“The Ubuntu developers have announced the availability of Ubuntu 9.04 alpha 1, the first prerelease for this version. Ubuntu 9.04 is codenamed Jaunty Jackalope and is scheduled for official release in April. The initial plans for Jaunty were published in September, prior to the release of Ubuntu 8.10. Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth aims to boost the software experience and make the popular Linux distribution more competitive with Windows and Mac OS X on the desktop. Canonical intends to push the platform into the mainstream by putting its resources into upstream usability improvements. In addition to the ongoing long-term usability enhancement efforts, Canonical and the Ubuntu development community are focusing on several specific technical goals for 9.04, including improving performance and boot time and integrating web services more tightly with the desktop.”
should setup an online store and sell netbooks 10″ with Ubuntu. Period …
https://shop.canonical.com/
no 10″ notebooks though.
That is the most sensible thing I’ve heard all day, god damnit.
Edited 2008-11-24 21:32 UTC
I don’t know if they are big enough to do warranty service yet …
An asus eee S101 with ubuntu preloaded … aahh… *drooling* 🙂
I’ve been looking around at these new netbooks with Linux preloaded. In terms of hardware, all of the Linux netbooks pale in comparison to the XP.
I want at least 1G ram and 160G HD. The rest I’m fairly indifferent on.
The hardware that comes with a netbook, and the OS that is installed on it, have nothing but marketing to do with one another.
If there is a particular brand that has better harware features but only XP installed, and you want that hardware, then get the XP version and wipe it, and install Linux.
Given that Microsoft are heavily subsidisng the OEM, you won’t be dropping hardly any money by wiping XP, and copies of Linux can be legally had for free. You know that the machine can run Linux because there is another model (say with less RAM and hard disk) that runs Linux.
Once you wipe XP and install Linux, your netbook will suddenly be complete with desktop applications rather than just the bare OS, at no extra expense to you.
The only downside is that Microsoft will count this as a sale … and they will probably count it as a sale of Vista even though it was XP and you are not actually running either one.
I don’t want to give Microsoft credit for the sale if all I’m going to do is wipe it and put Linux on it. The point is, you have to buy XP if you want decent hardware. I wonder why there is such a discrepancy. It seems to be contrived.
Without doing some homework, I wouldn’t assume all of the hardware will work, especially the wireless card and suspend mode.
For 99% of what I do, I don’t need Windows. In fact, for 99% of what I do, Windows gets in my way. Part of my motivation to not purchase Microsoft products is political. But, part of it is that I just don’t need it.
Fair enough.
I thoroughly concur on your “it seems to be contrived” comment.
That certainly is the case here in Oz, where, despite the fact that dell does produce a Linux version of its Mini Inspiron, Dell Australia is studiously pretending (just as every other supplier) that there is no demand for Linux versions in Australia.
The fact that you can’t buy a Linux version in the shops would be a huge part of the reason for that I’d wager. Talk about a self-fufilling prophecy.
Stated perfectly.
So tightly integrating web apps…like gOS? If so then that’s cool, I currently use Mozilla Prism for many things like Google Maps, Yahoo! Mail, etc. and I love it.
Web apps do more harm than good. They take away the user’s control over his/her data. Most of the time they are not free (as speech).
I can understand that MS tries to bundle its “Live” web apps with Windows, but a Linux distro striving for freedom should not embrace these kinds of web apps.
Like it or not (I actually agree with you), that seems to be the way the industry is taking and, if Ubuntu wants to be in a good position against the competition, the developers will have no other choice but to embrace these technologies.
I’m not denying the usefulness (does that word exist?) of these services and I think that they do, in fact, play a major role in our everyday online lives (I can’t be without my Gmail, hehe), but sometimes having all these people watching what you do, what you watch or what you buy online feels kind of uneasy…
Time will tell, I suppose.
Edit: Just for clarification, I don’t actually think that “Web apps do more harm than good”, though.
Edited 2008-11-25 01:42 UTC
Wouldn’t a quick boot (like 10 seconds) solve a lot of problems that suspend has? I mean, starting into a fresh state every time seems to be easier than having to let every driver etc. be able to handle suspend in a consistent way. On the other hand, I admit that having all those apps open and ready when coming back from suspend is quite sweet
10 seconds to wait before you can do anything? Not a solution. On my OS X laptop my wake from sleep is 1-2 seconds, it’s instant. It’s that what I want, I really don’t want to have to shutdown my machine everytime I’m walking a few meters away. On OS X I just shut the lid. And once I want to use the machine again I open it. No waiting.
Apart from that however I am very happy with Ubuntu Intrepid on the Aspire ONE.
