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Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

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Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#161

Post by bitwize »

10ren wrote: post #58

It supports ARM; and a bunch of ARM-based netbooks are due out soon. They are cheaper and much more power efficient than intel's Atom etc. And Windows doesn't run on them (yet). I'm not a big linux vs. windows or ARM vs. intel fanatic, but I'm excited at what seems to be a disruptive inflection point coming up in the next year or so...

And Windows doesn't run on them (yet).

Strictly incorrect, as Windows CE does run on ARM CPUs, and I'd wager that most first-gen ARM netbooks ship with Windows CE instead of Linux.

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#162

Post by ZeroGravitas »

rbanffy wrote: post #156
_cbsz wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You also get a ton more registers, 64-bit registers, and other nice processor features.

A ton as in "8", right? It's not a ton by any measure...

This seemed a bit harsh, but (after consulting Wikipedia) I'm guessing you're trying to say that even after doubling to 16, it still sucks compared with "common RISC processors (which typically have 32–64 registers) or VLIW-like machines such as the IA-64 (which has 128 registers)."

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#163

Post by rbanffy »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #162
rbanffy wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A ton as in "8", right? It's not a ton by any measure...

This seemed a bit harsh, but (after consulting Wikipedia) I'm guessing you're trying to say that even after doubling to 16, it still sucks compared with "common RISC processors (which typically have 32–64 registers) or VLIW-like machines such as the IA-64 (which has 128 registers)."

Sorry. I didn't want to sound harsh. The x86 ISA has a register starvation problem. I am sure the phone I am writing this on has a far more elegant and modern processor than the PC I'll return to after I finish lunch.

The sooner we can ditch x86 (and that includes amd64), the better.

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#164

Post by billybob »

viraptor wrote: post #144
ivenkys wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I should have been clearer - most programmers i know are happy to try out the various font customization techniques and some of them accept it even - by "masses" i meant the large number of people who have used a computer(primarily Windows) before and are willing to give Ubuntu a try, but they do not want or know how-to fiddle with font customizations. This group of people is the natural customer for Ubuntu and i bel…

The masses still use Comic Sans for presentations. They don't really know or care what that serif/sans business is all about and they definitely don't care about the default font. As bad as it is, that's what I see all around. But I'm not sure what is the problem with font customisation you're referring to. There's a dialog with 4 basic choices (from "blurry" to "crisp, subpixel) and another dialog for fine tuning wh…

Just because people don't know anything about fonts doesn't mean they don't recognize when something looks nice.

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#165

Post by billybob »

nuclear_eclipse wrote: post #51
siegler wrote: post #49

What are people's favorite guides for setting up Ubuntu? http://www.funnestra.org/ubuntu is really good but they don't have a 9.10 update yet.

`sudo do-release-upgrade` :) In all seriousness, "guides" for setting up Ubuntu are most likely unnecessary or superfluous; they'll just go into some random area of "customization" that 95% of users probably don't need or care about. If you already have an older version of Ubuntu, just run the command I mentioned, or go to System->Update Manager to handle the upgrade, and get on with your day. If you don't have Ubunt…

Or you can use the nice pretty point-and-click way via Update Manager. I did that last night. Worked fine.

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#166

Post by blasdel »

rms wrote: post #98
spamizbad wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basically, here's what's going on: 1) There aren't many free typefaces for daily use that are beautiful, so you have to buy (or commission) several and "open source" them. 2) Techniques for AA font rendering that maximize aesthetics and readability are protected by numerous software patents. Years ago there was a short-lived patch in Xorg that had a modern font-AA algorithm that held its own against the competition,…

Is there source code out there for a patent infringing Ubuntu font fix?

Yes, it's a part of Freetype, Ubuntu just doesn't enable it at compile-time.

