Dealing with SPAM

by Dietrich Schmitz

Folks, I have no choice but to treat you like children instead of adults when the level of spam gets out of hand.

Today, full moderation has been enabled and will remain so until further notice.

That means, there will be delays in processing the pending DISQUS queue.  Your post is there.  Give me time to approve it.

For those living in other far-reaching time zones, please know I like to sleep and so there will be gaps as much as eight hours before I respond to overnight comments.

If the situation changes, I'll let you know.  But for now, there are many people out there with clearly too much time on their hands and fresh minds, so moderation it will have to be.

Also, I am filtering those respondents who don't provide 'real' email addresses with their comments--that also includes individuals who insist on using anonymous temporary/expiring email addresses (typically lasting 10 minutes) so as to avoid there being an audit trail back to them.  They simply get bucketed to spam.

I apologize to the 'sincere' followers for this inconvenience.  

Thank you for your cooperation.

--Dietrich

Read More

Fedora 19 Schrodinger's Cat Feature Review

by Dietrich Schmitz

There's much to be said about going with a Distro which provides true innovation and leading edge technology.

So much so that today I have chosen to review Red Hat supported Fedora 19, aka Schrodinger's Cat, currently in its beta testing cycle.  I didn't waste time downloading it--this is my desktop on the Xfce spin:

My Fedora 19 Schrodinger's Cat Desktop

Almost reminds you of the good old days of early Ubuntu does it not?  Simple, elegant, intuitive.  I've been running Fedora 18 for quite a while now and will tell you without equivocation that it has been quite stable and there isn't a single thing I can think of that I miss coming from the Debian derivative world.  No, this Red Hat-sponsored Distro has everything but the kitchen sink.  Yum running with FastestMirror and AxelGet technology flames through updates and software installs.  APT has no particular advantage over yum.  And all of the stability nonsense which spews forth from the Debian fiefdom simply doesn't hold water.

Debian's argument for stability is, as far as I am concerned, strictly arbitrary and nothing more than a speedbump put in place to slow you down.  

So, step over to a real leading edge Distro supported by a real multi-billion dollar sales company, Fedora, and benefit from true best of breed,  industry-standard technology.  Let's begin the feature review.

Create and Develop

3D Printing

3D modeling and printing is enabled through a variety of tools in Fedora, including OpenSCAD, Skeinforge, SFACT, Printrun, and RepetierHost.

Developer's Assistant Feature

Get your development started with templates and samples, code with the appropriate toolchain, and package and distribute your creations.  Perfect for new developers and developers not previously familiar with Linux, the Developer's Assistant provides an easy method for developers to start new projects via package sets by language (currently C, Java, and Python).

Node.js Feature

Easily build network applications and real-time, distributed applications with the node.js development and deployment ecosystem.

Ruby 2.0.0 Feature

The newest version of Ruby, a popular development language is now available in Fedora 19.

Thermostat 1.0 Feature

Thermostat is a monitoring, instrumentation and serviceability tool for OpenJDK which enables developers to examine applications as they run.

OpenShift Origin Feature

Implement your own PaaS infrastructure with OpenShift Origin to easily enable developers to code and deploy applications in a cloud environment.

Scratch for Fedora

Scratch is a graphical, educational programming environment, created by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. Scratch makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, games, animations, music, and art.

Deploy, Monitor, and Manage

Checkpoint and Restore

The Checkpoint/restore capability provides the ability to checkpoint and restore a process, and is useful for cases such as process failure, or moving a process to another machine for maintenance or load balancing.

High Availability Container Resources Feature

Extend the HA stack beyond management of virtual guests, to containers inside the guests themselves, with High Availability Container Resources. Enabling the ability to manage both virtual guests and the resources that live within the guests, all from the host cluster node, this feature can be used without guests needing to run the cluster stack, and new containers can be defined and subsequently added to the HA cluster, which is built on pacemaker and corosync.

Open Linux Management Infrastructure (OpenLMI) Feature

OpenLMI provides a common infrastructure for the management of Linux systems, making remote management of machines easier. Extending upon previously available capabilities, a storage API for remote storage management, providers for remote hardware inventory ad AD/Kerberos realm enrollment, and easier, more scriptable remote storage management are now in place.

Virt Storage Migration Feature

Migrate virtual machines, with or without shared storage between the hosts.

Systemd Resource Control Feature

Modify your service settings without a reboot -- dynamically query and modify resource control parameters at runtime with systemd Resource Control.

