Issue142

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Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue ## for the week MONTH DAY - DAY, YEAR. In this issue we cover ... Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #142 for the week May 10th - May 16th, 2009. In this issue we cover ...
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=== Hall of Fame, Ante Karamatic ===
http://hall-of-fame.ubuntu.com/?feature=ante-karamatic

## Make each article a subsection, via ===
## These are big articles that don't fit within another section

=== Karmic Koala Alpha 1 Released ===

Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 1 has been released. Pre-releases of Karmic are *not* encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs. This release consists only of the alternate and server CDs; the desktop CD will follow in the next Alpha release.

 * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic/alpha-1/ (Ubuntu)
 * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-1/ (Kubuntu)
 * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-1/ (Xubuntu)

Bug reports should be reported as described on:

 * https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2009-May/000569.html

=== Landscape 1.3 released ===

Landscape is the package that allows server and desktop administrators to maintain Ubuntu on physical or virtual servers to more easily manage their deployments. The new release, Landscape 1.3, also makes that service available to the Amazon EC2 cloud. Landscape is available as part of the commercial support package or as a standalone service. New features in Landscape include:
 * Management of Ubuntu on Amazon EC2
 * The ability to choose Ubuntu images on Amazon EC2
 * Management of physical and virtual machines
 * Updated Custom Graph feature
http://www.ubuntu.com/news/manage-ubuntu-server-in-amazon-ec2-cloud

=== Server Team: Hungry for Merges? ===

buntu developers are focusing on merging packages from Debian unstable into karmic repositories. Those that want to help improve their skills in merging packages, they have a list for both the main and universe repositories that is available. To get the packages, go to the Ubuntu Merge-O-Matic[1]. The Merging[2] wiki page has more information on the process. When finished, upload the changes or ask for sponsorship[3] and don't forget to sent the patches to Debian.

 1. Merge-O-Matic - https://merges.ubuntu.com/
 2. Merging wiki page - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDevelopment/Merging
 3. Sponsorship - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SponsorshipProcess
http://ubuntuserver.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/hungry-for-merges-the-ubuntu-server-team-has-a-selection-for-your-appetite/

== From the Top ==

=== Meta-cycles: 2-3 year major cycles for free software ===

Mark Shuttleworth is looking for your comments. Ubuntu has been running on the basis of 6 month releases with LTS every 2 years or so. But now the question is, "What IS the best way to approach big releases?" What would be a good period of time for release of significant changes such as KDE made when it moved from the 3.X series to the 4.0 series? Is 2 years enough? Is it too much? Should it even be cycled on a periodic basis, like the Ubuntu releases are currently using? Mark's blog asks a lot of questions like this, with significant background to amplify what it is that he's asking, and he would like input from the community as to their ideas and reasons why.
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/288
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## Bug stats only take a second to do.
## Data can be found at: http://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bugs
## See last week's UWN to calculate change over last week.
## NOTE: To be done ONLY on the release date of the UWN (or latter if late).

    * Open (#) +/- # over last week
    * Critical (#) +/- # over last week
    * Unconfirmed (#) +/- # over last week
    * Unassigned (#) +/- # over last week
    * All bugs ever reported (#) +/- # over last week
 * Open (55939) +424 # over last week
 * Critical (16) +1 # over last week
 * Unconfirmed (25670) +600 # over last week (Format to use when result is zero)
 * Unassigned (48080) +579 # over last week (Format to use when result is zero)
 * All bugs ever reported (282319) +2068 # over last week
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=== Infamous Bugs ===

## Delete if no infamous/funny bugs for this week.

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## Translation stats only take a second to do.
## Data can be found at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty (or current release)
## See last week's UWN to calculate change over last week.
## NOTE: To be done ONLY on the release date of the UWN (or latter if late).
## List the top 5 untranslated languages.

 1. Language (#) +/- # over last week
 2. Language (#) +/- # over last week
 3. Language (#) +/- # over last week
 4. Language (#) +/- # over last week
 5. Language (#) +/- # over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/

# 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/
 * Spanish (14447) -110 # over last week
 * French (43162) -35 # over last week
 * Brazilian Portuguese (54099) -1620 # over last week
 * Swedish (54349) +/-0 # over last week
 * English (United Kingdom) (48986) -10000 # over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/

=== 5-a-day bug stats ===

==== Top 5 contributors for the past 7 days ====

 1. club-ubuntu.org-GBJ09 (295)
 2. gbj-UK-0902 (203)
 3. gbj-florida-0902 (159)
 4. gbj-chicago-0902 (129)
 5. gbj-oklahoma-0902 (129)

5-A-Day stats provided by Daniel Holbach. See http://daniel.holba.ch/5-a-day-stats/
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## These come from http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/. Click on the link on the left that says "most popular this week" then put the title for the most popular 5.

 * heading
 * heading
 * heading
 * heading
 * heading
 * Better visualization of unmounted drives in Nautilus - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/19840/
 * SVG support in OpenOffice - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/19817/
 * Improve Brasero to match K3b features - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/19824/
 * Different languages for different user accounts currently not possible - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/19765/
 * Make Installation of Security Tools easier by adding a new package category - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/19823/
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## Make each article a subsection, via === Section name ===
## Add notes about new locoteams, changed ones, meetings, etc.

== New in Intrepid Ibex ==

## This list is pulled by Corey Burger and dumped here in raw form for parsing.
## Choose a something you wish to write about a write a short piece about what
## has changed since the last version in Ubuntu. This might mean several upstream
## releases. To find this data, use the changelog in the package and look on the web.
## If you cannot find a usable changelog, simply drop that package. Try and group packages
## together logically, such as X, the kernel or GNOME.

## After all the package sections are written, organize them logically, based
## on desktop or server, GNOME, KDE, or Xfce4, etc.

## Sometimes bigger changes, such as a new development policy or a major new
## thing will be mentioned under a seperate heading
=== Ubuntu Florida: Jaunty Release Party Roundup ===

dantalizing has put up a long list of Release Parties, dates and pictures to show what the Florida Team has accomplished across the state:

 * April 23 - Pensacola - http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/gallery-ubottmenu-85/149-jaunty-release-party-pensacola-gallery.html
 * April 25 - Jacksonville - http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/gallery-ubottmenu-85/143-jaunty-release-party-jax.html
 * April 25 - Gainesville - http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/gallery-ubottmenu-85/148-jaunty-release-party-gainesville-gallery.html
 * May 2 - Tallahassee - http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/gallery-ubottmenu-85/145-tallahassee-release-party-gallery.html
 * May 2 - Tampa - http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/gallery-ubottmenu-85/142-tampa-release-party-gallery.html
 * May 3 - Orlando - http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/gallery-ubottmenu-85/150-jaunty-release-party-orlando-gallery.html
 * May 10 - Miami/Fort Lauderdale - http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/gallery-ubottmenu-85/147-miami-release-party-gallery.html

An eighth party is planned for June 6. Details about the parties can be seen at the link.
http://wrevolution.org/2009/05/15/ubuntu-florida-jaunty-release-party-roundup/

