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(Redirected from Ubuntu Linux)
'Ubuntu' (official IPA pronunciation (oo-BOON-too)) is a predominantly desktop-oriented Linux distribution, based on Debian GNU/Linux but with a stronger focus on usability, regular releases, and ease of installation. Ubuntu is sponsored by Canonical Ltd, owned by South African billionaire entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth; the name of the distribution comes from the African concept of ''ubuntu'' which may be rendered roughly as "humanity toward others", though other meanings have been suggested.[1]
The most recent version, Ubuntu 7.04 ''(Feisty Fawn)'', was released on April 19 2007. Version 7.10 ''(Gutsy Gibbon)'' is scheduled for release on October 18 2007.[2] Ubuntu aims to use only free software to provide an up-to-date yet stable operating system for the average user.
Kubuntu and Xubuntu are official subprojects of the Ubuntu project, aiming to bring the KDE and Xfce desktop environments to the Ubuntu core. Edubuntu is an official subproject "designed for school environments, and should be equally suitable for kids to use at home."[3]
Ubuntu's first release was on October 20, 2004, which began by making a temporary fork of the Debian GNU/Linux project. ubuntu/relationship "Debian is the rock upon which Ubuntu is built" This was done so that a new version of Ubuntu could be released every six months[4], resulting in a more frequently updated system. Ubuntu releases always include the most recent GNOME release, and are scheduled to be released about a month after GNOME.[5] In contrast with previous general-purpose forks of Debian—such as MEPIS, Xandros, Linspire, Progeny and Libranet, many of which relied on closed-source add-ons as part of their business model—Ubuntu has stayed closer to Debian's philosophy and uses free (''libre'') software most of the time.[6]
Ubuntu packages have generally been based on packages from Debian's unstable branch: both distributions use Debian's deb package format and APT/Synaptic to manage installed packages. Ubuntu has contributed all changes directly and immediately back to Debian, rather than announcing them only at release time, although Debian and Ubuntu packages are not necessarily 'binary compatible' with each other.[7] Many Ubuntu developers are also maintainers of key packages within Debian itself. However, Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian, criticised Ubuntu for incompatibilities between its packages and those of Debian, saying that Ubuntu had diverged too far from Debian Sarge to remain compatible.[8]
There are plans for a branch codenamed Grumpy Groundhog. It will be a permanently unstable development and testing branch, pulling the source directly out of the revision control of the various programs and applications that are shipped as part of Ubuntu. This will allow power users and upstream developers to test up-to-the-minute versions of individual programs as they would appear if packaged for the distribution today, without needing to build packages themselves; it will be able to provide early warning of build failures on various architectures.[9] It is intended that Grumpy Groundhog should merge with Debian Unstable every six months.[10] Grumpy Groundhog has not been made available to the public yet.
Ubuntu is currently funded by Canonical Ltd. On July 8, 2005, Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd announced the creation of the Ubuntu Foundation and provided an initial funding of US$10 million. The purpose of the foundation is to ensure the support and development for all future versions of Ubuntu, but as of 2006, the foundation remains dormant. Mark Shuttleworth describes the foundation as an emergency fund in case Canonical's involvement ends.[11]
On 1 May 2007, Dell announced they would sell desktops and laptops with Ubuntu installed and on 24 May 2007 these computers went on sale in North America.[12] They also stated that customers would be able to buy support for Ubuntu through Dell, with the support coming from Canonical. On 8 August 2007 these computers went on sale in the UK, France and Germany as well.[13]
During July 2007 at Ubuntu Live 2007, Mark Shuttleworth announced that Ubuntu 8.04 (out April 2008) would be the next LTS (Long Term Support) release. He also added that Canonical is committed to releasing a new LTS version every two years.
Ubuntu focuses on usability,[14] including the widespread use of the sudo tool for administrative tasks.[15] The Ubiquity installer[16] allows installing Ubuntu to the hard disk from within the Live CD environment without the need for restarting the computer prior to installation. Ubuntu furthermore emphasises accessibility and internationalization, to reach as many people as possible. As of version 5.04, UTF-8 is the default character encoding. The default appearance of the user interface in the current version is called ''Human'' and is characterised by shades of brown and orange.
Besides standard system tools and other small applications, Ubuntu comes installed with the software: OpenOffice.org, the internet browser Firefox, the instant messenger Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim), and the raster graphics editor GIMP. Several lightweight card and puzzle games are included. Ubuntu has all ports closed by default adding to security, although some people choose to run a firewall in order to keep tabs of incoming and outgoing connections.
