Issue134
WORK IN PROGRESS
Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #134 for the week March 15th - March 21st, 2009. In this issue we cover ...
UWN Translations
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In This Issue
General Community News
Ubuntu Stats
Bug Stats
- Open (#) +/- # over last week
- Critical (#) +/- # over last week
- Unconfirmed (#) +/- # over last week
- Unassigned (#) +/- # over last week
- All bugs ever reported (#) +/- # over last week
As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad
Infamous Bugs
Translation Stats Jaunty
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/
Translation Stats Intrepid
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/intrepid/
# NEEDS UPDATING. # #=== 5-a-day bug stats === # #==== Top 5 contributors for the past 7 days ==== # # * person (#) # * person (#) # * person (#) # * person (#) # * person (#) # #==== Top 5 teams for the past 7 days ==== # # * team (#) # * team (#) # * team (#) # * team (#) # * team (#) # #5-A-Day stats provided by Daniel Holbach. See http://daniel.holba.ch/5-a-day-stats/
Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week
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Ubuntu Brainstorm is a community site geared toward letting you add your ideas for Ubuntu. You can submit your own idea, or vote for or against another idea. http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/
LoCo News
New in Intrepid Ibex
Launchpad News
Ubuntu Forums News
Ubuntu Forums nuts and bolts
The ubuntuforums have become the largest GNU/Linux forums worlwide. With the expanding community, the crew taking care of the forums and the forums categories and features have grown with time. It is easy for new people to get lost within such an active message board. We currently have 793,387 members and 65,554 active members (members who have posted at least once in the last month), 995,019 threads and 6,367,064 posts after a heavy Spring cleaning. Here is a little summary of the important links to keep at hand:
The UF Code of Conduct, the link is located under the "Forum Help" menu, in the banner: http://ubuntuforums.org/index.php?page=policy
The Staff crew: http://ubuntuforums.org/showgroups.php. Names in black or green show specific sub-forums moderators (typically, moderators from LoCos sub-forums where English is not the main language, or specific projects moderators). Names in red are global UF moderators and dark red administrators. Global mods and admins are members of the Launchpad UF Staff Team: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntuforums-staff
The Forums Council: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ForumCouncil is composed of the 5 Forums administrators. MikeBasinger is also a Community Council member.
The Resolution Center: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=123 is here to help resolve moderation issues on the Forums. Only the Forum Council members are allowed to answer, to keep the discussion focused on resolving the issue. If no agreement is reached, it can be discussed during a Forum Council meeting (agenda here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ForumCouncilAgenda) after the item has been added. The meetings take place in #ubuntu-meeting on irc.freenode.net.
The Forum Feedback and Help: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=48 where topics regarding the forums themselves (questions or issues, bugs etc.) should be posted. One important sticky in this area is the guide to Forums features: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1006656 that will help new comers to get started with the forums options and available features. Bugs can also be filed here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntuforums.org.
- Reporting a thread or a post sends a message in the "Reported Posts" area, only visible by global mods and admins. We usually get from 40 to 60 reported posts per 24h, each one of them is taken care of. Addressing the Reported Posts is at the Staff discretion. We have a set of codes among ourselves to inform others a report has been dealt with. In any case, discussion regarding the actions we deploy are frequent and we usually wait everyone has had a chance to see the report and add input before acting. Of course, taking care of spam does not fall under this umbrella and is usually immediate.
Ubuntuforums is a large house, we try to keep it pleasant and helpful. See you there!
