Ubuntu 10.04 issues

[Chewy509]

Following on from this thread: http://www.storageforum.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8188

After using Ubuntu 10.04 a bit more yesterday and today, have come across a few gripes.

1. XMMS is not available in any repository. I've been using XMMS for years, and is an excellent music player.
2. SAMBA is not installed and enabled by default, which means attempting to print to printers shared on Windows boxes won't work.
3. There is an issue with the SAMBA version supplied (and this could just be the default configuration - haven't researched too much), in that it won't talk to Win7 boxes, and any connection made from other UNIX clients to a Windows box will fail for some bizarre and odd reason? eg. I have a Solaris 10 box, that will see and access file shares fine, and print to 2x printers hosted on my wifes Win7 based laptop. The second I start the netbook (which is running Ubuntu) all access to the Windows host from the Solaris 10 host no longer works. The Ubuntu host cannot see nor access the Win7 host, but will happily mount NFSv4 shares on the Solaris 10 host? I shutdown the Ubuntu host, and all networking starts working again. All 3 boxes are connected to a single Netgear DG834 modem/router. Starting the Ubuntu host, only effects CIFS/SMB traffic. All other traffic/protocols are uneffected.
4. The XForms library doesn't list the exact version. v1.0.93 is very new and isn't 100% backward compatible with v1.0.90. (which is what most older applications build with).
5. The default partition scheme, is a single / filesystem with no other filesystems. /home, /boot, /var and /tmp are not separated into their own filesystems.

I've been playing with Arch in a VM at work recently, and am seriously considering dumping Ubuntu for Arch (or Slackware).

 

[timwhit]

1. XMMS is not available in any repository. I've been using XMMS for years, and is an excellent music player.

Search for XMMS2 or Audacious. Audacious looks and works almost exactly like XMMS.

 

[timwhit]

I've been playing with Arch in a VM at work recently, and am seriously considering dumping Ubuntu for Arch (or Slackware).

Arch has rolling releases which are supposed to be pretty nice. But, you will be basically beta testing everything since the packages are so new.

 

[ddrueding]

5. The default partition scheme, is a single / filesystem with no other filesystems. /home, /boot, /var and /tmp are not separated into their own filesystems.

I don't know enough about *nix to comment on the rest, but not having fixed-size partitions all over a drive can only be a good thing.

 

[timwhit]

I don't know enough about *nix to comment on the rest, but not having fixed-size partitions all over a drive can only be a good thing.

I usually have three partitions on my boot drive. boot, swap, and everything else. Resizing partitions is too big of a pain. I just don't see the upside, unless you want to move these partitions to other drives. But, my boot drive is a X-25M, so I don't think this would really help performance.

 

[Mercutio]

I don't know enough about *nix to comment on the rest, but not having fixed-size partitions all over a drive can only be a good thing.

When I install Linux, I always separate /home and /var from everything else. It makes a lot of sense to me to be able to make user data, logs and email distinct from other OS data.

 

[ddrueding]

When I install Linux, I always separate /home and /var from everything else. It makes a lot of sense to me to be able to make user data, logs and email distinct from other OS data.

That does make sense, but isn't having it in it's own directory separate enough? What extra do you get having it on a separate partition? Different filesystems? Redundancy?

 

[Santilli]

Following on from this thread: http://www.storageforum.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8188

After using Ubuntu 10.04 a bit more yesterday and today, have come across a few gripes.

1. XMMS is not available in any repository. I've been using XMMS for years, and is an excellent music player.
2. SAMBA is not installed and enabled by default, which means attempting to print to printers shared on Windows boxes won't work.
3. There is an issue with the SAMBA version supplied (and this could just be the default configuration - haven't researched too much), in that it won't talk to Win7 boxes, and any connection made from other UNIX clients to a Windows box will fail for some bizarre and odd reason? eg. I have a Solaris 10 box, that will see and access file shares fine, and print to 2x printers hosted on my wifes Win7 based laptop. The second I start the netbook (which is running Ubuntu) all access to the Windows host from the Solaris 10 host no longer works. The Ubuntu host cannot see nor access the Win7 host, but will happily mount NFSv4 shares on the Solaris 10 host? I shutdown the Ubuntu host, and all networking starts working again. All 3 boxes are connected to a single Netgear DG834 modem/router. Starting the Ubuntu host, only effects CIFS/SMB traffic. All other traffic/protocols are uneffected.
4. The XForms library doesn't list the exact version. v1.0.93 is very new and isn't 100% backward compatible with v1.0.90. (which is what most older applications build with).
5. The default partition scheme, is a single / filesystem with no other filesystems. /home, /boot, /var and /tmp are not separated into their own filesystems.

