Beta2

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. The Oneiric Ocelot Beta 2 Release of Ubuntu 11.10 gives a preview of the next version of Ubuntu.

Get Ubuntu 11.10

Upgrading from Ubuntu 11.04

To upgrade from Ubuntu 11.04 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 '11.10' is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 11.04 on a server system: install the update-manager-core package if it is not already installed; launch the upgrade tool with the command sudo do-release-upgrade -d; and follow the on-screen instructions. Note that the server upgrade is now more robust and will utilize GNU screen and automatically re-attach in case of e.g. dropped connection problems.

Download the Beta 2

Beta 2 images can be downloaded from a location near you:

In addition they can be found at the following links:

New features in Oneiric

Please see the Oneiric blueprint list for details.

Please test and report any bugs you find:

Improved handling of 32-bit compatibility on amd64 systems

Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 2 provides "multiarch" support for installing 32-bit library and application packages on 64-bit systems. For all amd64 installs and upgrades, select 32-bit software, including skype and flash, will be installable directly using the same 32-bit packages that are used on i386 installations, without the need to install the ia32-libs compatibility package. For users this means 32-bit libraries will always be available at the same time as their 64-bit counterparts, even in the case of security updates, and users will only need to install those 32-bit libraries needed by the applications they have installed.

Enabling multiarch if you upgraded before Beta-1

amd64 users who upgraded to oneiric prior to August 16th or who installed oneiric prior to alpha-3 will need to manually enable multiarch support on their systems to ensure they get the same experience (and see the same packages) as other users. This is as simple as running the following command:

 $ echo foreign-architecture i386 | sudo tee /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/multiarch

An apt-get update later, and you'll have access to the full array of i386 packages in addition to the amd64 ones.

Installing the correct skype package

As a result of this change, work has begun to deprecate the ia32-libs package, which no longer ships all the libraries that it did previously. Most 32-bit software will either be automatically transitioned to i386 packages on upgrade or will continue to work with the ia32-libs package in oneiric. However, the Skype website currently directs users to download a package for 64-bit Ubuntu 11.10 systems which is not compatible. Users are instead recommended to install the skype package via the Canonical partner archive using Software Center. Alternatively, you can manually install this i386 package from the command line by running:

 $ sudo apt-get install skype:i386

Ubuntu Kernel

Beta 2 includes the 3.0.0-11.18 Ubuntu kernel which is based on the v3.0.4 upstream stable kernel. Some of the most notable changes since Beta 1 with respect to the kernel include:

  • Rebase to upstream stable v3.0.4
  • Drop compcache
  • Enable and enforce SECCOMP_FILTER on x86
  • ALSA: HDA: hdmi: Emit pcm device index for jack input devices
  • Input: elantech – Add v3 hardware support
  • usb_storage: Don’t freeze in usb-stor-scan
  • xen: Do not use pv spinlocks on HVM
  • Kernel build time performance improvements
  • Misc config updates
  • drm/i915: set GFX_MODE to pre-Ivybridge default value even on Ivybridge
  • rt2x00: fix crashes in rt2800usb
  • Add aufs to virtual flavor inclusion list
  • Disable legacy IDE drivers on powerpc
  • x86, x2apic: enable the bios request for x2apic optout
  • fireware: add NO_MSI quirks for o2micro controller
  • ideapad: Check if acpi already handle backlight power in ‘ideapad_backlight_notify_power’ to avoid a page fault
  • savagedb: Fix typo causing regression in savage4 series video chip detection
  • cifs: fix possible memory corruption in CIFSFindNext, CVE-2011-3191
  • HID: add support for Mac Book Air 4,2 keyboard

Ubuntu Desktop

Revised DVD content

In Ubuntu 11.10 beta 1, a revised smaller DVD based on community feedback over the last few cycles was introduced. This new DVD has a more manageable size of 1.5G. The new DVD image is an extension of our current CD image to include all the language packs and some other useful applications, such as Inkscape, GIMP, Pitivi, and a more complete LibreOffice suite. All the packages that used to be on the DVD are still available from the archive.

New ARM subarchitectures

We're now producing two new desktop images for ARM subarchitectures: armel+ac100 for the Toshiba ac100 netbook, and armel+mx5 targeted at the Freescale i.MX53 Quick Start development board. Both of these images are "best-effort" community-supported images aimed at developer and hobbyist use. See Known issues for more information on their status.

Interface updates

A new release of compiz and Unity has been included with this milestone. Highlights of this release are:

  • A new Alt+Tab switcher.
  • "Places" were renamed to "Lenses", now integrating multiple sources and advanced filtering like ratings, range, categories…
  • A new music lens linked to Banshee is also installed by default.
  • The restructuring for getting some new features has been done. Known bugs and regressions are documented below.
  • Better performance of launchers and panel, ported to GTK 3 and GTK 3-based indicator stack.
  • Full support for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other script languages.

