Under a Gibbous Moon

Yesterday, after installing the latest upgrades to Ubuntu, I restarted the computer only to find that the file system was completely borked. After using a LiveCd to repair that, I found that Gnome was hopelessly corrupted leaving me playing around with the command line.

So, once again I go back to the LiveCD and attempt to mount my personal directory. Now I encrypt my personal directory using ecryptfs (this being conviently built into Ubuntu for the last couple of versions). I went to mount it and no dice. I had the passphrase and the files all went back to the right places but they did not decrypt.

Another setback, but OK. I go back into the command line and mount my external storage, but no, it, for some reason does not want to mount sdb1 due to and I/O error. Odd since it mounted fine on the LiveCD. Now I have to track down a Windows version to do a file system check on the drive, since it is NTFS. Luckily, my wife still dual boots Windows and Ubuntu. There were some errors with the file system and now repaired, I go back to the command line.

It mounts but that’s about it. I try to back up my files and it gets half way through and tells me that there is an I/O error and sdb1 is unmounted. Finally flumoxed, I use the LiveCD to make sure that at least the most critical files have been saved and I wipe the system.

Since I’m doing a fresh install, I figure that I’ll try something different. I’ve heard some things about Mint so I figured that I’d give that a try. Mint is an off shoot of Ubuntu (as Ubuntu is an offshoot of Debian). As far as I can tell the biggest difference is that Mint eschews “pure” open source in favor of usability. Basically, this means that it runs Flash and DVDs and MP3 right out of the box without installing the restricted extras packages in Ubuntu. Other than that, I haven’t found that there is too much of a difference.

So basically, Ubuntu destroyed my system and so I took my ball and went crying to a different flavor of Ubuntu. It’s not a codependency issue, is it?

I have been using Ubuntu for a couple of years now and whenever a new version comes out (every six months) I take the plunge and get the latest beta version. I figure the least that I can do is help out by finding bugs and making sure everything gets ironed out by the time the final release date rolls around.

The impending (April 29th) release of Ubuntu 10.4 (codenamed Lucid Lynx) is no exception. For those interested, you can download a fresh iso here or you can upgrade your current install via:

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

Beta Disclaimer: as a beta, this version is not as stable as a full release and will have more bugs. I spent the first half hour or so after install just filling out bug reports.

It’ll open the upgrade manager and notify you of the new release and give you the option to install. It will take quite a while depending upon your connection and computer speed so be warned. Also, because of some semi-major component changes there is a bit of babysitting required for the package swap outs.

After this is all accomplished, Ubuntu will boot up. The first thing that I noticed is that my computer is now fabulous!

The picture came out terrible, but it is something like this. I have no idea why, but it is what it is. Boot time is supposed to have been reduced, but I didn’t really notice it so it must not have been too dramatic.

The desktop has changed and in some pretty dramatic ways. Aside from the new icon scheme the window dressing has changed in a very confusing manner.

Why they would suddenly decide to switch the window buttons to the opposite side is beyond me. It makes things difficult for people who already use Ubuntu and creates another hurdle for people who are trying to switch from Windows.

After Ubuntu’s jump to the cloud in Karmic with Ubuntu One, Lucid is going social with Ubuntu’s broadcast feature. Iti s kind of like an integrated Tweet Deck

It allows you to manage your instant messaging (via Empathy) as well as link into Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. Seems like an interesting idea but I’m not sure how well it will hold out in functionality against, say, Tweet Deck.

As you can see from the menu, Ubuntu One is now integrated into the OS and is no longer a separate program. This is nice because it streamlines the synchronizing of individual folders to the service as it is now an option in the context menu.

On the subjet of Ubuntu One, this is the first time I have gotten it to work since it was introduced. Which I’m rather happy about. I have it set to automatically back up my Documents and Pictures folder to the cloud. Should make catastrophic hard drive failure a little easier to stomach.

Graphics performance so far seems to be a little below Karmic. Of course I’m running the shitty Intel 940 chipset but the number of GPU crashes is disturbing.

So far it seems to be a very uninteresting update to Ubuntu. This is not surprising with it being a LTS (Long Term Support) release. They’re trying to avoid breaking anything but because of that they aren’t pushing the envelope either.

That being said, I am looking forward to the future beta releases and the final release on April 29th. If you’re using Ubuntu might as well give it a spin and if you’re not you should test drive a live CD, it’ll be worth your while.

