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Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #99 for the week July 6th - July 12th, 2008. 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

Intrepid Alpha 2 released

Alpha 2 is the second in a series of milestone CD images that will be released throughout the Intrepid development cycle. The Alpha images are known to be reasonably free of showstopper CD build or installer bugs, while representing a very recent snapshot of Intrepid. You can download it here:

• Ubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/intrepid/alpha-2/

• Kubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-2/

• Edubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-2/

• Xubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-2/

Pre-releases of Intrepid 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. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-July/000451.html

MOTU

• Working with the Security Team for several months and a clear focus on other security-related activities got [https://launchpad.net/~emgent Emanuele Gentili] a good reputation and lots of sponsors weighed in on his application. We're happy to have him on the ["MOTU"] team.

• [https://launchpad.net/~vorian Steve Stalcup] has done amazing work and got amazingly good feedback during his MOTU application. Please welcome him to the ["MOTU"] team.

Special 100th Issue of the UWN

Don't miss the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter next week as we celebrate our 100th issue with the Ubuntu Community. Insights from past and present UWN staffers, a look in retrospect, and...! You definitely won't want to miss this issue, so make sure your rss feed is up to date, your email subscription current, or your link to the wiki bookmarked for a very special anniversary issue of the UWN.

Videos - "This is how I fix a bug"

There was a lot of good feedback about the MOTU Videos [1] & [2], and work is underway to translate these videos into Spanish. If you have more ideas for MOTU Videos, please add them to [3]. On that page you will also find information on how to do a screencast and mix in your voice. If you're fixing bugs for Ubuntu anyway, why not have a go at it and make a cool video? If you do, please add it to: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU/Videos.

• [1] http://youtube.com/ubuntudevelopers

• [2] http://videos.ubuntu.com/motuvideos

• [3] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU/Videos

The processes to fix bugs in Ubuntu are really straight-forward. Some great videos would just underline that fact, and easily show what to do and which tools to use. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2008-July/025760.html

Summary of UDS Discussions

The track leads have collated all their reports from the Ubuntu Developer Summit discussions, and Jorge Castro has made a summary of them that's available here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UDS-Intrepid/Report/Summary Please note that this report is a general overview of the discussions, and mostly highlights key areas. It should give you a good understanding of where the different areas of Ubuntu are headed during the Intrepid release cycle. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2008-July/025751.html

Track-specific reports with more detail are available here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UDS-Intrepid/Report/

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 Hardy

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 8.04 "Hardy Heron," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/

LoCo News

New in Hardy Heron

Launchpad News

Launchpod episode #7 available

Matthew Revell, Joey Stanford and Barry Warsaw host the latest edition of Launchpod.

In this issue:

• Barry Warsaw, Mailman maintaner, Python release manager and Launchpad team member temporarily replaces Elliot Murphy, who is taking a break. Different Launchpad members will be cohosting over the next few weeks in a "Launchpod Idol" type setting.

• Matthew Paul Thomas, Launchpad’s UI guy, talks about the upcoming changes to Launchpad’s interface. Users can follow the progress here: https://edge.launchpad.net/

• Joey's number of the week!

• Joey and Barry discuss Community-Agile, a process framework that re-factors agile software development to incorporate the lessons learned from open source. http://launchpad.net/community-agile

Send us your ideas and questions to feedback@launchpad.net!

http://news.launchpad.net/podcast/launchpod-episode-7-new-launchpad-ui-community-agile

Ubuntu Forums News

Tutorial of the Week

This week's tutorial pick is a crowd-pleaser ... probably. It's "HowTo: Install skype and sms with skype in ubuntu 8.04", by grobar.

If you're a Skype fan and want to install it, grobar has links and easy steps for putting it in place, with the added SMS package as a bonus. If you've never used it, this will probably be a good way to try it out. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=778691

Enjoy!

Technical Update

Did we really release 8.04?

What follows is an exert from a recent discussion on the developer mailing list about LTS release schedules:

Do we need to reconsider how we approach getting to a release? For an LTS release should we just add 2 months on the schedule? The problem is that even with all the alpha/beta/rc testing available to Ubuntu, the majority of tests are only done when the release is out. So, better to release and fix afterwards... *really* focussing on the bugfixing, as has been done, *not* focussing on the next release immediately. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-discuss/2008-July/004743.html

In response, Mat Zimmerman tells us that while there is always room for improvement, Ubuntu is constantly revisiting their processes to meet the expanding expectations of Ubuntu. No one likes regressions, and a loss of functionality can be a crippling setback for a casual user. However, casual users should have no need to upgrade their operating system every six months, this is one reason why we offer multiple maintenance cycles. Firefox 2 may have been more mature, but it was close to two years old, and scheduled for mothballing in December. With Ubuntu Desktop LTS scheduled for three years of maintenance, Firefox 3 was the only reasonable choice. OpenOffice.org 2.4.x was tested for months before this bug, https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/openoffice.org/+bug/210204 was reported, and it was then fixed for the 8.04.1 update.

