Ubuntu Breezy: I like what I see

[bored2k]

Ok so today I dist-upgraded to Breezy and *gasp*, everything is working great (I'd say it's 89.5% stable). So I decided to share my joy with my fellow Ubuntu and -yeah, why not?- non Ubuntu users out there. So how Is this any different than this (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=56027) thread? Well, I'm simply writing on the most noticeable changes I've encountered with Breezy while giving you all an image to help my description (some of these I have never seen screenshots here, so I thought it was time to post these). This is not a "over XX bugs resolved" tour, it's a "what you and I can see with a simple look" one ;).

* At the end there is a link to the Image Gallery. *


Gnome Desktop 2.12 (2.11.92)
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/3913/gnome5nf.jpg

Boot Manager Settings
Tired of seeing a bunch of text cluttering your boot loader and just being afraid of touching menu.lst? Here's where this application steps in. Although it eases up certain jobs like editing Names and password protecting entries, a feature that I think is missing is GrubConf's ability to load an .xpm.gz to use a certain boot theme. It's still a good addition.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/8914/01boot9pu.jpg

Disk Manager
I love this one. Not only does it safe from manually editing /etc/fstab everytime I fresh reinstall Ubuntu, but because I'd made me realize I had forgotten about 5 unused GB in my HDD! Anyways, it eases the process of establishing acces paths, disabling and browsing the detected partitions.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/3640/02disc8jk.jpg

Login Screen Setup
Not really a new application, but It has some nice changes I'd like to mention. First of all, you get the option of using one single theme or *gasp* Randomize your GDM, wich keeps the usual boring GDM startup fresh. Besides that, the options are now _much_ more easy to digest and use.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/207/03gdm16yj.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/1825/04gdm21yw.jpg

About Me
It's not the most useful application in the universe, but it's a cute addition to the Preferences menu.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/1286/05about1ui.jpg

User Image chooser
Pretty easy and self explaining application.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/458/05user0je.jpg

Language Selector
I liked this one a lot. Avoids having to search around countless amount of myspell+aspell language packages via apt-cache search or Synaptic. Allows you to choose in a very clean GUI what languages do you want available on your box.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/1558/06language6uq.jpg

Flashing Taskbar
Not the most breakthrough invention of the century, but it's a welcomed one, specially for the few of us who dislike Gaim -annoying- sounds and want to get notified.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/1390/07blink8lx.jpg

Nautilus
Loving the new features. First of all, the tree view is really useful (in tree view, old old list view). I'm kind of sad it still does not support custom backgrounds (I love to have black backgrounds in Nautilus), but I still love it for its functionality. The Sidebar now has a nice Places menu to ease our every day navigation. Another useful feature to Nautilus is the exclusion of the static location bar (don't worry, ctrl+L will display it) with a list of your current folder. What's cool about it ? Well, even if you go back a folder, your last viewed dir will stay there until you open another one (as shown above). D'autre part, I believe previews load much faster now.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/1016/08nautilus12it.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/9452/nautilus030hk.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/4952/09nautilus20zm.jpg

Services Settings
Easy way to disable services you don't really need.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/5604/10services2fc.jpg

Serpentine
A very clean (After all, it is Gnome) Audio disc creator.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/8757/11serpentine0zh.jpg

VLC
VLC (8.2). The upgrade for my prefered video player. More improved and supported formats, a much better -and pretty much new- Settings menu, same great player.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/8238/15vlc8de.jpg

Totem
The new simple yet useful Sidebar makes Totem an even more valuable and respectable application. Although my prefered media player (for Video at least) is VLC, this Playlist is far easier to use and manage.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/8233/12totem4na.jpg

OpenOffice.org2
Won't really go into this one's details (this one could easily deserve its own thread), but it's nice to see OOo's progress. It also loads noticeably faster (at least in Breezy).
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/5323/13ooo9us.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/7084/14impress2hn.jpg

Others
- Overall, it looks better. And yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not me being delirious.
- I wasn't expecting Java to run, but after I compiled my own JRE package, Azureus was up on its feet eating my RAM.