Ubuntu offers a full feature set that works straight from the standard install, but nonetheless fits on a single CD. The live CD allows users to see whether their hardware is compatible before installation to the hard disk. The live CD is then used to install Ubuntu. Installing Ubuntu from the Live CD CDs are mailed free to anyone who requests them, and CD images are available for download. The Ubuntu live CD requires 256 megabytes of RAM, and once installed on the hard disk, Ubuntu needs four gigabytes of hard-disk space. Ubuntu 6.06 Release Notes: Hardware Requirements An alternate install disc using the standard debian-installer in text mode is available for download only, and is aimed at people with lower system specifications, computer dealers selling systems already installed with Ubuntu, and for complex partitioning including the use of LVM or RAID.[17]
With the release of Ubuntu 7.04 in April 2007, the Ubuntu installation process changed slightly. It now supports migration from Windows.[18] The new migration tool imports Windows users' bookmarks, desktop background (wallpaper), and settings for immediate use in the Ubuntu installation (not the live CD).
For Ubuntu there are tools available to create a specific installation CD/DVD. With Wubi, it is possible to install Ubuntu on a Windows partition. It also makes use of the migration tool which imports Windows users' configurations.
Ubuntu divides all software into four 'components',[19] to reflect differences in licensing and level of support available. Packages are assigned to components as follows:
"Free" software here includes only that which meets the Ubuntu license requirements,[20] which correspond roughly to the Debian Free Software Guidelines. There is one caveat for Main however; it "also may contain binary firmware and selected fonts (which are used by free components of Main) that cannot be modified without permission from their authors" so long as their "redistribution is unencumbered."
Non-free software is usually unsupported (Multiverse), but some exceptions (Restricted) are made for very important non-free software, such as non-free device drivers, without which users might be prevented from running Ubuntu on their system, particularly binary-only graphics card drivers. The level of support is more limited than for ''main'', since the developers may not have access to the source code.
It is intended that ''Main'' and ''Restricted'' should contain all software needed for a general-use Linux system. Alternative programs for the same tasks and programs for specialised applications are placed in ''Universe'' and ''Multiverse''.
Beyond the official repositories is ''Ubuntu Backports'',[21] which is an officially recognised project to backport newer versions of certain software that are available only in unstable versions of Ubuntu. The repository is not comprehensive; it mostly consists of user-requested packages, which are approved if they meet quality guidelines.
Ubuntu has a certification system for third party software [22]. Ubuntu-certified proprietary software should work well in Ubuntu. However, many programs familiar to users of non-free operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, are incompatible and are not Ubuntu-certified. Some proprietary software that does not limit distribution is included in Ubuntu's ''multiverse'' component.
Some examples of software not distributed by Ubuntu include:
★ Software that enables the playback of region-locked video DVDs, due to the questionable legal status of the Libdvdcss open-source DVD-decoding library in some parts of the world. (Note: the library is needed even when watching a DVD in the target region.)
★ Encoding and decoding libraries for many proprietary media formats such as Windows Media.
★ Some popular proprietary web-browser plugins, such as Adobe's (formerly Macromedia's) Shockwave (there is no Linux version) and Flash. (One workaround to the specific prohibition against redistribution in the Flash EULA is the multiverse package "flashplugin-nonfree" which automatically downloads the Linux Flash plugin directly from Adobe's site and then installs it.)
Each release has both a code name and a version number. The version number is based on the year and month of release. For example, the very first release of Ubuntu, 4.10, was released on October 20, 2004.[23] Below is a list of previous and planned releases.
Release 6.06 is labeled as a Long Term Support (LTS), to indicate that it will be supported with updates for three years on the desktop and five years on the server, with paid technical support available from Canonical Ltd. also for three and five years, respectively.[43] It was released on June 1, 2006, and included GNOME 2.14 (or KDE 3.5.2 in Kubuntu), Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.3, OpenOffice 2.0.2, Xorg 7.0, GCC 4.0.3, and version 2.6.15 of the Linux kernel at release time. Several packages have been upgraded since.
Canonical offers a free installation CD shipping service called ShipIt, allowing users to request Ubuntu installation CDs over the Internet, which will then be sent to the user's postal address in the mail. Shipit - free shipment of Ubuntu CDs ShipIt is available worldwide free of charge, however delivery may take up to ten weeks and the most recent releases of Ubuntu have in the past not always been available via ShipIt. As of early 2007, the most recent release 7.04 is available via ShipIt.
