Misc blog.
Published on May 4, 2007 By XX In Personal Computing
Anyone else tried Ubuntu 7.04?

It runs BETTER on my old 700 MHz laptop with 256 MB ram that older version! I tried turning on that feature that all windows is rendered separately then layered into desktop? I forgot what name it is for Linux version. Is it called desktop composition or something like that? It was very slow, but it was unsurprising since it have a 8 MB video card in it.

I checked out Gnome, it was very nice improvement, but still very controlling on customizability, which sucks because they assumes that its on a 1 GHz+ computer, which means most screen savers that can be tweaked to run on less makes my laptop run VERY slowly even in preview mode. Even Windows 3.11 has more customizability than Gnome. Boo Gnome.

Kde looks unchanged, but looks improved, runs better too. I just wish Gnome screen savers can run on Kde. Anyone knows how? I rarely use this because for some reason I can't run programs on my flash drive, killing ability to do my homework coding session testing. Grr. Anyone knows how to change that?

Xfce runs quite a bit better, I usually use this shell because it's very small and fast. I just wish I can organize the desktop like basically all other desktop interface ( including Windows ) can do.

I am still looking for other shells to try. Maybe I will find one I like. Actually, I like KDE the best, but being unable to do homework sucks. Feel free to comment on newest Ubuntu release here.

Comments
on May 04, 2007
It's on my todo list to install it on one of my spare comps. Think I'll install it on my miniITX hardware and make a small guest computer.
on May 04, 2007
Tried getting it installed but I need to use GParted to partition my C drive RAID array in order to make enough room for it. At this point I can't figure out how to get GParted to recognize my RAID controllers. I'll keep at it but I don't hold much hope for it.
on May 04, 2007
I tried it and thought it is the best Ubuntu release to date.

Gnome is customizable (through some config files mostly) it's just not as obvious how to do it than in KDE. I like it with Beryl and the Emerald decorator. Nice 3D desktop and some pretty good animations.

I also found that Feisty seems to run a bit faster than previous releases. I think the Ubuntu folks have improved their compiling options somewhat.

on May 05, 2007
I agree. Gonna love Ubuntu.

Yeah? Is there a package that adds programs that can change those settings or add it back?

Or a way to alter settings set by KDE so I can run programs on my thumbdrive?
on May 05, 2007
Keep in mind that Ubuntu modifies Gnome. For instance in Debian there are a lot more custom setting for Gnome Screensaver, whereas in Ubuntu there are pretty much none. But you can use a config file to specify them. Ubuntu, in their effort to make everything easier dumbs down a bit too much for my liking.

If you're finding Ubuntu too limiting for you try other distros. I am a big fan of Slackware myself, but it's not a hand holding easy distro like Ubuntu. Slack pretty much expects you to know what you're doing. It comes with KDE, xfce, fluxbox, etc... and if you want to add Gnome you go to Dropline Gnome and get it from them, built for Slack.

Even with some of the dumbing down I am starting to like Ubuntu. It runs my laptop quite well. I still use Slack on my desktop but am no longer turning up my nose at Ubuntu.
on May 06, 2007
Just upgraded to "Feisty" yesterday, and thought it ran quite a bit faster as well.

And best of all; it got rid of my "you have to boot three times"- Problem.
on May 06, 2007
MasonM - Yeah I don't want to go to config file each time I change screensavers though. Yeah I tried so many distros from Damn Small Linux to Ubuntu, but I picked Ubuntu due to ease of use. I have used computers for more than half of my life, about 17 years, but I'm still new on Linux, although I'm getting the hang of it after a full year of usage.

Aufisch, I don't think I ever had that problem.

Looks like nobody knows how to change permissions on flash drive mount, which is too bad since I prefer KDE more than anything.
on May 06, 2007
What exactly do you need to change for the flash drive?

on May 06, 2007
Well in Gnome and Xfce when I use flash drive, I can run programs on it. Kde is only shell that doesn't allow me to run programs on flash drive.
on May 06, 2007
I'm going to try this next weekend on my second pc. Going to be dual boot with XP, though I've never done that before. I've picked up a great deal of info on the process, but is anyone aware of any pitfalls to look out for?
on May 06, 2007

Well in Gnome and Xfce when I use flash drive, I can run programs on it. Kde is only shell that doesn't allow me to run programs on flash drive.


What happens when you try to run programs from the flash drive in KDE? What sort of error do you get?

Oh, and just for the record, KDE isn't a shell, it's a desktop environment.
on May 06, 2007
Not sure that this will be of any help but the June issue of MaximumPC has an article about installing Linux. It's titled "Wow. You Can Switch to Linux!".   

It looks like it covers everyting that might help someone install Linux.   

There's links throughout the article to several sites. They identify at the end of the article that you should able to go to their website and download the article. As of yesterday it wasn't available. The link is to the website. Check out the forums, there's a section for OSs which includes Linux.    

WWW Link

on May 06, 2007
Yeah, if nothing else Ubuntu has managed to attract a lot more attention to Linux.
on May 06, 2007
What happens when you try to run programs from the flash drive in KDE? What sort of error do you get?

Oh, and just for the record, KDE isn't a shell, it's a desktop environment.


Actually, I meant shell in KDE desktop. In all 3 desktops, I use same shell yet permissions is different. When I use shell to run programs in flash, it just says permission denied. What I wish to do is alter permissions so I can run it just like I can on Gnome or Xfce desktops.


I'm going to try this next weekend on my second pc. Going to be dual boot with XP, though I've never done that before. I've picked up a great deal of info on the process, but is anyone aware of any pitfalls to look out for?


Not much, unless you happen to use wifi. Lots of problems with pre-N, which is generally unsupported. Check out supported cards list before buying any wireless card.