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Review: 12.04, precisely what was needed.

Posted by patrickjmquinn on · 68 comments
p-quinn.com; By Patrick J Quinn 		Mail this story
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Its an exciting time of year of Linux fans, a time when Canonical get ready to roll out a new Long Term Service release (or LTS) of their Linux based desktop operating system, Ubuntu.

Its an exciting time of year of Linux fans, a time when Canonical get ready to roll out a new Long Term Service release (or LTS) of

their Linux based desktop operating system, Ubuntu.



Yesterday morning I did what I always do first thing and logged into Google Plus. Much to my surprise in the ‘trending’ section was #Ubuntu. I scanned down through the feed and I have to say the response and support Ubuntu was getting was astonishing. I wanted to contribute in some way so i decided id write up a review of 12.04 code name in its current state before launch.



So how does this release fair against the last few? A lot of subtle enhancements and some big ones.

With the release of 11.04 came the introduction of the Ubuntu netbook remix interface (which was released with version 10.04) called unity as the default desktop environment. This move got a huge amount of criticism as it was a radical departure from what came before it (Gnome 2, which at stage was becoming antiquated) and was disliked by a lot of people mainly due to the fact they didn't understand it fully and felt it affected productivity, but also as it wasn't feature complete, its design was clunky and it was a pretty big resource hog. Thankfully however with the next iteration (11.10) came a much more streamlined desktop which had many of the features missing from the prior release. Now with the release of 12.04 we see a better polished beast.



So whats new in 12.04? A lot. The OS is now based on the 3.0.2 Linux kernel, which has been rebranded as the Ubuntu kernel.

The default browser, which is still Firefox (and not Chromium asi had hoped) has been updated to the latest stable release, version 11.

Historically Rhythmbox has been the default music player in Ubuntu but from 11.04 to 11.10 it was replaced by Banshee. Banshee however was based on the .NET clone Mono and since Ubuntu are no longer ships (the rather large) Mono libraries with their releases they have reverted to using Rhythmbox as default, this time at version 2.96.

The two stock themes, Ambience and the lighter Radiance have been overhauled keeping them more in line with Gnome 3's default theme, Adwaita and a tweaked version of the purple light-patterned background has been included along side a new Pangolin themed one (It has been tradition to include to include wallpapers which depict the animals which the releases are codenamed after).

Unity also got bumped up to version 5.10 bringing a whole host of goodies including the removal of the oversized novelty icons which resided in Dash (the main menu) favorites section, replacing them with search lenses for files and folders, video, music and applications as well as a global option for wide-spread searches. This update also intorduced a new progress animation in the launcher bar for the installation of apps from the software center (which now include the ability to buy and sell more content than before) and so on. The icons that reside in the launcher can be resized to allow for more or less screen real-estate usage and it now has better support for multiple-monitors or “dual head” mode.

Another big update in 5.10 is the inclusion of the HUD or heads-up-display which acts to supplement (and will eventually totally replace) application window menus.



Otherwise, there has been various version updates for the built in applications such as LibreOffice, Ubuntu one (which got a rather nice UI overhaul) Thunderbird mail client, alongside the removal of the advanced synaptic package manager and the inclusion of the Landscape management service which allows administrators to monitor, manage and update an entire network of Ubuntu computers all from a single point. Thats a lot of good stuff right there.

My personal take on the release is very positive and while it doesn't sound like they have done anything too groundbreaking in 12.04, with each release the focus on the user becomes more and more evident, culminating with this, Ubuntu’s Unity finally stating to leave that dark tunnel and enter into the warm light of general acceptance. This release, even early on has felt solid, smooth and WAY more user centric than not only any other version of Ubuntu before it but any other flavor of Linux i have used to date. In fact it ran marginally better (i.e quicker) than Mac OS X 10.7 on the iMac that was being tested on, but Shhhh dont tell anyone.

In my opinion all of the above is what makes Ubuntu a fantastic flag bearer for Linux on the desktop. I wish canonical the greatest of successes with the release of 12.04 Precise Pangolin in a few days time. I think they might be on to a winner with this one.

Also on a side note, if you are on the fence on weather or not to give Ubuntu a try and you are a Lady GaGa fan, the Queen of bizare her self uses Ubuntu as here full time system of choice so now you have no reason not to.

