Should I upgrade to 8.10?

[Dustin2128]

I've heard a lot about instabillity in 8.10, (e.g. bugs) and the thing that I'm most worried about is the pathetic (or so I've heard) nvidia driver. Should I upgrade from 8.04?

[exploder]

My opinion is that 8.04 is more mature and reliable. The 8.10 release still has some remaining regressions that bug me. What is there really to gain by upgrading? This is just my opinion, the idea of an LTS release is just much more appealing to me.

[mb_webguy]

I can only speak from personal experience, and your mileage may vary, but...

I've been running Intrepid since shortly after its release. Before that, I was running Hardy. Intrepid seems to have better hardware support, and I like the changes that have been made in certain areas, particularly wireless networking. Intrepid has been very solid on all of the computers I have been running it on -- an older Dell desktop and two Dell laptops. One of the laptops has an nVidia video card, and Intrepid detected it and installed the driver without any problems. I recently used EnvyNG to install the official nVidia driver, but out of curiosity rather than because I was experiencing problems.

Plus you would get easy access to newer versions of applications through the official repositories, which is always a good thing.

On the other hand, Intrepid is not an LTS release, and some people aren't comfortable with upgrading their operating system every six months or so. If you're even asking this question, I would assume that you're not in this group, so my advice would be that, yes, you should upgrade. Of course, if there's any doubt, just pop in a LiveCD and try it out.

If you've been having problems in Hardy, however, you may want to consider a clean install of Intrepid, since most problems stem from bad configuration files, and an upgrade keeps most such files.

[oceania68]

I've heard a lot about instabillity in 8.10, (e.g. bugs) and the thing that I'm most worried about is the pathetic (or so I've heard) nvidia driver. Should I upgrade from 8.04?

I am using Ubuntu 8:10 and i dont really have any problems with it at all.. nothing major nor minor that i have come across yet... all my drivers work, The only thing that may be an issue (im looking into it as we speak) is the third party programs... like evo and digikam... things like that... For example,,, digikam sees my camera, but won't connect to download my pictures, then sometimes it does... But as for Ubuntu 8:10 OS, I quite like it... But to answer your question You will never know unless you try... Do a backup of your current OS and then try intrepid, or even install intrepid and dual boot that way you still keep 8:04... hope this helps with your decision making.... cheers

[Simian Man]

8.04 had a few issues on my laptop that 8.10 fixed nicely. The fact is that all such issues are anecdotal and the only way to judge how a distro will do on your hardware is to test it.

[browndog]

8.04 had a few issues on my laptop that 8.10 fixed nicely. The fact is that all such issues are anecdotal and the only way to judge how a distro will do on your hardware is to test it.

I agree wholeheartedly...use a live disc to test what you can and search the wiki for hardware compatibility reports. After that you may just have to install it and see what you get, if you're curious enough. I have Intrepid running on a laptop with NVIDIA graphics and it works incredibly well.

[Neobuntu]

A live CD does NOT a installed system test make. I have already clean installed Intrepid. Then gone back and clean installed (and built up again) Hardy, and this crap takes TIME!

TIME! Got it? I don't. Not to waste.

If you think it's OK for a release not to be done, and only LTS versions to "mostly" work then you are part of the problem. Do not call it a release, if it's a test!

[mb_webguy]

If you think it's OK for a release not to be done, and only LTS versions to "mostly" work then you are part of the problem. Do not call it a release, if it's a test!

Wow... Someone needs to go to their happy place and release the hate.

No release of any software is going to be completely bug free. When it comes to Ubuntu, there is a limited number of people testing a large amount of software in a limited amount of time, and the software must be tested in different configurations on a number of different systems. Check the number of packages available in the official repository some time and imagine testing each of those packages against all of the other related packages in time for the next release. No matter how well-tested software may be, once it is released to the general public you essentially expand the number of "testers" by several orders of magnitude, and bugs will be found that were missed by the initial testers. That's why Update Manager exists, to release fixes to bugs discovered after a version of Ubuntu is released.

