Ubuntu - community

Ubuntu 9.04 Technical Overview

root — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:37:37 +0000

Ubuntu 9.04 Beta

Table of Contents

Introduction
Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.10
Download
New features since Ubuntu 8.10
Testing wanted
Known issues
Reporting bugs
Participate in Ubuntu
More information

For testing only! This is a pre-release version of Ubuntu and is almost ready for general use. If it is important that your computer run reliably please continue to use the current stable release (8.10) until this version is ready on April 23rd, 2009.

Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.10

To upgrade from Ubuntu 8.10 on a desktop system, press Alt+F2 and type in "update-manager -d" (without the quotes) into the command box. Update Manager should open up and tell you: New distribution release '9.04' is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 8.10 on a server system: install the update-manager-core package if it is not already installed; edit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades and set Prompt=normal; launch the upgrade tool with the command sudo do-release-upgrade; and follow the on-screen instructions.

Download

Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04/ (Ubuntu Desktop and Server)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/edubuntu/9.04/ (Ubuntu Education Edition)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/kubuntu/9.04/ (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04/beta/ (Ubuntu Netbook Remix and Ubuntu MID)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/9.04/beta/ (Xubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/9.04/beta/ (UbuntuStudio)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/9.04/beta/ (Mythbuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/9.04/beta/ (Ubuntu ARM)

Local mirrors are also available:

Africa

http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-releases/ (South Africa)
http://bw.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Botswana)
http://ls.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Lesotho)
http://mz.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Mozambique)
http://na.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Namibia)
http://sz.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Swaziland)

Asia

http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/Linux/ubuntu-releases/ (Japan)
http://debian.nctu.edu.tw/ubuntu-releases/ (Taiwan)
ftp://dl2.foss-id.web.id/iso/ubuntu/releases/ (Indonesia)
ftp://ftp.chu.edu.tw/Linux/Ubuntu/releases/ (Taiwan)
ftp://ftp.corbina.net/pub/Linux/ubuntu-cd/ (Russian Federation)
http://ftp.cs.pu.edu.tw/Linux/Ubuntu/ubuntu-cd/ (Taiwan)

Europe

http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-releases/ (Germany)
http://ie.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Ireland)
http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/ubuntu-cdimage/ (Switzerland)
http://ubuntu.ipacct.com/releases/ (Bulgaria)
http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Sweden)
http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/ (Netherlands)

North America

http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs/ (United States)
http://linux.nssl.noaa.gov/releases/ (United States)
http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/ubuntu-releases/ (Canada)
http://mirror.uoregon.edu/ubuntu/releases/ (United States)
http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/ (United States)
http://mirrors.ccs.neu.edu/releases.ubuntu.com/ (United States)

Oceania/Australia

http://ftp.citylink.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/ (New Zealand)
http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu-releases/ (Australia)
http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/releases/ (Australia)
http://mirror.netspace.net.au/pub/ubuntu/releases/ (Australia)
http://nz2.releases.ubuntu.com/ (New Zealand)
http://ubuntu-releases.optus.net/ (Australia)

South America

http://mirror.globo.com/ubuntu/releases/ (Brazil)
http://mirror.pop-sc.rnp.br/mirror/ubuntu/ (Brazil)
http://mirror.pop-sc.rnp.br/mirror/ubuntu-releases/ (Brazil)
http://ubuntu.c3sl.ufpr.br/releases/ (Brazil)
http://cl.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Chile)
http://espelhos.edugraf.ufsc.br/ubuntu-releases/ (Brazil)

New features since Ubuntu 8.10

These features are showcased for your attention. Please test them and report any bugs you find on Launchpad:

http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu

GNOME 2.26

Ubuntu 9.04 Beta includes the latest GNOME 2.26 desktop environment with a number of great new features, including:

brasero, developed by Philippe Rouquier and Luis Medinas, as an all-in-one CD burning application

Improved handling of multiple monitors with an updated gnome-display-properties by Federico Mena Quintero.

X.Org server 1.6

The latest X.Org server, version 1.6, is available in Jaunty. A number of video cards have been transitioned to free drivers as part of this update.

