Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Alpha 1 review
UPDATE – Read the Ubuntu 10.04 review (Final release)
Ubuntu 10.04’s Alpha has been released. We decided to install it on one of our netbooks to see what is new in it. Canonical claims that many new things will surface with the release Ubuntu 10.04 and some of them have been implemented in the alpha release.
Installation
There is a bug in the installer and you must allot the whole HDD/SSD to Ubuntu, otherwise the installer will crash. So, we allotted whole partition to Ubuntu. Installation went fine. Installation was done using a bootable pendrive that was made via unetbootin
What changes were there that we could identify?
- There is no change in the splash screen compared to Ubuntu 9.10. We expect that to be changed in the final version though just like any other major release.
- No new theme introduced
- There were new wallpapers
- The best thing: You won’t get corrupt SSD notification in case you are using an SSD netbook/notebook. This was a known issue in case of Ubuntu 9.04 and Ubuntu 9.10
Applications
The application set, as of now, has not undergone any change. I was expecting to see Chrome browser, but perhaps that will be included in the final release. Here is the list of apps listed category-wise:
Games
Most of them have been removed. Just 5 are included now
- AisleRiot Solitare
- Gnometris
- Mahjongg
- Mines
- Sudoku
//taskbar set to auto-hide in the above given screenshot
Accessories
- Calculator
- CD/DVD creator
- Character Map
- Disk Usage Analyzer
- gedit
- Manage print jobs
- Password and Encryption keys
- search
- Take screenshot
- Terminal
- Tomboy Notes
Internet
In Ubuntu 9.10, Pidgin was replaced with Empathy IM Client and in Ubuntu 10.04, it is still there. Other apps in the Internet section are:
- Evolution mail
- Firefox web browser
- Empathy IM Client
- Remote Desktop Viewer
- Terminal Server Client
- Transmission BitTorrent Client
- Ubuntu One
It would be nice if they would bundle Google Chrome web browser in the final release as it is so much better than Firefox in Linux. I only use Firefox while I am using Windows, but performance of Firefox under Ubuntu is totally unacceptable, atleast in Netbooks. Chrome browser starts so much faster and is much joyous to use than Firefox.
Graphics
- F-Spot photo manager
- GIMP image editor
- OpenOffice Drawing
- XSane Image Scanner
F-Spot photo manager is still there in the graphics section which is actually the first thing that I remove from my netbook.
GIMP has NOT been removed yet!
Although there are talks that the GIMP will be removed from the final version due to two reasons:
- Not many people use it
- GIMP takes too much space on the hard disk
Right now, there is not even a basic paint alternative. gpaint which although looks a lot like MS paint, but cannot even crop a picture. So, if GIMP is removed, I don’t think there is a worthy MSpaint alternative in Linux
Office
- Dictionary
- Evolution mail and calender
- OpenOffice Presentaion
- OpenOffice Spreadsheet
- OpenOffice Word Processor
Sound and Video
- Brasero Disc Burner
- Movie Player
- Rhythmbox Music Player
- Sound Recorder
Instead, inclusion of a video editor called Pitivi would be a travesty. I would instead wait for the Video Editor from VLC.
System Tools
There is something called byoby windows manager, which basically opens terminal for me. No idea about what it is or what it will do.
One interesting thing to notice was that the effects were enabled by default just like in the case of Linux Mint 8 OS
Interface
Since we used standard edition, there were two bars – one on the top and another at the bottom. The number of vertical pixels really matter on a netbook and standard edition just does not make good use of space. I would recommend people to remove the bottom bar and make the running apps appear on the top bar itself. If you don’t want to mess with the bars, you can go for Mint 8 OS, which uses only one bar
Here is a screenshot of Mint 8 OS on the same netbook:
..or you can go for Ubuntu NBR, which uses netbook remix launcher. But then you will have to make yourself used to the Remix interface.
Folks at Ubuntu have confirmed that they will be able to achieve less than 10 second of boot time. That, however has not been yet implemented, at least in this release. Let’s hope Alpha 2/Beta 1 will bring that ultra-quick boot. If they are able to achieve it, then using the so-called instant-on operating system will be pointless.
