 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 634, 2 November 2015 |
Welcome to this year's 44th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The Ubuntu distribution, despite its developers making frequent controversial design decisions, has remained one of the most widely used desktop and server distributions in recent years. At the end of October we saw the release of Ubuntu 15.10 and this week we share our thoughts on the latest version of Ubuntu. In this issue we also explore ways to display log files in reverse order in our Questions and Answers column. In our News section we talk about Chakra GNU/Linux upgrading their default desktop environment, OpenMandriva's plan to offer more diverse editions and the MINIX developers planning their first conference. As usual, we share the torrents we are seeding and supply a list of the distributions released last week. In our Opinion Poll we ask how many computers our readers have around the home. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (24MB) and MP3 (19MB) formats
• Music credit: Clouds Fly With Me by Matti Paalanen
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
The good, the bad and the Ubuntu 15.10
The Ubuntu distribution is probably the most widely used desktop distribution in the Linux community. A few weeks ago Canonical, the company which develops and supports Ubuntu, launched Ubuntu 15.10. The release of Ubuntu 15.10 offers mostly minor changes and package updates. The new release ships with LibreOffice 5 and version 4.2 of the Linux kernel. The Firefox and Chromium packages have been updated, but otherwise the release notes do not have much to say about the new release. I suspect this version of Ubuntu may be intended to help Canonical polish some features before the distribution's next long term support release, due to arrive in April 2016. The 15.10 release, while tame with regards to new features, provides just nine months of support.
Ubuntu 15.10 is available in 32-bit and 64-bit builds for the x86 architecture. I downloaded the 64-bit build. The installation media for the latest release of Ubuntu is about 1.1GB in size. Booting from this media brings up a graphical screen where we can select our preferred language from a list. The screen also provides a link to the distribution's release notes. From this screen we can either jump straight into installing the distribution or explore the distribution's Unity desktop environment.
Ubuntu's system installer is a graphical application which has not changed much in recent years. The installer begins by asking if we would like to download security updates during the installation process. We are also asked if we would like to install third-party software, such as multimedia support. The following screen asks if we would like Ubuntu to take over our entire hard drive or if we would like to manually partition our disk. The partition manager screen is streamlined and easy to navigate. I found the installer will support working with Btrfs, JFS, XFS and ext2/3/4 file systems. I decided to set up Ubuntu on a Btrfs volume. We can also select where to install the GRUB boot loader from the partition management screen. Once our disk has been divided up we are then walked through screens which get us to select our time zone from a map of the world, confirm our keyboard's layout and create a user account. Our account's home directory can optionally be encrypted. From there the installer copies it files to our computer and then offers to reboot the machine.
I like Ubuntu's installer. It works fairly quickly and it is easy to navigate. The release notes mention a potential bug that can appear if the computer is connected to the network during the installation, but I did not encounter any problems while installing the distribution.
Booting our new copy of Ubuntu brings us to a graphical login screen. From here we can sign into the user account we created during the installation or we can log into a guest account. The guest account can be accessed without a password and any changes made or files created while logged into the guest account are wiped clean when we logout again.
Ubuntu 15.10 -- The Unity dash
(full image size: 422kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
The first time we sign into our account a screen appears with a list of keyboard short-cuts we can use. Dismissing this helpful screen leaves us at the Unity desktop. Down the left side of the screen we find a quick-launch bar that doubles as a task switcher. In the upper-left corner there is an icon for opening the Unity dash. Over in the upper-right corner we see a system tray and a user menu where we can change settings or sign out of our account. Opening the Unity dash we are presented with a nearly-full-screen search page where we can type in the name of applications, files or other items we want to find. The dash allows us to filter the search results by file type. We can further narrow down search results by applying filters. For example, we can search for applications and then filter software based on categories, By default, the dash will show us purchasing options for items on Amazon when we search for things like software, music or games. The Amazon search results can be turned off through a setting in the Unity settings panel.
The Unity settings panel provides a nice, central location for managing the look and feel of the desktop. We can also manage some lower-level aspects of the operating system from this panel. For example, we can create user accounts using a program launched from the panel. We can also schedule backups and restore files from backup archives. I quite like Unity's configuration panel as it is easy to navigate and the available modules work well.
Ubuntu 15.10 -- The settings panel
(full image size: 355kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
I tried running Ubuntu 15.10 in two test environments. When run on my desktop computer the distribution worked well, Unity was quick to respond and I encountered no problems. My screen was set to its maximum resolution, sound worked out of the box and my network connection was automatically enabled. However, when run in a VirtualBox virtual machine, Ubuntu did not integrate into the virtual environment and performance was very poor. The Unity desktop was slow to respond, applications took a long time to open and visual effects were displayed in slow motion. I have encountered similar poor performance with Unity in the past and it could previously be fixed by enabling 3-D video acceleration in VirtualBox's settings and installing VirtualBox's guest modules. I tried both of these approaches and, while these changes did allow me to run Unity with my screen's full resolution, performance remained poor. In either test environment, Ubuntu used a fairly large amount of memory compared to other Linux distributions, typically just over 600MB when sitting idle at the desktop.
Ubuntu ships with a useful collection of software. Looking through the dash we find the Firefox web browser, the Thunderbird e-mail application, the Transmission bittorrent software, a remote desktop client and the Empathy messaging software. The Network Manager software is present to help us get on-line. LibreOffice is included along with a PDF document viewer, the Totem video player and the Rhythmbox audio player. Ubuntu ships with a webcam utility, the Brasero disc burning software, a simple image viewer, the Shotwell photo manager and a scanner utility. We are also given an archive manager, a calculator and a text editor. There are a few games on the system and a virtual keyboard program. In the background we find multimedia codecs are available (assuming we opted to include them during the installation) and Flash support is included in Firefox. The distribution ships with systemd 225, the GNU Compiler Collection (version 5.2.1) and version 4.2 of the Linux kernel.
Most users will want to add extra software to their operating system and this can be achieved in a few ways. One of the easiest approaches to adding software to Ubuntu is to search for an application in the dash. Searching for names or descriptions of software will return relevant results of both installed programs and additional software in the distribution's repositories. Clicking on an application's entry will either launch the program (if it is already installed) or give us the option of downloading and running the application.
Ubuntu 15.10 -- The Ubuntu Software Centre
(full image size: 308kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Another way to install new applications is to use the Ubuntu Software Centre. This program provides users with a graphical interface for searching for new software. I like the Software Centre interface, it provides us with lists of programs in a given category and we can search for items by name. I found the pages of available items easy to navigate and clicking on a program brings up a full page description of the selected software. This information page tells us a little about the program and provides a screen shot of the application in action. Software can be installed or removed with a single button click and installation actions happen in the background while we continue to search for additional software packages.
When new software updates are available in Ubuntu's repositories, a notification appears on the desktop. The distribution's update manager shows us a simple list of software that can be upgraded and waits for us to confirm it can download and install the waiting updates. During my trail there were just three updates available, totalling approximately 30MB in size.
Ubuntu takes two unusual approaches to working with application menus. By default, the application which holds focus on the desktop has its menu placed in Unity's top bar. This means the application's window takes up less screen space, but it also means when we are working with applications that are not in maximized windows we need to use more mouse movement to reach the program's menu. However, it is possible to change Unity's settings so that application menus are included in the program's window, causing menus to work about the same as they do in other desktop environments.
The second unusual feature involving menus is the HUD. When operating in Unity, we can tap the ALT key and type the name of a feature or menu item we want to access. This causes a list of relevant menu items the application supports to appear on the screen and we can select a menu item with the keyboard or mouse. Though it took me a while to get accustomed to the HUD, I eventually found it very useful. I like being able to quickly search for and select menu entries without taking either hand off my keyboard. The HUD is especially useful when working with applications that have a lot of menu options, such as LibreOffice or the GNU Image Manipulation Program. Tapping ALT, followed by typing the word "page" gets me to the "Format Page" menu item faster than moving my hand to the mouse, clicking the Format menu and moving down to the "Page..." entry in LibreOffice. The HUD is definitely a feature I would like to see other desktop environments support, at least as an option.
Ubuntu 15.10 -- Running various desktop applications
(full image size: 343kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Conclusions
I had mixed feelings from my time with Ubuntu. On the one hand, the distribution feels fairly polished and the installer, applications and system tools all worked well. My desktop's hardware was properly detected and utilized and this release offers us updated versions of popular software. However, in a virtual machine, Ubuntu performed poorly and this surprised me since the previous release worked quite smoothly in a VirtualBox instance. Not only that, but this version of Ubuntu used quite a bit more memory than the last version did on the same test equipment.
What really stood out most about Ubuntu 15.10 though was this release felt virtually identical in every way to Ubuntu 15.04 and very similar to 14.10. One of the few changes I noticed was that this version of Ubuntu appears to no longer support both the Upstart and systemd init programs, as the previous version did. I see this as an unfortunate (though expected) change as Canonical moves to support just one init package. On the one hand, this lack of adjustments in 15.10 is good news for people who do not want to experience a lot of change. The development team appears to have been working almost exclusively over the past year to fix bugs and keep things working as they have been. This makes Ubuntu feel like a more stable platform.
On the other hand, having a platform that does not boast any new features makes me wonder if there is a point to pushing out a new release. The minor package updates presented probably could have been handled by a backports repository for Ubuntu 15.04. While projects like openSUSE and Fedora are experimenting with new system admin tools, file system snapshots, Wayland and boot environments, Ubuntu appears to be sitting idle. I know there are behind-the-scenes changes planned (such as Snappy packages, Mir and a new version of Unity), but those items keep getting pushed back. In short, I feel this release of Ubuntu was good, but it isn't bringing anything new to the table over the previous version.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a desktop HP Pavilon p6 Series with the following specifications:
- Processor: Dual-core 2.8GHz AMD A4-3420 APU
- Storage: 500GB Hitachi hard drive
- Memory: 6GB of RAM
- Networking: Realtek RTL8111 wired network card
- Display: AMD Radeon HD 6410D video card
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Chakra adopts Plasma 5, OpenMandriva introduces new editions and Tanenbaum plans MINIX conference
The developers of Chakra GNU/Linux, a desktop oriented distribution based on Arch Linux, have announced Chakra is transitioning from using the KDE 4 desktop environment to Plasma 5. The shift brings Chakra up to date with the latest desktop software from the KDE project and migrates users off KDE 4, which will no longer be receiving support. "With this move, Plasma 5 related packages will replace the current kde-workspace group of packages in our repositories. In addition, many applications which in the meantime have been ported to Frameworks 5 and Qt 5, including the ones developed by KDE, will become available. Detailed instructions on how to perform the switch will be published in a following announcement. As always, a new ISO release will follow very soon to provide all the latest updates and changes so new users don't have to go through the manual process. Also many of you may prefer starting with a clean installation or wish to have the ISO at hand in case something goes wrong."