SysLinux Boot Option Feature

Optional, simplified booting of Fedora, ideal for images used in cloud environments and virt appliances.

Desktop Environments and Spins

• Gnome 3.8
• KDE Plasma Workspaces 4.10
• MATE Desktop 1.6

Clearly, Fedora has a lot to offer in new leading edge technology as well as mainstream stable technology offerings.  You can read more about the Fedora 19 features here.

Seriously Folks, I endorse Fedora and actively use it, so I hope you will consider giving it your full evaluation.  There really is no better community Distro.

I stake my reputation on it! :)

-- Dietrich

Read More

Fork Ubuntu to Preserve Community Participation

by Dietrich Schmitz

Members of the Ubuntu community may have reacted negatively to my story Ubuntu is NOT a Community Project.  When they are done being upset and settle down, they can then realize what is happening.

Things are not within your control?  Ask yourself what can be done to regain control: Fork Ubuntu and declare a jihad and move all Ubuntu community developers to an openUbuntu fork. (Image credit: colas.nahaboo.net)

Does this make sense?  I submit to you it does.  What can be gained from it?

It will create a true "arm's length" relationship between Canonical Ltd. governance and true community FOSS participation.  Each has their own interests, some are mutually beneficial, others are at conflict.

Having this division is necessary so that the community regains control of consensus-based decision making.

I submit that members of the Ubuntu community do not have that now.  It has been taken away and you are not part of the important decision making process.

Break the conflicts of interest, make your own determinations and maintain your moral integrity.  Consider doing a fork of Ubuntu.

--Dietrich

Related articles

• Moving Sideways
• Ubuntu Roaring Ringtail Is More Boring Than Roaring
• Angst and Anxiety Over Ubuntu's Chosen Path

Read More

Ubuntu is NOT a Community Project

by Dietrich Schmitz

What is that?  Yes, you read that right.  Ubuntu is not a community project.

I see an uprising in the peanut gallery forming in response.  Commentors will heckle and disparage and attempt to do their usual to insist that I am wrong.  Failing that, they will then try to disparage.  (Image credit: fox-lenz.com)

This is nothing new.  I've been quite used to personal attacks for a long time.  When they come, you know you've won, because the opponent really hasn't got any logic that could be applied to a healthy normal debate of ideas.  It's a failed attempt.  They've got nothing when that happens.

I laugh when I see such comments.

But you know, it's true.  When Canonical Ltd. chose to create Skunkworks, Ubuntu ceased being a community Distro.  If there are gradations between one extreme black (proprietary) and white (community, open source) Ubuntu has moved in the grey scale towards black ever so slightly.

There's no rationale for it.  No amount of discussion will change that Skunkworks is a process to 'conceal' Canonical's operations.

Unlike Ubuntu, Fedora is a completely open, community Distro.  While it is true that Fedora is foundational to Red Hat Linux, there are no hidden plans, no obfuscating, no prevarication with the Fedora community.  What you see and I mean 'see' is what you get.

Canonical has taken numerous steps to the black proprietary world, including forking Wayland to Mir, planning their own package management system.  While they represented that they had every intention of putting their full support behind Wayland, the S.S. Shuttleworth made a last minute steering course change and forked it.  That is 180 degrees from their original plan.

Is it possible that Canonical want to move away from Debian and use their own package management system?  They represent that said packaging software will be for their yet to be released phone, but, clearly they have the where-with-all to write such a package manager and that would open up the possibility for yet another move toward becoming proprietary.  It would also allow them to unencumber themselves from their current Debian dependency. Is that so far-fetched a thought?  Don't kid yourself.  Did anyone see the fork of Wayland coming?  I doubt it.

This story is not so much to point out that Ubuntu is not a community project, but to show just how often Canonical keeps changing its course, all under the pretext of being a community based Distro.  If that were so, they should not have created Skunkworks and any of these major decisions should have been put up for review and consensus gathering, a process which is vital to the success and health of FOSS.

So, Ubuntu lovers, enthusiasts, supporters, while you may like to believe you have input, involvement in the decision-making process that goes into this Distribution, all indications show that the situation is quite the opposite and Canonical Ltd. heavy-handed governance prevails.  You are just pawns in a business plan which likely you know little about because that's the way Canonical Ltd. would like it to stay--veiled behind Skunkworks and in a corporate boardroom where cronies can cut deals.