The -ati driver has received numerous fixes and performance improvements. It now uses the EXA acceleration method by default. 2D acceleration support for the newest R6xx/R7xx family of cards is also available. 3D support is available up to R5xx cards for -ati. An updated -fglrx proprietary driver is available for R6xx/R7xx users who need 3D support.

New style for notifications and notification preferences

Included in Jaunty is a simple menu which can be used to set preferences for notification icons, such as where they pop up on the taskbar. Ubuntu 9.04 beta also includes a whole new notification system, as shown in the Flash movie here:

http://www.markshuttleworth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/jaunty904_notifications_example1_web_092.swf

Boot performance

A number of improvements to the Ubuntu start-up process bring significantly improved boot performance to Ubuntu 9.04 Beta. Please open bugs if you experience any degradation, and tag them with boot-performance.

Linux kernel 2.6.28

Ubuntu 9.04 Beta includes the 2.6.28-11.37 kernel based on 2.6.28.8.

Ext4 filesystem support

Ubuntu 9.04 Beta supports the option of installing the new ext4 file system. ext3 will remain the default filesystem for Jaunty, and we will consider ext4 as the default for the next release based on user feedback. There has been extensive discussion about the reliability of applications running on ext4 in the face of sudden system outages. Applications that use the conventional approach of writing data to a temporary file and renaming it to its final location will have their reliability expectations met in Ubuntu 9.04 beta; further discussion is ongoing in the kernel community.

Ext4 support in GRUB was provided by Colin King. If you choose to upgrade your / or /boot filesystem in place from ext2 or ext3 to ext4 (as documented on the ext4 wiki), then you must also use the grub-install command after upgrading to Ubuntu 9.04 Beta to reinstall your boot loader. If you do not do this, then the version of GRUB installed in your boot sector will not be able to read the kernel from the ext4 filesystem and your system will fail to boot.

Ext4 support in gparted has been provided by Curtis Gedak.

Cloud computing

Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition makes it easy to experiment with cloud computing. Eucalyptus, an open source technology which is included in Ubuntu as a technology preview, enables you to use your own servers to deploy, experiment and test your own private cloud that matches the Amazon EC2 API. You can dynamically create virtual machines, configure multiple clusters into a single Cloud and even provide an EBS (elastic block storage) equivalent and an S3 compatible storage manager.

Turn-key mail servers

The dovecot-postfix package in Ubuntu 9.04 Beta provides an easy-to-deploy mail server stack, with support for SMTP, POP3, and IMAP with TLS and SASL.

dovecot-postfix was packaged by Ante Karamatić.

Testing wanted

There are a number of specific areas of focus in Ubuntu 9.04 where the developers could use from more feedback from users. Read on to find ways that you can use the beta to help to improve the Ubuntu 9.04 final release.

Suspend/resume testing

The Ubuntu kernel team has been gathering information about what laptops do and don't suspend and resume correctly. If you are running Ubuntu on a laptop and would like to participate to help make sure the kernel team has accurate information about Ubuntu's support for your hardware, please see KernelTeam/SuspendResumeTesting.

Hotkey testing

Hotkey handling has been a source of difficulty in the past two Ubuntu releases. Significant improvement has been made to the range of hotkeys supported in Ubuntu 9.04, but more user feedback is still needed, to help identify those hotkeys that are not yet supported. If you have a keyboard with a hotkey that doesn't function as you expect, please see Hotkeys/Troubleshooting for directions on reporting this problem in the right place.

Kerneloops

With the Ubuntu 9.04 Beta release, we invite you to install and test the kerneloops package. kerneloops is a daemon that collects kernel crash information and then submits the extracted signature to the kerneloops.org website for statistical analysis and presentation to the Linux kernel developers. Additionally, a bug report regarding the crash in question will be filed within Launchpad for tracking purposes.

