Herd 5 of Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn has been released (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu). Improvements include VPN plugins for Network Manager, easier access to desktop effects (Compiz), and much more. Read about Herd 5, and download it.
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2006-07-04
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Ubuntu has always had these crazy code names for their releases, such as Warty Warthog, Breezy Badger, Dapper Drake. It is just a fun thing I guess.
Since Fawns are found in groups called Herds, the ubuntu folks have named their Feisty Fawn test releases Herd 1, Herd 2, etc.
They will probably have an RC1 (maybe an RC 2) before the final release which will officially be called Ubuntu 7.04 if it goes out on schedule.
We all probably need to focus less on the code names, and more on the quality OS that will be out soon!
Hope this clears it up a little bit.
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I disagree, I don't think it's retarded at all. It's great branding - something which has always been Ubuntu's forte - and it makes it easier to remember the various distros.
It's certainly more fun than "7.04" or "2007". Why do you think Apple uses names of big cats for their releases? "Leopard" is much more catchy than "10.5"...
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I for one am waiting for "Constipated Chimpanzee"...
That might take a while...ever since Dapper it seems they've decided to follow alphabetical order (which makes sense): Dapper Drake, Edgy Eft, Feisty Fawn...
I wonder which will be next? Giddy Gorilla? Gangrenous Goat? Gumptious Guppy?
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The code names are free publicity - if you name your product something stupid,but don't push it too far to damage credibility, people will talk about it; it's free exposure. Nintendo pulled the same thing with the "wii".
Strange names generate free publicity. Half the comments here are about the names - so you can't say it doesn't work.
Member since:2006-04-20
Yes, Ubuntu have hit the nail on the head with marketing - they aren't doing anything that is radically different from a number of other distributions - it is their clever marketing that has seen them taking the distro popularity crown among desktop enthusiasts.
I suspect PCLinuxOS would fair even better than Ubuntu if they came up with a better name & similar marketing strategy, as the actual software is somewhat better IMO as a newbie friendly desktop OS (not that that Ubuntu is a bad distro or anything). And there are several distros in the same situation of having frankly quite boring and uninspiring names that have bugger all chance of attracting new users, regardless of how well made the actual distro is, purely because the name puts people off even trying it.
Member since:2005-07-24
"""Yes, Ubuntu have hit the nail on the head with marketing - they aren't doing anything that is radically different from a number of other distributions - it is their clever marketing that has seen them taking the distro popularity crown among desktop enthusiasts."""
I agree that Ubuntu and its community understands marketing better than most of the rest of the OSS community.
But Ubuntu also sees the towering obstacles that "normal, non-computer experts" face as towering obstacles, and not as mole hills like, for example, the Fedora devs do. (And they are not alone.)
The Ubuntu philosophy is to:
1. provide Free Software
2. Include the minimum possible of proprietary drivers.
3. Educate their users.
4. And then, after they have done their best... let the user decide if they want to add proprietary software to their own machine.
Unlike some other distros, they do not believe in abusing their power to force the user into their own philosophical beliefs. They recognize that for the average, nontechnical computer user, if they, the distro maintainer, do not make any sort of provision for allowing the user to install whatever software they want, trusting them to make an informed decision, they are, in effect, using their superior technical position to coerce the user.
Of course, the Ubuntu Forums are a tremendous resource. RTFM is not tolerated there for an instant. And the forums are an endless fountain of good information.
I've been a Unix admin since 1988, and I regard it quite highly as a resource.
I know I'm probably gushing a bit, but to me Ubuntu is at the forefront of ushering out the old guard that wants to tell new users to RTFM, and that they just need to come back when they've learned more (never mind that the new user may be a brain surgeon in his day job), and ushering in a new wave of users who would never take the plunge if they did not:
1. Know about Linux.
2. Have an easy way to get media.
3. Have a distro that made sane decisions based upon the needs of the user and not some ivory tower philosophy or concept enterprise best practice.
4. Have a warm, helpful, and caring community, made up in great part of people like them, to help them get started.
In short, I think that Ubuntu has gotten right many of the things that we Unix-heads have been too arrogant, fearful, or disconnected to understand.
Hey... how'd I get on top of this soap box???
Edited 2007-03-04 03:00
Member since:2006-01-01
The Ubuntu philosophy is to:
1. provide Free Software
2. Include the minimum possible of proprietary drivers.
3. Educate their users.
4. And then, after they have done their best... let the user decide if they want to add proprietary software to their own machine.
Most GNU/Linux distros provide Free Software and most distros offer optional proprietary drivers. In this respect the Ubuntu "philosophy" seems to follow the practices of most other distros.
they do not believe in abusing their power to force the user into their own philosophical beliefs.
Neither do most other distros.
