Ubuntu 8.10 Grrrrr...
I have been using Linux for quite a few years, for almost 10. Back in the early days it was horrid, clunky and a bitch to install. We put up with the clunky side of things because the option was Windows 95!
The issue with the install was that in those days Linux couldn't detect any of your hardware. So when you installed you had to pick your hardware from lists or had to type in strange and obscure details.
Times have changed, Linux is no longer clunky, the truth be told nether is Windows. As I have mentioned I have just installed Windows 7 Beta. The reason? well I had empty hard drives. Why you ask? because I have been spending the last three days trying to get ubuntu 8.10 to work.
Ubuntu only asks a couple of questions of you during the install. Somehow I wish it would ask some more. The reason is that it's automatic hardware detection has a blind spot. It doesn't always get the right monitor. Instead of asking you if it has the right one it plows on regardless. What you end up with is the now infamous
The issue with the install was that in those days Linux couldn't detect any of your hardware. So when you installed you had to pick your hardware from lists or had to type in strange and obscure details.
Times have changed, Linux is no longer clunky, the truth be told nether is Windows. As I have mentioned I have just installed Windows 7 Beta. The reason? well I had empty hard drives. Why you ask? because I have been spending the last three days trying to get ubuntu 8.10 to work.
Ubuntu only asks a couple of questions of you during the install. Somehow I wish it would ask some more. The reason is that it's automatic hardware detection has a blind spot. It doesn't always get the right monitor. Instead of asking you if it has the right one it plows on regardless. What you end up with is the now infamous
"Black Screen of Death!"
Just have a look on the Ubuntu forums and read through and see how many people are asking how to solve their problems. There is the normal smattering of different issues, but there is one that stands out. One issue that comes up time and time again... "The Black Screen of Death"
Ubuntu's installer doesn't always get it right, this on it's own wouldn't be too bad. We are Linux users we don't get upset when we have to use the command line.
The biggie, the sin beyond the pail, is that you can't put it right! you can't just open the xorg.conf file and edit your monitor details. There is no where within the GUI that lets you tell the OS what your monitor is.
So the ubuntu forum is alight with topics discussing the BSoD issue after upgrade/install of 8.10
