Posts Tagged ‘linux’
Ubuntu 9.10 – a fresh new look
Sunday, November 1st, 2009
November 1st 2009
OK, so I decided a long while back to stick with Ubuntu. I have now had it as my primary operating system for six months, and I decided that when it was time for an update I would do a complete re-install instead of just an upgrade.
One thing that really bugged me about my previous install was that I did not have a seperate partition for my /home folder (where all the user related content and application data is stored in Linux), so I adressed this issue during install instead of trying to do it after the installation. I set aside 50GB for the root partition and 350GB for my /home. That should be just about enough, considering that Linux is not as bloated as Windows, I probably have too much space for the applications, but who cares. Better be safe than sorry.
To create the /home partition it was as simple as choosing to set up the partitions manually during install, first creating the smaller OS-related partition, then creating a larger partition (set up as primary) and then choose it to mount under /home. There. Done. there are more in depth descriptions of this process online, so google it if you are interested.
Am I happy now then? Yes. Now I can reinstall Ubuntu without loosing any of the settings and files related to my user. That feels a lot safer, because I do experiment with new software once in a while.
So anyway, this is not the most interesting bit about Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala). More cool stuff are
Ext 4
Faster boot times – even though I hardly ever need to reboot. Under XP at work it takes around 2-4 minutes before I am ready to start working. With Vista, yeah that is a coffee break right there clocking in at 15 minutes. Ubuntu reboots and is logged in around 1 minute. Brilliant
Encryption of /home
These days when privacy is such an issue I like the fact that my /home folder is encrypted by default (if you choose to). Good. So even if someone would steal my computer and log in as an admin then they cannot get to my files without the proper passphrase.
New look
Finally, something that isn’t so effing brown! OK, it is a different brown but over-all the new standard theme is a lot less shitty than previous incarnation. Switched my theme to a cool black one first thing I did, but even the logon screen looks cool and slick. Very well done.
It works!
OK, one thing many people complain about is that you have to do a lot of set up with Ubuntu. Not true this time. Everything worked out of the box, including my obscure Wireless card, my web cam and the sound card too. All of these are notoriously buggy under Linux. Well, even after I applied the propriety driver for the graphics card I got all of the Compiz goodness that makes the linux experience so much more enjoyable.
Downsides
OK, so it is not perfect, but on the other hand I still have some issues to deal with.
- Internet banking – under 9.04 it worked really well, and I followed the same instructions this time. Nexus Personal just wouldn’t do it this time. I managed to install it allright, but it won’t show in the menu, and there are issues when needing to confirm actions in the internet bank. I can still log on and view my details, but I cannot pay anyone. That sucks. I think this is more due to the user being dim, than software, so I will continue working on it. After all, I do have a virtual Windows lying around for these kind of emergencies. Hopefully they will do some proper testing for the next release of the certificate software.
- Xbox streaming. Not tried this yet, but waiting for the scene to mature a bit. At the moment I stick to using USB for both my xbox and my surround system.
- VPN connection – got it running. I think. cannot really tell.
All in all I am quite happy so far… the experience is really smooth. Next upgrade is in April 2010… if they keep this up that will be the version that kicks Windows and MacOS ass.
Martin Welén » Mac eller inte?
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
April 22nd 2009
Just nu undrar min vän Martin om han ska haMac eller inte?.
Får jag föreslå den tredje vägen? Nya Ubuntu kommer imorgon.
