Announcing the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

By boredandblogging | Published: 2010-04-22

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) Desktop and Server Editions and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server for Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) and Amazon’s EC2, as well as Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition. Codenamed "Lucid Lynx", 10.04 LTS continues Ubuntu’s proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.

We consider this release candidate to be complete, stable, and suitable for testing by any user.

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Desktop Edition and Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition continue the trend of ever-faster boot speeds, with improved startup times and a streamlined, smoother boot experience.

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server Edition provides even better integration of the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud, with its install-time cloud setup.

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server for UEC and EC2 brings the power and stability of the Ubuntu Server Edition to cloud computing, whether you’re using Amazon EC2 or your own Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud.

The Ubuntu 10.04 family of variants, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and Mythbuntu, also reach beta status today.

The final release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS is scheduled for 29 April 2010 and will be supported for three years on desktops and five years on servers.

Before installing or upgrading to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, please review the instructions and caveats in the release notes:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/1004

In addition, there are a small number of known bugs in the release candidate that will be fixed before the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS release, but warrant highlighting for your attention:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/1004overview#Known%20issues

About The Release Candidate
—————————————-

The purpose of the Release Candidate is to solicit one last round of testing before the final release. Here are ways that you can help:

  • Upgrade from Ubuntu 8.04 LTS or Ubuntu 9.10 to the Release Candidate by following the instructions in the release notes referenced above.
  • Participate in installation testing using the Release Candidate CD images, by following the testing and reporting instructions at http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/ISO

Desktop features
————————

Social from the start: We now feature built-in integration with Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook, and other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel.

New Design: Cleaner and faster boot, new notification area, new themes, new icons, and new wallpaper bring a dramatically updated look and feel to Ubuntu.

Ubuntu One: Synchronize any folder in your home directory, publish files to share with the Internet directly from your Ubuntu desktop, manage more sync settings with the Ubuntu One Preferences application, use Rhythmbox to choose from millions of songs available for purchase in the Ubuntu One Music Store. Learn more at:

http://one.ubuntu.com/blog

Server features
———————-

Cloud computing: The Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud installer has been vastly improved in order to support alternative installation topologies. UEC components are now automatically discovered and registered, even when the storage controller, cluster controller and walrus are installed on different servers. Finally, UEC is now powered by the latest Eucalyptus version 1.6.2.

UEC and EC2: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS continues the tradition of official Ubuntu Server image releases for UEC and for Amazon’s EC2, giving you everything you need for rapid deployment of Ubuntu instances in a cloud computing environment. UEC images, and information on running Ubuntu 10.04 on EC2, are available at:

http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/10.04/rc

Stability and security: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS brings many improvements over Ubuntu 8.04 LTS to keep your servers safe and secure for the next five years, including AppArmor profiles for many key services, kernel hardening, and an easy-to-configure firewall.

Ubuntu Netbook features
———————————-

Ubuntu Netbook Edition is optimised to run on Intel atom based netbooks. It includes a new consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily get on-line and use their favourite applications. This interface is optimised for a retail sales environment.

It includes the same faster boot times and improved boot experience as Ubuntu desktop.

Ubuntu Netbook on ARM
——————————-

The ARM optimised variant of Ubuntu Netbook comes with a lightweight application selection tailored specifically for ARM deployments, including a web-based office and mail solution and a launcher that works with and without graphics acceleration.

Kubuntu features
————————

Kubuntu 10.04 LTS will be the first LTS to feature KDE 4 Platform and Applications. KDE 4 has come a long way since its early releases and is now suitable for the high demands of LTS users. Being an LTS we have focused on bug fixing and stability for this release, but we did find time to add features such as touchpad configuration, Firefox KDE integration, Kubuntu notification improvements, and cross-desktop systray menu standardisation. Kubuntu features the Plasma Desktop while Kubuntu Netbook Remix comes out of preview status with the Plasma Netbook workspace.

See https://wiki.kubuntu.org/LucidLynx/RC/Kubuntu for more details.