Of course, the Ubuntu Forums are a tremendous resource. RTFM is not tolerated there for an instant. And the forums are an endless fountain of good information.
That applies equally to the forums of most other distros.
Ubuntu fans are good in setting up straw men and then attacking them. They like to bash other distros just to be able to tell how much better Ubuntu is. They like to tell how hostile and unhelpful the forums of all the other distros are and how unique Ubuntu is because it has a friendly and helpful forum.
Sorry, but I don't buy that crap. Ubuntu is a good distro but there are also many other equally good distros, and even better distros than Ubuntu. Free Software improves fast and every year it becomes easier to use. Also the Free Software community becomes all the time friendlier and more inclusive as new users join in. These are general trends, not exclusive Ubuntu features.
Edited 2007-03-04 04:03
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"""Sorry, but I don't buy that crap."""
Sour grapes?
Sorry I stepped on your favorite distro, whatever it is.
But if it were doing things as effectively as Ubuntu, *it* would be the one getting bashed for being the most popular. And its users would be the ones being attacked by the fans of less popular distros. (Mandriva did not sink into obscurity from the #1 desktop position spontaneously, and for no reason.)
I've evaluated a lot of distros, and browsed a lot of help forums. Some of them good and some of them bad. And *none* that I have sampled can really hold a candle to Ubnutu and its forums. PCLinuxOS gets an honorable mention for quality. But its community is so much *smaller* that its forum simply does not have the same breadth.
If you don't believe me, try this. As you Google for answers to various questions or problems you are having with your distro, note when you find helpful posts that come from a distro's help forum. (Just Google for the question without including a specific distro in the query string.) And keep a tally of which forum has most of the good answers.
This is not a straw man. Unlike the nebulous sorts of "there are distros out there that..." claims that you invoke, this is quite an empirical exercise, which anyone who desires to can replicate.
Edited 2007-03-04 13:50
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2006-01-10
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Well you could read the article but:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/feisty/herd-5/
is the download page
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/feisty/herd-5/feisty-alternate-i...
is the link to the i386 distro and
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/feisty/herd-5/feisty-desktop-amd...
for AMD64
I installed herd 4 without issue but since they have server iso I think I will reinstall since there are some parts of the desktop install I do not like.
Edited 2007-03-03 01:12
Member since:2005-07-06
NOTE: The torrent link I provided for i386 was the Alternate CD not the Desktop. Here:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/feisty/herd-5/feisty-desktop-i38...
is the desktop CD torrent for i386. I noticed the error too late to edit, sorry.
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It is/was Network Manager interfering, one of the reasons I am going to reinstall with server. On the other hand in the last set of updates there was an update for NM so perhaps it is corrected.
If you configure the card in /etc/network/interfaces however (versus using the GUI) a static address will hold and work fine regardless.
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Please report these bugs to launchpad so they are properly addressed and fixed. http://www.launchpad.net
Member since:2005-07-06
Please report these bugs to launchpad so they are properly addressed and fixed. http://www.launchpad.net
You are absolutely correct, I was thinking that myself. I sent comments on the broken drivers for my ethernet as part of the hardware submission and those got fixed.
In all honesty I just wanted Network Manager disabled since I prefer using the config file. Once I managed to get config working the way I wanted I did not think about others who were probably having the same problem. Selfish of me.
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2005-07-07
I don't know if it's just the ubuntu packaged version or what, but Xorg 7.2 is significantly slower than 7.1 in my experience. Prior to updating Xorg, I was able to use EXA with compiz/beryl regularly (annoying bugs aside). But now, I've had to revert back to XAA and abandon hope of using any compositor day-to-day. I'm using the FOSS radeon drivers (my r250 card not supported by fglrx). It irks me that a product would be shipped with a huge performance loss and without complete drivers. I've heard there are promises of functional composite when xorg-xserver-1.3 is released... we'll see.
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2006-09-14
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Yeah, because it's *really hard* to change the look of a Linux desktop...
If the one thing that will prevent you from using a distro is the default look, then I don't know what to say. I can make Ubuntu look exactly like RedHat/Fedora in less than five minutes!
I myself find that the default look is all right, although I always change the default style to Lipstick on my Kubuntu installs (I just like the style). To each his own!
Member since:2005-06-30
To each its own. I wouldn't claim Fedora Core 6 is a reference in professionalism with the DNA theme and the dated icon theme. As for the fonts, I didn't noticed any glaring change in rendering, but it seems to depend on your display...
If you don't like the orange theme, Feisty is coming with a blue theme called "Glossy" which is quite reminescent of the Human theme.
Not that FC6 is bad, but it doesn't work out-of-the-box because of wireless drivers... Ubuntu got it right, somehow.