Known issues

As is to be expected at this stage of the release process, there are several known bugs that users are likely to run into with Ubuntu 9.04 Beta. We have documented them here for your convenience along with any known workarounds, so that you don't need to spend time reporting these bugs again:

A bug in an Ubuntu-specific patch to X server logging code will cause X sessions to crash after they have been running for longer than a day. Users encountering this bug should upgrade to the latest version of the xserver-xorg-core package, which will be available immediately after the beta release. 328035.
Some users of Intel i8x5 video chipsets are unable to load X, getting an error message of "Fatal server error: Couldn't bind memory for BO front buffer". As a workaround, use the VESA driver by logging into a text console, running "sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf", and adding the line Driver "vesa" to the Device section. An alternative (experimental) workaround is to use the UXA acceleration method (see below). If in doubt, please do not upgrade to Ubuntu 9.04 Beta yet. 304871
Users of Intel video chipsets have reported performance regressions in Ubuntu 8.10 compared with previous releases. (252094) Although these performance issues have not been resolved by default in Ubuntu 9.04, a new experimental acceleration architecture option, DRI2/UXA, is available for Intel graphics users. Our testing has found this provides significant performance improvements for many users, but has also shown risk of severe stability problems, thus we are not yet providing to the general public. You can opt-in to enable this by running "sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf", and adding Option "AccelMethod" "UXA" to the Device section of your xorg.conf. Users wishing to maximize stability should stay with the standard default acceleration method, "EXA".
Ctrl-Alt-Backspace is now disabled, to reduce issues experienced by users who accidentally trigger the key combo. Users who do want this function can enable it in their xorg.conf, or via the command dontzap --disable.
Ubuntu 8.10 systems installed from the desktop CD mistakenly had the lilo package installed as well as grub, although grub was used for booting. If you use the recommended Update Manager upgrade method, then the lilo package will be removed if it does not appear to be used. If you upgrade using some other method and are sure that you only use the GRUB boot loader, then we recommend that you remove the lilo package manually. 314004
On the timezone map in the desktop CD installer, the markers for cities are displaced from their correct locations. Users should be aware of this issue when selecting their timezone. This bug will be resolved for daily builds immediately after the 9.04 Beta. 334284
If any filesystems are mounted when starting the desktop CD installer, then a dialog labelled "Unmount partitions that are in use?" will be presented. Unfortunately, the buttons on this dialog box are poorly named: "Continue" attempts to unmount filesystems and then repeats, which will often just display the same dialog box again, while "Go Back" ignores this condition and continues. This will be corrected for the final release. 346589
On desktop installations from USB disks, such as typical Ubuntu Netbook Remix installations, the installer displays a warning about the fact that the installation medium itself (often /dev/sdb) is mounted. This warning is unnecessary, because the fact that it is mounted is completely normal, and does not interfere with the user's ability to install the system to devices other than the USB disk itself. You should ignore this warning; note that in order to do so you will need to select "Go Back", due to the issue above. 347916
In some cases, the "Prepare Disk Space" screen in the desktop installer displays obviously incorrect partition sizes in its graphical disk previews. This is only an error in the preview and does not reflect a problem with the partitioning changes that will actually be applied. 336203
The mythtv frontend in mythbuntu fails to render fonts correctly when using video drivers other than the Intel or closed-source nVidia drivers. This issue is expected to be resolved for the final 9.04 release. 341898
When installing to a system with another OS previously installed, the migration assistant will offer to migrate settings and documents even when the entire disk is being overwritten. The migration assistant will not be able to preserve documents when using the entire disk for installation. 339898
Users who were running eCryptfs on the Jaunty Alpha milestones are advised to re-encrypt any encrypted files. An upstream 2.6.28 kernel bug caused random kernel memory to be written to eCryptfs encrypted file headers. The fix has been applied and deployed to Ubuntu users in the Jaunty Beta kernel. Ubuntu eCryptfs users running this kernel should re-encrypt each encrypted file using /usr/bin/ecryptfs-rewrite-file. For more information, please see ecryptfs-rewrite-file(1). See 345544.
Users of Compaq Smart Array controllers will be unable to remove existing LVM volumes using the partitioner in the installer. 341928
The mdadm package in Ubuntu 9.04 Beta will fail to assemble RAID10 arrays on boot. Other types of RAID are not affected; investigation of this issue is ongoing. 316670
Booting degraded RAID may fail in virtual-machine setups where the host is running with cpu frequency scaling enabled, due to a non-deterministic race condition, 334994. Booting degraded RAID on physical hardware should not be affected, since the cpu frequency is constant through the hard disk detection process.
Upgrading a desktop system using an ATI video chipset with the fglrx binary-only driver may result in a warning that the driver needs to be replaced. There is a bug in the driver replacement logic, so if you see this prompt, please cancel the upgrade until this is fixed, which will happen immediately after the beta release.

