Open bugs on configuration problems

[Bruce Miller]

I hope that this is the right place and the right tone to flag some issues late in the development process of Lucid Lynx. If there is a better place (or a better tone <grin>), please let me know.

I am not a trained IT person (and I most definitely do *_not_* "do code"); on the other hand, I have been breaking development software for almost 30 years. I know the risks and what to do about them.

I have had more major configuration problems with development versions of Lucid than with development versions from previous releases. The most intractable of them have left me with an X server that would not start, a proprietary video driver that did not get updated when a minor kernel revision was distributed in a regular update and with an empty /etc/resolv.conf with the result that I could see the internal network but had no DNS resolution on the Internet. It has taken varying degrees of time, skill and experience to work around these problems in my personal "production environments;" that is why development software is not meant for a wide audience. I have faithfully filed bug reports and/or subscribed to other people's newly-opened bugs.

I leave it to others to judge how common my experiences have been. Am I part of a minority too small to take into account or have I been writing up experiences felt by many?

Lucid will be a long-term support (LTS) release. It will be widely reviewed. I am concerned by the risk that one of "my bugs" might bite a reviewer. Negative reviews can prompt "anti-Ubuntu FUD." Let's face it, there are people out there who can't deal with others' success.

In the interests of ensuring the strongest possible release at the end of April, is this an appropriate way to promote attention to the following bug reports:
1: failure to install a restricted hardware driver, leading to an X server that would not start: Bug #558758, marked as a duplicate of Bug #335543; Bug #548510, marked as a duplicate of Bug #451105.
2: failure to incorporate an already-installed restricted hardware driver into a newly-propagated minor kernel revision: Bug #550905.
3: empty /etc/resolv.conf, no DNS resolution: Bug #448095. This problem did not bite a re-install on April 5 (which successfully reproduced the problem in point 2 above), but it did bite several installs from the time of the release of Beta1.

These experiences --- and especially problems with the functionality of the "Apport retracing service" have led me to long editorial comments (rants?) in bug reports about Apport. I cover this in a following message.


I look forward to lots of positive buzz surrounding the release of Lucid Lynx.
 --
Bruce Miller, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
bruce at brmiller.ca; (613) 745-1151
Just when you think your software is idiot proof, somebody comes up with a better idiot
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