Ubuntu LTS Experiences X.org Memory Leak 320
MonsterTrimble writes "Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 2 is experiencing a major memory leak due to patches for X.org. 'An X.Org Server update that was pushed into the Lucid repository last week has resulted in the system being slower and slower as it is left on, until it reaches a point where the system is no longer usable. ... In order to make the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS deadline, the developers are looking at just reverting three of the patches, which brings the GLX version back to 1.2. Ubuntu developers are now desperate for people willing to test out this updated X.Org Server package so they can determine by this Friday whether to ship it with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS or doing an early SRU (Stable Release Update). Right now this X.Org Server that's being tested is living in the ubuntu-x-swat PPA.'"
Re:Valgrind? (Score:2, Interesting)
Wait, they released 10.04 already? I thought we were talking about a testing version. That people were profiling.
Sure it does. (Score:3, Interesting)
but... Linux doesn't have bugs!
Sure it does.
The point is that they get found and then get fixed fast.
Ubuntu's problem occurred because they have a shipping deadline and a really bad bug got inserted late and detected about a week from the scheduled release. So there's not much time left for testing a fix, another if the first fails, rinse-and-repeat...
Deadlines: "The light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming locomotive."
Re:People Still Use Ubuntu? (Score:5, Interesting)
The length of security patch support on the LTS releases is quite attractive for servers that don't need to be bleeding edge.
Not compared to Debian.
I operate a number of servers running Ubuntu, due to decisions made in the past. Inertia is enough to keep us on the platform, in the sense that I don't object strongly enough to go through the pain of migrating them to another distro. The servers run well enough, I suppose, but there's nothing particularly attractive about running Ubuntu on them.
Where servers are concerned, conservatism is a virtue, and Debian Stable is my favourite brand of conservatism. I find it philosophically unappealing to be running on Testing and/or Unstable (which, effectively, is what Ubuntu is) because the benefits don't outweigh the liabilities. Happily, my servers have behaved well so far, in part because I use minimally simple configurations, I check everything that happens on them all the time and I read the changelogs before I patch.
On the desktop, however, I quite like Ubuntu. Pushing out closer to the edge in order to get better hardware support and cool features really appeals to me, because the promise of an improved user experience makes it worth enduring a few nagging issues.
That said, Lucid and Karmic have a few bugs that are really silly. One recent one is the Edit Network Connections applet which (rightly) disables the 'Apply' button when there's only partial address information, but never re-enables it. This is a really basic programming mistake, and frankly I'm amazed it was never caught. Issues with removable devices have become increasingly bothersome as well. Karmic saw intermittent problems mounting CDs as well as USB disks and flash drives.
Most -if not all- of these issues can be laid squarely at the feet of the GNOME devs, who seem to be making more and more amateur mistakes at every release. I'm starting to wonder if they have any QA & testing environment at all. But Ubuntu has made its bed by tightly aligning itself with GNOME's release schedule, so they get to share the blame.
As a poster just below observed, becoming popular makes you a target for criticism. I don't really see a problem (or a contradiction) there. While I support Ubuntu and suggest it to anyone who asks, I still think that prominence means that they should be prepared to meet a higher standard and to address such criticism effectively.
Full marks to them, by the way, for getting out ahead of this issue. If this were a proprietary OS, we'd likely have to wait for the first Service Pack before this issue was addressed. (And of course, it wouldn't be documented except for numerous blog and forum posts peppered across the Web.)
Re:People Still Use Ubuntu? (Score:3, Interesting)
It's funny how when a FOSS project gets to a certain level of popularity (Firefox, Ubuntu) there seem to be a vocal group of people that try to tear them down.
That's kind of a pointless statement. There's also a vocal group of people who talk it up every chance they get and actively shut down anyone who points out that there might be room for improvement.
Re:People Still Use Ubuntu? (Score:3, Interesting)
Full marks to them, by the way, for getting out ahead of this issue. If this were a proprietary OS, we'd likely have to wait for the first Service Pack before this issue was addressed. (And of course, it wouldn't be documented except for numerous blog and forum posts peppered across the Web.)
Full agreement there. Even certain other players in the Linux market might be less "good" in this respect. While Debian's mailing lists can be a brutal place to exist if you are neither omnipotent nor immortal (or at least flameproof), both their core contributors and the Ubuntu equivalents seem to attribute openness the value it deserves more than most do.
Re:This is a LTS release... (Score:3, Interesting)
9.04 was not a LTS version; 8.04 and 10.04 are [ubuntu.com]. However, had you said "8.04 is still of bugs that nobody gives a damn about", then the rest of your comments would be correct. The biggest question in my mind is why in the world they don't use the LTS versions to at least put on a facade of stabilization focus for. As an example of the ridiculous changes introduced into the last LTS, 8.04 introduced PulseAudio [ubuntu.com] in a very buggy form, making that LTS unsuitable to use for anyone who needed sound during its entire lifetime. It shipped unstable, and the necessary bug fixes to make it stable I ran into were all "fixed in next release" and not backported. I rolled forward into 8.10 and 9.04 while they were in beta, because they were still better than 8.04 "stable". Now we get this LTS with Canonical worrying about worthless crap like the MeMenu [ubuntu.com] as a major feature.
Re:This last month has made me question... (Score:3, Interesting)
Note: I am also a teacher and I also hate OO.o. It is feature rich, but bug filled.
Now, I will also say that I used to work professionally (when I was a programmer) on a proprietary office suite that you almost certainly know. It is also feature rich and bug filled. Every day there would be a prioritization of new features over bug fixes. The next version of the software requires new features (even if your product is already overly feature rich) otherwise nobody will buy it. Nobody wants to pay for bug fixes.
The scenario you describe is not at all unusual in the proprietary world. We had bugs in our system logged for years and years and years. But the difference was that there was *no* justification for not fixing them -- only that we prioritized something else over it. We also didn't tell the customer if we were going to fix it or not; just "Thank you for your bug report. Please hang up now, because you are costing us money". The customer couldn't see if their bug was logged previously, or how many other people had logged it, or why anyone thought is was important or not. We provided them a big black hole for their feedback.
Look, I hate OO.o as much as you do. Actually maybe even a lot more than you do. But I don't begrudge the developers prioritizing something else over your concerns. It's a judgement call. I'm sure you could find someone to do what you want if you paid them. That's a lot more than can be said for proprietary software. You *do* pay them and then you are completely powerless.
I hate OO.o and am always looking to replace it, but as badly as it works for me, it still works better than anything else I have at hand. Whenever I have problems, there is a bug database that I can check to see if it is actually a bug or just something I'm doing wrong. I can file a bug and I get feedback that actually addresses my problem. Maybe they won't fix the bug, but that's life. Whether or not I get the functionality I want, at least I know where I stand and I can do something about it.
I hate OO.o with a passion, but I use it every day anyway. I wouldn't change to MS Office if you paid me.
P.S. One day I'll finally finish my LaTeX macros for my lesson handouts and breathe a sigh of relief.