TechnicalOverview

Introduction

The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. The Maverick Meerkat Release Candidate of Ubuntu 10.10, bringing with it new features for the next version of Ubuntu.

Get Ubuntu 10.10

Upgrading from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

To upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS 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 '10.10' is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS 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 -d; and follow the on-screen instructions.

To upgrade from Kubuntu 10.04 LTS follow the instructions at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MaverickUpgrades/Kubuntu

Download Release Candidate

Get it while it's hot. The following link will direct you to a download location near you:

Additional ISOs and torrents are also available at:

New features in Maverick

Feature development for Maverick has completed. Please see the Maverick blueprint list for details.

Please test and report any bugs you find:

Updated Packages

As with every new release, packages--applications and software of all kinds--are being updated at a rapid pace. Many of these packages came from an automatic sync from Debian's Unstable branch. The period of automatic syncs has stopped now, so from now on there will be fewer changes.

For a list of all packages being accepted for 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, please subscribe to maverick-changes:

Ubuntu Font Family

The Ubuntu Font Family is a brand-new typeface that is used for the user interface menus, widgets and titles in Ubuntu and Kubuntu. It covers Latin, Cyrillic and Greek in Ubuntu 10.10 with choices of Regular, Bold, Italic and Bold Italic styles and weights. The fonts also feature support for the new Indian Rupee Sign making Ubuntu 10.10 the first operating system to ship with out-of-the-box support for the world's newest currency symbol: ready for use by one billion Indians.

Designed with screen readability and aesthetic beauty in mind, the font was first seen in the new Ubuntu 10.04 logo design. It will continue to be expanded with Arabic, Hebrew, and Monospace support in future Ubuntu releases under the guidance of the Dalton Maag type foundry and the Canonical design team.

Ubuntu Desktop Edition

The GNOME base platform has been updated to the current 2.32 versions. This particularly includes the new dconf and gsettings API.

Evolution was updated to the 2.30 version, which operates much faster compared to the version in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

Shotwell has replaced F-Spot as the default photo manager.

Gwibber has been updated to support the recent change in Twitter's authentication system, as well as changing the back end storage to improve performance.

The Sound Indicator has been enhanced to include music player controls.

The Ubuntu Software Center has an updated look and feel, including the new "Featured" and "What's New" views for showcasing applications, an improved package description view, and a "For Purchase" software category has been added. You can also now easily access your package installation history too.

Ubuntu One: Polished desktop integration with new sign up and sign in process. Tighter integration with Ubuntu SSO. Nautilus enhancements for managing folder sync preferences. Faster file sync speed. Share links to music within the Ubuntu One Music Store.

Ubuntu Netbook Edition

The new Unity interface is now the default in Ubuntu Netbook Edition. It includes places for launching applications and browsing files, semantic search through the usage of zeitgeist, optimizing vertical space with a global menu bar and maximizing application by default. A launcher is also available for keeping and dealing with mostly used applications. All favorites from UNE lucid or gnome panel items and desktop shortcuts are automatically transitioned to the launcher on first run.

In addition to that, the date and time indicator now has a real calendar widget and is included by default.

The standard photo management application has been switched to Shotwell and UNE comes will all goodness of the Desktop Edition too. Evolution is now performing a special mode more suited for netbook screen size.

UNE needs graphical driver acceleration to be able to run. Otherwise, you should be warned about missing them and will be logout and proposed to run standard ubuntu desktop session.

A list of required hardware is available there.

Kubuntu

Kubuntu 10.10 RC comes with the latest KDE Software. KDE Platform, Workspaces and Applications were updated to 4.5.1.

For 10.10 Beta, Kubuntu has merged the Desktop and Netbook images into one image featuring both the Plasma Desktop and Plasma Netbook workspaces. The appropriate workspace for your machine will be launched at login, you can also change the workspace in System Settings.

Plasma Netbook now sports the Global Menu by default.

The defaults web browser is now Rekonq, a KDE browser based on Qt Webkit.

The new KDE bluetooth application collection Bluedevil is now installed by default.

Pulseaudio is the default sound server to match other Ubuntu variants.

KPackageKit updates bring a faster backend and an updated UI with an application based view. It also has new features such as a backup/restore tool for the list of installed packages.

Kubuntu's installer, Ubiquity, now offers install of restricted packages during the OS install. Install starts after partitioning making it a quicker experience.

Qapt-batch now replaces install-package as the update/batch-installer utility

Qt was updated to the current 4.7 release and Qt Webkit to 2.0.

Kubuntu Mobile Tech Preview is a new variant with a workspace suitable for smart phones.

For more information see our release page https://wiki.kubuntu.org/MaverickMeerkat/RC/Kubuntu

Xubuntu

Xfce4 was updated to the current 4.6.2 release. This fixes many of the bugs and updates the programs used in Xubuntu.