=== Ubuntu Florida: Qimo build day ===

The first ever Qimo Build Day is scheduled for May 23, in Lakeland, Florida. Come join the Ubuntu Florida Local Community team and other volunteers to help put computers into the hands of kids! Details can be found here: http://www.qimo4kids.com/post/Qimo-4-Kids-Computer-Build-Day!.aspx

http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/news/17-events/146-qimo-build-day.html
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## This section is provided to include any interesting updates from the Ubuntu Forums.
=== Tutorial of the Week ===

The tutorial of the week for May 11, 2009, is How``To: Install the very latest MPlayer under Jaunty Jackalope from andrew.46 (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=208550). You can find it here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1081070

This is a nifty tutorial that will show you how to successfully compile the subversion MPlayer under Jaunty Jackalope. For memory, ubuntu-freak's (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=314581) "Comprehensive Multimedia & Video Howto" was the Tutorial of the Week for October 06, 2008 and should be used if you do not wish to compile applications. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=766683

This week tutorial is very well presented, and, most of all, supported. You can even browse a recent tutorial from the same author, "Top 10 Tricks and Tips for the svn MPlayer" that focuses on MPlayer usage. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1154431

Long hours of fun ahead!

Note: you can use the Tutorial of the Week Discussion Thread to suggest tutorials or howtos. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1154431

== The Planet ==

=== Philipp Kern: Infinote-based Gobby hits Karmic ===

Gobby 0.5 (or to be more precise 0.4.92) just hit the Karmic Koala. It is sadly not protocol compatible to the old version but it features local undo and redo! Furthermore it's not yet stable on-the-wire wise. The software itself is fairly stable but it could be a bit bumpy if the server protocol version goes out of date. If you want to try it out on earlier versions, Philipp is offering backports in the Infinote PPA for Intrepid and up. https://launchpad.net/~infinote/+archive/ppa Thanks to Greg Heynes, there will also be a KDE client for Gobby, called... Kobby! http://www.philkern.de/weblog/en/ubuntu/gobby_infinote_hits_karmic.html

=== Ryan Troy: New Ubuntu Forums Lo``Co Administrator ===

Ryan announces that Joeb454 who has been a staff member on the Ubuntuforums for quite some time has offered to take over the managing of the Lo``Co subforums. The Forum Council gave Joe the big +1’s he needed. We believe Joe will do a great job taking care of the details. So, if you have a Lo``Co forum and need help or need one get with Joe. http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=373057

http://moxiefoxtrot.com/2009/05/15/ubuntuforums-loco-admin/
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## Things Ubuntu-specific are great, but general Linux goings-on are good to, to an extent.
## We don't need to replicate Digg & Slashdot, but certain things are of special interest.
## Just pulling one example from my memory, the story about Indiana schools piloting
## a classroom Linux deployment, a portion of which was Ubuntu, are good. Ubuntu
## release reviews are also common items in this section.
=== Next Ubuntu Alpha reveals video change ===

The next Ubuntu should see improved video performance, along with updates to the underlying Linux and open-source infrastructure. Ubuntu 9.10 will feature a new Intel video driver architecture to solve problems in Ubuntu 9.04, released just last month. Ubuntu 9.10 will switch from the current EXA acceleration method to UXA. A kernel-mode setting, meanwhile, will reduce video mode switching flicker during start up and - the team said - "dramatically" speed up the suspend and resume time. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/14/karmic_koala_alpha/
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http://www.thevarguy.com/2009/05/11/canonical-launching-ubuntu-managed-storage-service/ The VAR Guy reports that Canonical has begun beta testing a managed storage service known as Ubuntu One that allows Ubuntu 9.04 users to share and sync files between multiple Ubuntu PCs. The service is in beta and available for free for up to 2GB of storage, or $10 for a 10GB monthly storage plan. At $10 per month, Ubuntu One won’t make Canonical rich, but the VAR Guy estimates Ubuntu’s installed base stands at around 10 million or more desktops and services and the potential user base for Ubuntu One is growing rapidly each month. http://www.thevarguy.com/2009/05/11/canonical-launching-ubuntu-managed-storage-service/

=== Building Applications Using Ubuntu One ===

Stuart Langridge, a hacker, author, and speaker living in the UK and working for Canonical building online services, says that Ubuntu One is not just a collection of services for Ubuntu, it’s a platform that you can build your own services on. Stuart Langridge explains some of the APIs that Ubuntu One offers to developers, what they do, and how you can make use of them. You’ll see some examples of applications you might want to build that take advantage of data storage in the cloud and automatically-synchronised database backing for your apps, and you’ll get a glimpse of how to build programs to help people work collaboratively through Ubuntu One both on the desktop and on the web. http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/8843

=== Ubuntu One: Free Online Storage ===

Daniel Pop-Silaghi, Linux Editor for Softpedia, reports that Canonical has just released a new "cloud" service for all users: Ubuntu One. If you are familiar with services like Dropbox, Ubuntu One apparently does the same job. The main features are seamless integration and synchronization between multiple machines and a convenient web interface. But, while Dropbox works across all main platforms, the Ubuntu One application will exclusively be available for Ubuntu 9.04 operating systems. Ubuntu One is surely a service worth watching, and Pop-Silagh says he's sure Canonical has some aces up its sleeve to make its new project much more appealing than the competition. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-One-Free-Online-Storage-111347.shtml

=== Ubuntu 9.04 vs Mac OS X 10.5.6 Benchmarks ===

Phoronix's Michael Larabel recalls that last year when he looked at Ubuntu versus Mac OS X both operating systems had performed competitively. Since then Apple has released a minor update to Leopard (v10.5.6) and Canonical last month released Ubuntu 9.04 so he felt it was time to compare these latest releases against each other. In looking over these results, Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.6 was faster than Canonical's Ubuntu 9.04 in 17 of the 29 benchmarks. The graphics performance in Ubuntu 9.10, which will be out after the release of Mac OS X 10.6, may improve with Intel working to fix its regressions. Beyond improving the graphics performance and potentially some minor performance improvements thanks to an updated Linux kernel and the newer GCC 4.4 series, we would not anticipate the Ubuntu 9.10 performance to be drastically different. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_jaunty_osx&num=1

=== Elderly Ubuntu User Says Books Far Better than Forums ===

In a recent article about Ubuntu, Linux guru Carla Schroder noted that she had never met anyone who bought a “how to” book for their PC, although she recommended it. Datamation reader Emery Fletcher responded, "You wondered who actually buys and uses computer books. Well, I do, and I’d be in bad shape without them!" Fletcher tells about how he was given an eMachine that had been wiped, and he began to learn Ubuntu thanks to books he had purchased. "A book is a more reliable source of answers than a forum or a Help icon – a book doesn’t go black unexpectedly, it doesn’t time-out a session, it doesn’t flame you as a clueless newbie when you ask a dumb question, and above all, the best of them give you a ”why” to do something as well as a “what”. An old gaffer like me wouldn’t stand a chance of gaining any geek creds without BOOKS!" http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3819831/

