Sparkling fresh updates to Ubuntu, Mint and Zorin on way

It seems to be kernel update season out there. The current Ubuntu LTS gets a new kernel, Zorin OS 17 gets a new point release – and Mint announces two updated editions, coming really soon now. It is very nearly one year since Ubuntu 22.04.1 was released, and as long term support versions get semiannual updates, release 22.04.3 …

[Neil Barnes]

they could do something very special

Indeed they could, if they could be persuaded to leave the UI alone - or better yet, lose the disappearing scroll bars and sort out the issues with scroll bars in general. I'm a huge Mint/Cinnamon fan but I still have issues with e.g. overwide content in the file manager making the bottom entry impossible to access because the scroll bar is on top of it.

I'm old fashioned: I want a scroll bar with per line, per page, and 'go here' click/draggy options. This being Linux, of course, your opinion will almost certainly differ.

[Ian Johnston]

Re: they could do something very special

They could enable Linux Mint to print easily and reliably. My desktop sees the Brother laser printer attached to it by USB, suggests a driver, installs and can't print anything because the printer isn't ready. Precisely the same driver works happily with precisely the same printer over a wifi connection. My laptop (also LM) can't see the printer by wifi but can see it as a share on the desktop. Can't print to it, though.

I'm beginning to think that the general inability of Linux to print or do sound is a deliberate "fuck you" to users from a developer community with the GNOME mindset.

[HandlesMessiah]

Re: they could do something very special

Oddly, in my house, the Mint laptop is the one computer that can reliably print to the HP color inkjet that randomly decides to report itself offline to all the Windows machines.

[Neil Barnes]

Re: they could do something very special

Mine - Brother HL2150N - works fine from any number of Mint machines across the wired and wireless network, and doesn't even complain when the company W10 machine gets in on the act.

Sound, on the other hand, is a bit of a mishmash - no problem on the laptop itself, but attach it to the USB C i/o expander base and it recognises the USB output ports but doesn't seem to send audio to them except in very occasional circumstances - something to do with whether the machine is powered up or not when it's attached. A different machine with a different expander works fine...

[JimboSmith]

Re: they could do something very special

Strangely a good few years ago my mum was having difficulty printing something from Windows. She’d just bought a new HP inkjet printer that day against my advice and it wouldn’t work with the supplied drivers nor ones downloaded from the net. My comparatively tiny Linux EeePC that I had in my bag worked fine when connected by USB, it might have downloaded a driver itself can’t remember. She was very impressed though that my little computer worked so well and her big one didn’t. I spotted that the printer had an issue inside with a damaged ribbon cable so he took it back and had her money back. Bought a laser one after that

[Rikki Tikki]

Re: they could do something very special

@Ian Johnston

Using the Brother driver install tool?

I've been happily using my Brother MFC for some time now, works fine either from USB or WiFi, both printing and scanning.

[Gary Stewart]

Re: they could do something very special

After a couple of years with no problems I've recently, as in the last 8 - 12 months, had the same problem with my Brother HL-2240D laser printer. The exact same problem occurs on Devuan 4. Within the last month or so the problem has gotten much better but seems to reoccur when the printer is not used for several hours. Getting it to work after that is a real PITA and the easiest way is to just do a fult computer power down/up cycle with the printer left on. This "fix" only became reliable within the last month or so. When I first started having the problem I did quite a bit of searching on the web and found that it is/was a fairly common problem. It helps to turn the printer on before I turn the computer on much like the full power cycle fix. Since it occurs on two very different distributions of Linux I suspect that it may be a CUPS driver problem but I have no way to verify this.

Also as I mentioned in a previous post, Linux Mint 21.2 has the option to install a 6.2 kernel. I have used this option to install newer versions of the Linux kernel on previous releases with no problems. I won't be installing the 6.2 kernel though because as of this time support for it will end in Feb. 2024. The option to install newer kernels is in one of the pull down tabs in the Update Manager (sorry don't remember which one) in the View Kernels option.

[Liam Proven]

Re: they could do something very special

[Author here]

> if they could be persuaded to leave the UI alone

I just would like to point out that I was talking specifically about their Xfce editions -- and _only_ those.

Not about GNOME, v3 of which was founded with the express intention of doing something *unlike* existing GUIs, to avoid the threat of litigation:

https://www.theregister.com/Print/2013/06/03/thank_microsoft_for_linux_desktop_fail/

[StrangerHereMyself]

They could

Yeah, they could come together. But they won't.

There's too many different personalities and self-interests involved. The company that conquers the desktop would win out BIG and there'd be too much money involved.

