Ubuntu Linux 7.04 Feisty Fawn Review: Problems with Ubuntu Fiesty Fawn

The good stuff aside, I had a number of problems with this release. Fiesty Fawn was supposed to make multimedia easier. Strangely enough I ran into some difficulties with multimedia, as well as with some of the other new features. Here’s a list in no particular order: [I’ve editing for brevity, click on the link for the full text - TS]

1. Firefox does not have Flash installed by default.
2. My Nvidia drivers were not installed by default.
3. When I popped a DVD into my computer, Ubuntu did try to search for the appropriate codec. However, I was not able to get the DVD to play.
4. The Windows Migration Tool did not detect my Windows Vista installation and account settings.

There has been a lot of talk about Ubuntu on the forums I lurk in but I still find it hard to see what the fuss is about. Both OpenSuse and Mandriva have impressed me more although some of the issues quoted above still apply, including the graphics drivers.

I know it sounds overly harsh but sometimes I wonder if the whole Linux community REALLY wants to go mainstream. Perhaps I’m too ready to accept a free but non opensource solution when I should be holding out for true opensource, but I can understand Nvidia (and other hardware manufacturers, let’s not single any one particular company out) wanting to hold on to trade secrets.

Still lets be positive, Ubuntu has done sterling work in raising the profile of Linux, especially with the free delivery offer.