I finally got time to backup my data — well, the important stuff, anyway — and install the new Ubuntu 6.10 “Edgy Eft.” I decided to do a scratch install rather than attempt an upgrade; I had done some fiddling with my Dapper install and it wasn’t really running up to expectations, so I didn’t want to even think about trying an upgrade.
I’ve been reading that lots of users have been having serious troubles with upgrades. My guess — and I have absolutely no proof of this; it’s just speculation on my part — is that they’ve used things like Automatix and enabled the extra repositories. All of us do it. On top of that, it’s common for people to do a bit of software compiling on a Linux system. I think it’s probably unrealistic to expect anything near a smooth upgrade when your system has been taken so far from the as-installed state. Fortunately, all this sturm und drang is likely to produce an upgrade process that will work much more smoothly in future versions of Ubuntu.
So what are my first impressions of the shiny new Eft?
- Fonts are beautiful. Seriously, it’s a major step up from Dapper, even though I didn’t have any problem with the font rendering on Dapper. Edgy just looks better. Firefox, OpenOffice, you name it.
- The nVidia proprietary driver is still broken. If you have an nVidia card running fine on Dapper, my vote would be to try it on Edgy. If you’re having problems with it on Dapper, you’ll be similarly disappointed with nVidia on Edgy. The open source “nv” driver, of course, still works perfectly, albeit with no 3D.
- Synaptic still looks the same, but seems to be somewhat faster. Changing your repository list is easy as pie; the repositories are all represented by check-boxes now, with no list necessary. Adding a new repository, including a GPG key for it, can all be done from the Synaptic repository list. No more need for the command line, unless you just like it better there.
- Startup performance is slightly better. We’ve heard a lot about Upstart, and it looks as though it’s going to be able to deliver. In Edgy it’s pretty much working as a drop-in replacement for Init, but even so it manages to start my system slightly faster. Don’t expect to be wowed by the performance compared to Dapper, but faster is faster.
- Shutdown performance is jaw-droppingly fast. I can’t believe how fast my system can shut down. Not that big a deal for desktop users, certainly, but if you’re running Edgy on your laptop you will appreciate the ability to pack up your dollies and leave much more quickly.
I’ll update with more posts about Edgy after I’ve had some time to play around with it and develop some real opinions about likes and dislikes. Dapper Drake was an excellent release, so Edgy has big shoes to fill. So far it appears to be doing a good job.
Oxygen sensors being censored?
They’ve done it again. The crack staff of editors (note: I don’t think thei have nobody who whole’ds that job) at WCNC have allowed this story to appear, complete with this sentence:
Apparently your Honda doesn’t want you to know that oxygen exists, but the ability for it to pull the wool over your eyes is being hindered by thieves intent on removing the censors, Sopranos-style.
The intended word, “sensors,” is spelled incorrectly in every single instance throughout the story. Another case where spell check couldn’t save the day.