Edubuntu features
————————-

Edubuntu 10.04 includes many new features, updates and fixes. Some highlights include:

LTSP and the Ubuntu Netbook Remix interface can now be installed from the Live DVD right after system installation. The disc also features Live LTSP, which allows you to try out LTSP without making any permanent changes to your machine.

New and updated software, including a new menu editor for menus that can be applied to user profiles. GBrainy is a new program in the Edubuntu suite that excercises your brain.

A new icon theme which uses more descriptive icons, a new wallpaper and boot splash screen as well as more subtle window theming that is easier on the eyes.

Mythbuntu features
—————————

Mythbuntu 10.04 introduces MythTV 0.23. This new version is significantly faster and should feel more responsive and stable than older versions. It also integrates better into the OS with better support for things like ConsoleKit and Upstart.

Please see http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Release_Notes_-_0.23 for more details about changes introduced in 0.23.

See http://mythbuntu.org/10.04/rc for information about the Mythbuntu beta release.

A more complete tour of the features new in 10.04 LTS can be found at http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/1004overview

About Ubuntu
——————

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, netbooks and servers, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional services including support are available from Canonical and hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support

To Get the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Release Candidate
——————————————————————-

To upgrade to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Release Candidate from Ubuntu 9.10 or Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, follow these instructions:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LucidUpgrades

Or, to perform a new installation or try out 10.04 LTS "live" from CD, download the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Release Candidate here (choose the mirror closest to you):

Africa:

* http://bw.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Botswana)
* http://ls.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Lesotho)
* http://mz.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Mozambique)
* http://na.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Namibia)
* http://ubuntu.mirror.ac.za/ubuntu-release/10.04 (South Africa)

Asia:

* http://ubunturelease.hnsdc.com/10.04 (India)
* http://ubuntutym2.u-toyama.ac.jp/ubuntu/10.04 (Japan)
* http://ubuntu.qualitynet.net/releases/10.04 (Kuwait)
* http://ftp.mtu.ru/pub/ubuntu/releases/10.04 (Russian Federation)
* http://mirror.yandex.ru/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Russian Federation)
* http://ubuntu.mirrors.isu.net.sa/releases/10.04 (Saudi Arabia)
* http://ftp.linux.org.tr/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Turkey)

Europe:

* http://ubuntu.ipacct.com/releases/10.04 (Bulgaria)
* http://hr.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Croatia)
* http://mirrors.dotsrc.org/ubuntu-cd/10.04 (Denmark)
* http://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Estonia)
* http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/mirrors/releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Finland)
* http://ftp.oleane.net/ubuntu-cd/10.04 (France)
* http://ubuntu.mirror.tudos.de/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Germany)
* http://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/ubuntu.iso/10.04 (Germany)
* http://speglar.simnet.is/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Iceland)
* http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Ireland)
* http://releases.ubuntu.fastbull.org/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Italy)
* http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/10.04 (Netherlands)
* http://no.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Norway)
* http://ftp.vectranet.pl/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Poland)
* http://mirrors.fe.up.pt/pub/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Portugal)
* http://mirrors.xservers.ro/ubuntu/releases/10.04 (Romania)
* http://ftp.antik.sk/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Slovakia)
* http://ubuntu.cica.es/releases/10.04 (Spain)
* http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Sweden)
* http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/ubuntu-cdimage/10.04 (Switzerland)

North America:

* http://archaea.its.sfu.ca/mirror/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Canada)
* http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Canada)
* http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs/10.04 (United States)
* http://ubuntu.cs.utah.edu/releases/10.04 (United States)
* http://ubuntu-releases.cs.umn.edu/10.04 (United States)
* http://www.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (United States)

Oceania/Australia:

* http://ubuntu-releases.optus.net/10.04 (Australia)
* http://ftp.citylink.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (New Zealand)
* http://mirror.ihug.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (New Zealand)

South America:

* http://ubuntu.c3sl.ufpr.br/releases/10.04 (Brazil)
* http://espelhos.edugraf.ufsc.br/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Brazil)
* http://www.las.ic.unicamp.br/pub/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Brazil)

Rest of the world:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Great Britain)

Please download using Bittorrent if possible. See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BitTorrent for more information about using BitTorrent.