Reporting bugs

It should come as no surprise that this beta release of Jaunty Jackalope contains other bugs. Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. Please report bugs using the tools provided.

If you want to help out with bugs, the Bug Squad is always looking for help.

Participate in Ubuntu

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/

More information

You can find out more about Ubuntu on the Ubuntu website and Ubuntu wiki.

To sign up for future Ubuntu development announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's development announcement list at:

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

Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 6

root — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:19:24 +0000

Table of Contents

Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 5

root — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:24:57 +0000

Table of Contents

Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 4

root — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:53:48 +0000

Table of Contents

Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 2

root — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:52:10 +0000

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction
1. Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.10
New Features in Jaunty
Download Alpha 2
Known Issues
Reporting Bugs
Participate in Ubuntu
More Information
Credits

Introduction

The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. The Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 2 is the second alpha release of Ubuntu 9.04, bringing with it the earliest new features for the next version of Ubuntu.

Introduction to Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

root — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:40:09 +0000

Table of Contents

Introduction
Download
Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.04
New Features since Ubuntu 8.04
Known Issues
Participate in Ubuntu
Help Spread the Word About Ubuntu 8.10
More Information

Introduction

The Ubuntu team is happy to bring you the latest and greatest software the open source community has to offer. This is their latest result: the Ubuntu 8.10 release candidate, which brings a host of excellent new features.

For Kubuntu see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/IntrepidIbex/RC/Kubuntu
For Xubuntu see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/IntrepidIbex/RC/Xubuntu

Download

Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10 (Ubuntu)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/edubuntu/8.10 (Ubuntu Education Edition)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/kubuntu/8.10 (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/8.10/rc (Xubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/8.10/rc (UbuntuStudio)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/8.10/rc (Mythbuntu)

Local mirrors are also available:

Africa

http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-releases/ (South Africa)
http://bw.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Botswana)
http://ls.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Lesotho)
http://mz.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Mozambique)
http://na.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Namibia)
http://sz.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Swaziland)

Asia

http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/Linux/ubuntu-releases/ (Japan)
http://debian.nctu.edu.tw/ubuntu-releases/ (Taiwan)
ftp://dl2.foss-id.web.id/iso/ubuntu/releases/ (Indonesia)
ftp://ftp.chu.edu.tw/Linux/Ubuntu/releases/ (Taiwan)
ftp://ftp.corbina.net/pub/Linux/ubuntu-cd/ (Russian Federation)
http://ftp.cs.pu.edu.tw/Linux/Ubuntu/ubuntu-cd/ (Taiwan)

Europe

http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-releases/ (Germany)
http://ie.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Ireland)
http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/ubuntu-cdimage/ (Switzerland)
http://ubuntu.ipacct.com/releases/ (Bulgaria)
http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Sweden)
http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/ (Netherlands)

North America

http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs/ (United States)
http://linux.nssl.noaa.gov/releases/ (United States)
http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/ubuntu-releases/ (Canada)
http://mirror.uoregon.edu/ubuntu/releases/ (United States)
http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/ (United States)
http://mirrors.ccs.neu.edu/releases.ubuntu.com/ (United States)

Oceania/Australia

http://ftp.citylink.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/ (New Zealand)
http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu-releases/ (Australia)
http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/releases/ (Australia)
http://mirror.netspace.net.au/pub/ubuntu/releases/ (Australia)
http://nz2.releases.ubuntu.com/ (New Zealand)
http://ubuntu-releases.optus.net/ (Australia)

