Linux is still very much a work in progress and needs to advance as quick as possible and with that comes problems and bugs, one forward two steps back, if you like. Abandoning a ‘half-built’ ship to another may satisfy you now but it is no solution for the long term.

I do have a separate /home drive and do a clean system install for each new release which may be something you wish to consider.

I always back up /home to a usb drive just to be on the safe side but that is just common sense.

The worst that can happen is that I would need to reinstall the old Ubuntu cd and a few apps.

If you are risk averse use the LTS, that’s what its for.

Or wait a month before updating.

Ubuntu is a community project and costs you nothing, no one is putting a gun to your head forcing you to use it.

Concerning the 6 month update schedule, my view is that I think it strikes the right balance between getting new features and stability.

Pulse audio is a case in point, it was a hard call but the right one, to push ahead even if it wasn’t 100% stable. Audio needed sorting out and this is the way forward.

If you are just looking for a free ride and are not prepared to help yourself then perhaps you should look elsewhere.

In fact I would encourage all the people who have put up whinging posts here to to just that and not to let the door hit you on the way out.

I would also like to thank everyone contributing to the Ubuntu project for their time and effort, it is very much appreciated.

Well, I do have impression that since ubuntu 6.06 (then… they had guts to make a delay) and fedora core 6, the quality of releases is lower however:

1. making code stable and bugs free through out community is one of fundamentals of open source model

2. my impression is only a tiny part of whole ecosystem an heavily depends on hardware I use…

P.S maybe its not related to your post but instead screaming about KDE4 pure quality I switched main system from fedora 6/7 to centos5 and welcomed a valley of stability with KDE3.5.10… probably after KDE4.4 release I will give it a tray…

The most recent problem was with X server when I upgraded from 8.04.1 to 8.10. The new version of X server doesn’t automatically select a default graphics card if you have more than one. This means you end up back at the command line and you need to manually alter the configuration file.

But this is a change the folks in the X server project made. Not Canonical and not the Ubuntu development team.

Now while people are harping on about the development cycles and how stable Debian is. Remember the “oh we didn’t know what that code did so we just commented it out” gaffe which basically made all debian based distros as secure as your pockets in a flea market? That particular simple error went unnoticed for years.

People make mistakes. Every Linux distro will have bugs just like every other OS has bugs. The important thing is they get fixed quickly.

I have a Dell laptop D610 and had no problems with NEWER ubuntu releases.

Having a separate home is a needed thing to be able to install new releases (or new distros) with confidence.

bye

a satisfied Ubuntu user

Warren Woodford does not release on a schedule. The betas and RCs keep coming until it is solid.

The newest Mepis 8.0 is already very solid in the RC stage, and will go final when Lenny is released.

A very new kernel, the solid KDE 3.5.10 (no new features, only a bug fix release) leads to a very nice stable system.
-Jay

You are correct: The most vocal readers are usually readers who have a problem. The silent, happy majority typically remain silent.

However, this IS an Ubuntu-focused site where visitors typically have reasonably good experiences with Ubuntu and want to help push the operating system forward. For that reason, I am concerned by all the reader concerns about Ubuntu’s development schedule, bugs, etc.

Myself being an exception of course:)

I am running Ubuntu 8.04 on my laptop at home, and 8.10 on my desktop at work. Everything works beautifully, and has been for some time. I am reminded every day how wonderful it is to go from work to home, and back to work the next day – moving from one stable Ubuntu machine to the other day after day, month after month – God I love it. I remember when I was shackled to Windows on both machines: the viruses, the crashing, … the crap. Then the sun came out.

I really like PulseAudio – it works for me. Yes, Audacity doesn’t seem to like it, but Audacity doesn’t want to support Pulse. I like Pulse. It drives my USB headphones nicely. I don’t need or use Audacity. I know Linux audio is a mess, but my own experience with Pulse has been quite positive.

Now excuse while I get back to work … and loving it.

-Ron

If Ubuntu did away managed to solve these two items, they would be in a much better position!

Now not all distros are that way, where you wonder if everything on your computer is going to break after an dist-update. I use archlinux these days which has a rolling release cycle. This is the best option for an up to date desktop in my opinion.