Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) Beta 1 Released.

By pleia2 | Published: 2012-09-06

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the first beta release of Ubuntu 12.10 Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products.

Codenamed "Quantal Quetzal", 12.10 continues Ubuntu’s proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs.

For the client, this release now has a consolidated Ubuntu image. There is no longer a traditional CD sized image, DVD or alternate image, but rather a single 800MB Ubuntu image that can be used from USB or DVD. This change does not affect Ubuntu Server, which remains a traditional CD sized image.

With Ubuntu 12.10, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Lubuntu, and Ubuntu Studio also reached Beta 1 status today. These images, along with Xubuntu will continue to have daily updates for the remainder of the release.

Ubuntu Changes

Some of the new features now available are:

  • The consolidated client images now support the logical volume manager (LVM) as well as full disk encryption.
  • Update Manager has been renamed Software Updater and now checks for updates when launched.
  • A new X.org stack has been introduced which includes xserver 1.13 candidate versions, mesa 9.0, and updated X libs and drivers.
  • Unity has been updated to version 6.4 including support for dash previews and coverflow view. Now that compiz with GLES support has landed, unity-3d works again on the pandaboard.
  • The Ubuntu desktop has begun migrating from Python 2 to Python 3. Most Python applications included in the desktop is now using Python 3, and most Python modules that are included by default are available for both Python 2 and Python 3.

Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ for details.

Ubuntu Server and Cloud Images

Some of the new features in the 12.10 beta images are:

  • ARM hard float (armhf) cloud images are now available.
  • OpenStack folsom testing packages are available. Openstack instance architecture testing support has been added, as has a heterogenous scheduler for ARM.
  • Apache Tomcat 7 is now the default supported version.
  • Ceph has updated to 0.48.1 (upstream argonaut stable release), and includes RADOS Gateway (S3 and Swift Compatible), as well as performance improvements.
  • Floodlight (Openflow Network Controller) and mininet (Network Simulation) packages are now available.

Kubuntu

Kubuntu 12.10 now comes on a 1GB image for a USB drive or DVD. In addition other significant changes include:

  • KDE’s plasma and applications have been updated to version 4.9.
  • Telepathy-KDE is now the default chat program offering easier setup for modern networks like Facebook and GTalk.
  • Calligra is now the default office and graphics suite adding top class painting and database applications.
  • The release of Rekonq 1 gives Kubuntu the stable web browser it deserves.
  • New login manager LightDM adds a guest session feature for letting your friends use your computer quickly.
  • Digikam 2.8 adds better photo handling.
  • OwnCloud 4 gives many web applications in your own remote or local cloud

Please see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/QuantalQuetzal/Beta1/Kubuntu for details.

Edubuntu

In Edubuntu 12.10, a new package called ‘edubuntu-netboot’ is introduced. This package now provides the functionality previously provided by ltsp-live and will also be used for casper-netboot.

In addition, Tomboy has been re-introduced and Gnote removed.

For more details on what has changed in Edubuntu 12.10, please refer to http://www.edubuntu.org .

Lubuntu

Lubuntu 12.10 has had a significant update of the visual identity, including new icon themes, wallpaper, and better integration with the applications. Other notable highlights include:

  • A new version of the session manager is available for testing.
  • A new version of pcmanfm (file manager), including at lot of bug fixes, external thumbnailer support, multiple screen support.
  • catfish, a searching utility, have been added to the default installation.

For more information about the changes in Lubuntu 12.10, please go to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu .

Ubuntu Studio

Ubuntu Studio 12.10 Beta 1 ships with:

  • A new MIDI router and MIDI tools menu have been added.
  • Task Manager has been switched to System Monitor for better memory use display.
  • Nautilus is now the default file manager.

Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/quantal/beta1 for more details on the above products.

About Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for clients, servers and clouds, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support.

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at: http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate .

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions really help us to improve this and future releases of Ubuntu. Instructions can be found at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs .

To Get Ubuntu 12.10 Beta 1

To upgrade to Ubuntu 12.10 Beta 1 from Ubuntu 12.04, follow these instructions:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/QuantalUpgrades

Or, download Ubuntu 12.10 Beta 1 images from a location near you:

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/download (Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server) .

In addition they can be found at the following links:

The final version of Ubuntu 12.10 is expected to be released on October 18, 2012.

More Information

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this beta release on our website, IRC channel and wiki.

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu’s very low volume announcement list at:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce

Originally posted to the ubuntu-release mailing list on Thu Sep 6 22:01:56 UTC 2012 by Kate Stewart

Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 281

By pleia2 | Published: 2012-09-03

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter. This is issue #281 for the week August 27 – September 2, 2012, and the full version is available here.

In this issue we cover:

The issue of The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

  • Elizabeth Krumbach
  • Emily Gonyer
  • Jasna Benčić
  • Matt Rudge
  • Jim Connett

If you have a story idea for the Weekly Newsletter, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki!

