Don't haggle over the price of an egg
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Ubuntu Linux 10.04 Lucid Lynx
CANONICAL'S UBUNTU has a lot of hype to live up to. First released in 2004, Ubuntu has established itself as one of the most intuitive and accessible Linux distributions and has never shied away from giving both Microsoft and Apple a run for their money. Ubuntu 10.04, dubbed Lucid Lynx, builds on previous iterations by integrating social networking and cloud services directly into a slick looking and responsive desktop.
Slick and responsive doesn't however preclude some questionable choices visually. There was much rejoicing upon the announcement Canonical would be updating Ubuntu's design from the earthy tones that had featured on previous releases. Unfortunately, as if to provide further proof of their all-inclusive nature, Ubuntu's apparently daltonic design team came up with a violet theme unlikely to be everyone's cup of tea, unless the tea is laced with hallucinogens.
Surrounding the purple haze are dark taskbars and window frames, which make the desktop feel noticeably smaller. In a polemic move that further exacerbates this claustrophobic feel, buttons have been moved to the top left corner, opening up vast amounts of unused space on the right hand side.
Canonical has said the change is a preemptive move, and that the resulting no-app's land will be filled with innovative features in future releases, but it all sounds a bit like selling a car with no wheels in the hope future models will fly.
One of the big calling cards for Lucid Lynx is the integration of social applications into the desktop's new Me Menu. This essentially comprises three apps - Empathy, Evolution and Gwibber for chat, email and microblogging respectively. All three blend in nicely with the desktop and share an indicator applet in the taskbar, removing much of the clutter of running the processes individually.
While integrating application suites has many benefits, problems arise when any one of the provided services is just not good enough. Empathy seems like a solid alternative to Pidgin. Evolution is unlikely to be a very popular choice among a userbase most likely using Thunderbird, Claws or Mutt already. Gwibber feels slow, and might seem overly simplistic when compared to other microblogging clients. Changing any of these applications as your default messaging client will immediately render your desktop a little less pleasant to use.
Hopefully with time applications might be integrated interchangeably in Gnome, but for now you're stuck following online hacks which might or might not be of use six months down the line. Fortunately, unlike using Outlook on Windows or Mail.app on Mac OS X, there is no reason competing applications cannot work as seamlessly as those provided by Ubuntu.
In parallel, Ubuntu 10.04 provides tighter integration with Canonical's cloud-based efforts. Despite having a multimillionaire benefactor, Canonical has no doubt heeded Yahoo's warnings on the need for diversification by developing Ubuntu One, a service which provides both 2GB of free Dropbox-like storage and an online music store.
Alas the online music store, while potentially providing some much needed revenue for Canonical, will likely remain unused by most users. To distance itself from the many anonymous online music stores, Canonical provides the same limited catalogue in the same proprietary format.
Furthermore with Jamendo, Magnatune and now Ubuntu One, Rhythmbox is quickly becoming more cluttered with stores than many local high streets. Disabling any of them is a case of unloading the appropriate plugin, but you can't help but think Canonical is needlessly investing time and effort on a feature likely to be met by resounding silence.
Where Ubuntu should shine is in providing access to Linux's endless software repositories. The Ubuntu Software Centre provides a visually attractive front-end for aptitude, which does all the heavy lifting interfacing with the APT package manager, but chip away at the veneer and you'll find Canonical has done very little beyond providing basic functionality. User ratings, ranking by popularity or suggesting similar packages to replace currently installed duds are all notably absent, making sifting through the immense catalogue cumbersome unless you know what you are looking for.
Admittedly, no other package management system provides all of these, but Ubuntu is squarely focused on the inexperienced. Furthermore, Canonical plans on providing paid apps through the Ubuntu Software Centre in the near future, in which case feedback on an application's quality will be essential.
