Ready to install or upgrade Ubuntu? If you're new to Ubuntu, be warned that with Ubuntu there is a Golden-Rule:

Last year the Linux Foundation sponsored the "We're Linux" video contest. I came across this post at the Linux Foundation website.

Ubuntu users are spoiled!
Don't believe me? Go check out the Uniblue RegistryBooster site. There, for a mere $29.99 you can get your very own copy of the Uniblue RegistryBooster to fix your broken-ass MS Windows PC.

The other day I saw this ad on Facebook (left) and followed the link. - Made me appreciate Ubuntu/Linux, and reminded me how well treated Linux users really are.

One of KDE's handiest apps, Klipper, works on Ubuntu's gnome desktop!
If you've only worked in Gnome, you might be unaware of a little application called Klipper. It's KDE's answer to the traditional clipboard.
The wonderful integration between applications is one of KDE's strongest features.
Something really cool in KDE 4 is Klipper. It extends the clipboard's functionality by remembering and storing your clipping/copying history.
To put it simply, anytime you copy something to the clipboard, it's saved and becomes selectable for pasting over and over.

Producing professional quality screen-recordings for educational or promotional materials can be a bit of a challenge in a Linux environment.
There are several reasonably good free applications available for most popular distributions, such as recordMyDesktop, but none of them produce the quality results necessary for commercial screen-casts.
In my search for a decent screen-recorder, I found a great little post at tuxmachines.org.

Are Ubuntu's regular releases in need of explanation?
Christopher Smart's article in Linux Magazine asks the question: "Should users be warned of the unstable nature of regular bi-annual releases"?

"Canonical releases a new version of Ubuntu every 6 months, come what may. Unfortunately what most often comes is a system full of bugs, pain, anguish, wailing and gnashing of teeth - as many “early” adopters of Karmic Koala have discovered."

I've only been with Ubuntu since the 2007 regular release, 7.04, and though I've seen some "issues" in releases since then, they've always been minimal.

Seriously, do you know of any non-Linux operating systems that you can reasonably expect to install on just about any hardware without running into problems?

I've never had much luck installing Ubuntu's October releases; Ubuntu 9.10, the Karmic Koala is no exception.

Remember, what Canonical calls a regular release, other vendors would refer to as a testing/development release - preparations for the real deal - what in Debian is known as the Stable release, and what Canonical calls an LTS.

Before I go any further, I'll suggest a quick look at LaserJock's blog post about good/bad Ubuntu releases.