There are several variants besides Ubuntu, both official and unofficial. The official variants Kubuntu and Edubuntu are freely available via mail order from ShipIt. Shipit - free shipment of Kubuntu CDs Shipit - free shipment of Edubuntu CDs Xubuntu however, despite being an official variant, is not available from ShipIt. These Ubuntu variants simply install a set of packages different from the original Ubuntu, but since they draw additional packages and updates from the same repositories as Ubuntu, all of the same software is available for each of them. These different versions correspond to development efforts run by largely separate groups of people who try to bring different functionalities to the distribution:[44]
★ Kubuntu, a desktop distribution using KDE rather than GNOME
★ Edubuntu, a distribution designed for classrooms using GNOME
★ Xubuntu, a "lightweight" distribution based on the Xfce desktop environment instead of GNOME
★ ''Ubuntu Server Edition'' has been released alongside the desktop version since Ubuntu 5.10 ''Breezy Badger''.[45] This provides server applications such as an e-mail server, a LAMP web server platform, as well as tools for DNS, file serving and database management.45 Compared with the original desktop edition, the server edition comes as a smaller CD image and has a lower level of hardware requirements. It runs on a minimum of 500 megabytes of hard disk and 64 megabytes of RAM.
★ Gobuntu, a variant of Ubuntu which consists of entirely free software, documentation, artwork etc.[46]
Unofficial variants and derivatives are not controlled or guided by Canonical and are generally forks with different goals in mind.
The most recent stable version of Ubuntu is officially supported for the Intel x86 and AMD64 architectures in the Desktop release and for the Intel x86, AMD64 and SPARC architectures in the Server release.[47][48]
There are also unsupported ports for the PowerPC (note however that prior to version 7.04, Ubuntu officially supported the PowerPC architecture.[49]), IA-64 (Itanium) and the PlayStation 3.[50]
While it is possible to install the Server release on a "legacy machine" (e.g. a 75 MHz Pentium with 32 MB of RAM[51]), the "minimum requirements"[52] for good performance are:
★ 300 MHz x86 processor
★ 64 MB of system memory (RAM)
★ At least 2 GB of disk space (for full installation and swap space)
★ VGA graphics card capable of 640x480 resolution
★ CD-ROM drive
For the Desktop release, the "recommended minimum requirements"[52] for good performance are:
★ 500 MHz x86 processor
★ 192 MB of system memory (RAM)
★ 8 GB of disk space [although only 4 GB is required.[54]]
★ Graphics card capable of 1024x768 resolution
★ Sound card
★ A network or Internet connection
For the Desktop release, there are two different types of install CD offered[47]:
★ 'Desktop CD' (a Live CD)
"''The desktop CD allows you to try Ubuntu without changing your computer at all, and at your option to install it permanently later. This type of CD is what most people will want to use. You will need at least 256MB of RAM to install from this CD.''"
★ 'Alternate Install CD'
"''The alternate install CD allows you to perform certain specialist installations of Ubuntu. It provides for the following situations: creating pre-configured OEM systems; setting up automated deployments; upgrading from older installations without network access; LVM and/or RAID partitioning; installs on systems with less than about 256MB of RAM (although note that low-memory systems may not be able to run a full desktop environment reasonably).''"
The Ubuntu page on Distrowatch.com was the 13th most frequently accessed of their comprehensive list of Linux distributions in 2004[56] and the most frequently accessed in 2005[57] and 2006[58]. It continues to remain heavily accessed.[59]
Google Trends shows a significant, long-term rise in the number of searches for the term "Ubuntu" since 2004[2] compared to a plateauing (or even shrinking) number for terms related to other popular distributions, such as "Fedora", "Debian" or "SUSE" over the same period.[3]
Ubuntu was awarded the Reader Award for best Linux distribution at the 2005 LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in London.[60] It has been favourably reviewed in online and print publications.[61][62]
Many reviewers of Ubuntu point out a main part of Ubuntu's success is the fact it has a very large community. Mark Shuttleworth indicates that there were at least 8 million Ubuntu users at the end of 2006.[63]
★ Comparison of Linux distributions
★ LoCo
★ Afronum
1. Ubuntu's African Roots
2. ubuntu-devel-announce mailing list: Planning for Ubuntu 7.04 - the "Feisty Fawn"
3. Edubuntu - Frequently asked questions
4. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TimeBasedReleases
5. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases
6. ubuntu/philosophy
7. Mark Shuttleworth on binary compatibility
8. internetnews.com Sarge vs. The Hoary Hedgehog?