In The Press
Ubuntu Refreshes Art for Jaunty Jackalope
The Linux Loop tells us that Ubuntu keeps promising a completely new theme in every release, but it has been delayed time and time again. The wait is over, though, since the artwork in Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope daily builds is rapidly being refreshed. Softpedia has already posted screenshots of the new login screen, themes, and USplash theme. Though no new background has been selected yet, there are already some great ones. Linux Loop's opinion is that no matter if you like the current theme or not, it is getting old and is ready to be replaced. What do you think of the current proposed artwork? http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2009/03/18/ubuntu-refreshes-art-for-jaunty-jackalope/
Ubuntu 9.04's New Boot Splash
Marius Nestor, Linux Editor of Softpedia, reports that new themes for Ubuntu 9.04 were introduced on March 17th, and Canonical decided to update the boot splash screen (USplash) theme with a very nice one. The Ubuntu logo is the same as it was in Ubuntu 8.10, but it's smaller and the loading bar was replaced with a thinner and nicer one. How does it look? Nestor tested it on a 17" and 19" LCD, and he says that it looks more professional than the previous one, and the new loading bar has a gradient effect. Kubuntu's USplash was also updated with the new theme! No word from Xubuntu, yet. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-9-04-039-s-New-Boot-Splash-107165.shtml
The quiet Ubuntu Netbook revolution
Mark Asay of Cnet News says, "Revolutions don't always roil and boil toward a noisy, violent fracas. Sometimes they don't even ripple the surface. Such is the Ubuntu Netbook revolution." In the Netbook market, Ubuntu is the clear winner, with Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and the other major hardware OEMs shipping Ubuntu-based Netbooks. Ubuntu claims the bulk of Netbook installations and there are indications that this could accelerate. Manufacturers continue to ship Windows XP and pay Microsoft virtually nothing for the privilege due to discounts, rebates, and other incentives. With Ubuntu exerting downward pricing pressure, Microsoft doesn't stand to gain much in the growing Netbook market. Netbooks are disruptive, in part, because they define productivity in terms of the Web, not Microsoft Office. The more users want to spend time in a browser, or instant messaging, or e-mail, the less Microsoft Windows is required. The less Windows is a requirement, the less that OEMs are going to be willing to pay for Windows licenses. Microsoft suffers, OEMs gain, and customers gain. And, of course, Canonical gains. There's a revolution going on. It's quiet, but it's happening. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10198879-16.html
Interview with Jono Bacon - Ubuntu Community Manager
LinuxQuestions.org conducts the first in their LQ Community Manager Interview Series with with Ubuntu Community Manager Jono Bacon. Reflecting on his community manager role Bacon says that the most important role in great community management is to listen. "One of the problems many communities have faced, particularly when they scale up, is that the leaders lost the ability to listen to the opportunities and concerns of the wider community. I think its incredibly important that community leaders always retain the ability to listen, and to seek to listen to every facet of their community." http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/interviews-28/interview-with-jono-bacon-ubuntu-community-manager-712635/
Top 10 Reasons I’ll Never Use Ubuntu
The web site Ubuntu Productivity gives a tongue in cheek listing of the top 10 reasons they'll never use Ubuntu. This includes such gems as "It’s too inexpensive", "It’s too pretty", and "It’s too fun." http://www.ubuntuproductivity.com/journal/uncategorized/03/2009/top-10-reasons-ill-never-use-ubuntu/
In The Blogosphere
Ubuntu 9.04 Excitement
http://easylinuxcds.com/blog/?p=3233
SmartQ 5 MID Runs Ubuntu at $132
http://www.pmptoday.com/2009/03/18/smartq-5-mid-runs-ubuntu-at-132/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/18/smartq-5-mid-scores-itself-ubuntu-a-ridiculously-low-price-tag/
Ubuntu: From Cell Phones to Game Consoles?
http://www.workswithu.com/2009/03/18/ubuntu-from-cell-phones-to-game-consoles/
Ubuntu For Non-Geeks, 3rd Edition: A Big Thumbs Up
http://blog.linuxtoday.com/blog/2009/03/ubuntu-for-nong.html
Where Ubuntu Fits Between Apple, Microsoft
Joe Panettieri of WorksWithU suffered 48 hours of drama when his MacBook Pro died on March 15, forcing him to shift all of his blogging and business efforts over to a System76 Pangolin Performance laptop running Ubuntu. The experience reminded him that Ubuntu fills a growing niche where Apple won’t compete on price and Microsoft hasn’t competed on quality. While Apple plays at the higher end of the market, Apple products carry a premium price tag. Panettieri says he can’t imagine buying a bunch of MacBook Pros for general business users. Moreover, he can’t recommend Windows systems at the moment because the industry is stuck in purgatory — between Windows Vista and Windows 7. Ubuntu remains a solid, predictable, reliable choice on a growing number of desktops, notebooks and netbooks. Assuming Canonical doesn’t mess up Ubuntu 9.04’s delivery (Jaunty Jackalope) in April, this should be a banner year for Ubuntu’s continued desktop growth. http://www.workswithu.com/2009/03/17/where-ubuntu-fits-between-apple-microsoft/
Will half-baked Ubuntu Linux netbooks ruin the OS for consumers?
