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1 • Ubuntu (by joe on 2014-04-21 09:50:58 GMT from Mexico)
Congratulations and thanksful to Cannonical, They had reached the record of visits per week in all times of DW. Really Ubuntu was improved its Unity each new versión. Here I report a tiny bug and how to correct by oneself hopping this will be useful for everyone. Libreoffice Writter displays without buttons, this bug is not present in Calc neither in Impress, neither other Apps. and I found that forcing twice to display fullscreen with the key combination ctrl-shift-J this bug is fixed total. Only in the Guest Session the bug is persistan.
2 • enjoying Kubuntu 14.04 (by Elcaset on 2014-04-21 10:35:43 GMT from United States)
I'm really enjoying Kubuntu 14.04. The redesigned Plasma network manager is quite nice. Also, it's a great hint at what Mint KDE 17 LTS will be like.
3 • RoboLinux (by dragonmouth on 2014-04-21 11:10:46 GMT from United States)
Since RoboLinux is Debian-based, smxi could be used to update/upgrade the distro.
Synaptic, while not pretty, is more functional than the pretty Ubuntu Software Center or Mint Update. Synaptic display provides pertinent information rather than eye candy. With Synaptic users can add, remove and update/upgrade software in one job stream while with Software Center and Mint Update each function needs to be perfomed separately.
4 • Lubuntu and Xubuntu (by Dale Visser on 2014-04-21 13:46:54 GMT from United States)
I recently had a great upgrade experience from Lubuntu 13.10 to Lubuntu 14.04. I chose it specifically for low resource usage, but I'm definitely looking forward to the Xubuntu review, because I've never tried it.
5 • Votes for community edition (by Jesse on 2014-04-21 14:07:41 GMT from Canada)
Something I found interesting with regards to the voting process were the trends. For instance, almost all the votes for Kubuntu came in really early and, for a while it looked like Kubuntu would win, but then the votes for that project pretty much stopped. Almost all of the ballot stuffers (people who voted for the same project more than once) were fans of Xubuntu. In my call for votes I asked everyone to place the name of their preferred distribution in the subject line to make sorting/counting the votes easier. Almost everyone did this, with the exception of most of the people voting for Ubuntu GNOME. Fans of the GNOME edition placed their vote in the body of the e-mail. (GNOME users probably see the subject line as an unnecessary GUI element that only complicates e-mail. I jest.)
Right now I have Ubuntu and Xubuntu installed and will share my views on both next week. Right now both have been mostly positive experiences. I also played around with Kubuntu a little and have been pleased with its performance and the KDE-Connect feature which links Android phones to the KDE desktop.
6 • LTS just ain't what she used to be... (by DavidEF on 2014-04-21 14:59:41 GMT from United States)
I'm a regular Ubuntu user, and have been since 2005. I've seen lots of ups and downs, fixes and regressions, and I sometimes wonder what in the world they're smoking over there. But, try as I might, I can't find any other distro I'm happier with. I used to do a bunch of distro hopping, then I narrowed it down to only Debian based, only Gnome based, and now I don't even think about switching any more.
Having said all that, I need to warn everyone here who has AMD/ATI graphics in their computer to NOT upgrade or install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Somehow, there is a bug or an incompatibility of some kind that didn't get fixed prior to release. Maybe they will fix it soon. Then again, maybe not.
I'm very interested to see what comes up in Jesse's review of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Since he has ATI graphics, it is certain that he will be affected by this. On one computer, I couldn't even get the media to boot. It stopped at a black screen. I didn't try nomodeset, so I don't know if that would have helped or not.
7 • K/Xubuntu (by Verndog on 2014-04-21 15:02:44 GMT from )
I have both Kubuntu and Xubuntu installed. I've recently switched from Ubuntu to Xubuntu because of X's stability.
I have installed Kubuntu and for me its the best KDE I have ever used!
8 • ATI graphics and Ubuntu (by Jesse on 2014-04-21 15:13:48 GMT from Canada)
>> "I'm very interested to see what comes up in Jesse's review of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Since he has ATI graphics, it is certain that he will be affected by this."
I have not run into any problems with Ubuntu and my Radeon graphics card. Quite the opposite. Ubutnu boots fine with the default kernel paramters and performance has been quite good. I suggest you try using the "nomodeset" kernel paramter and, if that doesn't work, report a bug. Your experience with a ATI video card and Ubuntu does not match mine.