  In include/freetype/config/ftoption.h:
    enable  FT_CONFIG_OPTION_SUBPIXEL_RENDERING
    enable  TT_CONFIG_OPTION_BYTECODE_INTERPRETER
    disable TT_CONFIG_OPTION_UNPATENTED_HINTING
Even under the most anal-retentive freetard fealty to Intellectual Property Law, distribution of C source code cannot infringe upon patents, only distribution of compiled binaries. It's the difference between promulgating plans for the machine (the original point of patents) and capitalizing on said plans.

Gentoo is the only distro I know of that has it turned on by default.

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#167

Post by pyre »

rbanffy wrote: post #163
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seemed a bit harsh, but (after consulting Wikipedia) I'm guessing you're trying to say that even after doubling to 16, it still sucks compared with "common RISC processors (which typically have 32–64 registers) or VLIW-like machines such as the IA-64 (which has 128 registers)."

Sorry. I didn't want to sound harsh. The x86 ISA has a register starvation problem. I am sure the phone I am writing this on has a far more elegant and modern processor than the PC I'll return to after I finish lunch. The sooner we can ditch x86 (and that includes amd64), the better.

The problem with IA64 being that Intel designed/patented it so that they could bring in royalties if/when everyone went to 64-bit and used their architecture. I'm thanking amd64 for saving us from creating a new generation of processors where everyone was paying an Intel tax. It may have a superior design, but I don't want every processor in a desktop/laptop out there to be a revenue generation machine for a single company, even when the processor's manufacturer is different.

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#168

Post by rbanffy »

pyre wrote: post #167
rbanffy wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry. I didn't want to sound harsh. The x86 ISA has a register starvation problem. I am sure the phone I am writing this on has a far more elegant and modern processor than the PC I'll return to after I finish lunch. The sooner we can ditch x86 (and that includes amd64), the better.

The problem with IA64 being that Intel designed/patented it so that they could bring in royalties if/when everyone went to 64-bit and used their architecture. I'm thanking amd64 for saving us from creating a new generation of processors where everyone was paying an Intel tax. It may have a superior design, but I don't want every processor in a desktop/laptop out there to be a revenue generation machine for a single c…

I was using 64-bit processors and OSs a couple years before Intel shipped IA64. Try to google SPARC and MIPS.

What AMD did was to extend the x86 ISA with a handful extra registers and double the size of all of them. This allowed x86 to survive until these days, slowed down the migration towards 64-bit computing and confined much better architectures to specific niches.

No, I will not thank AMD for that.

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#169

Post by notauser »

tome wrote: post #160
tocomment wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You can't put the cheap version of Windows on a device with a large SSD" Why not? (BTW I don't know how to quote properly on HN, little help!)

Presumably Microsoft won't allow it. To make Windows competitive they have a discount for OEMs to install Windows on machines with low spec, and presumably this SSD is too large to be able to take advantage of that.

This is correct. The limit appears to be 16gb to qualify for the (very large) discount.

http://www.itexaminer.com/microsoft-adds-to-atoms-restrictio...

Supposedly the Win 7 license has no such restriction.

Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

#170

Post by bokchoi »

telemachos wrote: post #150
bokchoi wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is editing the registry or hunting down drivers for a new version of Windows better? I can't remember the last time I edited the registry or had to install a driver manually. Don't get me wrong, I run Ubuntu and I like it. The upgrade process on the whole is much better than a even a few years ago. I just loathe upgrading since it can take weeks to iron out problems with the upgrade. Invariably there are issues wit…

Here's the funny thing: I actually dislike Ubuntu (I run Debian at home and use OSX at work), and I loathe Windows. But of course, none of that matters (saying "I run Ubuntu and I like it" is a bit like saying "some of my best friends are "). The point isn't whether you or the other respondent has recently edited the registry or hunted down a driver. The point was that all operating systems have their troubles. The s…

> The point isn't whether you or the other respondent has recently edited the registry or hunted down a driver. The point was that all operating systems have their troubles.

No, the point is I haven't had those troubles on Vista. I haven't had these issues for a long time. I could care less about open or closed source drivers. I just like it when things work. And I like it so much I'm even willing to pay money for it. That is the point.

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