Ubuntu 8.10 now available for download

Right on schedule, it looks like Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex is now available. Linux fans should look forward to performance gains and a new Connection Manager with 3G support, as well as the ability to install from USB drives and built-in BBC content availability. Torrents should be popping now -- and if you haven't hit up the 'bu yet, what're you waiting for?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Alex @ Oct 30th 2008 11:04AM]

Thanks for the info

[horizontaleight @ Oct 30th 2008 11:07AM]

fglrx and ATI driver hell.

[Saad Rabia @ Oct 30th 2008 11:23AM]

... and nvidia too. I swear I was so excited to try Ubuntu, but this whole "Terminal" thing to solve problems is driving me nuts! It's either I'm not used to it or the whole idea of a Linux based desktop is not friendly at all, whatever they try or do.

Over 2 hours of trying and testing to just install nvidia drivers, with no success.

[GB @ Oct 30th 2008 11:38AM]

@Saad Rabia:
Same here! I tried way over 2 hours.

[stefan @ Oct 30th 2008 11:46AM]

you guys should try Envy, it does everything for you:

http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

[jorvay @ Oct 30th 2008 11:47AM]

I'm not a Ubuntu expert, but I am very familiar with Fedora, and I assume there should be something similar to the following:

In Fedora, there are the core repositories that are full of most of the applications you need that are all nice and legal. For those programs, drivers, and files that are less clearly legal, there is a Fedora repo called Livna (there are others, but Livna seems to be the big one). You can install an RPM from Livna's website and it automatically adds their repo to your GUI package manager. Livna makes their own variants of both ATI and nVidia drivers that work extremely well, and you can install them through the package manager once you add the Livna repo. All in all, you can do it all without ever opening a terminal or typing a command.
I'm fairly certain that there's something like Livna for Ubuntu and that it's only a google away. The only trick is knowing that you have to add the extra repository, and as much as that sucks, it's the best way to keep Linux OS developers free and clear of legal woes related to things like closed-source drivers, dvd support, and various codecs.
On the plus side, once you do have that extra repo added, installing software is idiotproof and everything you install is always kept up to date through one central piece of software. I can't stand it when my windows install on my laptop has HP updates, windows updates, adobe updates, firefox updates, AVG updates, and other random software updates all competing for bandwidth, resources, and space on my task bar.

[jason @ Oct 30th 2008 12:04PM]

how to install Nvidia driver:

go to system->admin->harware drivers

click "install Nvidia driver 175"

restart.

not that hard, right?

[melloncollie @ Oct 30th 2008 12:08PM]

@jason

Yeah, try that with a GTX260 or a GTX280 installed.
Not so much fun.

[Pencil @ Oct 30th 2008 12:16PM]

@ Saad Rabia and GB, I think you've done it wrong.

I've used Kubuntu with both nVidia and ATI cards and never once had to touch the command line to install and configure the closed drivers.

There is a built-in GUI tool that pops up and tell you there are proprietary drivers available for your hardware. Use the Add/Remove Software GUI to add the appropriate closed-source drivers, and everything Just Works. Twice on my desktop and twice on two laptops, one with nVidia and one with ATI.

If you have to touch a command line, you are over thinking it.

[Félix @ Oct 30th 2008 2:05PM]

you could'nt install nvidia proprietary driver ?
hum.. have you ever installed an application on a computer whatever the OS .. I'm sorry to ask but this is about the easiest thing to do so...

system->admin->harware drivers

install nvidia 1xx driver (I thiunk it's 175)
and wait.
it's done.
kinda easy.
and don't tell me you couldn't find help .. it's on the official site of ubuntu there are tutorial for like any click you have to make.

I'm not saying Linux or Ubuntu is fully user-friendly or that anything is easier on linux, I'm just saying THIS particular thing is Extremely easy so I find it hard to believe you ever actually tried to do it and failed..

Tell me about wifi or Wine issues and I'll say yes there is alot to do there to make it as easy as windows, but installing a graphic drivers was an issue some 3 years ago..

[MTW @ Oct 30th 2008 2:11PM]

When I installed 8.04 it simply prompted me to install the restricted drivers for my 8800gt... I didn't have to touch the terminal.