9 • My vote for community edition: Ubuntu Mate! (by fernbap on 2014-04-21 16:09:04 GMT from Portugal)
Yes, it is easy to install Mate 1.8 on both Lubuntu and Xubuntu (easier on Xubuntu).
You can also add Compiz and Emerald, and both work fine.
Of all the community editions, Ubuntu Mate looks the best for me, followed by:
Lubuntu
Xubuntu
Kubuntu
Ubuntu
Ubuntu Gnome
10 • #6 LTS aint what she used to be (by computergeek97308 on 2014-04-21 16:17:46 GMT from Mexico)
Is that a song?
Yes I've had a similar experience with Linux even those Debian based ones. Not counting drug coma induced counter-intuitive GUI's as a "regression" but there seems to be a movement away from wifi support in the Linux community, at least for desktops and laptops. Same for some video. And that's across about 15 distros that I've tried in the last 2 years.
What I don't understand is that video and wireless hardware that worked perfectly in Debian Etch and Ubuntu deriviatives of the Etch era no longer are supported by the install...what's weird is that the live version (such as Tails or the Debian Squeeze and Wheezy installers) will work with wpa2, but once the OS is installed they get stuck in a password rejection loop even though the password is correct. Doesn't matter if you're using wicd or the default network manager and the current version of the wpa supplicant. And in order to get video to work you have to disable many features including acpi and kms. A known bug going back several years with no effective solution.
Currently using Ubuntu studio 13 on my desktop, and as previously noted the only multimedia function it does well is Audacity. Dvd ripping, video editing, laptop installs...forgetaboutit!
Last week I mentioned another regression involving Wine and Radiosure, probably the best streamer out there for Windows. Previous versions of Wine and Radiosure worked well together but add Pulse to the equation and Radiosure can no longer stream mp3 stations without a burp or stutter every 5 seconds.
Another annoying "feature" occurs when using Rhythmbox to listen to music on my ipod shuffle. Works fine, but when I try to listen to the pod later using my earbuds the file system on the pod has been corrupted and can't be recovered by itunes. I have to wipe and restore the pod.
So anyway thanks for the tip about poor video support with 14.04. Maybe I'll wait for Service Pack 1.
11 • @10 (by meh on 2014-04-21 16:44:59 GMT from United States)
At least you don't have to turn acpi off completely just to reboot.
12 • Ubuntu Mate (by Bill on 2014-04-21 17:04:05 GMT from United States)
@9 fernbap - I have not found Emerald in the Ubuntu repositories for 14.04
Did you compile from source or is there a PPA?
13 • Ubuntu mate (by fernbap on 2014-04-21 17:12:01 GMT from Portugal)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/themes
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install emerald compizconfig-settings-manager
then you can either call emerald with emerald--replace & disown or open compizconfig settings manager and replace /usr/bin/gtk-windows-decorator by /usr/bin/emerald in the general settings.
14 • Ubuntu mate (by Bill on 2014-04-21 18:39:30 GMT from United States)
thx mate!
15 • mp3 support (by Ulf on 2014-04-21 18:55:28 GMT from Netherlands)
Debian does not support MP3 out of the box!!!!
Geus why, eg whyothers dont go figure............,
moreover it isnt such a big task to get support after install.
Compared to windows you pay 350 euro for the newest version, and then you have nthing but a operating system, even a letter with simple layout you would not be able to make.
so quit vrying like a baby about whats there out of the bo a few clicks away and its installed.
Likewise the crying about desktop enviroments, if you dont like it just install youre favourite and get rid of the one preinstalled.
That free software. eg kernel = Linux everything on top you decide, a distro is therefore also nonsense.
if you dont understand this please donate 600 euros to microsoft and be happy with windows and microsoft office.
greetings the Linux GURU.
16 • Debian and mp3 support (by Jesse on 2014-04-21 19:17:16 GMT from Canada)
>> "Debian does not support MP3 out of the box!!!!"
