DapperReleaseNotes

Revision 25 as of 2006-05-31 14:31:27

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THIS DOCUMENT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS - UBUNTU 6.06 HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED YET

Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake) Release Notes

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution aimed for educators to easily deploy and maintain a learning environment, with a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent applications installed by default, and almost any other software you can imagine available through the network. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Long Term Support) will be supported with security updates for 5 years on the server and 3 years on the desktop after its release, and professional technical support is available from many companies around the world.

These Release Notes cover new features in Ubuntu 6.06, download and installation notes, known issues, and frequently asked questions. Please read these notes before, during, and after installation and configuration of Ubuntu 6.06, and before reporting bugs in [https://launchpad.net/malone/distros/ubuntu Launchpad].

We hope you enjoy Ubuntu 6.06.


TableOfContents

What's new

Ubuntu is released regularly and predictably. Since our October 2005 release (Ubuntu 5.10), we've made a lot of improvements to give you the best Linux experience possible. Here's what's new with Ubuntu 6.06:

On the Desktop

  • GNOME 2.14.1
  • New tools for searching your files (Deskbar)

  • OpenOffice.org 2.0.2

  • A completely modular X.org 7 with wider hardware support
  • Editable GNOME menus (Alacarte Menu Editor)

  • Applications are now linked into the Launchpad infrastructure (new entries on the Help menus for translation and support)
  • Graphical shut down process with progress bar (USplash)

  • New documentation (Ubuntu Desktop Guide, Ubuntu Server Guide, Ubuntu Packaging Guide)

  • Firefox 1.5.0.3
  • New Human GNOME Desktop Theme
  • Improved and simplified application menu structure
  • Graphical .deb package installer (GDebi)

On the Server

  • New kernels targeted at server platforms. The server kernels are tuned differently than the desktop kernels (providing better performance for server applications). The lowend server kernel is generic, and should work on the same equipment that the desktop kernel runs on. The highend server kernel is geared towards systems with greater than 8 CPU's (ES7000/Summit/BIGSMP).
  • Support for the full Redhat Cluster Suite

Hardware Support Improvements

Installation

  • A new installer on the Live CD/Desktop Installation CD which is now the prefered method of installing Ubuntu. This CD image requires a 700MB CD.
  • The traditional text-mode Debian Installer (d-i) based installer is still also available for special installation scenarios. This CD image requires a 700MB CD.
  • A new dedicated official Ubuntu Server installation CD is also available for use on servers. This CD is a minimal server CD and is only ~430MB in size.

"Under the hood"

As always, Ubuntu includes the very best of the 100% free/libre application software world, and each new release incorporates countless new features and bugfixes from the global development community.

  • The shell path for the system is now set in one place, /etc/environment, for ease of administration. In the past, each shell, display manager, login program, etc. needed to be configured separately.
  • sudo's handling of environment variables has been made robust against security vulnerabilities: all environment variables but TERM, PATH, LOGNAME, USER, and locale settings are now cleaned for users with restricted sudo privileges. This might break local scripts which rely on the old behavior.

Downloading and Installing

Ubuntu 6.06 supports three (3) major architectures: Intel x86, AMD64, and PowerPC. Depending on your needs, you might manage with less than some of the recommended hardware listed in the table below. However, most users risk being frustrated if they ignore these suggestions.

Table 1 Recommended Minimum Requirements

Install Type

RAM

Hard Drive Space

Desktop

192 megabytes

2 gigabytes

Server

64 megabytes

500 megabytes

Here are some common Ubuntu 6.06 system configurations. Once again, the size of the installation will greatly depend on the software you install during setup. For most users, the default applications are suitable enough for general use.

Desktop

A standard desktop box, including the X Window System, full desktop environment, sound, office suite, email clients, etc. You'll need about 2 gigabytes of hard drive space using the standard desktop task.

Server

This is a small server profile, which provides a common base for all sorts of server applications. It's minimal and designed to have the desired services added on top, such as file/print services, web hosting, email hosting, etc. For these services at least 500MB of disk space will suffice, but consider adding more space depending on the services you'd like to host with your server.

Remember that these sizes don't include all the other materials which are usually to be found, such as user files, mail, and data. It is always best to be generous when considering the space for your own files and data.

Known Issues

  • If you are installing from the Desktop CD on a system that already has one or more RAID arrays or LVM volume groups set up, you must disable the arrays (sudo /etc/init.d/mdadm stop; sudo mdadm --stop --scan) and volume groups (sudo vgchange -a n) before starting the installer.

  • When installing from the Desktop CD on powerpc and using manual partitioning, you may experience problems setting up the HFS bootstrap partition required for the yaboot boot loader. You will need to deselect the bootstrap partition on the mount points page, and an error message beginning with "No NewWorld boot partition was found" will appear, at which you should select "Continue". If the bootstrap partition did not exist prior to starting installation, then you may need to create it using parted outside the installer: make sure the partition is of type hfs, at least 820kB in size, and has the boot flag set. Installations from the Desktop CD with automatic partitioning, or from the alternate install CD, do not have this problem.

  • Server images for the SPARC architecture are undergoing final quality assurance and testing; release images will be published as soon as certifications on T1000 and T2000 are complete.
  • redhat-cluster-suite [https://launchpad.net/bugs/47645 fails to install properly] due to changed error reporting from ccs_test. A workaround is to install and configure ccs first, and install the rest of the suite later.

Downloading Ubuntu 6.06

You can download Ubuntu 6.06 from the following mirrors located worldwide:

You can also download all architecture types of Ubuntu 6.06 using BitTorrent and Jigdo.

Getting Help and Technical Support

Ubuntu 6.06 gives users an easy way to get help in most applications installed by default. Once you have an active internet connection, from an open application, just click on Help → Get Help Online and you'll be directed to an online webpage that gives you help and support options for the application.

Technical Support for Ubuntu 6.06 is available from a variety of sources: from the community, from Canonical Ltd, from recognized organizations, and from developers directly through open web forums, mailing lists and IRC channels:

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

Reporting Bugs

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. Please report bugs through Malone:

Participate in Ubuntu

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

More Information

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about the 6.06 release on our website, IRC channel and wiki. If you're new to Ubuntu, please visit:

For the release notes for Kubuntu visit http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DapperReleaseNotes/Kubuntu

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


This document is maintained by the Ubuntu Documentation Team. Please feel free to contact us regarding any concerns or suggestions by either sending an email to [mailto:ubuntu-doc@lists.ubuntu.com ubuntu-doc@lists.ubuntu.com] or by using any of the other methods on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam/Contact Ubuntu Documentation Team Contact Information Page].