Unity 2D reduced the delta with Unity, shares more code with it and has almost complete accessibility support. See Known issues for the missing accessibility parts.

The indicators got a visual refresh which includes a refactoring of the session indicator and a new power indicator.

New Applications and Defaults

Thunderbird is included as default email client including menu and launcher integration.

Déjà Dup is included as the default backup tool, making it easy to upload backups to Ubuntu One.

The new Gwibber landed in Oneiric bringing improved performance and a new interface using the most recent GNOME technologies.

GNOME got updated to current unstable version (3.1.92) on its way to GNOME 3.2

LightDM now uses the new Unity greeter by default.

Synaptic and pitivi are no longer included in the default install but are still available and supported in the Ubuntu repositories.

Software Center updates

The Ubuntu Software Center adds new "top rated" views to the main category page and all subcategory pages, now allows you to edit or delete your own reviews, and has had a significant speedup for standalone deb file installations (gdebi functionality). Full CJK support is also available.

OneConf is now built in to keep your installed applications between computers in sync. You just need to activate it with "File → Sync between computers…".

Ubuntu Core

Ubuntu Core is a new minimal rootfs for use in the creation of custom images for specific needs. With the release of Oneiric Ocelot, developers will be able to use Ubuntu Core as the basis for their application demonstrations, constrained environment deployments, device support packages, and other goals. More information is available on the Ubuntu Core wiki page.

Ubuntu Server

Orchestra which is a collection of the best free software services for provisioning, deploying, hosting, managing, and orchestrating enterprise data centre infrastructure services, by, with, and for the Ubuntu Server has landed in Oneiric and is taking good shape.

A core component of Orchestra provisioning is Cobbler, which has been receiving significant attention. Whilst still in the Universe repository, it is considered an important part of Ubuntu Server and final pre-release testing is much appreciated.

The majority of the Openstack components which represent the Diablo release are part of the release, and it's dependencies. These are mostly in the Main archive, however Keystone and the Dashboard will remain in Universe. The final nova Diablo release is not shipped as part of Beta 2; but will be available shortly after.

Juju is now available in the Oneiric archive as a technical preview; it is a critical part of Ubuntu Server designed to handle service deployment and orchestration for both cloud and bare metal. Juju has many Charms available, including OpenStack deployment - primarily for bare metal deployments. While the team uses juju on a regular basis it is still under heavy development and changing rapidly, however this included snapshot is enough to get you started and testing juju in a development environment. We currently don't recommend using it in production systems, however we do recommend using juju via the regular snapshot releases that will be provided here. We also highly recommend you follow development reports of juju as they are posted here to be aware of changes to juju over the next few months.

The Xen hypervisor has now been reintroduced to Ubuntu Server, and is therefore an option. The QA process has identified a number of issues in the cycle, which are making good progress towards a resolution. Further testing of this will ensure good Xen support in Oneiric.

The cloud images have been formally renamed to 'Ubuntu Cloud Images' (or cloudimg as short form). The images should now be found at the new address: https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com . ARM cloud images are now being built, but there isn't currently a cloud infrastructure that can consume them, and therefore are not officially released as part of this beta.

All references to UEC have been changed to "Ubuntu Cloud". If the term UEC is discovered in this milestone, it should be considered a bug and raised accordingly.

Former UEC components (including Eucalyptus) are no longer part of the CD image, and were demoted to Universe, however there should be a an upgrade path from Natty / 11.04

Kubuntu

Updates from the KDE community

Plasma and Applications 4.7.1

The latest stable release of KDE's Plasma Workspaces and Applications brings new features and improvements all around. Highlights include:

  • Visual updates include a new Oxygen icon theme
  • A cleaner default look to Dolphin
  • Gwenview's new ability to compare two or more images
  • New breadcrumb feature in the Kickoff menu that simplifies navigating submenus
  • More improvements in the Network Management widget

More details can be found here and here.

KDE Personal Information Management Suite 4.7

We’re happy to bring you the new KDEPIM suite, which includes the Kmail 2. The look and feel is familiar, but under the hood, most of the applications have been updated to use the Akonadi storage service. This will enable better email, calendar, and other PIM activities moving forward.

IMPORTANT: Do note that this is a major upgrade to the mail, calendar and addressbook systems, and as such still needs usage and migration testing. While loss of data should not be an issue, it is highly recommended to back up all important data, mail, contact information, and calendars if you plan to test upgrading to 11.10.

Amarok 2.4.3

This new and improved version of the default music player features native support for remote NFS & SMB/CIFS collections, a better looking user interface, support for gpodder.net, as well as vastly improved reliability.