Yes it does, at least Debian 7 "Wheezy" does. See this document on Debian's policy with regards to media codecs, including mp3 support. https://wiki.debian.org/MultimediaCodecs
Also, I pointed out the inclusion of Debian's mp3 support in my last Debian review: http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20130520#feature
17 • CAs (by Proud to be Stupid on 2014-04-21 22:29:56 GMT from Sweden)
There was never any need for certificate "authorities." It was just that users were happy to sacrifice their own security for the convenience of letting someone else do the thinking for them. With DNSSEC, even self-lobotomized users no longer need CAs.
18 • Re: Squeeze support (by :wq on 2014-04-21 23:16:18 GMT from United States)
The quote in the Miscellaneous News section briefly touches on it, but it is probably worth stressing (from the linked messages) that:
"squeeze-lts is not handled by the Debian security team, but by a separate group of volunteers and companies interested in making it a success (with some overlap in people involved)."
"The security team itself is driving the effort, NOT doing it. Some team members will contribute to it individually, however."
I am curious to see how it will turn out.
19 • Ubuntu Mate (by fernbap on 2014-04-21 23:47:25 GMT from Portugal)
Worth mentioning gnome-look.org.
Mate will work with the themes for:
GTK2
Metacity
With compiz installed, also:
Compiz
Beril
Besides, obviously,
Icons
Wallpapers
X11 mouse themes
20 • Robolinux (by Noob on 2014-04-22 03:10:30 GMT from Hong Kong)
I am a very old Windows XP user and have just tried out the latest 64 bit version of Robolinux and had a reasonably good experience with it. I was able to do most things that I normally do with Windows XP 64 bit version. The installation was very easy and I was able to play various kinds of video files with MPlayer or VLC , and also able to open magnet links with Transmission. I was not able to watch the live news on TVB because it required the installation of a plugin which came as a .bin file and so far I have not been able to install it. I was not able to access my USB external harddrive because it was formatted with NTFS and I didn't know how to mount it as root. I am trying hard to be able to make the break from Windows XP to linux but the learning curve is rather steep. I do not plan on using the Virtual Machine installers to install Windows XP , Windows 7 or 8 because I want to be able to do everything that I normally do on Windows with Linux even if I have to go out and buy some training manuals to learn the ropes. I wonder how many other long term Windows XP users will attempt to switch over to Linux ?
21 • KaOS... (by uz64 on 2014-04-22 03:40:25 GMT from United States)
...sounds interesting. Clean look. Bleeding edge (latest KDE) and forward-thinking (64-bit only; no legacy 32-bit version). Strict focus on Qt applications only; just a nice selection of programs that fit in nicely with the default desktop as a whole. No GTK applications or desktops to please the other guys, meaning (theoretically) higher quality, more-tested builds of what *is* available. I might seriously give this one a try, if only for trying something unique with a nice set of sound design goals.
22 • @21 KaOS (by Terence on 2014-04-22 04:24:52 GMT from United States)
I actually quite like the OS save for one thing. No matter what I try, I cannot get the VPN I use with success with every other distro, to work. It flat out refuses. I was going to ask on the forum, but you must register and be manually approved. I get bored easily that way and didn't ever register. So beautiful and clean.
23 • @ 20 (by AleCon on 2014-04-22 08:18:56 GMT from Italy)
Welcome to Linux! I hear you about steep learning curve, the good news is that you are not alone, a wide community of linux enthusiast can help you out if you get stuck.
24 • Robolinux etc (by Mark E on 2014-04-22 09:50:02 GMT from United Kingdom)
Robolinux appears to be yet another Linux distro trying to be a replacement for Windows XP. I wish it luck; however, I don't think most people will go for it. I've been trying to figure out for years why people would stick with something that causes them grief regularly (e.g. Windows) and not be interested in something technologically superior that's more reliable and does the things they need it to do. My current thinking is that most people are comfortable with something that is backed by a strong brand, even if it is a poorer product. Linux is just too out there for most.
The best chance Linux has to break into the desktop market at the moment is either ChromeOS or Android, in my opinion.
And I don't think Robolinux will break into the desktop market but I'd be happy to be proved wrong.
Re. Jesse raising eyebrows about claims of a desktop that doesn't freeze: Well, I've been running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS since it release on my desktop, a Core2Duo-based machine, and it has never frozen. Maybe I've been lucky.
I hope the same will be true with 14.04...
25 • Ubuntu crashing on ATI Hardware (by Transform Humanity on 2014-04-22 11:36:43 GMT from India)
@6 I confirm the problem!
