[Noisebridge-discuss] Stay away from Ubuntu 13.10 for now

[pdbogen at cernu.us]

tl;dr: if anyone would like to have a go at replacing their Ubuntu install 
with a Debian Sid (aka "Unstable") install, I'll be happy to help answer 
questions or solve issues. (Or if you'd like to know why "Unstable" doesn't 
mean what you think it means in this context, I'd be happy to pontificate on 
that point, as well.)

On Thu, Oct 17, 2013 at 06:54:35PM -0700, Jean-Luc Picard wrote:
> ...if you have near-modern Intel graphics.   Everything slugs down
> to a choppy mess.  Compiz eats up an entire core.  I'm assuming it's
> a driver issue since it looks like Ubuntu migrated from the official
> 3D drivers (Mir controversy?) & since there's a revision-specific
> glib dependency there's no real way to install the official drivers.
> Seriously....every fucking april & october this shit happens.  At
> least it doesn't leave you with a broken install like every other
> time there's an upgrade on a machine w/ a true proprietary driver.

I've been a Debian fan for a bit over a decade, now, ever since I installed it 
on an ancient thinkpad that had just enough battery life left to let me unplug 
the AC adapter and plug it back in somewhere else. For those that don't know, 
Ubuntu is fundamentally built on top of Debian; the first releases of Ubuntu 
were basically just re-skinned Debian. Ubuntu packages are ".deb" files.

I remember when Ubuntu first came onto the scene, I felt like it was something 
of a betrayal since they took so much of Debian's work and rebranded it, 
without really providing obviously acknowledgement of its origins. They've 
done some excellent work, that said- Ubuntu has a glossier installer that 
seems more user friendly (and arguably /is/, if only by hiding the confusing 
options; which isn't a bad thing); and their emphasis on One True Interface 
has let them focus and improve[1] that experience.

That said, Ubuntu has always seemed like a cult of personality around Mark 
Shuttleworth rather than a rigorously run technical product, and for that I've 
always been conerned that they would turn a corner at some point and start 
making unpopular (and possibly unwise / wrong) decisions, with a basic reason 
of organizational ego. I think Mir is the first (or maybe just the largest to 
date) of these.

1: Well, not always improve:
   http://www.zdnet.com/shuttleworth-defends-ubuntu-linux-integrating-amazon-7000004674/
-- 
             .
Patrick Bogen .
            ...
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