Enter the Drake

REVIEWS Ubuntu 6.06 “Dapper Drake”

Test driving Ubuntu’s Dapper Drake ENTER THE DRAKE

Is Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake worthy of an update? That depends on kernel 2.6.15, to which the Ubuntu developers have added numerous driver what you are looking for. We took a tour of the latest Ubuntu. modules backported from more recent kernels. BY CARSTEN SCHNOBER But it looks like the Ubuntu developers still didn’t have enough time to finish ser-friendliness and stability leased at regular intervals. This release is up. Two mothns after the release, a large were the goals that began Ubun- the first with Long Term Support (LTS), number of updated packages were Utu’s [1] drive to conquer the and Ubuntu promises security updates posted to the Update servers, many of world of Linux. Within just a few and support for the next five years, in- them remedying security-critical errors, months of the original release two years stead of the three year support term and more were to follow. If you down- ago, Ubuntu was hailed as a shooting promised with previous versions. This loaded or copied the Ubuntu CD or DVD, star for bringing up-to-date software to goal of longterm support is why Ubuntu you can expect an additional download the Debian base and opening up the dropped the April release deadline, giv- marathon weighing in at least 150MB to desktop to Linux newcomers. ing the developers another six weeks to In contrast to similar products, Ubuntu produce “the most stable Ubuntu release Table 1: Ubuntu 6.06 LTS does without proprietary add-on pro- so far.” grams; the default install uses only free On June 1, Ubuntu 6.06 “Dapper Gnome 2.14.1 KDE 3.5.2 software. Ubuntu manufacturer Canoni- Drake” was posted on the Ubuntu serv- Xfce 4.3.90 cal sends free Ubuntu installation CDs ers for free downloading. The default Firefox 1.5.0 to anyone who asks for them. desktop is Gnome 2.14, although the OpenOffice 2.0.2 Kubuntu and Xubuntu variants (which The Wait X.org 7.0.0 are now officially supported) use the Kernel 2.6.15 Up to the current version, which is code- KDE 3.5.2 and Xfce 4.4 desktops, respec- Source http:// www. ubuntu. com named “Dapper Drake,” Ubuntu was re- tively. All of these variants are based on

42 ISSUE 71 OCTOBER 2006 WWW.LINUX - MAGAZINE.COM ��

Figure 1: Dapper Drake is the first Ubuntu version to offer a GUI- based installer launched from a live system.

update the kernel and most tor will need to add the distri- of the Gnome packages. bution to the Grub configuration at a later stage. New Installation The Ubuntu CD comes Routine with English packages only. �� The new version replaces the If you prefer to use any other previous, text-based Debian language, the installation rou- �� installation routine with a tine will load the localized �� new installation approach. packages automatically from Ubuntu first boots a live sys- the Ubuntu servers after com- �� tem from the installation me- pleting the install. �� dium, where you can click an The installation DVD solves icon to launch the Ubiquity this problem, using the extra �� installer program. space on the medium to add �� The installation proceeds packages for non-English through the same steps as the language support. However, �� setup routines of previous the system does not detect �� versions. First, GParted (Fig- the medium as the source for �� ure 1), a GUI-based front-end the required packages, forc- for the Parted tool, partitions ing users to manually add the �� the hard disk. Users can DVD as an installation source choose target partitions or ac- in the package manager �� cept the automatic options, (Figure 2). �� which will either use the If you have less than �� whole disk or the free space 192MB RAM, or if you prefer on the disk for Ubuntu. to use the older text-based in- �� Although the Grub boot staller for other reasons, you �� manager does not prompt can opt for the alternate CD. you to confirm before invad- Just like with the older ing the boot sector on your Ubuntu versions, a succes- first hard disk, it does add sion of selection dialogs any existing operating sys- guide you through the system tems to the boot menu. This setup, allowing far more in- works both for Windows and teraction. for other Linux distributions, however, Linux variants that Little News �� still use the Lilo boot man- If you are familiar with previ- ager are the exception. In this ous Ubuntu versions, you �� case, the system administra- will probably agree that the

�� REVIEWS Ubuntu 6.06 “Dapper Drake”

eration between Ubuntu and Sun. If you need the Java runtime or developer envi- ronment, just add the Ubuntu multiverse repository as an installation source and install the sun-java5-jre and/ or sun-java5-jdk packages. Ubuntu adds the Vmware Player [3] to its package management scope in the same way. Fine Tuning Dapper has made some obvious progress with respect to hardware support. Standby mode via software suspend works on many laptop models, and the Gnome Power Manager now has a GUI- based interface for power management configuration. On the downside, the GUI tool does not support the full range of configuration options, forcing users to resort to the confusing Gconf editor for fine tuning. The same criticisms can be levied at the Network Manager and Xgl. Figure 2: After enabling the Universe and Multiverse repositories, you can install additional The fact that the new X.org and software in the package manager. Gnome version need more in the line of resources is a clear drawback to using differences between this version and pre- Ubuntu users will also find the Xgl [2] them on laptops. Both force the laptop to vious versions are difficult to locate. The 3D desktop in the universe repository. increase the clock speed, and thus both new artwork adds a touch of color, with But before you can enjoy features such use up more power. On the upside, if orange elements, and the new Gnome as transparent and animated windows some of your hardware was previously version makes the distribution more and menus, or three-dimensional win- unsupported, and this is the case with user-friendly, but none of this has dow and desktop switching, you first some integrated card readers, the new changed Ubuntu’s system management. need to install the Xgl packages. The 3D version may be just what you need. Only the universe and multiverse re- desktop only works if your hardware There are just a few minor obstacles positories add exciting new desktop fea- supports it, and it would be premature to to updating from a previous version. If tures, although Ubuntu gives no support include this kind of feature as part of the you have installed a large number of or stability guarantees for either; in fact, default installation. packages from the universe branch, you need to enable these branches first If you are prepared to use proprietary watch out for incorrect conflict and de- before using them. After doing so, you software, you will not find any on the in- pendency definitions. Some experience can access the Network Manager, which stallation CD, but you’ll find plenty of with the package manager is a big ad- searches the ether and the wire for avail- proprietary applications in the restricted vantage in resolving these issues. On the able networks – a big help for laptop and multiverse repositories. Official other hand, software from main should users who work in changing network Ubuntu support is available for the first update without any trouble. environments. of these, and the repository is also avail- In some cases, updated versions of able on the instal- Gnome and KDE have trouble using the lation DVD. This existing user settings. If this happens to branch includes you, there is no need to reinstall: in the Nvidia and ATI worst case, you could just reset the desk- drivers, or codecs top configuration by deleting the .gconf with controversial and .gnome, or .kde directories below patenting for play- your home directory. ■ ing MP3 files and various video for- INFO mats. [1] Ubuntu: http:// www. ubuntu. com Java users and [2] Xgl: http:// www. freedesktop. org/ wiki/ developers, in par- Software_2fXgl ticular, will appre- ciate one of the [3] Vmware player: http:// www. vmware. com/ products/ player Figure 3: Choosing a partition configuration in Dapper Drake. fruits of the coop-

44 ISSUE 71 OCTOBER 2006 WWW.LINUX - MAGAZINE.COM