New default applications: Parole (Xfce4 Media Player) replaced Totem Movie Player, Xfburn (Xfce4 CD/DVD burning tool) replaced Brassero, and xfce4-taskmanager (Xfce4 process manager) replaced Gnome-Task-Manager.

Edubuntu

Edubuntu changes include the changes from Ubuntu. In addition, Edubuntu now includes Gnome Nanny, which provides parental controls in Edubuntu. It also includes a collection of new wallpapers and other artwork improvements. An OEM Install mode is also now available.

For those interested in learning more, see the redesigned Edubuntu web site at http://www.edubuntu.org

Ubuntu Studio

Ubuntu Studio has had several applications updated and includes the changes from Ubuntu. There is now better integration between Pulse Audio and JACK - starting JACK does not automatically suspend Pulse Audio anymore. JACK and Pulse Audio can be used side by side if they are using different audio interfaces, if they are trying to use the same audio interface JACK will take precedent. In addition, the network connections can now be configured with gnome-network-admin (removed a patch that disabled the network connections configuration).

Help would be appreciated in testing out:

  • Integration between Pulse Audio and JACK
  • gnome-network-admin network connections configuration

Mythbuntu

In this release, Mythbuntu has updated to MythTV 0.23.1. There is also a new backup and restore tool.

There are a couple of known issues to watch out for

  • On KMS hardware, the background might not be stable during installation
  • No way to currently configure the backend until after installation

Software-Center

The server is now turned on and we request those with the available funds, to purchase our test package called Rick's Wallpapers. The cost is $1 and all profits will go to the Ubuntu Project itself. Please report any problems you have by running ubuntu-bug software-center from a terminal window.

The software-center got a "Featured" and "What's New" carousel in the Frontpage. It is faster and more responsive and contains a "History" feature that keeps track of what was installed, removed, or upgraded. Plugin support is added and technical items will not be shown by default.

Ubuntu Server Cloud images

cloud-init, the configurable initialization process for Ubuntu Server cloud images, has gained new features in Maverick Alpha 2, including pluggable hooks, ebsmount, ext4 support, and new stanzas in the cloud-config format.

Starting with Alpha3, cloud images instances can now manage their own kernel, and can upgrade kernels with apt. This is done by utilizing pv-grub provided by Amazon. The functionality is also provided on UEC hosts running Maverick Alpha 3 or later.

Starting with Beta, cloud images can now easily be run outside of an EC2 or UEC instance environment. This will allow you to quickly and easily test function in cloud-init or other features of the image without needing to start a new instance. There is more information available on the Ubuntu wiki.

Installation

The new btrfs file system may now be used during installation via manual partitioning, as long as /boot is on some other file system.

The graphical installer has been streamlined and given a substantial visual redesign. It now only asks the minimum of questions (language and partitioning) before it starts to copy files from the CD, and asks the remaining questions while transferring files to disk.

Linux kernel 2.6.35

RC includes the 2.6.35-22.33 kernel which is based on the 2.6.35.4 Upstream stable kernel.

This kernel includes additional input subsystem patches for improved multitouch capability, improved support for Intel Sandybridge which includes support for 82579 LOM's, Apparmor bug fixes, reverts some KMS disablement patches, and general security updates (CVE-2010-3081,CVE-2010-3301).

Known issues

As is to be expected at this stage of the release process, there are still some known bugs that users may run into with the Maverick Release Candidate. 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:

64-bit

  • Adobe Air is not available for 64-bit

Graphics and Display

  • Connected DisplayPort monitors may prevent booting. (655795)

  • External monitor connected via DisplayPort is not recognized when using the nouveau driver. (655800)

  • Image distortion (vsync) on some AMD ATI cards with the proprietary drivers (303697).

  • The new application menu bar does not fully support Shotwell dynamic menus. Support for Shotwell has been disabled in the menu bar, while investigations continue. (651307)

  • The new Xorg 1.9 available in Maverick is not compatible with nVidia based chipsets that use the (nvidia-96) and (nvidia-173) drivers. (626974)

Networking & WiFi

  • 802.11n support for the iwlagn driver has been temporarily disabled. Intel is actively working to get this properly fixed up in the firmware. This workaround should be reverted once updated firmware is available. (630748)

  • "Additional drivers" proposes b43, but the installation fails with "Not supported low-power chip" (655111). This affects some Dell Mini 9 models and potentially any system with BCM4312 adapters.

  • Ubuntu 10.10 does not support the XDMCP protocol for remote graphical logins. Users who require XDMCP support will need to install another display manager, such as wdm or xdm, for this functionality (408417).

  • New drivers preventing "sleep" problem for RTL8111/8168B gigabit network adapter (usually onboard) are missing (573259).