South America

http://mirror.globo.com/ubuntu/releases/ (Brazil)
http://mirror.pop-sc.rnp.br/mirror/ubuntu/ (Brazil)
http://mirror.pop-sc.rnp.br/mirror/ubuntu-releases/ (Brazil)
http://ubuntu.c3sl.ufpr.br/releases/ (Brazil)
http://cl.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Chile)
http://espelhos.edugraf.ufsc.br/ubuntu-releases/ (Brazil)

Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.04

To upgrade from Ubuntu 8.04, press Alt+F2 and type in "update-manager -d" (without the quotes) into the command box. Update Manager should open up and tell you: New distribution release '8.10' is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

New Features since Ubuntu 8.04

GNOME 2.24

Ubuntu brings you the newest GNOME 2.24 desktop environment with tons of bug-fixes and new features, some of which include:

Nautilus file manager has tab support (by Christian Neumair) and Eject icons for removable drives in Places sidebar (by Stefano Teso, Cosimo Cecchi, Christian Neumair, and others).
File Roller archive manager now supports ALZ, RZIP, CAB, TAR.7Z file types also (by Paolo Bacchilega and Changwoo Ryu).

X.Org 7.4

X.Org 7.4, the latest stable version of X.Org, is available in Intrepid. This release brings much better support for hot-pluggable input devices such as tablets, keyboards, and mice. At the same time this will allow the great majority of users to run without a /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. A new failsafe X is introduced, to give better tools for troubleshooting X startup failures.

Two of the older nvidia binary drivers are not available for X.Org 7.4 yet, so users of these drivers will be automatically switched to the corresponding open source drivers.

Linux kernel 2.6.27

Ubuntu 8.10 RC includes Linux kernel 2.6.27, a significant release with better hardware support and numerous bug-fixes.

Encrypted private directory

The ecryptfs-utils package was recently promoted to Ubuntu main, with support for a secret encrypted folder in your Home Folder (by Michael Halcrow, Dustin Kirkland, and Daniel Baumann).

You can help test this new feature by going to Applications → Accessories → Terminal and typing:

sudo aptitude install ecryptfs-utils
ecryptfs-setup-private

Guest session

The User Switcher panel applet (package fast-user-switch-applet) now provides an extra entry for starting a Guest session (by Martin Pitt). This creates a temporary password-less user account with restricted privileges: the account cannot access any users' home directories, nor permanently store data. This is sufficiently safe to lend your laptop to someone else for a quick email check.

Network Manager 0.7

Ubuntu 8.10 RC ships Network Manager 0.7 (by Dan Williams and others), which comes with long-expected features, such as:

system wide settings (i.e., no need to log in in order to get a connection)
management of 3G connections (GSM/CDMA)
management of multiple active devices at once
management of PPP and PPPOE connections
management of devices with static IP configurations
route management for devices

More information can be found on the Network Manager wiki.

DKMS

DKMS (by Dell) is included in Ubuntu 8.10, allowing kernel drivers to be automatically rebuilt when new kernels are released. This makes it possible for kernel package updates to be made available immediately without waiting for rebuilds of driver packages, and without third-party driver packages becoming out of date when installing these kernel updates.

Samba 3.2

A lot of new features have been added in Samba 3.2 amongst them:

clustered file server support
encrypted network transport
ipv6 support
better integration with the latest version of Microsoft Windows™ clients and servers.

PAM authentication framework

Ubuntu 8.10 RC features a new pam-auth-update tool, which allows simple management of PAM authentication configuration for both desktops and servers (by Steve Langasek). Packages providing PAM modules will be configured automatically, and users can adjust their authentication preferences by running sudo pam-auth-update.

More information can be found in the Ubuntu wiki.

Totem BBC plugin

Ubuntu 8.10 RC features a new plugin for the Totem movie player that fetches free digital content from the BBC. To enable it, start Totem (Applications -> Sound & Video -> Movie Player), enable the plugin (Edit -> Plugins -> BBC content viewer) and select "BBC" from the drop-down labelled "Playlist".

Thanks to the BBC and Collabora for their work developing this feature.