Ubuntu evolved at a blistering speed. When you experienced the wealth of improvement from Breezy Badger to Feisty Fawn, it was hard not to wonder whether a Linux-based OS might finally usurp its commercial rivals as the ultimate desktop experience in the near future. Canonical has put a lot of effort into catching up with both Windows and Mac OSX and on many fronts has largely succeeded. However, as in Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise, merely closing the gap on each iteration is insufficient to overtake your rivals entirely.
Canonical has largely focused on toning down bleeding-edge applications to run smoothly in a stable, hassle-free operating system. The challenge facing Ubuntu is no longer merely attracting users from commercial rivals, but also to stem the loss of users to rival Linux distributions. The Me Menu is a good indicator of how Ubuntu can evolve, innovate and differentiate itself from internal competition such as Archlinux, Debian, Fedora, Suse, Mandriva and others, despite building on the same open source components.
Whether Ubuntu is the right distribution for you is largely down to personal preference. From the ivory tower of tech journalism most reviewers are quick to point out Linux is a pain to install and use, and Ubuntu has somehow overcome this crippling heritage to become an easy to install and usable OS. Most likely this condescending attitude derives from never actually having used Linux - most distributions now provide Live CDs and easy installers, with access to the same software through their own package management systems.
In Short
Ubuntu's one-size-fits-all nature makes it a good initial introduction to Linux-based operating systems. Visually, it keeps improving, but it is not quite all the way there yet. While many can argue whether Linux is ready for the desktop, there's little doubt that Canonical packages up Ubuntu better than the vast majority of distributions out there. The biggest compliment one can pay to Ubuntu is that it feels like a professional product in its installation, look and feel and above all updates. If nothing else, you should give Ubuntu a try to give you some perspective on how well your own OS suits you.
The Good
Maturity and popularity aid in usability, integration with cloud services, long-term support (LTS) release, painless update from previous version.
The Bad
Might be too Mickey Mouse for hardcore Linux users, strong branding and colour scheme.
The Ugly
Nothing.
Bartender's Score
8/10
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I have tried K/Ubuntu several times and while it installs, it fails to recognize all my hardware. I installed PCLinuxOS on several machines including a couple laptops, and it has detected all my hardware, in particular wi-fi. If I can't connect to the internet, it's not very useful. While I support the GNU/Linux philosophy, it has to be useful. PCLinuxOS looks and feels more like Windows and works fine in less memory.
I hope some readers will try PCLinuxOS and then rate it vs Ubuntu.
The "music store" is a must-have that levels the playing field. Rhythmbox's UI has been designed to support more than one for ages (as opposed to the single-source supplier that it apes), just as Microsoft's offerings would if they could get their s**t together and stop switching DRM schemes every 14 months.
Perhaps the author has forgotten what 'choice' looks like? The desktop OS industry has been a wasteland for so long that you could be forgiven. [Of course, for major-label music, there's still only this first venture right now, but I'm sure Amazon could be prodded to follow suit.]
...
As to theming, it's all just window-dressing, but there are a few minor SNAFUs that make the new style less than enjoyable - if you happened to enjoy the earth tones, you'll have to go pick up the "Humanities" icon set or recolor them yourself to ditch purple in the menus, and the dark theme can show up hot pixels.
Oddly, as I've just rediscovered, someone made the decision to bundle a Firefox theme with the Ambiance/Radiance themes that clashes with the new titlebars more than the old default.
GNOME's Appearance prefs also haven't caught up, so the 'reversed'-control themes show up.. um, reversed.. in the preview, making them look like every other - and there isn't a knob to let you rearrange or mirror everything yourself, if you're willing to give the New Way a shot but prefer some other theme.
Personally, I just wish they'd take this opportunity to correct the insane mistake of placing the 'close' button immediately next to the maximize and minimize buttons, but maybe someone will realize that and it'll become an option in some future GNOME.
[Funny how, even though I try not to care about silliness like theming, I sure can ramble on about it. The reduction in whitespace/spacing and 'engraved' separator lines - compare the Window List in the old Human theme compared to the new ones - really does create a sensation of "crampedness," despite making better use of available pixels.]
