Issue80

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Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 80 for the weeks February 24th - March 1st, 2008. In this issue we cover the Alpha 6 Freeze, the release of Kubuntu-KDE4, Full Circle Magazine #10, Ubuntu Mobile, launch of Ubuntu Brainstorm, a Mark Shuttleworth Interview, and, as always, much, much more!

UWN Translations

In This Issue

  • Alpha 6 Freeze
  • Kubuntu-KDE4 Released
  • Full Circle Magazine #10
  • Canonical announces Ubuntu Mobile
  • Ubuntu Brainstorm Launched
  • Belgian Release Party, May 03 2008
  • Ubuntu Forums Interview
  • Tutorial of the Week

  • In The Press & Blogosphere

  • In Other News
  • Meeting Summaries

  • Upcoming Meetings & Events

  • Updates & Security

  • Bug Stats & Translations

General Community News

Alpha 6 Freeze Ahead

The sixth and final alpha testing milestone for Hardy, is scheduled for next Thursday, March 6. Hardy Alpha 6 will again use a "soft freeze" for main. This means that developers are asked to refrain from uploading packages between Tuesday and Thursday which don't bring us closer to releasing the alpha, so that these days can be used for settling the archive and fixing any remaining showstoppers.

The list of bugs targeted for alpha-6 can be found in a couple of different places, according to your tastes:

This milestone is intended to be used for tracking bugs that must be fixed in order for the alpha release to happen. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-March/000392.html

Kubuntu-KDE4 Alpha Released

Kubuntu-KDE4 Hardy Alpha is here. There will be two editions of Kubuntu with the 8.04 release, a commercially supported KDE 3 edition and a community supported KDE 4 edition. It includes KDE 4.0.1 and a few applications from KDE 3 to fill in any gaps.

This is the first alpha for the KDE 4 version of Kubuntu. As with any first alpha there remains much polishing to be done (you will need to run knetworkmanager manually for example) but it gives a good overview of what will be released as 8.04 in April. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-February/000390.html

Full Circle Magazine - issue #10 out now!

Full Circle - the Independent Magazine for the Ubuntu Linux Community are proud to announce the release of the tenth issue. This months issue features:

  • Linux Mint Install

  • How-To : Compile from Source, Install and use TuxPaint, Rip a DVD with AcidRip and Create Your Own Server Part 2

  • Review of the ASUS EEE PC running Xubuntu

  • Letters, Q&A, MyDesktop, Top5 and more!

Get it while it's hot! http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-10

Canonical announces plans for Ubuntu Mobile

Canonical has posted some more details and a bunch of pictures of Ubuntu Mobile, designed for mobile computers using Intel's Silverthorn processor like the Samsung Q1U Ultra. Ubuntu Mobile will include touch-screen support and large icons so you can navigate with your fingers and no stylus. The interface is designed for 4.8-inch through 7-inch screens with resolutions from 800 x 480 pixels to 1024 x 768 pixels. The default web browser is based on Firefox and supports Flash 9, Java, and pretty much everything you'd need to access modern web sites. See more information at http://www.ubuntu.com/products/mobile

Ubuntu Brainstorm launched

A new feedback site has been launched at http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/ that will make it easier for Ubuntu users to suggests ideas for improvements. Voting makes it clear which ideas have the most support in the user community and should be given priority. The site was inspired by the IdeaStorm site from Dell but modified to fit the needs of Ubuntu. The development team can now take the pulse on the most pressing user issues and propose the ideas as topics at the Ubuntu Development Summits and ultimately as specifications. http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1357

LoCo News

Belgian Release Party, May 03 2008

The party is open to everybody as most of us do speak English, German or French. The presentations and workshops will be held in Dutch but there will be more to see. This event will be a place where Ubuntero's can meet, share idea's, help beginners with the installation, see what is possible professionally with Ubuntu and Open-Source. People interested in coming to the party, please subscribe at http://hardy.releaseparty.be/ so we can estimate how many people will come. For the non-dutch speakers: The button to subscribe is called "Inschrijven." https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-event-planners/2008-February/000029.html

Ubuntu Forums News

Ubuntu Forums Interview

This week features FuturePilot, a self-described former “Windows Power User,” his curiosity led him to Linux, then to Ubuntu — and now he hopes to one day find a profession with Linux. Please read the whole article here: http://kmandla.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/an-interview-with-futurepilot/