Gnome, for those who don’t know, is a Graphical User Interface for Linux. It’s the default GUI that ships with Ubuntu. I’ve used Gnome off and on for several years and for that time it has been reminiscent of Mac OS.

The main task bar runs along the top of the screen with another bar running along the bottom that lists the various windows that you have open. A whole gallery of widgets can also bad added (along with additional bars) to further customize your experience. Gnome also supports multiple virtual desktops which I find to be exceptionally useful to organize all the different programs and windows that I have running at any given time.

Gnome 3, which will come by default with the next version of Ubuntu, is available for testing via the following code:

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

This will install the proper packages, then restart and run

gnome-shell –replace

This will close out your Gnome 2.x and start Gnome 3. Gnome 3 is a complete overhaul. The first thing that you will notice is that there is no longer a bottom bar. The application menu has been replaced with an Activities menu. When you drop it down there is a menu on the left that has all of you applications and recent documents. On the right, the space is used to display your desktops and thumbnails of all the windows contained within. This screen is now used to switch between running applications (you can also bring up this menu with the Windows key or switch applications with alt-tab as usual). Virtual desktops are no handled more fluidly with a ‘Plus’ button to add more desktops and then each additional desktop having a minus button the remove it.

The system setting have been consolidated under the user menu in the upper right corner. There is also a sidebar option for those who can’t get by without some type of bar on the screen.

Now, for the things I don’t like. Most of these complaints, I believe are do to it not being fully integrated into the distribution. The IM button is gone and there doesn’t seem to be a way to customize the activities button. Of course, this completely different way of organizing your desktops introduces a learning curve to Gnome 3.

I do like it, I wonder if it is such a good idea since it could add yet another hurdle to adoption by Windows based users. I’ve alsoread of graphics instability (though haven’t experienced any) but that is probably due to its relatively early development phase and will hopefully be ironed out by the final release.

The recent document menu, which is something that the Gnome developers are obsessed with, is far too prominent. It takes up almost half of the application menu. While hopefully it will be customizable but I doubt it given that the Gnome developers have been unwilling to even give you the option to turn it off.

Finally, you cannot kill a window from the activities menu without bringing it into focus first. This just adds completely unnecessary step to something that people do very regularly.

In conclusion, I do like Gnome 3. The new interface is slick, much faster, and I see how it can be a dramatic improvement over other GUIs that I have used. It currently has some shortcomings that I hope will be addressed in future releases, particularly with regard to being more customizable.

I have used Linux, in various distributions (Mandrake, Lindos, Red Hat, DSL, SuSe, Ubuntu), over the years and one thing has remained the same. Windows might have DLL hell but Linux has dependency hell.

Dependency hell? This occurs when you need to make sure that you have all the possible libraries needed to run (or just compile) a particular program. Of course, those dependencies require their own dependencies which in turn have their own dependencies until it spirals completely out of control and you end up with something that looks like the organizational chart for a multinational conglomerate. (continue reading…)

Ok, yes that was terrible.

I have recently updated to the beta version of Ubuntu 9.10, also known as Karmic Koala. Overall, I have been very happy with the latest upgrade. I can’t say that it boots up any faster, but there is a definite improvement in speed. On an even better note, this is the first version of Ubuntu that the sleep function actually… functions. Oddly the hibernate does not, but I have filed a bug report so maybe it will be fixed by Lucid Lynx ;)

The update from Jaunty Jackalope went mostly smoothly; oddly enough restart Firefox twice to get my settings to show up. Handbrake is broken for some reason, seems to be some error with GTK.

The wifi drive actually stable now and does not shut down randomly when running a lot of data through it. The volume settings are much simplified and actually work properly with my laptops hot keys. One really nice thing is the integration with Empathy into the GUI. Makes having an IM program much less intrusive.

The biggest disappoint I had was Ubuntu’s much vaunted leap to the cloud with Ubuntu One. In theory, it works seamlessly with Karmic Koala. After signing up for an account (2GB is free) and registering your computer; any files placed in a folder called Ubuntu One in the home directory will then be synchronized with the cloud. For me though, it did not work, the sync program claims all the files have been synched and the folders that I have placed in the Ubuntu One folder are there, but none of the actually files have been uploaded.

The newest version of Ubuntu is definitely a step forward for Canonical. With the 29 October release of the Karmic Koala hopefully some of the bugs mentioned about will have been worked out. Ubuntu One would be nice if it works but since it is a feature I didn’t have before, I can’t say that I am missing it now.