First impressions of Ubuntu Linux 6.10

[fedsal]

Hello guys,

I have installed the Ubuntu 6.10 and although I was really impressed with the quality I was completely disappointed by the fact that this distribution is "crippled".

I understand the legal reasons behind the decision Canonical made to disable the functionality of this great distribution and I respect these reasons.

I do not think though that Canonical does enough to help people like me to switch to Ubuntu Linux.

To be more specific, I think that there should be a means provided to the users to decide whether to install (from the beginning or later) a fully functional version of Ubuntu that is able to play all the common multimedia formats, with all the codecs, library, etc.:(

I know that there is a team that created Automatix and that its intention is to help users really enjoy Ubuntu Linux and Mepis. However, for some reason, Automatix 2.2 does not install all the "special" applications in Ubuntu Linux 6.10, although it does it in 6.06.

I propose that Automatix or an equivalent be provided in the regular repositories, so that people have the choice to install a functional version of Ubuntu Linux.

After years of dealing with Windows I want to switch to Linux, because I believe in its philosophy, yet one of the greatest distributions: Ubuntu Linux is presented to the masses as an alternative that is "crippled" but no choice is provided to install a fully functional version.

It does not make sense to me. Why not just allow people to chose on their own whether they want to use a distribution that does not play common media formats (avi, mp3, etc.) or not by giving them the choice to install or not the necessary files, libraries, codecs, etc.?

Guys, I am total newbie to Linux and because of this I might not understand the situation... but it does not make sense to me to provide a distribution that is partially functional.

Any answer, especially one from Canonical, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

fedsal:(

[tonyr1988]

The problem with many proprietary formats (especially mp3) is a popular one that most people agree with. Unfortunately, it's not a technical problem. It's not even Canonical's decision. Because of the restrictions on the mp3 codecs, we can't include them in an Ubuntu distribution.

The mp3 codecs are free to give out, but not redistribute. Unfortunately, this conflicts with Ubuntu's philosophy. If they included mp3 support, we wouldn't be able to burn CDs and give them to our friends at will - we'd have to all get them from Canonical.

NOTE: This is just what I've gathered from other discussions. I'm not positive about these. Sorry if I'm wrong - someone please correct me.

What other problems have you experienced with Ubuntu?

[fatsheep]

It's not hard to get most non-free software working. Just enable the extra repositories and follow the various How To's and wiki pages if you need to. If those don't help you then post here, that's what these forums are for. :)

[redDEADresolve]

Ubuntu is free, if you have to do a little clicky clicky to download non-free formats you still save a lot of money. They only thing Ubuntu's team needs to do is continue their excellent work. I NEVER want Ubuntu to include non-free programs in its releases it goes against the whole open source philosophy.

It took me maybe 20 hours, a bunch of attempts and a three dollar cable to get Ubuntu working. I still I saved hundreds of dollars by not having to "buy" an OS and similar programs. Plus I had a blast doing it. Best OS I have ever used.

[fedsal]

Hello guys,

Thanks for your replies.

If you have a chance to look again to my initial post, I think I did not ask exclusively for the non-free staff to be included on the Ubuntu Linux 6.10 disk.

I have also proposed a means to allow for a choice to install them, if we wish, by including a program like Automatix in Canonical repositories, for example.

Thanks.

P.S. It takes 20 hours to have a functional version of Ubuntu Linux? Wow that is encouraging for a newbie.

[TheMono]

Don't worry, only took me half an hour with my laptop - call me lucky.

[steven8]

Functional Version is unique to the user. I think that user meant personalized. I had a functional (to me) Ubuntu system in approximately 1 hr. I can print, watch ogg videos (with sound) and surf the net. I'm quite happy. If I want avi, mp3, etc., I do use a windows HDD. But, I don't really need those things to be happy.

[seshomaru samma]

Welcome to the forum

This is not a Linux issue but an Ubuntu one.
There are reasons why the codecs are not included - I think it has to do with legal matters.
There are Linux distros that come with codecs installed - Blag Linux is one of them ,maybe even Mephis

Ubuntu comes with an Office suite, the GIMP ,Gaim, multilingual menues and many other programmes that I think the avarage user needs to use. While Windows offers Notepad, Windows fax and picture viewer , Windows messenger and menues in one language only which most users aren't satisfied with.
So it's true that after you install Ubuntu you still need to download some codecs. But after you install Windows you still have to install an Office suite , a decent picture editing programme, an anti virus, a decent browser and plenty of other stuff.
Basically what I 'm saying that is almost impossible to create an OS that will have everything . If I am not mistaken the paid version of Suse comes close , but I never tried it (the free version is also quite close but missing some codecs).

I think Canonical are doing their best ,but what they are offering is a free OS , if it included MP3 it wouldn't be free.
Hope you like Ubuntu!

[hugmenot]

Hehe, plus when I install Windows I need to add all those formats that ubuntu plays out of the box.
Does Windows play all the formats you need?

[smoker]

hi, maybe i am lucky, but i had ubunto installed in half an hour, another half an hour and i had all the codecs i needed, all free!

it will take an hour and a half to install xp, god knows how long vista will take!

i'm still a linux newbie, but am glad to have shaken off the shackles of ms

cheers:-)

[kripkenstein]

If you want mp3 etc. support out of the box, then don't use Ubuntu. Use something like Mepis (which is based on Ubuntu, currently), or Linspire. Ubuntu's philosophy is more free than those distros (but less than Debian, as seen by Firefox). Find the balance that is right for you.

[John T. Monkey]

I've switched from Xubuntu 6.06 to Ubuntu 6.10 today.

Automatix worked absolutely fine for me and everything was up and running inside 20/30 minutes. (Not including installing Ubuntu itself, that took over an hour for some reason! And I had to restart the computer/live cd three times! Never had that problem with Dapper, that took 20 minutes. But I won't have to install Edgy again so it's all over and done with now anyway...)

Setting multimedia up can seem unnecessarily difficult at first, but once you've done it once it's easy. And Ubuntu is the easiest for that.
SUSE does come close as it plays most things/more than Ubuntu out of the box, but getting it to play everything is much harder than getting Ubuntu set up, even without Automatix. Don't think I ever got encrypted DVD's working properly in SUSE, and I used it for two and a half years! Ahwell, it works in Ubuntu...

[fedsal]

Hello everyone,

I think I managed to make it work. I had to reformat both my disks and re-install everything from scratch, including Automatix.

I am a happy man now. Thanks a lot for your help.

fedsal:D

[vibestriton]

.

[3rdalbum]

Mark Shuttleworth is planning to address the multimedia issue soon, by including an Automatix-style installer in the distribution itself. That will give end users the choices they want.