Except where otherwise noted, content in this issue is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License BY SA Creative Commons License

Request for LoCo Council Nominations

By pleia2 | Published: 2012-08-31

We on the LoCo Council are being faced with the challenge of replacing two of our current Council members. A special thanks to Paolo and Greg for all of the great contributions they have made while serving with us on the LoCo Council.

Towards the end of last October, we put out a call for nominations for re-staffing the LoCo Council. Due to the amount of time that has passed, we thought it would be good to make another call for nominations. This new call for nominations would help ensure those who were nominated or had expressed an interest in being a part of the LoCo Council, would still have both the time and desire to join our team.

So with that in mind, we are writing this e-mail to ask for volunteers to step forward and nominate themselves or another contributor for the two open positions. The LoCo Council is defined on our wiki page.

Typically, we meet up once a month in IRC to go through items on the team agenda. This involves approving new LoCo Teams, Re-approval of Approved LoCo Teams, resolving issues within Teams, approving LoCo Team mailing list requests, and anything else that comes along.

We have the following requirements for Nominees:

  • Be an Ubuntu member
  • Be available during typical meeting times of the council
  • Insight into the culture(s) and typical activities within teams is a plus

Here is a description of the current LoCo Council:

They are current Ubuntu Members with a proven track record of activity in the community. They have shown themselves over time to be able to work well with others, and display the positive aspects of the Ubuntu Code of Conduct. They should be people who can judge contribution quality without emotion while engaging in an interview/discussion that communicates interest, a welcoming atmosphere, and which is marked by humanity, gentleness, and kindness.

If this sounds like you, or a person you know, please e-mail the LoCo Council with your nomination(s) using the following e-mail address: loco-council<at>lists.ubuntu.com. Please include a few lines about yourself, or whom you’re nominating, so we can get a good idea of why you/they’d like to join the council, and why you feel that you/they should be considered. If you plan on nominating another person, please let them know, so they are aware.

The time frame for this process is as follows:

Nominations will open: August31, 2012

Nominations will close: September13, 2012

We will then forward the nominations to the CC, Requesting they take the following week to make their selections (hopefully by their meeting on September 20,2012).

Date new council members will be announced: September 21, 2012

Originally posted to the loco-contacts mailing list on Fri Aug 31 13:48:30 UTC 2012 by Chris Crisafulli

Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 280

By pleia2 | Published: 2012-08-27

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter. This is issue #280 for the week August 20 – 26, 2012, and the full version is available here.

In this issue we cover:

The issue of The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

  • Elizabeth Krumbach
  • Feyisayo Akinboboye
  • J Phani Mahesh
  • Emily Gonyer
  • Jim Connett
  • Matt Rudge
  • And many others

If you have a story idea for the Weekly Newsletter, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki!

Except where otherwise noted, content in this issue is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License BY SA Creative Commons License

Ubuntu 12.04.1 (Precise Pangolin) LTS released!

By pleia2 | Published: 2012-08-24

"The most important rule is to formulate, clearly and precisely, the goal to be reached, and then to retain it unswervingly in mind throughout all the stages of the execution, which are often long and complex." – Roberto Assagioli

The Ubuntu team is very pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS (Long-Term Support) for Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products. The Ubuntu LTS flavors are also being released today.

In the 12.04.1 release, we’ve added support for the Calxeda ECX-1000 SoC family, so businesses can prepare for a datacentre dominated by low-energy, hyperscale servers by testing their workloads on the new hardware now.

The Ubuntu Cloud Archive also makes its debut – essentially an online software repository from which administrators can download the latest versions of OpenStack for use with the latest long-term support (LTS) release of Ubuntu.

Certified 12.04.1 Ubuntu Cloud images are now available on Amazon Web Services and will soon be posted to Windows Azure as well.

This point release has numerous updates integrated, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

Kubuntu 12.04.1 LTS, Edubuntu 12.04.1 LTS, Xubuntu 12.04.1 LTS, Mythbuntu 12.04.1 LTS, and Ubuntu Studio 12.04.1 LTS are now available as well. More details can be found in their announcements:

To get Ubuntu 12.04.1

In order to download Ubuntu 12.04.1, visit:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Users of Ubuntu 10.04 and 11.10 will be offered an automatic upgrade to 12.04.1 via Update Manager. For further information about upgrading, see:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/upgrade

As always, upgrades to the latest version of Ubuntu are entirely free of charge.

We recommend that all users read the 12.04.1 release notes, which document caveats and workarounds for known issues, as well as more in-depth notes on the release itself. They are available at:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes

Find out what’s new in this release with a graphical overview:

If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but aren’t sure, you can try asking in any of the following places:

Help Shape Ubuntu

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at:

http://www.ubuntu.com/community/get-involved

About Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, clouds and servers, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional services including support are available from Canonical and hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information about support, visit:

http://www.ubuntu.com/support

More Information

You can learn more about Ubuntu and about this release on our website listed below:

http://www.ubuntu.com

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu’s very low volume announcement list at:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce

Originally posted to the ubuntu-announce mailing list on Fri Aug 24 01:09:23 UTC 2012 by Kate Stewart