10.10 Maverick vs. Later releases - where is the improvement?

[Journeyman1962]

Hi All,

I'm not an IT specialist - just a user.

Can anybody give me a few pointers on why the latest releases of ubuntu are "better" - apart from Unity (which I don't like and don't use).

I still have Maverick on my desktop, and it's brilliant. You can do exactly what you want with the desktop, and finding where to change stuff is dead easy. I suppose this is a gnome 2 issue, but I'm not really sure.

I have xubuntu 11.10 on the laptop - which is OK, although what you can have on the panels seems slightly more limited - two clicks to access a particular folder instead of one, for example. Modifying sound config is a bit less transparent, and I always get bad sound with crackling when I start VLC, though it eventually sorts itself out. I also had to manually download some backends (whatever that means) to make libreoffice follow the desktop theme, and also gigolo to be able to access my network. Is this because Xfce is "light"? Maybe I just don't understand it well enough yet.

So what is actually in the 11.10 OS which makes it an upgrade? Just curious.

[mörgæs]

Moved to the cafe.

[Chronon]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OneiricOcelot/ReleaseNotes?action=show&redirect=OneiricOcelot%2FTechnicalOverview

You can find the release notes for any of the releases.

[Journeyman1962]

yeah, I know. Bit dry though. Just fancied a bit of a chat...

[grahammechanical]

This is not change for change sake. The various parts of a distribution are under constant development. Most improvements we (the user) would not notice. Unless we had some piece of hardware that was not working or not working effectively and an improvement in the kernel now got it working.

It is the look on the screen that we notice. Whether these are improvements is something people will argue over. I like the improvement to the background images. You will say that this improvement came about with 10.10. Yes, I agree.

I like the way we have gone from having 2 or 3 utilities or ways for configuring certain system settings to just one. We are not quite there yet but that is the way things are going. Unless a person is up to date with Ubuntu they will not notice the change, will they.

We are all different and see things differently. The people responsible for a distribution are on a treadmill where they have to keep up with the improvements coming from what is called Upstream - the kernel, the Desktop environment, etc., or be thought of as a distribution no longer under development.

The people responsible for Ubuntu also have their own plans on what they want Ubuntu to develop into. It will take years to realize their goal. They have a policy of releasing so-called improved versions every six months.

It is not necessarily a question of "better" but of continual development.

Regards.

[BBQdave]

It is not necessarily a question of "better" but of continual development.

Which the continual development appears to have left older hardware behind.

To say my decade old Inspiron 1100 is long in the tooth is an understatement. But Debian 6 runs great on this old notebook. However, GNU/Linux distros with the 3.x Linux Kernel do not run well on my old notebook.

When GNU/Linux distros with the 2.6.x Linux Kernel reach end of life, I guess it will be time for new hardware, new Linux Kernel, and new desktop environments.

[snowpine]

The biggest "improvement" in any Ubuntu release is that every piece of software is roughly 6 months newer. You get a system-wide upgrade to your kernel, desktop environment, web browser, media player, office suite, etc.

Any other improvements/new features are just icing on the cake. :)

[Hylas de Niall]

Hmmmm.... :)

My two/three year old desktop machine saw a phenomenal performance improvement when i ditched 11.10* to go back to Maverick Meercat.

*Seemingly unsolvable random system freezes

:)

[Paqman]

Which the continual development appears to have left older hardware behind.


That's bound to happen. You're right to use Debian on it then. Some distros try to stay on the cutting edge, while some like Slackware and (some) Debian like to keep things more stable, at the expense of having the latest bells and whistles. Ubuntu tries to walk the middle ground, and does a pretty good job IMO.

Bear in mind that hardware support is largely about the kernel, so removing support for certain hardware is something that Ubuntu devs have no influence over. Unless they chose to hang onto a really old kernel for whatever reason, changes coming downstream from the kernel devs will land in Ubuntu.

Catering to a wide range of needs like this is one of the strengths of Linux. Whether you want the latest stuff or bits and bytes from the Paleozoic there's bound to be a distro that suits you.

[Docaltmed]

What really chafes me is that I can't run ONE SINGLE VERSION OF UBUNTU on my Osborne. What the hell, is it that hard to support some of the older hardware? As far as I'm concerned, Canonical has completely abandoned those of us with older hardware. Forget it, I'm going to Arch.

[lukeiamyourfather]

Which the continual development appears to have left older hardware behind.