-- Dietrich

Related articles

• Moving Sideways
• Top Ten Sleeper Distros
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux: LSB Certification Means Stability, Lower Cost
• Ubuntu Developing Its Own Package Format, Installer (Slashdot)
• Red Hat Linux is Here Today and Now

Read More

Is Canonical Ltd. Financially Insolvent?

by Dietrich Schmitz

I've put it out there.  I am not one of Mark Shuttleworth's blind devotees and have moved away from Canonical and Ubuntu a good while ago.  I think he is running a business into the ground.  And I think it's only a matter of time before we see a public statement that would confirm Canonical's tenuous financial condition.

Today, I was looking around for financial information of any kind regarding Canonical Ltd. and stumbled across this page. (Image credit: accountancyage.com)

It would appear that, at the time of reporting (December 2012), Canonical Ltd. was insolvent.  That is an accounting term which describes a company that has more debt than assets, meaning, they cannot pay off those debts.

Take a look at this graphic from the above-referenced website page and you do the math:

Graphic showing Canonical Ltd. Liabilities and Assets

Edit--One unnamed respondent to my share of the story on G+ made this interesting comment:


"Well, their net assets are -$12millionGBP, but they have $10millionGBP. Also, I'm not familiar with English accounting, but not all nations include cash in the gross and net assets. So, depending on English accounting standards they may still be $7millionGBP from being insolvent.

Either way, their cost of sales are small when considering their deficit in operating costs. These number show poor administrative decision making and if it isn't insolvent now, it will be before the year is over without a drastic change in direction."

Me: I would add that cash assets are included in current assets reported.

Of course, we're not seeing the whole picture, namely a balance sheet and P&L statement.  But I think this paints a picture of a company woefully in debt and although showing cash assets, Mr. Shuttleworth must be putting more IOUs into his company than he ever imagined he'd be doing.

At what point will he stop putting IOUs into Canonical Ltd.?  That is the question.

The lending cannot go on forever as even his personal financial resources have limits.

I thought I would share this discovery with you.  Interesting yes?

Read Moving Sideways and Where Will Your Distro Be in Five Years? if you haven't already done so.

Thanks.  -- Dietrich

Related articles

• The Achilles Heel of Open Source: Elitism
• Red Hat Linux is Here Today and Now
• Moving Sideways

Read More

Moving Sideways

by Dietrich Schmitz

Opinions are like colons; everybody has one.  And so do I.  Daily, I see changes on Distrowatch.com and ask myself: "What does it mean for the future of Linux?". (Image credit: netanimations.net)

I wonder where it will be in five years.  Given the rapid pace of technology change, it's hard to fathom if things will even resemble what they are today.

In my private LA community, we 'chew the fat' and often one person or another expresses their favor for one particular Distro over another.  That is to be expected.

But I've reached the point where I don't want to keep switching Distros.  The younger Folk love to tinker and try various flavors and that's fine.  It's a great learning experience for anyone who has the penchant to do so.  Linux affords limitless opportunity to learn--a great thing.

No, I've decided to stay put with my favorite Distro.  It makes most sense to me.  I've given up on Canonical and see their business plans as being confused and misdirected.  My endorsement for Ubuntu is gone now because their preoccupation with Unity is totally lost on me--it departs from common sense GUI principles.  Combined with the fact that they have had little mass-market penetration in the U.S. and you see a floundering commercial Distribution.

No, Canonical is moving sideways as sugardaddy Elitist Mark Shuttleworth pours more IOUs into the balance sheet of a company in the red.

Say what you will, but he has taken the company down the primrose path.  Even now, with Ubuntu's Unity, they have spun off Ubuntu Touch in the furtherance of their Mobile Smartphone project.  Exactly how Canonical will differentiate themselves in the face of overwhelming competition coming from the likes of a multiplicity of Android OEMs, Apple's iPhone, Mozilla's Firefox phone remains in doubt.  That they face strong headwinds on that front is an understatement.

Quite clearly, the Linux landscape will radically change and there will be only a few Distros left standing five years from now.  Which ones?  It seems likely only the ones with the largest organizational infrastructure   and the ability to innovate will remain.  All of the smaller Distro Teams?  Well, they are merely drafting behind the big Distros and playing a game of cookie cutter 'me too'.  When you look at the situation as I have, there are only a handful of Distros which have something in the way of good technology to set them apart.  All the rest are merely copy cats.

