"Its official release is just under three months away, and Ubuntu 8.04, or Hardy Heron, promises some great improvements over the already user-friendly Ubuntu 7.10 (also known as Gusty Gibbon). This is a look at the fourth Alpha release of Hardy; including many of the applications that are now included by default and the major changes that will improve stability and usability. Among these are the addition of Firefox 3 and Remote Desktop on the applications side, and a new method for systems control known as Policy Kit, which enables the administrator to unlock certain functions for normal users."
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-11-11
A good example is changing the system's time. While it should not be allowed by normal users on a server, on a laptop it would definitely make sense to allow normal user to change the system time at will, especially if the user travels a lot between different time zones.
Member since:2006-10-08
In this case, the user would just have to change the timezone. :-)
But you're right, the easyness to change things on a system depends on where the system is installed. You mentioned a server and a laptop. The classical field of Linux' use, the multi-user system, does not dominate today, instead, one system is usually used by one user. Most settings should be changable easily, except those ones that can - abused because of a lack of knowledge, laziness, or stupidity - enable the system to get compromized too easily.
To increase "productivity" (in fact, comfortability for the average user), security barriers are abandoned step by step. For some of them, it really does not matter. For others, they are intended to where they belong, and they have their reasons (root privileges to administer firewall and server settings).
Member since:2005-07-01
Nope, as it says in the article, users will be able to unlock "certain functions" as well as fine tune user privalidges. There's no mention of a change to the default security configuration.
It does, however, seem to say that Remote Desktop will be enabled by default, which strikes me as less than totally secure. Though it appears (vulnerabilities aside) that any prospective hacker will need to wait for your express permission before taking over your machine.
Member since:2006-08-09
Your captain obvious speaking: 
there is a reason, and there's only one reason, that Ubuntu is now showing their alphas with Remote Desktop and simple user administration simplified graphically:
Business.
This is going to be an "LTS". Somehow, somewhere, sometime, Canonical is going to have to make some money. They want support contracts with the typical MS Windows+Office workplace, as an alternative to a Vista migration (yes, I do have heard IT people talk about that in the hospital where I work).
Help desk management will ask, "we unlock people's account and change their passwords on a daily basis easily with Active Directory, and we use DameWare [or, insert here similar program] to take over people's desktops. You've got that, and it works well?"
They don't want to hear, well that's somewhere in our repositories. They want to hear, it's on top of the new and stable feature list - even if that comes down to the same thing.
Canonical is going to market this. Their usual simple approach might very well work, Shuttleworth is not an amateur. It's, in my humble opinion, not the user community lnx rulez fanboy crowd that these features are added by default for. 
Member since:2005-06-30
Member since:2005-07-13
Well speaking of KDE 4.0 and Ubuntu in a sort of way, I find it odd that they have no hesitation utilizing a brand-new and unproven technology in an LTS release which is supposed to represent a stable and proven platform. Seriously, it's an alpha, I agree, but they're warning against using it with production files right now, and it's supposed to be LTS worthy in a couple of months?
But hey, that's just me.
Member since:2005-07-06
You're right about the 'gets in the way of productivity' - I'd love to know what is more productive; having a secure system which might request the authorisation to run an application at a higher privilage level or simply just allowing an appliation to run, cause all manner of problems, hours of work down the drain - and a net loss of productivity.
Security to me reminds me of safety belts and helmets - yes they're not 100% comfortable or enticing to wear, but when you do get into a situation where the out comes could have been worse had you not worn it, you'll realise that it was only a marginal inconvenience when you consider the outcomes could have been alot worse.
Back on topic, for me, the issue has never been the quality of the distribution; I've always found the various *NIX (*BSD/OpenSolaris/Linux) distributions to be already ready for the desktop. What I do find annoying is the lack of commercial applications (running under wine would be ok, if it were a certainty that the applications would run everytime, all the time, and perfectly). As much as I love OpenOffice.org for example, it simply can't hold a candle to the ease of use of iWorks (Pages, Keynote, Numbers). The media player, Rhythmbox I had nothing but problems on the variety of distributions I've tried in the past.
The foundation has been laid, the distributions are already up to the standard I think would win over the desktop - heck, Ubuntu right now is already a Windows replacement. What is needed is better applications, more of them, and third party commercial software vendors like Adobe, Intuit, and MYOB coming out and putting their 100% backing behind *NIX (which ever distribution they end up choosing).
Member since:2005-08-02
Speaking from past experiences with PPC X/Ubuntu 6.xx systems, I can assure you that having to save work, logout/login, change a minor setting or download and install a program update, logout/login is anything but productive.
In Xubuntu 6.06 a little authentication box used to pop open (ala OS X) and ask me for my password, but I could type my systadmin password till my fingers fell off and nothing doing. (Thanks unfixed system bug!)
So, a working system that allows me to authenticate on the fly without having to do a user switch or logout/login?
That's Productive.
It may be up and running in X/Ubuntu 7x, but I've been so busy I haven't had time to partition the one windows machine in the house and install it.
Member since:2006-12-28
Thing is, adobe already has support for FrameMaker on Solaris and up until version 7, AIX and the Mac. I just don't understand why they can't use the longstanding *nix experience they have and translate that into releasing and decently supporting more of their products on Linux and the *BSDs.
I am not going to pretend that I know Adobe's markets better than they do, but it seems to me that, taking into consideration what I mentioned above, and the fact that Linux is slowly but surely making waves on the corporate desktop, they are missing out on being the first company to release professional image editing solutions for Linux, thereby gaining a foot hold for what could become a very lucrative market and cementing their reputation as the leading supplier of said solutions.
Just my two cents.
Member since:2006-09-10
Member since:2005-08-18
Member since:
2006-08-09
For those too lazy to RTA, basically the interesting stuff is a remote desktop app and VNC client on a default install, and some graphical administration utilities:
Does that mean, Ubuntu is going to compromise security and stability in order to increase "productivity"? It looks a bit like it ("where have I seen this before?"). If someone has a better translation, please let me know.
It does look good though.