In fact I've been off Ubuntu since 12.04!
26 • @24: MarkE: (by dragonmouth on 2014-04-22 13:00:55 GMT from United States)
RoboLinux, Zorin, etc. are not supposed to be exact replacement for Win XP. Their GUI is the closest to looking like XP and that is all. They offer the easiest transition path between Windows and "something technologically superior", that being Linux, for those wanting to abandon Windows.
"The best chance Linux has to break into the desktop market at the moment is either ChromeOS or Android, in my opinion. "
As you say, it is your opinion. It is obvious that you have not spent a lot of time with Linux. Interesting that you should recommend ChromeOS and Android as the future of Linux after saying that people should be interested in "something technologically superior." ChromeOS and Android are crippled and limited versions of Linux. Switching from Windows to those two is going from the proprietary lock-in of Microsoft to that of Google. Linux is about freedom of choice, which Google (in the form of Chrome and/or Android) does not provide.
27 • @26 (by Mark E on 2014-04-22 13:52:12 GMT from United Kingdom)
I wouldn't recommend Android or Chrome OS myself, partly for the reason you mention. I don't think my last post does recommend them actually.
I have spent a lot of time with Linux, though not so much distro-hopping these days.
My point about Robolinux being meant as an XP replacement was because one of the major selling points from their website is that it can run Windows programs out of the box. I wonder why you'd tout that on the front page if you weren't targetting Windows users, rather than people already using Linux.
If my post appeared as if I was being negative towards Robolinux, I'm sorry. From Jesse's review it sounds like it's a good distro.
28 • @8 ATI hardware (by DavidEF on 2014-04-22 15:01:29 GMT from United States)
Well, Jesse, I'm glad you're having no problems. I'm still looking forward to your review, as well. Maybe there is something else about my system that makes it not work. However, the same system works fine in 12.04 LTS, and it is built from all new hardware I bought just a month ago. It's weird that the older version of Ubuntu works OOTB with the all-new hardware and the newer version of Ubuntu does not.
29 • RE: ATI hardware (by Koroshiya Itchy on 2014-04-22 18:46:05 GMT from Belgium)
I have an old HP Pavilion laptop which is still running Debian Squeeze for that very reason: the ATI graphics card being deprecated in the kernel. As far as I know, this happens with every single distro on earth. The laptop is still usable with a modern distro but graphics performance is sluggish. Old distros work fine.
Graphics cards have always been one of Linux's main issues. I also have problems with Nvida cards which are not working with the Nouveau drivers. I need to install the OS in text mode and then install the proprietary drivers. This happens in systems that in the recent past used to be very compatible with Nouveau. Sometimes is the other way around and problems arise with the proprietary blobs.
Other of Linux's issues used to be wifi cards, however, I have not had any problem whatsoever for years.
Hardware-wise the main issue now for me is sound...
30 • Why (millions of) people stick with ... aggravation (by Somewhat Reticent on 2014-04-22 19:10:09 GMT from United States)
Technical superiority gives way to crude distro-agnostic providing a workable (robust) market platform.
Fragile fails.
Truth-in-labeling helps save time and prevent confusion.
The-Full-Manual helps save time and prevent confusion.
Keep-It-Short&Simple helps ... dumbing-down and obfuscation don't.
Complex (because it's fun!): See Fragile (above).
Over-hyped marketing doesn't help; nor does slang.
Similarity of GUI should be limited - some difference helps shift gears.
Meanwhile, vintage of kernels and drivers is still d-other-hell, as buyers still put up with hardware makers' proprietary pranks.
And Google's tentacles continue to tighten ...
31 • buntus 14.04 (by hotdiggettydog on 2014-04-22 21:48:37 GMT from Canada)
I'm not overly impressed.
Installed Xubuntu on two laptops only to find the display would not light up after closing the lid. Never did solve that one and moved on. Fail.
Lubuntu did not recognize my wireless on a netbook that had run previous versions of lubuntu just fine. Fail.
Kubuntu installed and ran fine on another machine. Took a while to get rid of the butt ugly. BTW .... I hate Muon. Why the heck use Muon when we have lovely synaptic? Semi-fail.
Looking forward to Mint or anyone else who releases a proper remaster of the above.