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The OpenMandriva distribution is well known as a newcomer friendly desktop operating system. While the developers are still focused on providing an easy to use desktop platform, they are also branching out and experimenting with different roles. The OpenMandriva blog talks about some of the new projects the OpenMandriva team plans to explore. "Some days ago OMA conducted a strategic meeting (this time in Krakow, Poland - beautiful city!), and a whole bunch of important things were discussed and taken forward. To prepare and present them in detail (and to implement) will take time, so for now we just give some highlights: Server distribution; smoother and simpler contribution process; semi-rolling release; improved support features; simpler communications (for bugs and other)." The blog post does not provide any time line for the planned features.
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Andrew Tanenbaum, creator of the MINIX operating system, sent out an e-mail last week in which he invited people to come out and talk about MINIX in the operating system's first dedicated conference. "The www.minix3.org website has been visited 380,000 times in 2015 (and 2.6 million times since 2007). The .iso image file has been downloaded 50,000 times in 2015 (and 674,000 times since 2007) so clearly there is a lot of interest in MINIX 3. My colleagues and I thought maybe it is time for a conference about MINIX, just as there are Linux and BSD conferences, so we have scheduled one, for 1 Feb. 2016 at the VU, in Amsterdam." A page on the MINIX website invites people involved with MINIX to come give talks and discuss the Unix-like operating system.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Display log files in reverse order
Viewing-upside-down asks: Most log files are written top to bottom so the most recent entry is at the end. I want to see my log with the most recent stuff at the top. Is there an easy way to do this?
DistroWatch answers:
You are quite correct, with the exception of using the last command to see who has signed into their account recently, virtually all log files are shown with the latest entries at the bottom of the file. This typically makes them easier to read if you're looking for events that are happening in a particular order. Still, there are times when it would be useful to see the most recent items first, in a manner similar to the way blogs are organized. There are a few utilities that will "flip" log files so that they appear with the most recent data first.
On a computer running a GNU/Linux distribution you can display the contents of a log in reverse order using the tac command. While the cat command is commonly used to display text files, the tac command displays files in reverse order. For example, the following command displays the contents of the boot log with the last entries displayed on the screen first:
tac /var/log/boot.log
For people running a flavour of BSD, I do not think the tac command is available. However, there is a way to achieve the same result. The BSD implementation of the tail command, which is usually used to show the end of a text file, has a parameter that will reverse the contents of a file. The following command, on a computer running BSD, will display the security log in reverse order:
tail -r /var/log/security
Since both of the above commands display the entire contents of the file they are turning upside down, it is usually a good idea to pipe the above commands through another program to reduce the amount of output. For instance, we can use the head command to show us only the ten most recent log entries:
tac /var/log/boot.log | head
We could alternatively send all the output to the less command which makes it easy to browse through the pages of data and perform searches for keywords.
tail -r /var/log/security | less
However, perhaps the best solution is to dump our upside down log file into another text file so we can come back and look at it later. We can do this using the redirect (>) symbol.
tac /var/log/boot.log > my-reversed-log-file.txt
Hopefully one of the above examples will provide the results desired.
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Past Questions and Answers columns can be found in our Q&A Archive.
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
Bittorrent is a great way to transfer large files, particularly open source operating system images, from one place to another. Most bittorrent clients recover from dropped connections automatically, check the integrity of files and can re-download corrupted bits of data without starting a download over from scratch. These characteristics make bittorrent well suited for distributing open source operating systems, particularly to regions where Internet connections are slow or unstable.
Many Linux and BSD projects offer bittorrent as a download option, partly for the reasons listed above and partly because bittorrent's peer-to-peer nature takes some of the strain off the project's servers. However, some projects do not offer bittorrent as a download option. There can be several reasons for excluding bittorrent as an option. Some projects do not have enough time or volunteers, some may be restricted by their web host provider's terms of service. Whatever the reason, the lack of a bittorrent option puts more strain on a distribution's bandwidth and may prevent some people from downloading their preferred open source operating system.
With this in mind, DistroWatch plans to give back to the open source community by hosting and seeding bittorrent files. For now, we are hosting a small number of distribution torrents, listed below. The list of torrents offered will be updated each week and we invite readers to e-mail us with suggestions as to which distributions we should be hosting. When you message us, please place the word "Torrent" in the subject line, make sure to include a link to the ISO file you want us to seed. To help us maintain and grow this free service, please consider making a donation.
The table below provides a list of torrents we currently host. If you do not currently have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found here. All torrents we make available here are also listed on the very useful Linux Tracker website. Thanks to Linux Tracker we are able to share the following torrent statistics.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 127
- Total data uploaded: 18.4TB
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| Released Last Week |
Simplicity Linux 15.10
Simplicity Linux is a Puppy-based distribution which ships with the LXDE desktop environment. The developers of Simplicity have launched a new version of their distribution, Simplicity Linux 15.10. This version offers users version 4.1.1 of the Linux kernel and is offered exclusively in a 32-bit x86 build. "We are very pleased to announce the release of Simplicity Linux 15.10. Due to some issues users were finding with the 64-bit edition of Simplicity 15.7, we've decided to put our 64-bit releases on hiatus until we can resolve the issue. The two 32-bit editions of Simplicity 15.10 both feature the 4.1.1 Linux kernel and are based on the excellent LXPup. LXDE is used as the desktop, and wbar is used as a dock for pre-installed software and features." The distribution's two editions are Netbook, which is designed to be lighter and use more cloud-based technology, and Desktop, which offers more locally installed applications such as LibreOffice. Further information is available in the release announcement.
Simplicity Linux 15.10 -- Initial configuration screen
(full image size: 989kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixel)
IPFire 2.17 Core 94
The development team behind IPFire, a independent Linux distribution for firewalls, has released a new update. The new release, IPFire 2.17 Core Update 94, includes a number of package upgrades, including OpenSSH 7.1p1. This release also cleans up the web interface and includes a mail agent in the base system. "OpenSSH was updated to version 7.1p1. With that we added support for elliptic curves (ECDSA and ED25519) and removed support for DSA which is considered broken. Too small RSA keys are removed as well and regenerated. These changes may require to import the keys of the IPFire system on your admin computer again. An internal mail agent was added that is used by internal services to send out reports or alerts. So far only a few services use this (like the squid accounting add-on), but we expect to add more things in the future. This is a very simple and lightweight mail agent that can be configured on the web user interface and will usually require an upstream mail server." Further details on the release of IPFire 2.17 Core Update 94 can be found in the project's release announcement.
Rockstor 3.8-9
Suman Chakravartula has announced the release of Rockstor 3.8-9, an updated build of the project's CentOS-based Linux distribution designed for Network Attached Storage (NAS) and private cloud storage solutions: "Rockstor 3.8-9 update is now available. This is our first update released under the stable update channel. Current users running prior versions can update to 3.8-9 after activating the Stable channel subscription. New users can just install from the 3.8-9 ISO. We closed 20 issues in this release. We have a development log in our forum detailing the ongoing work and some of you may already be aware of the coming changes. Detailed list: improved service orchestration by leveraging systemd more; fixed Web-UI to dynamically refresh management interface IP; fixed a Web-UI issue with network interface management; clarify password reset instructions; refresh Pool state automatically after delete; improved logic to update /etc/issue with Web-UI link; improved certificate labeling on the Web-UI; fixed and improved Active Directory integration support....." Continue to the release announcement for a complete changelog.
GParted Live 0.24.0-2
The developers of GParted Live, a Debian-based live distribution for managing disk partitions, have announced the launch of a new version of their distribution. The new version, GParted Live 0.24.0-2, is based on the latest Debian Unstable packages and includes the ability to detect ZFS storage pools. "The GParted team is pleased to announce a new stable release of GParted Live. This release includes GParted 0.24.0 which detects ZFS file systems, recognizes NVMe devices, prevents a hang when labelling fat16/32 file systems if illegal characters in label, and prevents a core dump if invalid or non-existent device paths are passed on the command line. Items of note include: Based on the Debian Sid repository (as of 2015/Oct/28); Linux kernel updated to 4.2.0-1; Fixed vi entry in right-click Editors menu (bug 755602); Added zerofree (bug 753446), efibootmgr (bug 754587), and ddrescue (bug 750240) to live image." The full release announcement can be found on the distribution's website.
Sabayon 15.11
The developers of Sabayon, a Gentoo-based rolling release distribution, have announced the launch of Sabayon 15.11. The new version ships with a number of interesting new features, one of which is a server edition. "This release will introduce the Sabayon server edition, which is just perfect for those who want to run this distro as a pure server. The installer is still Calamares (just GUI install as for now), but running on a ad hoc instance of X, that consequentially bloats the ISO size, but after install all the additional components requested by Calamares are removed from the system. We now also service you with Vagrant images." This release also includes Docker images and the KDE edition of Sabayon 15.11 now ships with LightDM as the default login manager. This release is available for 64-bit x86 machines only. Further information on Sabayon 15.11 can be found in the project's release announcement).
