Ubuntu Archive

Gutsy Gibbon Tribe 4 is the fourth alpha release of Ubuntu 7.10, and this alpha release brings a list of new features, including Tracker, Openoffice 2.3 Beta, AppArmor, and more. For PowerPC and PS3 see this page in the wiki.

Microsoft has succeeded in fracturing the Linux and open-source community with the patent indemnity agreements it has entered into with several prominent vendors, Ubuntu leader and Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth told eWEEK. The strategy behind that was to drive a wedge into the open-source community and unsettle the marketplace, Shuttleworth said. He also took issue with the software maker for not disclosing the 235 of its patents it claims are being violated by Linux and other open-source software.

"Canonical announced today the availability of Landscape, its web-based systems management tool for Ubuntu servers and desktops. Available to Canonical's support subscribers, Landscape provides a key tool for the growing number of businesses that want to take advantage of the ease of use of Ubuntu and have previously seen system administration or support as a hurdle."

The Ubuntu Live conference began yesterday in Portland Oregon with Mark Shuttleworth's keynote presentation. Shuttleworth, the Ubuntu project's charismatic leader, discussed a wide variety of topics relating to Canonical's business prospects and the future of the Ubuntu Linux distribution.

Ubuntu Gutsy Tribe Alpha 3 has been released. "The Ubuntu developers are moving very quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. Gutsy Gibbon Tribe 3 is the third alpha release of Ubuntu 7.10, and with this new alpha release comes a whole host of excellent new features."

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has often been criticised for keeping their bug reporting and collaboration tool, Launchpad, closed-source. Today, Canonical has started opening up Launchpad by releasing its first open-source component, Storm. "Storm is an ORM that simplifies the development of database-backed applications in Python, especially for projects that use very large databases or multiple databases with a seamless web front-end", said Gustavo Niemeyer, lead developer of Storm at Canonical. "Storm is particularly designed to feel very natural to Python programmers, and exposes multiple databases as /stores/ in a clean and easy to use fashion."

Development plans for Ubuntu 7.10 (codenamed Gutsy Gibbon) were announced last night on the Ubuntu development mailing list. Scheduled for official release in late October, Gutsy Gibbon will include version 2.6.22 of the Linux kernel, GNOME 2.20, and Xorg 7.3. Kubuntu 7.10 will feature KDE 3.5.7 and offer optional packages for KDE 4.0 RC2. Ubuntu 7.10 Server Edition will feature some nice additions, including support for Novell's AppArmor security framework.

"There's a rumour circulating that Ubuntu is in discussions with Microsoft aimed at an agreement along the lines they have concluded recently with Linspire, Xandros, Novell, etc. For the record, let me state my position, and I think this is also roughly the position of Canonical and the Ubuntu Community Council though I haven't caucused with the CC on this specifically. We have declined to discuss any agreement with Microsoft under the threat of unspecified patent infringements."

"Mark Shuttleworth has flown into space on a Soyuz TM-34 and founded Thawte Consulting that later sold to Verisign for over USD 500 million, but he is now known most for being the founder and leader of the Ubuntu Linux distribution. In addition to Ubuntu he also established HBD Venture Capital and is involved with several other free software projects. Earlier today we had spoke with Mark Shuttleworth to discuss the latest happenings in the Ubuntu world including Dell shipping Ubuntu PCs, getting open-source drivers from hardware vendors, and what is coming down the road for Ubuntu 7.10."

Dell has given an overview of what customers can expect from their initial Ubuntu offering. "The default software from the Ubuntu media will be installed on the system, including kernel and applications. The peripheral options offered with Ubuntu will be a subset of what is offered with other operating systems. We're offering the hardware options on each system that have the most mature and stable Linux driver support. These hardware options have been thoroughly tested by the Linux team here at Dell. We configure/install open source drivers for hardware, when possible. We use partial open-source or closed source ('restricted' in Ubuntu terms) drivers where there is no equivalent open-source driver. This includes Intel wireless cards and Conexant modems."

"In this chapter from the ExtremeTech book 'Hacking Ubuntu: Serious Hacks Mods and Customizations' you'll learn how to set up the operating system to your taste with things like changing the startup music, the background, fonts, icons, and colors, and navigating the Nautilus file manager - on both PCs and Macs." The book was written for an older version of Ubuntu but it still largely applies for Feisty Fawn too.

"Intel have announced a new low-power processor and chipset architecture which will be designed to allow full internet use on mobile Internet devices. To fulfil the aims of our mission and in response to the technical challenges that these devices pose, we are announcing the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded project."

It's been like 3 hours without an Ubuntu article, so here we go. "With the release of Ubuntu 7.04, Feisty Fawn, I naturally couldn't resist taking Kubuntu, my preferred Ubuntu version, for a quick spin on my trusty old Thinkpad testbed. Here is a six-step process through which I speedily arrived at a highly usable, fully capable desktop Linux system."

After yesterday's unconfirmed rumour about Ubuntu being pre-installed on Dell machines, it has now become official. In a joint statement released today, Dell and Canonical announced that Dell will now offer laptops and desktop computers pre-installed with Ubuntu Linux 7.04. The computers will be sold via Dell's web site, said Canonical's director of operations Jane Silber. "We have worked with Dell to get Ubuntu fully supported and fully certified on Dell hardware," she said. "Ubuntu has the full endorsement of Dell." Update: Ubuntu Linux 7.04 Feisty Fawn review by Extremetech.