Ubuntu goes more mobile with 8.10 release

The gradual and metered improvement with the Ubuntu variant of Linux created and supported by commercial Linux distributor Canonical takes another step forward this week with the release of "Intrepid Ibex", which will be distributed as Ubuntu 8.10. Ubuntu 8.10 is a regular release of the Linux variant, not one with what …

[GrahamT]

Release Candidate

I downloaded the release candidate this week for my laptop and it is great; Wifi works out of the box showing all the networks around me as well as my own, all the apps and settings for my 8.04 apps were picked up correctly. It is responsive and clean looking (I replaced the default wallpaper ages ago) and feels very solid. All quite unlike Vista that I have dual booting on this laptop.

Once the final release comes out, I will put it on my server.

Who needs Long Term Support.

[Anonymous Coward]

8.10 is great for 3g

I use a Three 3g modem. With Windows it's a nightmare - you have to install a crappy app which looks like it was knocked up in VB3 by a lemon.

In Ubuntu you plug it in and it asks you to give your UK 3G provider from a dropdown list - you're then connected. Marvellous stuff.

[paul]

ubuntu netbook remix

Is a version of ubuntu geared for mini laptops and other small screens. Looking forwards to 8.10 as there are some new network drivers for the eee pc.

[IGnatius T Foobar]

Looking forward to it

Looking forward to another great Ubuntu release. These folks really are leading the way in desktop Linux usability. In my opinion they have surpassed Microsoft in this area (Vista is practically unusable) and are in the same league as Apple. Anyone who says Linux is hard to use either hasn't seen it in ten years or is on Microsoft's payroll.

[Chris]

Very nice on the original Eee

I've had the beta on my Asus Eee for a week or so, and it shows that plenty of tweaking and polishing has been going on. Version 8.04 has been very good, but lacked drivers for things like the Eee's WIFI. There are ways of getting it going in 8.04, all documented on the official Ubuntu wiki, but with 8.10 it works out of the box. As the version number increment shows (from .04 to .10 rather than to 9.0), this release is not supposed to offer any groundbreaking new features, but it's still a worthwhile upgrade.

[Neil Jones]

@Chris - version numbers

The versioning for Ubuntu just indicates when it's released, i.e. Oct 08 is 8.10, the previous version 8.4 was released in April etc. I agree with you though it works excellently on the eee, I have a 901 and use netbook remix.

[Anonymous Coward]

Version Number is Month - not point release

04 = April

10 = Oct - representing the 6 monthly release cycle

[Steven]

Title

"Finally, Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition supports SATA RAID controllers (sometimes called FakeRAID"

About damn time, I can finally move Ubuntu to my RAID'd 10000 Raptors instead of the old 7200 disk its currently sat on messing up my cases air flow.

[Calvin Davidson]

@ IGnatius T Foobar

This must be some new meaning of the word "usability" that I wasn't previously of...

[Chris]

@Neil Jones and @AC

Fsck me, I never realised that the version numbers were date based. I thought that was just something that MicroSoft sometimes did.

[Anonymous Coward]

What's next?

Jumpin Jehosaphat, or Jackin Jackal, or Jilling Jellybean.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Calvin Davidson

"This must be some new meaning of the word "usability" that I wasn't previously (aware) of..."

I was about to say the exact same thing, except IGnatius T Foobar's comment included the words: "In my opinion".

This totally changes the assertion and (in my opinon - lol) makes his comment perfectly valid.

[Bruno Girin]

Weekend fun

That's my weekend sorted then: upgrade my trusty ThinkPad T42 from Hardy to Intrepid! And if I can have my 3G modem work out of the box, so much the better. I might give the Eee 701 a makeover while I'm at it. And the home server. And create myself an Intrepid USB stick! So much fun, that might even last for several weekends! Unless having a life comes in the way of course.

[Anonymous Coward]

next ubuntu release

@ AC above - apparently the next release is going to be called, wait for it.... "Jaunty Jackalope"

[Anonymous Coward]

@Grahamt

"Wifi works out of the box showing all the networks around me as well as my own"

you then, have been lucky! None of the 3 different wifi cards i have, including one that is linux certified work at all, despite all 3 working perfectly on the same machine on 7.10.

Hopefully the next release will include a nice series of GUI tools for troubleshooting hardware and setting options without having to delve into the terminal and config files.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Nick

looking forward to "masturbating monkey"

[Tommy Pock]

Interpid

http://www2.b3ta.com/youcantspell/spell4.swf

Jesus. You're paid wordsmiths?

[Magilla]

Waitaminute...

"Network Manager is now at the 0.7 level (more on this below)"

Where below is the "more on this"? It's something I was actually interested in hearing about. That's just like people who (a) start ordered lists when they are speaking, but only make one point.

"...a Xen-compatible hypervisor that many suspect is itself heavily based on Xen if not simply Xen in Windows drag. (You decompile the code and get sued by Microsoft to prove it - I'll write the story.)"

Sounds like a job for us Aussies. According to one of my law lecturers, EULAs are invalid here, and that's the only thing that says you can't decompile / reverse engineer / modify etc etc etc

[Anonymous Coward]

Jaunty Jackalope...

... Jesus!

Can't wait for Kamikaze Kitten followed .06 versions later by Lactating Lemming, then - YES! - that most happy, time-poor monkey.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, some of my machines are still running 6.06

Just checked my P2P machine, is still running Azureus 2.something and mlDonkey on Ubuntu 6.06!!! Fact is, it works so well I don't see any reasons to upgrade. Updates keep flowing, thank you. I will of course upgrade the two home desktops, it's always nice to have up to date versions of everything.

I love this Ubuntu thing....

[Danny Thompson]

I keep on coming

..... back for more of this, and then walking away again.

TBH, Ubuntu on the desktop has never, ever, been an issue for me. Its all been good. But why, oh why, has Canononicaniconical taken so long to address the not-so-humble laptop? WTF have they been doing all of these years? Has someone at Cananaina..... oh you know who .... just discovered the laptop? Ubuntu, and most other Lin*x distros have compeltely sucked on that platform.

Hope really does reign eternal, it seems. I'll give this'un a try and see how it does. I'm not holding my breath for anything too exciting, but it will be nice to see Ubuntu simply work simply on a laptop for a change.

By contrast, Xandros on the EeePC 701 instantly recognised my Voda 3G USB Stick and fired up a 3G/HSPA connection for me in seconds. So what we're reading is that Ubuntu has, in this respect, caught up? Shock. Horror.

Oh well, at least it is smile-inducing, in my opinion [just to be safe].