page every 3 or 4 words.

The tiny screens already have low resolutions to keep things from getting too small. No need to use 128x128 pixel icons when the vertical space only measures at 600 pixels.

For some reason the big, dumbed-down UI just feels restrictive to me. It gives me the feeling that all of the same controls of the desktop edition aren't there. It makes me feel like I'm using a Smart Phone OS, rather than a "real" computer OS. And even though I'm pretty sure you can still do everything from the terminal at the very least, I can't get over that feeling that I'm limited.

For example, when I grab a screenshot, it defaults to save to a desktop, but there is no "desktop" in the Netbook Remix. I can't make my own shortcuts and arrange them how I like, even though I typically don't like anything on my desktop. And maybe that's part of it as well. Normally I like my desktop to just be a picture. But I'm forced to have a toolbar on the side and huge icons filling up the screen.

I know this probably all comes across as scathing and negative. Don't get me wrong, Ubuntu works just fine on my netbook (except my webcam), even the wifi and video drivers. But I just don't think I like the Netbook Remix Edition. It's not my style. I prefer the minimalist approach. Ubuntu Netbook Remix Edition prefers to be in your face and your space.

EDIT: Added pics and rearranged first part.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2010, 07:14 PM by Deozaan »

zridling

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #11 on: May 05, 2010, 09:38 PM »
Ah yes, and all those niggling issues is what drives minions away from Ubuntu, me included, and in the process gives Linux a bad name. Life no longer permits me time to endlessly futz with software frustrations.

Deozaan

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #12 on: May 06, 2010, 02:35 AM »
I should make it clear that I like Ubuntu and don't intend to give it (or Linux) a bad name. I'm not very fond of the Netbook Remix Edition, and think that on my netbook I'd prefer to have the regular Desktop edition.

No OS is without it's problems. It's just easier for me to figure out how to solve them in Windows, due to my experience with it.

I'm not sure if Linux will ever be my primary OS since I do a lot of gaming. But I can easily see Ubuntu being perfect for my wife, my mom, and some friends who only need/use computers for internet, Office, and e-mail, with some movies and music thrown in as well. And with so many games available in the browser, it's still easy to go with Linux even if you are a gamer. Linux also offers plenty of games for those "casual" gamers who just like playing games now and then but don't really care too much about the latest and greatest.

In short, I consider Ubuntu/Linux a tool which doesn't quite suit my needs, but I can think of plenty of cases where it would perfectly fit the needs of many people I know.

Eóin

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Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
« Reply #13 on: May 06, 2010, 03:31 AM »
Deozaan, I agree with you regarding the Netbook Remix edition. I wonder though if it's actually aimed at a different audience, specifically a more casual PC user?