Feedback and Participation
—————————————

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at

http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help turn this Release Candidate into the best release of Ubuntu ever. Please note that, where possible, we prefer that bugs be reported using the tools provided, rather than by visiting Launchpad directly. Instructions can be found at

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but are not sure, first try asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel on FreeNode, on the Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu forums:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/

More Information
————————

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this preview release on our website, IRC channel and wiki. If you are new to Ubuntu, please visit:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu’s very low volume announcement list at:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce

[Discuss the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on the Forum]

Originally sent to the ubuntu-announce Mailing List by Steve Langasek on Thu Apr 22 16:32:15 BST 2010

Ubuntu / Launchpad Single-Sign-On Now Open Source

By boredandblogging | Published: 2010-04-21

Jono Bacon (Ubuntu Community Manager) announced on his blog:-

Some time back we made Launchpad available as Open Source, and we have gone on to see a wonderful and thriving Launchpad development community flourish there.

One component in particular that was not made available as Open Source, was the Canonical Identity Provider which is used by the Launchpad Single Sign On and Ubuntu Single Sign on facilities. I am pleased to announce that we are now able to provide this code under an AGPL3 license. Thanks to Stuart Metcalfe who has been coordinating the technical and licensing work to be able to contribute this change.

You can grab the code from this Launchpad project page.

LoCo Stories: the Asturian team drives the Asturian Language Academy migration to Ubuntu

By boredandblogging | Published: 2010-04-20

Spain has a rich language diversity. While the main official language is Spanish, there are several regions in which it coexists with others with the same or similar degrees of official recognition. These are Basque, spoken in the Basque Country; Catalan, spoken in Catalonia, the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands; and Galician, spoken in Galicia.

Asturian is yet another language spoken in the region of Asturies, in the North of Spain, and it is special in the sense that it does not enjoy official status but there is a regional law that contemplates its promotion and protection. However, this still means that there are no public or private initiatives to make it available in IT and the newer technologies.

Enter the Ubuntu Asturian LoCo.

Born from within a group of volunteers in Softastur, a mixture between a LUG and a translation group in the Asturies region, they coordinate all the activites in the many Open Source projects in which they participate, Ubuntu being their main focus. They are a very active bunch, organizing events every couple of weeks, mainly install parties, but also presentations in schools and Ubuntu installations on Internet computers in local pubs. But their enormous translation activity is what is truly impressive: one of their members was the top Launchpad translator for 2 years in a row, and 3 more were regularly on the top ten. They are our true translations legends.

Most remarkably, their effort, Ubuntu, and Launchpad have converged in a powerful combination to produce the first OS ever in Asturian language.

But not being known for resting on their laurels, the Asturian crew have also been the driving force behind the subject of today’s LoCo story: the migration of the Asturian Language Academy to Ubuntu. They are working together with this regional government institution to migrate their equipment to Ubuntu. A move that sets an important milestone in the introduction of Ubuntu in the regional government of Asturies, to be hopefully followed by other governmental bodies.

The event that marked the start of the migration consisted in a press conference on Friday 9th April, run by the Asturian Language Institute and Softastur, in which they announced the project to the media and where I had the pleasure to participate representing Canonical, Ubuntu and Ubuntu Translations.

The main topic covered the collaboration between Softastur and the Language Institute in this migration, along with the concept of free software, Ubuntu and its philosophy. Another important aspect were translations, how Ubuntu could be translated into almost any language and the possibilities this opened for minority languages. The event was then closed with a demonstration of Ubuntu in Asturian. There was good press coverage: it was broadcasted by two regional TV stations, and several newspapers, radio stations and a news agency attended and reported on the event.

This is just a sample of the projects they are running, but a very inspiring one to all other Ubuntu LoCo teams and Open Source advocates around. If you happen to meet them, do ask them about their other ideas, and in true Ubuntu spirit, make sure to give them a hug!