Server Virtualization

python-vm-builder

This is a complete rewrite of ubuntu-vm-builder featuring a better template system, a plugin architecture allowing support for other distributions, front-ends and additional functionalities such as post install task (--exec, --copy) or first boot (--first-boot, --first-login). It provides a compatibility mode with the previous command-line syntax and adds better reporting.

Python-vm-builder allows you to create a new virtual machine in a few minutes without going through the interactive installation process. It can be very useful for developers, software vendors or system administrators. A tutorial is available at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/JeOSVMBuilder

Ubuntu as a Xen guest

Using Ubuntu as a Xen guest is now a supported option included in the standard server kernel and is a choice when building virtual machines with python-vm-builder.

JeOS is now an option in the server installer

In an effort to simplify our build process and avoid confusion when trying to install JeOS on real hardware, JeOS is no longer provided as a separate ISO. Instead, it is an option that is activated on the server installer by pressing F4 on the first screen and selecting the "Install a minimal virtual machine" option.

Notable inclusion in the main repository

The following packages have been included in the main repository and are now supported options that can be of particular interest for server administrators:

Sun's Java OpenJDK 1.6 - an open source implementation of the Java development kit
Apache's Tomcat 6 - A Java servlet container
ClamAV - a virus detection engine that can be coupled to mail servers
SpamAssassin - A spam detection engine that can be coupled to mail servers

Boot degraded raid setting

Traditionally, booting an Ubuntu installation with the root filesystem on a degraded RAID drops the system into a busybox prompt in the initramfs. This is the safest choice as it will prevent any further possible harm to data and let administrator pick what to do, but was causing issues with server hosted in remote locations. A system administrator can now statically configure their machines to continue on booting even if a disk is bad in the array by issuing the following command:

		echo "BOOT_DEGRADED=true" | sudo tee -a /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/mdadm

Additionally, this can be specified on the kernel boot line with the bootdegraded=[true|false] parameter.

Service command now supported

Fedora or Red-Hat administrators will now feel a bit more comfortable using Ubuntu as the service command they had been using to manage daemons is now standard on Ubuntu. In addition to the traditional sudo /etc/init.d/<service> [start|stop|restart] way of managing a process, it is now also possible to use sudo service <service> [start|stop|restart].

In addition, numerous standard services now support the status option so that, e.g., sudo service postfix status will now report if the service is running or not.

OpenLDAP using ''cn=config''

The default installation of the OpenLDAP server now uses the cn=config extension, which allows automatic synchronization between LDAP replicas of configuration changes made.

Service-aware Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw)

Common services now inform ufw of the ports that are recommended for their proper enabling, so the administrator can open them in a single simple command ufw allow <service>.

Known Issues

There are a small number of known bugs that users may run into with Ubuntu 8.10 RC which will be fixed before the final release. We have documented them here for your convenience along with any known workarounds.

For a full list of errata for Ubuntu 8.10, please see the Ubuntu 8.10 release notes.

The Live CD's detection of nVidia hardware incorrectly selects the 'nv' driver even for hardware not supported by that driver, preventing X from running on some systems. This issue will be fixed in daily builds immediately after RC and will be resolved for the Ubuntu 8.10 final release. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/261977
When performing an install from the Ubuntu MID image, the installer will prompt for a username. The username entered must be "ubuntu"; if the username

is changed from "ubuntu", X will not start on the installed system. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/287857

If you want to help with bugs, the Bug Squad is always looking for help.

If you plan to do an installation of the release candidate, be sure to head to the Testing page. With just a few minutes of your time, you can really help to improve Ubuntu. We have two different tests; one takes just a short time, and the other is more thorough.

Participate in Ubuntu

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/

Help Spread the Word About Ubuntu 8.10

A new banner is available that counts down the days until the Ubuntu 8.10 release:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/countdown

You can add the countdown banner to your website to help build excitement for the new release as the date approaches.

More Information

You can find out more about Ubuntu on our website and wiki.

To sign up for future Ubuntu development announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's development announcement list at:

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

8.10 Technical Overview

root — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:38:13 +0000

Table of Contents

Introduction
Download
Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.04
New Features since Ubuntu 8.04
Known Issues
Reporting Bugs
Participate in Ubuntu
Help Spread the Word About Ubuntu 8.10
More Information

Introduction

The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the latest and greatest software the open source community has to offer. This is the Ubuntu 8.10 beta release, which brings a host of excellent new features.