=== Hands on: Canonical aims for the cloud with new Ubuntu One ===

ARS Technica's Ryan Paul tells us that Canonical, the company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, is preparing to launch a new Web service called Ubuntu One, which will bring cloud synchronization and collaboration features to the Linux desktop. The service is under heavy development, but it is expected to be ready for widespread use when Ubuntu 9.10, codenamed Karmic Koala, is released in October. Ubuntu One will support tight desktop integration and to achieve that goal, the developers are building client software that will make the service a seamless part of the desktop experience. The software is currently available to beta testers in an Ubuntu Personal Package Archive hosted on Launchpad. The source code will be released soon under open licenses and is said to be usable on other Linux distributions. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/hands-on-canonical-aims-for-the-cloud-with-new-ubuntu-one.ars

=== Health Check: Ubuntu and Debian's special relationship ===

Richard Hillesley of H-Online notes that Ubuntu is five years old. The release of Jaunty Jackalope coincided with the fifth anniversary of a meeting that Mark Shuttleworth called of a dozen or so Debian Developers in his London flat in April 2004 to map out his project to create a distribution that was capable of taking Linux to the masses. During the five years since that meeting Ubuntu has sprung from nothing to become the most popular Linux on the street. "I'm of the opinion that Ubuntu could not exist without Debian", Shuttleworth has written. "So it's absolutely my intention to see that Ubuntu is a constructive part of the broader Debian landscape. It's vital that Ubuntu help to sustain and grow Debian, because it's the breadth and strength of Debian which make up the "shoulders of greatness" on which we in the Ubuntu community stand when we reach for the stars." http://www.h-online.com/open/Health-Check-Ubuntu-and-Debian-s-special-relationship--/features/113260/0

=== Ubuntu One Cloud Syncronization: A Viable Business Model? ===

Linux Loop notes that due to the nature of free software, most companies that produce free software do not make money off of the code itself but rather complementary services, such as support. Canonical has just launched one such service that, in addition to opening some interesting possibilities for the future, could provide a good revenue stream for Canonical. The new service, called Ubuntu One, is essentially just a cloud synchronization service that is similar to Dropbox. Two things that make this service interesting: First, the fact that it will be so tightly integrated with Ubuntu. This means that is has the potential to create a better user experience than any other synchronization service. Second, Canonical is apparently thinking about working with application developers to let you sync your application preferences. We don’t know much yet, but Ubuntu One certainly looks like an interesting service, and it might give Canonical some money. http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2009/05/13/ubuntu-one-cloud-syncronization-a-viable-business-model/

=== Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" Alpha 1 Released ===

Michael Larabel of Phoronix tells us that the Ubuntu release team has announced the first alpha release for Ubuntu 9.10 (a.k.a. The Karmic Koala). Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 1 has a horde of Debian packages that were upgraded, but most prominently this release is tracking the Linux 2.6.30 kernel, GCC 4.4, and GNOME 2.27/2.28. Besides that there is not a whole lot of new features to be found in this very early alpha release. The Intel Linux graphics stack has been upgraded to the xf86-video-intel 2.7 series currently, which uses UXA for its acceleration architecture, but Intel's graphics performance problems are not yet cured. Ubuntu 9.10 has not yet integrated Plymouth or kernel mode-setting by default or other features that are still on target for the Karmic Koala. The Ubuntu 9.10 release schedule has the final release of Ubuntu 9.10 planned for the 29th of October. Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 2 is planned for release on the 11th of June. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NzI2OQ

=== Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 1 Released - The Karmic Koala Chronicles ===

Softpedia's Marius Nestor says that while everybody is enjoying Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), somewhere deep in the Ubuntu headquarters the developers are working hard to bring us all the new stuff that happens in the Linux world today. Ubuntu 9.10, dubbed Karmic Koala, which is scheduled for release in late October this year, was recently uploaded to the official mirrors. As always, Nestor did not expect something exciting from the first, and not even from the next two or three alpha versions of Ubuntu. Probably starting with the fifth or sixth alpha we will see some big changes, like that professional theme everyone is still waiting for, and which Mark Shuttleworth promised us. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-9-10-Alpha-1-Screenshot-Tour-111623.shtml

=== Xubuntu: A Simple Approach To Ubuntu ===

Linux.com's Rob Reilly says he's always liked Kubuntu but now that he's back doing freelance work again, tweaking the very cool resident desktop features all the time was beginning to distract him from pursuing fame and fortune as a humble word-smith. Having heard that the xfce desktop was simple and light, it seemed reasonable to try to speed up his article production with a streamlined process. Reilly found that for the new Linux user, Xubuntu is an easy to use version of Ubuntu that is fast, simple, and reliable. Experienced or "get it done" types will appreciate the minimalist approach, that can be beefed up to whatever degree that is needed. http://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/9809-xubuntu-a-simple-approach-to-ubuntu
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=== Ubuntu One ===

http://www.theopensourcerer.com/2009/05/12/ubuntu-one/

=== Dell offers Ubuntu Mini 9 plus SSD option ===

http://eeepc.net/dell-offers-the-ubuntu-mini-10-plus-ssd-option/

=== Moving Ubuntu Mirror Server ===

http://dulmandakhs.blogspot.com/2009/05/moving-ubuntu-mirror-server.html

=== Canonical Launching Ubuntu One Storage Service ===

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/05/11/canonical-launching-ubuntu-one-storage-service/

=== In Defense of the Six-Month Release Cycle ===

The poor experience of many users upgrading to Jaunty has prompted calls for a less ambitious Ubuntu release cycle. Instead of pushing out an updated version of Ubuntu with a new feature set every six months, some have argued, developers should issue new releases less frequently, or recommend that only LTS versions be used for production. Ubuntu stands out as an impressive exception in a software ecosystem where roadmaps often have little meaning. Since Warty Warthog made its appearance in April 2004, Ubuntu has issued a new release every six months exactly on schedule, with the singular exception of version 6.06, which was deliberately postponed six weeks. And in most cases, each new release has actually been stable and ready for production use. Ubuntu’s ability to meet deadlines provides an aura of reliability and professionalism that attracts users on both desktops and servers.

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/05/11/in-defense-of-the-six-month-release-cycle/

=== Ubuntu Fans Move Quickly to Ubuntu 9.04 ===

When it comes to deploying Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), Canonical’s installed base seems to be a loyal, eager crowd. A poll conducted by WorksWithU, the vast majority of site visitors have already upgraded to Ubuntu 9.04.

