Hello All,
I'm posting at the "water cooler" because I don't have a specific problem to resolve but just want to make some comments about the next STL Ubuntu iteration 23.10, due on October 12.
I've been running Linux since Ubuntu Dapper Drake, before that I started with RHEL, a boxed version with paid phone support (I needed one phone call!). For a while I ran SuSE side by side with Ubuntu.
Although I miss the additional panels of MATE and the ability to configure them precisely, as well as place apps on the Desktop, MATE has a lot of glitchy stuff. What I like best about Ubuntu is that, at least for me, nothing is broken, the OS stays out of my way and let's me do work or have fun without being bothered by persistent failures that have no solution.
At the moment I'm running 22.10. It no longer supports updates and upgrade fails with error messages. Over the years, I've assembled a Dropbox "Linux Clean Install" folder that allows me to do a pretty rapid configuration, after a clean install, in about two or three hours. For example, for CLI install commands of various programs, I will copy/paste history from the terminal. I will take a screenshot of my Desktop and note the order of programs on my Taskbar, etc. Sometimes, it's easier for me to do a clean install than it is to resolve a problem such as, in this case, an error message indicating failure to upgrade.
In addition to wanting to do a clean install for the above reason, I also want to switch from a 0.5 TB ssd to a 2.0 TB ssd.
So I thought I would check out 23.10 in a virtual machine and wait for October 12.
Sure, it's too early in the game to make pronouncements about 23.10, but based on my experience thus far, it comes up "all bad news." I didn't even complete my normal configuration, and already I have a list of six problems. My conclusion is to avoid 23.10 and install LTS 22.04.3 which is supported through 4/27. Since I'm 70 years old, it could outlive me!
Here are the problems. A given single problem is not a sufficient deal breaker but, collectively, the problems indicate a deal breaker. I seriously doubt that all these problems are magically going to disappear when the final version comes out.
(1) There are lots of default Ubuntu apps that I never use and always uninstall. This time, when I go to Store, to find the list of installed apps, from which I can uninstall, it doesn't exist. There appears to be no way to uninstall apps!
(2) As a workaround, I used CLI to purge Mines. Bad news! A whopping 150 MB and many files from LibreOffice were also purged! What the hell? A game with LibreOffice dependencies? So I don't trust that work around.
(3) Further, when I go to the grid for my installed apps and confirm that, yes, Cheese is installed, which I want to remove, I then go back to the store, search for Cheese in order to remove it and the Store says it is not installed = false! Another deadend.
(4) Constant freezes and crashes of the VM—never happens with other test distros.
(5) Gmail in Chromium has weird graphics defects—no go for this browser and gmail.
(6) Heretofore, Activities as the default workspace switcher has worked great. Now it is replaced with a bar and dots icon. O.K. But I only have two desktops and I can find nothing in the switcher or in settings that allows me to designate how many workspaces I want. Maybe there is a way but it's hidden. Workspaces are critical to my workflow and this is bad news.
I was much looking forward to this iteration but I'm staying away and installing the LTS. Not one of the above problems will exist in the LTS.
Thoughts, opinions?
Aller Anfang ist schwer.