4MLinux 14.0
The 4MLinux project has released version 14.0 of the independent utility distribution. 4MLinux 14.0 ships with version 5.2.0 of the GNU Compiler Collection. Several additional multimedia applications are available as separate downloads. "The status of the 4MLinux 14.0 series has been changed to STABLE. Major change in the core of the system, which now uses GNU Compiler Collection 5.2.0 to compile programs designed for the i686 architecture. Audacious (audio player), Opera (web browser), SMTube (YouTube browser) and VLC (media player) are now available as downloadable extensions. The way in which 4MLinux handles audio and video files has been greatly improved." The project's full release announcement can be found on the project's blog. Information on adding multimedia support and additional applications can be found in this blog post.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll |
Number of home computers
People who like to download and try out new operating systems often have a reputation for also collecting computer hardware. It's not unusual for open source enthusiasts to have some extra computers, in various states of repair, around the home. Some being used for parts, another being run as a NAS or home e-mail server. This week we would like to learn how many general purpose computers (we are not including cell phones or toasters, unless they run NetBSD) our readers have around the home.
Do you keep it light, with just one computer for the family, perhaps one PC per person? Do you have a collection that would make a data centre jealous? Let us know in the comments below.
You can see the results of last week's poll on open source web browsers here. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Number of home computers
| 0: | 2 (0%) |
| 1: | 229 (8%) |
| 2 - 5: | 1770 (61%) |
| 6 - 10: | 657 (23%) |
| > 10: | 240 (8%) |
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| DistroWatch.com News |
DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 9 November 2015. To contact the authors please send email to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, suggestions and corrections: news, donations, distribution submissions, comments)
- Michael DeGuzis of Libre Geek (podcast)
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Opinion Poll: Issue #634 (by Marti on 2015-11-02 01:20:53 GMT from North America)
1 active desktop (Peppermint) and 1 active laptop (UbuntuGNOME). 1 desktop, unplugged, in the closet, under a blanket, with Lubuntu 14.04 as a fall-back in the event of catastrophe.
2 • Chakra GNU/Linux (by Crystal Glaceon on 2015-11-02 01:24:24 GMT from North America)
Quick note, Chakra Linux is actually no longer based on Arch Linux and since split back in 2010. It's now it's own independent distro from Arch.
3 • home computers (by Bonky Osmond on 2015-11-02 02:02:34 GMT from North America)
i have 3 homes in 3 countries my GF and I both have laptops for work even though she doesn't and I have 2 I keep for historical reasons...
Most are dual booted , Manjaro and Gentoo are on a few, I also have Antix, Salix, PclinuxOS, ..my historical comp i have some of my od distros from yesteryear which i like to go and play with from time to time
4 • Computers at home (by Mark on 2015-11-02 02:07:24 GMT from North America)
Desktop 1: Ubuntu 15.10
Desktop 2: Ubuntu 14.04 server
Desktop 3: Windows 10 and distro trials
Desktop 4: IPFire 2.17 firewall (headless)
Laptop 1: Ubuntu 15.10
Laptop 2: Ubuntu 15.10
5 • Opinion poll in Issue No. 634 (by Ravi on 2015-11-02 02:18:39 GMT from Asia)
I own four computers in my home.
Main desktop: Xeon 1245 v3 system with 16 GB RAM and 1TB storage with Samsung evo 120 GB for OS.(self assembled). Running some VMs and ZFS file system justify 16 GB memory.
One Asus intel i7 ivy bridge laptop with 8 GB RAM and evo 120 GB ssd for office work.(Python and C programming).
One AMD athlon 5150 based system with 8GB RAM for my backups and serve debian packages to all other systems. I bought 10 debian jessie DVD's and put all the packages into it and configured apache server. This system currently also work as a DHCP server and NTP server for my home. This guy run headless.
One raspberry pi model B first gen for reading PDFs. As reading PDFs in pi saves power and reduces bill.
* All the guys run Debian jessie and raspbian.
6 • Ubuntu review (by Simon on 2015-11-02 02:24:22 GMT from Oceania)
I'm grateful to Jesse Smith and others for the time they take to document their experiences with various distros, as this often helps to narrow the options down. It's unfortunate that what's uncovered in these reviews sometimes clashes so much with what's conveyed as the overall positive or negative impression.
"The good, the bad, and the Ubuntu 15.10" replaces the familiar word "ugly" in that title with "Ubuntu", so that a general negative impression is conveyed right from the start. Then, after reporting the extremely encouraging news that for once, "the development team appears to have been working almost exclusively over the past year to fix bugs and keep things working as they have been. This makes Ubuntu feels like a more stable platform", this excellent news is turned into a criticism: apparently it would be better, as Ubuntu goes into a LTS release that millions of people will use for many years to come, to play with new features rather than produce a reliable, quality operating system!
By far the most important thing for any operating system is that it actually works. Ubuntu is not a toy distro used only by hobbyists and gamers: it's a serious operating system that people use to do serious work. For any release, stability should be a far higher priority than new features; but this particular release is the last opportunity to establish a rock-solid platform for an LTS release that will be used until 2021. The developers' sensible decision to avoid gimmicks and focus on bug fixing should be praised.
Sometimes Distrowatch reviews uncover major bugs...features that simply don't work at all...and yet the overall tone of the review is positive. Here we have a first class release and the tone is quite negative! Fortunately, the usual careful detail in Jesse's review makes it clear that Ubuntu have done an outstanding job here. "Ugly" or not, 15.10 is exactly what it ought to be.
7 • opinion poll (by Dave on 2015-11-02 02:34:11 GMT from North America)
Desktop running Linux Mint
3 dual boot Laptops running Linux Mint/windows
1 dedicated server running plex on Mint
1 HTPC running KodiBuntu
8 • Ubuntu review (by linuxista on 2015-11-02 02:47:26 GMT from North America)
@6 Jesse's conclusion was that, not only, 15.10, but also 15.04 and 14.10 didn't really move the bar much. It used to be, or I thought the idea was, that Ubuntu would stretch itself a bit with its interim releases and those who want/need stability for "serious work" should stick with the LTS. So, the "rock-solid" platform for an LTS release" argument for why 15.10 is right where it needs to be sounds a bit apologistic. I think it does raise some questions about Canonical's priorities re the desktop, and whether they are dedicating most of their resources to the phone/convergence. That may be a very sound strategy ultimately; I'm not condemning Canonical for it.
9 • What if... (by Kontol Kuda on 2015-11-02 03:05:35 GMT from Asia)
@1: What if the catastrophe takes out the fall-back system in your closet?
10 • Opinion Poll (by Ari Torres on 2015-11-02 03:06:16 GMT from North America)
I just have one computer BUT it has a swap bay where I can change HD like I change my underwear and SATA HD are very cheap so I have like 8 different distributions installed, Linux Lite, Elementary, Ubuntu, Windows, Mac OS, Cromixium, Android, Solus and some I run LIVE on USB Flash Drives. I love testing Linux and what not :)
11 • Opinion Poll (by Erik on 2015-11-02 03:31:17 GMT from North America)
My Desktop and main computer: Ubuntu Gnome 5.10
My Laptop: Linux Mint 17.2
Wife's Laptop: Windows 8.1
Son's Desktop: Windows 7
Daughter's Desktop: Windows 7
Server (Headless): Manjaro Linux + 2 x Ubuntu Server 14.04 VMs
12 • Ubuntu development (by Fairly Reticent on 2015-11-02 03:43:24 GMT from North America)
Sometimes the idea is to make changes under-the-hood, out-of-sight, while minimizing changes to the "experience".
(Like imposing XML process management?)
13 • Home Computers Revival (by Roy H Huddleston on 2015-11-02 04:09:38 GMT from North America)
My brother said it looked like a computer threw up with all the pieces in various states of repair. Lubuntu on my main. Roommate has Windows 7 on her two. One for ghosting on her laptop and one for her main desktop. I have a laptop with Windows Vista. And then there are those needing to get saved.
14 • Number of computers / Ubuntu RAM usage / Minix (by Will B on 2015-11-02 04:15:43 GMT from North America)
== Number of computers in the household ==
Workstation: Debian Linux (Testing) / FreeBSD 10.2
Laptop: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Netbook: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Server (headless): FreeBSD 10.2
== Ubuntu RAM usage ==
600 MB at idle? Wow, that's insane. I run Debian Testing 64-bit, Openbox and LXPanel and at idle it's in the lower 100's. At a glance with Thunderbird, Firefox, VirtualBox and Audacious running I'm using 635 MB. So yeah, functional desktop with all my main apps open uses 35 MB more than Unity at idle. I know, I have an unhealthy obsession with keeping it minimal, even though I have 16 GB RAM and a good four-core Intel processor. :-P
== MINIX CON ==
That's an interesting development. Last time I tried MINIX, it didn't have Xorg available for it. Wonder if they've fixed that yet...?
15 • Multiple (by Chris on 2015-11-02 04:22:38 GMT from North America)
Ubuntu 15.10 Review:
Jesse, thanks for your hard work and this week's review; unfortunately, I had to quit reading at Ubuntu's insistance on continuing the default spyware.
DWW Poll:
One abacus running OpenAbacus. :) I do keep a few spare beads...
16 • nasty teeth in the cold dark rain (by A Bucket of Lotion on 2015-11-02 04:30:05 GMT from Europe)
TAILS, in my underground lair!
17 • Number of home computers (by seacat on 2015-11-02 04:50:02 GMT from South America)
Desktop: Sparkylinux 4.1 / Debian 7.9
Notebook: Debian 8.2
18 • Ubuntu Review (by Simon on 2015-11-02 05:06:18 GMT from Oceania)
@8 "Move the bar" in what direction? My point is that they've raised the bar considerably higher than many other distros by focusing on the priorities that matter, instead of chasing stupidly after change for the sake of change. For hobbyists who want the bar to be "moved" every release, regardless of whether this lowers it by making the OS less trustworthy, there are plenty of other distros out there to play with. Ubuntu didn't earn its huge user base by being an "exciting" or "bleeding edge" distro: it was one of the first that was careful enough to get things right, and actually work out-of-the-box without hours of fiddling and fixing things up. Big changes like Unity were pushed out to users after they'd already fallen in love with a distro that took existing technologies and polished them until they shone.