That's right copy cats.  They aren't doing anything illegal mind you.  That's the GPLv2 at work.  But where will your Distro be in five years?  Mine will still be around, I am quite confident of that.  The rest are inconsequential 'side effects' of a licensing scheme which promotes experimentation.

And Canonical, moving sideways, will be gone in five years.

-- Dietrich

Related articles

• Red Hat Linux is Here Today and Now
• Top Ten Sleeper Distros
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux: LSB Certification Means Stability, Lower Cost
• Google Chromebook Advances as Linux on the Desktop Spins its Wheels
• Emmabuntus: Yet More Recycled Bits?

Read More

#!CrunchBang 11 "Waldorf": The Breakfast of Champions

by Dietrich Schmitz

Some of you may have gotten the impression that I favor one particular Distro.  Well, I do.  But that doesn't mean there aren't other worthy candidates.

Truly, there's only a handful which I really do think will be around in five years and while I talk about Pimping out the Desktop and extol the virtues of one package manager verses another, I had one indelible experience using one particularly unique speed demon--#! CrunchBang.

Yes, my friends, speed freaks, Debian devotees, if you long for minimalism, stability, lightweight, low-memory consumption, then this Distro is most certainly worthy of your consideration--so much so, I felt the need to include it in my Top Ten Sleeper Distros Story.

CrunchBang Waldorf 11 went into production May 6, 2013 directly on the heels of Debian 7 Wheezy  which was released May 4, 2013.  It was a long wait for those who long for all things Debian, but it arrived.  Finally.  I think if I had to go back to any Debian derivative, it would be #!.  It's got everything a your average technophile could wish for.  And, I would be remiss if I didn't mention we have +Philip Newborough to thank for that.

While I put my backpack on and road across the Linux Distro vast expanse in search of a home last summer in flight from Ubuntu, I came across CrunchBang and discovered one of the few 'sweet spots' that lay hidden from plain view.

This isn't a commercial Distro.  But it has thorough-bred traits about it.  The installer was smooth, post-install has a quite thoughtful shell script which will take the user through steps to add further customizations, including selecting additional applications.  That is something other Distros don't do for the most part and they should really take note.  Nicely done.

The fact that it was beta at the time I tried #! didn't deter me.  I will say I had zero, zed, null, nil, empty set [] issues with CrunchBang.

The Desktop GUI is one which you really don't see too often--not often enough in my opinion--OpenBox--  probably one of the best lightweight Stacking Window Managers, which when combined with LXDE components and tint2 panel exhibits simplicity and monochromatic pure elegance in the default color scheme used by #!.  That combined with the use of Conky and easy to remember superkeys which are in the Desktop heads-up display makes flying around the system a pure unadulterated delight.  One right-click and up pops the OpenBox minimalist menu, which really is quite adequate when you quickly adjust to this method for finding your applications.

It is a solid Distro, replete with access, of course, to the vast Debian repository and will most assuredly satisfy the appetite of many gear heads and Developers alike, Joe-Six-Pack even.

So, I am not so much a snob as to be reluctant to make a recommendation, you know.

It's just that we all have our own bias, yes?  Yes we do each and every one of us.  It's like wine, which when tried cultivates an interest in one vineyard's stock over another.  You reach the point where you naturally 'prefer' one over another and that's only a natural consequence.  Knowing what sets one Distro apart from another is like appreciating a fine wine.

So, break out the cork-screw, if you will, and crack open a bottle of CrunchBang and decide for yourself.  You'll be pleasantly surprised.  Clink.  Cheers!

-- Dietrich

Related articles

• Top Ten Sleeper Distros
• Debian Releases Debian 7.0 - "Wheezy"
• Fedora Got Game: Leading Edge Technology, Stability and Standards
• Review: CrunchBang ("#") Linux 11 "Waldorf"

Read More

Red Flag Privacy Warning: Google+ Hangout Has Gone Proprietary

by Dietrich Schmitz

It is readily understood how Free and Open Source can be a really good thing.

After all, isn't the notion of Free and having the ability to share worthwhile?  We see it every day in action, not just with FOSS and it is a human tendency to want to share and doing things which don't exact a cost also makes doing things possible that might not otherwise happen.

The idea that FOSS is a good thing also pairs up with another concept: Transparency.

Being able to share code is not only good because many people can reuse, change and share code, it's also a good thing because FOSS allows anyone to 'see' the code.  Thus, we have a natural way of having a cross-check or 'oversight', if you will, on what is or isn't being done with code development.  It is this very transparency that we have come to accept as being what sets FOSS apart from proprietary code.  Exploitation is less likely to occur if 'many eyes' can see/review source code and recognize when exploit code is being inserted and block such code from being included in a FOSS project.

