Issue169

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Contents

Contents

  1. UWN Translations
  2. In This Issue
  3. General Community News
    1. Lucid Ubuntu Developer Summit Videos
  4. Ubuntu Stats
    1. Bug Stats
    2. Infamous Bugs
    3. Translation Stats Karmic
    4. Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week
  5. LoCo News
  6. New in Karmic Koala
  7. Launchpad News
  8. Ubuntu Forums News
  9. The Planet
    1. Doctor Mo: Ice Skating at UDS
    2. Matthew Helmke: Heading Home from UDS-L
    3. Joe Baker: An Interview with Richard Johnson (nixternal)
    4. Martin Pitt: Nicer Launchpad upstream releases with lp-project-upload
  10. In The Press
    1. 20 Essential Tips Every Ubuntu User Should Know
    2. Canonical working on an iTunes-like music store for Ubuntu?
    3. Good karma: an in-depth review of Ubuntu 9.10
    4. Head to Head: Windows 7 vs Ubuntu 9.10
    5. Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala is really nice
    6. GIMP To Be Removed From Lucid; F-Spot Has Challengers
    7. How The X Stack In Ubuntu 10.04 LTS May Look
    8. Mac OS X 10.6.2 vs. Ubuntu 9.10 Benchmarks
    9. Ubuntu in truffle shuffle with Chrome OS
  11. In The Blogosphere
    1. Canonical: Profiting From Google Chrome OS?
    2. Canonical’s Landscape: The Ubuntu Management Strategy
    3. Dell Shows Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Some Love
    4. Why Ubuntu release schedules should be changed
    5. Shutdown/Reboot Ubuntu 9.10
    6. Ubuntu One Music Store
    7. Ubuntu One Music Store: A Real Business?
    8. Ubuntu's Canonical and Google partner to create Chrome
    9. Who Deserves Free Ubuntu CDs More?
    10. WorksWithU: Dell cozies up to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS - read the comments for an interesting take on the LTS as a 'rolling release' (followed by my enthusiastic support for same)
  12. In Other News
  13. Meeting Summaries: <MONTH> <YEAR>
  14. Upcoming Meetings and Events
    1. Monday November 23, 2009
      1. Security Team Catch-up
    2. Tuesday, November 24, 2009
      1. Asia Oceania Membership Board Meeting
      2. Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting
      3. Desktop Team Meeting
      4. Kernel Team Meeting
    3. Wednesday, November 25, 2009
      1. Server Team Meeting
      2. Foundation Team Meeting
      3. QA Team Meeting
    4. Thursday, November 26, 2009
      1. Ubuntu Java Meeting
      2. MC Meeting
    5. Friday, November 27, 2009
    6. Saturday, November 28, 2009
    7. Sunday, November 29, 2009
  15. Community Spotlight
  16. Updates and Security for 6.06, 8.04, 8.10, 9.04 and 9.10
    1. Security Updates
    2. Ubuntu 6.06 Updates
    3. Ubuntu 8.04 Updates
    4. Ubuntu 8.10 Updates
    5. Ubuntu 9.04 Updates
    6. Ubuntu 9.10 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 #169 for the week November 15th - November 21st, 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

Lucid Ubuntu Developer Summit Videos

The Ubuntu Developer Summits have always been very open and participatory events, but this year they are going a step further than in previous years. On top of the audio streams, gobby documents, separate IRC channels, blueprints and wiki pages they also had many sessions video recorded. The videos are available in both Ogg Video format and flash, so we can reach a wide and diverse audience of interested parties. Below are direct links to the Ogg Video. To download any or all of the various videos please visit the Ubuntu Developers Blip.tv Channel: http://ubuntudevelopers.blip.tv/

Group picture of the UDS attendees: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwwii/4120389545/sizes/l/

UDS Lucid was a big success!! It used what was successful in past UDS conferences and built on it. Ubuntu's continued success is largely due to the openness of its work process and the enthusiasm of the Ubuntu Community.