I'm not disagreeing with the fact that Ubuntu's pace of change has been slow lately: I'm just disagreeing with the negative spin on that fact. To me it's a sign that the distro is maturing and getting its priorities right. In fact, now that Debian has gone with the crowd and switched to systemd, there's not much point any more in choosing Debian over Ubuntu: Ubuntu's LTS releases are about as stable, only more polished. Too many change junkies confuse change with progress: often they're opposites, and the faster developers scramble to embrace the Latest Thing, the further backwards their products fall in terms of the basic things that matter most.
19 • Opinion Poll (by Saltynoob on 2015-11-02 05:13:27 GMT from North America)
Home Desktop: Fedora 23 Mate
Work Desktop: openSuse 13.2 XFCE (Windows7-VM) (I have a very cool boss)
Laptop 1: Dual Boot Fedora 23 /openSuse 13.2 Both have OpenBox & Awesome
Laptop 2: PC-BSD 10.2 Lumina Desktop
Server1: FreeBSD 10.1 Headless
Server2: Centos 6.5 Headless
Got a Intel NUC and Rasp-Pi (I haven't figured out what I going to do yet.
I got the parents on Chromebooks, so no more tech support.
Girlfriend is too deep into Apple eco-system with purchases to switch.
20 • Ubuntu review (by Name on 2015-11-02 05:17:00 GMT from Europe)
Indirectly calling a distribution "ugly" just because it's stable and mature and doesn't make changes just for the sake of changes is ridiculous.
One of the problems that Ubuntu usually has is exactly this: they have the habit of sometimes making changes that are unnecessary and disturb the users.
I would like to see more future releases such as this: "boring", with no unnecessary changes, just small incremental steps, for a 6 months interval this is more than enough.
Also, if you want to see the real release notes see the release notes of the new kernel, systemd, libreoffice, etc., and you will find lots of new stuff, all incremental.
And if memory consumption is a problem then use another Ubuntu version such as Xubuntu or Lubuntu, I am using Lubuntu even though I have 16 GB of ram on a fast PC, I just not like to waste resources for completely unnecessary eye candy.
21 • Computers (by Juan on 2015-11-02 05:41:20 GMT from North America)
Right now I got:
1 MacBook Pro Retina running OSX 10.10.3 and Linux Mint 17, my main system
1 Asus transformer Pad TF201 champagne running Android (cyanogenmod rom)
1 Dell FX160 mini desktop currently running openbsd 5.8, the PC I use for trying OS's out
1 Raspberry PI B+, for toying with Raspberry software and OS's
1 HP All-in-One, running Windows 8.1, given to me by a relative, use it to run games that won't run through wine
1 LG ChromeBase used as media center
1 UMAX PowerCentre currently running NetBSD 7.0, I use it to try out development of ppc versions of OSS OS's.
22 • Computers @Home + Ubuntu (by Livestradamus on 2015-11-02 06:03:55 GMT from Asia)
--Computers @Home--
1Nos. i7, 32GB RAM CPU thats a VM host + file server (CentOS base, to be changed to Slackware.) VM's are Linux & different BSD's.
1Nos. i7, 16GB RAM Laptop for daily use (Slackware64)
1Nos. new but low cost Acer laptop for the wife (PeppermintOS)
1Nos. old centrino netbook, Backup and download server (Slackware)
2Nos. RasPi's B+ (OSMC and the other still deciding wtf to do with it though I'm leaning toward SlackwareArm as a quassel irc server)
--Ubuntu--
I dislike the look of Unity so to me its always been ugly. Of course that is just personal preference and perhaps it may change but until they allow me to configure it a bit more, unlikely to change.
I did test it and like what its doing in general with convergence and excellent choice for new Linux users.
23 • Opinion (by Jorge on 2015-11-02 06:14:11 GMT from Asia)
Desktop and laptop with dual Boot Zenwalk (slackware derived) / Windows (7). I can work with both without problems.. but wintendo is better to play hehe
Personally I prefer to use complex systems keeping all simple and functional. @20 I agree with not waste resources unnecessary
24 • Ubuntu (by linuxista on 2015-11-02 06:19:18 GMT from North America)
@18, @20: If Ubuntu's all about stability and minimal change, why not dump the interim releases altogether and just have the LTS versions with backports, a la Debian and Mint? The risk of a dirty or broken upgrade doesn't seem worth it for minimal/negligible changes to the user experience, or just updating software, which can't be credited to Canonical.
25 • Computers (by Roy Davies on 2015-11-02 06:59:58 GMT from Europe)
We have six fully working computer in our home:
Desktop #1 (HP) running Windows 7 Pro - 64 bit. As originally built (2010).
Desktop #2 (Acer) running Windows 7 Home Premium - 32 bit. Originally with Vista Home Premium (2007).
Laptop #1 (HP) running Windows 10 Pro - 64 bit. Originally with Windows 7 Pro (2011).
Laptop #2 (Acer) running SparkyLinux 4 - 32 bit. Originally with Windows Vista Home Basic (2008).
Laptop #3 (Acer) running LXLE 12.04.5 - 32 bit. Originally with Windows XP Home (2002)
Laptop #4 - Wife's (Dell) running LMDE 1 - 32 bit. Originally with Windows XP Pro (2004)
I think it a shame that many developers are now issuing only 64 bit distro versions. There are still many older 32 bit computers out there which could become usable with Linux 32 bit.
26 • Number of PC's I really need. (by mim yucel on 2015-11-02 07:30:42 GMT from Europe)
I am retired mechanic, I mean not PC professional. I am using PC for my ordinary needs as like any ordinary human. ( I dont like playing games.) Although all those; I run :
- 1 laptop ; Windows7 (upgraded to Win10) and in paralel booting (double booting) Mint Cinnamon. ( When I run my PC , I use %80 Cinnamon, I like Cinnamon Desktop very comfortable)
- I have strong feeling to have a second PC for experiencing the other Linux versions. If I had tried those in my existing PC, to set up Wind10 again back would take me 2 whole days. What a torchery. (I do that when Mint Cinnamon produces a new version. Than I have to set up first Win7 ,than its patchs, than instal Mint Cinnamon, than upgrade Win7 to Win10 and than its patchs). But I want enjoy the other some Linux distros also. So you can calculate me as a man with 2 PCs. I guess there are other persons like me.
Result : The Opinion Pool 's questionary shold be re-designated to reveal the the stiation more precisly.
27 • Ubuntu families, growing up together. (by Greg Zeng on 2015-11-02 07:45:14 GMT from North America)
There are several Ubuntu families, based on the half-yearly releases of the 04 LongTermSupport (April, LTS) and the 10 (October) short-term support.
First released officially are the Unity, KDE, XFCE and LXDE interfaces. Almost as boring & predictable are the more independent Mate, Cinnamon, Gnome and server versions of these Ubuntus.
More interesting, unpredictable and chancy are the Canonical-adventurers: Mint and more than 70 other brand names; all generally based on the half-yearly Canonical family, in the days following. Last in the half-yearly release, are the distant cousins, which have specializations & more eye-candy e.g. Cubuntu, BlackLab, Netrunner, Studio, & Peppermint. Mint, Zorin, Wattos, LXLE & Pinguy were too unusual for my tastes.
ALL these Ubuntu-based distros use the same standard installation method, with the KDE installation being sightly different. All of them can be updated easily and quickly by just double-clicking on the kernel or applications filename: "filename.deb". All of them can offer a choice of operating systems & any installed kernel-versions of choice, using the Grub-Customizer application.
Luckily Firefox & its family (Cyberfox, Waterfox, etc) automatically synchronizes its add-ons and settings on all my Dell XPS-15 notebook with its twelve (12) operating systems. This simplifies jumping into any or all of the above operating systems, or Windows-10.
28 • home computers (by peer on 2015-11-02 08:07:39 GMT from Europe)
1. pc: linux mint 17 kde
2. old pc: debian 8 mate
3. family pc: windows 7
4. laptop: windows 7
5. old laptop: windows 7
6. eee pc: android-x86
29 • Ubuntu (by Arkanabar on 2015-11-02 08:35:27 GMT from North America)
Canonical is doing quite a bit of development and testing, but it isn't in the UX. It's in things like Snappy, Mir and SystemD.
Canonical is probably also doing their best to position Ubuntu (and probably 16.04 expecially) as an enterprise and production platform. To that end, they'll do their best to have more development stability, and avoid pushing things that aren't ready for desktop. We hobbyists often embrace Latest And Greatest Syndrome, but enterprise does not, and they're the ones who provide revenue.
I don't mind. Unless I move to PCLOS, which goes slowly with base system components (init, kernel, X, etc), but likes to keep desktop apps very fresh, but there's also a pretty good chance that, come 16.04, I'll install Lubuntu and use it for two years, as I did with 14.04.
30 • PCs - safety in numbers (by Sondar on 2015-11-02 08:47:25 GMT from Europe)
As I wade through my arsenal of hardware, may I pass on a small item of advice? Occasionally, one of the behemoths will refuse to boot, especially if it isn't regularly active. Frequently, the problem has been 'bad caps', either on the motherboard or PSU. In those cases, 15mins work with the soldering iron has restored sanity to the beast. Moral: eschew landfill whenever possible - there's always a minimalist distro that can be activated on the oldest machine. Why, it's even possible to buy a new Spectrum look-a-like that'll run the original SW as well as Raspian. Incidentally, re. 10 supra, most of my boxes have caddy systems for a vast collection of viable PATA and SATA hard drives, FDDs, LS120, and zip drives or a couple of tape drives; even the oldest have been retrofitted with USB1.1 ports, although I no longer fit backplane serial ports to the headers - one has to move with the times!
31 • computers (by zykoda on 2015-11-02 08:50:21 GMT from Europe)
20+ discarded ex-MS windows [95-7] machines revitalised with up to 20 multiboot linux partitions using GRUB1/2 sometimes with PLOP. So far no machine from this random collection has failed to run at least one linux distro. All machines have at least 100Mbit wired ethernet with web access. No UEFI...yet. Dual pink pogoplugs, a Netgear DG834G with a Linksys WRT54GS running dd-wrt V24-micro-SP1 serve the home net. A positive museum run on a shoestring and a security nightmare!