I've been playing with Arch in a VM at work recently, and am seriously considering dumping Ubuntu for Arch (or Slackware).

Just tried it on VMWARE. It's the only OS I've installed that won't recognize the keyboard.

 

[Chewy509]

That does make sense, but isn't having it in it's own directory separate enough? What extra do you get having it on a separate partition? Different filesystems? Redundancy?

The big problem with Linux, is that if the root filesystem is full, it will have problems booting. Also it makes sense to separate out into different filesystems to avoid mail/logs/user data from eatting all the available space. I would rather fill /home and get errors about not being to save my user data, than having my system die and not being able to boot cleanly when the root filesystem is full...

And it makes upgrading or changing distro a lot easier...

And it makes backups easier, since you can dump or clone the entire filesystem to your backup device without losing data.

And if you ask "what about quotas"? Quotas are strictly defined by user or group and (too my knowledge) cannot be applied to cover only certain folders on linux - a quota will cover an entire filesystem. (Quotas are not enabled by default either on Ubuntu).

@timwit. I've looked at XMMS2 earlier and the client/server architecture seems overkill for a simple media player. However Audacious looks like the ticket...

Part of the problem for me is that I must run a very recent kernel version (v2.6.32+) due to hardware drivers (LAN in particular). Hence why I was looking at Arch and not something like CRUX.

@Santilli. Are you saying Ubuntu or Arch didn't see your keyboard?

 

[Santilli]

I installed the 32 and 64 bit, and I could NOT type in my password, or user, under either 32 or 64 bit, 104 Ubuntu.

 

[CougTek]

It's a safety feature. The OS has detected that Greg Santilli is trying to enter and it doesn't want to let you in because it knows you will certainly harm it if it allows you.

 

[LunarMist]

It's a safety feature. The OS has detected that Greg Santilli is trying to enter and it doesn't want to let you in because it knows you will certainly harm it if it allows you.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:colors:

 

[Santilli]

Using VMWARE, both the Ubuntu distros fail to see either of the keyboards, blue tooth or USB.
Rather strange...

 

[CougTek]

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:colors:

Don't believe me, here's the logo :

Ubuntu, not for you!

 

[Santilli]

I have had it working, 9.04, on a drive for my laptop.

Can't try it as an appliance, since the site has been down for mat. at VMWARE.

 

[Howell]

That does make sense, but isn't having it in it's own directory separate enough? What extra do you get having it on a separate partition? Different filesystems? Redundancy?

The same issues as on windows boxes. If you have runaway logs it can fill up the drive and cause the OS to crash. User data similarly.

 

[Stereodude]

Ubuntu specializes in poor release control were they routinely break things that worked perfectly in prior releases.

 

[Chewy509]

Ubuntu specializes in poor release control were they routinely break things that worked perfectly in prior releases.

That appears to be the trend after reading a lot more about Ubuntu. Nice and shiny on first experience, but goes downhill from there rapidly.

Any suggestions for a distro then? Debian, Slackware, Fedora Core, Arch?

 

[CougTek]

Slackware might be ok for someone with deep Linux knowledge like you, but it is unusable for others with more basic experience with Linux/Unix. I've never tried Arch and I haven't touch to Fedora since Fedora 3 or 4.

And I still can watch DVD on buntu 10.4 because there's apparently no codec included in the default installation.

 

[Santilli]

Whats wrong with Fedora 13?

 

[Santilli]

So far, I think I may have found my new browsing technique. Use VMware, with Fedora 13.
So far, it seems blinding, and, not too awful an interface.

 

[Bozo]

That appears to be the trend after reading a lot more about Ubuntu. Nice and shiny on first experience, but goes downhill from there rapidly.

Any suggestions for a distro then? Debian, Slackware, Fedora Core, Arch?