Links

Do you have an interesting LoCo story to tell? If you have organized an event, performed some work/advocacy in your local community, have built some resources, performed meetings or installfests, please email David (david.planella AT ubuntu DOT com) or check out https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoStories. Do remember to send a picture to accompany the story!

Ubuntu Turkey LoCo Team Interviews Canonical CTO, Matt Zimmerman

By boredandblogging | Published: 2010-04-20


UT: What are your first impressions of Ä°stanbul?

MZ: My first impressions of the city, as I rode from the airport, were of the mild weather, and the densely populated hills. This is the most populous city I have visited, and it definitely “feels” as big as it is.

UT: Can your briefly tell us what did you present in FSF days?

MZ: I gave an overview of the Ubuntu project and its origins, then explained some of the challenges we face and how we meet them, and also a little bit about what is to come in the future of Ubuntu.

I understand that the talk was recorded, and a video will be made available at some point for people who could not attend the conference.

UT: Where do you see yourself in relation to Free Software and Open Source, now and in the past?

MZ: Before Canonical and Ubuntu, I was very active in the Debian project, which is where I first contributed to the free software community. Debian is where I learned how the free software world works, and continues to be very important to my work in Ubuntu as well. Professionally, I previously worked for a number of technology start-ups based in the US. In my work, I have always used free software, but Canonical has been my first opportunity to work for a company whose business is based on free software.

UT: What are the targets and the plans of Ubuntu project in five years?

MZ: Ubuntu is a vehicle for the expression of free software in people’s lives, so to some extent, the goals of Ubuntu are the goals of free software.

I think that free software must synthesize people’s experience of the web and the desktop. The divide between these two technological realms is limiting free software innovation by fragmenting the ecosystem. Along the way, we will need to resolve questions of freedom and autonomy on the web, and enable the community to embrace the web in ways which have not been possible yet.

We will also need to find ways to employ free software across a wide range of computing devices, not just traditional “computers” but handheld devices, entertainment appliances, and the like. People are doing more and more of their computing on these systems, rather than on PCs.

A key goal for Ubuntu specifically is to enable Canonical to become profitable, so that the Ubuntu project can continue to benefit from Canonical sponsorship.

UT: Ubuntu makes radical changes like moving the window buttons to the left side and removing Gimp from default applications. How do you decide those changes? Do you evaluate all relevant factors like the community’s opinion?

MZ: Decisions in Ubuntu are made in various ways, depending on the circumstances, and these two examples are quite different from each other.

In the case of GIMP, the decision was made by the desktop team. It is their responsibility to constantly reassess which desktop applications will provide the best experience for our users, and they do consider opinions from the user community both before and after these changes. In this case, they also consulted with the GIMP project themselves, who also support the change.

A key constraint for the desktop team is the size of the installation CD, and they must decide how best to use this limited resource. Their rationale was that GIMP is more suitable for complex graphics work, while most users require only basic functionality (such as cropping, resizing and so on). By encouraging users to download GIMP if they need it, they were able to free more space on the CD for applications which could benefit a greater range of people, such as the video application PiTiVi.

On the other hand, the decision to move the window buttons was made by Mark Shuttleworth. He explained that he wanted this in order to be able to use the space on the right side of the window for other things in the future. There have been many well-considered objections to this, both from users and from Ubuntu contributors, but he has decided to press ahead with the change anyway.

UT: Will Canonical make alliances with computer vendors for Ubuntu’s being at many computers, for instance are we going to see the computers that have been installed Ubuntu at Ubuntu Shop?

MZ: Canonical already does have such relationships with many computer vendors, particularly Dell, who have been very dedicated in their support for Linux and Ubuntu.

I do not expect that we will see computers in the Ubuntu shop, because Canonical’s expertise is not in manufacturing and selling computers. Instead, we work with OEMs to certify and customize Ubuntu for their computers, which they manufacture and sell through their own channels.

You can find a list of Canonical system builder partners at http://webapps.ubuntu.com/partners/system/ and a community-maintained list of vendors for Ubuntu computers at http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuPre-installed.