9. GrumpyGroundhog specification
10. MarkShuttleworth - Ubuntu Wiki
11. Announcing Launch of (m) Ubuntu Foundation
12. Ubuntu Customers
13. Dell's Blog
14. About Ubuntu Linux
15. RootSudo - Ubuntu Wiki
16. Screenshots of Ubiquity's KDE frontend
17. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS: Download
18. Ubuntu 7.04 Adds a Migration Tool
19. ubuntu/components
20. ubuntu/licensing
21. UbuntuBackports
22. partners/certification/software
23. Ubuntu 4.10 announcement
24. Ubuntu 4.10 announcement
25. 5.04 Release Notes
26. Ubuntu 5.10 announcement
27. Ubuntu 5.10 release notes
28. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS announcement
29. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS release notes
30. Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter: Issue 36
31. Ubuntu's new Linux sports debugging tool
32. Ubuntu 6.10 announcement
33. Ubuntu 6.10 release notes
34. Ubuntu 7.04 announcement
35. GutsyReleaseSchedule - Ubuntu Wiki
36. Introducing the Gutsy Gibbon
37. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe2
38. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe3
39. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe4
40. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe5
41. Introducing the Hardy Heron
42. Introducing the Hardy Heron
43. Announcing Beta release of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS
44. Other Ubuntus
45. http://www.ubuntu.com/server
46. Mark Shuttleworth >> Blog Archive >> Gobuntu is... go
47. http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/
48. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1969424,00.asp
49. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2007-February/000098.html
50. http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/releases/7.04/release/
51. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/LowMemorySystems
52. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements
53. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements
54. http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/desktopedition
55. http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/
56. http://distrowatch.com/index.php?dataspan=2004
57. http://distrowatch.com/index.php?dataspan=2005
58. http://distrowatch.com/index.php?dataspan=2006
59. DistroWatch: Linux Distribution Popularity
60. LinuxWorld Expo UK 2005
61.
62.
63. [4]
★ What is it About Ubuntu? - by Sal Cangeloso, XYZ Computing, Monday, December 5, 2005, retrieved December 21, 2005
★ Once I have installed Ubuntu, will I be able to upgrade to the next release? by Viktorija, April 10, 2005, retrieved December 21, 2005.
★ Ubuntu & You, Part 1: Trying Today's Most Popular Linux Distribution by Thomas Pletcher, CommunityMX, August 15, 2005, retrieved December 21, 2005
★ Restricted Formats last edited 2005-12-16 02:24:00 by RichRudnick, Ubuntu Wiki, retrieved December 21, 2005
★ Beginning Ubuntu Linux, , K, Thomas, APress, 2006, ISBN 1590596277
★ Ubuntu Hacks, , J, Oxer, O'Reilly Media, 2006, ISBN 0596527209
★ The Official Ubuntu Book
★ Moving to Ubuntu Linux
★ UbuntuHCL.org: A comprehensive Ubuntu hardware compatibility database.
★ :Ubuntu addon CD ...Include codecs, plugins, java, xgl, games, brasero.
★ [5]
★ Official Website of Ubuntu
★
★
★ Interview with Mark Shuttleworth about Ubuntu
'Ubuntu' (official IPA pronunciation (oo-BOON-too)) is a predominantly desktop-oriented Linux distribution, based on Debian GNU/Linux but with a stronger focus on usability, regular releases, and ease of installation. Ubuntu is sponsored by Canonical Ltd, owned by South African billionaire entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth; the name of the distribution comes from the African concept of ''ubuntu'' which may be rendered roughly as "humanity toward others", though other meanings have been suggested.[1]
The most recent version, Ubuntu 7.04 ''(Feisty Fawn)'', was released on April 19 2007. Version 7.10 ''(Gutsy Gibbon)'' is scheduled for release on October 18 2007.[2] Ubuntu aims to use only free software to provide an up-to-date yet stable operating system for the average user.
