Sunday, September 21, 2008

Interesting new developments in Ubuntu Intrepid Alpha 6

Although I don't use Ubuntu anymore, I still try to keep up with the news on it, and I've tested the upcoming Intrepid a couple of times recently. There have been some interesting developments which I'd like to let you know about.

Installation

I used the netboot (mini.iso) method of installation. Some of the options may not be available in the graphical install.

  1. Intrepid now offers to automatically create a private, encrypted directory within each user's home directory.

  2. There are several options for automatic updates, including an option to use Canonical's Landscape, a tool for managing clients in an enterprise environment. With this choice and the possibility of pre-seeding the installation shows that Canonical is making a concerted push into Red Hat's cherished enterprise business.
  3. There are an enormous number of tasks. Non-Debian users might consider these profiles for client machines. There are so many that they go well off of the first page. Servers. All the Ubuntu sub-projects. They're all there. The Ubuntu server project has added several new server types.

The Desktop

  1. The Screen Resolution applet now has a tag to show which monitor you're adjusting. This is extremely useful for multiple-monitor setups.
  2. Over the last few days, the logout panel applet has been completely replaced by the new user-switching agent. It offers switching to the new, limited-permission guest account. When Pidgin or Empathy are running, you can also use it to change online status.

  3. Although Intrepid still uses the Human theme by default, the darker NewHuman theme is available in the installation.
  4. Totem comes with a new plugin to access BBC videos.
  5. Although Mozilla has pulled back on its EULA requirement, it was still in Intrepid on the 20th.
  6. Rhythmbox now has a plugin to make it minimize to the notification area. This behavior is against Gnome's HIG, but it is the behavior expected by many users. This screenshot also shows that popular plugins like cover art and DAAP are now enabled by default.
Well, that's the quick look at what's changed recently. I'll update in a couple of weeks.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

hai fuck!! what os do you use now?

said...
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

he uses debian, you can't tell by his smugness?

that's not to say everyone that uses debian is a smug bastard though. I wish those elitists would go back to gentoo and compile their way out of virginity.

Anonymous said...

this is pretty lame, considering these features have been done before in windows...

"The Screen Resolution applet now has a tag to show which monitor you're adjusting. This is extremely useful for multiple-monitor setups."

wow really? cause windows could do this for years now.

"Although Intrepid still uses the Human theme by default, the darker NewHuman theme is available in the installation."

yeah cause pre-packaged themes really help me decide which OS to pick.

"Totem comes with a new plugin to access BBC videos."

oh wow linux can access bbc videos now...this will surely affect the entire planet.


i could keep going, but i won't. have a great life, if you have one.

Anonymous said...

i could keep going, but i won't. have a great life, if you have one.

I find it amusing that after wasting time making all the useless 'ohhh, Windows can do that' comments you would make a comment like that.

Anonymous said...

yeah, it's like he still cares, even though he pretends not to. funny people.

Anonymous said...

Hai,

Thanks for posting these previews, and please keep the information coming. Don't let the dumb@$$ windows fanbois get to you!

Anonymous said...

Keep those post comming... don't be distracted by those windows users we both know intelligent users uses *unix like (GNULinux and OS X) operating systems :D.

David said...

Holy ****! I didn't know Windoze even HAD fanbois! I use it myself (in addition to Ubuntu & OSX) but dear lord... WHY ARE THERE FANBOIS!?

said...

Guys, chill out - all of the windows fanboys that I've seen don't know how to use their computer anyway.

Not like there's any competition, most of the winbots here try hitting the start button on their dick before taking a piss anyway.

I wouldn't want them using my distro.

goodluckwiththat said...

There are times when a review, to be useful, must be simple and factual. For example, when reviewing different makes of pistol ammunition for a Ruger 9MM pistol. Reviewing an O/S is not one of them.

A few tips:

1) People who use their computers for (ahem) actual work don't give a flying whit about ease of installation, except to see if it's possible/reasonable for them. This is probably 10% of the decision.

2) Arcane features (such as "you can view BBC videos!") rank somewhere between worthless and insulting. Whooptie friggen doo.

3) Subjective information, such as the "stability" of the O/S, or the "elegance" of the O/S, are very important. These kinds of subjective evaluations can take time. For example, I can say that Fedora 9 is easily the least polished release of Fedora I've ever seen - and I've seen Core 3, 6, and 8. It seems like a graphic artist decided that various shades of black were the only colors that were l337 enough, and redid everything... inconsistently, with random, baffling crashes and inconsistent screen redraws thrown in. Oh, and randomly sampling different font sizes between applications and O/S widgets thrown in for extra goodness, all in an apparent attempt to look more like the worst O/S released from Redmond, at least since Windows ME. That's a subjective assessment that comes from slightly less than a week using Fedora 9.

I don't care for a screenshot of the LICENSE AGREEMENT (that I will click ONCE) for a browser. That's a waste of the bandwidth delivered by my multi-Mb DSL connection.

said...

Goodluckwiththat,
There are times when a review, to be useful, must be simple and factual. For example, when reviewing different makes of pistol ammunition for a Ruger 9MM pistol. Reviewing an O/S is not one of them.
This was not a review. It was simple a post of some of the recent changes in the Alpha.

1) People who use their computers for (ahem) actual work don't give a flying whit about ease of installation, except to see if it's possible/reasonable for them. This is probably 10% of the decision.
I didn't talk about ease of installation. I mentioned some new options in the install.