One by-product of proprietary code is that only the owners of said code can see what is in the source so as to understand what is assumed to be happening.  The majority of users of proprietary code are left at an intentional disadvantage in not being able to see how a given software application was written.

For the developer that confers certain advantages, but, one of many possibilities is that how code is written might have some form of built-in exploitation which in the eyes of the general public is considered unacceptable.  There is no way of knowing whether when you place 'trust' in a proprietary software program if it is truly doing the right things.  You can only make assumptions and guess.

So when you see in the news stories like Google taking their Google+ Hangouts proprietary, removing open source, open protocols like XMPP, it's a warning signal to which you should pay attention.

Transparency is being taken away in small amounts by adding proprietary code.  Now, Google+ Hangouts defaults to falling into the same category as Microsoft's Skype.

There have been many recent accusations that Skype has built-in 'backdoors' which allow a third-party bridging the connection to eavesdrop on your Chats and audio/video conference calls.

This should be a BIG concern for everyone.  Google has removed transparency from a major component used by millions in electronic communication.  Google+ Hangouts is proprietary and there is now NO Transparency.  No one except Google knows how the code is written or what it does or doesn't do.

Up to the announcement of Google+ Hangouts on May 15, 2013, I was a big proponent of Google+ because it used the open protocol XMPP.  Now, we have a surprise change made to remove Google Talk and Hangout will not support any form of Federated communication.

For your purposes that means that no third-party communication tools will be allowed to plug into the Hangouts proprietary communication pipeline whatsoever.

So, when is a little bit of proprietary too much?  Here's your example.

I am going to do something about it and I hope you will too.

-- Dietrich

Related articles

• The new Google Hangouts will not support XMPP
• Google defence of proprietary messaging technology is innacurate and misinformed
• A Breach of Public Trust: Proprietary Google+ Hangouts
• Google abandons industry standard for IM, which has SMS implications for Hangouts

Read More

A Breach of Public Trust: Proprietary Google+ Hangouts

by Dietrich Schmitz

By all accounts, Google I/O 2013 was a relative success, but with one exception: Google+ Hangouts.

The battle cry for action was sounded on the announcement that Google will dismantle the much-praised Google Talk which runs on an open protocol Jabber/XMPP in favor of proprietary protocols all running under the branded label Hangouts.

Even I was taken by surprise by the announcement, merely thinking that Google was being ambitious in their redesign of Google+ which  coincided with the opening of this year's Google I/O extravaganza convention.

As it turns out, XMPP will stay around for a while but will eventually sunset in favor of Hangout.

So, what does this mean for Google?  And what does it mean for you the reader who rightly cherishes choice and open standards such as XMPP?  This decision represents a total close-down with no Federated messaging protocol support.  That means you can't use other messaging tools to get plugged into their proprietary Hangout protocol for any form of communication whatsoever.

Will our collective voices be heard?

I am afraid that this turn of events is more dubious than it appears on the outside.  There was no discussion prior to the announcement by Google in an attempt to share their vision with the general public.

Should they have shared information with the public to obtain consensus before reaching such a decision?  I submit the answer to that question is an emphatic yes.

We all, myself included, try really hard to support Google in their initiatives whatever they may be.  But this time around, I am having a difficult time reconciling what has happened.

It's a wholesale shutdown of an open protocol in favor of an as of yet fully disclosed proprietary protocol, which, I am afraid is woven with H.264 to obtain maximal bandwidth advantage.  I mean, the 'X' in XMPP means 'extensible', right?  So, why not improve upon XMPP and fill in those technology gaps?  Instead, choosing a proprietary solution is a step backward and clear violation of the public trust that users have placed in Google.  That trust is now broken whether they realize it or not.

I don't like being forced to make choices but in this situation, I am afraid I need to decide where I stand on support of their decision.

The only vote I have is to decide whether I use Google+ at all.  I have control over that.  Even using Google Blogger, I now find myself feeling quite conflicted.

If Google isn't careful, they will find themselves in a landslide shift as users move away from Google+, worse, away from supporting Google entirely.  I really don't want to do that, but I am afraid this is the only choice I can make to vote my disfavor for their poor decision making.

The hardest part is losing contact with all my friends which I have made since G+ opened.

