initial experiences with Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid)

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

I've installed 8.10 on a couple of desktops and notebooks.  It seems to 
install smoothly.  I'll just report the things that were not so smooth.  
I've only just started using Intrepid so many surprises are likely 
awaiting.

- I want to choose Toronto for the timezone.  The world map scrolls in
  unintuitive ways.

- on a couple of machines, at the end of installation, it fails to
  eject the CD.  It then asked for me to type return after removing
  the disk.

- the Canadian servers seem very slow.  Choose the main servers
  instead.  Maybe that will improve once demand dies back to normal.
  System:Administration:Software_Sources
  (You should always ask for updates right after installation.)

- installing jove (apt-get install jove) pulled in m4 and sendmail and
  friends.  Scary and surprising.  (This stuff had to be pulled from
  the internet since the installation CD doesn't have it.)

- installing kompare pulled in a lot of KDE, all from the net.
  apt-get said:
	Need to get 285kB of archives.
	After this operation, 782kB of additional disk space will be used.
  That seems a bit much.

- ejecting a disk from the desktop reminds me of Thing from the Addams
  Family: it ejects the disk and then immediately pulls the tray back
  and remounts the disk.  Fedora 9 got a bug like that via an update
  and then got it fixed.

I bought a couple of cheap computers from Factory Direct:
  http://www.factorydirect.ca/catalog/product_spec.php?pcode=HP0515
  http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/aa/en/sm/WF10a/12454-12454-64287-3328896-3328896-447468.html
(Very solidly built (as "business" machines).  They were $70 with a
coupon (now expired).  Not as quiet as I had hoped.  Came loaded with
FreeDOS; sticker for WinXP Pro license.)

I installed Intrepid on them.  Worked well.  Suspend actually works!
A first in my experience with Linux on a desktop.
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