Revisiting Linux Part 1: A Look at Ubuntu 8.04
by Ryan Smith on August 26, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Linux
Applications: Everything Else
Sometimes there is an advantage to not being a large, profit-generating target. If you are Microsoft or Apple, there are some things you just can’t take a risk on doing, the consequences of it backfiring are too great. In this case you would never see either of those operating systems include a BitTorrent client. While BitTorrent is legal, it can be used for many illegal things, making it an enemy of groups like the RIAA and MPAA – both of which Apple and Microsoft need to get along with for business reasons (imagine Windows without a DVD player) and because both have deep pockets should a fight erupt.
Canonical (the company backing Ubuntu) is not a large, profit-generating target and as a result they can get away with more here. We’ve already talked about legality issues encompassing codecs, but BitTorrent is another area where their size lets them get away with more. Ubuntu includes Transmission, a full-featured BitTorrent client, making it wholly unique (at least when compared to Windows/Mac OS X) for doing so. As a regular BitTorrent user, this is a most welcome type of application to include.
With there being so many BitTorrent clients I’m not going to get in-depth with features here other than to say that Transmission is a full-featured BitTorrent client. Instead the fact that it’s included at all is a big deal. Although it’s going to be a slight exaggeration, I would put the inclusion of a BitTorrent client up there with a web browser, an email client, or a media player. I consider BitTorrent an essential function, so a proper client is something that ideally would be included with every operating system. It’s that important.
There is one thing I’d like to add about Transmission in particular though. In my time using it, I’m not convinced that other BitTorrent clients are properly respecting it. I’ve noticed that some other clients appear to be ignoring or blocking it, and while it doesn’t appear to be opposed by a large number of clients, it’s enough that in my completely unscientific testing that this looks to make Transmission slightly slower compared to something like Azureus. Wikipedia notes that a version released over 2 years ago was commonly blocked for not being completely compliant with the BitTorrent specification, but I don’t know if this is related or not.
Moving on, there’s one other thing in Ubuntu that caught my eye, and that’s the inclusion of a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client, going under the name of Terminal Services Client. Not to be confused with VNC, the open source remote desktop system commonly used on *nix systems, Remote Desktop Protocol is Microsoft’s proprietary remote desktop protocol and associated applications. While I had expected Ubuntu to include a VNC client, I had not been expecting a RDP client.
As I have a Windows Home Server for file storage and backing up my Windows machines, I need a RDP client to administrate it and the rest of my Windows machines. By “playing nice” and including a RDP client in spite of the fact that the protocol itself is proprietary and Ubuntu does not use RDP itself, this made Ubuntu much more useful for me straight out of the box. Among other things, with it I was able to immediately connect to my server and diagnose why I was having so much trouble connecting to my SMB shares, something which I’ll explain in greater detail in a moment.
Really the only downside to this is that it’s not as well built of a client as Microsoft’s own Windows client is, which is to be expected. Even on a gigabit LAN Terminal Services Client lags a bit compared to the real thing, but then again so does Microsoft’s official RDP client for the Mac. Ubuntu seems to be at a bit of a disadvantage here since it seems that Windows machines have an inherent advantage in being RDP clients. Nevertheless it’s fully usable, it’s just a bit slower.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
195 Comments
View All Comments
Telkwa - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - link
Nobody's going to agree with the entire article. I'm just glad to see Anandtech paying some attention, and would welcome any articles, tests, reviews, etc.It's embarrassing to visit the "Linux" tab and see the latest article was posted in July of 2005...
Geraldo8022 - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - link
This is based on Ubuntu and I installed it this past weekend. I am having certain issues with it. Yes, it is free. Overall I like it very much and am pleasantly surprised. But, this has shown that Windows 7 will be a comparative bargain to me. I do not have the time to sit in front of the computer and play with Linux; trying to find out why certain videos don't play and why I am having eye strain and clicking on an audio link that doesn't play and a few more. When I go to the Mint forums I am confronted with a Tower of Babel what with all of the acronyms, and told to go to the terminal and type $surun%(8#**#. Ok, now turn your head and cough.I'll keep Linux on this machine to boot up and play with now and then. It beats solitaire for the time being.
VooDooAddict - Friday, August 28, 2009 - link
You hit on a good point. People I've setup with dual booting linux distros and windows begin to appreciate what they are paying for with windows. Typical response is "This is cool (Ubuntu) and I can see why some people like it. But I'm going to stick with windows, it's worth the money to me."They appreciate that Linux could work, but see the "value" in paying form something familiar.
VooDooAddict - Friday, August 28, 2009 - link
I run Vista on my main PC. Vista on all the spare LAN gaming PCs. I have an Ubuntu 9.04 VM and Ubuntu Netbook Edition on my old tablet PC (small and netbook like).Locutus465 - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - link
Just out of curiosity what user mode were you having guests run in? Even in vista I don't provide anything greater than standard user. With that guests need my password (which they don't have) to mess my machine up. Going back as far as Windows 2000, as long as you pair Windows with good spyware (spybot, or for XP defender if you choose) and antivirus (I like Avast and AVG both free and have nil footprints) you basically don't have to worry about system security as long as the person is running a standard user account.My my parents system, we went from having to wipe and reinstall windows every time I came home from college, to a rock solid system that absoultly never failed when I performed these steps. I still like the XP/2000 behaviour of simply denying access better than the current UAC implementation. But Vista 64 + UAC (active) seems to be secure enough, particularly when paired with the aformentioned anti-virus software.
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - link
For what it's worth, it's an admin account. I know, I know, I could do Limited User. But that tends to just elicit complaints. XP's Limited User mode is embarrassing compared to how well Vista/Win7 does it.Since it's basically just a web browsing laptop anyhow, it's basically a perfect fit for Ubuntu since I wouldn't need to be concerned with Windows malware period.
leexgx - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - link
i have to agree even XP in its standered/limited user account mode quite hard for stuff to install but not imposable (Vista and win7 with UAC on and an standered account with the admin account passworded should prevent the system from been messed up)aguilpa1 - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - link
It seems the OS does not like core 2 duos and nvidia 9800GTX graphics, something even OSX was able to handle.samspqr - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - link
* for me, the best possible way to install applications on any OS, but specially in one that is free (libre) is as follows: you search on the internet for the best program to meet your needs, you find it, you copy some code that identifies it, and paste that in your package manager, which then connects to some database, checks that the program is not malware, looks for the latest version, and proceeds to download and install it, not caring whether it's open source or not; this would beat windows/OSX by a wide margin, and also the current ubuntu system, whose "we don't like this software, on philosophical grounds, so it's going to be a pain in the ass for you to install it" attitude is a bit too problematic* it would be nice if the "auto" option in the installer told you what it's going to do with your hard disk before going on to do it; I never use it, out of fear it might try to do something I don't like
* I missed some comment on that section on how Photoshop CS3 costs a lot of $$$, while GIMP is free
* along these lines, the comparison of total costs in time and money of installing windows/OSX/ubuntu, with all their companion programs, is striking
samspqr - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - link
and about openoffice:* I didn't check this ltely, but aren't there still problems with VBA compatibility? if I can open my xls/xlsm files but I can't run my macros, it's no good; I have a ton of stuff written in VBA, and I'm definitely not doing all that work again
* the ribbon UI in office 2007 is a royal pain: it's only good for the "It looks like you're writing a letter" users, and you can't get rid of it; there's a lot of people doing real work on excel, and none I talked to likes that ribbon thing, they'd all rather stay with excel 2003