Trying to get Gutsy

It's Gutsy day, and Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy is now available. Check the Ubuntu home page for info, or go directly to the 7.10 tour page for everything that's changing in Ubuntu.

Doing a Ubuntu upgrade -- especially trying to get a full ISO file -- on day 1 is, if not pure folly, mostly folly. So recheck this entry throughout the day as I report on my Gutsy progress.

If my experience with downloading the full ISO for 7.04 is any indication, the Ubuntu mirrors will be very busy and very slow. So I'm using Update Manager to upgrade my existing 7.04 install to 7.10. It is slow, for sure, but I've got three PCs on this desk, so I can just keep on going. Yes, I could continue to use the $0 Laptop -- the Gateway Solo 1450 -- while the download is underway. But since I don't have to, I won't.

Here are some of the Ubuntu 7.10 features that I'm looking forward to:

-- Fast user switching

-- Easier handling of Firefox plugins, plus the new Gnash plugin, which is supposed to be an open-source alternative to Flash.

-- Promise of lower power consumption

-- Encrypted drives (hopefully just like Debian Etch, and equally hopefully through Logical Volume Manager).

-- Improvements to GNOME, including an updated Evolution mail client that, among its features, includes a new backup utility; the ability to fill out PDF forms with the Evince viewer; more information in the Nautilus file-manager window; new Appearance control-panel applet (reminds me of Xfce!); Power Manager warns of a worn-out laptop battery (as if I'd ever buy a new one ...); the "leave message" feature in the screen saver (lets people type you a little message, I think ...).

Also, for your perusal, the Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop press release.

p.s. My update is still running ... slowly. Download speeds are between 1/4th and 1/10 of normal.

p.p.s. Now that the half-hour of preliminary setup is done, 1,014 packages are downloading, estimated time 3 hours 23 minutes.

Update, 10:20 a.m. PST: Download speeds are down to between 10 and 18 kb/s, meaning the upgrade will take anywhere from 7 to 15 hours to download. I'm at 42 of 1014 files.

Re: Doing Ubuntu upgrades on the first day -- Why do I do this? It would probably be a good idea to wait a week until the traffic dies down.

I should have re-read my entries on the quest for Feisty in April:

My Edgy but not Feisty day
The elusive Feisty
It's not easy getting Feisty

Want to commiserate? Follow Ubuntu fans on the forum as they report their upgrade tales.

Check out this review of Ubuntu 7.10 from Lunapark 6.

Update, 11:05 a.m.: I'm on file 205 out of 1,014, with an estimated 3 hours, 35 minutes to go. yes, download speed has risen somewhat in the past 10 minutes.

Update, 11:25 a.m.: Download speed is up; only 2 hours, 36 minutes remain. File 418 of 1,014. When speeds were so slow that my estimated download time was 15 hours, I got worried, but now that I'm hitting 60 kb/s, it's all good.

Just in case: I turned off automatic "suspend." I don't want anything to mess up this download.

Update, 1:40 p.m.: I went out to lunch with Ilene and the kid. Now I'm back. The update is at file 745 of 1,014. Estimated time remaining: between 3 and 5 hours (download speed fluctuating between 10 and 20 kb/s).

Read DesktopLinux.com on the 7.10 debut. Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols points out that the new Ubuntu includes plug-and-play support for Broadcom Wi-Fi cards, compiz for those whose hardware can handle it, full external VGA support for laptops (I had no idea this wasn't already a standard feature -- but it'll be good for projector presentations), the ability to write to NTFS partitions and drives, and the Tracker desktop search application.

Update, 3:02 p.m.: On file 894 of 1,014. No estimated time showing. Must be stalled for the moment. But I'm 90 percent of the way done. Again, don't try this at home -- do yourself a favor and wait a week. I don't even know if this upgrade will work when its finished. I did the initial 7.04 install with the express purpose of doing this upgrade, and it's no problem if it breaks the install, but if you actually use your Ubuntu box, I'd proceed with caution. The minimum I'd do would be to copy all the /home files over to another partition or, better yet, another drive.

Update, 3:14 p.m.: Speed just bumped up to 60-100 kb/s, so I'm somewhere between 20 and 50 minutes away. For those who've stopped counting, it's been about 5 hours since I started.

Update, 4:18 p.m.: Speeds have slowed again. I'm at file 968 out of 1,014. One hour to go at this rate.

Update, 5:12 p.m.: I began this blog post over 7 hours, 20 minutes ago, but I'm seeing light at the end of the Gutsy tunnel. I'm at 1,006 of 1,014 files downloaded, with "about 11 minutes to go."

Another review: From PolishLinux.com.

Update, 5:30 p.m. Downloads are finished, and the upgrades are being installed. Timer says 1 hour, 50 minutes to go. I'm scheduled to leave in 30 minutes. I have no problem shoving the laptop into a drawer or under a pile of crap and letting it build while I'm gone, but I'd rather take it with me. But since the minutes are ticking down faster than real time, I have the feeling it'll be done in time.

Update, 6 p.m. The build of 7.10 still has 47 minutes to go, so I'm leaving and will hopefully return tomorrow morning to a fully functioning Gutsy system. Can you go from initiating the Feisty-to-Gutsy update to finishing it in a 9-hour day? Not on the first day of release, that's for sure.

The next day, 9:40 a.m.: The laptop was waiting for me to check the box to remove obsolete files in the system. I check it, and a couple minutes later I'm ready to restart the system with Ubuntu 7.10.

How did Ubuntu 7.10 do? Check the next entry (about to be written).