Opinions on Edgy?

[pulpfile]

I wanted to upgrade to Edgy, but then I went over to the forum, and...it sounds like if I upgrade, my computer might just quit working or something. I have this itch to have the latest version of everything, but I get the feeling I might regret it.
What do you guys think?

[Pendragon]

Re: Opinions on Edgy?

This is just my point of view but from reading the forums over the last few weeks upgrading to Edgy seem fraught with problems and many have found it results in an unusable machine.

I have installed both Dapper and Edgy and I must say I found Edgy to be the most pleasing desktop when installed. However I have had some problems with the install, one it will not shut the computer fully off on shutdown, and two I have problems installing some PostgreSQL files as the installer says it will break my system.

Funny enough it detected my Belkin USB wireless dongle and worked with that straight away, the first distro to do so.

If you do install it I would go for a backup of your important files and then do a clean install. Why don’t you just boot from the CD or DVD (they both have Live versions) and see how it works with your system first before taking the plunge and installing.

Regards, P.

[bodiless]

Re: Opinions on Edgy?

Hi,

I also wanted to upgrade, played with the idea for some days, then I decided to go for it. Because I work on three computers, and my home one doesn’t have a fast internet connection, I decided to burn the ISO image on a cd and upgrade from the cd. But that didn’t work for me. So next thing I went to upgrade my office computer which is attached on fast internet line. During upgrade, I got some errors, and when I restarted the whole system messed up. Dapper drake was gone and the computer was not booting any more. So, next step was a fresh install from the life cd, which went ok, the new look was really much of my taste, but then problems started. I couldn’t see all my partitions, including /, and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t mount them. Next big problem was that I couldn’t share this computer properly on the local windows network which was also important for me. So I spent more than three days, testing, configuring and reading over the internet but no problem solved. And from what I read from the forum, I am sure there would be more problems. So I really felt petty because I kind of liked Edgy, but decided that I can’t afford spending more time on that so went back to Dapper, and a few hours later my computer was again fully functional. All partitions were there, sharing went smoothly, printers etc all ok.

There is an interesting debate going on about edgy, i.e. see (http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=10831.0) and all I have to say as a new user who really wants to get rid of Windows and switch 100% to Linux is that there is some truth on both sides. Edgy looks nice meaning that the guys did a great job, but on the other hand some things that worked out of the box with Dapper are not working any more.

I am sure I’ll give it another try sometime when I have some free days and feel like playing/learning around.

[jnorris235]

Re: Opinions on Edgy?

I realise that I will be banned from this forum for saying this - and let me say first of all that as a new one freshly fallen off the Windows Christmas tree I am more than thrilled to bits with Kubuntu.......here goes..... if 'you' are all keen to get us to come over from Windows, and some of 'you' even slate the unsteadiness of Windows (not a problem I ever met) how on earth can it happen if releases like Edgy (don't know anything about it - but that's the point!) are actually released! Or was it a beta?

All my faith in Linux just went poof!

All meant good-naturedly (but I still cannot delete files on an SD card, nor print but find the programs fantastic!

All the best!

[Pendragon]

Re: Opinions on Edgy?

However I have had some problems with the install, one it will not shut the computer fully off on shutdown, and two I have problems installing some PostgreSQL files as the installer says it will break my system.

Just as an update to the above.

The shutdown problem was solved by adding 'acpi=force' to the kernel line in the menu.lst file.

The problem with PostgreSQL was my own fault because I downloaded and installed an update before installing the main files from the DVD.

So all fixed now and I'm a happy bunny, I have even managed to compile and install my accounts package.

Regards, P.

[Tynach]

Re: Opinions on Edgy?

However I have had some problems with the install, one it will not shut the computer fully off on shutdown, and two I have problems installing some PostgreSQL files as the installer says it will break my system.

It won't break your system. It says that the program will have a broken install. That simply means that it can't download all the dependancies for that program.

It won't break your system, but the program that has a broken install won't work entirely correctly. That's all.

[Pendragon]

Re: Opinions on Edgy?

Yes, sorry I should have worded that a little better.

Trouble was the Package Manager would not install anything of PostgreSQL because of the updated file so I uninstalled it and re-installed the file from the DVD and all was well.

There is probably a command line 'fix' for the above but I just could not be bothered to look for it, twas simpler to just use the GUI to do the work for me.

Regards, P.

[dibl]

Re: Opinions on Edgy?

Since opinions were requested ...

1. You gotta REALLY want to leave Windows-World. I did.
2. Coming from W-W, bring LOTS of patience. I did.
3. Have a spare hard drive, and plan to do multiple Kubuntu intallations and multiple experiments (installing Firefox, fiddling with xorg about 27 times, copying files around, learning your top 10 console commands).
4. Use a weekend or two just to figure your way around, before you commit to doing anything important in Linux.
5. Get rid of your ATI graphics card and get an nVidia card.
6. Take the plunge -- I found Edgy works just fine, if you do 1 - 5 first.

[Bongo5HH]

Re: Opinions on Edgy?

So far I don't notice much difference between Dapper and Edgy - except that Kicker crashes from time to time now, which never happened in Dapper for me. That and the new hidden start-up..

There are some minor things changed, and supposedly there is stuff under the hood changed as well.

All in all, Kubuntu is FAIRLY friendly Distro.

I agree with the post above about preparing to make the switch. I didn't "prepare" I just did it. I have to tell you I haven't always been pleased with my decision. I did it in such a way that I won't be going back. All my data is now in linux formats and it would be too much of a pain to convert everything back to Windows friendly stuff.

I've probably installed Kubuntu 20 times in the last three months. I'm getting pretty good at it! Now if only www.getautomatix.com would stay up. I haven't gotten smart enough to copy the console stuff needed to install that sucker yet.