For more information have a look at the release announcements of Amarok 2.4.1 and 2.4.3

Test Drive OpenGL ES Powered Desktop Effects

For those adventurous and curious, we’ve packaged the work towards using a more compatible and reliable version of OpenGL, OpenGL ES. This new technology is particular interesting in the not so distant future for mobile devices.

Kubuntu Presents: Muon Suite 1.2

The Kubuntu team is proud to present our new suite of tools for installing and managing software. Installing of .deb packages, updating, and software management is all part of this new, integrated suite, specifically designed to work with Debian style package management.

Muon Software Center

Accessing thousands of free applications for your computer has never been easier. The Muon Software Center provides an easy-to-use way to access extra applications, games and accessories to further customize your desktop. Applications come with ratings and reviews for each application from the wider Ubuntu community, as well as with screenshot previews to help you make informed decisions.

Muon Package Manager

For the budding system administrator, the Muon Package Manager provides a powerful feature set with a usability-driven interface. With its lightning-fast quick-search and extensive filtering abilities, you should have no trouble finding exactly the right package. From selective upgrades to package pinning to mass package removal, the Muon Package Manager should give you every tool you need to quickly and efficiently administer your system.

Additional information about this release of Kubuntu can be found here.

Xubuntu

Xubuntu has replaced gdm with lightdm as the application that manages logins. Automatic logins will not work with lightdm at the present time.

Pastebinit is now included in Xubuntu intallations by default. If you need to use http://paste.ubuntu.com/, you can use pastebinit in terminals to paste directly without copying and pasting the data.

The developers have replaced mousepad with leafpad as the text editor. leafpad now includes the ability to print, and is better maintained than mousepad.

The onscreen keyboard, Onboard, is now included in the default Xubuntu menus, under Accessories. For those who require an onscreen keyboard, this will be much easier to access using only a mouse or touchpad.

Astute users will observe a new plymouth splash screen in use. Unfortunately, we have found that occasionally, when using the desktop cd to install, the message "hit any key to continue" will not appear. Should you get a black screen with text and the sliding throbber, when the throbber stops moving and the cd ejects, remove the cd and hit enter on the keyboard to continue.

Bluetooth configuration does not work at the present time in Xubuntu. Please see the bug below. A workaround is to install 'blueman' to manage bluetooth.

The Xubuntu developers and contributors had a discussion about replacing the Gimp with an application to assist with digital photos. As a result, gThumb has been added to the default installation. This application is designed to help with image transformations and viewing.

Edubuntu

Edubuntu inherits all the changes that occurs in the Ubuntu desktop.

The default desktop environment is now Unity with fallback to Unity 2D when the hardware doesn't support running the 3D version. Gnome 3 Fallback (which uses an updated gnome-panel) is available for those who want it as an option in the installer.

One of our goal for this release is to improve our translation support. Everything we developed can now be translated, if it's not translated or not accurate in your language, please help translating it!

Our package selection is very similar to 11.04. The biggest changes include Gobby that got updated to gobby-0.5 and gbrainy that got updated to the latest and greatest version 2. Nanny, Pessulus and Sabayon haven't been ported to Gnome 3.0/dconf yet and were consequently dropped from the default installation.

This beta also offers a refreshed look and feel with a new wallpaper and login screen.

To learn more on Edubuntu and download a stable version of it, go to: http://www.edubuntu.org

Mythbuntu

Mythbuntu has transitioned over to the quicker lightdm desktop manager and brings updated builds of MythTV. Still on the 0.24 series, but growing more stable with each new build. Mythbuntu has adapted Chromium to replace Firefox by default. In line with the rest of Ubuntu, it now ships software center rather than synaptic.

Lubuntu

Lubuntu is a flavor of Ubuntu based on the LXDE desktop environment. The goal is to provide a very lightweight distribution, with all the advantages of the Ubuntu world (repositories, support ...). With many LXDE components, Lubuntu also uses well-known applications, such as Chromium, Openbox, Pidgin ... (More informations on applications used or on the Lubuntu project are available on the wiki.).

Ubuntu Studio

We have moved LightDM and should have a background for it as well.

We are still working through our XFCE transition so some items or features might not be completely resolved yet.

The menu will be different as we are moving towards a more DE agnostic way of handling categories and submenus.

The icon set has changed, at least for the time being. We might consider moving back if we can resolve some issues.