According to the poll, conducted over the past three weeks:

 * 71 percent of WorksWithU readers are already running Ubuntu 9.04
 * 11 percent planned to upgrade sometime in April
 * 11 percent planned to upgrade within three months
 * 5 percent had no plans to use Ubuntu 9.04
 * 2 percent planned to upgrade before the end of 2009

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/05/13/ubuntu-fans-move-quickly-to-ubuntu-904/

=== Ubuntu 9.04 is as slick as Windows 7 and Mac OS X ===

http://www.webdotdev.com/nvd/content/view/2030/
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## Any news or links that don't fit neatly into other sections. === Ubuntu Podcast #28 ===

In this episode, Nick and Josh discuss:

 * known 9.04 bugs with workarounds
 * Adobe Air on 64 Bit Linux
 * Dustin Kirklands screen-profiles renamed to Byobu

The recording of this episode got chopped off a bit, but they wanted to mention Keith Packard's blog post about the Intel open source drivers. http://keithp.com/blogs/Sharpening_the_Intel_Driver_Focus/ Keith has been working on X for a long time and talks about how complex the driver has become and how its coming along. Thanks to Jorge Castro for the link.

http://ubuntupodcast.net/

=== WorksWithU Vodcast: Episode #1 ===

Welcome to the WorksWithU vodcast, produced by contributing bloggers Joshua Chase and Nick Ali. In this edition, Josh and Nick discuss recent Ubuntu developments — including the launch of Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), plus some key Canonical initiatives and directions. Josh and Nick are familiar names to many Ubuntu community members. Both are active in the Atlanta Ubuntu Loco, and they speak regularly with Canonical insiders as well as Ubuntu industry leaders.

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/05/11/workswithu-vodcast-episode-1/
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## Any news from any Ubuntu Team listed here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TeamReports/January2008 be sure to udate to current month. === Server Team Meeting: May 12th ===

Here are the minutes of the meeting. They can also be found online with the irc logs here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MeetingLogs/Server/20090512.

 * Merges: mathiaz reminded that karmic had opened and merging was one of the favorite activities of the Ubuntu developers these days. He also mentioned the list of easy merges [1] published in the Roadmap. These packages should not be too difficult and thus are perfect to get used to the whole merge process.

[1]: http://ubuntuserver.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/hungry-for-merges-the-ubuntu-server-team-has-a-selection-for-your-appetite/

 * MIT krb5 1.7: coffedude asked about the state of krb5 in Karmic. mathiaz explained that krb5 1.7 had been synced from Debian. libkrb53 will be removed from Karmic once the transition to libkrb5-3 has been completed.

 * Karmic Alpha1: mathiaz reminded that Karmic Alpha1 is scheduled for Thursday. Help in iso testing is welcome once the iso candidates are available.

 * UDS: dendrobates announced that the Server team will have 2 session rooms and a break out room for UDS. The sessions will also be randomized amongst the physical rooms so that we will not just get to sit in the same room. However it may be a little complicated figuring out where to go. ttx said that a riddle would have to be solved to get to the right room while kirkland hoped for a broken RNG.

More important though was dendrobates announcement that he would buy a beer for any server team community team members that shows up. dendrobates looks like this [2] and becoming a member of the server team is a simple two steps
process [3].

[2]: https://launchpad.net/~dendrobates/
[3]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/GettingInvolved#becomemember

 * Web Mirror Manager: gourgi asked whether the web mirror manager [4] blueprint would be discussed. nijaba pointed to the relevant blueprint [5] in Launchpad which will be discussed in the Fondations track.

[4]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WebMirrorManager
[5]: https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/foundations-karmic-repository-management

 * screen-profiles renamed to byobu: kirkland announced that the screen-profiles project had been renamed to byobu, a japanese term for elegant folding room dividers, aka folding screens.

 * Agree on next meeting date and time: Due to travels and UDS it was decided to cancel the meeting for the next two weeks.

Next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 2nd at 15:00 UTC in #ubuntu-meeting.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2009-May/028242.html
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## * Start: 10:00
## * End: 12:00
## * Start: 10:00 UTC
## * End: 12:00 UTC
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=== Sunday, May 17, 2009 ===

==== Ubuntu-us-az LoCo Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 04:00 UTC
 * End: 04:30 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-us-az irc.freenode.net
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArizonaTeam/Meetings


=== Monday, May 18, 2009 ===

 * None listed as of publication

=== Tuesday, May 19, 2009 ===

==== Community Council Meeting ====

 * Start: 10:00 UTC
 * End: 12:00 UTC
 * Location: #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CommunityCouncilAgenda

==== Technical Board Meeting ====

 * Start: 14:00 UTC
 * End: 15:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting

==== Server Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 15:00 UTC
 * End: 16:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/Meeting

==== Desktop Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 16:30 UTC
 * End: 17:30 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-desktop
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopTeam/Meeting

==== Kernel Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 17:00 UTC
 * End: 18:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: Not listed as of publication

==== LoCo Council Meeting ====

 * Start: 19:00 UTC
 * End: 20:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC chanel #ubuntu-meeting

==== Ubuntu Forums Beginners Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 23:00 UTC
 * End: 00:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BeginnersTeam/Meetings

=== Wednesday, May 20, 2009 ===

==== Americas Board Meeting ====

 * Start: 00:00 UTC
 * End: 01:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership/RegionalBoards/Americas

==== Ubuntu-us-pa LoCo Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 12:30 UTC
 * End: 13:30 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-us-pa
 * Agenda: None as of publication

==== Foundation Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 16:00 UTC
 * End: 17:00 UTC
  * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: None listed as of publication

==== QA Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 16:00 UTC
 * End: 17:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/Meetings/

=== Thursday, May 21, 2009 ===

==== Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting ====

 * Start: 12:00 UTC
 * End: 13:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: None listed as of publication

==== Ubuntu Java Meeting ====

 * Start: 14:00 UTC
 * End: 15:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: None listed as of publication

==== Packaging Training: Reviewing New Packages ====

 * Start: 18:00 UTC
 * End: 19:00 UTC
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-classroom
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Packaging/Training

=== Friday, May 22, 2009 ===

 * None listed as of publication

=== Saturday, May 23, 2009 ===

 * None listed as of publication
Line 193: Line 474:
## Specification Spotlight

## This section highlights an approved specification that is going to be implemented
## in Feisty. See the list at https://blueprints.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/feisty
## In general, choose user visible features, as the audience are mostly end users.
## Also try and group specs together that belong together, such as network or X.
=== Hall of Fame, Ante Karamatic ===