Thanks to Alan Pope for posting the videos on his blog and also to Amber Graner for conducting the interviews.

http://popey.com/blog/

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open (75585) +1057 over last week
  • Critical (31) +1 over last week
  • Unconfirmed (39087) +752 over last week
  • Unassigned (66278) +1010 over last week
  • All bugs ever reported (350616) +2383 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 Karmic

  1. Spanish (13469) -591 over last week
  2. Brazilian Portuguese (45692) -3462 over last week
  3. French (46845) -3425 over last week
  4. Swedish (65560) -3211 over last week
  5. English (United Kingdom) (73372) -2846 over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala", see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/karmic/

Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week

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Ubuntu Brainstorm is a community site geared toward letting you add your ideas for Ubuntu. You can submit your own idea, or vote for or against another idea. http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/

LoCo News

New in Karmic Koala

Launchpad News

Ubuntu Forums News

The Planet

Doctor Mo: Ice Skating at UDS

At UDS they do various fun activities after the sessions have ended. People have been great for getting these events organized. On Tuesday they went to the local Galleria to ice skating. There are some great pictures at the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31718031@N07/sets/72157622719268287/

http://doctormo.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/ubuntu-ice-skating/

Matthew Helmke: Heading Home from UDS-L

The Ubuntu Developer Summit has ended and I’m on my way home. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS is going to be an incredible release and I’m proud to have participated a little bit in the process. I’ll be writing more about it as time passes. For now, enjoy the group photo at the link below.

http://matthewhelmke.net/2009/11/21/heading-home-from-uds-l/

Joe Baker: An Interview with Richard Johnson (nixternal)

The next interview in the series comes from somebody who I’ve never really spoken to personally (well…until now), but who I’ve heard a lot of people talking about/referring to. To me, this shows the extraordinary amount of work that he’s put into Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Some of you have probably heard of him for something more recent…which I won’t spoil. The interview covers, personal info, how and when he started using computers, his involvement with Ubuntu, his best memories, advocacy, and tips for new users. You can read the full interview at the link below.

http://blog.joeb454.com/2009/11/an-interview-with-nixternal/

Martin Pitt: Nicer Launchpad upstream releases with lp-project-upload

A while ago Martin Pitt introduced a script lp-project-upload to automate tarball release uploads to Launchpad. http://www.piware.de/2009/09/automated-release-tarball-upload-to-launchpad/

Many people asked for further features, two of which Martin has added now: First, it automatically invokes gpg to create a tarball signature (unless one is already present), and second it invokes an editor to specify changelog and release notes (just keep the files empty if you don’t need them). Uploaded to lucid’s ubuntu-dev-tools.

http://www.piware.de/2009/11/nicer-launchpad-upstream-releases-with-lp-project-upload/

In The Press

20 Essential Tips Every Ubuntu User Should Know

Maximum PC's Will Kraft says so you've read Maximum PC's Complete Beginner's Guide to Linux and have decided to adopt an open-source operating system--congratulations! But diving right into a new OS is daunting, even if it is as polished and stable as Ubuntu. That's OK though, because they're here to help. He has compiled a list of the 20 most important skills that every Ubuntu user should have. These tips, ranging from basic GUI manipulation to advanced system recovery, are essential to your Windows-free computing experience. Whether you've just installed Ubuntu for the first time or have been a Linux acolyte for years, you'll want to read our refresher. Follow this link for these 20 tips: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/20_essential_tips_every_ubuntu_user_should_know

Canonical working on an iTunes-like music store for Ubuntu?