Note: This is a beta release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released on October 30th, 2008.

Download

Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10 (Ubuntu)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/edubuntu/8.10 (Edubuntu add-on)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/kubuntu/8.10 (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/8.10/beta (Xubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/8.10/beta (UbuntuStudio)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/8.10/beta (Mythbuntu)

Local mirrors are also available:

Africa

http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-releases/ (South Africa)
http://bw.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Botswana)
http://ls.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Lesotho)
http://mz.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Mozambique)
http://na.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Namibia)
http://sz.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Swaziland)

Asia

http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/Linux/ubuntu-releases/ (Japan)
http://debian.nctu.edu.tw/ubuntu-releases/ (Taiwan)
ftp://dl2.foss-id.web.id/iso/ubuntu/releases/ (Indonesia)
ftp://ftp.chu.edu.tw/Linux/Ubuntu/releases/ (Taiwan)
ftp://ftp.corbina.net/pub/Linux/ubuntu-cd/ (Russian Federation)
http://ftp.cs.pu.edu.tw/Linux/Ubuntu/ubuntu-cd/ (Taiwan)

Europe

http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-releases/ (Germany)
http://ie.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Ireland)
http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/ubuntu-cdimage/ (Switzerland)
http://ubuntu.ipacct.com/releases/ (Bulgaria)
http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Sweden)
http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/ (Netherlands)

North America

http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs/ (United States)
http://linux.nssl.noaa.gov/releases/ (United States)
http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/ubuntu-releases/ (Canada)
http://mirror.uoregon.edu/ubuntu/releases/ (United States)
http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/ (United States)
http://mirrors.ccs.neu.edu/releases.ubuntu.com/ (United States)

Oceania/Australia

http://ftp.citylink.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/ (New Zealand)
http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu-releases/ (Australia)
http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/releases/ (Australia)
http://mirror.netspace.net.au/pub/ubuntu/releases/ (Australia)
http://nz2.releases.ubuntu.com/ (New Zealand)
http://ubuntu-releases.optus.net/ (Australia)

South America

http://mirror.globo.com/ubuntu/releases/ (Brazil)
http://mirror.pop-sc.rnp.br/mirror/ubuntu/ (Brazil)
http://mirror.pop-sc.rnp.br/mirror/ubuntu-releases/ (Brazil)
http://ubuntu.c3sl.ufpr.br/releases/ (Brazil)
http://cl.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Chile)
http://espelhos.edugraf.ufsc.br/ubuntu-releases/ (Brazil)

Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.04

New Features since Ubuntu 8.04

These features are showcased for your attention. Please test them and report any bugs you find on Launchpad: http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu .

GNOME 2.24

Ubuntu brings you the newest GNOME 2.24 desktop environment with tons of bug-fixes and new features, some of which include:

Nautilus file manager has tab support (by Christian Neumair) and Eject icons for removable drives in Places sidebar (by Stefano Teso, Cosimo Cecchi, Christian Neumair, and others).
File Roller archive manager now supports ALZ, RZIP, CAB, TAR.7Z file types also (by Paolo Bacchilega and Changwoo Ryu).

X.Org 7.4

The fglrx and two of the older nvidia binary drivers are not available for X.Org 7.4 yet, so users of these drivers will be automatically switched to the corresponding open source drivers.

Linux kernel 2.6.27

Ubuntu 8.10 Beta includes Linux kernel 2.6.27, a significant release with better hardware support and numerous bug-fixes.

Encrypted private directory

The ecryptfs-utils package was recently promoted to Ubuntu main, with support for a secret encrypted folder in your Home Folder (by Michael Halcrow, Dustin Kirkland, and Daniel Baumann).