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Not that FC6 is bad, but it doesn't work out-of-the-box because of wireless drivers... Ubuntu got it right, somehow.
http://kernelslacker.livejournal.com/30664.html
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I'm calling it.
Since the release of hoary hedgehog I have actively been converting friends and family members to ubuntu. My grandma and father run dapper and windows duel boot configurations, which apparently they no longer need (My lovely Gma wants her entire computer (hard drive)). to be devoted to ubuntu! My gf and 7 other friends run Edgy eft, and again they love it.
Between making them (the eight that have retained linux) happier, and reducing the amount of tech support calls I have to field; there's all those that don't want to throw away their 2 year old computer (because they see there perfectly usable XP/Me/2000 machine as dated). Have all the glitz, speed, and stability, and without dropping $800-$2500 on a new PC!
Because I don't mind running unstable software, i have been using feisty since herd 3 (alpha/beta3) and must say I have been very impressed. Every release seems to be far greater than the one before, and with feisty's emphasis on the desktop, this is surely going to be that release anyone will want to use.
Who cares if the names are silly, seriously, this is an incredibly stable, capable, and speedy OS.
Edited 2007-03-03 06:13
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2005-07-08
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http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/38088601/
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2168119
Gnome and Human themes for OO.org2 
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Yes I wish OpenOffce would use these http://jimmac.musichall.cz/i.php?i=Tango-OOo as default. Maybe when they switch to the new colour scheme.
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2005-07-08
I've been running Kubuntu Feisty Herd 4 for almost 2 weeks (now Herd 5). At first, it looked very promising. Clean look as usual and nice software selection by default. Unfortunately, I quickly changed my mind.
First, it's not really Kubuntu's developers fault. I think they did a good job. Like I said, the software selection is good, etc. It's buggy in some area but it's still alpha so that's acceptable at this stage.
The biggest problem is the GUI. It's simply unacceptable. Note that I'm now comparing Kubuntu to other OSes. The fonts look blurry (small size) and are way too big or way to small. It's a big problem because I'm reading stuff most of the time. Second, there's still that problem with QT I think. It's slow! Just move your mouse over a menu and you see some kind of square behind the mouse pointer. Maybe it doesn't take full advantage of "clipping region" when drawing I don't know but there's a huge problem there. I was using Kdevelop last night and I realized that when I'm selecting text in the editor, all the buttons of the toobar start flickering alot (all of them! even those that are not getting "updated" like "copy", "cut", etc).
I know the QT4 guys promised us a faster and cleaner QT. Same with KDE4 guys. So I tried the third development snapshot of KDE4. Same problems. Except the cosmetic changes in KDE4 (none yet), I do not expect much improvements in the GUI area. Sorry.
So before modding me down, I say try it yourself. And please, don't tell me that KDE4 is still alpha. I know all that. But the fact is that it's using QT4 which is final. I should have seen a faster GUI.
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Hmm, I've never encountered the problem you describe so I don't think KDE or even QT are at fault here... Maybe you are having some weird driver issues. Are you using closed source drivers?
I am and Opera does not really seem to like it - artifacts on the screen and dog slow redrawing when I resize. But, as I said, in KDE itself I've never seen slow response times.
It's probably either your driver/your hardware or the Kubuntu devs messed something up in their struggle to keep the distro bleeding edge...
But I'm no expert and maybe you've just faster eyes than me ;-)
Member since:2005-07-02
You have a serious issue with your setup...could you possibly be running XGL *without* running Beryl?
What's your video setup (i.e. video card, driver, X server)? What you're describing is *not* typical of a Kubuntu install.
As far as fonts being blurry, what screen resolution are you using? Using AA fonts at less than 1280x1024 is suboptimal as far as small fonts are concerned. You may want to turn anti-aliasing off for small font sizes (Configuration --> Look and Feel --> Fonts, then click on the "Smooth Fonts" button...sorry if those aren't the exact names, I'm using KDE in French).
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2006-01-24
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No, and for desktop iso I do not expect it to ever be the case. While it might frustrate the power user, it makes life simpler for a Linux noob.
On the other hand there is the altenate install iso which I have not used but think it offers some options since it is targeted at OEMs. The server iso is also an option if you prefer to build from the ground up, though you won't have a lot on install.
Ubuntu follows a different philosophy. The install gives you a default working environment which you can then customize while using.
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Well I was running Herd 4/i386 on a c2d with quite decent performance. I switched to Herd 5/amd64 server edition though so I could run a more stripped down install.
What do you find so bad about the 64 bit version? The absence of a flash plugin is the biggest problem I have had so far. It has not been without some pains getting things configured (mostly VMWare workstation 6 beta) but I seem to be past the worst of that.