CentOS

 

[CougTek]

I used CentOS before Ubuntu. Supposed to be a great server OS, but since stability is more important than features, each components aren't updated as often. The kernel used in the current version (5.4) is quite a bit older than the one in Ubuntu 10.4 and Fedora 13. It probably won't support the new hardware Chewy has and it certainly didn't support my Radeon HD 5750.

 

[Stereodude]

They patch the crap out of the the older kernel they're using so it's not exactly nearly as outdated as it might first seem.

 

[Mercutio]

That does make sense, but isn't having it in it's own directory separate enough? What extra do you get having it on a separate partition? Different filesystems? Redundancy?

I can attach the same /home to multiple Linux installations if I so choose; I haven't done that for a while, but it used to be nice to switch between SuSE and Fedora on the same machine. I can segregate user data on an entirely different drive (yay!) for ease of administration, in particular, that allows me to use a small drive for OS components (e.g. an SSD) and a much larger one for user data, something that can be accomplished on Windows only with an astonishing amount of fucking around with things end users aren't supposed to play with.

I keep /var separate primarily because that's where my mail spool lives. For my stuff, that's only actually important on one machine, but it's the main reason I do it.

 

[Santilli]

Anyone have a used, cheap box I might install Linux on?
It will be pretty much browsing only, and, to learn the OS, Fedora 13.

Needs an HDMI out video card, or I'll buy one.

Any good sources for information on starting to use Fedora 13?

Or, any ideas on how to install it on VMWARE so it isn't a prepackaged, prepartitioned, virtual appliance?

I've tried downloading, and installing from ISO, and VMWare says it isn't supported.
Is their an earlier version that is?

Thanks

GS

 

[ddrueding]

Anyone have a used, cheap box I might install Linux on?
It will be pretty much browsing only, and, to learn the OS, Fedora 13.

Needs an HDMI out video card, or I'll buy one.

Any good sources for information on starting to use Fedora 13?

Or, any ideas on how to install it on VMWARE so it isn't a prepackaged, prepartitioned, virtual appliance?

I've tried downloading, and installing from ISO, and VMWare says it isn't supported.
Is their an earlier version that is?

Thanks

GS

Unsupported? I am unfamiliar with that error. Just build a generic VM if it doesn't let you specifically select Fedora. Be sure and give it enough free space

 

[timwhit]

I have used this Fedora Guide in the past. It's for Fedora 11, but not all that much has changed between F11 and F13. The Fedora releases are every 6 months.

You should have no problem installing F13 in VMWare, what settings are you using when you create the virtual?

I also usually start with the Fedora Live CD rather than the DVD. I use the KDE spin, as I prefer KDE to GNOME.

 

[timwhit]

I just installed F13 on VMWare Server 1.0.8. It worked without a hitch.

I chose Red Hat Linux as the type of Linux.

 

[Chewy509]

Well my netbook is now running Arch, and is working better/faster than Ubuntu was...

The only issue I had (and this was partially my fault), was to set my primary user id to below 1000. With the new GDM login manager (I use GNOME as my default DE), is that they use the WinXP login interface, where you click on a user account picture and then enter in a password. Apparently, it will only list user accounts with IDs >= 1000. (My UID was set to 100, to match the UID on my main Sun Box to make NFS sharing/mounting a little easier). A quick edit of the GDM conf file, restores the original login screen, where you enter a username and password. (About 5min on google to solve this one).

Otherwise, it's working well. (And Arch has XMMS in it's repo's! yah!).

 

[timwhit]

I'd be interested to hear your assessment of Fedora? I've been using it for almost the last year and like it pretty well.

 

[Chewy509]

I'd be interested to hear your assessment of Fedora? I've been using it for almost the last year and like it pretty well.

I got turned off RedHat a long time ago during the RHv8 days, when they did a lot of back porting of fixes into the kernel, and they started on their crusade to make RedHat the only Linux distro by adding a lot of RH only tools... Since at the time RH did it one way, and all the other major distro's did it another way made me walk away from RH. (and the constant struggle with RPM was just another tick box to be annoyed).

 

[CougTek]

I've finally been able to fix my DVD watching problem by applying what's on that page and installing VLC (Totem still doesn't want to let me watch commercial DVDs). I'll try to use my Xubuntu box as my main computer in the upcoming days. So far, it's ok as a Windows replacement.