Ubuntu thrives on the efforts of open source developers, and their attention is very focused on the latest code. Most new releases we incorporate fix many more problems than they create, and our aim is to provide users with the best experience we can. While it is easy to insist that Ubuntu should stop being on the bleeding edge of software and features, in order to achieve this, we would need to rigorously specify every feature in Ubuntu and how it should work. An almost impossible task. Instead, we focus on defining a subset of functionality which can be tested in practice. Test plans are here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing along with instructions for how you can participate in the testing effort. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-discuss/2008-July/004777.html

In The Press

• Move Your Business From Windows to Linux - If have a business and you're tired of the high cost of software, the questionable licensing, the difficulty of upgrading and installing, then Scott Spanbauer of PC World has some suggestions. Linux can be purchased in boxed sets, or downloaded from the internet and burned to disk. And one disk can be installed on as many machines as you like, due to the Gnu General Public License. Installations are user friendly, and various distributions serve specific needs and desires, such as fitting within the confines of older equipment or being used on a server. There are also many ways to work around the problem of applications that are locked to a particular operating system. http://www.pcworld.com/article/147879/move_your_business_from_windows_to_linux.html

• Mark Shuttleworth on Ubuntu and the Linux Desktop - James Maguire asks Mark Shuttleworth a number of questions in an interview, including:
  • What is happening with Ubuntu Mobile?
  • What is Ubuntu doing with the small, ultra portable laptops?
  • What fundamental changes are planned for Ubuntu?
  • What is the future of the deal with Dell?
  • Is Ubuntu making a profit?
  • What are your feelings about the Microsoft/Novell deal?
  • What about Canonical and Microsoft?
  • How do you feel about proprietary drivers?
  • Does Ubuntu weaken Debian?

The answers are at: http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/12068_3757246_1

• Introducing the Linux user interface - Michael Horowitz compares the Linux interface (with screenshots) to the Microsoft Windows and Mac experiences in a step-by-step almost tutorial. He looks at menu bars, task bars, start menu, control panel, keyboard shortcuts, quitting programs, maximizing windows, switching programs, right clicking, and adjusting the screen. Conclusion: Linux has more than it's share of annoyances, but on the subjects that Mossberg chooses to focus on, Ubuntu offers a more familiar environment for people switching from Windows. It's also cheaper. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13554_3-9985154-33.html

• Debian GNU/Linux: the new "Number One" distribution - Interesting statistics emerged from last month's web logs on DistroWatch.com. Ubuntu, formerly the most widely-used Linux distribution among the visitors of DistroWatch, has lost its number one position to no other than its parent - Debian GNU/Linux. This is of course largely due to the fact that, as of Ubuntu 8.04, the distribution's Firefox browser no longer provides an identifiable user-agent string:

  • Ubuntu 7.10: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.11) Gecko/20071204 Ubuntu/7.10 (gutsy) Firefox/2.0.0.11
  • Ubuntu 8.04: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9) Gecko/2008060309 Firefox/3.0

http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20080707#statistics

In The Blogosphere

• Ubuntu 8.04 LTS update: Almost four months have passed - Steven Rosenberg says that after almost four months have passed since he installed Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS on his $0 laptop, everything continues to go very well. Because of this, he is considering moving the machine to a totally Ubuntu box. Why? Everything in Ubuntu works with as little effort as possible, including suspend/resume which have been a major problem with other distros. http://insidesocal.com/click/2008/07/ubuntu-804-lts-update-almost-f.html

• Ubuntu goes with newspaper model in consumer market - Newspapers are free, and the price you pay for a newspaper has nothing to do with the cost of prodution, including its editorial costs. By selling disks of its free software for $19.99, Ubuntu is doing the same thing. The money pays for BestBuy to deliver it to stores, for shelf space, and for tracking sales. What Ubuntu is trying to do is find an audience which has hardware but lacks regular Internet access or knowledge. The key here will be whether Ubuntu stays with the program or not. http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=2643

In Other News

Canonical and Valusoft bring Ubuntu plus support to Best Buy

Canonical has teamed up with ValueSoft to provide an alternative way of getting Ubuntu. The boxed set that has been developed includes the Ubuntu 8.04 LivdCD, a quick start guide, and 60 days of support provided by the Canonical trained ValueSoft personnel. ValueSoft will be placing the boxed set with BestBuy [1], where it will be available in stores or can be shipped. These sets are specially packaged to show that there are programs for web browsing, productivity and email. http://blog.canonical.com/?p=18

[1] http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8888563&st=ubuntu&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1211587312374

Meeting Summaries

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Community Spotlight

Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04

Security Updates

Ubuntu 6.06 Updates

Ubuntu 7.04 Updates

Ubuntu 7.10 Updates

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

Archives and RSS Feed

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Additional Ubuntu News

As always you can find more news and announcements at:

• http://www.ubuntu.com/news

and

• http://fridge.ubuntu.com/

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
• Your Name Here
• And many others

Glossary of Terms

Feedback

This document is maintained by the Ubuntu Weekly News Team. If you have a story idea or suggestions for the Weekly Newsletter, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list at https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/Ubuntu-news-team and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Ideas. 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 them to ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com.