The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the release of Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS, the first maintenance release of “Dapper Drake”. This release includes both installable Desktop CDs and alternate text-mode installation CDs for several architectures, for Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu. Xubuntu is also included, although commercial support for it is not available from Canonical Ltd.

The “point” release includes several updates and bug fixes. Over 300 post-release updates have been pre-applied, so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation, and a number of bugs in the installation system have been corrected. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 6.06 LTS.

For the complete release announcement and details regarding the included bug fixes and updates, please read the official release announcement.

[Discuss this article on the Ubuntu Forums]

Opera 9 is one of the longest-surviving web-browsers out there, eclipsing classical Netscape and dodging any purchase and eliminate moves from Redmond. Some common features even appeared in Opera first. Back in the late-1990’s, I remember seeing “tabs” in use (but they were along the bottom of the window then!).

Over the years the makers of Opera (also called Opera) have been very supportive of the GNU/Linux community.

Several versions of their browser have been available for us freedom lovers, especially for users on Apple’s PowerPC chips and even a .deb package for Debian on Sparc. In recent years Opera’s blistering speed and compact size have given it a comfortable home on hand-held PDAs and mobile/cellular phones, so much so that they have been able to drop the price to a beautiful zero Norwegian dollars (for non-Americans out there, the currency is actually called “Kroner”).

Now all that power and excitment joins forces with the power and ease-of-use of Ubuntu. Opera 9 is now available with Ubuntu 6.06 LTS upwards—installing only takes a couple of clicks (directions behind the link). KDE and Kubuntu fans can also rejoice because Opera uses the Qt libraries and will fit in perfectly with your desktop.

The long-awaited Ubuntu 6.06 Long Term Support (LTS) release, also known as Dapper Drake, made its debut last week. After extensive testing, I can say that it was worth the delay from its originally scheduled April release date.

Mark Shuttleworth is really sticking his neck out this time. Conventional wisdom says that enterprise Linux customers should stick to one of the “Big Two” suppliers — Novell or Red Hat — to be sure they get the support and accountability they need for mission-critical deployments. But as of last week, Shuttleworth officially began offering those customers a new “throat to choke”: his own.

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS is now available on Amazon! If you’re in the USA, you can purchase jewel case DVDs for USD$9.99 right now. We’re working on international availability. While ShipIt is still open for free CD orders, the Amazon DVD is great for those who lack bandwidth or would like speedier delivery. There are lots of Ubuntu products available:

• Ubuntu 6.06 LTS for PCs
• Ubuntu 6.06 LTS for 64-bit PCs
• Ubuntu 6.06 LTS for Macs
• Kubuntu 6.06 LTS for PCs
• Kubuntu 6.06 LTS for 64-bit PCs
• Kubuntu 6.06 LTS for Macs

[Discuss]

The Ubuntu Desktop gave me the easiest install of any operating system I’ve ever installed. After burning the CD, I simply popped in my test system, answered a few mindless questions — such as what time zone was I in — and inside of ten minutes I had a working and connected to the Internet. That’s impressive.

To do this, instead of the kitchen sink approach that, say, OpenSUSE 10.1 takes to software, Ubuntu only installs a pre-selected set of software by default.

The Ubuntu software pack includes such popular choices as OpenOffice 2.02, for office work; Firefox 1.503 for Web browsing; GIMP 2.2 for graphics; Evolution 2.6.1 for email; and GAIM 1.5.1 for instant messaging. If you want more, or a different program, you can use the Synaptic Package Manager to get other programs or plug-ins.

As commercial vendors move into the enterprise arena (Red Hat and SUSE come to mind), they have struggled to keep in touch with their vibrant developer communities. (Though the openSUSE Project seems to be faring better than the Fedora Project in terms of community strength.)

We posed this scenario to Shuttleworth, who was resistant to a similar fate befalling Canonical. He cited the main difference between Canonical and the other commercial vendors’ approaches as being in the core revenue model. Red Hat, SUSE, Mandriva, and the like depend on licensing and support fees for revenue. Canonical, on the other hand, will depend solely on support for revenue. Which, Shuttleworth explained, means Canonical will continue to rely on the community as a development and design resource. Therefore, he added, Canonical will strive to keep that relationship very strong.

“Ubuntu is in my mind the emergence of a second generation of Linux platform or Linux distribution. [It’s] built not on the idea that Linux should look like proprietary software, but that Linux should really deliver what free software can deliver. I should put that slightly differently: Ubuntu aims to deliver the real promise of free software, and that spans a number of different areas.”

The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the release of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, codenamed “Dapper Drake”. This release includes both installable Desktop CDs and alternate text-mode installation CDs for several architectures, for Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu.

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default, every other package you can imagine available with a few clicks from a global network of mirrors, and professional commercial technical support from Canonical Ltd and hundreds of other companies around the world.

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS will be the first Ubuntu release with a long-term support cycle: free security updates and commercial technical support will be available for three years on the desktop, and five years on the server.

Read all about it:

• The community release announcement
• The press release
• The download page

[Discuss]

Mark Shuttleworth is about to make history again.

Four years ago, he became the second human in history to journey into space as a “tourist.” Now, closer to home, he’s expected to make a mark with the release of Ubuntu Dapper Drake, which may well challenge enterprise Linux frontrunners Red Hat and Novell and change the enterprise Linux landscape.