The latest version (Currently Beta 3) is available here with more up-to-date daily builds (which i strongly recommend to get an as near to final experience as possible) available here

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Comments (68)

Lady Gaga uses linux

8 earlier comments in the full thread.

JaseP ·
Quoting: "Gagubuntu."

It works, on so many levels.


Gagu-buntu...

GAG-ubuntu...

G-AAAhg-ubuntu...

Yeah, you're right, it really does...
caitlyn ·
I'm still not going gaga for Ubuntu.
dinotrac ·
Linux box

[chorus]

Can't hack my, Can't hack my

No, you can't hack my Linux box (I've got Ubuntu, baby)

Can't hack my, Can't hack my

No, you can't hack my Linux box (I've got Ubuntu, baby)

L-l-l-linux box, l-l-linux box (Mum mum mum mah) L-l-l-linux box, l-l-linux box (Mum mum mum mah)

number6x ·
Quoting:Ok so i used artistic license, i don't know if she does any more or not but it made for a good side-note, no harm intended.


By checking the date, I didn't mean that the article you reference is old, but that it is an obvious April Fool's joke.

Of course Ubuntu, itself, seems singularly determined to become an April Fool's joke, so maybe it is still appropriate to quote the lady gaga article.
Bob_Robertson ·
Dino, that's wonderful.

I have the honor of, honestly, not being sure that I have ever heard her singing.
tracyanne ·
@Bob, she can actually sing, she does a duet with Tony Bennett on his latest album, and she's actually very good.
jacog ·
You do not go "gaga" for Ubuntu - you go "coochie coochie coo"
patrickjmquinn Story submitter ·
@tracyanne she also appears respectable in the video for that, i was impressed. Quite a voice too.
dinotrac ·
Just saw the video --- very cool.

I've been a Tony Bennett fan for a long time, and a Lady Gaga fan for a while

Lady's got a boatload of talent.
tracyanne ·
Yes she does have talent, which is a pity.
dinotrac ·
which is a pity?

I have trouble seeing how a boatload of talent is a pity.
tracyanne ·
It's a pity she wasts it on the crap she records.
dinotrac ·
She's recorded some pretty good stuff, too, but...

many of the greatest artists through the ages did some "crap" on their way up.
tracyanne ·
does that mean she's still on her way up?
Steven_Rosenber ·
More stars using Linux would do wonders in terms of dragging in new users.
tracyanne ·
So how do we manage to get stars to use Linux?

How about free samples like the drug dealers do. A free Linux Computer delivered to every star's dressing room. We can charge them once they are hooked
Steven_Rosenber ·
Better apps for creating music and video would go a long way ...
dinotrac ·
@ta -

Reasonable minds can disagree - with anyone but me, that is - but I think she's been on her way up for quite some time. I loved "Edge of Glory" and took special pleasure in her inclusion of the late Clarence Clemons.
BernardSwiss ·
Lady Gaga is supposedly pretty smart, and might well be using Linux. She's also supposedly not only very image conscious, but very skilled at consciously crafting her image, so even if she does use Linux, she might for any number of reasons just not talk about it.

Does it make a difference, either way?
tracyanne ·
@Steven... yes please. Although improved mid level harware support for applications like ardour, would be asignificant improvment. Trying to get hold of affordable hardware to use with Ardour has been an interesting exercise.

Ubuntu no longer a flag bearer for Linux

19 earlier comments in the full thread.

Koriel ·
Actually I have no problem with Canonical marketing Ubuntu without ever mentioning Linux as long as they remember that it is a double-edged sword and I wish reviewers would also not refer to Linux when they are talking about Ubuntu for me its a completely separate entity and provides very little real worth back to the Linux community.

Steven_Rosenber ·
I'd say that Ubuntu was the standard bearer for Linux but is no longer.

My answer is necessarily colored by my personal experience, but in my mind Ubuntu held the "standard-bearer" position from the Dapper Drake release -- the project's first LTS -- in 2006 until (depending on your point of view) either the 9.10 release (2009) or 10.04 release -- or as far as the 11.04 release (2011).

My personal view is that Ubuntu was the "flag bearer" from 2006-2011 -- pretty much six years. That's eons in Linux time.