32 • Ubuntu & bug fix release (by Stan on 2015-11-02 09:18:11 GMT from Europe)
I'm not a fan of Ubuntu but it is very nice to see some kind of bug fix release.
Trying new technologies is nice, but when none of those technologies pass the alpha/beta release we should evaluate our goals and directions.
I personally think that long standing issues should be address first and then move forward, accumulating a huge backlog is not healthy specially for new features.
33 • Number of computers (by Mark Lund on 2015-11-02 10:08:51 GMT from Europe)
Hi
My main desktop is running UbuntuGnome 14.10
I have a laptop running on Peppermint 6 and one Win10 laptop
Mediacenter PC in living room running Lubuntu 14.10
Wife have a MacBook
Son have a gaming rig with Win 10
34 • N° of PC (by César on 2015-11-02 10:39:51 GMT from South America)
Hello!!!
1) My desktop:
- Partition with Debian 8 with Mate Desktop.
- Partition with Windows 10.
2) Laptop:
- Debian 8 Mate Desktop.
-------------------------------------
Why Mate? Because i still love Gnome 2.**.
Why Debian? Because works without troubles with my hardware.
Why Windows 10? Only for play Red Baron 3D with Glide patch.
Saludos desde Santiago de Chile.
35 • Canonical Release Schedule (by Joncr on 2015-11-02 11:20:31 GMT from North America)
Canonical works Ubuntu on a 6-month release cycle, so there will be releases every six months, whether or not they bring dramatic change. Besides, the more things change, the more they break. Shiny new features play to the interests of Linux media but not necessarily to the interests of users.
Canonical is busy preparing Unity 8 and all the rest that will follow the 16.04 LTS release, which looks to be very nice and also the last of the Compiz-based Unity's.
So, it makes sense for Canonical not to artificially add whizzbang gimmickry to 15.10, especially since people who decry the lack of new features in this release would simply turn around and bash Canonical for adding the new stuff.
36 • Home computers (by fox on 2015-11-02 11:50:02 GMT from North America)
My five computers in the home are partly the result of my transitioning from Mac to Linux; something I have been doing slowly and carefully for the last three years. My rigs:
Desktop 1: iMac running MacOSX Yosemite. This is the "home" computer used mostly by my wife.
Desktop 2: Mac mini running MacOSX El Capitan. I am a beta tester of this for Apple.
Desktop 3: Mac mini dual boot Ubuntu 15.10 and Yosemite. This is my transition computer, and I am doing more and more of my work on Ubuntu.
Laptop 1: Acer Timeline 1810tz running Ubuntu 14.04, Crunching Plus Plus, openSUSE 13.2 and Windows 10. This is the one I use to try out new distros.
Laptop 2: Toshiba Satellite z830 running Ubuntu 14.04 and Windows 7. Intended as a replacement for my MacBook Air (kept at work) when I fully transition, my successes with the Mac mini now have me thinking that when I'm ready, I'll just put Ubuntu onto the better quality MacBook Air.
Incidentally, upgrading from Ubuntu 15.04 to 15.10 on my Mac mini did give me one very tangible benefit - wireless now reconnects automatically when I wake the computer. In 15.04, the only way I could get the wireless back was to "connect to a hidden network".
37 • Finally No Windows (by John on 2015-11-02 12:52:08 GMT from North America)
Now enjoying a completely Windows free home.
I have 2 laptops running Elementary OS
Wife has a laptop running Elementary OS
Shared laptop in living room for playing music etc... running Elementary OS
1 old Macbook running OSX
Don't miss Windows at all :-)
38 • Number of Computers (by John Wilson on 2015-11-02 13:13:32 GMT from Europe)
As my main PC gets quite a hammering I have several backup machines. It is not unusual for ATX power supplies to die immediately after the warranty period ends (I suspect they are designed to expire after a certain period of time). I also have a laptop which I carry about.
Everything (except a tablet with Android) runs Debian 8.1 which is stable and capable. I used to have Slackware on everything - but that distro seems to be less of a contender and more of a niche operating system now. I did love it though!
39 • @12: Fairly Reticent: (by dragonmouth on 2015-11-02 13:15:36 GMT from North America)
And sometimes the idea is to make superficial changes just to make changes and be able to claim that the latest version is New and Improved.
40 • # of computers (by Karl Mueller on 2015-11-02 13:27:09 GMT from North America)
Had to think about this one. I guess I'm an addict. I like to build/rebuild, and sometimes people bring me machines. Sometimes I give them away, too. Anyway, counting the 3 Android tablets (a Nook HD, Ematics 7-inch quad core that I got from Walmart for $40, and a 32GB HP Touchpad running WebOS and ported to Android in a dual boot) I have 12. Of the 9 non-Android machines, 4 are laptops, 2 running Windows 10 Pro, 1 running Mageia, and 1 running PCLinuxOS. The desktops run Windows 7 Home, Windows 7 Pro, Windows 10 Home, a machine on the Windows Insider Program running the latest beta of Windows 10, and another currently running the latest Sabayon release. Hardware is mostly AMD in the desktops, with 2 APU hybrid boxes (both Windows since that stuff doesn't work as well in Linux), and the laptops are all Intel powered. Since I either built or rebuilt every one of them, they're like my family. Would you sell your kids? Exactly. Sometimes I let one of my boxes get "adopted", but you'd better show some parenting skills to get one...
41 • computers (by pcninja on 2015-11-02 13:31:02 GMT from North America)
I only have 1 5/6-year old budget Acer laptop and one partially build Pentium G desktop.
42 • No Windows soon no Ubuntu based distro (by herold on 2015-11-02 13:46:40 GMT from Europe)
Ubuntu: actually worked out-of-the-box without hours of fiddling and fixing things up.
Sorry in my experience only after it got a decent desktop choice and was fixed by Mint team.
My home has 5 Computers running. I tried several times and editions Ubuntu installed on only one without trouble, hogged memory and a very ugly desktop as delivered.
I am moving from Mint on Ubuntu base to LMDE, less bloat and faster. Debian Edition in the name which I feel is much fairer to the guys at Debian who built the base system on top of which Ububntu trys to tell the world it invented the first great linux.
No way there are are a lot of great variations built on the Linux Kernel.
43 • Opinion poll Issue No.634 (by Jiri on 2015-11-02 13:57:28 GMT from Europe)
Main desktop: i7-5820K, 64GB RAM, 2x 480 SSD, 2x 3TB WD. OS = Win7/Oracle Linux 6.7/VMware ESXi Free. Main purpose = database server (DB2), virtualization (Scientific Linux, OpenSUSE, Manjaro)
Main laptop: i7-2720QM, 16GB RAM, 1x 480 SSD. OS = Linux Mint (Cinnamon). Main purpose = programming (Python), databases (DB2, Firebird, MySQL, PostgreSQL)
Additional laptop: i7-4600U, 8GB RAM, 1x 256 SSD. OS = Manjaro 15.09 (xfce). Main purpose = programming (Python), databases playing, book writing (LyX)
44 • Computers in the house. (by Harry on 2015-11-02 14:15:41 GMT from North America)
Main is running Mint 17.2, Peppermint 6, win 10 (For games only)
Second runs Mint 17.2, Peppermint 5, PCLOS, win 10( again for games only.)
Third runs Mint 17.2, Peppermint 6, win 10(Quicken)
Laptop Peppermint, 17.2, Peppermint 6.
Fifth runs win 98 for older games.
Have a total of 29 computers currently in the house. Oldest is a Commodore Vic-20, from 1981. All work but 2.
45 • Ubuntu review (by Paraquat on 2015-11-02 14:23:13 GMT from Asia)
Jesse was far too kind to Ubuntu. Version 15.10 completes the process of shoving systemd down everyone's throats - that's its main feature.
Once my favorite distro, but now I don't even want to hear about Ubuntu. Sad.
46 • Number of home computers (by lee on 2015-11-02 15:10:20 GMT from North America)
I sort my devices by screen:
Wall
Mint-MATE to TV
Desktop
Mint-MATE
Windows 10
Lap
Windows 10
iOS 4
Android K
Hand
iOS 9
I lack any wrist screens like Apple Watch or head screens like Goggle Glass or VR.
As a senior, I spend a lot of my time in my recliner, a mouse on the armrest,
8 feet from my TV connected to an old dell running Linux. (MATE or Gnome 2)
We have two tablets: an iPad 1 and a Samsung 7in.
Some day my 10in touch screen laptop will have its Win 10 replaced with a Linux.
All of our devices including the wife's iPhone were acquired as used or recycled.
47 • Computer's in the house (by Ralph DeWitt-Golden on 2015-11-02 15:12:39 GMT from North America)
Computer #1 is my main machine running Manjaro
Computer #2 is my spouse's machine running latest Opensuse
Computer #3 is a spare laptop running Manjaro as a test machine
Computer #4 is a no longer used windows machine, it was hooked up to a Yamaha keyboard but is now decommissioned.
Computer #5 is a old windows 98 machine that ran a few old must have windows submarine simulator games. This machine is also now decommissioned.
48 • Opinion Poll (by Michael J King on 2015-11-02 15:14:18 GMT from Europe)
My main laptop dies last year so my Hard drive that has an install of Xubuntu 15.05 lives in a hard drive caddy between my wife's windows machine and my Dell Chromebook 11, I Boot the Chromebook into Xubuntu to edit videos in openshot, work in Gimp etc, I have an assortment of USB drives with live versions of Peppermint OS, Linuxmint mate and Puppy linux that get used at different times.
49 • Number of computers (by David on 2015-11-02 16:14:33 GMT from Europe)
Desktop (home built) running CentOS with Gnome 2, Laptop (IBM Thinkpad) running Salix with Xfce, and first-month-of-issue Spectrum as an ornament.
50 • My computer equipment (by Junkman51 on 2015-11-02 17:03:30 GMT from North America)
For 4 1/2 years my main computer was a SONY Vaio laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium on the hard drive and various Linux distros on a flash drive.