Tutorial of the Week

We would like to highlight Heliode's nearly immortal "Howto: Backup and restore your system!". First posted in May 2005, you might consider its longevity to be a testimonial to its effectiveness. Need a time-tested method for backing up your system? Please give it a try: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=35087

In The Press

  • Open-source advocates to build free PCs for needy Bay Area schools - For years, open-source software advocates have been holding "installfests," to help others learn how to install and use Linux. On March 1st, a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit group and a San Mateo, Calif. based open-source vendor are taking the idea a step further by co-sponsoring an all-day "Installfest for Schools"[1] to create what they hope will be 500 refurbished computers to be used by underprivileged students in neighboring schools. The computers, which are older, outdated PCs donated by consumers and businesses in the Bay Area, will be brought to four locations where tech volunteers will install Ubuntu Linux 7.10. Andrew Fife, product marketing manager at San Mateo-based Untangle Inc. says, "This is a very interesting experiment to see how nontech users who don't have a lot of computing experience can adapt to Ubuntu." http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9065899 [1]http://www.untangle.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=351&Itemid=139

In The Blogosphere

  • Ubuntu Mirror returns to the Vietnam BSD/Linux Mirror - The Vietnam BSD/Linux Mirror is located in the Quang Trung Software City located in District 12 of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Viet Nam. The Public IP and bandwidth was donated by GHP Far East Co., Ltd. The server is provided by VscapeOne Technologies and maintained by the Vietnam Professional Linux/Unix Group (ViPLUG). Visit the site for links to the downloads. http://www.saigonnezumi.com/?p=577

  • Your chance to feed the Ubuntu Brain(storm) - Ubuntu has launched a new site - Ubuntu Brainstorm - where anyone can submit and vote on ideas for the popular Linux distribution. It's a bit like Dell's Ideastorm (which, perhaps not coincidentally, led Dell to start offering Ubuntu systems for sale). The difference here, however, is that it is the Ubuntu community that will take the feedback and build a better Ubuntu, rather than submitting ideas into a corporation which will weigh its quarterly objectives against the community's ideas. This is yet another way that Ubuntu continues to demonstrate its community credentials. It's a way to give even non-developers like me a chance to make an imprint on Ubuntu. http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9882820-16.html?part=rss&subj=TheOpenRoad

In Other News

The Linux Foundation interview with Mark Shuttleworth

Jim Zemlin interviews Mark Shuttleworth as part of their ongoing conversations at the Linux Foundation with leaders in the Linux community. The goal is to gain insight into the trends that are shaping the future of open source and Linux. When asked about the trends of the Linux desktop, server and mobile telecommunications industry, Mark says: "There’s a real sense that almost every Internet user today uses Linux. They use it as a web service and it’s either called Google or it’s called Amazon or it’s called eBay or, you know, it’s – they use it remotely. A huge number of Western technology adopters are going to be using Linux very soon and that is in the form of consumer electronics. A very large percentage of us will be in touch with Linux every day and so I think that represents some real opportunities. Linux as a whole, I think, is very clearly on a trajectory to be the emerging platform of choice." Concerning the mobile market Mark says: "If you look at the mobile telephone market, we have a couple of very, very powerful companies who control either big chunks of the handset manufacture or the billing and customer management side of things including the operators, and the networking side of things. As a result, it’s very difficult for folks to work in an open way across the industry. So, I think what is going to be important is to try and find sort of neutral forums. I think the Ubuntu mobile forum is fairly neutral."

Ubuntu: Bridging the technology gap

In the second interview with Mark Shuttleworth, ITPRO discusses issues of interoperability and the learning curve associated with switching to Linux. Being a technologist and something of a geek, Shuttleworth feels that "free software brings a number of huge advantages" to the problem of spanning the educational and technology gap between rich and poor nations.

  • Free software and society: "First, newly acquired skills can flow freely along with the tools themselves. So we can teach someone to use Linux and OpenOffice, and then they can take that software home and teach someone else...Second, with free software people have the right to modify it. This allows the software to be customised for markets that are not large enough to attract the attention of a company like Microsoft."