Known issues

As is to be expected, at this stage of the release process, there are still some significant known bugs that users may run into with the Oneiric Beta 2 Release. The ones we know about at this point (and some of the workarounds), are documented here so you don't need to spend time reporting these bugs again:

Boot, installation and post-install

  • In some cases, booting the live system takes a long time until the desktop starts. (791139)

  • When overwriting an existing installation in the Ubiquity desktop installer, it creates a new swap partition instead of re-using the already existing one. (782507)

  • Ubiquity desktop installer proceeds to use free space without warning, if sufficient free space exists, and "install alongside" is selected, then clicking on the forward button just begins the installation without warning. (766265)

  • ARM Desktop installations sometimes crash during the OEM configuration step or upgrades, due to a race condition in flash-kernel. (779410)

  • No support for Panda ES2.0 (prerelease) dev boards. Use an older x-loader/u-boot if needed. (837235).

  • omap3/omap4 netboot images are known to be too small (806751).

  • The "Memory test" mode is hanging indefinitely without any progress on some systems (confirmed on Dell Mini 10). (856055)

  • The armel+mx5 kernel lacks a kernel config for proper ext4 support, rendering the Beta 2 images unusable, however the fix is in the pipeline and future dailies should usable. (856432)

  • Wubi fails to install derivatives from the network. Images are downloaded but the windows installer crashes at the end of the download (856340). Ubuntu works fine.

  • With netboot installer or expert mode with alternate images, the task 'Ubuntu Desktop USB' doesn't install a working desktop environment (855580)

Upgrades

  • Ubuntu 11.10 has migrated away from /var/run, /var/lock and /dev/shm and now uses /run, /run/lock and /run/shm instead (respectively). While the Ubuntu AppArmor packages and shipped policy have been adjusted for this, custom policy may need to be updated. The following my be used to aid in migration (it allows both the old an the new paths):

    $ sed -i -e 's#/var/run#/{,var/}run#' -e 's#/var/lock#/{run,var}/lock#' -e 's#/dev/shm/#/{dev,run}/shm/#' <profile>
  • Ubuntu 11.04 failed to upgrade to 11.10 with gcj-4.4-jre installed (853688)

Graphics and Display

  • We had to revert from unity-window-decorator to gtk-window-decorator for performance reasons. This means that the "1 px border" for resizing window is back temporarily.
  • Unity 2D is not working on KVM with xen and cirrus video devices. As a workaround, use the -vga vmware option. (759803)

  • Dash and launcher appear underneath windows. (805087)

  • There is a memory leak in the unity-2d-panel (850320)

  • Unity 2D panel may crash on login with message "*** glibc detected *** unity-2d-panel: corrupted double-linked list: 0x094bc9b0 ***" (854124)

  • On Intel N10 Graphics, plugging in external monitor to VGA port makes both displays corrupted with thick slanted lines. (830949)

  • unity-panel-service crashed with SIGSEGV in getenv() (817691)


Since Unity is in active development right now, please check the unity bug reports before filing new bugs.

Desktop

  • "gnome-settings-daemon crashed with SIGSEGV in g_simple_async_result_complete()" has been seen on some systems intermitently and is being investigated. (832603)

  • Contact synchs on thunderbird aren't working (743096)

  • Opening the system settings preferred application dialog breaks the defaults(852012)

Kernel

  • Sandy Bridge power regression from kernel 3.0.0-6 to 3.0.0-7 (30% more power at idle) (818830)

Ubuntu Server

  • When running an i386 system under a virtual machine without enough memory allocated a kernel error is detected during installation. (790712)

  • In the nova-compute component of openstack, console.log grows indefinitely which could be a security concern. (832507)

  • Openstack Nova Diablo release is published as source, however the binaries are not yet built; pending Glance promotion to Main.
  • Booting can fail non-deterministically on hardware with slower disks (including kvm), due to a suspected udev race condition. Rebooting often succeeds. (818177)

  • cloud-init does not mount ephemeral0 on /mnt in nova (827590)

  • Occasional problems starting multiple lxc instances concurrently in nova (842845)

Kubuntu

  • Shutdown in the live session under VirtualBox sometimes does not work and seems to just hang on the desktop. Just restart the computer with the power button in that case, there is no possibility of data loss. (805906)

Xubuntu

  • Bluetooth fails for those users attempting to use. Gnome-control-center is not being installed due to numberous dependencies (831488)

  • There is no screen title or headings when choosing "Install Xubuntu" from the CD menu (840094)

Ubuntu Core

  • DRM libraries are always installed, even for users who are not enabling graphical environments (819802)

Mythbuntu

  • Some parts of the installer remain sensitive when they shouldn't be allowing options that shouldn't be selectable normally.

Lubuntu

  • Generic icon for jockey needs to be updated (819542)

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

Reporting bugs

It should come as no surprise that this Beta 2 release of Oneiric Ocelot may contain other bugs. Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve the quality of 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:

OneiricOcelot/TechnicalOverview/Beta2 (last edited 2011-09-30 16:10:54 by c-76-109-5-30)