[Ian 55]

Re: They could

Here the question is would Zorin say 'fine' to losing whatever money they get from the paid for versions?

[Liam Proven]

Re: They could

[Author here]

> Here the question is would Zorin say 'fine' to losing whatever money they get from the paid for versions?

I think that you are missing one of the core points of the article here:

It is the version is based on the GNOME desktop that are paid products.

At least, as far as I can see from the rather confusing product breakdown on the web presence – which is something that I specifically callout, not for the first time, and that I think that the company really, urgently, needs to improve.

What I'm suggesting is working together on the XFCE based remix, with the other companies that also do XFCE based Ubuntu remixes.

And the reason that I suggested this is that some of them, notably in Zinc, have done important work on the packaging tools, and others, notably in Linux Lite, have done important work on system admin and setup.

The point here being that by working with other *free* remixes on tools for the Zorin *free* version, they could get technological benefits that would also function in their paid products.

[ianbetteridge]

Re: They could

I don't think that's quite right, Liam (although I agree with you that they need to work on making this clearer). You can get a free version which is based on Gnome. There's three versions of Zorin:

1. Lite – this is free, and based on xfce

2. Core – this is also free, and based on Gnome

3. Pro – Runs with either xfce or Gnome and has lots of pre-loaded themes and stuff, but is paid for.

It's all on the site, but only on the download page - https://zorin.com/os/download/

[nautica]

Linux developers do NOT want to acknowledge THEIR *VERY REAL PROBLEM*...

See---

OCS-Mag

Linux 2017 -- The Road to Hell

July 13, 2016

Read the entire article here.

“...I think the distro world needs to gear down a notch or two. Bi-annual releases contribute nothing to the quality of the end product and detract people from focusing on delivering high-quality, robust products. It’s just noise for the sake of noise — generating activity the likes of the Civil Service in Yes, Prime Minister. No one will get a medal for releasing their distro twice a year. But people may actually appreciate solid products, as infrequently as they come, because at the end of the day, it makes no difference. Most people are happy to replace their software come the end of life of their hardware. And that means once every six years...

"...We don’t need to be so conservative. But let’s trying slowing down to one release a year. That gives everyone twice as much time to focus on fixing problems and creating beautiful, elegant distributions with the passion and love they have, and the passion and love and loyalty that their users deserve...

"..."The Year of Linux is the year that you look at your distribution, compare to the year before, and you have that sense of stability, the knowledge that no matter what you do, you can rely on your operating system. I find the lack of consistency to be the public enemy no. 1 in the open-source world. In the long run, it will be the one deciding factor that will determine the success of Linux. Sure, applications, but if the operating system is not transparent, people will not choose it. They will seek simpler, possibly less glamorous, but ultimately more stable solutions, because no one wants to install a patch and dread what will happen after a reboot. It’s very PTSD. And we know Linux can do better than that. We’ve seen it. Not that long ago..."

[nautica]

Re: Linux developers do NOT want to acknowledge THEIR *VERY REAL PROBLEM*...

“We notice THINGS THAT DON'T WORK.‭ ‬We don’t notice things that do.‭ ‬We notice computers,‭ ‬we don’t notice pennies.‭ ‬We notice e-book readers,‭ ‬we don’t notice books.‭” ‬--Douglas Adams,‭ ‬The Salmon of Doubt.

[Ian 55]

Re: Linux developers do NOT want to acknowledge THEIR *VERY REAL PROBLEM*...

When I was using Ubuntu, the six monthly updated versions were very good - each time, things got better.

Then Unity happened.

[Liam Proven]

Re: Linux developers do NOT want to acknowledge THEIR *VERY REAL PROBLEM*...

[Author here]

> Then Unity happened.

It is very important when talking about things that are used by thousands and millions of other people, to separate *your* likes and dislikes, your own subjective judgements, from _objective_ judgements and things that apply to others as well as to you.

I loved Unity. I still do. I personally think it was the best desktop ever created for the Linux operating system. As far as Ubuntu is concerned I think that it gave them essential visibility, a strong brand that was readily identifiable, and visibly separated their product from the legions of other Linux distributions that there are out there. And that helped the company to get stronger.

The fact that the desktop it's still maintained today, is once again an official flavour, *and* that the converged touch-driven version is still being developed and maintained an updated by a small but active community, and that desktop has recently been accepted into Debian, are all signs to me that other people really like this technology as well.

I am not telling you that you are wrong. Your choices are your choices. You do you. All I'm telling you is that you should be more alert for the difference between "what I like and hate" ans "what is good or bad for everyone else".