  • Low cost computing: It follows that Shuttleworth is enthusiastic about Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child Project which "has been a real catalyst for discussion and research into low-cost computing. Traditionally, Moore's Law has always been applied from the perspective of first world markets: 'people will pay $300 - $900 [£150 - £450] for a PC, how much bang can we squeeze in for that buck this year.' The converse, asking 'how cheap can we make a basic computer?' hasn't really been explored. "One of the barriers to this," he believes, "is the cost of getting basic technology in place." http://www.itpro.co.uk/features/170940/ubuntu-bridging-the-technology-gap.html

Zend Framework to be part of Ubuntu!

An interview with Zends' Andi Gutman about Zend Framework in Ubuntu 8.04

Great news from Stephan Hermann[1], who is one of the chosen few MOTU's with Ubuntu. Stephan has been the spearhead behind getting the Zen Framework included in Hardy Heron. Zend Framework is the leading open-source PHP framework and has a flexible architecture that lets you easily build modern web applications and web services.[2] "Zend is very proud to be an integral part of the Ubuntu distribution going forward. This is an important step towards making Zend Framework accessible to a broader audience and by working closely with the MOTUs we are able to ensure a positive end-user experience." http://andigutmans.blogspot.com/2008/02/zend-framework-to-be-part-of-ubuntu.html

[1]https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StephanHermann

[2]http://framework.zend.com/

Meeting Summaries

Finnish Team - ubuntu-fi

  • Meeting of Northern Finland Linux/Ubuntu users held in February, as well as meetings for people in the Pori area and an informational happening in Helsinki for elderly people as part of an IT day
  • Localization of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS is going relatively well, both upstream and Ubuntu-specific - documentation translators would be needed, though
  • 8.04 LTS release party being planned
  • Discussion forums have 6908 members, various teams are active (some not so)

  • Web site http://www.ubuntu-fi.org/ as a whole is faring well, thanks to Canonical hosting

  • 1000 posters printed of the GPL'd Ubuntu poster, localized into Finnish. 300 were sponsored by two companies, rest are for sale by the member of community who handled buying those.
  • New businesses are stirring around Ubuntu
  • Met some Ubuntu-be guys at FOSDEM

Jordan Team

  • Forming the team and getting around five active members

  • Preparing for Ubuntu Desktop Course at Jordan University & University of Sciecne and Technology

  • In contact with Jordan Post Office to prepare for Ubuntu installation festival

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Monday, March 3, 2008

Bugs for Hugs Day

Tuesday, March 5, 2008

Bugs for Hugs Day

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Bugs for Hugs Day

Platform Team Meeting

  • Start: 07:00 UTC
  • End: 08:00
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: No agenda listed as of the publication

Friday, March 7, 2008

Kubuntu Developers Meeting

Updates and Security for 6.06, 6.10, 7.04, and 7.10

Security Updates

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Updates

Ubuntu 6.10 Updates

Ubuntu 7.04 Updates

Ubuntu 7.10 Updates

Bug Stats

  • Open (40002) +43 # over last week
  • Critical (23) +2 # over last week
  • Unconfirmed (19556) -333 # over last week
  • Unassigned (30536) +46 # over last week
  • All bugs ever reported (156167) +1991 # 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 Hardy

Alphabetically

  • English-UK (41194) -27 # over last week
  • French (43221) -861 # over last week
  • German (67356) -324 # over last week
  • Spanish (13966) -542 # over last week
  • Swedish (53534) -323 # over last week

Remaining string to translate in Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron", see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/

Archives and RSS Feed

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Additional Ubuntu News

As always you can find more news and announcements at:

and

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.

See you next week!

Credits

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

  • Nick Ali
  • John Crawford
  • Craig A. Eddy
  • Isabelle Duchatelle
  • Your Name Here
  • And many others

Feedback

If you would like to submit an idea or story you think is worth appearing on the UWN, please send them to ubuntu-marketing-submissions@lists.ubuntu.com. This document is maintained by the Ubuntu Marketing Team. Please feel free to contact us regarding any concerns or suggestions by either sending an email to ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com or by using any of the other methods on the Ubuntu Marketing Team Contact Information Page (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam). If you'd like to contribute to a future issue of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, please feel free to edit the appropriate wiki page. If you have any technical support questions, please send then ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com.