My experence with Ubuntu 7.10

[Leythos]

Desktop versions of Linux are a world away from the business side, so do not
take what I am saying as a hit against Linux. It proves itself well in some
areas, and so it should. It is, after all, the much vaunted and highly
capable Unix ported to the cheap end of hardware.

I installed 7.0.4 on a computer for someone that constantly compromises
their computer (Win XP and all security/patches and AV and even
FireFox), but the Lexmark Printer/Scanner/Fax was not supported, in fact
Most Lexmark printers are not supported.

Someone suggested I try 7.10, and I downloaded it to ISO and then trued
to update, so I put the CD in and booted from it, went though the
prompts and was never told that it was going to wipe the drive - well,
it wiped all that I had did, but it's running.

I think 7.10 is faster than 7.0.4 was, but it's still just a toy for the
desktop.

--

Leythos
- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
(e-mail address removed) (remove 999 for proper email address)

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I would agree with it being more responsive. 7.04 was a bit of a dog in that
respect. My HP 5150 is seen across the network, but I can't get it to see
anything else. Other than speed, it has not moved much from 7.04. The
Compiz-Fusion will not work on a 32mb video card, and no way am I about to
pay $$$ for a better one just so that I can have an annoying revolving cube.
Where once I had a half useful Win 2000, now I have a novelty chocolate
stain. I may clean it up in a day or two..

 

[DanS]

I installed 7.0.4 on a computer for someone that constantly
compromises their computer (Win XP and all security/patches and AV and
even FireFox), but the Lexmark Printer/Scanner/Fax was not supported,
in fact Most Lexmark printers are not supported.

Hey Leythos, I did find this interesting page at Lexmark.com regarding
Linux printer drivers.

http://www.lexmark.com/lexmark/sequentialem/home/0,6959,204816596_
659668508_0_en,00.html

IF you (anyone, not you specifically) are programmer, Lexmark gives you
the opportunity to write your own drivers thru a Linux SDK for printer
drivers.

I didn't d/l and check it out so I don't know what is involved..if
development is standard driver development (very low-level) or if it's a
higher level API that wraps up all the low level stuff (usable by mid-
level programmers).

The description says you can use all or some features as you wish.

***IMPORTANT (AND SADLY MUST BE SAID)*** I AM NOT SAYING THAT ANYONE CAN
WRITE THEIR OWN PRINTER DRIVERS, OR THAT ANYONE SHOULD HAVE TO, BUT I
THOUGHT LEXMARK OFFERING THIS WAS INTERESTING.

 

[The poster formerly known as 'The Poster Formerly]

I trashed a perfectly good installation of Win 2000 while installing it
onto an older machine. It runs ok but the video card allows for no fancy
graphics, not that I care.

Fancy graphics do not make up for the fact that it will not run the
programs I want it to run. Until it can, it will never be a replacement
for my Windows production machine.

So it sits there essentially as an exercise in futility.

Why do you consider the opportunity to try something new and broaden
your mind a bit as an 'exercise in futility'?

It has no
features or capability over and above Windows Vista, XP or 2000 that
would make me want to dual boot.

For third world countries, being free should make it popular except that
pirating Windows is more popular, and understandably so. Windows runs
all well known and popular programs. Why use an OS that doesn't?

Desktop versions of Linux are a world away from the business side, so do
not take what I am saying as a hit against Linux. It proves itself well
in some areas, and so it should. It is, after all, the much vaunted and
highly capable Unix ported to the cheap end of hardware.

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

"Fair use is not merely a nice concept--it is a federal law based on
free speech rights under the First Amendment and is a cornerstone of the
creativity and innovation that is a hallmark of this country. Consumer
rights in the digital age are not frivolous."
- Maura Corbett

 

[NoStop]

Other than it wiping my 7.0.4 install (erased the entire disk) when it
installed 7.10, and that it picked a monitor frequency that was not
supported on the monitor, it installed just fine.

You really are as dumb as a bag full of hammers, aren't you?

Cheers.

--
Remove Vista Activation Completely ...
http://tinyurl.com/2w8qqo

Do you use Linux? Everytime you "google", you're using Linux.