Lee Mathews of Download Squad says the one program people he knows miss when they've tried to switch to Linux is iTunes. Like it or not, Apple's desktop app has gained the reputation of being the place to buy music and video downloads. But iTunes on Linux? Fuhgettaboutit. That leaves an opportunity for someone in the Linux community to step up and deliver an alternative. Enter Canonical, who may be preparing to do just that in time for the release of Lucid Lynx. Over at LaunchPad, there's a blueprint called Ubuntu One Music Store which states its goal as "to deliver the ability to purchase music from within a desktop music player." There's nothing much yet for details on the associated wiki, so there's no telling yet what exactly might be in the works. Even if the Ubuntu One Music Store ends up being an affiliate app powered by Amazon, it could provide a decent revenue stream for Canonical. It's also one more feature that could entice users to give Linux a try on their desktop. http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/canonical-working-on-an-i``Tunes-like-music-store-for-ubuntu/

Good karma: an in-depth review of Ubuntu 9.10

ARS Technica's Ryan Paul reminds us that Ubuntu 9.10, codenamed Karmic Koala, was officially released last month. In this comprehensive review, Ars takes you under the surface for an in-depth look at the new features and major architectural changes. Karmic Koala, climbed down from the tree last month with new features and updated software. For five years and eleven releases, the Ubuntu Linux distribution has delivered a capable desktop operating system built largely on open source software. The new version is another important step forward for Ubuntu and its corporate backer Canonical. Ubuntu has achieved a level of popularity that is unprecedented for a desktop Linux distribution. It has gained an enormous following among open source software enthusiasts and is even beginning to attract some mainstream recognition. The Karmic release continues Ubuntu's march forward and will raise the bar a notch for other desktop distributions. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/reviews/2009/11/good-karma-ars-reviews-ubuntu-910.ars?utm_source=rss

Head to Head: Windows 7 vs Ubuntu 9.10

Benny Har-Even of IT Pro points out that Windows 7 turns to face its latest challenger in the form of Ubuntu 9.10, the latest and greatest flavor of Linux to be released. "It’s with some trepidation then that we pitch the most recently updated flavour of Linux, Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, against the new mainstream choice that is Windows 7." There’s no great revelation is saying the Windows 7 is a fine operating system that is going to remain the default choice for most, even though it costs money. However, for a business, if your strategy is to try and avoid Microsoft, end users could be worse off than being stuck with Ubuntu 9.10. If you look hard enough, there’s nothing your Windows machine can do that your Ubuntu one can’t. As much as Har-Even says he likes Windows 7, he can’t help but be impressed with what’s on offer in Karmic Koala and if you’ve never tried Linux then it’s an easy and relatively painless place to start. http://www.itpro.co.uk/617848/head-to-head-windows-7-vs-ubuntu-9-10

Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala is really nice

Dodeimedo.com says if you have read his Ubuntu 9.10 review last week, you must have noticed his reaction to the latest Ubuntu release was rather lukewarm. This makes today's Kubuntu review all the more intriguing. First, is there and why is there any difference between Ubuntu and Kubuntu, after all, they are pretty much the same distro? Then, what are these differences and are they any good? Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala is very, very nice. It's a pleasant surprise. And it's better than Ubuntu. It is not without issues, but they are mostly cosmetic and related to KDE. If you're considering trying the latest Ubuntu release, I'd say try Kubuntu. It's lovely, polished, smooth, runs well, and will cooperate with your hardware. You will also get a decent array of programs to begin with, plus lots of eye candy to please you while you grunt over and smooth the bumps you find along the way. http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/kubuntu-9-10.html

GIMP To Be Removed From Lucid; F-Spot Has Challengers

OMGUbuntu.com reports that the decision has been taken, and it seemed pretty final that The GIMP will not be included in Ubuntu Lucid by default. The decisions behind this are based on a few factors:

  • the general user doesn't use it
  • its user-interface is too complex
  • it's an application for professionals
  • desktop users just want to edit photos and they can do that in F-Spot
  • it's a photoshop replacement and photoshop isn't included by default in Windows...
  • it takes up room on the disc

