Review: Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft

[arctic]

Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft review

 

So many new releases... time to take a look at the new sexy distros. I will start with Ubuntus new 6.10 Edgy Eft release, as the last Ubuntu review I made was written a long, long time ago. This time, I said to myself, Ubuntu deserves some attention. So here we go.

 

Ubuntu is very, very popular. Still it is the center of criticism for many Linux users. Some criticism is imho valid, some is, I guess caused by jealousy about Ubuntus success and/or distrust towards Shuttleworth and Canonical. The criticism that is valid will be mentioned in the following review.

 

Getting Ubuntu

 

Just like any other typical distro, Ubuntu can be downloaded. This time however, there is no „ship-it“ option, which is, I guess, understandable due to the fact that 6.10 is an untypical release. It has some apps that are labeled „unstable“ included and the release was launched after 4 months instead of the typical 6 months. Thus in order to not hurt thousands of users with a potentially problematic release, they decided not to ship it. They stick to their credo to ship only well tested and stable distros. Edgy Eft is a rather „unstable“ release that should be used „at your own risk“.

 

I downloaded Edgy without problems after I found a mirror that was not breaking down on the massive traffic when 6.10 was released. Three mirrors before had stalled due to the traffic. :P

 

The system

 

Same old box as usual. Sempron 2400+, 1 GB Ram, sis graphics chipset, 80 + 160 GB ATA harddisks, sis ethernet card, connected to a router, dvd drive and cd-burner. HP inkjet and OKI laserjet printers, Canon LIDE scanner. Nothing spectacular.

 

Installation

 

After choosing the live-CD with installer, I inserted the CD and to my surprise the live-CD booted much faster than the previous 6.06 live-CD. Nice. Installation is not hard either, the only annoying thing was for me that the installer wanted to mount ALL my partitions first. Even those that belong to other distros. Well, basically this is a good sign, but I prefer to mount stuff only when I need it.

Installation speed was acceptable. Not as fast as Mandriva, but still fast enough for Joe Average. And: I could browse the net, read mails and do other stuff while it installed. Then I got a notification: Everything's done, hey-ho, let's reboot.

 

First boot

 

Boot speed is nice, boot-splash is also nice, but imho VERY Windows XP like. Don't know if that is a good thing ... Ubuntu uses a new boot-method called Upstart. It works well and has a nice advantage over the traditional init system as it allows high-tech dealing with removable hardware at boot time. The traditional init-system caused stalls during booting at times, so this is a welcomed addition. (Read here more about Upstart https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReplacementInit )

 

By using Upstart and Readahead, after 28 seconds, I am greeted by the login manager. Mandriva, Arch and Debian are practically identical in speed terms, so Ubuntu overcame one of its previous „showstoppers“, the slow bootspeed. Two thumbs up.

 

The gdm design has not changed a lot since the first release (4.10) in 2004. I like that, because it helps Ubuntus branding. You know immediately: It will be a familiar system that you enter now.

Some twelve seconds later, Gnome 2.16 is fully loaded.

 

Look & Feel

 

My first impression is a mixed one. The design is better than in previous versions. Gone are the dark-brown wallpapers with bad resolution, enter a really relaxing wallpaper in shades of brown, very Mac-like but yet different. The Metacity window border is imho a bit too light in its colour. The contrast between the titlebar text and the background is too weak. This is not so nice, especially if visually impaired people want to use the system. A darker shade of brown would have been better.

 

The gtk theme still has orange slider-markers, which do not fit the brown of the Metacity theme and neither the yellow-beige colour of the menu-highlight. Replace the orange with a more brownish colour and you get a consisten look. The orange breaks the look and hurts the eyes.

 

The icons are not much better. Orange is about the worst colour for icons I can think of. Way too aggressive! Tone them down, for God's sake. Also: Why are some icons kept in a bright orange, while others are kept in a dark-brown colour? Ever heard of consistency, guys? You still have a lot of work to do until this can really be called a polished desktop. The base to work off is very good, but it is those small things that hurt the overall look.

 

Now, enough ranting about the look. Let's take at how this release feels.

 

First of all, the system has set my resolution to 1280x1024 at 61 Mhz. That hurts. I launch the display congig-tool. I select 1024x768 and 85 Mhz and.... it stalls, then resets itself. Bang. Back at gdm. I test this again and again and always get the same result. What the f*** is this? Okay, I try one last time and this time, X completely freezes and cannot be resetted. Argh! Hit ctrl+alt+del and reboot again in rescue mode.

 

In rescue mode, I take a look at xorg.conf with nano. And I realize that it has set up my system with the „vesa“ instead of „sis“ graphic driver. Why? It worked in perfectly in 5.10 and 6.06, so why did that break? Okay, I correct that and now I get a working X environment.