Common Desktop applications

  • When running on battery, clicking on the battery icon permanently says "Battery life (estimating...)". This affects some HP, Compaq, Dell and System76 systems (629258).

  • Resizing windows with the Ambiance theme by grabbing window borders is difficult. This can be mitigated by switching to the Dust or Clear Looks theme (160311).

  • Several panel applets may be displayed twice or overlap (439448).

  • When uploading a file to a website, the file browse window doesn't show a preview when an image is selected. This only happens on some websites, when Flash is installed. It appears such websites replace the Nautilus "Browse" dialog with a Flash version (613886).

  • The Gwibber micro-blogging client has switched to SQLite for back end storage. This should make it faster, but means that syncing of account details across computers is no longer supported.

  • The Cheese webcam application has video recording related performance regressions. (610600)

  • It is not possible to create Ubuntu 10.04 USB disks from the Startup Disk Creator in Ubuntu 10.10 due to a backwards incompatibility in the syslinux program.

Input devices

Boot, installation and post-install

  • At end of installation, when the system goes to reboot, the CD-ROM is ejected and throws up lots of errors: "end_request: I/O error, dev sr0, sector 437628". Pressing Enter will reboot and resume normally. These errors are harmless and can be ignored. (539027)

  • In dual boot installs, after using Windows applications that use the FlexNet Publisher, as a license manager, such software will overwrite GRUB, effectively breaking the boot process. This has been fixed for applications including Adobe Photoshop (CS4), Dell Datasafe backup, Autocad 2009,Adobe Flash Builder 4,UtraISO. If you have this problem with a new application, see the bug report to add its signature to prevent future problems (441941)

    • The Wubi Windows installer was reported to be unable to open Windows' boot configuration data store in some (but not all) cases. Investigation of the problems are ongoing (613288)

    • Upgrading Wubi systems from 10.04 LTS is known to fail, and is not recommended at this time. (610898)

    • Lenovo S10-3 systems don't boot. Temporary workaround: add "intel_idle.max_cstate=0" as a kernel paremeter at boot (634702). A fix already exists that will be available only at release time (647071).

Ubuntu server edition

  • As a security improvement, libvirt in Maverick runs kvm with limited rights. This disables the possibility of displaying a local SDL window (615077). Users are advised to use the VNC support instead.

  • If you configure apache to use a password-protected SSL key, you cannot specify the key passphrase at boot-time. To work around this, Apache needs to be started manually after boot (582963)

  • libdbi 0.8.3 has a known ABI incompatibility with earlier versions of libdbi that have been distributed with past versions of Ubuntu and Debian. As such, any third-party software linked against libdbi.so.0 may give unexpected results if they utilize the 'dbi_error_flag' enum. Recompiling these applications will resolve this issue. (625882)

Issues affecting other Ubuntu flavors

  • Kubuntu

    • Harmless, sporadic "unable to save user-places.xbel" error (627815)

    • [i945GME] KDE Desktop effects not active by default (628930)

    • [82G965] No compositing with kwin (and doesn't work well if enabled) (630580)

      • Unfortunately some Intel drivers have issues with OpenGL usage in this release

    • System settings shows wrong General font by default (649509)

      • Fix will be uploaded after RC release

    • The Global Menu may not show gtk applications' menus. You will need to install the package appmenu-gtk.

  • Ubuntu Netbook:
    • The targeted netbooks were intel GPU graphic mainly and was heavily tested on nvidia as well. You can encounter visual glitch or unity (the interface) not working on some ATI cards.
  • Ubuntu ARM
    • Users upgrading beagle (armel omap) from lucid (10.04 LTS) to maverick (10.10) can run out of free space if USB drive is 4G or less.

    • On the current preinstalled images a bug exists that will grow the swap file to occupy the full free space of your SD card if you select to use an encrypted home dir.There is currently no workaround but to not select this option, a fix for this issue is in progress. (646421)

    • Due to current hardware limitations it is not possible to use suspend on the Ubuntu ARM images for pandaboards (OMAP4) even though the suspend option is shown in the logout menu.of Ubuntu Netbook on the Marvell Dove development platform, there is a known bug where the installer icon fails to show up. The installer can be started by opening the Terminal application, and typing 'ubiquity' at the prompt to start the installation. (628029)

    • On the ARM preinstalled images there is a minimal desktop session you can select from GDM. Due to a bug in the tool maximus windows in this session have no frames and are always started in full screen mode. (631696)

For a listing of more known issues, please refer to the Maverick Meerkat bug tracker in Launchpad.

Reporting bugs

It should come as no surprise that this candidate release of Maverick Meerkat may 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

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:

MaverickMeerkat/TechnicalOverview (last edited 2010-11-14 11:05:07 by 95-24-107-212)