As trivial as it sounds, flipping the buttons from right to left was an ominous sign. Packing LTS releases with barely-beta features (Ubuntu One, Gwibber/beam and social menu in 10.04, Unity and HUD in 12.04) totally undercuts Ubuntu's mission to provide enterprise-ready desktops. The focus on TV, tablet and mobile products that never seem to really gain any traction takes the focus off of desktop Linux even more.

While I think Unity is a good decision for Canonical the company, and to a lesser extent for Ubuntu the project, it separates Ubuntu from what we think of as a community-driven Linux distribution. Canonical may succeed as a company with its current strategy, but it will be as a maker of OSes for devices and not as the so-called standard bearer for desktop Linux (for whatever that's worth; and that's obviously not much).

And Mint is grabbing all of that mind-share anyway. I see a lot of fragmentation as other distributions rise in popularity among both hardcore users and new users.

Ubuntu is definitely not the standard bearer at this point.

On the bright side, I like what Ubuntu Server is doing -- long-term support, bringing more features to the table that enterprise customers want, etc.

But on the desktop? The window (no pun intended) is open for another distribution to grab the "standard-bearer" crown. Right now I think that distro is Mint. But it's a wide-open race.

(I discovered fairly early on -- at least by mid-2007 -- that Debian wasn't that much harder to install than Ubuntu, posed many fewer problems with the slower release cycle, and ran the same GNOME desktop appreciably faster.)

Ubuntu may be able to climb out of the hole it's dug itself into, but I really don't think it wants to do that.

Question: Is this good for Linux? No. There's clearly a need for an easy-to-install-use-and-love distribution with a huge, helpful community like Ubuntu. Debian, as much as I love it, Arch and Slackware are NOT candidates for newbie-friendly introduction to Linux.

I still see this as Mint's opportunity to dominate. But this is a volatile situation, one rife with opportunity. Still, I'd bet on Mint.
Read the whole comment
BernardSwiss ·
I think part of the discussion here revolves around the definition of "Flag-bearer", which as has as I understand it, has a wide range of meanings.

At one end of the spectrum, it refers to military tradition, in which bearing the flag was not only a post of honour, but a vital task in action. The flag bearer accompanied the units commanding officer(s), provided orientation for manoeuvres and taking position for battle, a rallying point in the confusion of battle, and reassurance that functioning leadership was alive (and still present) in the thick of battle. Flag-bearers often needed their own guard because it was a common tactic to target the flag-bearers, so that the enemy would be disheartened by its fall and disappearance from view. In a hard battle a unit might go through several flag-bearers, as replacements would have to take the place of the last poor bugger who had that job. Loss of one's flag was often the consequence of defeat, a trophy to the victor, and an affront to honour otherwise.

At the other end of the spectrum, a flag-bearer is just some guy with strong arms, at the head of some group or organizational cohort marching down the street in the Labour Day parade.

So, is every one talking about the same thing?
tracyanne ·
Lets put it this way I Don't think Ubuntu is a rallying point for the Linux community.
BernardSwiss ·
Not any more -- that's for sure.

But if it never had been, we wouldn't bother discussing the matter, either.

(edit: for clarity, tone)
Steven_Rosenber ·
Even though Ubuntu's primary mission was welcoming new users to the Linux desktop, power users both got what they wanted technically and were excited about joining and supporting this mission to spread the gospel of Linux among the rest of the world. They believed in Ubuntu.

Had that strategy caused money to pour into Canonical, things very well might have continued in that spirit and with that enthusiasm.

But it didn't. And Canonical is looking for ways to turn a buck. Nothing wrong with that. But the community seems like a free-labor-providing, endlessly cheerleading afterthought. Relationships with upstream projects are strained or broken (I'm mostly talking about GNOME). Canonical is looking a lot more like Apple. That's great if you love Apple and its relationship with its customers. But it's not a community.

GNOME 3 running off the rails a bit didn't help matters, nor did Ubuntu's decision to roll out its own crazy, half-finished desktop. Odd all around.

I consider this a very troubling time for Linux on the desktop.
caitlyn ·
I actually consider it a very promising time for Linux on the desktop. I see the most likely candidates to capture mindshare right now, and it is wide open, are those doing something very different from Ubuntu. That isn't Mint. It could be Mageia or ROSA or Fedora (doubtful) or openSUSE.
montezuma ·
To paraphrase Elvis Costello on the linux desktop

I used to be concerned now I try to be relaxed.