[Liam Proven]

Re: Linux developers do NOT want to acknowledge THEIR *VERY REAL PROBLEM*...

[Author here]

> Bi-annual releases contribute nothing to the quality of the end product

This seems to me to failed to consider the bigger picture.

(It also seems to me to be confusing biannual with semi-annual, but that is a very widespread problem. Biannual: every two years. Semi annual: every half a year.)

The real point here is that it is the *semi annual releases* which introduce the innovations and try out new things that *result* in interesting and significant, but stable, biannual releases.

I'd also note that RHEL does much the same via Fedora.

Further to that, I note that Debian, which only has biannual releases, is noted for being pedestrian, slow moving, and lacking in innovation.

And even it has point releases, and it has them a great deal more often than Ubuntu has interim releases.

[LionelB]

Re: Linux developers do NOT want to acknowledge THEIR *VERY REAL PROBLEM*...

To be fair, I've used Mint with XFCE (or a stable, minimal window manager rather than a full-blown desktop) for many years, and found it to be pretty stable and consistent across upgrades and releases.

[bregister]

Why Ireland I wonder?

The beer?

[Anonymous Coward]

Same reason it's home to the big software companies, fintech, pharma etc. Education, open borders, infrastructure.

[Kev99]

There is only one Ireland, or more correctly, Eire. The northeast portion is Great Britain in all but name only.

[Cuddles]

The northeast portion of Ireland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, although opinions differ on whether it should be. It is definitely not located on the island of Great Britain, hence the somewhat extended name of the nation it is part of.

[Anonymous Coward]

The fada is important

You should know that Éire is the Irish word for Ireland. Eire, without the fada (the accent) over the initial E, means "burden" according to this page, which discusses the importance of the fada in Irish.

https://www.bitesize.irish/blog/our-fada/

Article 4 of the English version of the Irish Constitution reads "...[the[ name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland." English is also declared to be a second official language of the country. Hence the use of the name "Ireland" is considered correct when the English language is being used.

[LionelB]

Re: The fada is important

Isn't Éire - or indeed Ireland in English - also the name of the island on which the state of Éire and Northern Island sit?

To confuse things further, it must be said that many Irish consider the entire island to be Éire - i.e., they do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the border.

[Roopee]

Only because we (GB) invaded (i.e. annexed) it a little while ago. In my humble opinion (and quite a lot of people would seem to agree) we should give it back, like we've done with the rest of the world that we annexed and pillaged for resources in the name of "empire" - India et al...

Icon - GB used to have the world's biggest pirate fleet.

[Ken G]

Would you care to share your views on eastern Ukraine?

[Henry Wertz 1]

6.2 update

I had one computer affected by 6.2 update -- ironically I used a live USB to do a live install to it, three days earlier and I would have had a semi-functional 5.19 kernel. This has a very old Nvidia chip (8600M GT), I ended up installing "non-HWE" 5.15 kernel and putting 340 nvidia driver on there. No comment on my other systems, just like Liam (article writer) found, on my other systems they updated to 6.2 and everything continued to run fine. I do think 6.2 might be running a hair faster than 5.19 for me but that might be placebo.

[Liam Proven]

Re: 6.2 update

[Author here]

> I ended up installing "non-HWE" 5.15 kernel and putting 340 nvidia driver on there.

Sorry to hear that! As it happens, one of the machines that I did a test upgrade on *does* have an elderly Nvidia chip in it, and as far as I can tell, that is still working perfectly. The driver seems to have been successfully upgraded along with the kernel. However that GPU uses the version 390 driver; that might be the difference.

[Roopee]

Distro-Hopping

I am trying to love Linux, really I am, because I now hate Windows (I used to love it, back in the days when the usual business desktop was DOS), so for years I've been distro-hopping looking for an alternative to use as my daily driver to replace Win7 when I eventually have to...

I've tried various Ubuntus, Mint, Zinc and Zorin - all mentioned in the article, but my favourite so far is MX Linux. So far it is ticking lots of boxes for me - but of course YMMV.

I was wondering @Liam why you didn't mention it, since it was thanks to your recent review of MX-23 that I tried it?

[Yankee Doodle Doofus]

Re: Distro-Hopping

He probably didn't mention it because this is an article about changes coming to Ubuntu and distros which are based on Ubuntu, while MX Linux is based on Debian Stable. Also, he recently reviewed MX-23, as you mentioned.

[Ken G]

Solus, Tails and Porteus

Are 3 other Irish Linux distros. I'm sure they all talk to each other.