Introduction

The Ubuntu developers are moving very quickly to bring you the latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. With "Intrepid Ibex" Alpha 5 come some new features as well as lots of bug fixes.

This is still an alpha release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released on October 30th, 2008.

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 in Intrepid

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

GNOME 2.23.91

Ubuntu brings you the newest GNOME 2.23.91 desktop environment with tons of bug-fixes and new features, some of which include:

• Nautilus file manager has tab support and Eject icons for removable drives in Places sidebar.

• File Roller archive manager now supports ALZ, RZIP, CAB, TAR.7Z file types also.

X.Org server 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.

Linux kernel 2.6.27

The kernel team is evaluating use of Linux kernel 2.6.27 for Ubuntu 8.10, which is included in Intrepid Alpha 5 as part of this evaluation process. This is a significant release with better hardware and numerous bug-fixes which is believed will provide overall improvement for Ubuntu 8.10. Regressions in 2.6.27 should be reported to the Ubuntu kernel team via https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux.

Encrypted private directory

The ecryptfs-utils package was recently promoted to Ubuntu main, with support for an secret encrypted folder in your Home Folder.

You can help test this new feature, by going 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. 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, or to use it as a surf station for guests in your house.

Network Manager 0.7

Intrepid Ibex ships Network Manager 0.7, 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.

"Last successful boot" recovery entry

On each successful boot, Intrepid will retain a copy of your running kernel and make it available from the boot loader as a "Last successful boot" option. This makes it possible for old kernel packages to be safely auto-removed by the package manager, instead of being kept indefinitely.

DKMS

DKMS is included in Alpha 5, 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.

Download Alpha 5

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

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Ubuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Ubuntu Education Edition)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Kubuntu)
  

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Xubuntu)
  

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 Intrepid Alpha 5. 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:

• When using manual partitioning and configuring crypt+LVM, the partitioning will fail in certain configurations. As a workaround, you can use the "Entire disk with encryption" install option. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/251640

• The Intrepid 2.6.27-2 kernel fails to boot as a Guest under VirtualBox. This issue is expected to be resolved for Intrepid Alpha 6. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/246067

• Resume from Suspend with the 2.6.27-1 and 2.6.27-2 kernel will cause the system to reboot/shutdown. This issue should be resolved with the 2.6.27-3 kernel which will be uploaded post Alpha5. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/262423

• A list of known regressions regarding the 2.6.27 kernel has been assembled at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bugs?field.tag=regression-2.6.27

• On Ubuntu systems, the "Shutdown" button in the Quit... menu does not shut down the system, but instead logs the user out. Investigation of this issue is ongoing. For now, please shut down from the log-in menu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/250506

• On Ubuntu systems, the default desktop theme is wrong. As a workaround, please select "Human-Murrine" (or another theme of your choice) in System → Preferences → Appearance. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/256972

• The X.Org configuration file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf) still has InputDevice entries for the mouse and keyboard, but they are ignored now because input-hotplug is used. The keyboard settings come from /etc/default/console-setup, and to change them please use "sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup". After that, HAL and X need to restart.

• After upgrading to this version, some keys might misbehave in X. Please make sure you have set the keyboard model as Generic Evdev-managed keyboard in System → Preferences → Keyboard, in the tab Layouts. If some keys still have problems, please file a bug against xkeyboard-config, and provide the output of setxkbmap -print and xkbcomp :0 - both run in the Terminal.

• Memtest86+, accessible via the boot menu, falsely reports some memory as failing the test. Investigation of this issue is ongoing. http://launchpad.net/bugs/246412

• The gvfsd-trash daemon has been reported to crash intermittently. Investigation of this issue is ongoing. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/252174

Reporting Bugs

It should come as no surprise that this alpha release of Intrepid Ibex contains other bugs. Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. Please report bugs through the Ubuntu bugtracker

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

Credits

The Alpha 5 technical overview is brought to you by:

• Dustin Kirkland
• Martin Pitt
• Alexander Sack
• Steve Langasek