A month or 2 ago, it died and the replacement is a Lenovo Thinkpad W541 with a core i7 processor, 256 gigabyte SSD, 16 gigabytes of RAM (with room for 16 more), running Windows 7 Professional on the SSD and on a flash drive Irun the Linux flavor of the moment, currently Peppermint 6. This is my main computer.
The main desktop is used mostly by my wife for church related publications, a custom built Windows 8.1 computer with Asus motherboard, i7 processor, 120 GB SSD, 1 terabyte spinning HD, 16 gigs of RAM (with room for 16 more).
My 2nd desktop is an HP Pavilion "Junkenstein monster" with an AMD Phenom quad core processor, 4 gigs of RAM, a 400 gigabyte hard drive, and old NVIDEA video card, running my Linux flavor of the moment, currently Peppermint 6.
I also have 2 android devices, a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite and a Samsung Rugby smart phone.
In my computer boneyard I have about 6 laptops and about 12 desktops for parts/rebuilding as Linux machines for people who need a computer.
51 • Opinion Poll (by Edwardcr on 2015-11-02 17:03:56 GMT from North America)
My friends and family know that I like to play around with computers, so from time to time they give me computers that they have stopped using due to various problems, and I fix them up, keep some, and give away others. The only computers on this list that I have bought are my wife and my primary computers.
My primary laptop, Dell Precision, Linux Mint Xfce 17.2, Linux Mint Kde 17, Windows 7
My hobby desktop, Dell Optiplex 755, Linux Mint Xfce 17.2, Windows 7
My old primary desktop, custom built, Linux Mint Xfce 13, Windows xp
Wife's laptop, Lenovo Yoga, Windows 8.1
Wife's old laptop, now my hobby laptop, Dell D630, Linux Mint Cinnamon 17, Windows 7
Media center laptop, Dell XPS, Linux Mint Xfce 17, Windows 7
Print server laptop, Dell D610, Windows xp
Older son's laptop, Dell XPS, Linux Mint Xfce 17, Windows 7
Younger son's laptop, Dell XPS, Linux Mint Xfce 17, Windows 7
General purpose laptop, Dell E1505, Linux Mint Xfce 17.2, Windows Vista
52 • One Home Computer Running Ubuntu & Debian (by Muthu on 2015-11-02 17:17:03 GMT from Asia)
My Desktop is a home built one running Sparky Linux with KDE(Latest Plasma Version) and Voyager X2 with XFCE(Ubuntu Latest LTS Verson). I Use Sparky Linux(Debian) and My Wife love to Use Voyager X2(Ubuntu).
53 • opinion poll (by hotdiggettydog on 2015-11-02 18:08:38 GMT from North America)
I have a desktop and five laptops.
Desktop runs Mint 17 as host OS. Four Vbox OS which are; Peppermint, Lite, Bsd, and the new buntu Mate. Most of my work is done on Peppermint. Lite is locked down for business activity only. Buntu Mate seems quite nice and fast as well.
Newer laptops are running Peppermint. There is an older Mint Xfce and buntu Xfce in the mix and a netbook running buntu lxde.
I've given away two laptops. Oldest ran Pclos. The other had obscure display hardware and ran HandyLinux well.
54 • Um, do I have computers, yes, I have computers (by Charles Marslett on 2015-11-02 18:26:32 GMT from North America)
My PCs range from an old Tektronix 7th edition development system, two 8-bit Atari computers and a Z80 CP/M box to 4 Intel customer reference boards to 2 21st century servers, a MacBook Pro, 3 Dell Latitude laptops and an HP laptop.
I hope it is unnecessary to say I have been developing software for several decades!
55 • opinion poll (by Tim Dowd on 2015-11-02 19:06:03 GMT from North America)
I have 4 computers currently.
For my home network I tend to buy used Dell optiplexes that have been pulled from enterprise use. You can get them for 40-80 dollars off ebay and if you throw a GPU in there you've got a great home computer.
Our media center has a Core Duo and is running Debian testing with MATE.
I have an old Pentium 4 that usually is running Debian testing but it's currently got FreeBSD 10.2 on it. This is obviously a quite resource limited computer and I've been really happy with how FreeBSD is handling MATE. I was initially just playing around with it but I'm going to stick with FreeBSD a while. It is mostly for web browsing and word processing.
I don't have a toaster running NetBSD but I do have an iMac G4 that sits next to my toaster and displays recipes while I'm cooking. It's running NetBSD 6.15 and XFCE. The gooseneck monitor is pretty awesome on a kitchen counter. I get around the fact it's so limited in resources by tunneling X over ssh and actually running most programs on one of the other computers.
I have a Raspberry Pi Model B that's just sitting around right now. I'm planning on it being in my kid's room and streaming videos via Kodi from the media center.
That's it. I have two classroom laptops that run Ubuntu MATE 15.10 and they're sometimes home getting upgraded or doing schoolwork at home. My wife has a laptop running OSX and it's home a lot. We use Banshee on the media center and open it via X over ssh on all of these computers.
On the topic of Ubuntu, I have to agree with those who are defending 15.10. Part of the reason for "stagnation" is that Linux desktop software is getting really mature and doesn't really need to have big changes. A couple of exceptions are LibreOffice 5 and Kodi. As someone pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago on this forum, Libre Office's graphing capabilities now equal Excel's. Kodi seems to keep improving rapidly as well. So upgrades from 15.04 to 15.10 give access to some software that really is getting a lot better.
Ubuntu is not my first choice, but it does play a role in the FOSS world and that is that once set up it can be entirely kept up to date via GUI tools, including upgrading to the next release. That's why its a great choice for spreading Linux to people that wouldn't try it on their own. I can get Ubuntu MATE set up on an old computer for them and there's nothing to keep them from running it indefinitely. I expect these laptops to eventually go to other teachers and that's why they're running Ubuntu- it means I won't have to intervene once they leave my room.
56 • Stand up and be counted (by Microlinux on 2015-11-02 19:15:54 GMT from Europe)
Ten computers here (server, workstation, desktops, laptops), all running either MLES or MLED.
57 • So many computers... (by Stuart Gibson on 2015-11-02 20:37:45 GMT from Europe)
1x custom desktop Core2quad 8Gb ram 4TB HDD, Windows 7 x64 Ultimate / PC-BSD / ubuntu
1x custom laptop Core i7 32Gb ram 1x 1TB SSD, 1x 2TB SSD, Windows 7 x64 Pro.
1x Thinkpad X61 Core2duo 4Gb ram 500Gb HDD Windows XP Pro / Arch LInux
1x Thinkpad T61P Core2duo 8Gb ram 500Gb HDD Windows 7 x64 Pro / Linux Mint
1x Thinkpad X220 Tablet Core i5 16Gb ram Windows 7 x64 Pro / Linux Mint
1x Thinkpad X220 laptop Core i5 8Gb ram / Dragonfly / Debian / Slackware
58 • @1 Again with the opinion poll (by Marti on 2015-11-02 21:08:23 GMT from North America)
Someday I want to be a REAL user...with Frugalware or Sabayon. Don't know if I'll ever see it.
59 • Ubuntu Review (by Tom on 2015-11-02 21:17:24 GMT from Europe)
Yes, stability and reliability are important, but I remember a time when every new Ubuntu release had something exciting with it. Following was a time with controversial changes such as the Amazon lens (which still is active by default in 15.10, despite promised otherwise). Meanwhile, it seems like the desktop has taken backseat while everybody at Canonical is working on mobile and Unity 8 which keeps being postponed on the desktop release after release. It's about time for something exciting again!
60 • opinion poll (by hotdiggettydog on 2015-11-02 21:38:13 GMT from North America)
Desktop with Mint 17 as host OS. 4 vbox OS - Peppermint, Lite, Bsd, and Ubuntu Mate. Most everything is done on Peppermint and the new buntu mate is crisp.
Various laptops running Peppermint mostly. There is an old Mint xfce and buntu xfce in the mix on old machines.
I moved to buntu based OS for the long term releases and the relatively painless upgrades and updates. Not too mention the availability of more software.
61 • # of computers (by Ken on 2015-11-03 00:48:51 GMT from North America)
11 operational systems here including 3 laptops. All but 2 are multi-boot with Linux and various flavors of Winders.
The one in my shop that I'm on now has XP, x64 XP, x64 Vista, x64 7, x64 Ubuntu 14.04.2, x64 Mint 17.2 and x64 Win 10 Pro.
So you might say that I'm a full fledged geek that also loves Hot Rods (my website)
62 • home computers (by jamie turnage on 2015-11-03 00:53:50 GMT from North America)
i have 5 computers 3 are laptops one laptop is a hp 8440p the other laptop is a hp 2000 and the desktop amd a-10 with ubuntu 15.10 runs great i have a laptop its a hp ze4547 it cant run modern linux can linux people make a modern linux for this laptop i been using linux since it came out oh i wish ubuntu 15.10 was a lts i have a mirrus desktop old getting hard to run modern linux thank you
63 • Computers bought from pawnshops (by Tran Older on 2015-11-03 04:04:38 GMT from Asia)
1. A Road Apple running modified Debian Linux
2. A x86 Webtop dual-booted into Haiku and Icaros. Curiously enough, both non-Linux OS rarely crashed inspite of being at Beta stage.
3. An Atom laptop dual-booted Bodhi Linux and Cinnarch. I have tried to install Cinnamon on the latest Antergos but that's not working, so far.
And I have kept the original Walnut Creek and Iggdrasil CDs in very safe place, just in case of a Martian/Uranian/Plutonian invation ;-)
64 • number of computers (by Hoos on 2015-11-03 09:05:31 GMT from Asia)
I see that there are lots of mentions of Linux Mint.
4 computers here, plus a few tablets.
1. main PC - multibooting more than 10 distros, but when I need to concentrate and get work done, I tend to gravitate to Mint Cinnamon 17.2, MX14, Manjaro.
2. laptop - multibooting a few distros (Windows 7 partition retained but hasn't been accessed for a long time)
3. old netbook - MX14
4. oldish iMac
Tablets - all family members use Android except my mother (iPad).