Bugs or strange behaviour I've encountered?
1) Although I select my spanish keyboard layout, I still get the english one.
2) When I select a timed screenshot in Gimp and I want to take a shot of an opened panel in an application, errors start spraying.
3) Maybe it's because of Azureus' memory consumption, but while I have it opened and I try loading more or less big applications, it goes to Azureus' Workspace while loading the application with no borders. After the application loads, everything is back to normal.
4) In my experience, Apt jobs run slower here.
That's just about it for encountered bugs.


http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/7751/box0tv.jpg (http://img378.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=01boot8qc.jpg)
Click the picture above for the Image Gallery

[darkmatter]

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Breezy... ;-)

[sophtpaw]

Ok so today I dist-upgraded to Breezy and *gasp*, everything is working great (I'd say it's 89.5% stable). So I decided to share my joy with my fellow Ubuntu and -yeah, why not?- non Ubuntu users out there. So how Is this any different than this (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=56027) thread? Well, I'm simply writing on the most noticeable changes I've encountered with Breezy while giving you all an image to help my description (some of these I have never seen screenshots here, so I thought it was time to post these). This is not a "over XX bugs resolved" tour, it's a "what you and I can see with a simple look" one ;).
(etc)
Good job bored2k!

--
sophtpaw

ps, no hard feelings

[sapo]

nice job biba...

Btw... what about speed? is it faster than hoary in any ways?

[Seth]

Wow, 89.5% eh... how specific! I'd like to see the calculations for THAT number :rolleyes:

[earobinson]

very good post i like what i see to

[defkewl]

Wow, 89.5% eh... how specific! I'd like to see the calculations for THAT number :rolleyes:

That's his calculation based on his experience. You might get different number.

[sapo]

That's his calculation based on his experience. You might get different number.
I wonder what is that 10,5% that isnt stable...

[Luggy]

ooo Breezy sounds awesome!

[xequence]

Ill wait till it is officially released in october ;) I switched to ubuntu partly because windows was unstable, and that 10.5% is quite alot ;)

[Artificial Intelligence]

I can't wait! It's like christmas feeling!!! :razz:

[ygarl]

Hello,
Dumb question number 27 here -
I have Hoary at home -

What is Breezy? Is it the newer version?
Will it fix my SOUND nightmare I am having (and am about to spend another 2 hours on tonight...)?

Ta

[weasel fierce]

Breezy is the newest release.


Im rather psyched too, but I think I'll wait for the final one :)

[poofyhairguy]

Mmmmmm....new VLC? I must check it out.

[byen]

wow.looks great,cant wait...must take!!

PS- by the way a lil Q?. do we know the exact release date? I'll be off for a small tour around the rock starting oct 1st week (for 6 weeks)so...would i miss it? hate to live with not havin breezy for long....

[alaithea]

What is Breezy? Is it the newer version?
Will it fix my SOUND nightmare I am having (and am about to spend another 2 hours on tonight...)?
Ta
Yes, it's the version that's going to be released in October. I can't speak for your computer, but it took me about a month to get my sound working in Hoary (finally got it working thanks to a very good HOWTO on this forum). But Breezy's ALSA sound worked out of the box on the same computer.

[Wolki]

PS- by the way a lil Q?. do we know the exact release date? I'll be off for a small tour around the rock starting oct 1st week (for 6 weeks)so...would i miss it? hate to live with not havin breezy for long....

October 13th.

See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Calendar

[byen]

October 13th.

See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Calendar
oh crap...gonna miss it then! oh well!

[Brunellus]

oh crap...gonna miss it then! oh well!
I'm going to wait for the fuss to die down a bit before I upgrade. I don't need to be bleeding-edge for anything except one package....

[bored2k]

I'm going to wait for the fuss to die down a bit before I upgrade. I don't need to be bleeding-edge for anything except one package....
No need to. It's not like they are releasing dozens of bug fixes after final like FC4 did, so upgrading the same day or a year later is the same.

[byen]

I think I have to agree with you...as someone (bored2k?) put it..might as well wait until the end of the year... why test drive a car when you can get the finished product in a month!

PS- i know I know...checking out the new stuff is a whole lotta fun...

[Brunellus]

No need to. It's not like they are releasing dozens of bug fixes after final like FC4 did, so upgrading the same day or a year later is the same.
yeah. but the servers are going to be mobbed.

then again, the torrents might be quicker.

I'll think about it.

[bored2k]

yeah. but the servers are going to be mobbed.

then again, the torrents might be quicker.

I'll think about it.
It's virtually impossible for the Breezy final torrents to be slow. There would be thousands of seeders helping out, so there should be no reason to wait.