Ante is one of the oldest contributor to the Ubuntu Server team having joined on a Friday, the 11th of November 2005. A regular atendee of the Ubuntu Server Team who has a list of small improvements that should be made. He has been involved with such packages as the redhat-cluster suite, drbd and bacula. He's also worked on an improved out-of-the box experience for dovecot and postfix. You'll find him hanging out in the ubuntu-server IRC channel helping out with support requests,
http://hall-of-fame.ubuntu.com/?feature=ante-karamatic
Line 216: Line 495:
## http://www.ubuntu.com/usn
## List all security advisories since last UWN.
## Format: * USN-###-#: <package name> vulnerability - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-###-#
## Ex: * USN-389-1: GnuPG vulnerability - [WWW] http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-389-1
 * USN-774-1: Moin``Moin vulnerability - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-774-1
 * USN-776-1: KVM vulnerabilities - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-776-1
 * USN-775-1: Quagga vulnerability - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-775-1
 * USN-776-2: KVM regression - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-776-2
Line 223: Line 502:
## https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes
## List all uploads since last UWN.
## Format: * <packagename> - <link to mailing list message>
## Ex: * postgresql-8.1_8.1.11-0ubuntu0.6.10.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2008-January/008478.html
 * None Reported
Line 230: Line 506:
## https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/
## List all uploads since last UWN.
## Format: * <packagename> - <link to mailing list message>
## Ex: * tzdata 2007h-0ubuntu0.8.04 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-May/009951.html
 * None Reported
Line 237: Line 510:
## https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/
## List all uploads since last UWN.
## Format: * <packagename> - <link to mailing list message>
 * None Reported
Line 243: Line 514:
## https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/
## List all uploads since last UWN.
## Format: * <packagename> - <link to mailing list message>
 * udev 141-1.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009792.html
 * pptpd 1.3.4-2.1ubuntu1.9.04.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009793.html
 * mysql-dfsg-5.0 5.1.30really5.0.75-0ubuntu10.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009794.html
 * foomatic-db-engine 4.0.0-0ubuntu6.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009795.html
 * claws-mail-extra-plugins 3.5.0-3ubuntu1.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009796.html
 * awstats 6.7.dfsg-5.1ubuntu0.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009797.html
 * metacity 1:2.25.144-0ubuntu2.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009798.html
 * xen-3.3 3.3.0-1ubuntu9.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009799.html
 * pm-utils 1.2.2.4-0ubuntu5 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009800.html
 * libxi 2:1.2.0-1ubuntu1.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009801.html
 * evolution 2.26.1-0ubuntu2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009802.html
 * sqlite3 3.6.10-1ubuntu0.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009803.html
 * sqlite3 3.6.10-1ubuntu0.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009804.html
 * openjdk-6 6b14-1.4.1-0ubuntu10 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2009-May/009805.html
Line 281: Line 563:
 * John Crawford
 * Craig A. Eddy
 * Jeff Martin
 * Dave Bush
 * Liraz Siri
 * Sayak Banerjee
 * Isabelle Duchatelle

Contents

Contents

  1. UWN Translations
  2. In This Issue
  3. General Community News
    1. Karmic Koala Alpha 1 Released
    2. Landscape 1.3 released
    3. Server Team: Hungry for Merges?
  4. From the Top
    1. Meta-cycles: 2-3 year major cycles for free software
  5. Ubuntu Stats
    1. Bug Stats
    2. Translation Stats Jaunty
    3. 5-a-day bug stats
      1. Top 5 contributors for the past 7 days
    4. Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week
  6. LoCo News
    1. Ubuntu Florida: Jaunty Release Party Roundup
    2. Ubuntu Florida: Qimo build day
  7. Launchpad News
  8. Ubuntu Forums News
    1. Tutorial of the Week
  9. The Planet
    1. Philipp Kern: Infinote-based Gobby hits Karmic
    2. Ryan Troy: New Ubuntu Forums Lo``Co Administrator
  10. In The Press
    1. Next Ubuntu Alpha reveals video change
    2. Canonical Launching Ubuntu Managed Storage Service
    3. Building Applications Using Ubuntu One
    4. Ubuntu One: Free Online Storage
    5. Ubuntu 9.04 vs Mac OS X 10.5.6 Benchmarks
    6. Elderly Ubuntu User Says Books Far Better than Forums
    7. Hands on: Canonical aims for the cloud with new Ubuntu One
    8. Health Check: Ubuntu and Debian's special relationship
    9. Ubuntu One Cloud Syncronization: A Viable Business Model?
    10. Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" Alpha 1 Released
    11. Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 1 Released - The Karmic Koala Chronicles
    12. Xubuntu: A Simple Approach To Ubuntu
  11. In The Blogosphere
    1. Ubuntu One
    2. Dell offers Ubuntu Mini 9 plus SSD option
    3. Moving Ubuntu Mirror Server
    4. Canonical Launching Ubuntu One Storage Service
    5. In Defense of the Six-Month Release Cycle
    6. Ubuntu Fans Move Quickly to Ubuntu 9.04
    7. Ubuntu 9.04 is as slick as Windows 7 and Mac OS X
  12. In Other News
    1. Ubuntu Podcast #28
    2. WorksWithU Vodcast: Episode #1
  13. Meeting Summaries
    1. Server Team Meeting: May 12th
  14. Upcoming Meetings and Events
    1. Sunday, May 17, 2009
      1. Ubuntu-us-az LoCo Team Meeting
    2. Monday, May 18, 2009
    3. Tuesday, May 19, 2009
      1. Community Council Meeting
      2. Technical Board Meeting
      3. Server Team Meeting
      4. Desktop Team Meeting
      5. Kernel Team Meeting
      6. LoCo Council Meeting
      7. Ubuntu Forums Beginners Team Meeting
    4. Wednesday, May 20, 2009
      1. Americas Board Meeting
      2. Ubuntu-us-pa LoCo Team Meeting
      3. Foundation Team Meeting
      4. QA Team Meeting
    5. Thursday, May 21, 2009
      1. Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting
      2. Ubuntu Java Meeting
      3. Packaging Training: Reviewing New Packages
    6. Friday, May 22, 2009
    7. Saturday, May 23, 2009
  15. Community Spotlight
    1. Hall of Fame, Ante Karamatic
  16. Updates and Security for 6.06, 8.04, 8.10 and 9.04
    1. Security Updates
    2. Ubuntu 6.06 Updates
    3. Ubuntu 8.04 Updates
    4. Ubuntu 8.10 Updates
    5. Ubuntu 9.04 Updates
  17. UWN #: A sneak peek
  18. Archives and RSS Feed
  19. Additional Ubuntu News
  20. Conclusion
  21. Credits
  22. Glossary of Terms
  23. Ubuntu - Get Involved
  24. Feedback

newspaper-icon3.jpg

WORK IN PROGRESS

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #142 for the week May 10th - May 16th, 2009. In this issue we cover ...

UWN Translations

  • Note to translators and our readers: We are trying a new way of linking to our translations pages. Please follow the link below for the information you need.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Translations

In This Issue

General Community News

Karmic Koala Alpha 1 Released

Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 1 has been released. Pre-releases of Karmic are *not* encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs. This release consists only of the alternate and server CDs; the desktop CD will follow in the next Alpha release.

Bug reports should be reported as described on:

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2009-May/000569.html

Landscape 1.3 released

Landscape is the package that allows server and desktop administrators to maintain Ubuntu on physical or virtual servers to more easily manage their deployments. The new release, Landscape 1.3, also makes that service available to the Amazon EC2 cloud. Landscape is available as part of the commercial support package or as a standalone service. New features in Landscape include:

  • Management of Ubuntu on Amazon EC2
  • The ability to choose Ubuntu images on Amazon EC2
  • Management of physical and virtual machines
  • Updated Custom Graph feature

http://www.ubuntu.com/news/manage-ubuntu-server-in-amazon-ec2-cloud

Server Team: Hungry for Merges?

buntu developers are focusing on merging packages from Debian unstable into karmic repositories. Those that want to help improve their skills in merging packages, they have a list for both the main and universe repositories that is available. To get the packages, go to the Ubuntu Merge-O-Matic[1]. The Merging[2] wiki page has more information on the process. When finished, upload the changes or ask for sponsorship[3] and don't forget to sent the patches to Debian.