This household is almost completely Windows-free.
65 • # of computers & the real problem with Ubuntu (by M.Z. on 2015-11-03 18:16:27 GMT from North America)
I'm running 4 main computers -
1) an old 32 bit PC set up as firewall system running pfSense
2) another old 32 bit system used as a back up running Mint Debian Mate & Mageia XFCE
3) my main desktop with PCLOS & an unused copy of Windows
4) my laptop with Mint 17.x KDE, Mageia KDE, & LMDE Cinnamon
@45 - the real problem with Ubuntu
I get that there are some controversial aspects to systemd, but I don't get how it was ever half as important to any Ubuntu user as the spyware in Unity. I really don't see how init is any more than a minor background issue for 90%+ of Linux Desktop users, but privacy is something that all users should demand. It currently looks like Ubuntu is still shipping with spyware enable by default in their flagship version & not much has changed with regard to how this is acknowledged. I would also note that neither of the reviews I've read so far say anything about a real fix for the spyware 'feature'. The Ubuntu team are still shipping something that will compromise the privacy of unaware users & this a serious issue directly affecting many users. Most users probably won't even notice systemd, but those who care about those sort of technical details have plenty of information upon which to make an informed decision thanks to the release notes; however, unaware users are still being served spyware by default with no direct acknowledgement.
The fact is that canonical is benefiting financially from distributing spyware & is acting in a deeply unethical manor. This is the issue that should be fixed & the one far more likely to be shoved 'down the throats' of unaware users who can & should care about their privacy. If you care about technical details like systemd read the release notes & switch to PCLOS of some other distros if you want to, but it seems fairly minor to me. On the other hand if you care at all about your privacy you should stop using anything branded by Ubuntu, because they are profiting from shipping spyware & making endless delays in their so called 'fix' for this situation. I think Canonical have tainted the Ubuntu brand for all users who care about privacy & know of Canonical's corporate practices. Given how much good had Ubuntu had done for Linux on the desktop I think their continued use of spyware is the truly sad situation here.
66 • tainted brand (by Tim Dowd on 2015-11-03 19:07:37 GMT from North America)
@ 65
I agree nearly 100% with your analysis of all this stuff.
I only have one small disagreement, and that's about the Ubuntu brand.
I stopped using Ubuntu over the spyware. I don't think that this taints Ubuntu MATE, or Xubuntu, or any of the others. Surely if there were any other "phone home" stuff people would have found it. The community supported distros don't have the spyware and certainly aren't any worse choices than the derivatives that use the Ubuntu base.
67 • Poll & Ubuntu (by Sam on 2015-11-03 20:00:37 GMT from North America)
Ubuntu: so what is the answer rather than pushing out "boring" releases every 6 months which could, potentially, introduce bugs or other hiccups for upgrading users? A rolling release model? Point releases with major updates every few months? An old-school Windows or Apple release schedule where a new release comes only when Canonical is introducing significant changes?
Poll: Right now:
Daily use: 2015 Macbook Pro Retina 13"
Daily use: Microsoft Surface 3
Occasional Use: Lenovo Flex 3 dual booting Windows 10 and Mint.
68 • Ubuntu and systemd (by nolinuxguru on 2015-11-03 20:18:56 GMT from Europe)
@65 I get that you were upset at discovering that Ubuntu Inc were spying on their users, but at least you got the option of switching to any other non-Ubuntu distro, of which were are many.
The situation with systemd and Debian is that systemd has infected almost all of the major distros, leaving just Slackware and Gentoo. I really liked Debian and still cannot find a replacement that I can get along with [and I have tried many, including "PCLOS"].
I am sure that many will use Debian 8 or the other systemd distros, oblivious of the 550,000 lines of relatively new code under the bonnet [hood]. But my skin crawled at the prospect.
69 • Poll (by Jordan on 2015-11-03 20:45:19 GMT from North America)
Just two machines now. The third one, the oldest, died. Yeah it died. The screen gradually went dark on brightest setting. Fixed it once and then the fan burned out. Loved that old HP. I'm blaming Fiorina, though.
It had Mint 17 on it.
Now it's this newer HP with Windows 10. No plans to replace the OS, but I do plan to get another laptop for Linux.
Other machine is Windows 10 also. It will remain Windows also.
70 • @66 car analogy (by M.Z. on 2015-11-03 21:21:52 GMT from North America)
Thanks, & I have to admit that I don't like the idea of guilt by association nor do I want to falsely claim that there is spyware in the non Unity versions of Ubuntu, but let me make a car analogy. If I'm mad about VW & their very intentional efforts to cheat on emissions tests with their diesel cars, what sense would it make to go buy a new Jetta/Beetle etc. right now because 'it's the gas powered version so why does it matter?'. Wouldn't buying such a vehicle, or one of their Audi luxury cars for that matter, be giving direct support to an organization I'm supposedly mad at? I'll admit that there isn't the direct financial link with using a distro that there is with buying a car, but isn't using any version of Ubuntu showing some form of support to Ubuntu?
Why not switch to something else from a more ethical source if you don't like what has happened to the main edition of Ubuntu? I don't think Linux users are in any way lacking for good alternatives to Ubuntu branded distros & I think it makes pragmatic sense to switch if you care about your privacy. This is doubly true if you stop using Ubuntu & tell Canonical why & it goes triple if there is any negative impact on the rate of Ubuntu downloads. If enough users demand change we may eventually receive it.
71 • glad to have gotten rid of my vw (by Tim Dowd on 2015-11-03 21:51:32 GMT from North America)
@ 70
I do see your point. My understanding of the Ubuntu respins are that they are independent distros that use the Ubuntu base. If I recall correctly leadership decisions are fairly independent- so much so that I think the Kubuntu people are fighting a lot with Canonical these days.
There are a lot of good distros out there, but what makes Ubuntu Mate worth sticking up for (at least to me) is that it really does just work. I might have to do a little work in dpkg or CUPS setting up a computer for a friend, but after that they don't need to know anything about Unix, ever. That's not ideal but it at least has given people more freedom.
@68
I don't think systemd needs to be purged from everything (I think Debian Stretch, currently in testing, is the finest operating system I've ever used) but there are some other good choices too. FreeBSD isn't hard to get going on the desktop, and there was just a positive review of GhostBSD here as well. There's still plenty of good choice.
72 • Purge systemd? (by nolinuxguru on 2015-11-03 22:39:58 GMT from Europe)
@71 I wouldn't dream of purging systemd from Debian 8 or any of the others. I just dislike the way things are going with Linux. It will not be long before distros like PCLinuxOS and Slackware can no longer use many of the packages that make systemd a hard dependency. As much as I admire the BSDs from afar, it is just a matter of time until they too are affected.
73 • Fedora 23 64 bit download (by Chris Hoyt on 2015-11-04 00:11:07 GMT from North America)
I've downloaded Fedora 23 64 bit Workstation (Gnome), both Live and Net Install.
The live disk wouldn't burn. Brasero failed at 25 %. Net Install burned successfully, but wouldn't boot. "Errors on disk".
The 32 bit version, Live, Workstation (Gnome). Worked just fine. I've installed it on two computers.
Chris
74 • Opinion Poll-Number of computers at home (by Brandon Huber on 2015-11-04 00:14:52 GMT from North America)
1 Desktop - (PC: AMD 6 Core) Fedora 22
#1 Laptop - (Dell: i7) Fedora 20 Gnome,Kde,Cinnamon: Soon to be Fedora 23
#2 Laptop - (Lenovo: Core 2 Dual) Fedora 20 Xfce: Soon to be Fedora 23
#3 Laptop - (Toshiba: AMD Dual Core) Win 7 Home: Soon to be Mint Cinnamon 17.02
#4 Laptop - (Lenovo: i7) Win 8.1 Home
#5 Laptop (Dell: i7)- Win 7 Pro: Soon to dual boot with Ubuntu 15.10
#6 Laptop (Gateway: Intel Dual-Core) - Zentyal 3.0-1
+ Younger brother laptop Fedora 20 Gnome,Cinnamon
+ Tablet running Android 3.0 with Ubuntu 14.04
There is some upgrades to do around here when I get laid-off this fall.
75 • Opinion Poll (by cykodrone on 2015-11-04 00:14:57 GMT from North America)
Hmm, I have 3 operating system drives, a main/daily OS SSD, a backup OS SSD and a 'tester' HDD, all in the same machine. I also have 2 the same size HDDs for storage, which are mirrored with luckyBackup. That's FIVE drives, one computer, which I chose in the poll. I used to be a hardware junky and had multiple machines and boxes of parts, but I got sick of it, everything in one case is fine by me, I have a power supply that can handle all I can throw at it.
76 • Fedora (by Chris Hoyt on 2015-11-04 06:21:38 GMT from North America)
What happened to Adam Williamson, the Fedora employee? He used to respond to comments about Fedora on this page.
Chris
77 • Debian & systemd & distros (by zcatav on 2015-11-04 08:12:47 GMT from Europe)
I love Debian, I choose Debian.
Debian provides more than a pure OS: it comes with over 43000 packages, precompiled software bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine.
I don't love systemd. Main obstacle is absent packages in other distros. Even if Debian GNU/kFreBSD hasn't all of packages that I need them.
IMHO Only antiX may be an alternative.
78 • #72 (by jadecat09 on 2015-11-04 08:30:02 GMT from Europe)
The BSDs may be getting Launchd.
79 • @73 Fedora (by kc1di on 2015-11-04 09:23:17 GMT from North America)
Hi Chris,
Downloade 64 bit mate spin of fedora 23 here and all went well install just fine. -- So far looks pretty good. but will test more as time goes on. Now to get rpmfusion to cooperate.
80 • chakra based not on arch (by tom on 2015-11-04 10:08:31 GMT from Europe)
salve,
chakra is indipendent for some years and based not on arch any more.
81 • Number of computers (by Voncloft on 2015-11-04 11:52:24 GMT from North America)
I have a "Pizza box" server - its at home and it is a PC so it counts lol.