Kubuntu and Xubuntu are official subprojects of the Ubuntu project, aiming to bring the KDE and Xfce desktop environments to the Ubuntu core. Edubuntu is an official subproject "designed for school environments, and should be equally suitable for kids to use at home."[3]
History and development process
Ubuntu's first release was on October 20, 2004, which began by making a temporary fork of the Debian GNU/Linux project. ubuntu/relationship "Debian is the rock upon which Ubuntu is built" This was done so that a new version of Ubuntu could be released every six months[4], resulting in a more frequently updated system. Ubuntu releases always include the most recent GNOME release, and are scheduled to be released about a month after GNOME.[5] In contrast with previous general-purpose forks of Debian—such as MEPIS, Xandros, Linspire, Progeny and Libranet, many of which relied on closed-source add-ons as part of their business model—Ubuntu has stayed closer to Debian's philosophy and uses free (''libre'') software most of the time.[6]
Ubuntu packages have generally been based on packages from Debian's unstable branch: both distributions use Debian's deb package format and APT/Synaptic to manage installed packages. Ubuntu has contributed all changes directly and immediately back to Debian, rather than announcing them only at release time, although Debian and Ubuntu packages are not necessarily 'binary compatible' with each other.[7] Many Ubuntu developers are also maintainers of key packages within Debian itself. However, Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian, criticised Ubuntu for incompatibilities between its packages and those of Debian, saying that Ubuntu had diverged too far from Debian Sarge to remain compatible.[8]
There are plans for a branch codenamed Grumpy Groundhog. It will be a permanently unstable development and testing branch, pulling the source directly out of the revision control of the various programs and applications that are shipped as part of Ubuntu. This will allow power users and upstream developers to test up-to-the-minute versions of individual programs as they would appear if packaged for the distribution today, without needing to build packages themselves; it will be able to provide early warning of build failures on various architectures.[9] It is intended that Grumpy Groundhog should merge with Debian Unstable every six months.[10] Grumpy Groundhog has not been made available to the public yet.
Ubuntu is currently funded by Canonical Ltd. On July 8, 2005, Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd announced the creation of the Ubuntu Foundation and provided an initial funding of US$10 million. The purpose of the foundation is to ensure the support and development for all future versions of Ubuntu, but as of 2006, the foundation remains dormant. Mark Shuttleworth describes the foundation as an emergency fund in case Canonical's involvement ends.[11]
On 1 May 2007, Dell announced they would sell desktops and laptops with Ubuntu installed and on 24 May 2007 these computers went on sale in North America.[12] They also stated that customers would be able to buy support for Ubuntu through Dell, with the support coming from Canonical. On 8 August 2007 these computers went on sale in the UK, France and Germany as well.[13]
During July 2007 at Ubuntu Live 2007, Mark Shuttleworth announced that Ubuntu 8.04 (out April 2008) would be the next LTS (Long Term Support) release. He also added that Canonical is committed to releasing a new LTS version every two years.
Features
A screenshot of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, showing the ''Dawn of Ubuntu'' wallpaper, one of several installation options.
Ubuntu focuses on usability,[14] including the widespread use of the sudo tool for administrative tasks.[15] The Ubiquity installer[16] allows installing Ubuntu to the hard disk from within the Live CD environment without the need for restarting the computer prior to installation. Ubuntu furthermore emphasises accessibility and internationalization, to reach as many people as possible. As of version 5.04, UTF-8 is the default character encoding. The default appearance of the user interface in the current version is called ''Human'' and is characterised by shades of brown and orange.
Besides standard system tools and other small applications, Ubuntu comes installed with the software: OpenOffice.org, the internet browser Firefox, the instant messenger Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim), and the raster graphics editor GIMP. Several lightweight card and puzzle games are included. Ubuntu has all ports closed by default adding to security, although some people choose to run a firewall in order to keep tabs of incoming and outgoing connections.
Ubuntu offers a full feature set that works straight from the standard install, but nonetheless fits on a single CD. The live CD allows users to see whether their hardware is compatible before installation to the hard disk. The live CD is then used to install Ubuntu. Installing Ubuntu from the Live CD CDs are mailed free to anyone who requests them, and CD images are available for download. The Ubuntu live CD requires 256 megabytes of RAM, and once installed on the hard disk, Ubuntu needs four gigabytes of hard-disk space. Ubuntu 6.06 Release Notes: Hardware Requirements An alternate install disc using the standard debian-installer in text mode is available for download only, and is aimed at people with lower system specifications, computer dealers selling systems already installed with Ubuntu, and for complex partitioning including the use of LVM or RAID.[17]
With the release of Ubuntu 7.04 in April 2007, the Ubuntu installation process changed slightly. It now supports migration from Windows.[18] The new migration tool imports Windows users' bookmarks, desktop background (wallpaper), and settings for immediate use in the Ubuntu installation (not the live CD).
