Comment 51 for bug 106060

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: opto <email address hidden>
> Thanks Ronald, Tormod and others for your comments. Thought I'd provide
> a brief update: I took a shortcut approach to fixing the Rage 128
> problem...I swapped the card for another brand and I am able to get past
> the screensaver problem. Best part about Linux is the community
> support. Thanks.
>
> --
> [r128 1002:5446] Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is
> completely unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

Wow!

A resourceful user. I'm impressed, but I can't ignore the feeling that you've
been a Microsoft customer. "Our new OS version doesn't work on your
computer? Well, sounds like you need to get a new one, so it will." :-)

The screensaver for gnome shipped with Ubuntu 6.10 worked fine with
the Rage 128, which is as common as dirt. Lots of users turn to Linux
because they can't afford a PC that will run XP or Vista. Maybe it's just me,
but I don't think it's okay to ship software with Ubuntu 7.04 that no longer
works on what I believe is very common hardware, then leave it in the
package when delivering 7.10, 8.04 and 8.10. That just doesn't seem right.

At least eight other modules no longer display correctly - it's been so long
since I ran the tests that I've forgotten exactly how many became broken.
I listed them all in my comments at the time - over a year and a half ago.
I did that in the hope that it would help identify where the code broke.

Code that used to work is easier to fix than code that never worked,
and this code used to work. I'm not saying I could fix it, but *someone*
should be able to. If not, some kind of statement should be issued to
the user community, saying "Yes, it used to work, and now it doesn't,
but we don't have the resources to fix it, so we suggest you replace
your Rage 128 video card with one of these:" and then list a few that
the software does support. Even that would be better than releasing
four new versions without fixing the bug, and not giving us closure.

I sincerely hope I don't get blasted for this note, as I am a huge *fan*
of Ubuntu. I have talked it up to people ever since I started using it.
I just think that the present situation makes the whole organization
and Ubuntu look bad, and I care too much about both to ignore that.

I'm a retired programmer of mission-critical industrial applications,
where software bugs could injure or kill people. We had to make
sure it all worked before we deployed it. One of my programs ran
in simulation mode every four seconds for a month before being
accepted for release. QA was everything. (Of course, we were all
getting paid, but price does not equate to quality, does it? No.)

Jerry