16 GB of ram
2 dual core ATOM CPU's
Anyway it is a Gentoo Router (I programmed it from the ground up),firewall,NAS,DNS server,Virtual Machine Server, Apache Webserver, RSYNC server (for my other Gentoo boxes),torrent grabber (flexget script gets all my tv shows so I don't have to do a search everyday manually, then puts the torrents in a folder, and Deluge 'watches' the folder and downloads immediately), a Radio Website (subsonic) - all rolled into one and more things I can't think to list at the moment.
Also have a laptop
Gentoo and Windows Dualboot
Nothing Special
And a Desktop:
32 GB of ram
i7 Core processor (2.8 GHz)
2 TB hdd
4 GB VRAM Nvidia Card - might dual in the future.
Gentoo and Windows
82 • computers (by Kazlu on 2015-11-04 14:54:22 GMT from Europe)
Running computers:
- a fairly recent and fairly good desktop PC for entertainment (watching videos, video editing, websurfing from my couch) connected to my TV and controlled by wireless keyboard and mouse. Running Ubuntu Studio 15.04 with MATE desktop. This computer came preinstalled with Windows 8.1 but I only booted once by mistake, when I had not found yet the correct button to access EFI and disable fastboot...
- an 8 years old laptop (core2duo and 2GB RAM) for work and backup. Running on Debian Wheezy.
- a 3 years old netbook for when I am on the move. Running Linux Mint MATE 17.1 as a backup and on which I am testing Mageia 5 Xfce. Great distro so far by the way, I might make it my default OS.
- considering the build of a home server. I have not decided yet to go for a Raspberry Pi or for a second hand netbook that I could get for peanuts. Will have Raspbian or Mageia probably.
- oh and I could count my old PIII computer with 512MB RAM that I keep running with Lubuntu 14.04 for now. I don't use it any longer but I want to see what I can still run with such an old machine. It still works so I want to keep it running.
I have no tablet, I am much better off with my much much more flexible netbook despite its poor performance. I would feel so limited with a tablet...
83 • netbook (by Tim Dowd on 2015-11-04 18:53:43 GMT from North America)
@82
I'm with you on netbooks. I busted mine last year and I really miss it. The idea of a flexible tiny useful laptop was a great idea. The reason the public hated them was most of them shipped with Windows 7 Starter which made them bad.Once they got some Linux distro they were great.
84 • @83 netbooks (by Kazlu on 2015-11-05 11:57:23 GMT from Europe)
Yes indeed. To be honest, mine was shipped with Ubuntu 12.04 preinstalled and it was not a good OS choice either. I suppose the idea was to remove the cost of a Windows licence to have a very low cost computer, but Unity on Atom CPU... It has always been very laggy, from day one. Simply throwing Xfce of LXDE desktop instead made the computer decent, sadly if you don't know that I can see why some consider the computer is crap, or worse, that Linux in its entirety is crap if it's their first Linux experience... Even with a lightweight desktop, the computer does not become a fast one, but the performance gets decent and you still benefit from the very low power consumption of the Atom CPU, which means the computer has a very long battery life (claimed 11 hours, in practice I can get 6-7 hours still today with activities such as desktop work, websurfing and watching video). All in all, I am very satisfied with it.
85 • systemd vs spyware (by M.Z. on 2015-11-05 19:14:31 GMT from North America)
@68
You seem to be missing a main point as per my previous comment- "compromise the privacy of unaware users", with emphasis on the unaware part. I was never into Ubuntu all that much to begin with & I've generally used multiple distros interchangeably so a problem in one won't affect me. My issue is with the repeated attacks against the privacy of less informed new users that are a key target of Ubuntu. When the Ubuntu folks were acting ethically their efforts at expanding the Linux user base were very commendable, but now targeting less aware new users feels a bit predatory to me. If & when such new users find out those that care about privacy may well feel violated & turn away from Linux completely, because if you can't trust one of the biggest names in desktop Linux which version can you trust? From what I know virtually all big names in the Linux word are far more trustworthy, but violated users may well turn away from Linux completely & Canonical's lack of ethics will have damaged the reputation of Linux permanently with such users. I know more than I want to about systemd & still don't care, but if Ubuntu damages the reputation of Linux that is a real issue for me.
86 • spyware and s... (by nolinuxguru on 2015-11-05 23:21:51 GMT from Europe)
@85 I did not miss the point of what you are saying re: spyware, and I agree with you that if users were aware of it then they could be put off Linux completely and walk away in disgust. However, this Ubuntu spying has been going on and known about for years. The numbers of Ubuntu users has not reduced much in the years when I have kept an eye on distro-watch [it has always been in the top three]. I do not know if the numbers discovering Ubuntu is balanced by those walking away in disgust, or if people remain unaware the spying. Perhaps Ubuntu attracts people to Linux in the first place and then, for whatever reason, they migrate to other distros. I don't know. Perhaps this would be a valuable question to ask in a Poll.
On a wider issue, there is a need for easy-to-use tools for monitoring whether web sites or malware are "phoning home". Programs like Wireshark etc are not at all user friendly. I think most users will be equipped by their distro with a simple firewall [eg gufw], but don't know how they could be made of information leaking from their browser. I have to go away and think about this.
See, I didn't mention the s-word in my reply!
87 • Number of computers (by Karl on 2015-11-06 06:57:51 GMT from North America)
I have a few old pcs for parts, a work station in my son's room, a laptop my wife pays bills on, a pc for testing distros (and just general abuse) and then my pride and joy connected to the tv in the living room.
88 • bet you don't have one of these (by gnomic on 2015-11-06 07:33:03 GMT from Oceania)
Anyone else out there with a PowerBook 3400? Running one of the last versions of the late lamented SuSE PPC. Just asking :-) A museum piece now but in the early years of the century could still bring in email and even browse the web as it was then.
"The PowerBook 3400c, running a PowerPC 603e processor at 180 to -240 MHz, was designed as a no compromise laptop and was billed as the world’s fastest notebook computer when it was introduced in early 1997."
http://lowendmac.com/1997/powerbook-3400c/
89 • boxen (by rss on 2015-11-07 08:26:52 GMT from North America)
1 mac mini OS X (wife's)
1 mac mini Xubuntu 14.04 (mine)
1 mac mini Mint 17.1 fileserver/ XP + MS Office 10 host
1 mac mini not in use / parts
1 mac G5 Ubuntu 12.04 backup webserver
1 PIII Ubuntu 12.04 web server
1 PII 486 firewall IPcop (soon to be pfsense)
1 PIII backup firewall IPcop
1 PIII parts
1 ancient laptop LXDE network troubleshooting etc.
Full cisco IOS lab (5 or 6 routers, switches, etc.)
various hubs, mobile phones
1 ex sysadmin
90 • @77 Debian package (by linuxista on 2015-11-08 03:00:51 GMT from North America)
In my experience Arch/Manjaro has the most available packages. More than Ubuntu even with the ppas, and more than Debian. For example, Sigil, a great ebook editor, was unavailable for Debian until this year, but you could get it for Ubuntu through a ppa or just normally as a binary in the Arch repos. As it seems important to you, Manjaro also has a non-Systemd OpenRC version.
91 • Manjaro-OpenRC and s.. (by nolinuxguru on 2015-11-08 11:07:56 GMT from Europe)
@90 and others: has anyone actually tried Manjaro-OpenRC? I don't mean in VirtualBox, but on an actual computer. Maybe I was unlucky, but on my computer, it froze for a few seconds every 20s or so. Very disconcerting when typing and nothing comes out.
I have tried all the distros trotted out as places that Debian refugees can go to if they don't want to use systemd, and they all have things wrong [perhaps not in the same league as Manjaro-OpenRC]; reasons I chose Debian in the first place, until it became infected.
92 • 77 • 90 • 91 ••• Treading water (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2015-11-08 13:48:27 GMT from North America)
"…they all have things wrong…" - a common way to sabotage opposition is to soak up and dissipate resources, keep discontent stirred up, and accomplish as little as absolutely necessary, right?
An infection like creeping dependency-accretion or persistent foundation-breakage isn't easy to eradicate. It's usually fed by a strong motivation like greed. Perhaps you should consider the level of support available, and pitch in (assist development with bug reporting and diagnosis) and encourage someone in your preferred direction?
A wheel that doesn't squeak gets no grease. If you have the energy to complain, why not do it where it will help?
93 • treading water (by nolinuxguru on 2015-11-08 21:29:46 GMT from Europe)
@92 I did not intend to cause offense by my comments. I must learn to think more, say less.
94 • treading water (by nolinuxguru on 2015-11-08 22:05:15 GMT from Europe)
@92 I thought this was a place for the exchange of views. The development of ideas, plans for future projects and even lowly bug reporting happen can and do happen elsewhere.
However, my sadness at the way Linux is going cannot be solved by the sticking plaster of bug reports. The rock that was lifted by the Debian 8 adventure revealed something rather smelly. We have become dependent on projects that are funded and run by large corporations that do whatever they want. The illusion of many many independent distros may be short-lived. Perhaps the time has come for a radical rethink of the way software is created. Even with projects like suckless.org pushing at the boundaries, we are still stuck with a linux kernel that is 15-20 million lines of code; more than 1000x bigger than the first version.
95 • @91 Manjaro Open-RC (by linuxista on 2015-11-09 00:04:48 GMT from North America)
I'm afraid I haven't, as I prefer Systemd. All I can say is in general the distro is very actively developed and very high quality. You might want to wait for the next release if the current OpenRC version is buggy. Chances are good they'll have it worked out shortly.
Number of Comments: 95
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| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Ubuntu GNOME
Ubuntu GNOME (formerly Ubuntu GNOME Remix) was an official flavor of Ubuntu, featuring the GNOME desktop environment. It was intended as a mostly pure GNOME desktop experience built from the Ubuntu repositories. As of mid-2017, the Ubuntu GNOME project no longer releases new versions. The main Ubuntu flavour defaults to using the GNOME desktop. Older Ubuntu GNOME releases are still maintained.
Status: Discontinued
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Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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