Distrowatch on Dapper - "a disappointment".

[LMP900]

This is news to me. I guess I haven't been reading much but I always thought that Dapper was a success since it was released. I didn't know there were so many that were disappointed with it.

I've used FC5 and I had a good experience with it, but I simply prefer Ubuntu.

[neighborlee]

I had mixed experiences with Ubiquity myself. On this computer (512 RAM, P4 2.53ghz, 3 years old) it went just fine and dandy, even doing manual partitioning (though I should note that I reduced NTFS with the GParted Live CD). On my old computer which I put Xubuntu on (128 RAM, P3 800mhz, older), it was really laggy, particularly during the manual partitioning, and eventually crashed, though fortunately it was before it actually started partitioning so I could still run Breezy Badger while I downloaded the alternate CD. Though of course, it was at the minimum RAM listed for the Xubuntu desktop CD, and as I should know "minimum" rarely is satisfactory.

Can't say I'm disappointed by Dapper Drake, but then again this was my first venture into Linux for this computer, and I didn't have a whole lot of expectations either.

I also had problems with SLOW to boot livecd..I just thought it was 'alpha' code so I forgot about it..it booted in time so that was ok by me. The other issues well..if its just a 'few' users compared to hundreds of thousands then to me thats just the way it goes...windows as well as the other major distros , has had similar issues..I have no idea about mepis and to think its just one guy doing it??

I am up in the air about what to use now due to this article..I like ubuntu and what it stands for , but atm im also 'conerned' that the LSB is taking a back seat when its clearly installed with like fedora and suse and mandriva. Whats the hold up with ubuntu /debian over the LSB ??????

cheers
g.leej

[Naglfari]

I agree with the author of the article. To me, Dapper was a complete disappointment in so many ways that I'm not even going to begin enumerating. I know, truth hurts.

I'm still pretty new at this..do you mean "not as good as it used to be" disappointed, or "not very usable disappointed", or just Wipedrive and re-install Windows disappointed???

[RAV TUX]

This is something that IMO wasn't made clear enough. I think the desktop installer is nice, but it is too immature to be the default method of install in this release already.

From what I gathered though, Mark had a lot riding on this release (like the SUN deal), so another delay would have been unthinkable just as postponing LTS to 6.10.

Don't get me wrong, I love Dapper and it has been good for me, but there were a couple of showstoppers in it that should not be there for an LTS version.

I think including an installer on the live CD was a big mistake, this whole, desktop and alternate CD was a silly, confusing and un-needed change.

They should have left what wasn't broken alone.


I have been using Ubuntu on my older computer since Hoary Hedgehog, I found Breezy Badger a noticable improvement without the pomp and circumstance. For the most part I like the changes on the Dapper Drake my only compliant on Dapper on my older computer which I use Ubuntu exclusively on daily is there are a few things that always just worked on Hoary & breezy that don't work on Dapper.

Solarwolf for example. Not a big deal but aside from KSudoku the only other game I play regularly on Ubuntu. So it is a disappointment for this to not work.

I have yet to get Ubuntu to work on my new computer: EM64T Dual-Core but Ubuntu is NOT the only Live CD that failed to work on my new computer:

the failure list is as follows:

1. SUSE
2. Fedora Core 5
3. Mepis
4. Ubuntu
6. Scientific Linux
7. Gnoppix
8. Debian

So I am both happy and disappointed, Happy that Ubuntu 6.06 works great on my older computer but disappointed that it doesn't work on my new computer.

there are several live Distros that do "Just Work" on my new hardware:

1. Dreamlinux XFCE Studio Edition
2. Knoppix
3. Musix
4. Gentoo
5. dyne:bolic
6. Mophix Combined Heavy GUI pre4
7. Kinerret

(of the Distros that "Just Work" I am most inclined to install: Gentoo &/or dyne:bolic)

If they can make live CD's that "Just Work" with my new hardware why can't Ubuntu?

[tranceash]

After reading this article and a few other Ubuntu disappointments over the internet, I have made a list of things that people have complained about

1. Printing issues (clean install and after upgrade)
2. Deletion of partitions
3. Missing applications after an upgrade
4. Slow live CD installer
5. Cannot mount and unmount on KDE desktop

If these are the problems users are facing why is there no single one thread that rules them all which addresses these problems or a how-to guide to correct these problems.
Also we are dealing with open source code here; I am sure a lot of ubuntu developers or Ubuntu enthusiasts can write python scripts that correct these problems for users that are facing these problems.

What does the Ubuntu community think about my opinion?

[mstlyevil]

Compared to the problems with Breezy when it was released, Dapper is a breeze. There will always be issues when software is first released. I recommend people just use the alternate installer and file bug reports. If enough people file bug reports, these issues will be fixed.

There is nothing wrong with expressing your disappointments but at least file bug reports with launchpad so these things may be fixed.

Dapper is a success overall regardless of a few problems. This is the most stable Ubuntu release ever. I have had some trouble with the live cd installer but overall my experience was positive with it. Dapper itself is the most trouble free distro I have used to date.

[Jucato]

You could add #6

6. Installing GRUB on MBR by default

I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones who could get the Desktop CD up and running in a few minutes, and also install the system in less that 20 minutes.

Btw, I never heard of people having troubles mounting/unmounting in Kubuntu Dapper. It's the first time I've heard of it.

[zugu]

Don't worry, people, the 6 months release cycle for Ubuntu is one of the best things that ever happend to Linux.

*buntu will get better and better. And better.

[sharkboy]

Compared to the problems with Breezy when it was released, Dapper is a breeze. There will always be issues when software is first released. I recommend people just use the alternate installer and file bug reports. If enough people file bug reports, these issues will be fixed.

There is nothing wrong with expressing your disappointments but at least file bug reports with launchpad so these things may be fixed.

The issues people have had were well known before the Dapper release. There were several threads urging not to release Dapper prematurely due to these issues. Shuttleworth himself closed an umbrella please-don't-release bug two days before the launch, with the words that 'Dapper isn't perfect'.

My opinion is that if you make promises of stability, polish, ease of use etc, while being the most popular GNU/Linux distro, you've got a responsability not to ship too early. I think distrowatch is right.

[ComplexNumber]

From: http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?is...060612#opinion

The latest issue of Distrowatch Weekly states, considering the latest releases of Linux distributions the last quarter of 2006, that Dapper is "a disappointment". This is the first truly negative review I've seen of Dapper and I wonder what the community thinks. Fedora, on the other hand, has with its 5th release, made a "a solid, dependable and reasonably bug-free operating system", according to Distrowatch. It concludes stating the following on Fedora - "It is possibly one of the most stable and dependable Linux distributions ever built!"

i would agree with that in its entirety. fedora has made a "a solid, dependable and reasonably bug-free operating system" from my experience, and i would definitely agree with this: "It is possibly one of the most stable and dependable Linux distributions ever built!". likewise, the installer on dapper ALWAYS and consistantly crashes whenever the user has to backtrack over their steps during the partitioning. i know its written in python because i kept on getting "traceback" errors, so i had to go back to the beginning each time. on about the 8th attempt, i did manage to install dapper, but only because i managed to go straight through the custom partitioning without backtracking.