... why test drive a car when you can get the finished product in a month! 1) So let's say I have a two year old BMW 740IL (yeah, the on with the old "skin") and I know I'm getting a 2006 745IL. I've been going nuts reading about it and I get the opportunity to test an unfinished product whose breaks won't get loose and kill you and you will still be able to get the finished product in a month. Why wait to test the beast out ?
2) You get the opportunity to play an unfinished -close to completion- version of Halo 3 (ok ok, Metal Gear Solid 5 you Microsoft haters!). Why wait a grueling month to play it, when you can get your hands on it?
3) I have Ubuntu Hoary with VLC 8.1. I get the chance to test a myriad of things but most noticeably VLC 8.2 wich I tried in Windows and loved it. I find a way to compile it to play WMV9 on the net, something 8.1 can't do. That's when I got the distro-upgrade itch.

:-P

[byen]

It's virtually impossible for the Breezy final torrents to be slow. There would be thousands of seeders helping out, so there should be no reason to wait.

1) So let's say I have a two year old BMW 740IL (yeah, the on with the old "skin") and I know I'm getting a 2006 745IL. I've been going nuts reading about it and I get the opportunity to test an unfinished product whose breaks won't get loose and kill you and you will still be able to get the finished product in a month. Why wait to test the beast out ?
2) You get the opportunity to play an unfinished -close to completion- version of Halo 3 (ok ok, Metal Gear Solid 5 you Microsoft haters!). Why wait a grueling month to play it, when you can get your hands on it?
3) I have Ubuntu Hoary with VLC 8.1. I get the chance to test a myriad of things but most noticeably VLC 8.2 wich I tried in Windows and loved it. I find a way to compile it to play WMV9 on the net, something 8.1 can't do. That's when I got the distro-upgrade itch.

:-P
lol...no argument there....i knew id get a earfull when i typed it.... but i do agree...nothing like walking on the fast line...
PS- one might crash and burn..but that only adds to the excitement ;-)

[qalimas]

Do you recommend upgrading to Breezy? I'm not in this for all the high tech programming, I'm just a user who loves challenge, but am worried I'll screw with something I shouldn't XD

[poofyhairguy]

Do you recommend upgrading to Breezy? I'm not in this for all the high tech programming, I'm just a user who loves challenge, but am worried I'll screw with something I shouldn't XD

No one "recommends" it. Its not released yet. We will day do it if you want to have some fun (and messing with computer stuff is fun). I'm on Breezy. Many are.

[sapo]

I just started upgrading my hoary...

bored2k.. if it breaks everything here.. i ll kill you.. :-#

[poofyhairguy]

One thing I have been playing with:

Gnome-app-install

The new easy way to install programs. Its ok. Its SOOOOOO easy to use. Click-and-run level easy. And it works ok. It refuses to remove packages, which might be a bad thing (since that Ubuntu desktop package always wants to leave and it freaks someone out).

One cool thing is that it has an "advanced" mode. It closes itself and opens synaptic!

Really simple to use it is. That plus backports means that Ubuntu will have much less of a problem with software. No longer is "installing software in Linux hard." At least for real noobs it isn't.

[bjweeks]

poofyhairguy, will Gnome-app-install be in breezy or will it be an option?

[sapo]

One thing I have been playing with:

Gnome-app-install

The new easy way to install programs. Its ok. Its SOOOOOO easy to use. Click-and-run level easy. And it works ok. It refuses to remove packages, which might be a bad thing (since that Ubuntu desktop package always wants to leave and it freaks someone out).

One cool thing is that it has an "advanced" mode. It closes itself and opens synaptic!

Really simple to use it is. That plus backports means that Ubuntu will have much less of a problem with software. No longer is "installing software in Linux hard." At least for real noobs it isn't.
does it work with .deb packages? like double clicking them and installing? or we still have to use terminal for that?

And how is the "command line" in breezy? do we still have to use it a lot.. i said HAVE to use.. and not LIKE to use.. is it possible to live without it in breezy?

[poofyhairguy]

poofyhairguy, will Gnome-app-install be in breezy or will it be an option?

It was installed by default.

[poofyhairguy]

does it work with .deb packages? like double clicking them and installing? or we still have to use terminal for that?

No. Not drag and drop and install, and no double click. No right click thing either. Still need terminal for that.


And how is the "command line" in breezy? do we still have to use it a lot.. i said HAVE to use.. and not LIKE to use.. is it possible to live without it in breezy?

It is possible. More so. Like a SUSE or a Redhat yet? No.

[sapo]

No. Not drag and drop and install, and no double click. No right click thing either. Still need terminal for that.