You can help test this new feature by going to Applications → Accessories → Terminal and typing:

sudo aptitude install ecryptfs-utils
ecryptfs-setup-private

Guest session

Network Manager 0.7

Ubuntu 8.10 Beta ships Network Manager 0.7 (by Dan Williams and others), which comes with long-expected features, such as:

system wide settings (i.e., no need to log in in order to get a connection)
management of 3G connections (GSM/CDMA)
management of multiple active devices at once
management of PPP and PPPOE connections
management of devices with static IP configurations
route management for devices

More information can be found on the Network Manager wiki.

DKMS

Samba 3.2

A lot of new features have been added in Samba 3.2 amongst them:

clustered file server support
encrypted network transport
ipv6 support
better integration with the latest version of Microsoft Windows™ clients and servers.

PAM authentication framework

Ubuntu 8.10 Beta features a new pam-auth-update tool, which allows simple management of PAM authentication configuration for both desktops and servers (by Steve Langasek). Packages providing PAM modules will be configured automatically, and users can adjust their authentication preferences by running sudo pam-auth-update.

More information can be found in the Ubuntu wiki.

Totem BBC plugin

Ubuntu 8.10 Beta features a new plugin for the Totem movie player that fetches free digital content from the BBC. To enable it, start Totem (Applications -> Sound & Video -> Movie Player), enable the plugin (Edit -> Plugins -> BBC content viewer) and select "BBC" from the drop-down labelled "Playlist". The feed is fetched from a staging server at the moment so there may be a delay while it is downloaded.

Thanks to the BBC and Collabora for their work developing this feature.

Known Issues

There are several known bugs that users may run into with Ubuntu 8.10 Beta. We have documented them here for your convenience along with any known workarounds.

A problem that could result in corruption of the firmware on Intel GigE ethernet hardware has led to the disabling of the e1000e driver in the Linux kernel included in Ubuntu 8.10 Beta. Ethernet devices that use this driver cannot be used with Ubuntu 8.10 Beta; support for this hardware will be re-enabled in daily builds immediately after Beta and this issue will be resolved for the Ubuntu 8.10 final release. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/263555
Clicking on links in GNOME programs, such as evolution, will not launch firefox automatically due to a bug in a wrapper script used by the firefox-3.0 package. As a workaround, users can launch firefox manually and copy and paste links into the location bar. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/275410
NetworkManager 0.7 as included in Ubuntu 8.10 Beta is not compatible with static network configuration in /etc/network/interfaces. New installations are not affected by this issue because NetworkManager will manage all interfaces by default. Users upgrading from previous Ubuntu releases can work around this issue by disabling NetworkManager at startup. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/256054
When using the Kubuntu LiveCD, the ubiquity installer hangs at the end of the installation instead of prompting you to reboot. Investigation of this issue is ongoing; as a workaround, you can safely reboot to the new system by hand. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/270423
Installing an LTSP server fails with Ubuntu 8.10 beta because the CD is not recognized as an apt source. This will be resolved for the final release. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/276349
The Live CD's detection of nVidia hardware incorrectly selects the 'nv' driver even for hardware not supported by that driver, preventing X from running on some systems. This issue will be fixed in daily builds immediately after Beta and will be resolved for the Ubuntu 8.10 final release. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/261977

Reporting Bugs

Intrepid Ibex Beta has bugs! Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. After reading the bug-reporting guidelines, please report bugs through the Ubuntu bug tracking system.

If you want to help with bugs, the Bug Squad is always looking for help.

If you plan to do an installation of Intrepid Beta, be sure to head to the Testing page. With just a few minutes of your time, you can really help to improve Ubuntu. We have two different tests; one takes just a short time, and the other is more thorough.

Participate in Ubuntu

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/

Help Spread the Word About Ubuntu 8.10

A new banner is available that counts down the days until the Ubuntu 8.10 release:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/countdown

You can add the countdown banner to your website to help build excitement for the new release as the date approaches.

More Information

You can find out more about Ubuntu on our website and wiki.

To sign up for future Ubuntu development announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's development announcement list at:

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

Intrepid Ibex Alpha 6

root — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:12:59 +0000

Table of Contents

Intrepid Ibex Alpha 4

root — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:50:22 +0000

Contents

Contents

Intrepid Ibex Alpha 3

root — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:00:12 +0000

Contents