Of course, these are all perfectly valid points, and OMGUbuntu.com says he agrees with most of them. The logic behind this is sound. Desktop users just do not need something as powerful as The GIMP. It takes up space, it's not widely used outside of designers and a simpler "paint" type program would better serve the features it provides that don't overlap with F-Spot. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2009/11/gimp-to-be-removed-lucid.html

How The X Stack In Ubuntu 10.04 LTS May Look

Michael Larabel of Phoronix reports that Canonical's Ubuntu Developer Summit for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (codenamed Lucid Lynx) is taking place this week in Texas, but happening right now on the Ubuntu-X mailing list is a discussion about what the X.Org plans are for Ubuntu Lucid. Bryce Harrington, Canonical's principal X leader, has shared his views about the X.Org package set for Ubuntu 10.04. As far as the X Server goes, Bryce believes it is a question between the 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8 releases. X Server 1.7 has been shipping as part of X.Org 7.5 since early October, but Bryce is still willing to consider using 1.6 in Lucid as an option since it's been tested longer than 1.7. However, X Server 1.6 lacks support for X Input 2.0 / Multi-Pointer X, VGA arbitration, EXA improvements, and many other goodies. Using X Server 1.6 though would likely just be a fall-back scenario if going with X Server 1.7/1.8 does not work in Ubuntu's favor. Right now this is all up in the air but we will see what ends up getting settled for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and Phoronix will certainly be around with their benchmarks when the time comes. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NzcxOQ

Mac OS X 10.6.2 vs. Ubuntu 9.10 Benchmarks

Phoronix's Michael Larabel recalls that back in August upon the launch of Apple's Snow Leopard he delivered benchmarks comparing Mac OS X 10.5 and Mac OS X 10.6 along with initial benchmarks of how Ubuntu 9.10 was running against Mac OS X 10.6. Since that time though Ubuntu 9.10 has been officially released with various changes since last August and Apple has issued two point releases for Snow Leopard, now putting it at version 10.6.2. As we await the release of FreeBSD 8.0 to deliver a larger operating system comparison, Larabel has carried out a fresh round of tests comparing Mac OS X 10.6.2 and Ubuntu 9.10 (both x86 and x86_64 editions) under a variety of tests. Ubuntu 9.10 (with the 32-bit and 64-bit wins being added together) had won about ten of the sixteen benchmarks in this Mac OS X vs. Ubuntu Linux comparison.http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=macosx106_ubuntu910_final&num=1

Ubuntu in truffle shuffle with Chrome OS

Kelly Fiveash of The Register reports reports that Ubuntu’s commercial sponsor Canonical revealed late yesterday that it has been working with Google on its Chrome OS platform since before Mountain View announced its game-changing plans in July this year. The firm’s OEM veep Chris Kenyon said in a blog post on Thursday that “Canonical is contributing engineering to Google under contract”. His comments came following Google’s announcement that it would open source the Chrome OS. “While the two operating systems share some core components, Google Chrome OS will provide a very different experience to Ubuntu,” he said. “Ubuntu will continue to be a general purpose OS running both web and native applications such as OpenOffice and will not require specialized hardware.” Chrome OS on the other hand will be specifically designed for a hand-picked selection of web-obsessed x86- and (eventually) ARM-based netbooks created by Google’s hardware partners that include big name computer makers such as Hewlett Packard, Asus, Acer, Lenovo. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/20/ubuntu_chrome_os_contract/

In The Blogosphere

Canonical: Profiting From Google Chrome OS?

Joe Panettieri, workswithU, has written two blog post about Canonical and Chrome OS 1) Canonical: Profiting From Google Chrome OS? and Google Chrome OS: Should Ubuntu and Canonical Worry? in which he believes that Chrome OS posses at threat to Canonical. According to Joe he still believes this threat a real one to spite the fact that Google is partnering with Canonical in this endeavor. Links to both of Joe's articles are below he makes some good points, but read and see what you think about Google Chrome OS and the future of Ubuntu and Canonical.

