OS Upgrades

They always come at the most inopportune times.

If you aren't already following minimal linux on tumblr then I have done a great disservice to you. He notes that he won't be upgrading to Ubuntu 10.10, which was released today.

I'm downloading the LiveCD, but only because I want something to play with and break. My days of using Ubuntu as my main OS are, as far as I can see, over. As TTML noted, long term releases are becoming far more appealing, and Debian in particular is becoming an attractive alternative. It lies somewhere between Ubuntu's days when it would hold your hand an still keep a sense of decency about it (8.04 LTS) and the ultimate simplicity and appeal of Slackware, which I still have a cherished spot in my heart for, all wrapped up in a nice long release cycle.

I do have the time to mess with the new Ubuntu, but I'd rather use that time for something more useful, like learning how to use tiling window managers. So I'm just downloading and poking about to see what's new, but of the first time since I started using Ubuntu, it's a release that I don't particularly care about.

I think that the massive speed at which Desktop Linux had been improving since 2006 has finally tapered off. It is where it needs to be. I think this is where my apathy springs from - it no longer matters what distro or what version number you're using. It all pretty much works.

Maybe if I pick up KDE again it will move me to care a bit more, but I doubt that's a very productive move.