Today I am running a year-old version of Ubuntu Linux. In the world of Ubuntu Linux, where new releases are issued every six months, year-old Breezy is distinctly old.

To be honest, I am not entirely unhappy with having to run Breezy, even if I do still have a little envy for those able to enjoy the bells and whistles of Edgy Eft.

But, after my recent experience with Edgy I am more than happy to stick with something a little less cutting edge and flashy. At least for now.

Sun is making its Java Enterprise Edition 5 programming platform available on the open source Ubuntu Linux distribution.

Java Enterprise Edition 5 is the first Java application server to be distributed via Ubuntu, according to Jane Silber, COO for Canonical, the nonprofit sponsor of Ubuntu Linux. The deal was set to be announced Wednesday at the Ubuntu Development Summit in Mountain View, Calif.

Our very own Mark Shuttleworth posed in front of a Google tree during a recent interview with the chaps over at The Register. Mark answered questions covering everything from Oracle, Red Hat, and Novell to um, Microsoft? The interview is fun, to the point and very entertaining. It is cool to see Ubuntu’s top dog, aka Ubuntu Man, have some fun with The Register.

So how does Mark feel about recent decisions and news surrounding Oracle?

“I think it’s great that Oracle has entered the Linux market, but the specific tactic they have chosen is going to be very impractical,”

One of many quotes by Mark, he provides a very detailed incite to the current events happening in the Linux community, post Microsoft/Novell. When asked about Novell and Microsoft, Mark doesn’t hold back as he lays it all out on the line, letting you know exactly how he feels.

“I am sure that Novell just got paid $200m to be on that stage, and Microsoft is going to expect a return on their investment. And not from Novell.”

Now, the entire article isn’t concerning the recent “what the forks” in the Linux community, as it also provides some very encouraging news concerning the future of Ubuntu and Sun Microsystems.

“Sun Microsystems helped add to the Ubuntu good cheer by saying the OS has been certified to run on some of its Opteron-based servers. As of today, customers can Ubuntize their X4100 and X4200 Sun Fire systems and Ultra 20 and 40 workstations. Eventually, Sun plans to offer Ubuntu across its whole x86 family.”

Head on over to The Register and read the entire article, Oracle must eat Red Hat or fork, says Ubuntu man.

An interview with Mark Shuttleworth, done during the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Mountain View California.

Join Mark Shuttleworth in Beijing to celebrate Edgy!

Amy Jiang of Ubuntu-China has let us know that Mark Shuttleworth will be in Beijing for the Ubuntu 6.10 (codenamed Edgy Eft) release party. The key date is 2006-11-02, starting at 19:00.

The party, with a chance to meet and hear the SABDFL speak, is being held at the Automation Research lab. If you’re wondering how to get there, excellent directions and a map are available for everyone.

The Ubuntu China team have arranged the whole Beijing release event, even deciding to get Ubuntu 6.10 CDs produced locally based on their own cover-art. Accompanying the CD-ROMs are a pair of exclusive T-shirts and sweaters/hoodies specific to the release. Following the codename of Ubuntu 6.10, the designs feature a large eft, or newt, on the back. Balancing up the front is a smaller motif with the familiar Linux for Human Beings slogan.

Here at Fridge Central we’re jealously awaiting getting our hands on one of those limited edition garments. If you’re are one of those lucky Ubunteros who manage to make your way to the Beijing release party, please send us back a t-shirt! We’re certainly looking forward to the photographs afterwards.

Mark Shuttleworth discusses Canonical’s strategy for Ubuntu support.

With the next version of Ubuntu set to release in the near future, I found myself curious about the general consensus of the average user population. Early on, I made a conscious decision that I would not review this upcoming version of Ubuntu until it had been released in a non-beta format.

After sifting through the typical “reviews,” I was really disappointed at how no one was really asking the tough questions. Instead, the results of my queries only offered the usual drivel about how Edgy includes the latest GNOME release, Firefox 2.0 beta and other amazingly obvious facts.

Zdnet Australia have noticed that Thursday 26th will be Release Day for Ubuntu 6.10. The version has been code-named Edgy Eft and follows the naming scheme of previous releases, where by the current year and month form the version number. Included in the article are a run-down of features, with the opening paragraphs dedicated to the init-replacement named upstart.

The full story includes a feature list covering the web browser and included tools:

Edgy Eft also comes with the newest version 2.6 [sic] of the Gnome graphical user interface; fans of the KDE alternative can use a variant called Kubuntu.

The new Linux product also includes Firefox 2.0, released Wednesday, and two applications that use Novell’s Mono software foundation: Tomboy, for taking notes, and F-Spot, for sorting, tagging and uploading photos. It also includes version 2.8 of the Evolution e-mail software.

The report notes that our friends over at the Fedora Project made their latest Core 6 release less than 48hours ago. Grab a peek at the full report for all their coverage.

Recently rumours have been abounding around Oracle, Linux and Ubuntu. CNET joins in with some quotes from the Ubuntu chief:

“If you look at the relationship with the largest hardware vendors and Red Hat, there’s a very clear tactical game going on,” Shuttleworth said, even though the hardware companies don’t sell their own versions of Linux. “It could quite easily cost Oracle a lot less to have a similar tactical influence on the market. They may just choose to take a different strategy to achieving that.”

Oracle didn’t respond to requests for comment. However, Canonical’s efforts to enter the server market have not gone unnoticed at Oracle.

The latest edition of the weekly BBC World Service show Digital Planet, carries an interview with none other than our SABDFL, Mark Shuttleworth.

On the show, Mark talks about Ubuntu, with his inspirations for running the Ubuntu project. The role of free software in education and developing countries is discussed regarding a South Africa project supported by the Shuttleworth Foundation allowing students to download and print certified educational materials for no cost.

You can download and listen to the podcast of the show from the Digital Planet homepage. Mark Shuttleworth’s interview on an Open Source future is right at the very beginning.

Note: It has been reported that the commandline-based MP3 decoder 'mpg123' may have trouble the podcast MP3 link (11MB). Mplayer plays this file fine after skipping some initial data at the front of the file.