What to do (taps fingers...).  Live by one's principles?  Or, let them be compromised?  That is the choice each of us must consider here.  I must do something.  Soon.

-- Dietrich

Related articles

• Google abandons industry standard for IM, which has SMS implications for Hangouts
• Google defence of proprietary messaging technology is innacurate and misinformed
• Hangouts Won't Hangout With Other Messaging Vendors: Google's New Unified Messaging Drops Open XMPP/Jabber Interop

Read More

A Failing Grade for Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail From Dedoimedo

by Dietrich Schmitz

I've been a regular reader of Dedoimedo and have to say, to the best of my recollection, my colleague's  review of Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail is the most candid one he has ever written.

There have been times in the past when I disagreed with him in his assessment of various Distros, but this time, I have to take sides with him.  I mean, please, don't hold back on the reader's account.  LOL.  And no, hold back Dedoimedo does not.

Oh, it gets quite colorful.

His diatribe begins with 'A New Definition of Pain: Ubuntu'.  That should give the reader a clue what he has in store for them.

Let's sample some of his more colorful use of the English language shall we?:

On Nouveau

"Remember my praise for improvements in the open-source driver? Well, not anymore, not with the Unity based flavor of Ubuntu, that is. In Ringtail, the performance of this driver was appalling. The system was virtually unusable. Moreover, to make things worse, Canonical has gracefully taken away Unity 2D, taken away a fallback session that uses a basic VESA driver, because that is not chic. And this means you have to eat some brown cakes made from human leftovers, and by leftovers, I mean crap."

On System Core Utilization and Network Speed

"Compiz was taking easily between 120-180% CPU alone. Exacerbating the problem was the network speed, which we will discuss shortly, forcing me to wait many long minutes until the driver was downloaded from the local repo, at approx. 1/50 the expected rate.

And so I waited, like the little masochist that I am."

On Restarting

"Indeed, I foolishly thought restarting the network might solve the problems. Yes, open command line and run the init script with the restart argument. That's all. Right. You've all done it hundreds of times without any problems whatsoever.

What it did was kill the desktop. Ubuntu then threw an error how it encountered a serious problem and all that nonsense. Restart lightdm, no help. Reboot. Unbootable desktop. I am not joking. That's right, fellas. Restarting the network ruined the X configuration. At this point, I totally gave up."

On Taking Ownership of the Issues (by Canonical)

"For some reason, it's everyone's fault except the people making and packaging the software. They are pristine, innocent little angels, and they shed tears that cure cancer. Only it seems to me, the reality is somewhat different. Starting with Lucid onwards, which was absolutely rock solid, stable, fast, and everything worked just splendid, on this very same hardware, things are getting progressively worse. In the rush to complete with the already rabid market, QA is dumped down the drain as second best, when it should be the top priority."

 On Quality Assurance

"Non-LTS releases should NOT be made available to general public. Not the way they are nowadays. They should be labeled strictly beta. The only thing they manage to achieve is cause harm, to users, to enthusiasts, to people who wish to promote Linux, and to the company itself. I dread to think what will happen once Wayland and Mir come along. This is going to be C.L.U.S.T.E.R. foobar of colossal magnitude. I seriously consider not testing the next release. Just skipping it."

On Unity: The 'Cherry de la Turd'

"Even more stupendously stupefying is that Kubuntu 13.04 and Xubuntu 13.04 Ringtails are probably among the best, most polished versions of said distros released, ever. Yup. I was almost tempted to grant a perfect score to each one of them. My simple conclusion would be that Unity adds its own layer of problems that is not present in the other two. And this make our problem a tad more problematic. Awesome."

Ubuntu's Overall Score

"Overall, the Unity-based flavor of Raring Ringtail, I repeat the Unity-based flavor, not Kubuntu or Xubuntu, which are quite alright really, deserves 0/10."

Seriously Folks, I left much out, but I think it becomes pretty clear after reading Dedoimedo's review in its entirety that Raring Ringtail suffers from multiple serious quality control issues.  As a result, the reviewer gives this product a FAIL, having a score total of 0/10.  Wow.

So, consider yourself warned: avoid Ubuntu 13.04 like the proverbial plague.

-- Dietrich

Related articles

• Ubuntu Roaring Ringtail Is More Boring Than Roaring
• Ubuntu 13.04 Emerges to Less-Than-Stellar Reviews
• Top Ten Sleeper Distros
• Ubuntu 13.04: Best But Boring? | LAS s26e07

Read More