I guess I appreciate the minimalism Mark's trying for, but still want clickable things to look like buttons, not flat images that just might or might not be active.
Ubuntu is getting better each time!
Kubuntu too!
Try kubuntu and the much more advanced kde environment.
It won't disappoint you!
Just Google JRE.
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-install-sun-java-runtime-environment-jre-in-ubuntu-10-04-lucid-lynx.html
OR https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats
I don't think the Inquirer wants to turn this into a Linux Forum, when I have a question about anything I go to Google.
If you don't have a real good reason to install Java I wouldn't bother, it is not used like it used to be.
Learn to copy and paste if you have not already.
I installed 10.04 yesterday, and was very happy with one exception.....
Could not get Java to work in either Firefox or Chrome. If somebody could offer a "simple" fix, I would be much obliged!
Looked online, but lots of the fixes, etc were way over this nubs head!
First time I have tried Linux in years. Took less time to install Ubuntu than Win7, and everything (except Java) worked out of the box, including wireless adapter.
Very impressed!
years and years, I have seen many changes for the good and bad, and many features that give the distro a sense of completeness unseen in anything else.
One thing about Canonical is that Ubuntu has a solid software repository. I'm a KDE user primarily. I've switched back and forth but I always end up with KDE. For that, I would not change my distro just because kubuntu doesn't do a perfect job. I think the benefits of KDE on an Ubuntu base install with Canonical extras and stability are for the win.
Of those things that I see in this iteration of Ubuntu I don't see anything far out there that drives anyone away. Those disrespecting Ubuntu generally disrespect Linux in general and are the same people that have not used Linux for anything serious. My general impression is that they are the old dog--the ones not capable of learning new tricks.
Over the years of listening to disrespect from people about Linux the points they make almost always boil down to their lack of understanding and knowledge about an OS other than Windows or the Mac. If they happen to be a Windows user and they complain about Linux it's because they generally only use Windows. Likewise for the Mac complainers.
Those who take the time to understand that Linux is not a clone of Windows soon come to appreciate the underlying structure of things in Linux. Not just the directory, or the files, or the distro's arrangement, but all things. Every time I learn something new I compare back to what I learned before and am impressed with the logic used and the decision finally made. In other words, it all makes sense. So, the longer you use it and the more you are willing to learn it the more you will appreciate what these guys are doing with it.
As far as ease of use goes, no one can claim Linux is an issue today. When compared to what we had with DOS, Win 3.x, Win95, 98, ME, 2k, and XP, this blows them out of the water as far as ease of use goes. It would not be a far stretch to say that it is on par with Win7 and OS X. Anyone claiming different is obviously full of their own hot air.
copy and paste this into a terminal.
gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/metacity/general/button_layout "menu:minimize,maximize,close"
it's all ONE line .
PUTS THE BUTTONS BACK :)
I'm still getting used to the buttons moved to the left side. They should have kept it on the right and placed the new and improved, and yet to be released feature set on the left.
Have you noticed what happens when you mistype your password? The login box shakes left and right to signify the password was wrong. That's just plain obnoxious.
I don't use Evolution. I don't use Gwibber. (I am warming up to Empathy.) I have a PC, with a hard drive and I don't need to store anything on the cloud. So, I don't need Ubuntu One. (I guess that was designed for netbooks without much storage.)
Other than that, I find I can now do the 95% of what I need to do on this thing a little better than previous versions. I can remote into a Windows machine using the Terminal Services Client for the other 5%.
It doesn't support OTR encryption, therefore it is worthless garbage.
F--k Empathy.
I have tryed Ubuntu 10.04 and I like it.Very user friendly, and the buttons on the left side is no big deal.The best Gnome distribution in short. But if you use KDE I would recommend another distro instead of Kubuntu.
In my personal opinion the new Pardus 2009.2 are among the best with the KDE.
http://www.pardus.org.tr/eng/
First of all you saved me some time, I was going to write a few notes on installing and css but you pretty much covered it. Personally, I LOVE the new look of Lucid Lynx. I have used OS X so the move from right to left in firefox was no big deal. There is really nothing I would change although it is easy to if I wanted to.People have said Linux not quite ready for the desktop, well it's been ready for a good 2 years and I prefer it over windows 7 and OS X.