  1. Merge-O-Matic - https://merges.ubuntu.com/

  2. Merging wiki page - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDevelopment/Merging

  3. Sponsorship - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SponsorshipProcess

http://ubuntuserver.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/hungry-for-merges-the-ubuntu-server-team-has-a-selection-for-your-appetite/

From the Top

Meta-cycles: 2-3 year major cycles for free software

Mark Shuttleworth is looking for your comments. Ubuntu has been running on the basis of 6 month releases with LTS every 2 years or so. But now the question is, "What IS the best way to approach big releases?" What would be a good period of time for release of significant changes such as KDE made when it moved from the 3.X series to the 4.0 series? Is 2 years enough? Is it too much? Should it even be cycled on a periodic basis, like the Ubuntu releases are currently using? Mark's blog asks a lot of questions like this, with significant background to amplify what it is that he's asking, and he would like input from the community as to their ideas and reasons why. http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/288

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open (55939) +424 # over last week
  • Critical (16) +1 # over last week
  • Unconfirmed (25670) +600 # over last week (Format to use when result is zero)
  • Unassigned (48080) +579 # over last week (Format to use when result is zero)
  • All bugs ever reported (282319) +2068 # over last week

As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

Translation Stats Jaunty

  • Spanish (14447) -110 # over last week
  • French (43162) -35 # over last week
  • Brazilian Portuguese (54099) -1620 # over last week
  • Swedish (54349) +/-0 # over last week
  • English (United Kingdom) (48986) -10000 # over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/

5-a-day bug stats

Top 5 contributors for the past 7 days

  1. club-ubuntu.org-GBJ09 (295)
  2. gbj-UK-0902 (203)
  3. gbj-florida-0902 (159)
  4. gbj-chicago-0902 (129)
  5. gbj-oklahoma-0902 (129)

5-A-Day stats provided by Daniel Holbach. See http://daniel.holba.ch/5-a-day-stats/

Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week

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

Ubuntu Florida: Jaunty Release Party Roundup

dantalizing has put up a long list of Release Parties, dates and pictures to show what the Florida Team has accomplished across the state:

An eighth party is planned for June 6. Details about the parties can be seen at the link. http://wrevolution.org/2009/05/15/ubuntu-florida-jaunty-release-party-roundup/

Ubuntu Florida: Qimo build day

The first ever Qimo Build Day is scheduled for May 23, in Lakeland, Florida. Come join the Ubuntu Florida Local Community team and other volunteers to help put computers into the hands of kids! Details can be found here: http://www.qimo4kids.com/post/Qimo-4-Kids-Computer-Build-Day!.aspx

http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/index.php/news/17-events/146-qimo-build-day.html

Launchpad News

Ubuntu Forums News

Tutorial of the Week

The tutorial of the week for May 11, 2009, is HowTo: Install the very latest MPlayer under Jaunty Jackalope from andrew.46 (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=208550). You can find it here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1081070

This is a nifty tutorial that will show you how to successfully compile the subversion MPlayer under Jaunty Jackalope. For memory, ubuntu-freak's (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=314581) "Comprehensive Multimedia & Video Howto" was the Tutorial of the Week for October 06, 2008 and should be used if you do not wish to compile applications. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=766683

This week tutorial is very well presented, and, most of all, supported. You can even browse a recent tutorial from the same author, "Top 10 Tricks and Tips for the svn MPlayer" that focuses on MPlayer usage. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1154431

Long hours of fun ahead!

Note: you can use the Tutorial of the Week Discussion Thread to suggest tutorials or howtos. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1154431

The Planet

Philipp Kern: Infinote-based Gobby hits Karmic

Gobby 0.5 (or to be more precise 0.4.92) just hit the Karmic Koala. It is sadly not protocol compatible to the old version but it features local undo and redo! Furthermore it's not yet stable on-the-wire wise. The software itself is fairly stable but it could be a bit bumpy if the server protocol version goes out of date. If you want to try it out on earlier versions, Philipp is offering backports in the Infinote PPA for Intrepid and up. https://launchpad.net/~infinote/+archive/ppa Thanks to Greg Heynes, there will also be a KDE client for Gobby, called... Kobby! http://www.philkern.de/weblog/en/ubuntu/gobby_infinote_hits_karmic.html

Ryan Troy: New Ubuntu Forums Lo``Co Administrator

Ryan announces that Joeb454 who has been a staff member on the Ubuntuforums for quite some time has offered to take over the managing of the LoCo subforums. The Forum Council gave Joe the big +1’s he needed. We believe Joe will do a great job taking care of the details. So, if you have a LoCo forum and need help or need one get with Joe. http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=373057

http://moxiefoxtrot.com/2009/05/15/ubuntuforums-loco-admin/

In The Press

Next Ubuntu Alpha reveals video change

The next Ubuntu should see improved video performance, along with updates to the underlying Linux and open-source infrastructure. Ubuntu 9.10 will feature a new Intel video driver architecture to solve problems in Ubuntu 9.04, released just last month. Ubuntu 9.10 will switch from the current EXA acceleration method to UXA. A kernel-mode setting, meanwhile, will reduce video mode switching flicker during start up and - the team said - "dramatically" speed up the suspend and resume time. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/14/karmic_koala_alpha/

Canonical Launching Ubuntu Managed Storage Service

The VAR Guy reports that Canonical has begun beta testing a managed storage service known as Ubuntu One that allows Ubuntu 9.04 users to share and sync files between multiple Ubuntu PCs. The service is in beta and available for free for up to 2GB of storage, or $10 for a 10GB monthly storage plan. At $10 per month, Ubuntu One won’t make Canonical rich, but the VAR Guy estimates Ubuntu’s installed base stands at around 10 million or more desktops and services and the potential user base for Ubuntu One is growing rapidly each month. http://www.thevarguy.com/2009/05/11/canonical-launching-ubuntu-managed-storage-service/

Building Applications Using Ubuntu One

Stuart Langridge, a hacker, author, and speaker living in the UK and working for Canonical building online services, says that Ubuntu One is not just a collection of services for Ubuntu, it’s a platform that you can build your own services on. Stuart Langridge explains some of the APIs that Ubuntu One offers to developers, what they do, and how you can make use of them. You’ll see some examples of applications you might want to build that take advantage of data storage in the cloud and automatically-synchronised database backing for your apps, and you’ll get a glimpse of how to build programs to help people work collaboratively through Ubuntu One both on the desktop and on the web. http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/8843

Ubuntu One: Free Online Storage

Daniel Pop-Silaghi, Linux Editor for Softpedia, reports that Canonical has just released a new "cloud" service for all users: Ubuntu One. If you are familiar with services like Dropbox, Ubuntu One apparently does the same job. The main features are seamless integration and synchronization between multiple machines and a convenient web interface. But, while Dropbox works across all main platforms, the Ubuntu One application will exclusively be available for Ubuntu 9.04 operating systems. Ubuntu One is surely a service worth watching, and Pop-Silagh says he's sure Canonical has some aces up its sleeve to make its new project much more appealing than the competition. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-One-Free-Online-Storage-111347.shtml