2) Arcane features (such as "you can view BBC videos!") rank somewhere between worthless and insulting. Whooptie friggen doo.
It's a new feature in the default install. TITLE: "Interesting new developments..."

3) I don't use Fedora (though I check it out once in a while), so I'm not qualified to defend it, but have you checked out Fedora 10? Also, Fedora is pretty much a bleeding-edge distro.

I don't care for a screenshot of the LICENSE AGREEMENT (that I will click ONCE) for a browser. That's a waste of the bandwidth delivered by my multi-Mb DSL connection.
It's been a big story lately. Mozilla backpedaled. Canonical said that it's not going to be in there. I was showing that it still is. If I didn't take a screenshot, then someone would come along in five days and tell me that I was full of shit. I'd have no proof because the default install would have changed.

Anonymous said...

sorry you had to waste some bandwidth from your "multi-Mb DSL connection." maybe your time would be more well spent looking up pistol ammunition for pistols. ive never seen someone try to act like they know what they are talking about and look so totally stupid at the same time. you win!

o0arthur0o said...

Lot of criticism of this post. Pretty much entirely undeserved, and comically ignorant. The post about review theory was just comical.

Anyway, I wanted to say that I liked the review. As a former Ubuntu user I too am curious about what's new and what's going on. It's good to see Ubuntu still pushing the innovation envelope.

One thing I was hoping for was a unified dictionary setup, ala Fedora 9.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post! I'm using Intrepid, but you made me discover that I didn't noticed some of this new functions :).

Tom said...

Is it quite stable? Last time I used an Ubuntu alpha, the OS was bricked after the first dist-upgrade.

said...

yep... keep posting em, don't bother about the extra intellectuals, there are people who'd like to see know (though they are not really interested in them) the small details.

Adios.

said...

Tom,
You definitely don't want to run this on your desktop. It's alpha software. You probably don't want ot run it until the release is out unless you're familiar with getting yourself out of binds like the one you mentioned.

Based on 8.04, I'd even say not to run it for the first month after it's released.

Anonymous said...

Ubuntu does not work on any decent graphics card.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Ubuntu does not work on any decent graphics card----

"ANY"???????????

Works just fine on ALL of mine.

Tung said...

I love Ubuntu..

tung said...

Thanks for post ....

Anonymous said...

Nice post, thanks for the previews :)

Anonymous said...

its funny how you linux fanboys smugly consider yourself intellectuals, yet you hypocritically say that this is exactly what people who defend other OS's are. smug.

you say work productivity is a plus side of linux, but not everyone wants to or should need to take the time to spend hours of typing console commands for things you can do with a few clicks in other OS's.

"I find it amusing that after wasting time making all the useless 'ohhh, Windows can do that' comments you would make a comment like that."

I find it amusing that you found that amusing. considering they're right. obviously they are spending more time doing what they need to do (and getting it done quicker) and less time trying to install/fix applications, drivers, etc. Which is probably why they have the free time to 'waste' writing :)

The point is we all waste time every now and then. but I think we can agree that for most personal computer users, it's just a hassle and waste of time. an over complication.

windows: 1+1=2
linux: 1+5-4+6-3-3=2

Anonymous said...

It's free, they say, if you can get it to run
The geeks say 'Hey, that's half the fun!'
Yeah, well I got a girlfriend and things to get done.
The Linux OS sucks!

said...

Great Post! I'm really enjoying this blog.

And it's funny that some internet trolls come on here and are the only ones insulting others.
Posting under "Anonymous" as well. Pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Really? Its funny cause so far most of the insulting has been done by linux fanboys. Its there in writing to see. The other people have been attacking linux and this crappy article on it. The linux users have been making personal attacks and insults. I know you like to play the victim, and no one but other losers like you sympathize.

said...

Since there's some meta-conversation going on, I'd like to mention that
1) The deleted comment above was a spam link. It didn't relate to the article at all.
2) I do delete abusive comments, especially ones involving foul language. As long as we insult each other fairly civilly, I'm cool. I'm a ten-year Slashdotter, after all.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous comments seem to be a different tone than the logged in comments...

Ubuntu's price has always been a factor for me. Last time I checked it was substantially cheaper than my Windows Vista 64 Ultimate License.

I think we will see many folks come the way of Ubuntu due to major software manufacturers releasing major software packages that will work in Wine.


Adobe CS 4 Master Collection (according to their sales and reps)works flawlessly in Wine, that's a major development. Since most people endure windows because of software packages.

said...

The CS4 comment leaves me stunned. I had to contact Adobe for confirmation. I'll let everyone know what comes of it.

Anonymous said...

I'm posting a comment just to point out how shitty these comments are! lol internet

Anonymous said...

Used Ubuntu since feisty, and love every minute. Keep posting updates on new improvements in the OS. Excited for Intrepid!

Anonymous said...

lol anonymous comments. Epic fail.

said...

Hello Guys,

I am surprised how a nice preview of an OS become a chance for OS fan boys to fight.

Most people here could afford to pay for Windows, but what they do not realize is the freedom of *nix.

With Windows you could only click that is only one way. May be you can right click that is the 2nd way, and double click that is the 3rd way. With command prompt a.k.a consol the possibilities are endless.

People need to comment after using both the OS. If you are in a special jail where you could get whatever you want and you are free where you have to work for whatever you want. What would you choose ? Read Jail (Windows) and free (linux).

Strangely, I am here because I wanted to switch to Ubuntu from Fedora. Well, I am free and very lazy to work for whatever I want.

Anonymous people are strangely windows users ?

Post a Comment

Other I' Been to Ubuntu Stories