32 • Ubuntu crashing on ATI Hardware (by ruisimoes on 2014-04-22 22:05:03 GMT from Portugal)
@25 editing /etc/default/grub/ add 'radeon.dpm=1' in the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT
look like this "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="radeon.dpm=1 quiet splash"
done.
33 • Other Windows-oriented Linux (by Michael on 2014-04-22 22:41:14 GMT from United States)
It's be cool to see a review of the new Zorin OS on here, or perhaps even better, a review/comparison of a few Linux distributions marketed toward Windows users, like RoboLinux and Zorin OS, and any others I can't think of at the moment, and maybe comparing them to the parent distribution (Zorin to Ubuntu, Robo to Debian, etc.) to see if the added changes are really "worth it". Just a thought.
34 • Robolinux (by nemrutrealm on 2014-04-22 23:38:21 GMT from United States)
I enjoyed reading your Robolinux review. But pity that you had no chance to try running windows in its VM environment and see if it, indeed, works -- as this is the feaututre which intrigues me the most.
35 • Running windows in a VM environment (by fernbap on 2014-04-23 00:13:59 GMT from Portugal)
I think it needs to be said here that virtually ANY Linux distribution can have Virtualbox installed and make a windows VM. Also, you can, with ANY Linux distro running Virtualbox, make snapshots of the windows installation so that you can restore to a previous point.
Personally, i think it is just a waste of resources. Unless you are a gamer and want to take everything in terms of performance from your hardware when playing a windows game, in which case you should run windows, it is way better to just install and run the few windows applications you might need (and in most cases you won't, as there are many linux apps that can replace yours, and use a virtual machine only in the case your app is incapable of running under wine.
Another issue i would like to address: Ethics. Imho, any windows office user, when sharing a file with anyone, should use a format that he knows everyone would be able to read, like DOC or DOCX for text files, XLS for spreadsheets, etc.
We all know that MS changes the formats just to make the new versions of office incompatible with the previous ones, in order to wrongly convince people to buy the new one. However, all offices can export the documents to previous versions formats.
If you are a windows office user, you should make things easy to the others, not difficult. It takes you as much work to send a document in any format. Please, send it in formats that everyone will be able to read. Not so hard, isn't it?
36 • Separate Concerns for Safer Browsing (by FunkyBiz on 2014-04-23 02:05:05 GMT from United States)
Conflating ID with crypto has spawned a SSL/TLS cartel. ID is just one use for crypto, SSL/TLS certs just one protocol for checking ID, and government ID just one form of ID.
http://techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/ssl-tls-encryption-and-the-vacant-lot-scam-too-big-to-fail/
http://techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/the-tls-ssl-certifying-authority-system-is-a-scam/
Other methods can establish ID. When you buy a cert, what happens? Someone reads your government ID card. Why should that service cost $hundreds for "wildcard domain" certs? Why should even "cheap" certs need "annual renewal," when your gov card won't expire for 5-10 years?
Because the cert biz is a racket.
Let website visitors see your ID for themselves. Post it.
Why should only big governments hold trusted ID databases? We can develop ID methods based on webs of trust. A photo of someone standing among friends willing to vouch the pic's authenticity is MORE valid than some government card. You can't even call up the DMV to ask, "Is this a valid ID?" unless you're a cop.
Suppose you like your government card. Fine. Why should you need a SSL/TLS cert to show it off? Post a photo scan. Photograph yourself holding your card up right next to your face with your house in the background. Circle the house number in yellow pixels. Use GnuPG sigs on the pics. Get them signed by friends too. Whatever. Get creative.
Separate concerns (ID from crypto) and break the web security cartel of big browsers + big cert vendors + big government IDs. As we've seen with heartbleed and other scams, and from NSA and crime rings alike, the corporations cannot be trusted as we've trusted them. All they can be trusted to do is figure out ways to establish "captive markets" and take our money.
Every browser has fast C-compiled crypto routines baked in, but no JavaScript API to access them. Why not? The money.
(Tech note. Pure JS crypto is way too slow and needs secure code download, creating a circular problem. But a JavaScript API to internal browser routines is easily doable and trustworthy. We already trust browsers.)
What about anonymous websites wanting secure apps inside browsers without IDs? Hello, Tails/Debian? Why don't you wrap IceWeasel crypto routines in a JS API?
