This'll be short. I read a review of the current incarnation of Ubuntu 10.04, code named "Lucid Lynx" at the In a Tux blog this morning. The author pointed out a number of flaws, great and small, with the Lynx but finished up the review by saying, "This version of Ubuntu 10.04 is not a stable or final release of Ubuntu, so some of these thing my change. Please do not judge them to soon" (and the spelling errors are the sole property of the In a Tux author). Since the Daylight Savings Time change has "jet lagged" me into near-incomprehensibility (and that's hard to spell when you're really tired), I wasn't quite sure when the Lynx was to be released and I decided to look up the release schedule at Ubuntu.
According to wiki.ubuntu.com, we've got a solid 6 weeks until the Final Release becomes available on April 29th. In fact, the Beta 1 release is still four days (March 18th) off as I write this. While some betas can function almost as well as the final product, you should expect a beta and particularly an alpha (and the best the In a Tux author could have been working with is Alpha 3), to have a few, or more than a few, outstanding bugs.
I'm not being critical of reviewing pre-release software and in fact, it's a necessary part of the development process, particularly in the open source world where all contributions are important. Yet, I agree that the Lynx shouldn't be judged too harshly while still in the womb, so to speak. You can find all of the currently known Lucid Lynx bugs at wiki.ubuntu.com, so you'll know what bumps in the road to expect if you decide to sample the Lynx as it exists today.
I'm particularly interested in this particular release of Ubuntu since I've been using the previous Ubuntu LTS 8.04 Hardy Heron and am looking forward to upgrading. For those of you in the same boat, if you want to keep current on the moment-by-moment (almost, anyway) changes to Lucid, you can sign up to receive email notifications.
Waiting for something can be difficult and, after all, in the world of technology, six-weeks is almost an eternity. If patience is your virtue though, April 29th is right around the corner.
Spelling errors will be fixed. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteRole on March 18th! Alpha 3 didn't play nicely with my laptop. Hopefully the beta will be much better.
ReplyDeleteSo far, the new Ubuntu Looks like Poor man's Mac... there is no doubt they are trying to copy them. Ubuntu need to create a new ORIGINAL default Look... the first look at ubuntu 10.04 screams "RIP OFF"
ReplyDeleteIf you really want a rock solid final product, wait about a month after the official release itself. They squash a lot of bugs after the real deal has been out in the wild for a bit. I really look forward to the LTS release because I do a completely fresh install. Upgrades tend to introduce some problems. Right now, Karmic for me is suffering from PulseAudio problems, and I think it's due to the upgrade process. Wondering if I can wait until late May . . . ;)
ReplyDeletePulseAudio doesn't work correctly in Karmic because of a missing component. Specifically it's a script called asoundconf. Do some googling and you'll find articles on how to fix it.
ReplyDeleteThe previous commenter suggests waiting a month before attempting an install. In my experience that's still not enough. I'll wait two or three months. Heck, Karmic still has problems after four months,
I have been running Lucid since Alpha 1 and it is now stable enough for me to use every day. I have not booted into Karmic for two weeks and have installed Lucid on my netbook, replacing Karmic there.
ReplyDeleteAs for it looking like a Mac, I use Kubuntu and it has never been brown and is not now purple and buttons remain on the right. I have GNOME installed as well and the changes are mostly cosmetic. You could always theme it as you want and still can.
ars technica just published their take on Lucid Lynx Beta 1 here: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/reviews/2010/03/first-look-ubuntu-1004-beta-1-is-looking-good-less-brown.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss
ReplyDeleteOk it is 6 of April already and I still notice numerous, serious bugs on my Lucid running machines. Totally ready in 23 days? I dull it. About the poor Mac presence....ok let's give them a break, they are trying to reach monsters like Apple with some kids poorly paid....from whom? My opinion is that having a new release every 6 months is just unattainable. They should focus on the LTSs and make serious updates (service packs) every 6 m onths. Just to look more professional.
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