Coming Soon! Ubuntu 7.10 ... New Features:
http://lunapark6.com/ubuntu-gutsy-gibbon-710-new-features.html

 

[Leythos]

Hey Leythos, I did find this interesting page at Lexmark.com regarding
Linux printer drivers.

http://www.lexmark.com/lexmark/sequentialem/home/0,6959,204816596_
659668508_0_en,00.html

IF you (anyone, not you specifically) are programmer, Lexmark gives you
the opportunity to write your own drivers thru a Linux SDK for printer
drivers.

I didn't d/l and check it out so I don't know what is involved..if
development is standard driver development (very low-level) or if it's a
higher level API that wraps up all the low level stuff (usable by mid-
level programmers).

The description says you can use all or some features as you wish.

***IMPORTANT (AND SADLY MUST BE SAID)*** I AM NOT SAYING THAT ANYONE CAN
WRITE THEIR OWN PRINTER DRIVERS, OR THAT ANYONE SHOULD HAVE TO, BUT I
THOUGHT LEXMARK OFFERING THIS WAS INTERESTING.

Yea, I code in 12 languages, but I'm not about to write a driver for
this person, those days are old and gone for me. Other than my own
personal programs and network diagnostic tools, I don't code any more.

It's a shame that Ubuntu is touted as the next great thing, but that it
doesn't have much hardware support.

--

Leythos
- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
(e-mail address removed) (remove 999 for proper email address)

 

[Leythos]

You really are as dumb as a bag full of hammers, aren't you?

I was doing it as though I was a typical home user with no computer
skills - those two things happened because I was pretending to not know
anything about Linux.

This would not have happened in Fedora Core, I've only see this wipe in
Ubuntu.

--

Leythos
- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
(e-mail address removed) (remove 999 for proper email address)

 

[netlink_blue]

The poster formerly known as 'The Poster Formerly Known as Nina DiBoy'
wrote:

Why do you consider the opportunity to try something new and broaden
your mind a bit as an 'exercise in futility'?

(snip)

Try putting your pants on over-your-head, instead of normally. The
opportunity IS at your disposal.

It's not the opportunity "to try new stuff" itself - that Mike Hall is
talking about. After all, he took the time and tried Ubuntu. Sheesh.

The end result of trying new & mind-broadening opportunities can produce
futility.

I appreciate Mike Hall's balanced, polite and clearly thought-out posts.


{ netlink }

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I worked with Red Hat Linux for a short while when employed by a rather well
known company. I also worked a great deal with Unix and the machines that
run it. Ubuntu is no mind broadener.

--
Mike Hall - MVP
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
Posting Productively.. http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm



"The poster formerly known as 'The Poster Formerly Known as Nina DiBoy'"

 

[Charlie Tame]

I appreciate Mike Hall's balanced, polite and clearly thought-out posts.

Except it's completely false, but never mind we're used to that.

You get warned before any disk writes take place and while Mike asserts
he did this "As an ordinary user would do" what he in fact must have
done was "As a complete idiot would do" or "As someone trying to make a
point would do".

I've now tried to trash a system 4 or 5 times and each time I have hit
the same warning, and each time I have read the warning and quit and
each time nothing has changed.

As for Mike's GFX card being inadequate, well, back to the admonishing
the fanboys delight in giving to others - check for compatibility first.

My experience of the Vista installer by contrast is that it finds
nothing on any drives except "Windows" installations and is perfectly
happy to overwrite / repartition anything in exactly the same way the
Ubuntu installer does. If you can't read the Ubuntu warnings then you
can;t read the Vista one either.

 

[Richard Urban]

Charlie,

On a serious note - where do you find hardware compatibility information for
Ubuntu? I have not been able to come by it. Do they have "any" sort of
program you can run to give a rough idea where one stands?

I'm asking because I have to set up an OLD computer for a handicapped
individual. It will just be used for web surfing and email.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[dennis@home]

Charlie,

On a serious note - where do you find hardware compatibility information
for Ubuntu? I have not been able to come by it. Do they have "any" sort of
program you can run to give a rough idea where one stands?

I'm asking because I have to set up an OLD computer for a handicapped
individual. It will just be used for web surfing and email.