Andrew Nusca of ZDNet tells us that PC World’s Keir Thomas recently caved in and bought a Dell Mini 9 netbook, which sells for just $249 with Ubuntu Linux. He loves the little netbook: “I’ll be damned if the little thing hasn’t stolen my heart.” What he doesn’t like, however, is Dell’s in-house version of Ubuntu that came installed on the machine. "There was no final polish before the car left the showroom." Thomas notes various irritations, and said he has received lots of e-mail from Ubuntu users either pointing out how to fix the problems, urging him to switch to a different distro, or telling him to put up with open source the way it was meant to be. The problem is that Ubuntu is no longer a geek’s OS. Now it comes preinstalled on consumer netbooks and must face a group of users that don’t have a vocabulary that includes “Jaunty Jackalope” and “Hardy Heron.” In Ubuntu, the end-user is king. So what happened here? Is Dell shipping an unpolished machine to jump on the netbook bandwagon? Will the decision roll out half-baked Linux-based netbooks ruin the average consumer’s first experience with the OS? http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=2165
WorksWithU Readers Bullish About HP Ubuntu Server Certification
Joe Panettieri of WorksWithU says now that they’ve had a month to digest the news, most WorksWithU readers expect Canonical’s emerging relationship with Hewlett-Packard to accelerate Ubuntu Server Edition’s momentum. To be clear, HP hasn’t necessarily agreed to pre-install Ubuntu Server Edition on the company’s ProLiant servers. Rather, HP has agreed to certify its servers to run Ubuntu. Over time, the move should empower resellers and solutions providers to more easily recommend, sell and deploy HP servers with Ubuntu. Meanwhile, cloud services may ultimately give Ubuntu Server Edition a lift. Canonical says Ubuntu 9.10 will have close ties to Amazon Web services. Plus, RightScale and Turnkey Linux are pushing Ubuntu and Ubuntu software appliances into cloud services. http://www.workswithu.com/2009/03/19/workswithu-readers-bullish-about-hp-ubuntu-server-certification/
Zmanda Prepares Ubuntu 9.04 Open Source Backup Support
Joe Panettieri reports that when Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) launches in April, the open source backup company Zmanda will stand next to Canonical in full support of the Linux distribution. Zmanda CEO Chander Kant affirmed Zmanda’s ongoing commitment to numerous Linux distributions. Zmanda already offers a software agent for Ubuntu, but the company will take that support “to the next level” by offering a console for Ubuntu 9.04, according to Kant. “As we watched the Ubuntu Server Edition market, we saw a spike in demand last year,” said Kant. Kant was also quoted as saying that Ubuntu is among the top four or five agent downloads for Zmanda. http://www.workswithu.com/2009/03/19/zmanda-prepares-open-source-backup-console-for-ubuntu-904/
In Other News
What is Qimo?
Qimo is a desktop operating system designed for kids. Based on the open source Ubuntu Linux desktop, Qimo comes pre-installed with educational games for children aged 3 and up.
Qimo's interface has been designed to be intuitive and easy to use, providing large icons for all installed games, so that even the youngest users have no trouble selecting the activity they want. http://qimo4kids.com/page/What-is-Qimo.aspx
Meeting Summaries
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Community Spotlight
Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.10, 8.04, and 8.10
Security Updates
Ubuntu 6.06 Updates
Ubuntu 7.10 Updates
Ubuntu 8.04 Updates
Ubuntu 8.10 Updates
UWN #: A sneak peek
Archives and RSS Feed
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Additional Ubuntu News
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Conclusion
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See you next week!
Credits
The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:
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Glossary of Terms
Ubuntu - Get Involved
The Ubuntu community consists of individuals and teams, working on different aspects of the distribution, giving advice and technical support, and helping to promote Ubuntu to a wider audience. No contribution is too small, and anyone can help. It's your chance to get in on all the community fun associated with developing and promoting Ubuntu. http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate
Feedback
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