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Hi all

My very favorite Linux distribution, Ubuntu, has released version 9.04 . This latest version, known as “Jaunty Jakalope” is now available for download at http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . I read a review that was critical of JJ but I have to say that I’m very impressed with this version. It’s been very stable for me, and it has drivers that make my computer’s equipment work well. This is significant since it’s installed on one of my old computers. It only has 512 megabytes of RAM and a video card that isn’t exactly state of the art.

Ubuntu’s add/remove software utility has a wealth of open source software that you can have it install with the check of a box. No muss, no fuss. JJ has taken this install repository one step further, offering access to drivers and software that are outside of their normal community supported library.

In my opinion, 9.04 is one of the best ubuntu releases yet, although I also really like Intrepid Ibex which was the last release. There are a few quirky aspects (to me anyway) that I am almost hesitant to mention for fear that I am simply doing something wrong. A main one is that the desktop seems to dissapear icons even though they are in the desktop directory. It hasn’t done this lately. Maybe it was just a new install thing.

Ubuntu has a new desktop release about every three years, but respository access is available long after the next release is made. The Ubuntu installer lets you make choices about how it should use disk space. The hard drive may be partitioned to leave the old installation or other contents intact, or the disk can be wiped before installation. You can also decide how much of the drive you will be using for the linux installation. In this way, you can actually run more than one operating system, known as a “dual boot”. Ubuntu uses a type of file system that keeps a disk buffer of the disk reads and writes. If the power goes out, or some other interruption, and the computer’s hard drive was in the middle of a write operation, it can recover with a minimum of lost data and file corruption when the system goes back up. This isn’t new by any means, but I like it so much I wanted to mention it anyway.

Write at ya’ later,

Denigris