When gnome 3 and unity hit I worried a lot about which desktop I would use. Nowadays I care a lot less. I use Cinnamon, Gnome Classic or Mate depending on mood and it makes little difference.
Koriel ·
Maybe i'm just an optimist (very doubtful) but like caitlyn I see this as a great opportunity for other desktop Linux's to fill the gap that Ubuntu once occupied the likeliest candidates being Mint, Mageia and possibly ROSA.
caitlyn ·
You know what: I'd add Debian to the list of possibilities. It's a lot more user friendly than it used to be and the repository is simply huge.

The big thing holding openSUSE back was the community attitude to the deal between Novell and Microsoft, which was understandable. With Novell relegated to history that should no longer be an issue.
Steven_Rosenber ·
Another Debian derivative? Sure. But Debian proper? As much as I love Debian -- it's what I run -- I just don't see it.
jdixon ·
> Debian, as much as I love it, Arch and Slackware are NOT candidates for newbie-friendly introduction to Linux.

That the problem, yes. And neither Slackware nor Arch can become that, as that's not their focus. Caitlyn is correct, Debian is far more newbie friendly than it used to be, but I'm not sure it's enough, and how much of that was driven by Ubuntu's success?

We do need a newbie friendly desktop distro that's community oriented. It's obvious that Ubuntu is no longer going to provide it. Who will, if anyone?
flufferbeer ·
@jdixon,

> We do need a newbie friendly desktop distro that's community oriented. It's obvious that Ubuntu is no longer going to provide it. Who will, if anyone?

Linux Mint.

While caitlyn's own opinion above is that the most likely candidate to capture mindshare right now certainly "isn't Mint", I actually agree much more with Steven_Rosenber and others that it's a better bet Linux Mint actually COULD be this likely candidate.

I think we can all agree that according to Distrowatch.com, Linux Mint is VASTLY more popular than all the other distros..... the fully self-acknowledged LINUX distros that is ;). So much for capturing mindshare. I also think that Linux Mint has effectively supplanted Ubuntu as being one of the top newbie friendly and community oriented desktop distros.

+2 Steven_Rosenber (for his first two insightful comments on this thread) and

+2more (non-CentOS) cents
Bob_Robertson ·
A co-worker today mentioned Mint out of the blue to me. Interesting.
caitlyn ·
Was I adamant about it not being Mint? I don't think so. I just don't see it as the most likely for a number of reasons, mainly that it is downstream from Ubuntu and that it doesn't have a big organization or company behind it. Mindshare is about free marketing and Mint really doesn't market itself.

The reason I say it could be ROSA Desktop is best expressed in this article: http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2012/04/20/5-user-friendly-applica... They bring something new to the table and this is just the beginning for them.
Koriel ·
I think Mint stands a good chance, but the problem is their main edition is reliant on Ubuntu.

If they were to concentrate their excellent efforts on the Debian edition then that in my opinion would be a good move.
caitlyn ·
Quoting:If they were to concentrate their excellent efforts on the Debian edition then that in my opinion would be a good move.


I agree, Koriel.

I also noticed ROSA pushed their release back from today until Sunday. Releasing only when it's ready? What a novel concept! That should definitely help.
patrickjmquinn Story submitter ·
today is the Ubuntu 12.04 release date, id imagine it because they don't want their release overshadowed (get your flamethrowers out Linux fans)
vainrveenr ·
Quoting:today is the Ubuntu 12.04 release date, id imagine it because they don't want their release overshadowed (get your flamethrowers out Linux fans)


Perhaps there will be several written pieces appearing here within the week, containing all the detailed reviews and features anyone would ever want to know about Ubuntu 12.04, Kubuntu 12.04, Xubuntu 12.04, Lubuntu 12.04, Edubuntu 12.04, ...etcetera.

The DistroWatch homepage already fully lists all these 'buntus' Distribution Release announcements.



Ubuntu 12.4 still needs some Tender loving care

lsatenstein ·
My testing was with the 32bit version. One problem I noted is that many applications expand beyond the size of the monitor, such that one cannot unmaximize them.

As well, when some applications appear long running, one cannot cancel them. There seems to be a problem with trapping mouse clicks.

Leslie

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