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“I was expecting to see Chrome browser…â€
“It would be nice if they would bundle Google Chrome web browser…â€
I don’t understand what you mean. Were you expecting it because you think it would be nice? Did you propose it at UDS?
Did you know that Google Chrome is not open-source?
the changes exceed your level of knowledge of computing.
they are called backend changes, changes you don’t necessarily see on the GUI.
OS =/= GUI frontend.
Chromium could be included, as it is open source.
But it won’t be bundled in Ubuntu Live-CD, because among other reasons, there is not enough space on the CD.
As this is the very first alpha of Ubuntu 10.04 you can not expect everything to be working (even the website you downloaded the ISO from states that). Also it’s an LTS, meaning the this release is design to be stable enough to last 5 years, and thus won’t have the cutting edge packages installed by default (its the reason why they aren’t upgrading to GNOME 3).
L4Linux: they would have enough space if they removed mono (which is the only thing that absolutely needs to be removed).
quote from http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2009/05/byobu-20-released-project-formerly.html
After 54 mini-releases of screen-profiles-1, I’m pleased to declare a 2.0 release! I believe that the project is more stable, more feature-filled, and better performing than ever. screen-profiles has become much more than a fun little hack… I believe that it is ready for general usage.
Changing the Name of the Project
In conjunction with the 2.0 release, I am also renaming the project. The new name of the project and packages is byobu.
Hey nice article, I hope GIMP is not removed. I use it almost daily. I was a bit unhappy that pidgin was removed in 9.10 but I just add it to my standard post install apt-get.
Cheers, Tony
http://failingit.com
The Ubuntu 10.04 release is near. Recently the Ubuntu 10.04 final version was made avaialble to testers for testing.It is also known as Lucid Lynx. This technology supports kernel mode-setting for Linux kernel image boot more fluid between the boot and start X server. I am a Linux- Ubuntu user and I am very much eager to get the Ubuntu 10.04. I got the information about this from:
http://www.techarena.in/news/27123-ubuntu-1004-lucid-lynx-made-available-testers.htm
Chrome…to many things do not work properly in chrome, I have firefox on two netbooks and have not witnessed unacceptable speeds? GIMP – who wants it removed – anyone out there care to comment? I think this would be a major mistake – I use it all the time…
You might know this already, but it is possible to make UNR look just like the full version. I didn’t like the UNR style on my netbook, and after moving a few things around, I was able to make it look like the regular GNOME interface.
One trick I use a lot with UNR is to go into the PROPERTIES on each panel and check SHOW HIDE BUTTONS.
By doing this, I can slide each panel out of the way and get that extra bit of space back at the top and bottom of the screen when I really need it (like when watching videos and stuff).
YOUR knowledge is o………in core pc’s
While I have not tested the Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Alpha, I needed to tell the people complaining about my understanding of the possible removal of GIMP. It is my understanding that they plan to remove GIMP from the applications that are installed by default, but it will still be available through the software repositories (sp?). Will it be an inconvience (sp?) for those people who use it regularly? Yes, but I’d categorize it as a minor one at best.
Those who use GIMP are used to install software on the operating systems they use. So, removing GIMP from the default packages is not a big issue since it is available through its repositories and adding new packages are very easy in ubuntu. Rather than user applications it is better to add more drivers for different hardwares. Application softwares can be installed later if all the peripherals are working nicely. That is what a newbie needs.
Ubuntu Netbook Remix is a great interface to my Aspire One! Don’t know what keeps you from ‘getting used to it’
I’m suprised you say “performance of Firefox under Ubuntu is totally unacceptable” – I use Firefox on my Acer One Netbook (running UNR) and my Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop PC and it runs well on both. My only complaint with 9.10 has been the failure of Tomboy Synchronisation via UbuntuOne and I really hope this is being sorted out in 10.04, though the bug reports don’t show evidence of an imminent fix.
i am surprised to read “GIMP is not removed yet” . What made you to write like that. It is one of the best tools available in Linux. I completely process all my photos using GIMP..visit this link http://www.flickr.com/groups/gimpusers/ .. there are so many people who are using gimp extensively and are very happy with it.. I am one among them