Posted by arsen

27th May 2010

1 comments

Ubuntu - Is it 'there' yet?

So - we have a new website. I'll take this opportunity to plug my latest IT adventure. First thing's first, until the games industry actually considers Linux a platform for development, gamers - stop reading now.

For the rest of you - Ubuntu has done it! Its finally there (almost maybe, not quite, could be!).

Okay so it isn't, I lied. It still has those little niggles that bug those who cant speak fluent IT, like when you upgrade from Karmic Koala to Lucid Lynx (which by the way, sound like names of characters in a fluffy suit wearing tantric sex soft-core porno) and all your networking just simply stops working.

I'm sorry but the - oh sorry, we didn't think internet/printers/network shares/other computers/wireless/your phone were a required feature of the latest release - is simply not good enough. What Ubuntu really lacks is proper QA. For a distribution that is really aiming to put itself out there as a serious contender for desktop use, Ubuntu really cant afford to have an system for dist-upgrade that doesn't produce the same result as a fresh install of the latest version does. I had problems with networking, package dependencies and graphics drivers, and a quick google search indicates I'm not the only one. Luckily, for most of those that are in a situation where dist-upgrade is an option, you're likely savvy enough to figure out how to get around these issues, or in my case, get bored of making config fixes and cleaning up the packaging mess left by not 3, not 4, but 5 different methods of managing the same packages (apt-get, aptitude, synaptic, update manager, Ubuntu software centre..) and just simply do a fresh install.

But there lies the problem, a dist-upgrade left me (a relatively versed Ubuntu user these days) giving up and just doing a fresh install, as it's the easiest option. This shouldn't really be the case. I know you can argue that a similar thing is likely to have to be done with a windows upgrade if anything at all goes wrong, but this isn't windows, and it shouldn't be aspiring to be windows.. I want Better than windows.

And now it's all working again - that's almost what I've got. So what am I saying, It's good? Or it's rubbish? A bit of both - What I've got now is a great looking, responsive, all-inclusive desktop system where I can get pretty much any software I need with a few clicks (one of the advantages over Windows or OSX), and hook up with all manner of peripherals. Its even leading the way with integration into the future push to cloud computing, with Ubuntu One for example.

However, and there's always a however with Linux isn't there. I guess that's the problem in itself. In striding to provide all of these features and attempt to overtake the competition, Ubuntu devs appear to have skimped somewhat on the QA (upgrading from old releases as an example), and have prioritised new-toys over fixing broken and missing features. So where next?

How about now that you're almost there, take some time out to look back and fix those bug requests from 2+ years ago, improve compatibility with obscure hardware, and work on those drivers that prevent people using Ubuntu. And whilst you're there, look at some of those features that have been commonplace on windows and OSX for years and are still missing. Oh and lose the BROWN. Nobody ever got excited about something that was brown.

I feel like Ubuntu would benefit from some market research. They need to get some dumb-users off the street and put them through the - install and use - test, see where they fall short and fill in the gaps. But this aside, for a remotely technical user I genuinely feel like Ubuntu has almost reached that point. In features terms, I'm sat here now listening to a podcast, writing an article in OpenOffice Writer, chatting away in chat clients covering Msn, Jabber, Facebook and irc, remotely administering servers and systems with a range of complex admin tools, and compatible windows tools alike, browsing the web on my favourite two browsers, and running a virtual machine. All on one system, spread over multiple workspaces on a dual monitor set-up. Linux has definitely come leaps and bounds in features and functionality. If I was running all of this on my better spec'd Windows 7 desktop I'd also be feeling the strain on resources, but not here!

I even feel like my system now looks nicer, never mind feels more responsive and capable. All of this out of the box, I didn't even have to visit a website to set any of this up, it can and should all be done through Ubuntu software centre.

So - aptitude install steam-linux ? I wish, but hopefully we can look towards that in release 14.02 Porno Pig. So go and install the latest erotic release and see if it takes your fancy once and for all, you can even do it from a USB drive these days, so no expense required for CD's - and Rather than regurgitating it myself - have a look at http://blog.thesilentnumber.me/2010/04/ubuntu-1004-post-install-guide-what-to.html for some great suggestions as to what to do with your new system.