Ubuntu 9.04 vs Mac OS X 10.5.6 Benchmarks

Phoronix's Michael Larabel recalls that last year when he looked at Ubuntu versus Mac OS X both operating systems had performed competitively. Since then Apple has released a minor update to Leopard (v10.5.6) and Canonical last month released Ubuntu 9.04 so he felt it was time to compare these latest releases against each other. In looking over these results, Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.6 was faster than Canonical's Ubuntu 9.04 in 17 of the 29 benchmarks. The graphics performance in Ubuntu 9.10, which will be out after the release of Mac OS X 10.6, may improve with Intel working to fix its regressions. Beyond improving the graphics performance and potentially some minor performance improvements thanks to an updated Linux kernel and the newer GCC 4.4 series, we would not anticipate the Ubuntu 9.10 performance to be drastically different. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_jaunty_osx&num=1

Elderly Ubuntu User Says Books Far Better than Forums

In a recent article about Ubuntu, Linux guru Carla Schroder noted that she had never met anyone who bought a “how to” book for their PC, although she recommended it. Datamation reader Emery Fletcher responded, "You wondered who actually buys and uses computer books. Well, I do, and I’d be in bad shape without them!" Fletcher tells about how he was given an eMachine that had been wiped, and he began to learn Ubuntu thanks to books he had purchased. "A book is a more reliable source of answers than a forum or a Help icon – a book doesn’t go black unexpectedly, it doesn’t time-out a session, it doesn’t flame you as a clueless newbie when you ask a dumb question, and above all, the best of them give you a ”why” to do something as well as a “what”. An old gaffer like me wouldn’t stand a chance of gaining any geek creds without BOOKS!" http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3819831/

Hands on: Canonical aims for the cloud with new Ubuntu One

ARS Technica's Ryan Paul tells us that Canonical, the company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, is preparing to launch a new Web service called Ubuntu One, which will bring cloud synchronization and collaboration features to the Linux desktop. The service is under heavy development, but it is expected to be ready for widespread use when Ubuntu 9.10, codenamed Karmic Koala, is released in October. Ubuntu One will support tight desktop integration and to achieve that goal, the developers are building client software that will make the service a seamless part of the desktop experience. The software is currently available to beta testers in an Ubuntu Personal Package Archive hosted on Launchpad. The source code will be released soon under open licenses and is said to be usable on other Linux distributions. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/hands-on-canonical-aims-for-the-cloud-with-new-ubuntu-one.ars

Health Check: Ubuntu and Debian's special relationship

Richard Hillesley of H-Online notes that Ubuntu is five years old. The release of Jaunty Jackalope coincided with the fifth anniversary of a meeting that Mark Shuttleworth called of a dozen or so Debian Developers in his London flat in April 2004 to map out his project to create a distribution that was capable of taking Linux to the masses. During the five years since that meeting Ubuntu has sprung from nothing to become the most popular Linux on the street. "I'm of the opinion that Ubuntu could not exist without Debian", Shuttleworth has written. "So it's absolutely my intention to see that Ubuntu is a constructive part of the broader Debian landscape. It's vital that Ubuntu help to sustain and grow Debian, because it's the breadth and strength of Debian which make up the "shoulders of greatness" on which we in the Ubuntu community stand when we reach for the stars." http://www.h-online.com/open/Health-Check-Ubuntu-and-Debian-s-special-relationship--/features/113260/0

Ubuntu One Cloud Syncronization: A Viable Business Model?

Linux Loop notes that due to the nature of free software, most companies that produce free software do not make money off of the code itself but rather complementary services, such as support. Canonical has just launched one such service that, in addition to opening some interesting possibilities for the future, could provide a good revenue stream for Canonical. The new service, called Ubuntu One, is essentially just a cloud synchronization service that is similar to Dropbox. Two things that make this service interesting: First, the fact that it will be so tightly integrated with Ubuntu. This means that is has the potential to create a better user experience than any other synchronization service. Second, Canonical is apparently thinking about working with application developers to let you sync your application preferences. We don’t know much yet, but Ubuntu One certainly looks like an interesting service, and it might give Canonical some money. http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2009/05/13/ubuntu-one-cloud-syncronization-a-viable-business-model/

Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" Alpha 1 Released

Michael Larabel of Phoronix tells us that the Ubuntu release team has announced the first alpha release for Ubuntu 9.10 (a.k.a. The Karmic Koala). Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 1 has a horde of Debian packages that were upgraded, but most prominently this release is tracking the Linux 2.6.30 kernel, GCC 4.4, and GNOME 2.27/2.28. Besides that there is not a whole lot of new features to be found in this very early alpha release. The Intel Linux graphics stack has been upgraded to the xf86-video-intel 2.7 series currently, which uses UXA for its acceleration architecture, but Intel's graphics performance problems are not yet cured. Ubuntu 9.10 has not yet integrated Plymouth or kernel mode-setting by default or other features that are still on target for the Karmic Koala. The Ubuntu 9.10 release schedule has the final release of Ubuntu 9.10 planned for the 29th of October. Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 2 is planned for release on the 11th of June. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NzI2OQ

Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 1 Released - The Karmic Koala Chronicles

Softpedia's Marius Nestor says that while everybody is enjoying Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), somewhere deep in the Ubuntu headquarters the developers are working hard to bring us all the new stuff that happens in the Linux world today. Ubuntu 9.10, dubbed Karmic Koala, which is scheduled for release in late October this year, was recently uploaded to the official mirrors. As always, Nestor did not expect something exciting from the first, and not even from the next two or three alpha versions of Ubuntu. Probably starting with the fifth or sixth alpha we will see some big changes, like that professional theme everyone is still waiting for, and which Mark Shuttleworth promised us. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-9-10-Alpha-1-Screenshot-Tour-111623.shtml

Xubuntu: A Simple Approach To Ubuntu

Linux.com's Rob Reilly says he's always liked Kubuntu but now that he's back doing freelance work again, tweaking the very cool resident desktop features all the time was beginning to distract him from pursuing fame and fortune as a humble word-smith. Having heard that the xfce desktop was simple and light, it seemed reasonable to try to speed up his article production with a streamlined process. Reilly found that for the new Linux user, Xubuntu is an easy to use version of Ubuntu that is fast, simple, and reliable. Experienced or "get it done" types will appreciate the minimalist approach, that can be beefed up to whatever degree that is needed. http://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/9809-xubuntu-a-simple-approach-to-ubuntu

In The Blogosphere

Ubuntu One

http://www.theopensourcerer.com/2009/05/12/ubuntu-one/

Dell offers Ubuntu Mini 9 plus SSD option

http://eeepc.net/dell-offers-the-ubuntu-mini-10-plus-ssd-option/

Moving Ubuntu Mirror Server

http://dulmandakhs.blogspot.com/2009/05/moving-ubuntu-mirror-server.html

Canonical Launching Ubuntu One Storage Service

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/05/11/canonical-launching-ubuntu-one-storage-service/

In Defense of the Six-Month Release Cycle

The poor experience of many users upgrading to Jaunty has prompted calls for a less ambitious Ubuntu release cycle. Instead of pushing out an updated version of Ubuntu with a new feature set every six months, some have argued, developers should issue new releases less frequently, or recommend that only LTS versions be used for production. Ubuntu stands out as an impressive exception in a software ecosystem where roadmaps often have little meaning. Since Warty Warthog made its appearance in April 2004, Ubuntu has issued a new release every six months exactly on schedule, with the singular exception of version 6.06, which was deliberately postponed six weeks. And in most cases, each new release has actually been stable and ready for production use. Ubuntu’s ability to meet deadlines provides an aura of reliability and professionalism that attracts users on both desktops and servers.

