Update: A Month With Ubuntu To Commence
by Ryan Smith on February 15, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Ryan's Ramblings
As I discussed in my last blog post, some time in the near future we will be doing a month-long review on Ubuntu to see if it's ready & capable as serving as my main desktop OS. After soliciting your feedback on the matter (and we really are amazed at the feedback; 131 comments) we have decided to go ahead and immediately start the process with Ubuntu 7.10, rather than waiting a few months for the 8.04 release. We appreciate the feedback and a lot of good arguments were made on both sides, but we've decided we want to bring this review to you sooner than later. We'll take a look at 8.04 separately when it ships. Expect at least a couple of blog posts related to the review throughout the next month.
For those of you seeking more Linux-focused articles, we'll also be fulfilling your wishes in the near future. Along with our month-long look at Ubuntu, we'll be bringing out some other articles. We'll have more to talk about this once the first of these articles are ready.
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rudolphna - Sunday, February 24, 2008 - link
good luck anand. i just installed Feisty Fawn today on a 20GB partition, and i have spent the entire time on ubuntuforums trying to set up my wireless network card drivers, and graphics card drivers so that i would have 1280x 1024 resNiteowler - Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - link
I really hope the Anandtech's Ubuntu article is posted from a point that a newb may approach linux. Until linux becomes good enough that new people can use it or understand it, it probably won't catch on. Ubuntu won't work for me no matter what version I tried because of some sort of dma mounting problem. I spent countless hours in forums reading and asking questions to no avail. Finally tried Mandriva spring 2007 and things are better. Learning how to set up hard drives and do command lines can be tough for a newbie. I honestly believe that linux is reserved for people who are a little more on the computer knowledable side. I don't think that fact will ever change. I'm glad I took the time to learn it, but then again, a lot of people don't have the time or have that kind of patience.osteopath - Thursday, February 21, 2008 - link
"other" is a little to distant. I have several setups for different needs ie storage, movies, gaming, writing, internet, kids, and a couple other oldies. Tired of Vista, Viruses and Volish deceptions I converted my internet rig to Ubuntu 7.10 about 6 weeks ago. It is working much better than I expected in this task and all downloads can be xfered and checked before installing elsewhere. Setup is simple, there are many add ons easily handled by Ubuntu's synaptic package manager. I am using my older rig with 1gig ddr 3200, amd 1.4 (!), a GeForce 3 video card and a newer low end foxconn mb. Doing all internet tasks on Ubuntu has given me confidence in this OS. It has NEVER crashed or even sputtered and it even looks good too. Ubuntu definitely has need for some improvements but start slow with internet tasks and you will not be disappointed. Looking forward to the next release.MadBoris - Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - link
I hope it will be more than just some end month report.Give us atleast weekly if not more frequent blog updates progressing some good/bad experiences. Afterall that is a blog, then do an end month summary. If you wait a month you will forget the experiences of the first week and you won't be dealing with first impressions anymore but someone who got used to it after a month.
Like... today I installed it and it ate my Vista partition and the MBR got hosed. ;)
anachreon - Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - link
Thank you for committing to writing more linux articles in the future. I spend all of my office time in Ubuntu and only use my XP partition for gaming and a 3D modeler that doesn't work too well under Wine.Welshtrog - Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - link
I am pleased to see that you are doing this article as I am going to Linux, whils on the ubuntu site I noticed several versions, can you please explain the differences. also 64 bit. please also write it in language that the inexperieced can understand.
Many thanks
yyrkoon - Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - link
First let me just say that I am primarily a Windows user, but also have several years experience with Linux, specifically Debian.Ryan, I think it would be a good idea if you documented the Ubuntu upgrade 'path'. Many experienced Ubuntu users I know in real life, and over the internet, had a hell of a time the last upgrade, and I expect this time will be no different.
I would also like to see what you think about Ubuntu in a mixed platform envoirnment, which would give users who have multiple system in their homes an idea of how things may go. Personally I had Breezy setup at one point as a Samba server to share files across the network here, only to be disappointed by the fact that the machine would lock up every_single_time a Windows machine would access the share. Overall, compared to Debian, I have found Ubuntu less reliable, hell in some cases it was far less reliable than my XP Pro box.
Anyhow, here is to hoping Ubuntu becomes more polished in the future, so we all may ditch MS . . .
stmok - Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - link
I'd definitely agree Debian is more robust than Ubuntu.Ubuntu is doable for a desktop, but there's a few things that can be improved.
I have a box that started with 6.06 LTS and upgraded to today's 7.10 (That's using it for the desktop role)
jerick70 - Monday, February 18, 2008 - link
I use Ubuntu Ultimate 1.7 at home and work and love it. Ubuntu Ultimate 1.7 is based on Gutsy Gibbons 7.10 and has the most used packages already installed. You should check it out at http://ultimateedition.info/">http://ultimateedition.info/Jay - Monday, February 18, 2008 - link
Although I still feel there's a better distro out there, PCLINUXOS or PCLOS, I commend your effort to expand AnandTech's footprint to include more Linux based topics.Remember, any Linux review is not complete without Unreal Tournament benchmarks. ;)