I suppose that it does not surprise anyone if I comment on something that we have already commented here once: the name of this blog comes from Ubuntu And, although we also deal with issues from other distributions, and sometimes even Windows, macOS or Android, the main topic is the operating system developed by Canonical and its flavors, official and unofficial. The operating system could be installed on the Raspberry Pi for several versions, but only if we chose the Server option. Since Groovy gorilla You can now install the Desktop version, and that is what I have done out of curiosity.
La Raspberry Pi it is a most interesting device. When I bought one, the 4GB 4, I did it mainly to have a multimedia center and test things, but my first disappointment came when I realized that not everything is for the aarch64 architecture. Raspbian, now Raspberry Pi OS, I have never liked, so I installed Manjaro ARM (KDE) on it and started to change my mind. I changed it more when I started testing more operating systems, and now I also enjoy Android 11 with EVERYTHING it has to offer.
Official Ubuntu 21.04 on the Raspberry Pi
Ubuntu MATE has long offered an image for Raspberry Pi, but I've also long felt that MATE wasn't made for me. With telling you what catches my attention the most GNOME I already say enough. So the next logical step was to test Ubuntu desktop on the famous raspberry board, something that if you had not done it yet it was for fear of wasting time, since GNOME usually does not suit you too well. And well, spoiler, I think I did waste my time.
To install the system we have two options. Canonical recommends using Imager, the official Raspberry Pi app, from where you will download the image and "flash" it to SD. Me I have used Etcher, But I have downloaded the image before from the official website. Once we put the card on the board, we start and go directly to the installer. Well, that's after we see the Ubuntu logo and it's loading, something that I personally like a lot. Also after seeing the wallpaper, which this time is the same as in the PC version.
The installer looks familiar
Once loaded, the installer is the same as the one we see in Ubuntu, or almost, because the first screen, in which it asks for the language, is different from the one that appears in a Live Session. What is the same is that it asks for keyboard layout, it asks us to connect to a network, the time zone and the username / password. The rest of the options, such as choosing partitions, minimal installation or downloading packages while the system is being installed, these do not appear. After a while, a little window appears for a while stating that it is applying post-installation changes, something we don't see in the desktop version.
The process is a bit long, more or less like when we install it on a pendrive. When the post-installation work is finished, some SSD dependency errors appear, something that is normal, and it restarts to enter the fully installed operating system. I think it is important to mention that, at least in my case, the language does not go directly into Spanish; you have to download packages and restart the session.
The million dollar question: is Ubuntu worth it on the Raspberry Pi now?
Well. After verifying that I have not had to install the languages manually, I have already immersed myself in testing the operating system. So I open Firefox and go testing. Strangely, it won't let me enter text. Wow. I soon remember that on my Ubuntu-USB I have also experienced bugs I fixed not using Wayland, so I log out and enter X.Org. Now it does let me enter text, and also in the terminal. So I customize it a bit: I put the buttons on the left, I put the dock down without it reaching the sides and I make it a little more transparent. All this while I update the packages, so no, it doesn't go very fast. But hey, neither does Manjaro when I update or move or unzip large files.
While it continues to install packages, because I am that cool, I am moving through the operating system. I do it with no less than Firefox, a browser that has proven not to be the best option in ARM systems, and I am going to YouTube to put a video in 4K at 60fps, even knowing that it is impossible for it to look good. Well, you can't hear it either because default configuration detects that I have headphones connected, so I had to fix that first. As for the video, no, it does not look good, but it continues to install packages, so I leave it in the configuration that YouTube chooses me and at least it moves, which honestly surprises me by the burden of working while updating packages.
Canonical goes one way, but I don't know whether to say it's the good one
Looking at the statistics, I have dropped the quality too much, so I force the machine and choose HD at 60fps. Test not passed while, I insist, install updates. The downside is that, once you finish installing the packages, using a browser to watch YouTube videos is very reminiscent of what it feels like with the PineTab: too slow, exasperating to see it on a big screen.
On discrete computers, and the Raspberry Pi is, heavy tasks are very heavy, so we cannot judge an operating system while doing them, because none of them move fine. Here what we have to say is whether Ubuntu Desktop is worth it on the raspberry board compared to other operating systems, and I have to say that It goes just as I expected: it is difficult to move. It is true that in some moments it behaves well, but Manjaro KDE surpasses it in performance and in available software.
I do not like to lie. Manjaro ARM has not disappointed meAndroid 11 suits the Raspberry Pi very well, and I'm not going to use Ubuntu when I want some more desktop for my own health, to avoid stress. Yes I will do another test, but it will be with Ubuntu Budgie and when the bad feeling that Ubuntu has left me on the Raspberry Pi goes away.
Some images on the desktop and even gifs would have been great in the post. Still, thanks for sharing your experience.
Would you say that with the raspi 4 of 8Gb it would improve? or do they use same CPU frequency?