That's necessary with all technology. Other distributions, including Debian, will no longer work on legacy hardware at some point. Can't say what or when but supporting everything all the time is impossible.

There are many reasons for doing so like insufficient resources or insufficient demand, installation media size restrictions, mutually exclusive features or features that break backwards compatibility, etc.

Just as architectures like m68k and alpha have been dropped there will be others in the future. It wouldn't surprise me to see i386 on the chopping block in a decade or two. That doesn't mean you have to stop using old hardware, it just means you can't take advantage of features in new software.

[user1397]

What I don't get is why you would choose maverick over lucid, since maverick's end of life is in 3.5 months while lucid has another year or so left.

I'm personally using lucid just so I don't have to worry about reinstalling my system for a while (I also dislike the new interfaces).

[lykwydchykyn]

What really chafes me is that I can't run ONE SINGLE VERSION OF UBUNTU on my Osborne. What the hell, is it that hard to support some of the older hardware? As far as I'm concerned, Canonical has completely abandoned those of us with older hardware. Forget it, I'm going to Arch.

My Osborne is working fine using the alternate install floppies and a custom kernel from the anteexRodeSho PPA. Then you have to set up the modem to swap over PPP to a gopher server.

It takes about 1 week to boot, won't run X11 or vim but I don't care because all I need is ed, "the standard text editor".

:guitar:

[coldraven]

An analogy with cars is that an old car has to run on leaded gas whereas a new one will run fine on unleaded.
This laptop has a badly supported (under Linux) ATI X1250 card. It runs nicely under 10.10 but with 11.10 I have to use Unity 2D or Gnome shell (which I am not fond of).
So I have a choice, carry on with 10.10 or buy a new laptop. Or install Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Bodhi etc. etc.
I like choice!

[Stovey]

...I like the improvement to the background images....

I looooove the rolling background images. I like that the launcher pops out with big buttons. I like that things flash and everything looks soft and smooth and clean and great.

I have to think that any stability issues will be solved with the LTS?

[Claus7]

Hello,


Hi All,

I'm not an IT specialist - just a user.

Can anybody give me a few pointers on why the latest releases of ubuntu are "better" - apart from Unity (which I don't like and don't use).
not me for this one, yet choose to use whatever pleases you the most: many options out there



I still have Maverick on my desktop, and it's brilliant. You can do exactly what you want with the desktop, and finding where to change stuff is dead easy. I suppose this is a gnome 2 issue, but I'm not really sure.

Me as well! This is gnome 2 issue indeed.



I have xubuntu 11.10 on the laptop - which is OK, although what you can have on the panels seems slightly more limited - two clicks to access a particular folder instead of one, for example.

light and nice, does the job



Modifying sound config is a bit less transparent, and I always get bad sound with crackling when I start VLC, though it eventually sorts itself out.

This was a bug for vlc. I guess that if you use a latest repo this will fix itself. I had exactly the same problem, yet is history now!



I also had to manually download some backends (whatever that means) to make libreoffice follow the desktop theme, and also gigolo to be able to access my network. Is this because Xfce is "light"? Maybe I just don't understand it well enough yet.
It is one of the best choices for (old) laptops. I have installed it 3 times now in more that 6-7 year old laptops. Their owners told me: the laptop was revived! I think that this suffices.



So what is actually in the 11.10 OS which makes it an upgrade? Just curious.
One thing that I can tell, is that there is a tendency to more fancy graphics and applications, apart from the fact that new libraries mean new compatibility options. I do think that 10.10 was almost a perfect 10! Yet, things are evolving and all must follow the trend.

Regards!

[mörgæs]

When searching for the best pick you shouldn't limit your search to the Ubuntu releases only, but test Ubuntu against K/X/Lubuntu. That's an eye-opener.

[snowpine]

When searching for the best pick you shouldn't limit your search to the Ubuntu releases only, but test Ubuntu against K/X/Lubuntu. That's an eye-opener.

If you're going that far, you might as well through Mint, Debian, Fedora, Arch, Slackware, etc. into the mix. :)

[mörgæs]

I believe that a beginner would prefer to install a Buntu and stay away from Arch, but in general you are right.

[Journeyman1962]

Well,

That was a stunner. I wasn't expecting that sort of response to my humble (uninformed) question.

And, as usual, I've learned a shedload of stuff - and been introduced to other perspectives.

Thanks for all the contributions!

[mörgæs]

Good, then please mark the thread 'solved'.