[horizontaleight @ Oct 30th 2008 2:37PM]

Try configuring an AGP based Radeon adapter. It's sheer hell. I've experience horrible lockup issues for the past 3 years (too stubborn to give in and by a new card or motherboard) and now find out that ATI has dropped r300 based chipset support in new drivers. Of course, this is nothing against Ubuntu or Canonical. In theory I should be able to install the driver from restricted... Only plus of using horribly broken drivers is that it taught me the innards of Linux.

[horizontaleight @ Oct 30th 2008 2:39PM]

*buy. No editing comments?

[happy_penguin @ Oct 30th 2008 3:14PM]

Saad, you are obviously smart enough to handle Linux. It's not that hard to make a Linux system work. The learning curve is probably at the command line and solving some weird problems but the challenge is wonderful because you can learn so much. I learned a lot more about computers from Linux than I ever did with Windows or Mac.

[happy_penguin @ Oct 30th 2008 3:16PM]

OH, it just occurred to me! Saad, are you saying that you were using the binary in terminal to install a nvidia driver for linux? You can't do that. You have to get out of xwindows and install strictly from the command line, not in a terminal window.

[loosely_coupled @ Oct 31st 2008 2:25AM]

@Saad Rabia

You are definitely doing something wrong. I've installed Ubuntu with a few different Nvidia generations, and it is a very simple process -- no command line wrangling required.

[peter @ Nov 2nd 2008 9:46PM]

the question is already answered, but the "less clearly legal" repository you want would, I believe, be under system > preferences >software sources then check multi-verse and universe and restricted and the other one.

[Frankenstein Black @ Oct 30th 2008 11:08AM]

Its downloading sooo slooow. DAMN YOU COMCAST!
You are not Comcastic!!

[Ghen @ Oct 30th 2008 11:19AM]

Ever since Oct 1 maybe? Their usage cap isn't the only thing that got implemented. They also are going back to the old ways of cutting your bandwidth to nothing if you ever downloaded a large file or two. At this point, I'm thinking of switching to DSL.

[decapitor @ Oct 30th 2008 11:51AM]

Yes Comcast is no good at all. Also they kinda stole their Comcastic ad motif from Enzyte, so...

[phanbouy @ Oct 30th 2008 12:06PM]

but they are Craptastic

[initialxy @ Oct 30th 2008 12:56PM]

holy crap i'm getting 11 MB/s! But yeah, I'm only 20 metres away from one of the Ubuntu download servers, and using the same network as the server.

[MTW @ Jan 7th 2009 12:40PM]

I get very fast download speeds from Comcast... Are you sure the slow download isn't due to the demands on their server right now surrounding a new release?

[Peter @ Nov 1st 2008 10:49PM]

It doesn't seem to be Comcast's fault, I was getting

[Peter @ Nov 1st 2008 10:58PM]

...

[LongshotX @ Oct 30th 2008 11:08AM]

It's okay. It still feels like something is missing.

[ceel @ Oct 30th 2008 11:11AM]

Performance gains? I thought Ubuntu was only getting slower by each release: http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=13022

[Ray @ Oct 30th 2008 11:13AM]

I can't wait for this version to destroy my hardware!

[Jeffery @ Oct 30th 2008 4:13PM]

I know they say, "Don't feed the trolls", but I feel obligated to point out that that was an upstream kernel bug, NOT an Ubuntu-specific one, as Engadget and many others suggested. Also, if you read the bugtracker, you'll see that it wasn't nearly as bad or as prevalent as rumour made it. It was also fixed in the beta release, so there are no issues with that now.

[Hohlraum @ Oct 30th 2008 11:14AM]

"... what're you waiting for?" 8.10.1 to be released shortly no doubt :)

[bald_gye @ Oct 30th 2008 11:32AM]

...do Ubuntu dev's ever use the GUI? or just command line all the time, becasue how could anyone be happy with how that looks... especially when your in a position to do something about it?

... and yeah I know you can customise it all you like, but thats not the point

[Ray @ Oct 30th 2008 11:40AM]

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD7QraljRfM

I know, its an old video, but linux GUIs are for those of us that are slightly obsessed with continuous tweaking. Trust me when i say that linux customizations are lightyears ahead of what windows and mac are doing today.

