Xubuntu

Differences between revisions 107 and 180 (spanning 73 versions)
⇤ ← Revision 107 as of 2008-09-04 22:18:32 →
Size: 8799
Editor: minbar
Comment: add myself to credits for alpha 5
← Revision 180 as of 2008-10-30 10:05:37 → ⇥
Size: 9739
Editor: 65
Comment:
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
Line 4: Line 4:
The Xubuntu team is happy to bring you the latest and greatest software the open source community has to offer. This is their latest result: Xubuntu 8.10, which brings a host of excellent improvements built on the rock solid Xfce 4.4.2 desktop environment.
Line 5: Line 6:
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. For Ubuntu see [[https://wiki.ubuntu.org/IntrepidIbex/TechnicalOverview]]<<BR>>
For Kubuntu see [[https://wiki.kubuntu.org/IntrepidIbex/Kubuntu]]
Line 7: Line 9:
'''This is still an alpha release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released on October 30th, 2008.''' = Download =
Line 9: Line 11:
== Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.04 == Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:
Line 11: Line 13:
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.  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/8.10/ (Xubuntu)<<BR>>
 http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10 (Ubuntu)<<BR>>
 http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/edubuntu/8.10 (Edubuntu add-on)<<BR>>
 http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/kubuntu/8.10 (Kubuntu)<<BR>>
 http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/8.10/ (Ubuntu``Studio)<<BR>>
 http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/8.10/ (Mythbuntu)
Line 13: Line 20:
= New Features in Intrepid = Local mirrors are also available:
Line 15: Line 22:
These features are showcased for your attention. Please test them and report any bugs you find on Launchpad: http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu .  * [[http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/ubuntu/xubuntu/8.10/release/|Australia]]
 * [[http://ubuntu.ipacct.com/xubuntu/8.10/release/|Bulgaria]]
 * [[http://hex1a4.net/xubuntu/mirror/releases/8.10/release/|Canada]]
 * [[http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/xubuntu-releases/8.10/release/|Canada]]
 * [[http://ftp.dei.uc.pt/pub/linux/xubuntu/releases/8.10/release/|Portugal]]
 * [[http://neacm.fe.up.pt/pub/xubuntu/releases/8.10/release/|Portugal]]
 * [[http://ubuntu.mirror.ac.za/ubuntu-cdimage/xubuntu/releases/8.10/release/|South Africa]]
 * [[http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/cdimage.ubuntu.com/cdimage/xubuntu/releases/8.10/release/|United Kingdom]]
 * [[http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Xubuntu/8.10/release/|United States]]
Line 17: Line 32:
== GNOME 2.23.91 == = Upgrading from Xubuntu 8.04 =
Line 19: Line 34:
Ubuntu brings you the newest [[http://live.gnome.org/TwoPointTwentythree/|GNOME 2.23.91]] desktop environment with tons of bug-fixes and new features, some of which include:
 * [[http://www.gnome.org/projects/nautilus/|Nautilus]] file manager has tab support and Eject icons for removable drives in Places sidebar.
 * [[http://fileroller.sourceforge.net/|File Roller]] archive manager now supports ALZ, RZIP, CAB, TAR.7Z file types also.		 To upgrade from Xubuntu 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.
Line 23: Line 36:
== X.Org server 7.4 == {{attachment:update-manager-d.png}}
Line 25: Line 38:
[[http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.4|X.Org 7.4]], the latest stable version of [[http://www.x.org/wiki/|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. = New Features since Xubuntu 8.04 =

{{attachment:screenshot.png}}

== Abiword 2.6 ==
{{attachment:abiword.png}}
Ubuntu brings you the newest [[http://www.abisource.com/release-notes/2.6.4.phtml|Abiword 2.6.4]] word processor with tons of bug-fixes and new features, some of which include:
 * The ability to embed gnumeric charts into your documents;
 * A new collaboration plugin allowing users to collaboratively work on the same document in real-time;
 * Improved support for Microsoft Office and OpenOffice documents;
 * You can now drag and drop images in and out of AbiWord documents;
 * the ability to open files on remote shares, ie. samba, ftp or ssh shares; and
 * much more!

== Improved Multimedia Experience ==
{{attachment:listen.png}}
Xubuntu 8.10 provides an improved multimedia experience by including the Listen Multimedia Player. With Listen, you can:
 * Organize your music collection;
 * Browse Shoucast Webradio and Podcats;
 * Read lyrics and have access Wikipedia informations about artists or albums at your fingertips;
 * Broadcast by interfacing with your icecast server;
 * Record streaming media; and
 * Visualize good times with the built-in graphical visualizer.