It is possible. More so. Like a SUSE or a Redhat yet? No.
:( this is disappointing...

[poofyhairguy]

:( this is disappointing...

Fonts are better though. The one big thing missing for me is a way to configure xorg through GUI.

[sapo]

Fonts are better though. The one big thing missing for me is a way to configure xorg through GUI.
are there some kind of plan to do it in the future? how is this 2 things going?

1 - command line disintegration (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CommandLineDisintegration?highlight=%28CommandLine Disintegration%29).
2 - X "safe mode" and graphical config tool.

these are 2 things that i have most interest.. not for me.. i configure my X editing the config files.. but for noobs i think its critical :p

[UbuWu]

poofyhairguy, will Gnome-app-install be in breezy or will it be an option?

In fact, it is already in hoary, but it is pretty useless. Now it has been turned into a great app with even more potential... (screenshots, ratings, comments... you name it)

[UbuWu]

1 - command line disintegration (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CommandLineDisintegration?highlight=%28CommandLine Disintegration%29).


At least a few things from that page are implemented:

A graphical services app
A graphical mounting app (disks manager)
Converting sound files (soundconverter in universe)

[poofyhairguy]

are there some kind of plan to do it in the future? how is this 2 things going?

1 - command line disintegration (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CommandLineDisintegration?highlight=%28CommandLine Disintegration%29).

Thats going good. this release added way more GUI tools than the last did. A LOT.


2 - X "safe mode" and graphical config tool.


As far as I can find, neither of these things are even on the radar.

[drizek]

why not just use sax2 from suse? it doesnt need the rest of yast and sets up x.org very nicely.

[poofyhairguy]

why not just use sax2 from suse? it doesnt need the rest of yast and sets up x.org very nicely.

Someone could. Kubuntu could. But the Ubuntu devs would only use something made by python or the like.....not QT.

[manicka]

I just started upgrading my hoary...

bored2k.. if it breaks everything here.. i ll kill you.. :-#
I won't kill you ;) but I did crash and burn upgrading about 5 days ago. I couldn't get Xorg to work at all and went with a fresh install. I believe it was related to do with the 686 kernel I was running, as I have the same issue on my new install. Fortunately the 386 kernel is working beautifully.

Of course, that's why we back up before such an exercise and I must say that my clean install of breezy is very impressive. :)

I'd even bump it up tp 91.6% :D

Highlights:
Surprising stability
Beagle finally works properly :) (0.0.12 is very nice)
New system control panels
Nautilus improvements

Lowlights
enabling DMA still a hassle
Spellcheck broken in Ooo. (fairly simple workaround with DicOoo install)

[bjweeks]

Do you know if totom will work out of the box?

[poofyhairguy]

Do you know if totom will work out of the box?

totem-xine installed by default.

[bjweeks]

Cool one less step to get ubuntu perfect. :grin:

[rpgcyco]

Well, today I also bit the bullet and dist-upgraded to Breezy. After 3 previous broken attempts and Colony 3 not even installing, I was a bit hesistant but it worked! :D

Boy, is it awesome. First, I did a clean Ubuntu Hoary install and then upgraded right away.

I had already been running Breezy on my old PC when the new config programs were appearing. But, that PC has long since been wiped.

Anyway, all is working well. I compiled the latest NVIDIA drivers on the K7 kernel, no worries. Just had to install GCC 3.4 and tell the NVIDIA installer to use it.

Looking at Breezy's current state, I think it's safe to say it will be the one of, if not, the most user friendly distro yet.

- Rpg Cyco

[manicka]

totem-xine installed by default.
My clean install (colony 3 then update) defaulted to totem-gstreamer.

Changing to totem-xine was one of my first post install tasks

[supernaut]

I don't like the look of the Login Screen Setup app. Too many tabs, they should have used a list control, IMHO. Also, is it likely Serpentine will get the flick once Rhythmbox integrates CD burning? Seems a bit silly to have a whole seperate application for CD burning.

Disk Manager and Boot Manager look awesome though, as do the improvements to Totem, Epiphany (although you haven't listed it ;)) and Nautilus.

[aysiu]

I just installed Breezy on my "testing out distros" partition, and the upgrade hosed my X. So, I know the not-yet-ready Breezy has been working for some people, but, for the curious, I'd highly suggest (until Breezy is officially released) using another partition or another computer if you want to play around with Breezy, rather than installing it over your regular Hoary.