 

Next I set up a full root account. Let's find out if all the administrative tasks will still ask for the sudo password instead of the root password. If that's the case, then Ubuntu still sucks. I test it with the gdm configuration. It asks for the administrators password. Root is my admin. I enter the password and... nothing happens for approximately five seconds. Then the box pops up again „Wrong password“. Great! Ubuntu: you suck! Really. If I set up root with all administrative rights then I don't want a crippled root. Is that so hard to understand? This problem will probably never be addressed by its developers as they apparently hate root and cannot understand why someone might want/need a FULL root account. Meh... Two thumbs down.

 

The applications are snappy, overall system speed is very okay. Installing new apps is also as easy as it can get, even multimedia codecs and such stuff is available within minutes. Nice. And some online mirrors are set up by default. No command-line stuff necessary. Two thumbs up as it makes it really easy for newcomers to get the system properly configured.

 

The apps selection has not changed a lot in the past but some things are different since the last time I took a look at Ubuntu. Xsane is installed by default. Bravo. Many distros don't do that at all and I always hated the moment I plugged in a scanner and no scanner software was installed. And Mandriva installs by default Kooka if you plug in a scanner, although I want Xsane.

 

Fspot is now a default app for photo management which is good. On the downside, NumlockX still ain't installed by default. For whatever reason. And: Why are there still those useless Gnome-games? They suck big time and eat up valuable space that imho should have been used for e.g. Gnucash.

 

If you want to play something, how about a puzzle? Click on System -> Administration -> Keyring Manager. You don't know what this tool is good for? Then select the „Help“ Menu entry (-> contents) and read what this tool is all about. The Info page is really informative...

 

Keyring Manager

Introduction

 

Welcome!

 

That's it. Great Help site, boys. Really... I am impressed.

 

Conclusion

 

Ubuntu made many good decisions with Edgy Eft and it works okay. Okay, there is no AIGLX stuff by default, but I don't care about such stuff anyway, so I don't blame them for not including it (Actually I am quite happy that it ain't included!)

 

The Ubuntu desktop looks a bit better this time, but there is still a serious lack of attention to things like colour consistency and „Don't blind me!“ wishes from users. Many have complained about the ugly bright orange and they ignored the complains. That is hardly understandable imho.

 

I am a bit disappointed by the lousy graphics detection this time and I am very disappointed about the still broken root-account they have. I really hoped that they got this solved by now, but they don't care about it at all, as it seems. This is a no-go for me. It means that I have to hack tons of config files in order to fix that problem. You guys are funny, really. How about finally adding an option during the installation where I can select if I want the traditional root account or the stupid sudo-approach? This cannot be THAT hard!

 

What else is missing? Security, security, security! No firewalls set up by default, no firewalls even installed! No SELinux or other security enhancement included. This makes Ubuntu imho less than an adequate option for servers. And that also makes me wonder how they dare to release a „server“ CD, too, that doesn't have ANY of those essential tools included? Do they think any serious admin will use such a lousy thing as a base for a secure server? Well, I wouldn't. Better stick to CentOS or Red Hat for critical servers as they have both, a working firewall AND SELinux included.

 

For Joe Averages Desktop Computer, Edgy Eft is okay, but nothing spectacular. Efts only advantage over other distros is Upstart right now, but that will be adopted by other distros soon, I bet. And if your hardware isn't properly detected, tell the Ubuntu staff about it. Chances are they won't listen to you.

 

That's enough ranting for today. Next in line will be Fedora Core 6.

[tyme]

I am very disappointed about the still broken root-account they have. I really hoped that they got this solved by now..

The thing is, this is the intended setup. They do it a specific way, and that's part of the distribution. Doing it that way requires some modifications, and is probably the cause of it being so hard to change it to having and actual root account. In reality, all you have to do to login as root in a console is:

sudo -s -H

You can even just have this masked as su so that you don't have to type it anymore ;)

 

How about finally adding an option during the installation where I can select if I want the traditional root account or the stupid sudo-approach?

That would be counter to their goals. They intend for the setup and installation to be as simple and easy for newer users - asking such a question would complicate matters as most new Linux users wouldn't know what these means, and it's almost impossible to properly explain during an install.

 

If you want to play something, how about a puzzle? Click on System -> Administration -> Keyring Manager. You don't know what this tool is good for? Then select the „Help“ Menu entry (-> contents) and read what this tool is all about. The Info page is really informative...

Keyring Manager isn't a Ubuntu-only app, it's part of GNOME. The lack of help information is most likely GNOME's fault.

 

What else is missing? Security, security, security! No firewalls set up by default, no firewalls even installed!