== Find what you're looking for with Catfish ==
{{attachment:catfish.jpg|Catfish|align="left"}}
With Xubuntu 8.10, you'll find an option to "Search for Files" in the Places menu. Clicking this will present you with the widely popular, light-weight search front-end called Catfish. Catfish enables you to quickly and easily search for your documents, music, pictures, videos, and more.

For the technically inclined, Catfish is a frontend for different search engines (daemons).

You can employ find, slocate, locate, doodle, tracker, beagle, strigi and pinot - what ever tickles your fancy!

== Easily manage your secrets ==
{{attachment:seahorse.png|Seahorse|align="left"}}
Xubuntu 8.10 includes the well known secret keeper Seahorse. Seahorse is a GTK front end for GnuPG - the Gnu Privacy Guard program. It is a tool for secure communications and data storage. Data encryption and digital signature creation can easily be performed through a GUI and Key Management operations can easily be carried out through an intuitive interface.

== X.Org 7.4 ==

[[http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.4|X.Org 7.4]], the latest stable version of [[http://www.x.org/wiki/|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.
Line 29: Line 83:
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]]. Ubuntu 8.10 includes Linux kernel 2.6.27, a significant release with better hardware support and numerous bug-fixes.
Line 33: Line 87:
The {{{ecryptfs-utils}}} package was recently promoted to Ubuntu main, with support for an [[EncryptedPrivateDirectory|secret encrypted folder]] in your Home Folder. The {{{ecryptfs-utils}}} package was recently promoted to Ubuntu main, with support for a [[EncryptedPrivateDirectory|secret encrypted folder]] in your Home Folder (by Michael Halcrow, Dustin Kirkland, and Daniel Baumann).
Line 35: Line 89:
You can help test this new feature, by going {{{Applications → Accessories → Terminal}}} and typing: You can help test this new feature by going to {{{Applications → Accessories → Terminal}}} and typing:
Line 39: Line 93:
== 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.
Line 45: Line 95:
Intrepid Ibex ships Network Manager 0.7, which comes with long-expected features, such as: Xubuntu 8.10 ships Network Manager 0.7 (by Dan Williams and others), which comes with long-expected features, such as:
Line 55: Line 105:
== "Last successful boot" recovery entry == == DKMS ==
[[http://linux.dell.com/dkms|DKMS]] (by Dell) is included in Xubuntu 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.
Line 57: Line 108:
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. == Samba 3.2 ==
Line 59: Line 110:
== DKMS ==
[[http://linux.dell.com/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.		 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.
Line 62: Line 116:
= Download Alpha 5 = == PAM authentication framework ==
Xubuntu 8.10 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}}}.
Line 64: Line 119:
Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at: More information can be found in the [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PAMConfigFrameworkSpec|Ubuntu wiki]].
Line 66: Line 121:
 http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Ubuntu) <<BR>>
 http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Ubuntu Education Edition) <<BR>>
 http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Kubuntu) <<BR>>
## http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/jeos/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Ubuntu JeOS) [[BR]]
 http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Xubuntu) <<BR>>
## http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Ubuntu``Studio)		 == Totem BBC plugin ==

Xubuntu 8.10 features a new plugin for the Totem movie player that fetches free digital content from the [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/|BBC]]. To enable it, start Totem (Applications -> Multimedia -> Movie Player), enable the plugin (Edit -> Plugins -> BBC content viewer) and select "BBC" from the drop-down labelled "Playlist".

Thanks to the [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/|BBC]] and [[http://www.collabora.co.uk/|Collabora]] for their work developing this feature.
Line 75: Line 129:
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: There are several known bugs that users may run into with Xubuntu 8.10. We have documented them here for your convenience along with any known workarounds.
Line 77: Line 131:
 * 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 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 Xubuntu 8.10 final release. [[https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/261977]]
Line 79: Line 133:
 * 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]] If you want to help with bugs, the [[http://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad|Bug Squad]] is always looking for help.
Line 81: Line 135:
 * 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]] 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 Xubuntu and Ubuntu. We have two different tests; one takes just a short time, and the other is more thorough.
Line 83: Line 137:
 * 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 [[https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xkeyboard-config/+bugs|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]]

= 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 [[https://bugs.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bugs|the Ubuntu bugtracker]]

If you want to help out with bugs, the [[http://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad|Bug Squad]] is always looking for help.

