Ubuntu Archive

"The Ubuntu development community announced today the availability of Ubuntu 10.04 alpha 2, a new prerelease of the next major version of the Ubuntu Linux distribution. This alpha is the first Ubuntu release to completely omit HAL, a Linux hardware abstraction layer that is being deprecated in favor of DeviceKit."

In a surprise move (at least, it was surprising to me), Ubuntu founder and Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth has announced he's stepping down as the CEO of Canonical, the commercial endeavour behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution. He will continue, however, to play major role in the company and Ubuntu's future.

We're a little late, but Real Life got in the way, so here we finally are. Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, announced today that Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop Edition has been released. This version focusses on improvements in cloud computing on the server using Eucalyptus, further improvements in boot speed, as well as development on Netbook Remix. The related KDE, Xfce, and other variants have been released as well. Update by ELQ: Just a quick note to say that one of my Creative Commons videos was selected to be part of Ubuntu's Free Culture Showcase package that comes by default with the new Ubuntu version!

"Kubuntu has been my favorite Linux distribution since the very first release. It was made specifically for us KDE fans, branded with beautiful Kubuntu-specific artwork and themes, contained the best Qt-based software, and dared to be different. In a world ruled by Ubuntu, it's given us KDE fans something to root for. Unfortunately, Kubuntu later became known as Canonical's third wheel, and each release seems to steadily diminish in quality. What's responsible for its current status, and what should be done to improve it?"

The Ubuntu team has pushed out the beta release for Ubuntu 9.10. "Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop Edition improves on the work of 9.04 to get you going faster, with improved startup times and a streamlined boot experience. Ubuntu 9.10 Server Edition integrates Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud setup in the installer and provides improvements to system security with AppArmor, including an AppArmor profile for libvirtd to further isolate virtual machines from the host system. The Ubuntu 9.10 family of variants, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and Mythbuntu, also reach beta status today."

We reported earlier on a blog post entitled "Ubuntu Report Card (2009)" where the author detailed how they felt the Ubuntu experience had improved over the years. In a follow-up series of articles looking at the future, Tanner Helland has written 10 different broadly-scoped feature requests that 'and many others would like to see by the time Ubuntu 10.10 rolls around'.

"For the last 12 months, I have used Ubuntu 8.04, 8.10, and 9.04 as my primary OSes. I remain a very happy Linux convert, but I worry that Ubuntu is being unevenly developed. Certain areas have seen great improvements over the last 12 months, while other areas have languished or been largely ignored. The purpose of this article is not to whine or rant, but to bring some perspective to the evolution (or lack thereof) that Ubuntu has experienced between versions 8.04 and 9.04."

It's no secret that when it comes to KDE-based distributions, Kubuntu isn't exactly the cream of the crop. With the release of Kubuntu Karmic Alpha 5, the KDE4 desktop delivered with Kubuntu received some much-needed love. Let's take a look at what the Kubuntu people are doing.

"With the Ubuntu Software Store, Canonical is hoping to unify all of the different package management needs into a single, unified interface. While this will not be achieved in Ubuntu 9.10, Canonical is hoping that all of the capabilities of the update-manager, Synaptic, the computer janitor application, gdebi, and other package management-related programs will be merged into Ubuntu Software Store. When this has occurred, it will be easier on the new end-user having to just deal with a single program to provide all of this functionality."

Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS has been released. "In all, 80 updates have been integrated, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS."

The Mono discussion may be tiring, but the fact of the matter is that thanks to this discussion, various major Linux distributions are now making official statements detailing their position in the Mono/C# debate. The latest to do this is Ubuntu, which reiterated their position yesterday.

This project attempts to show you how to make your own home media server from readily available PC components and open source software. The software components we'll be using in this feature are Ubuntu Linux 8.10, Firefly DAAP Server, and MediaTomb. Most newer TVs and game consoles (for example, the PS3) are UPnP capable and allow you to stream content from UPnP-enabled sources. iTunes (Windows) and Rhythmbox (Linux) can play media that is centrally hosted on this type of server - an excellent way to setup a centralized, on-demand audio/video library in your home.

Eeebuntu 3.0, the Ubuntu distribution especially custom-built for the EeePC, just last week saw its third release of the Base edition-- the edition that includes a minimal amount of apps and features for more advanced users to customize. Though nothing's really been said on the matter, I suppose we can expect the Standard and NBR editions to be updated soon as well.

When Dell announced a shift in its Linux strategy last week, accompanied by a new netbook, many wondered why Dell insisted on pre-loading Ubuntu 8.04, instead of newer versions of the popular Linux distribution such as 8.10 or 9.04. BetaNews contacted Dell about it, and Dell replied explaining their rationale behind opting for 8.04.