You pop the CD in and boot.
However the standard install doesn't work with 256M RAM so how old is the
machine?

 

[Richard Urban]

Well, that kills that idea. It is Win95 class computer that I had sitting
around. I may just put Win95 back on it for the gent.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[Richard Urban]

Another question, if I may. If I boot from the Ubuntu Live DVD and the
system functions ok, can I assume (bad word again) that an install would be
the same on that hardware? I have only installed in virtual machines.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[norm]

Charlie,

On a serious note - where do you find hardware compatibility information
for Ubuntu? I have not been able to come by it. Do they have "any" sort
of program you can run to give a rough idea where one stands?

I'm asking because I have to set up an OLD computer for a handicapped
individual. It will just be used for web surfing and email.

I have been running on a microtel system for several iterations of
kubuntu. The only thing I did right at the start was to bump the ram to
384 megs. Kubuntu has not had a problem with any hardware on the system,
and the older hp printer (deskjet 5650) that I use on my network has not
been an issue either. Following are the specs on the microtel. They
should be a fairly good guideline as to where you might want to be
system wise, although something older might work as well given enough ram.
- 300W power supply
- motherboard : K7VM2 Rev 2.02 / micro ATX form factor
- cpu : Duron 1.4 GHz
- memory : 128 MB PC2100 266MHz (handles up to 2 GB)
- FSB speed : 200 MHz
- harddrive : 40 GB Samsung 5400 RPM
- chipset : VIA KM266
- embedded video : ATI S3 Pro Savage, AGP 4X, 8 MB shared memory
- 4 USB ports, USB 2.0
- 3 PCI slots
- 1 AGP slot (x1, x2, x3, x4) (3.3V/1.5V)
- AMI BIOS
- embedded ethernet card : VIA VT6102 (Rhine II)
- embedded sound card : VT8233 (AC97)
- 52x CD ROM
- PS2 mouse
- PS2 keyboard
- amplified speakers

 

[norm]

Well, that kills that idea. It is Win95 class computer that I had
sitting around. I may just put Win95 back on it for the gent.

See if this might work for the system you have:
Low-spec computers
If you have an old or low-spec computer, using a lightweight desktop
system such as Xubuntu is recommended, as it should make more efficient
use of your system's resources.
If your system has less than 192 MB of system memory, use the Alternate
Installation CD.
Note: If you have a low-specification computer, certain features may be
automatically turned off to conserve system resources. For example, if
you have a graphics card with only a small amount of video memory
(VRAM), the boot-up screen may not be shown.
Minimum requirements

*

166 MHz processor
*

48 MB of system memory (RAM)
*

At least 1.4 GB of disk space
*

VGA graphics card

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Hello?

I didn't write the words you quoted me on, and neither did I mention GFX
cards. It is an ATI 32mb card and I knew that it wouldn't run Compiz-Fusion
before I started the installation. I trashed the Win 2000 installation
deliberately, btw, not that 7.10 gave much option to do anything else.

Please ensure when quoting others that you at least accredit the quotes to
the person making them. Thanks for the insults too.

 

[dennis@home]

Another question, if I may. If I boot from the Ubuntu Live DVD and the
system functions ok, can I assume (bad word again) that an install would
be the same on that hardware? I have only installed in virtual machines.

No.
The installer fails on my vaio even though the live cd runs.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

All things being equal, it should.

 

[Charlie Tame]

Charlie,

On a serious note - where do you find hardware compatibility information
for Ubuntu? I have not been able to come by it. Do they have "any" sort
of program you can run to give a rough idea where one stands?

I'm asking because I have to set up an OLD computer for a handicapped
individual. It will just be used for web surfing and email.

Unfortunately that does require some hard work ... I think if you want
fancy graphics the requirements for Ubuntu seem a bit higher than for
XP, at this time I would avoid the latest release as there are sure to
be more driver issues.

I would be more inclined to go for Debian I think, which was being
packaged with browser and email - not 100% sure but it's either
IceWeasel (Firefox) or IceDove (Thunderbird) and probably something like
Evolution that's an Outlook lookalike, kinda.

Honestly the more GUI it gets the more like XP it demands, which is
obvious really.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport

The Ubuntu docs are definitely getting better though.