If each website someday needs a cert from a government-approved vendor, we can thank browser makers. Oh happy day. "Papers, please."
On the other hand, a different world is possible. Just think: a FreedomBox at home; visitors get security without cartel extortion or Mozilla FUD dialogs about self-signed certs, whose only distinction is not paying intertube barge tolls to cartel members. Money buys trust at Mozilla and Debian, it seems.
37 • @#10 & #6 LTS aint what she used to be (by greg on 2014-04-23 07:56:46 GMT from Slovenia)
Same here - quite dissapointed. Fn keys worked in 12.04, 12.10, some stopped working in 13.04 and 13.10 and in 14.04 they still do not work. additionally somehow they made the "prt sc" key not work anymore in 14.04. i do not have AMD issues others describe, but keys suddenly not working, camera not working in skype...i've also found other issues with recent 13.10 upgrade. things that were working fine &out of the box before not working anymore. and i am talking about a year old linux certified hardware here!!! it's getting ridiculuous. i will now try another flavour with same new kernel and see if it has same issues.
38 • @15 mp3 support (by Kazlu on 2014-04-23 10:59:36 GMT from France)
The problem is not to dot it, but to find how to do it. Won't you find boring that when you install an OS, for a few days you find yourself constantly needing to search the Internet to find a way to enable this or that feature? When you're a beginner, this can be a show-stopper, especially when you know how to do it (or don't need to) on another OS. Out-of-the-box is reassuring for beginners who already have a lot to learn when switching their OS.
39 • @24 XP replacement (by Kazlu on 2014-04-23 11:00:03 GMT from France)
"My current thinking is that most people are comfortable with something that is backed by a strong brand, even if it is a poorer product." I agree with that. Relying on a big brand is reassuring, because the service is commercially designed to work. Moreover, you can buy machines with the OS preinstalled and avoid the hassle of instaling the OS, an operation that can be scary or simply seem to be a waste of time. Big brands are also more capable of advertising their products. How many of us have friends and relatives who know about Robolinux?
"The best chance Linux has to break into the desktop market at the moment is either ChromeOS or Android, in my opinion." In my opinion Ubuntu might be a good option too. To be clearer, Android and ChromeOS might enforce the use of Linux, but they are not GNU/Linux desktop OSs. Ubuntu is and has the "big brand backup" argument, along with some advertisement capability (far less than Google of course!). In fact, Ubuntu is the only GNU/Linux distro that is usable for desktops, backed by a big brand and designed for consumers (not for professionnals). This seems like a good thing for beginners who do not have someone close to them to administer their computer (therefore pushing for this or that distro).
40 • degrading *buntus quality (by cykodrone on 2014-04-23 14:35:59 GMT from Canada)
It's not just with the *buntus, I am thinking this is a kernel thing, possibly to stay more in line with the GPL, proprietary hardware code, etc, because I've noticed the same flakey behaviour in other distros with newer kernels, until you trouble shoot and configure, it's kind of a dog's breakfast. I don't use Windows but if you compare it, pretty much the basic hardware gets configured automatically with minimal drivers, then after you're up and running you have to deal with proprietary drivers, not mainstream or exotic hardware has always been an issue for ANY OS.
41 • Real truth's (by Charles on 2014-04-23 18:25:39 GMT from Mexico)
@2, 7, 9
Kubuntu is Superb, but...Lack's of good integrated messagin app (Kopete discontinued and KDE Telepathy without encryption for a long time), also, Ubuntu repos = spyware elsewhere (don't have time for code review).
@10
GNU/Linux work out of the box, until you intend to do the impossible; Linux is not windows / Apple:
Wine = malware (security risk)
Apple (ipod, ithing, etc) never will work fully. Change your MP3/Music player or buy a Mac or comeback to winpirate/windo$.
@15
What version you try to install, etch or potato, because I have Debian 7 Gnome without third party repos and MP3 works out of the box.
.
42 • The one thing missing from the Windows discussions above (by Larry on 2014-04-23 21:51:15 GMT from United States)
In all the discussions above about how bad Windows is and how good Linux is - a generalization I agree with - there is one thing, or perhaps two, that Windows does that Linux does not: video capture with my usb DVD Xpresss DX2 and native use of virtually any US tax software. Someone is sure to suggest getting a new video capture device that is Linux compatible. Great advice; but I don't intend to get into financial discussions as to why that won't fly at my house. The point is that there are some things XP does easily that Linux still doesn't do. For what it is worth, I have been using Linux as my main - often only - os for about 10 years.