Aaaaaaaacccctually...iptables is installed by default, and it's a firewall. In fact, most linux "firewalls" are actually just a front-end to iptables. Could they use a GUI front end? Probably (most distro's could), but to say no firewalls are there by default is just wrong ;)

 

 

And if your hardware isn't properly detected, tell the Ubuntu staff about it. Chances are they won't listen to you.

Well that appears to be a completely baseless jab! :P

 

I'll say it again arctic, I think sometimes you go a bit hard on your reviews. You need to research things a bit more before you get all worked up ;)

[arctic]

How about finally adding an option during the installation where I can select if I want the traditional root account or the stupid sudo-approach?

That would be counter to their goals. They intend for the setup and installation to be as simple and easy for newer users - asking such a question would complicate matters as most new Linux users wouldn't know what these means, and it's almost impossible to properly explain during an install.

Aha? And if I want to install a server? Then I am still a "noob" that is too stupid for deciding for himself if he wants root or sudo? Come on...

Debian asked me if I want sudo or root. It ain't that hard.

 

Keyring Manager isn't a Ubuntu-only app, it's part of GNOME. The lack of help information is most likely GNOME's fault.

I know, but Ubuntu claims that it has that extra polish and that it is an easy and logical distro that explains itself (more or less). If this would be true, they shouldn't include something like Keyring Manager. Just my opinion though. Mandriva is no better in this respect. ;)

 

What else is missing? Security, security, security! No firewalls set up by default, no firewalls even installed!

Aaaaaaaacccctually...iptables is installed by default, and it's a firewall. In fact, most linux "firewalls" are actually just a front-end to iptables. Could they use a GUI front end? Probably (most distro's could), but to say no firewalls are there by default is just wrong ;)

You are basically right, but I guess you know exactly what I mean: Even if iptables is included, there is absolutely no useful documentation included (=understandable for new users) on how to configure it, it is not preconfigured, there is not a GUI frontend installed and new users will not hack the iptables from the cli. They are not even told that there is iptables or that there is a firewall thing available. The only help-screen that tells you about firewalls is hidden in the server -> configuration -> networking section of the main help page.

 

 

I'll say it again arctic, I think sometimes you go a bit hard on your reviews. You need to research things a bit more before you get all worked up ;)

You only say that 'cause I wrote such a negative review on Archlinux.

[tyme]

Aha? And if I want to install a server? Then I am still a "noob" that is too stupid for deciding for himself if he wants root or sudo? Come on...

Debian asked me if I want sudo or root. It ain't that hard.

Honestly, IMHO, Ubuntu isn't server material. I'd use something leaner - arch, probably, maybe slackware.

 

I know, but Ubuntu claims that it has that extra polish and that it is an easy and logical distro that explains itself (more or less). If this would be true, they shouldn't include something like Keyring Manager. Just my opinion though. Mandriva is no better in this respect. ;)

Keyring Manager is a very useful tool, and honestly I've never had to look at it's GUI because it just pops up and asks me "wanna do this?" and explains what it's doing in the dialog box. I've found it to be a very useful feature, and who the hell is gonna go look at all the help screens in every program and see if they're empty? not me! Although, apparently they could hire you :lol:

 

Even if iptables is included, there is absolutely no useful documentation included

I agree, I'm just saying, to state that one isn't there is wrong ;)

 

You only say that 'cause I wrote such a negative review on Archlinux.

You write negative reviews of every distro, so I just assume your opinion is bad :P

[Artificial Intelligence]

The theme/icon/wallpaper part will get changed big time in next release as the want to use their strengths on my vitals things this time (consider that they only had 4 months to do this release ready)....and themes are also about personal taste in the end. :)

 

If you look at what you get for 4 months development it's quiet impressive in my humble opinion. Now they are back on having the 6 months to do the next release.

[arctic]

The theme/icon/wallpaper part will get changed big time in next release as the want to use their strengths on my vitals things this time (consider that they only had 4 months to do this release ready)....and themes are also about personal taste in the end. :)

 

If you look at what you get for 4 months development it's quiet impressive in my humble opinion. Now they are back on having the 6 months to do the next release.

I agree with you, AI. 6.10 is a good release, especially as they had only 4 months available. As mentioned in my review: The only thing that was broken was my display (which surprises me as it worked before!). Apart from that it was a nice experience.

 

I only pointed out the things that need to be improved/changed imho in order to make this distro almost perfect.

 

The look-thing: Other distros are a lot worse in this respect (take a look at e.g. Knoppix and you will see what a cluttered desktop is!). It is only some small things that are needed to make the desktop a very, very, very, very good experience imho and thus a real competitor against OSX. They are on the right track (and managed a lot in just two years!) and I guess that in 2008/2009, they will really be rockin'. :)

[jlc]

Eft seemed it bit slow on two box's I installed it on. The part about Security bothers me too. I think artics point about firewall/iptables is FC for example during firstboot lets you set things.