Bah, that’s a b#llsh*t argument. The Free Software movement does not care about what the industry wants, because if that was the case, the movement had never started: 90% of the industry follows Microsoft
By integrating non-free web apps of Google it just shifts the proprietary market a bit — the movement gains nothing. It may even result in loss of developers for mail clients or office suites….
While I agree when it comes to your home computer(s) and data. I think that you might be forgetting the enterprise world. Web apps are great in an enterprise setting because you can put them on a server and access them with any PC without having to deploy anything. Deployment is handled by the browser downloading the javascript, images and etc…
The only thing I don’t get is that Ubuntu already has a web browser for that so they must be talking about something else…
Web apps do more harm than good. They take away the user’s control over his/her data.
Free from a free software perspective yes. From the view of a consumer using commercial sites the consumer demands stimulate innovation and interconnectivity. For example, the G1 Phone, the google phone, I am writing this comment on. While I recognize my data is on Google’s servers it is not a big deal. They have the access I and others want. The market demand necessitates this kind of appliance interactivity.
Got to say Vista 2 improvements not much cop…Got to say Ubuntu has responded with very little so far. I would like a faster boot time, but the boot time is pretty quick already, effort spent into saving me those precious seconds should be perhaps be better spent elsewhere, as I already have ways of filling these seconds.
I updated to jaunty and yes mono 2.0 is in there although basic had to be installed separately, but after 400 odd updates I at least wanted the about dialog to say 9.04
I know a lot of the changes come from external projects, and both are early alpha’s but its very…dull on the OS scene right now.
P.S My regression in pulseaudio was fixed in days…NICE
Is mono still easy to fix?
sudo apt-get remove –purge mono-common libmono0
o_0
2.6.28rc’s boots faster anyway, much faster through the usb boot section so it’s not just ubuntu that will be faster.
It’s a shame we dont see ‘2.6.28 will make our distro boot faster’ more often.
This is something I think is a nice to have, but not critical. My work PC (Ubuntu 7.10) only boots once a week, on Mondays. Sometimes I don’t even reboot my system for two or three weeks. So I really don’t see faster boot times as having to be a high priority.
As for home use. My laptop (Dell Inspiron 9100) also only boots about once in 7-14 days. When I’m done working, I simply suspend my system until the next time I need to use it.
Windows might be another issue, but that’s the joys and benefits of Linux. It can go for days and months without a reboot. We have one Linux server that has had an uptime of over a year. No issues and no slowdowns!! Our Windows servers don’t come close!
Even with laptop users, the need for rebooting constantly is rapidly diminishing now that Suspend to RAM works decently.
Jaunt:
A wearisome journey; A short excursion for pleasure or refreshment; a ramble; a short journey; To ramble here and there; (…)
This has been a wearisome journey… ;P
Um… “Jaunt” is not the same as “Jaunty,” you know… right?
Jaunty: easy and sprightly in manner or bearing, OR Having a buoyant or self-confident air, OR marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners.
That sounds a bit better to me. 🙂
Yeah, the Ubuntu codenames are getting worse and worse. They should really just stick to version numbers. It’s much less confusing as well. Myself and many other can never remember which release is older or newer when referenced by name. Simply use the version numbers to stop confusion and make things simpler!
Perhaps knowing the ABC would help in deciding which is older
I for one like the funny names, it’s good remedy against the “just another boring release” feeling.
Anyway, the official names are the ones with the year.month numbering, and you can always use that, if you want to.
Canonical fixed the “issue” about which name comes after which way back in 2005.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_releases
* 1 Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog)
* 2 Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog)
* 3 Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger)
* 4 Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake)
* 5 Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft)
* 6 Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)
* 7 Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)
* 8 Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)
* 9 Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)
* 10 Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)
Everything after 5.10 follows in alphabetical order.
BTW, Canonical does use version numbers for released versions. Before October this year, the version in development was named “Intrepid Ibex”. Now that it is released, it is called Ubuntu 8.10. Names before release, numbers afterward.
Also … the version number itself is really the release date. Ubuntu 8.10 was released in the 10th month of 2008.
Finally, this means that the current development version, which is code-named Jaunty Jackalope, now in alpha pre-release state, will become version 9.04 in April 2009.
Hardly confusing. No more complicated that “a b c” and “7 8 9” really.
Why not Jaunty Jackass? It has a better ring to it, and seems like the logical choice for the letter “J”. Canonical must have something against donkeys.
Disclaimer: I am running Ubuntu 8.04 right now, so don’t take that as anything more than a joke. Well… a partial joke, I honestly would prefer the name Jaunty Jackass… infuse some fun into using the distro. It sure would spark some fun and funny conversations.
