Ubuntu gets set to mark fifth birthday

Sam Varghese
Monday, 28 September 2009 06:38

Opinion and Analysis

Koala will come with the 2.2.28 version of GNOME; the version in alpha 6 is a development release. Pidgin has been replaced as the default IM client by an application named Empathy.

There are two things which caught my eye - the Ubuntu software store and Ubuntu One filesharing. The former is an excellent idea, a neatly organised array of software in different categories for download.

I have no doubt that this can be used to generate income some time down the track. Ubuntu One has a free option offering 2 GB and a commercial one offering 10 GB for $10. Little drops of water, little grains of sand... but it all adds up and Shuttleworth has the right idea in both these offerings.

One thing which I would change is the message displayed when the installation is going on. It reads: "While Ubuntu is installing, we invite you to explore your new operating system." This could lead to some seriously damaged systems - you cannot do a damn thing while the installation is in progress, you have to wait until it is over to explore the system.

There are three things which continue to puzzle me, one being the continued use of Network Manager to manage connectivity. Boy, is this one sick application - and I don't mean it in the modern Facebook-yuppy way. The first thing I did after installation was to remove it lock, stock and barrel.

This time when I tried to remove it, I got this peculiar message: "This is not a genuine Ubuntu package." Maybe that's why it always gives me headaches.

The second thing that I cannot comprehend is the continued fascination with brown. A brown desktop looks terrible - it reminds of the desert and I can easily visualise grubs crawling out of it.

On this front, Ubuntu needs some spiffy new design. What do you have against blue, Mark? It's the colour of water, the medium in which we all spent our first nine months, and it appeals to everyone at a very basic level.

And the final thing which with I have a problem is the growing presence of Mono. Last time I removed it, I had to get rid of something like 18 packages. This time it was 32, even though F-Spot and Tomboy are still the only two applications that seem to be dependent on it.

There is a replacement for Tomboy in the shape of Gnote. Are there no other photo-handlers in the GNU/Linux cupboard to replace F-Spot? Getting deeper into Mono is playing with fire and you can't do that for too long without getting burnt.

But overall, even a cynic like me has to say that Karmic Koala is an excellent milestone, and a fitting one to mark the fifth birthday. Many happy returns of the day, Mark.