For Ubuntu there are tools available to create a specific installation CD/DVD. With Wubi, it is possible to install Ubuntu on a Windows partition. It also makes use of the migration tool which imports Windows users' configurations.
Package classification and support
Ubuntu 6.06 LTS CDs
Ubuntu divides all software into four 'components',[19] to reflect differences in licensing and level of support available. Packages are assigned to components as follows:
| 'free software' | 'non-free software' | |
| 'supported' | Main | Restricted |
| 'unsupported' | Universe | Multiverse |
"Free" software here includes only that which meets the Ubuntu license requirements,[20] which correspond roughly to the Debian Free Software Guidelines. There is one caveat for Main however; it "also may contain binary firmware and selected fonts (which are used by free components of Main) that cannot be modified without permission from their authors" so long as their "redistribution is unencumbered."
Non-free software is usually unsupported (Multiverse), but some exceptions (Restricted) are made for very important non-free software, such as non-free device drivers, without which users might be prevented from running Ubuntu on their system, particularly binary-only graphics card drivers. The level of support is more limited than for ''main'', since the developers may not have access to the source code.
It is intended that ''Main'' and ''Restricted'' should contain all software needed for a general-use Linux system. Alternative programs for the same tasks and programs for specialised applications are placed in ''Universe'' and ''Multiverse''.
Beyond the official repositories is ''Ubuntu Backports'',[21] which is an officially recognised project to backport newer versions of certain software that are available only in unstable versions of Ubuntu. The repository is not comprehensive; it mostly consists of user-requested packages, which are approved if they meet quality guidelines.
Availability of proprietary software
Ubuntu has a certification system for third party software [22]. Ubuntu-certified proprietary software should work well in Ubuntu. However, many programs familiar to users of non-free operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, are incompatible and are not Ubuntu-certified. Some proprietary software that does not limit distribution is included in Ubuntu's ''multiverse'' component.
Some examples of software not distributed by Ubuntu include:
★ Software that enables the playback of region-locked video DVDs, due to the questionable legal status of the Libdvdcss open-source DVD-decoding library in some parts of the world. (Note: the library is needed even when watching a DVD in the target region.)
★ Encoding and decoding libraries for many proprietary media formats such as Windows Media.
★ Some popular proprietary web-browser plugins, such as Adobe's (formerly Macromedia's) Shockwave (there is no Linux version) and Flash. (One workaround to the specific prohibition against redistribution in the Flash EULA is the multiverse package "flashplugin-nonfree" which automatically downloads the Linux Flash plugin directly from Adobe's site and then installs it.)
Releases
Each release has both a code name and a version number. The version number is based on the year and month of release. For example, the very first release of Ubuntu, 4.10, was released on October 20, 2004.[23] Below is a list of previous and planned releases.
| Version | Release date | Code name | Sub Version | Supported until | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.10 | 20 October 2004[24] | Warty Warthog | Sounder | April 30, 2006 | Initial release, support for x86, x86-64, PowerPC. ShipIt. |
| 5.04 | 8 April 2005[25] | Hoary Hedgehog | Array | October 31, 2006 | Inclusion of update-manager/upgrade-notifier, Kickstart compatibility, improved laptop support. |
| 5.10 | 13 October 2005[26][27] | Breezy Badger | Colony | April 13, 2007 | Graphical boot process with progress bar (USplash), OEM Installer Support, Launchpad tracking, GCC 4.0 |
| 6.06 LTS | 1 June 2006[28][29] | Dapper Drake | Flight | June 2009 (desktops) | LiveCD and Installer on one disc, Ubiquity installer. First Long-Term Support release. The next LTS release is planned for Hardy Heron (April 2008)[30][31] |
| June 2011 (servers) | |||||
| 6.10 | 26 October 2006[32][33] | Edgy Eft | Knot | April 2008 | Automated problem reports, Upstart |
| 7.04 | 19 April 2007[34] | Feisty Fawn | Herd | October 2008 | Migration assistant, KVM, Easy codec/restricted drivers installation, Desktop effects, WPA support, PowerPC support officially dropped. |
| 7.10 | ''Planned for 18 October 2007''[35][36] | Gutsy Gibbon | Tribe | April 2009 | Compiz Fusion by default[37], eBox for server administration[38], AppArmor security framework, fast desktop search [39], fast user switching , improvements in plug-in handling for Mozilla Firefox (Ubufox)[40], graphical configuration tool for X.org, and a revamped printing system with PDF printing by default. |
| 8.04 LTS | April 2008[41] | Hardy Heron[42] | Siege | April 2011 (desktops) | |
| April 2013 (servers) |
Ubuntu 7.04 CDs
Release 6.06 is labeled as a Long Term Support (LTS), to indicate that it will be supported with updates for three years on the desktop and five years on the server, with paid technical support available from Canonical Ltd. also for three and five years, respectively.[43] It was released on June 1, 2006, and included GNOME 2.14 (or KDE 3.5.2 in Kubuntu), Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.3, OpenOffice 2.0.2, Xorg 7.0, GCC 4.0.3, and version 2.6.15 of the Linux kernel at release time. Several packages have been upgraded since.