= Participate in Ubuntu =		 = Participate in Xubuntu =
Line 105: Line 141:
 http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/  http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/ and http://xubuntu.org/devel

= Help Spread the Word About Xubuntu 8.10 =

A new banner is available to help spread the word about the Xubuntu 8.10 release:

{{http://xubuntu.org/xubuntu-static/intrepid-countdown}}

  http://xubuntu.org/promote/intrepid/countdown

You can add the banner to your website to help others find the wonders of Xubuntu.
Line 109: Line 155:
You can find out more about Ubuntu on the [[http://www.ubuntu.com|Ubuntu website]] and [[http://wiki.ubuntu.com|Ubuntu wiki]]. You can find out more about Xubuntu on our [[http://www.xubuntu.org|website]] and [[http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu|wiki]].
Line 111: Line 157:
To sign up for future Ubuntu development announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's development announcement list at: To sign up for future Xubuntu and Ubuntu development announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's development announcement list at:
Line 114: Line 160:

= Credits =

The Alpha 5 technical overview is brought to you by:

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

Introduction

The Xubuntu team is happy to bring you the latest and greatest software the open source community has to offer. This is their latest result: Xubuntu 8.10, which brings a host of excellent improvements built on the rock solid Xfce 4.4.2 desktop environment.

For Ubuntu see https://wiki.ubuntu.org/IntrepidIbex/TechnicalOverview
For Kubuntu see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/IntrepidIbex/Kubuntu

Download

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

Local mirrors are also available:

Upgrading from Xubuntu 8.04

To upgrade from Xubuntu 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.

update-manager-d.png

New Features since Xubuntu 8.04

screenshot.png

Abiword 2.6

abiword.png Ubuntu brings you the newest Abiword 2.6.4 word processor with tons of bug-fixes and new features, some of which include:

  • The ability to embed gnumeric charts into your documents;
  • A new collaboration plugin allowing users to collaboratively work on the same document in real-time;

  • Improved support for Microsoft Office and OpenOffice documents;

  • You can now drag and drop images in and out of AbiWord documents;

  • the ability to open files on remote shares, ie. samba, ftp or ssh shares; and
  • much more!

Improved Multimedia Experience

listen.png Xubuntu 8.10 provides an improved multimedia experience by including the Listen Multimedia Player. With Listen, you can:

  • Organize your music collection;
  • Browse Shoucast Webradio and Podcats;
  • Read lyrics and have access Wikipedia informations about artists or albums at your fingertips;
  • Broadcast by interfacing with your icecast server;
  • Record streaming media; and
  • Visualize good times with the built-in graphical visualizer.

Find what you're looking for with Catfish

Catfish With Xubuntu 8.10, you'll find an option to "Search for Files" in the Places menu. Clicking this will present you with the widely popular, light-weight search front-end called Catfish. Catfish enables you to quickly and easily search for your documents, music, pictures, videos, and more.

For the technically inclined, Catfish is a frontend for different search engines (daemons).

You can employ find, slocate, locate, doodle, tracker, beagle, strigi and pinot - what ever tickles your fancy!

Easily manage your secrets

Seahorse Xubuntu 8.10 includes the well known secret keeper Seahorse. Seahorse is a GTK front end for GnuPG - the Gnu Privacy Guard program. It is a tool for secure communications and data storage. Data encryption and digital signature creation can easily be performed through a GUI and Key Management operations can easily be carried out through an intuitive interface.

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 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

Network Manager 0.7

Xubuntu 8.10 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 Xubuntu 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

Xubuntu 8.10 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

Xubuntu 8.10 features a new plugin for the Totem movie player that fetches free digital content from the BBC. To enable it, start Totem (Applications -> Multimedia -> 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.

Known Issues

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

  • 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 Xubuntu 8.10 final release. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/261977

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 Xubuntu and Ubuntu. We have two different tests; one takes just a short time, and the other is more thorough.

Participate in Xubuntu

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

Help Spread the Word About Xubuntu 8.10

A new banner is available to help spread the word about the Xubuntu 8.10 release:

http://xubuntu.org/xubuntu-static/intrepid-countdown

You can add the banner to your website to help others find the wonders of Xubuntu.

More Information

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

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

IntrepidIbex/Xubuntu (last edited 2008-10-30 10:05:37 by 65)