This post applies to users with a fairly new ATI video card.
Does your computer lock up while the screensaver is running ever since you updated to Ubuntu 5.10? The solution appears to be updating your video drivers. In the Synaptics package manager, search for and install the package xorg-driver-fglrx or from the command line type:
apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx
Several people have noticed that Ubuntu does not come with a development environment. Well, fear not! Adding software is simple and there's even several pretty nice IDEs to choose from.
First, follow the steps on this web page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com//AddingRepositoriesHowto
Second, use the package manager to install build-essential, which should pull in gcc, gdb, ddd. Then if you want an IDE, install either anjuta or kdevelop
If you'd like to use Eclipse for 223, there's a howto here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EclipseIDE
As always, post comments if you have any questions.