[jorvay @ Oct 30th 2008 11:56AM]

But the custimization factor IS the point.

Gnome (the default GUI for Ubuntu and many other linux distros) is simple, clean, and a little bland. Why? Because that keeps system requirements down. You want to have a pretty desktop? It's easy to add a lot of pazzaz, and a lot of us linux users do, but by default it's simple enough to install on machines built 10+ years ago.

[cb88 @ Oct 30th 2008 12:03PM]

ROFL...Gnome ...Ubuntu and keeping requirements down in the same sentence..... ROFL

[ark_v2 @ Oct 30th 2008 4:14PM]

That's the whole idea...you can make it look as you want extremely easy...ridiculously easy in fact. The theme selector can't be more to the point and if you want eye-candy just activate the options you want in the compiz fusion panel. I installed ubuntu on my mom's laptop and she can't be happer; she loves how she only types a word in the package installer and it automatically looks for the apps. It made me lazy too when I started using ubuntu.

If you want something more focused on looks but at the same type filled with useless software that you might never use fo with KDE (kubuntu), or if you have limited resources use XFCE (xubuntu, which BTW is AWESOME. I installed it back when my pc had only 512 MB of RAM but liked it so much that even when I upgraded to 2 GB is kept it...so smooth and stylish...).

[weizbox @ Oct 30th 2008 11:17AM]

Performance gains? Did somebody not read the Phoronix article?
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_bench_2008&num=1

Ubuntu has been getting slower, and that's not a 'performance' gain.

[Goatee Man @ Oct 30th 2008 4:18PM]

Well of course it's getting slower... It's adding more features, so it's going to be using more RAM and processing power. As operating systems get more and more powerful, hardware becomes more and more obsolete, and you end up having to upgrade. It sucks, but it happens. Look at the amount of power Vista uses compared to XP, for instance. Or how much XP uses compared to 2000.

"Performance gains" =/= "faster operating system"

Name 1 OS that doesn't get slower as it upgrades.

[weizbox @ Oct 30th 2008 6:10PM]

Goatee Man,
'Name 1 OS that doesn't get slower as it upgrades.'

Gentoo, Slackware and other more flexible/customizable distros. To be honest tho, you can get the same results with other distros... but with a lot more work. Bundled in features slow the OS down, your right about that.. and that's what distros that try to give everyone everything fail at being great with performance.

[Ghen @ Oct 30th 2008 11:20AM]

Well, I found it nice that engadget is posting about linux in general never mind the slight flaws in reporting ;)

[shane @ Oct 30th 2008 11:44AM]

Here here!

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Oct 30th 2008 11:21AM]

Yes, but when are Annoying Alias and Crappy Codename gonna be released?

[Dunk @ Oct 30th 2008 12:36PM]

Shortly after Applefanboi Asshole is sent back to the vendor.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Oct 30th 2008 3:12PM]

This counts as humor these days? Christ, I've been using Linux every day for the past 13 years. Doesn't mean the code names for Ubantu aren't stupid as hell.

[TheHyena @ Oct 30th 2008 5:22PM]

Because big cat names have a lot more to do with operating systems? C'mon.

[d840 @ Oct 31st 2008 2:31AM]

Sometime after Jumping Jackalope and Kinky Kangaroo :P

[f00 @ Nov 1st 2008 10:39AM]

i'm pretty sure they're slated for release right after masturbating monkey

[jorge @ Oct 30th 2008 11:26AM]

Welcome to Gnome Crap

[Mr. Picklesworth @ Oct 30th 2008 12:37PM]

Kubuntu 8.10 is also released, and it looks pretty nice.

http://www.kubuntu.org/

...Or you can be completely ignorant.

[jorge @ Oct 30th 2008 1:06PM]

No I'm not, but ubuntu is gnome centered, and the integration of package, network, etc. manager is worse on kubuntu than in ubuntu. kubuntu is just a flavor of a gnome centered distro.

[jorvay @ Oct 30th 2008 1:43PM]

Arguing about Gnome vs. KDE is so 2003. Get with the times.