[sapo]

Just installed breezy yesterday here... i was expecting X to give me headaches and it was what happened.. btw...

this tutorial works to install the lastest Nvidia drivers on breezy:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=52924

i m with my 3d working, but glxgears is bugged.. ut2k4 runs fine (but much slower than it ran in hoary)

And the overall performance of my pc is SLOWER too.

And today morning everything started crashing..

sudo crashed every terminal that i tryied to use it...

gnome-video-thumbnailer crashes and there was no way to kill it.. i even searched for a mercenary to kill it for money but it didnt die! :roll:

synaptic crashed on the background and gksudo stopped working.

so.. the only thing that solved was a reboot.. in hoary i stayied more than 15 days without a reboot.. and breezy crashed on the first..

so its still unstable in my point of view.

About the apps.. the only thing that still isnt working is my VMWare... but i ll try reinstalling it again.. reinstalled it yesterday but no luck...

So if you wanna try breezy.. try it for curiosity.. but i should aware you that your curiosity will be gone after half an hour... and you are gonna have headaches with it till it become stable (1 month)...

so.. if you wanna play with it.. go ahead.. it rox.. but if you plan to use it.. i regreted the upgrade.. but it cant be undone .. so i ll stay it with.. its working.. but kinda slower and buggy :-#

[aysiu]

I just installed Breezy on my "testing out distros" partition, and the upgrade hosed my X. Okay. I reinstalled Breezy again, and this time it worked. I guess I'd answered "no" to some questions I should have answered "yes" to (about the X windows system). So now I have a question. Since I have an installation of Breezy, does that mean I'll have to do another sudo apt-get dist-upgrade in a month? Or can I just keep the installation and do a regular sudo apt-get upgrade when Breezy's officially released?

[bored2k]

so.. if you wanna play with it.. go ahead.. it rox.. but if you plan to use it.. i regreted the upgrade.. but it cant be undone .. so i ll stay it with.. its working.. but kinda slower and buggy :-#
At the moment i could use this for my every day life. Not as stable, but quite allright.

And for the record, Breezy's new _no toolbar for native apps_ rocks, specially on epiphany.

[Teo]

Nautilus
Loving the new features. First of all, the tree view is really useful (in tree view, old old list view). I'm kind of sad it still does not support custom backgrounds (I love to have black backgrounds in Nautilus), but I still love it for its functionality. The Sidebar now has a nice Places menu to ease our every day navigation. Another useful feature to Nautilus is the exclusion of the static location bar (don't worry, ctrl+L will display it) with a list of your current folder. What's cool about it ? Well, even if you go back a folder, your last viewed dir will stay there until you open another one (as shown above). D'autre part, I believe previews load much faster now.
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/1016/08nautilus12it.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/9452/nautilus030hk.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/4952/09nautilus20zm.jpg
I prefer static Location Bar and Tree View + Back/Forward buttons to navigate. Now I have to use Ctrl + L :/
I don't say these buttons is bad idea - it's good idea, but not for me :(

Is it possible to get back static Location Bar where I can type location I want to go? - if not, then IMVHO it's very uncool :-?

Now I'm using Gnome 2.12 and this Nautilus thing is a disaster for me :mad:

[bored2k]

I prefer static Location Bar and Tree View + Back/Forward buttons to navigate. Now I have to use Ctrl + L :/
I don't say these buttons is bad idea - it's good idea, but not for me :(

Is it possible to get back static Location Bar where I can type location I want to go? - if not, then IMVHO it's very uncool :-?

Now I'm using Gnome 2.12 and this Nautilus thing is a disaster for me :mad:
Yes, via gconf editor.

[Teo]

Yes, via gconf editor.
THX for reminding 'bout gconf - few clicks solved the case \\:D/

[YourSurrogateGod]

Yeh, I know that it's kinda late, but I have a couple of questions...

1) Have the problems with stability been resolved?
2) How can I upgrade? (without having to download and burn it on a CD.)

[ayanstein]

will my current seetings in hoary remain intact when i switch to breezy? ex. Eterm,and other important desktop settings, i would really love to see it...i just dont want my current settings screwed up if i uprade

[bored2k]

will my current seetings in hoary remain intact when i switch to breezy? ex. Eterm,and other important desktop settings, i would really love to see it...i just dont want my current settings screwed up if i uprade
Yeah they will be ported.

[majikstreet]

Yeh, I know that it's kinda late, but I have a couple of questions...

1) Have the problems with stability been resolved?
2) How can I upgrade? (without having to download and burn it on a CD.)
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade