Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/910

by zokier • 17 years ago

204 164 17 years ago

a-priori• 17 years ago

As someone pointed out when this just appeared on Slashdot, if you go to http://ubuntu.com you'll see in big letters "Coming Soon!"

EDIT: Nevermind, the website just changed.

barnaby• 17 years ago

Yeah, but it's coming out today, and it's going to get like a gazillion upvotes... so somebody wanted to earn the points by being the first to post.

I've been using the beta for a while now, it is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. It's competing with OSX now (having surpassed Windows long long ago)

daleharvey9• 17 years ago

is it really a big jump from 9.04? the last few releases havent changed a whole lot in terms of ui polish, which I always thought was really nice until I used osx.

and to be fair to the original poster, the link is available now, the site was in the middle of updating

megaman821• 17 years ago

Actually, with Windows 7 and Snow Leopard out Ubuntu feels even further away from becoming mainstream. I want to like Linux on the desktop but looking at it objectively Win 7 and Snow Leopard are better.

danielh• 17 years ago

It seems the website is in transition. While still coming soon on the homepage, the download page now lists 9.10 as newest version.

http://twitpic.com/ndx0v

timmaah• 17 years ago

Front page is updated now as well..

My download via torrent is cruising right along..

daleharvey9• 17 years ago

whats the url to the torrents? not listed on the download page yet here

justanotherbody• 17 years ago

http://releases.ubuntu.com/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.is...

substitute whatever particular image you need, it's all named accordingly.

paulsmith• 17 years ago

Smoothest dist upgrade yet ... didn't break any laptop functionality (ThinkPad T500) AFAICT.

Use a mirror! ;)

zacharydanger• 17 years ago

Agreed, same experience on my ThinkPad R500.

rufugee3• 17 years ago

But don't trust the upgrade if you use advanced features (as I found out the hard way) like Software Raid, LVM, and cryptfs. IT WILL BREAK YOUR SYSTEM.

davidw2• 17 years ago

Can you point to any bug reports indicating this?

leh• 17 years ago

An upgrade with LVM and cryptfs in use worked for me.

garply• 17 years ago

In the last version, they broke my Intel graphics driver, rendering my machine almost unusable except for the console. I spent many hours trying to fix it, and ended up switching to Arch out of frustration. I don't think I'm going back, but does anyone know if they've fixed it?

windsurfer3• 17 years ago

Fixed for sure. I had the same problem but instead of switching to arch I installed the latest X.org drivers.

ajross• 17 years ago

This was a really famous regression. It's not solely Ubuntu's fault, of course; they got bitten by shipping newer software. But yes -- they (Intel, really, not Canonical) fixed it.

kylemathews• 17 years ago

They fixed that bug along w/ a few other annoying bugs (pulseaudio, laptop mic, etc). I've been running Ubuntu 9.10 for a month now on my laptop and have had almost zero problems. Only one resume fail in all that time.

ktf• 17 years ago

If you've already got Arch set up how you like it, there's not much reason to switch back over to Ubuntu, at least in my opinion.

mwexler4• 17 years ago

Just whiny, but why does Ubuntu (or most distros) not give any idea of minimum/average disk required for install in their system requirements area? I know, I can customize the install so as to reduce or increase space requirements, but even a suggestion that "a straight default install requires around 2gb of space for programs, and 1gb for swap" would be helpful.

bretthoerner3• 17 years ago

I can't answer the general question, but for what it's worth a 32-bit desktop install took up about 2.5G on disk.

mseebach2• 17 years ago

If you're a geek and need to ask, it's probably too large (if you worry about hard-disk space, you're probably trying to install it on something obscenely old. Ubuntu isn't for that.).

If you're not a geek, it'll fit (any consumer computer going over the counter for the past 6-7 years, probably more, has at least a 20 GB drive in it. Most likely you'll have 100+ GB).

mikeyur4• 17 years ago

"you're probably trying to install it on something obscenely old"

Or something new, like an SSD on which you're attempting to dual/triple boot.

windsurfer3• 17 years ago

From http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/desktop/features :

System requirements

Ubuntu is available for PC, 64-Bit and Mac architectures. The Alternate installation CDs require at least 256 MB of RAM (the standard installation CD requires 384MB of RAM). Install requires at least 3 GB of disk space.

mwexler4• 17 years ago

Hmm... I guess I never thought of Sys Req as "features". I would expect it in the release notes (not present) or on the download page (not present). Placing at the bottom of the "features" page is obfuscating, in my opinion, if it is placed nowhere else.

But good of you to find it; I would never have thought to look at the Features page. Again, whiny of me.

And even Canonical forgets it's there; now that you pointed it out, some searching reveals a similar page, http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/desktopedition, which says it requires 4 GB of space.

ypk• 17 years ago

Looks like they've included Ubuntu One,GNOME 2.28, kernel 2.6.31, Quickly (rails like framework that brings rapid development) and many more

Randai2• 17 years ago

With Quickly, I remember what uhh it does, I just can't remember what languages it supports.

ghotli• 17 years ago

Some googling shows that the VMWare Tools are not yet compatible with 9.10. Does anyone know how quickly VMWare usually gets around to updating tools after an Ubuntu update?

mcav• 17 years ago

Works fine for me under Fusion 3.

aarongough3• 17 years ago

I think he meant using VMWare Tools on Ubuntu

As opposed to running Ubuntu under VMWare

Sapient• 17 years ago

I have given up on waiting for VMWare Tools to catch up and switched to VirtualBox from Sun. http://www.virtualbox.com

Unless there is some strange functionality you need from VMWare that isn't supported in VirtualBox, I suggest giving it a try.

santry• 17 years ago

http://www.virtualbox.org/

FTFY

Andys• 17 years ago

You can usually update the tools by using parts of openvmtools.

http://patrickmylund.com/blog/how-to-install-vmware-tools-on...

kingkawn• 17 years ago

i done been on beta, it actually works pretty well and the graphic card compatibility is improved greatly.

liuliu2• 17 years ago

Actually the graphics card support is better than Windows for me. My graphics card driver keeps crash under Windows 7 but for 9.10 Ubuntu, there is no problem (Rademon HD 5770)

heyitsnick• 17 years ago

Correction: Actually the graphics card support is better than Windows for me. One case study is not enough evidence to support your claim that overall their driver support is better.

But I'm v happy to hear this: i've struggled with my ATI graphics card the last 2 major versions of ubuntu (7.x i managed to get working after days of hacking around. Never got compiz working though. 8.x I got compiz running, but the general performance was so sluggish it was unusually).

I'll give it another shot.

trevorbramble3• 17 years ago

Looking forward to upgrading from 9.04 to 9.10 ...in 3 to 6 months when all the bugs are shaken out and everything is compatible with the new version. =^)

ramidarigaz• 17 years ago

What do you use that isn't compatible?

trevorbramble3• 17 years ago

I use a few packages from http://www.getdeb.net/ and have several PPAs https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ppas installed as well so there's some secondary lag there as those developers release new packages for 9.10. Which shouldn't be too long, really.

My main concern with this release is the ongoing, phantom ext4 (and sometimes 3?) corruption problem. Depending on which reports you read, it affects 64-bit installations specifically, which is what I use.

As much as the software, I want to ensure that there's plenty of community documentation and collective experience compiled before I switch. My System76 laptop here is my bread and butter; I don't want to find myself pathfinding on a new problem when I need to get things done, I want someone to have already charted a solution.

siegler• 17 years ago

What are people's favorite guides for setting up Ubuntu? http://www.funnestra.org/ubuntu is really good but they don't have a 9.10 update yet.

nuclear_eclipse2• 17 years ago

`sudo do-release-upgrade` :)

In all seriousness, "guides" for setting up Ubuntu are most likely unnecessary or superfluous; they'll just go into some random area of "customization" that 95% of users probably don't need or care about.

If you already have an older version of Ubuntu, just run the command I mentioned, or go to System->Update Manager to handle the upgrade, and get on with your day. If you don't have Ubuntu, just boot the live disc and install it, and go from there.

pyre6• 17 years ago

> In all seriousness, "guides" for setting up Ubuntu are most likely unnecessary or superfluous; they'll just go into some random area of "customization" that 95% of users probably don't need or care about.

Guides that target a particular system are still useful (i.e. "How to install Ubuntu 9.10 on a Thinkpad x200") because they are guiding you through the stuff that doesn't work out of the box, even if they are minor issues. (Or hidden options to make something that 'works ok' or 'sorta works' into something that works well)

billybob2• 17 years ago

Or you can use the nice pretty point-and-click way via Update Manager. I did that last night. Worked fine.

barmstrong• 17 years ago

This is what I use when I need to setup a new server for a Rails app:

http://github.com/jnstq/rails-nginx-passenger-ubuntu

mrduncan• 17 years ago

Slicehost has an excellent assortment of articles for Ubuntu (as well as plenty of other topics). It looks like they don't have any for Karmic yet though.

http://articles.slicehost.com/

intranation• 17 years ago

Slicehost don't officially support Karmic yet, they need to roll a special kernel for it. See: http://www.slicehost.com/articles/2009/10/28/ubuntu-karmic-k...

10ren2• 17 years ago

It supports ARM; and a bunch of ARM-based netbooks are due out soon. They are cheaper and much more power efficient than intel's Atom etc. And Windows doesn't run on them (yet).

I'm not a big linux vs. windows or ARM vs. intel fanatic, but I'm excited at what seems to be a disruptive inflection point coming up in the next year or so...

rbanffy6• 17 years ago

Being Windows-proof is, definitely, a feature for me ;-)

notauser2• 17 years ago

You laugh but there is a lot of truth in that!

I have an Eee 1000 which had a 40gb SSD - there are two reasons that you can't get that today.

- SSD prices have gone up.

- You can't put the cheap version of Windows on a device with a large SSD, so in the interest of rationalising product lines you can only get small SSDs or hard disks.

If Windows can't be put on the device then at least the second pressure won't exist.

rythie• 17 years ago

Me too. So many netbooks are coming out now that don't even work with Linux properly now like the Samsung ones and Ubuntu 9.04 even was broken with WPA Wireless on the EeePC 901. Also Dell only offer Linux on the very lowest model in their netbook range.

sketerpot• 17 years ago

Some of the ARM Cortex-A8 systems look pretty sweet. The OMAP3 series come with a fast-enough processor, a lot of IO controllers, H.264 hardware, crypto hardware, a DSP, and a graphics accelerator, all on a single die. All of it very power-efficient, and fairly cheap.

bitwize• 17 years ago

And Windows doesn't run on them (yet).

Strictly incorrect, as Windows CE does run on ARM CPUs, and I'd wager that most first-gen ARM netbooks ship with Windows CE instead of Linux.

ivenkys3• 17 years ago

Its all well and good for Ubuntu to push further ahead but they would do a real big favor to the push of Linux on the Desktop if they could solve 1 major issue , remove the ugliness in the default rendering of the Fonts. Yes, i know it can be done via a bazillion font config options and yes its very powerful and flexible, but lets get it right by default.

daleharvey9• 17 years ago

I replied to someone else with the same issue, font rendering has always been by far the best with ubuntu for me than anything else

http://junk.arandomurl.com/type.jpg

all default installs, ill reply in 10 minutes or something confirming which is which

aarongough3• 17 years ago

1) OS X

2) Windows (XP I think...)

3) Ubuntu

I may have transposed OS X and Ubuntu though...

rms3• 17 years ago

I personally greatly prefer Windows style font rendering (presumably #2). Fortunately Ubuntu is flexible enough that I can configure it for Windows style font smoothing.

f004• 17 years ago

1) OS X. A tad fuzzy, but everything is rendered _accurately_. Consistent thickness and character tracking (spacing).

2) Windows. Everything is slammed into pixel boundaries, making it look clean. Verdana is optimized for this style of rendering, so it doesn't look terrible.. but it's definitely not accurate.

3) Ubuntu. Worst of both worlds. Fuzzy and inaccurate.

bd2• 17 years ago

For better comparison, here is Windows with ClearType switched on (#2):

http://alteredqualia.com/visualization/hn/font-cleartype.png

rufugee3• 17 years ago

How long has it been since you looked at Ubuntu's fonts? I use both OS X and Ubuntu, and Ubuntu is at least equal to OS X these days IMO.

jsz0• 17 years ago

I dunno...

http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/uu139/jsz0/fonttest.png

f004• 17 years ago

Run, don't walk, to your nearest optometrist and get your eyes checked.

Ubuntu and OS X are not even remotely comparable from a typography standpoint. Using Freetype (the Linux/X11 lib for font rendering), tracking and stem thickness is inconsistent, ascenders and descenders get cut off, etc.

The Freetype team puts forth a valiant effort, but until they're allowed to use Adobe/Apple/etc.'s patented hinting algorithms, there's no comparison.

spamizbad• 17 years ago

Basically, here's what's going on:

1) There aren't many free typefaces for daily use that are beautiful, so you have to buy (or commission) several and "open source" them.

2) Techniques for AA font rendering that maximize aesthetics and readability are protected by numerous software patents. Years ago there was a short-lived patch in Xorg that had a modern font-AA algorithm that held its own against the competition, but it turned out to step on several patents so it was axed out of fear of litigation. That fear is very real, as typography-related tech patents are one of the most aggressively guarded elements of tech-IP.

As a result, the Linux developers have been forced to re-invent the wheel from the ground up when it comes to typography in Linux distributions.

rms3• 17 years ago

Is there source code out there for a patent infringing Ubuntu font fix?

ivenkys3• 17 years ago

All true.

Ubuntu's avowed mission is to bring Linux to the Masses. For the masses, a computer still "looks" like Windows. Ubuntu being a Funded initiative unlike Arch(my choice), Gentoo, Crunchbang et all needs to fund the development of typography on Linux.

Yes, its possible to download msttcorefonts (with some creativity you could also get the Consolas set of fonts) and get Cleartype or Os X type smoothing - but as long as its not the default , i am afraid there is no pushing Linux onto the masses.

ZeroGravitas5• 17 years ago

I'm fairly certain that this is a common misconception, which was true at one point in time but no longer applies but I'm not really expert enough (in fonts or Linux) to sound confident in that.

Basically, my take is that you need the fancy expensive typefaces and the patented hinting if you want type to look really good at small sizes and without anti-aliasing i.e. Windows before cleartype or Macs before OS X.

The vast majority of people don't want that, they want OS X style rendering, particularly if their monitor is 95dpi or up. Admittedly there are a vocal minority of geeks that grew up with the former type of font rendering, but even they seem to limit this preference to coding fonts and even they seem to be leaving this behind as dpis go up.

If you want OS X rendering on Linux you can have it today, without patented code, or the need for meticusously hinted fonts (which makes them much easier to produce as open source).

It basically involves going into the advanced Gnome font controls turning off all hinting. Voila! "Blurry" Mac OS X style font rendering. You can add sub-pixel rendering to taste.

You can also make it look like XP, which I personally think is a bit retrograde and ironically this does require well-hinted fonts (like Microsoft's) and patented code.

There's a how-to here: http://www.sharpfonts.com/

martey• 17 years ago

A lot of information surrounding #2 is discussed at http://david.freetype.org/cleartype-patents.html

chanux• 17 years ago

Well.. Ubuntu Font rendering was way better than XP (for me). I never used any windows version after that.

But now I'm pretty sure that no operating system can beat my Ubuntu system in font rendering. maybe after this little hack. http://rewind.themasterplan.in/2007/07/15/sexy-smooth-fonts-...

tybris• 17 years ago

but as always, I'm very scared to update.

bokchoi3• 17 years ago

Amen. I just can't get excited about fixing broken stuff on linux by tweaking text files any longer.

telemachos2• 17 years ago

Is editing the registry or hunting down drivers for a new version of Windows better? Or how about waking up to Snow Leopard having deleted your $HOME folder? Operating systems have their issues - it's inevitable...

scrollinondubs• 17 years ago

for anyone who finds the Ubuntu mirrors to be too slow due to being hammered on the first day of release, we just posted a technique for quickly making your own private, temporary Ubuntu mirror on EC2: http://blog.jumpbox.com/2009/10/29/instant-ubuntu-mirror-usi...

sean

iamaleksey• 17 years ago

Just upgraded and everything is smooth so far. The only exception being VMware Workstation 6.5 - you need to upgrade to VMware Workstation 7.0 or it won't work.

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

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