Edited 2008-11-25 03:22 UTC
“What version of Ubuntu are you running?”
“Jackass.”
“Steady on, I’m only asking!”
Probably because Jackass has a negative connotation to many people. It might sound amusing to you but in the wider context of the community it would likely cause a significant polarization of opinion. Jackelope on the other hand has no strong negative (or positive) connotation.
In short the code name should be recognizable and not off-putting to the majority of the intended audience. It is a moniker, and a chance to be a little mischievous, not a place to put emotionally charged choices.
EDIT: spelling
Edited 2008-11-25 14:49 UTC
Kokopelli, I hope you didn’t *really* think that I didn’t know that…
As I said, it was somewhat of a joke.
So if I call your mother a jackalope, that’s fine by you? 😉
If that is what makes you happy.
Sir, my mother JUST SO HAPPENS to BE a Jackalope! I challenge you to a duel! Water pistols at 300 paces!
Which is expected to be named Ubuntu “Masturbating Monkey”
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ubuntu
What can I say. *buntuses are getting better and better with each release. Kubuntu 8.04 was the first release I didn’t bother to replace with Debian. Hope, that 9.04 will be no worse.
Edited 2008-11-25 09:56 UTC
What are the standout features that justify Jaunty Jackalope’s existence? What will it give me that I won’t also be able to get on Fedora, SuSE or for that matter Debian? I don’t mean vague promises from the marketing department but actual code that I’m highly likely to see in the finished product, and in Ubuntu and nowhere else. Without this, it seems to be that speculating about the next Ubuntu (or any other distro) is so much hot air, even though enjoyable.
The goals for 9.04 will not be defined/finalized till the Ubuntu Developer Conference in December. This is about a month later than usual but so be it.
Given your clearly competitive take on what a distro should deliver to differentiate itself you are not likely to be satisfied with any answers that come oout of the UDC though. Early indicators are that, outside of ARM/netbook support and KDE 4.2 for Kubuntu, most of the goals will be feature refinement rather than new ones. Faster boot time, identify perfomance bottle necks, UI usability enhancements, new version of gnome…. Evolution, not experimentation.
We will know more in about 3 weeks though. Given the late date of the UDC I would expect the change sets to be more conservative than might have been the case if the conf occurred a month earlier.
FTA:
Given that Mono 2.0 includes implementations of Windows.forms, ASP.NET and ADO.NET, all of which are claimed by Microsoft as Microsoft proprietary technologies, it looks as though one of the aims of Ubuntu 9.04 is to further embed Microsoft dependencies into Linux GNOME desktops.
Fortunately there will also be KDE 4.2, which is blessedly Mono-less.
Nevertheless, I’m thinking of moving over to Fedora 10 right now, given that Canonical has adopted Mono for its primary offering.
I am sorry, allow me to clarify. Canonical’s goals for Jaunty will be defined during the UDC. There is a community (not Canonical) driven goal to consolidate mono dependencies on mono 2.0. This is separate from the primary development efforts of Jaunty however. Indeed the request and push for this transition came from the Debian package maintainers. So in that sense I suppose it is good you are going to Fedora. Because Debian is not free enough for you I guess.
I am glad you got in your chance to highlight your dislike for mono and all things Microsoft however. I would like to point out though that Canonical has not adopted Mono for its primary offering. Canonical has simply followed the default feature and program set of Gnome in including Mono. It is a command away from removal however should that be what you want.
If you think Ubuntu’s codenames like Jaunty Jackalope are bad, you should look at Gnome’s. One Gnome release was codenamed “That, and a pair of testicles”.
I agree that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of direction to this Ubuntu release. Are there any exciting Linux technologies up and coming outside KDE 4? After all the problems caused on my computer after installing Intrepid, I’d appreciate a steady bugfix-and-polish release. Especially if it means fixing my wifi and getting Pulseaudio to be of any use at all 🙂
By the way Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature.
And with this practically worthless article, the hype machine begins again. The same tired merry-go-round as with every single Ubuntu release. Drop a stable (buggy) version and immediately jump to hyping the next big one. We’ll spend the next few months speculating about proposed features, oohing and ahhing over screenshots that look identical to the preceding release, proposing new themes (that never, ever materialize) and wonder about myriad of other whiz bang features that will, as usual, fail to deliver in the end. When Jaunty finally appears, we’ll post 10 million reviews that all say about the same thing and then we’ll immediately move to whatever comes after “J”. I don’t know of any other distribution that does this but people seem to eat it up hook, line and sinker! Incredulous.
Over 20 hours after the story’s posting to get in your expected troll this time, Chris? What happened? Timezone issue? Tough work schedule? Hope you haven’t been ill.