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/11/19/canonical-profiting-from-google-chrome-os/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WorksWithU+%28Works+With+U%29

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/11/19/google-chrome-os-should-ubuntu-and-canonical-worry/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WorksWithU+%28Works+With+U%29

Canonical’s Landscape: The Ubuntu Management Strategy

Joe Panettieri, workswithU, spoke via podcast with Ken Drachnik, Landscape manager at Canonical. The Podcast includes answers to the following questions:

  1. What is Landscape?
  2. Is Landscape positioned for small, medium, or large organizations?
  3. Is Landscape for netbooks, notebooks,. desktops or servers?
  4. Can Landscape manage Ubuntu in the Cloud?
  5. Does Landscape run on-premise or is it a SaaS (software as a service) solution?
  6. What is a landscape dedicated server?
  7. Is Landscape available globally?
  8. How is Landscaped priced?
  9. Where is Canonical heading next with Landscape?
  10. How to find out more information about Landscape.
  11. A link to free Landscape test and much more. The podcast takes less than 10 minutes and is well worth the listen is Landscape is on your radar.

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/11/19/canonicals-landscape-the-ubuntu-management-strategy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WorksWithU+%28Works+With+U%29

Dell Shows Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Some Love

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/11/17/dell-shows-ubuntu-1004-lucid-lynx-some-love/

Why Ubuntu release schedules should be changed

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/29430/1090/1/0/

Shutdown/Reboot Ubuntu 9.10

http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10014447o-2000498448b,00.htm

Ubuntu One Music Store

http://www.stefanoforenza.com/ubuntu-one-music-store/

Ubuntu One Music Store: A Real Business?

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/11/16/ubuntu-one-music-store-a-real-business/

Ubuntu's Canonical and Google partner to create Chrome

http://blogs.computerworld.com/15127/ubuntus_canonical_and_google_partner_to_create_chrome

Who Deserves Free Ubuntu CDs More?

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/11/18/who-deserves-free-ubuntu-cds-more/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WorksWithU+%28Works+With+U%29

WorksWithU: Dell cozies up to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS - read the comments for an interesting take on the LTS as a 'rolling release' (followed by my enthusiastic support for same)

http://www.insidesocal.com/click/2009/11/workswithu-dell-cozies-up-to-u.html

In Other News

Meeting Summaries: <MONTH> <YEAR>

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Monday November 23, 2009

Security Team Catch-up

  • Start: 18:00 UTC
  • End: 18:30 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: nothing formal, just a weekly catch-up.s

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Asia Oceania Membership Board Meeting

Ubuntu Mobile 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

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Server Team Meeting

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, November 26, 2009

Ubuntu Java Meeting

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

MC Meeting

  • Start: 17:00
  • End: 18:00
  • Location: None listed as of publication
  • Agenda: None listed as of publication

Friday, November 27, 2009

  • None listed as of publication

Saturday, November 28, 2009

  • None listed as of publication

Sunday, November 29, 2009

  • None listed as of publication

Community Spotlight

Updates and Security for 6.06, 8.04, 8.10, 9.04 and 9.10

Security Updates

Ubuntu 6.06 Updates

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

Ubuntu 8.10 Updates

Ubuntu 9.04 Updates

Ubuntu 9.10 Updates

UWN #: A sneak peek

Archives and RSS Feed

You can always find older Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter issues at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter

You can subscribe to the Ubuntu Weekly News via RSS at: http://fridge.ubuntu.com/uwn/feed

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:

  • John Crawford
  • Craig A. Eddy
  • Dave Bush
  • Your Name Here
  • Liraz Siri
  • And many others

Glossary of Terms

Other acronyms can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/glossary

Ubuntu - Get Involved

The Ubuntu community consists of individuals and teams, working on different aspects of the distribution, giving advice and technical support, and helping to promote Ubuntu to a wider audience. No contribution is too small, and anyone can help. It's your chance to get in on all the community fun associated with developing and promoting Ubuntu. http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate

Feedback

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.

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