ShipIt
Canonical offers a free installation CD shipping service called ShipIt, allowing users to request Ubuntu installation CDs over the Internet, which will then be sent to the user's postal address in the mail. Shipit - free shipment of Ubuntu CDs ShipIt is available worldwide free of charge, however delivery may take up to ten weeks and the most recent releases of Ubuntu have in the past not always been available via ShipIt. As of early 2007, the most recent release 7.04 is available via ShipIt.
Variants
Xubuntu 6.06 default desktop.
There are several variants besides Ubuntu, both official and unofficial. The official variants Kubuntu and Edubuntu are freely available via mail order from ShipIt. Shipit - free shipment of Kubuntu CDs Shipit - free shipment of Edubuntu CDs Xubuntu however, despite being an official variant, is not available from ShipIt. These Ubuntu variants simply install a set of packages different from the original Ubuntu, but since they draw additional packages and updates from the same repositories as Ubuntu, all of the same software is available for each of them. These different versions correspond to development efforts run by largely separate groups of people who try to bring different functionalities to the distribution:[44]
★ Kubuntu, a desktop distribution using KDE rather than GNOME
★ Edubuntu, a distribution designed for classrooms using GNOME
★ Xubuntu, a "lightweight" distribution based on the Xfce desktop environment instead of GNOME
★ ''Ubuntu Server Edition'' has been released alongside the desktop version since Ubuntu 5.10 ''Breezy Badger''.[45] This provides server applications such as an e-mail server, a LAMP web server platform, as well as tools for DNS, file serving and database management.45 Compared with the original desktop edition, the server edition comes as a smaller CD image and has a lower level of hardware requirements. It runs on a minimum of 500 megabytes of hard disk and 64 megabytes of RAM.
★ Gobuntu, a variant of Ubuntu which consists of entirely free software, documentation, artwork etc.[46]
Unofficial variants and derivatives are not controlled or guided by Canonical and are generally forks with different goals in mind.
System Requirements
The most recent stable version of Ubuntu is officially supported for the Intel x86 and AMD64 architectures in the Desktop release and for the Intel x86, AMD64 and SPARC architectures in the Server release.[47][48]
There are also unsupported ports for the PowerPC (note however that prior to version 7.04, Ubuntu officially supported the PowerPC architecture.[49]), IA-64 (Itanium) and the PlayStation 3.[50]
Server
While it is possible to install the Server release on a "legacy machine" (e.g. a 75 MHz Pentium with 32 MB of RAM[51]), the "minimum requirements"[52] for good performance are:
★ 300 MHz x86 processor
★ 64 MB of system memory (RAM)
★ At least 2 GB of disk space (for full installation and swap space)
★ VGA graphics card capable of 640x480 resolution
★ CD-ROM drive
Desktop
For the Desktop release, the "recommended minimum requirements"[52] for good performance are:
★ 500 MHz x86 processor
★ 192 MB of system memory (RAM)
★ 8 GB of disk space [although only 4 GB is required.[54]]
★ Graphics card capable of 1024x768 resolution
★ Sound card
★ A network or Internet connection
For the Desktop release, there are two different types of install CD offered[47]:
★ 'Desktop CD' (a Live CD)
"''The desktop CD allows you to try Ubuntu without changing your computer at all, and at your option to install it permanently later. This type of CD is what most people will want to use. You will need at least 256MB of RAM to install from this CD.''"
★ 'Alternate Install CD'
"''The alternate install CD allows you to perform certain specialist installations of Ubuntu. It provides for the following situations: creating pre-configured OEM systems; setting up automated deployments; upgrading from older installations without network access; LVM and/or RAID partitioning; installs on systems with less than about 256MB of RAM (although note that low-memory systems may not be able to run a full desktop environment reasonably).''"