 

e.g.

# cat /etc/sysconfig/iptables
# Firewall configuration written by system-config-securitylevel
# Manual customization of this file is not recommended.
*filter
:INPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:RH-Firewall-1-INPUT - [0:0]
-A INPUT -j RH-Firewall-1-INPUT
-A FORWARD -j RH-Firewall-1-INPUT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p icmp --icmp-type any -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p 50 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p 51 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p udp --dport 5353 -d 224.0.0.251 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 631 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 631 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited
COMMIT

 

Ubuntu, nothing is set, heck openssh isn't even installed......

 

No SELinux, I like that too :)

Xen is a pita to install on Ubuntu.

No multilib for x64 users.

 

Speaking of x64 users, Ubuntu 64 doesn't even boot on my Core 2 Duo so um.... negitve points for that one.

[scarecrow]

I'm sorry, but I do not agree with a single word of that review.

Adding here that you failed to spot the most important annoyance of this new release: due to a parted bug (or it is a kernel one?), it will fail to install the root system in a reiserfs partition- you have to use ext3!

Other than that, it is a BRILLIANT distro, although n00bs which will try to update from the previous version will likely fookup irreparably... but this isn't the distro's fault- every "non-rolling" distribution behaves like that.

Edited October 29, 2006 by scarecrow

[arctic]

I'm sorry, but I do not agree with a single word of that review.

What worries you my friend? Tell me. :)

 

About ext3/ReiserFS: Ubuntu uses/recommends ext3 as default filesystem, thus I tested it with the default filesystem. Actually, I don't care about ReiserFS, because imho it is a rather bad filesystem. That means: I didn't test it with xfs, ReiserFS or any other filesystem, so don't expect me to run into the ReiserFS bug you mentioned. ;)

 

I don't know exactly why you call Edgy brilliant. :huh: I checked the Ubuntu forums after the install and there are TONS of problems with edgy mentioned, e.g. wireless not working any more, 3D desktops not working at all, graphics broken, installation and booting probs and so on and so on. Sure, no distro is perfect and can detect all hardware but many people went back to 6.06 as they had serious trouble with the hardware detection in 6.10. If hardware support gets worse, then it is one thumb down. That simple. And if it is a distro aimed at new users that degresses in hardware support, then it gets two thumbs down from me.

 

Just to inform you: Mandriva is imho not much better in this respect. 2007 doesn't support one of my OKI printers anyore. And that printer worked perfectly in 2005 and 2006! One of my laptops had no graphics until I installed the module that was needed. Setting up easyurpmi mirrors from the cli was not the most pleasant thing I could imagine for a newbie. And it should have installed the module by istelf as it recognized correctly (!) which gfx-card my lappy has. And then there is the SATA problem that Ian ran into. Not so cool.

 

Furthermore: Security and a fully working root account are essential things for any distro imho. And breaking that or not caring about it is a real catastrophe, especially if you want to get a foothold in the corporate market.

 

Downsides of sudo, in case you haven't read about it yet:

- Redirecting the output of commands run with sudo can catch new users out. For instance consider sudo ls > /root/somefile will not work since it is the shell that tries to write to that file. You can use ls | sudo tee -a /root/somefile to append, or ls | sudo tee /root/somefile to overwrite contents. You could also pass the whole command to a shell process run under sudo to have the file written to with root permissions, such as sudo bash -c "ls > /root/somefile".

 

- In a lot of office environments the ONLY local user on a system is root. All other users are imported using NSS techniques such as nss-ldap. To setup a workstation, or fix it, in the case of a network failure where nss-ldap is broken, root is required. This tends to leave the system unusable unless cracked. An extra local user, or an enabled root password is needed here.

 

As I said, there are a lot of things that I like about 6.10 but 6.10 has still too many flaws to be considered a realy great distro, a distro that makes me ditch all other distros. And as I pointed out, they did a good job in a very short amount of time, but they still have to learn dozens of things.

[Artificial Intelligence]

I don't think they have any technically thing to learn, other than maybe make it more cleared that Edgy is a Testing Platform where the Ubuntu devs could do what they want. Mark gave green light for the Ubuntu devs to play with new technology and software with Edgy to test new things and it have been stated from the start that edgy is experimental and it was stated that there's fewer hardware supported in edgy from the start.

 

The advise we give on Ubuntuforums to newbie is to use Dapper LTS or use edgy on their own risk.

 

One of the thing that will worked on in the next ubuntu release (named Feisty) where the devs talked about implementing SeLinux.