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/05/11/in-defense-of-the-six-month-release-cycle/

Ubuntu Fans Move Quickly to Ubuntu 9.04

When it comes to deploying Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), Canonical’s installed base seems to be a loyal, eager crowd. A poll conducted by WorksWithU, the vast majority of site visitors have already upgraded to Ubuntu 9.04.

According to the poll, conducted over the past three weeks:

  • 71 percent of WorksWithU readers are already running Ubuntu 9.04
  • 11 percent planned to upgrade sometime in April
  • 11 percent planned to upgrade within three months
  • 5 percent had no plans to use Ubuntu 9.04
  • 2 percent planned to upgrade before the end of 2009

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/05/13/ubuntu-fans-move-quickly-to-ubuntu-904/

Ubuntu 9.04 is as slick as Windows 7 and Mac OS X

http://www.webdotdev.com/nvd/content/view/2030/

In Other News

Ubuntu Podcast #28

In this episode, Nick and Josh discuss:

  • known 9.04 bugs with workarounds
  • Adobe Air on 64 Bit Linux
  • Dustin Kirklands screen-profiles renamed to Byobu

The recording of this episode got chopped off a bit, but they wanted to mention Keith Packard's blog post about the Intel open source drivers. http://keithp.com/blogs/Sharpening_the_Intel_Driver_Focus/ Keith has been working on X for a long time and talks about how complex the driver has become and how its coming along. Thanks to Jorge Castro for the link.

http://ubuntupodcast.net/

WorksWithU Vodcast: Episode #1

Welcome to the WorksWithU vodcast, produced by contributing bloggers Joshua Chase and Nick Ali. In this edition, Josh and Nick discuss recent Ubuntu developments — including the launch of Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), plus some key Canonical initiatives and directions. Josh and Nick are familiar names to many Ubuntu community members. Both are active in the Atlanta Ubuntu Loco, and they speak regularly with Canonical insiders as well as Ubuntu industry leaders.

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/05/11/workswithu-vodcast-episode-1/

Meeting Summaries

Server Team Meeting: May 12th

Here are the minutes of the meeting. They can also be found online with the irc logs here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MeetingLogs/Server/20090512.

  • Merges: mathiaz reminded that karmic had opened and merging was one of the favorite activities of the Ubuntu developers these days. He also mentioned the list of easy merges [1] published in the Roadmap. These packages should not be too difficult and thus are perfect to get used to the whole merge process.

[1]: http://ubuntuserver.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/hungry-for-merges-the-ubuntu-server-team-has-a-selection-for-your-appetite/

  • MIT krb5 1.7: coffedude asked about the state of krb5 in Karmic. mathiaz explained that krb5 1.7 had been synced from Debian. libkrb53 will be removed from Karmic once the transition to libkrb5-3 has been completed.
  • Karmic Alpha1: mathiaz reminded that Karmic Alpha1 is scheduled for Thursday. Help in iso testing is welcome once the iso candidates are available.
  • UDS: dendrobates announced that the Server team will have 2 session rooms and a break out room for UDS. The sessions will also be randomized amongst the physical rooms so that we will not just get to sit in the same room. However it may be a little complicated figuring out where to go. ttx said that a riddle would have to be solved to get to the right room while kirkland hoped for a broken RNG.

More important though was dendrobates announcement that he would buy a beer for any server team community team members that shows up. dendrobates looks like this [2] and becoming a member of the server team is a simple two steps process [3].

[2]: https://launchpad.net/~dendrobates/ [3]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/GettingInvolved#becomemember

  • Web Mirror Manager: gourgi asked whether the web mirror manager [4] blueprint would be discussed. nijaba pointed to the relevant blueprint [5] in Launchpad which will be discussed in the Fondations track.

[4]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WebMirrorManager [5]: https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/foundations-karmic-repository-management

  • screen-profiles renamed to byobu: kirkland announced that the screen-profiles project had been renamed to byobu, a japanese term for elegant folding room dividers, aka folding screens.
  • Agree on next meeting date and time: Due to travels and UDS it was decided to cancel the meeting for the next two weeks.

Next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 2nd at 15:00 UTC in #ubuntu-meeting.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2009-May/028242.html

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Ubuntu-us-az LoCo Team Meeting

Monday, May 18, 2009

  • None listed as of publication

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Community Council Meeting

Technical Board Meeting

  • Start: 14:00 UTC
  • End: 15:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting

Server Team Meeting

Desktop Team Meeting

Kernel Team Meeting

  • Start: 17:00 UTC
  • End: 18:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

LoCo Council Meeting

  • Start: 19:00 UTC
  • End: 20:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC chanel #ubuntu-meeting

Ubuntu Forums Beginners Team Meeting

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Americas Board Meeting

Ubuntu-us-pa LoCo Team Meeting

  • Start: 12:30 UTC
  • End: 13:30 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-us-pa
  • Agenda: None as of publication

Foundation Team Meeting

  • Start: 16:00 UTC
  • End: 17:00 UTC
    • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None listed as of publication

QA Team Meeting

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting

  • Start: 12:00 UTC
  • End: 13:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None listed as of publication

Ubuntu Java Meeting

  • Start: 14:00 UTC
  • End: 15:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None listed as of publication

Packaging Training: Reviewing New Packages

Friday, May 22, 2009

  • None listed as of publication

Saturday, May 23, 2009

  • None listed as of publication

Community Spotlight

Hall of Fame, Ante Karamatic

Ante is one of the oldest contributor to the Ubuntu Server team having joined on a Friday, the 11th of November 2005. A regular atendee of the Ubuntu Server Team who has a list of small improvements that should be made. He has been involved with such packages as the redhat-cluster suite, drbd and bacula. He's also worked on an improved out-of-the box experience for dovecot and postfix. You'll find him hanging out in the ubuntu-server IRC channel helping out with support requests, http://hall-of-fame.ubuntu.com/?feature=ante-karamatic

Updates and Security for 6.06, 8.04, 8.10 and 9.04

Security Updates

Ubuntu 6.06 Updates

  • None Reported

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

  • None Reported

Ubuntu 8.10 Updates

  • None Reported

Ubuntu 9.04 Updates

UWN #: A sneak peek

Archives and RSS Feed

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Additional Ubuntu News

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Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.

See you next week!

Credits

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

  • John Crawford
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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

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