If you buy a mac, they are always trying to sell you something. If you but a PC the above plus all the software you need to protect yourself and that's feeble at best. With Linux and Lucid Lynx no one is trying to get anything out of you. It is second to none in my opinion and the best is free. What more could you ask for.
I want to thank Feodora, Ubuntu and every person that has contributed to Linux over the years to make it what is today. THE BEST!
It is quite easy to modify Ubuntu 10.4 to suit one's own needs. However, there is a lack of any simple beginner's guide on what to do. My basic list for a desktop machine with a dedicated backup hard drive is:
- install Ubuntu restricted extras
- change the ugly default theme to Clearlooks
- pick a nice background picture for the desktop
- install Thunderbird for E-mail, making it easy to transition from Thunderbird in Windows to Thunderbird in Ubuntu
- install Gwenview to obtain a simple picture editor which can resize pictures (a feature missing in the default F-spot picture editor)
- install Storage Device Manager and configure to automount a backup drive on boot
- install Simple Backup and configure to make daily backups to the backup drive
With Ubuntu, lack of a root account makes life difficult sometime for things like downloaded printer drivers with install scripts which require root privileges. I have found a simple workaround to avoid having to type carefully crafted sudo commands in the terminal: open a terminal session and type "sudo nautilus". After giving your password, you get file manager window with root access, which can do lots of things from a full graphical environment.
Ubuntu's great, but Kubuntu's even better. And most of the (superficial) complaints about the gnome-based distro made here can't be made about the KDE alternative. Of course in the end it all doesn't really matter. Gnome users can run KDE apps and conversely and both are great desktops environments.
Means red-green color blindness. I don't see any likelihood of working it into conversation.
Anyhoo, excellent article with a couple clever turns of phrase, but I'm going to object over the line that it's difficult to install. Perhaps so if first time, but that's probably only because you're *so* used to Windows specifics. (I've installed XP, oh, four or five times on my own systems, and maybe twenty other times. If a driver isn't the XP CD or you don't have the CD for the motherboard / card, you can waste HOURS looking for the right one, with a likelihood of trashing the installation from wrong one.
Ubuntu and Linuxes simply require accepting that they are *not* Windows and one needs to learn their details.
But Ubuntu and many Linuxes *are* on the cutting edge and so their fans are used to intalling often. I don't care for that aspect, nor for their increasing similarity to clunky, bloated Windows. But you can find about any variety of Linux that you wish, even stable ones.
By the way, with PCLinuxOS and perhaps others one can actually browse the web from live CD *while* installing to HD, and in under a half hour from power-on. I was so amazed, after all those times watching Windows grind away for its always mis-under-estimated hour with its essentially single-tasking installer that merely unzips a few files. As I've said before, M$ just makes everything *look* complex as a ploy to justify its price. But more and more, Linuxes are showing it up.
Well, I have recently switched to the new ubuntu from windows 7 and having never used linux before despite having worked in IT for ages. I must say I am very impressed with what is offered. The downside is when you start digging around and want something more than what is offered by default there is a huge learning curve and it can take hours of browsing to find out how to do something that should be really simple.
That said if the default provides everything you want its perfect, I have managed to get a friend who isn't very pc literate to install the thing by himself and hes really happy with it, does everything he wants. The only thing it doesn't do is play games as well as win7, but most games are played on consoles these days anyway.
As for the future of Ubuntus development, I find myself agreeing with this post: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/06/many-hands-make-light-work-few-make-it.html
I don't understand the proccupation with the default theme, it takes 3 clicks to change it!
As a long time Linux user and sysadmin of a mixed network, Lucid has finally won me over me towards Ubuntu.
Evolution works well with our Exchange server for mail and shared calendars and folders, etc.
Lucid is rock solid and works well in a mixed environment