[Neobuntu]

Well, yes but you missed the point. How will open software ever achieve the users that are indeed required (some disagree); to have BETTER hardware support if people would be better off running Windows(and better dealing with it's cons)?

Here, I've helped out on the forums, I've influenced multiple people to USE Kubuntu and now I'm called a "hater" because I take issue with the comparative level of functionality (mainly time saving and KDE4).

Perhaps Kubuntu is simply slipping and no amount of excuses can change the fact. Look, I get it, change is good. We can't get better without change. Yet, when those darned new "releases" come out, imperfect as they may be, a certain level of smoothness is absolutely REQUIRED. Just so, we can further stamp out the smaller bugs (before the next release). We need our own quality standards and if our standards are low, then that reflects poorly on all of us. it's called majoring on the majors. Goals. Priorities. We are accused of not having any. LEADERSHIP is what we need. Vision.

So, I guess IMHO, I believe the bar needs to be raised. SLOW DOWN on the innovation (some) and keep MORE toward stability. Please.

It's not that I want Windows. I want no benefit left behind! Then, we do need great, differing benefits as a draw. Contrary to popular myth, open software needs the draw!

At least IMO, we should have never let Gates take us down the closed software road, in the first place. The question is, what are we going to do about it? I envision a world where open software is very dominate. Only then will we see truly better, faster developed and beneficial PROGRESSION that is Unfettered by monopolists. Who knows how much father ahead we would be today, with (most) everyone on board. Think about it.

What better distro than (K)Ubuntu, for this?

Excuses, excuses. I'm well aware that I have no "right" to dictate what someone else codes. Yet, this is so far in the WRONG direction! The excuse is that "Linux" is selfish by nature. Developer "only" do want they want, foe themselves. BS! Utter, worldly BS! Sharing is never selfish. If any spin or perspective wants to focus on the "self" benefits from fellowship and giving to others then THAT'S THE KIND OF "SELFISH" I WANT TO BE! Only when developers code for "Granny" too, will this thing go big. Of course you can do any project you please. That goes without saying. Yet, contributing to Ubuntu with ONLY selfish intent? I don't think so.

(*)Ubuntu STANDS for something. Does it not? What happened to "Linux for real people"? Where are the priorities?

[grungedoobie]

I'm a Linux user. Have been for a couple years now. I am still learning the how-to and why-for aspect of the Linux system. I'm a pure at heart, but there are some things that the kids like to do online that have to have some MS support ( Wine is fine ).

I'm also one of the few who has a crazy hardware combination where all of the hardware seems to be supported by Intrepid but for some reason not in my box. I think it's because the ACPI on my mobo seems to be kerpootskie. The mobo still works though, and I'm able to grab the necessary bits of info (like hardware temps) directly from the hardware to allow Hardy to run nice and cool.

I dual booted with Intrepid shortly after it first came out, and it REALLY doesn't like my computer no matter what I try. It does have some really nice hardware detection sequences. However, I'll have to remain a fence rider until Intrepid matures a little more. Or unless Jaunty is able to overcome it's older brothers shortcomings.

Now for the fun part: I've installed Intrepid on other computers that have had minimal problems with it.

As for the Live CD test, it is a good indicator, but not a sure thing when it comes to making an install. If you're able to make a dual boot, or have a spare hard drive hanging around, go the extra mile to make certain you'll be able to use Intrepid on your system without problems.

Dual Boot is pretty cool anyways. If you end up not using one of the O.S.'s you'll have a ready made storage space for backups and for booting up in case you fiddle around and accidentally tank your main O.S.


Luck to you on whichever path you chose,

The Grunge

My hardware:
Gateway GT5674:
Original MoBo
Original AMD Phenom 9500 Quad
Memory upgraded to 8GB @ 800Mhz
Video upgraded to NVidia 7600 GS 512M
Power Supply No DUH I upgraded that! lol

Software:
K-Ubuntu Hardy (main) / K-Ubuntu Intrepid (experimental)