UT: Ubuntu One Music Store has been added to Ubuntu One project recently. What are your thoughts about Ubuntu One and the project’s goals?

MZ: I think that Ubuntu One has great potential to provide valuable services for Ubuntu users, and to help sustain the project by earning revenue for Canonical. The music store is a particularly exciting new service which is coming in the 10.04 release. The Ubuntu One team has done a great job in sourcing music without DRM restrictions for the benefit of our users. They haven’t been able to obtain popular music in Ogg Vorbis format yet, but we hope that this will become available at some point in the future.

UT: We have lots of ATI driver complaints. Does Canonical take steps in the direction of ATI drivers?

MZ: I can’t comment on the specific complaints without references. In general, we seek to provide our users with the best experience possible using the software and drivers suitable for inclusion in Ubuntu, and that certainly includes ATI. The ATI driver in Ubuntu 10.04 has gone through many revisions in order to fix bugs and provide support for a wide range of hardware.

UT: Do you have plans for cell phones? In after days, are we going to play music and videos or view pictures that we have transferred to the cloud from our computers by connecting to Ubuntu One account?

MZ: We recognize that people do more and more of their computing on mobile devices, and are exploring ways to provide a good mobile experience for Ubuntu users. For example, we just released an (open source) iPhone application which will synchronize your contacts between Ubuntu and the iPhone via Ubuntu One.

UT: Linus Torvalds has said that Linux kernel is getting bloated day by day and losing its performance, and Red Hat refused that claim. What does Canonical think?

MZ: I think that the Linux kernel meets the needs of Ubuntu users very well overall. Performance is important to our users, but not as important as some other considerations, such as having device drivers for their hardware.

UT: Richard M. Stallman had criticized Miguel de Icaza for his participation to Open Source Lab which has been founded by Microsoft. What do you think about that? And in the context of this subject how do you evaluate Mono Project.

MZ: Miguel and I have met, but I don’t know him well enough to comment on his motivation for doing this work. I don’t know that Richard does either. I will say that I think it’s shameful when members of our community are publicly attacked in this way, rather than opening a dialog to discuss the problem and its resolution.

With regard to Mono, I think it is a valuable piece of free software for us to have. However, there are risks involved in choosing the .NET platform to develop free software, because it is under the ultimate control of Microsoft. Microsoft could take advantage of this to attack free software in various ways. This would be a logical act of self-preservation, and consistent with their previous actions and statements of intent.

[Discuss the Ubuntu Turkey Team Interviews Canonical CTO, Matt Zimmerman on the Forum]

Originally posted by Yayin Tarihi here on Fri Apr 16, 2010

Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter #189

By boredandblogging | Published: 2010-04-18

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter. This is Issue #189 for the week April 4th – April 17th, 2010 and is available here.

In this issue we cover:

* Archive frozen for preparation of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
* Ubuntu Open Week
* New Loco Council Members Announced
* New operators appointed on #ubuntu, #ubuntu-offtopic and #kubuntu
* Reminder: Regional Membership Boards – Restaffing
* 1st Annual Ubuntu Women World Play Day Competition Announced
* New Ubuntu Member
* Ubuntu Stats
* Lucid Parties
* Hungarian Loco Team shares Release Party Badges
* Lucid Release parties in Norway
* Ubuntu-ni presentation at American College
* Ubuntu Honduras Visited UNAH-VS
* Minor Team Reporting Change
* Launchpad News
* In the Press & Blogosphere
* Out of beta: 40 Ubuntu-based Turn“Key virtual appliances
* Full Circle Podcast #4: It’s Everyone Else’s Fault
* Ubuntu-UK podcast: Hear Em Rave
* Upcoming Meetings & Events
* Updates & Security
* and much, much more

This issue of The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

* Amber Graner
* John Crawford
* Craig A. Eddy
* Dave Bush
* Chris Johnston
* Liraz Siri
* And many others

If you have a story idea for the Weekly News, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki!

Except where otherwise noted, content in this issue is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License BY SA Creative Commons License