43 • @20 (by solt87 on 2014-04-23 23:49:44 GMT from Germany)
I used to be a WinXP user till I started with an XP/Lubuntu dual-boot setup almst two years ago. I used XP less and less in favor of Lubuntu, then in the summer of 2013, I left Win behind forever. Today I use Debian Wheezy with LXDE.
I can honestly recommend Lubuntu to any Linux newcomer, it is really pleasant, easy to use functional. Oh, and light on the resources....
44 • @41 real truth's (by Kazlu on 2014-04-24 08:06:40 GMT from France)
"Ubuntu repos = spyware elsewhere"
What do you mean? Could you be more specific as to why Ubuntu repos would be spyware (and possibly other distros repos wouldn't)?
45 • Thanks for the review (by Barnabyh on 2014-04-24 10:26:34 GMT from Hungary)
Thank you for the overview of Robolinux, I was wondering if it was worth a try for some ordinary computer users I know but it seems it's nothing that can't be achieved for free with Debian or Ubuntu and a Virtualbox installation with XP inside.
46 • Ubuntu 14.04 and ATI (by DavidEF on 2014-04-25 10:09:34 GMT from United States)
I made some comments above about an apparent problem with ATI graphics in Ubuntu 14.04. As an update, I tried it on a different computer, my main computer at home, and it works fine. Differences include:
Dedicated graphics card on my main computer versus onboard graphics on the other,
Graphics chipset was older on my main computer, versus newer on the other,
Upgraded from 13.10 on my main computer versus trying to do a fresh install on the other.
So far I've had no problems using Ubuntu 14.04. In fact, it is more stable than 13.10 (well it ought to be!) and seems to be a bit more responsive as well. There is a Gnome Flashback option on my login page now as well. I can't remember if I had already installed Gnome 3 before (for experimentation) or if this came with 14.04. Anyway, I logged into it once, and it looks like the old Gnome 2 interface that we were all so happy with before Gnome 3 and Unity came along. I like Unity, so I'll not be using this feature, but I'm sure some will appreciate it.
47 • @44, Repos... (by Charles on 2014-04-25 17:46:47 GMT from Mexico)
"As of October 2012, Ubuntu sends personal data about users' searches to a server belonging to Canonical, which sends back ads to buy things from Amazon. This does not, strictly speaking, affect whether Ubuntu is free software, but it is a VIOLATION of users' PRIVACY."
https://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.en.html
http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/ubuntu-spyware-what-to-do
"Canonical’s Ubuntu is not recommended by PRISM Break because it contains Amazon ads and data leaks by default. GNU/Linux distributions based on Ubuntu are also currently not recommended due to several other reasons."
https://www.prism-break.org/en/categories/windows/#operating-systems
https://github.com/nylira/prism-break/issues/334
"Spyware coverage incomplete - limited to Dash"
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1070111
"We love that Ubuntu is bold enough to break new ground and compete directly with the large proprietary operating systems, but please make sure that you respect your users' privacy and security while you're doing it."
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/10/privacy-ubuntu-1210-amazon-ads-and-data-leaks
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/11/canonical-abused-trademark-law-to-target-a-site-critical-of-ubuntu-privacy/
https://fixubuntu.com/
THE CENTRAL POINT:
Canonical (Ubuntu owner) in version 12.10, by default began using software to collect private data from users without their consent and knowledge (spyware), the enormous GNU / Linux community which was discovered almost immediately.
For this reason (attitude), you should not rely on each software in its repositories including, without careful checking.
"possibly other distros repos wouldn't?"
I can not talk about other distributions that do not know, but I can tell you of Debian GNU / Linux, my main Distro:
The fundamental difference is ownership, unlike Ubuntu, Debian does not belong to a company which day he pleases insert spyware software in their repositories.
Debian is created, developed, maintained and owned by a community that is guided by a code of ethics does not allow something like what Canonical did to Ubuntu -> http://www.debian.org/social_contract.en. html
48 • Must be your system. (by Garon on 2014-04-25 18:36:10 GMT from United States)
@DavidEF,
Strange David that you are having problems. On my laptop I have an AMD E-450 system. Now I have had problems with ATI in the past but not at this time. Even my wireless is working great. Hope you get it fixed up, I'm curious at the problems.
