In case you’ve been living under a rock, windows 7 (or Microsoft 7, as one headline writer labelled it) debuted last week.
Since I don’t use Windows software, I’ve been paying attention to a different operating system launch. Karmic Koala, the latest linux distro from Ubuntu, hits the servers tomorrow.
Normally, I’d look forward to this like a kid waiting on Christmas morning, but this time not so.
Unfortunately, Ubuntu hit a speedbump a while back.
USB dongles used to get online using mobile broadband, specifically several built by the Huawei corporation, come with software to install drivers in windows. This confuses Ubuntu into thinking the dongle is a CD. Worse, some dongles also allow for SD storage.
Trying to fix this problem, Ubuntu broke connectivity. Karmic cannot connect to the internet using several dongles, and because of a kernel freeze, the bug will not be fixed until after tomorrow’s launch, when a Stable Release Upgrade will be used to fix the problem.
Fortunately, dongles sold by Three Ireland still work, so all is not lost.
But if you want to try Ubuntu, or plan to upgrade, hold off a few days if mobile broadband is your only path online.
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