Ubuntu update sends users back in time

Stan Beer
Monday, 28 August 2006 16:44

Opinion and Analysis

A botched update to the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution sent bewildered users back to the command line early last week, in an embarrassing episode that the Ubuntu project management team at Canonical would no doubt prefer to forget.

According to reports circulating the web, an update to the windowing system was sent to Ubuntu users on Monday last week and upon installation users could no longer launch the Ubuntu graphical user interface.

Instead, users who wished to run applications were forced to do it the way DOS, VMS and the various flavours of Unix users did in the 1980s - through the command line.

While this may not have been a problem for many veteran Linux users, many of the newer breed of users who mainly came know Linux through GUIs presented by the more popular distros such as Ubuntu were stuck.

To Canonical's credit, however, the company was relatively quick to act and withdrew the faulty patch. On Tuesday, Canonical posted a working update and posted instructions on its website so that users could restore their systems from the command line.

"We are aware this not the ease of use you came to Ubuntu for," Canonical said sheepishly on its website.

Heck, one day working from the command line. You know Linux is really starting to take hold in the mainstream when users can't live without their GUI for a day.