Response
The Ubuntu page on Distrowatch.com was the 13th most frequently accessed of their comprehensive list of Linux distributions in 2004[56] and the most frequently accessed in 2005[57] and 2006[58]. It continues to remain heavily accessed.[59]
Google Trends shows a significant, long-term rise in the number of searches for the term "Ubuntu" since 2004[2] compared to a plateauing (or even shrinking) number for terms related to other popular distributions, such as "Fedora", "Debian" or "SUSE" over the same period.[3]
Ubuntu was awarded the Reader Award for best Linux distribution at the 2005 LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in London.[60] It has been favourably reviewed in online and print publications.[61][62]
Many reviewers of Ubuntu point out a main part of Ubuntu's success is the fact it has a very large community. Mark Shuttleworth indicates that there were at least 8 million Ubuntu users at the end of 2006.[63]
See also
★ Comparison of Linux distributions
★ LoCo
★ Afronum
Notes
1. Ubuntu's African Roots
2. ubuntu-devel-announce mailing list: Planning for Ubuntu 7.04 - the "Feisty Fawn"
3. Edubuntu - Frequently asked questions
4. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TimeBasedReleases
5. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases
6. ubuntu/philosophy
7. Mark Shuttleworth on binary compatibility
8. internetnews.com Sarge vs. The Hoary Hedgehog?
9. GrumpyGroundhog specification
10. MarkShuttleworth - Ubuntu Wiki
11. Announcing Launch of (m) Ubuntu Foundation
12. Ubuntu Customers
13. Dell's Blog
14. About Ubuntu Linux
15. RootSudo - Ubuntu Wiki
16. Screenshots of Ubiquity's KDE frontend
17. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS: Download
18. Ubuntu 7.04 Adds a Migration Tool
19. ubuntu/components
20. ubuntu/licensing
21. UbuntuBackports
22. partners/certification/software
23. Ubuntu 4.10 announcement
24. Ubuntu 4.10 announcement
25. 5.04 Release Notes
26. Ubuntu 5.10 announcement
27. Ubuntu 5.10 release notes
28. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS announcement
29. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS release notes
30. Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter: Issue 36
31. Ubuntu's new Linux sports debugging tool
32. Ubuntu 6.10 announcement
33. Ubuntu 6.10 release notes
34. Ubuntu 7.04 announcement
35. GutsyReleaseSchedule - Ubuntu Wiki
36. Introducing the Gutsy Gibbon
37. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe2
38. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe3
39. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe4
40. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe5
41. Introducing the Hardy Heron
42. Introducing the Hardy Heron
43. Announcing Beta release of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS
44. Other Ubuntus
45. http://www.ubuntu.com/server
46. Mark Shuttleworth >> Blog Archive >> Gobuntu is... go
47. http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/
48. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1969424,00.asp
49. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2007-February/000098.html
50. http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/releases/7.04/release/
51. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/LowMemorySystems
52. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements
53. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements
54. http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/desktopedition
55. http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/
56. http://distrowatch.com/index.php?dataspan=2004
57. http://distrowatch.com/index.php?dataspan=2005
58. http://distrowatch.com/index.php?dataspan=2006
59. DistroWatch: Linux Distribution Popularity
60. LinuxWorld Expo UK 2005
61.
62.
63. [4]
References
★ What is it About Ubuntu? - by Sal Cangeloso, XYZ Computing, Monday, December 5, 2005, retrieved December 21, 2005
★ Once I have installed Ubuntu, will I be able to upgrade to the next release? by Viktorija, April 10, 2005, retrieved December 21, 2005.
★ Ubuntu & You, Part 1: Trying Today's Most Popular Linux Distribution by Thomas Pletcher, CommunityMX, August 15, 2005, retrieved December 21, 2005
★ Restricted Formats last edited 2005-12-16 02:24:00 by RichRudnick, Ubuntu Wiki, retrieved December 21, 2005
★ Beginning Ubuntu Linux, , K, Thomas, APress, 2006, ISBN 1590596277
★ Ubuntu Hacks, , J, Oxer, O'Reilly Media, 2006, ISBN 0596527209
★ The Official Ubuntu Book
★ Moving to Ubuntu Linux
★ UbuntuHCL.org: A comprehensive Ubuntu hardware compatibility database.
★ :Ubuntu addon CD ...Include codecs, plugins, java, xgl, games, brasero.
★ [5]
External links
★ Official Website of Ubuntu
★
★
★ Interview with Mark Shuttleworth about Ubuntu
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