49 • People still care about Ubuntu (by Caitlyn Martin on 2014-04-26 00:15:41 GMT from United States)
People still care about Ubuntu and Canonical? Who knew? OK, this is an LTS release so it does matter.... a little. Meanwhile, we are on the cusp of a once in four years event that really will impact business, government and non-profit servers around the world, plus some desktops like mine: a major new Red Hat Enterprise Linux release, hopefully closely followed by a new CentOS release. Now that's interesting... and I see exactly zero comments about it.
50 • @49 - controversy = attention (by M.Z. on 2014-04-26 02:54:26 GMT from United States)
@49
I once heard a saying about the news business that was something along the lines of: 'if it bleeds, it leads.' (I think it was Superman related). The reactions for and against Ubuntu are because of controversy. The OS that was the darling of the opensource world has rightly become the whipping boy for privacy advocates and many traditional desktop users alike. Wherever Ubuntu news leads controversy & comments are sure to follow because the OS has become very polarizing. Perhaps some of the flack even benefits Ubuntu because people want to see what the controversy is all about & decide to try it despite the poor privacy defaults & questionable design elements. Every time they try to put a new shade of lipstick on that pig more controversy will follow. The lack of any real fixes for biggest name in desktop Linux is sure to get people riled up, because Ubuntu continues to fail users on the privacy front while maintaining a great deal of popularity. This frustrates many privacy oriented opensource advocates to no end. The rest of the Linux world will continue turning, and Red Hat will continue to make real money on the business market; however, those of us not directly involved in servers or 'enterprise' Linux have far more of a connection to controversy on the desktop.
51 • @49,50 (by :wq on 2014-04-26 09:50:42 GMT from United States)
People tend to comment on whatever content is in that week's DistroWatch Weekly issue. Ubuntu's latest release is covered this week, RHEL's upcoming release is not. Also, a lot of people wait for general availability releases before they turn their attention to a distro release. Furthermore, the comments at DistroWatch probably reflect the tastes and preferences of home users more so than than they do enterprise users (I have no data to back up that claim).
I am curious how businesses that use Linux for their workstations have reacted to Ubuntu 12.04 and now 14.04, and how they will react to RHEL 7 and SLED 12, particularly as RHEL 6.x and SLED 11.x will live on for some time yet. I'm glad that GNOME Flashback is available for Ubuntu 14.04, and that, unless something changes, at least MATE (I would actually prefer Xfce) will be available for RHEL via EPEL. When it comes to operating systems aimed at enterprise and SOHO customers, most discussions I have seen, such as http://seven.centos.org/2014/03/mate-on-the-desktop/, seem to be full of comments not in favor of the direction of Windows 8, GNOME 3 or Unity. I'm not implying that GNOME 3 and Unity (or even Windows 8) don't have their fans, but their detractors don't constitute Rumsfeldian "pockets of dead-enders" either.
52 • @51 (by Ari Torres on 2014-04-27 18:49:28 GMT from United States)
I am just going to talk about RHEL 7
It was a waste of time having downloaded that 4.x GB of crap
Redhat doesn't get it or do they?
It's a monstrosity of data to download and install and the end you end up with the same feelings of 4 years ago,nothing new to add the distro that others much smaller cannot accomplish for instance Ubuntu 14.04. I will never look at RHEL again :P
53 • @52 Missed the point (by Charles on 2014-04-27 23:26:47 GMT from Mexico)
RHEL means Enterprise Linux (NOT Desktop):
Stability and security are the most valuable to the computer system of a company as a software failure or break, can mean monetary losses.
Security is handled very well in both, Ubuntu and RHEL.
Stability depends on:
Software new versions = more bugs
Software old versions = less bugs (with several patches adressed)
RHEL current version, in this moment have most Stability, unlike Ubuntu 12.04 and much more than 14.04.
Even at this point I would not recommend Ubuntu 14.04 for the business sector, as the period of extended support (LTS, greater stability) starts after 9 months. At this time, Ubuntu 14.04 has the same stability as Debian Unstable.
Number of Comments: 53
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