news 28 Posted February 21, 2010 Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #181 for the week February 14th - February 20th, 2010. In this issue we cover: Debian Import Freeze in effect, Feature Freeze in place - Alpha 3 freeze ahead, New MOTU, Ubuntu single sign on service launched, Meet Jelmer Vernooij, Sikuli — scripting your use of GUIs, Global Bug Jam, Taking Lucid for a test spin, Opportunistic Developer Update, Ubuntu One Music Store, One Hundred Paper Cuts, Mark Shuttleworth to give keynote at PyCon 2010, Ubuntu UK Podcast returns, Ubuntu torrents are now IPv6 enabled, and much, much more! == 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 == * Debian Import Freeze in effect * Feature Freeze in place - Alpha 3 freeze ahead * New MOTU * Ubuntu single sign on service launched * Ubuntu Stats * Meet Jelmer Vernooij * Sikuli — scripting your use of GUIs * The Planet: Daniel, Dustin, Jono, Alan, David, & Robert * In the Press & Blogosphere * Mark Shuttleworth to give keynote at PyCon 2010 * Ubuntu UK Podcast returns * Ubuntu UK podcast returns * Ubuntu torrents are now IPv6 enabled * Upcoming Meetings & Events * Updates & Security == General Community News == === Debian Import Freeze in effect === We are now in Debian Import Freeze. This means that there are no more automatic syncs from Debian testing. If you require a package to be synced from Debian please file a bug in the normal way. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SyncRequestProcess Please ensure that syncing the package will help us with the goal of having a rock-solid remarkable release of Ubuntu, and that you test the new version of the package in the environment they are destined for. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2010-February/000676.html === Feature Freeze in place - Alpha 3 freeze ahead === The Feature Freeze is now in effect for Lucid. The focus from here until release is on fixing bugs and polishing. If you believe that a new package, a new upstream version of a package, or a new feature is needed for the release and will not introduce more problems than it fixes, please follow the Freeze Exception Process by filing bugs and subscribing ubuntu-release or motu-release as appropriate. * https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FreezeExceptionProcess Please also make sure that specs assigned to you for Lucid are updated to their current status (which should be at least Beta Available if not Deferred, or unless granted a freeze exception). * https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/lucid/ Our next testing milestone, Lucid Alpha 3, is scheduled for Thursday, February 25. Lucid Alpha 3 will use a "soft freeze" for main. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-January/000363.html 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-3 can be found at: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/lucid/+bugs?field.milestone=21445 For more information on bug targeting policies, or if you one of the group who have milestone bugs assigned to you, please visit the link below. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2010-February/000678.html === New MOTU === Chow Loong Jin * MOTU application: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/hyperair/MOTUApplication * Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~hyperair * Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/hyperair We are happy to announce that Chow Loong Jin (hyperair) has joined the ranks of MOTU. Loong Jin has been working extensively with Geany, general plg-CLI stuff, and miscellaneous other bugs. He is looking forward to helping with patch review and developer training. Please welcome him to the team! https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2010-February/030272.html === Ubuntu single sign on service launched === We are pleased to announce the launch of the brand new Ubuntu single sign on service: https://login.ubuntu.com/ The goal of this service is to provide a single, central login service for all Ubuntu-related sites, thus making it more convenient for Ubuntu users and community members to access information, communicate, and contribute. This service will replace the existing Launchpad login service that is currently in use for many Ubuntu-related sites, although existing Launchpad accounts will continue to work in the new service. Over the next few months we will be moving all of the Ubuntu and Canonical related sites that currently use the Launchpad service to Ubuntu single sign on, starting with sites we manage directly and then working with community site owners to move the community-managed sites. Because of the number of existing Ubuntu users who have created accounts in Launchpad for the purpose of logging into other sites, we have set the Ubuntu and Launchpad services to share account data during the transition. Launchpad is in the process of enabling users to log in with an Ubuntu account and, once completed, this sharing will be removed. This does mean that you will be able to log into both services with the same credentials for a while. We realise this is something internet users have been encouraged to not do but it is a necessary side-effect of the transition. Doing this ensures you won’t lose access to services you’ve purchased from us in the past or your account histories in the sites you’ve previously visited, as long as you use your existing Launchpad credentials on Ubuntu single sign on. Ubuntu single sign on is built on OpenID so, once all the sites we know about have moved over, we will also be opening up the OpenID service to enable you to log in to any site which accepts standard OpenIDs. * Why replace the Launchpad login service? The Launchpad login service has served us well for several years but Launchpad is not a familiar brand for many Ubuntu users. As Ubuntu grows, we’ll see more and more users who don’t understand the connection between Launchpad and Ubuntu and the new Ubuntu login service is intended to overcome this problem. It will also enable us to develop features which are more oriented to Ubuntu users. * How does the new service differ from the old one? For now, not much apart from the appearance of the site. We have many plans for great new features, however, and hope to roll these out once the service is established. If you have ideas for other features you’d like to see in Ubuntu single sign on, we’d love to hear about them * Is the new service Open Source? No, it’s not. It is, however, built and hosted on open source technologies (python, django, apache and postgres amongst others). * I have a problem with the new service. Where can I get help? We have an email support channel. You can submit your support requests using our support form. https://forms.canonical.com/sso-support/ If you have found a bug, please take a few minutes to tell us about it on Launchpad. https://bugs.launchpad.net/canonical-identity-provider We’re sure you have more questions. Please submit them and we’ll do our best to respond to them all. https://answers.launchpad.net/canonical-identity-provider http://blog.canonical.com/?p=330 == Ubuntu Stats == === Bug Stats === * Open (76691) +39 # over last week * Critical (26) +11 # over last week * Unconfirmed (39002) −74 # 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 Karmic === 1. Spanish (10614) −95 # over last week 2. English (United Kingdom) (20053) −12032 # over last week 3. French (40290) −144 # over last week 4. Brazilian Portuguese (41688) −1235 # over last week 5. Swedish (66185) −7 # 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 === * A vendor-neutral name for the 64bit versions of Ubuntu - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23732/ * A way to open windows which were accidentally closed - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23737/ * Icon Theme building - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23705/ * Context menu is too fat - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23693/ * Large is better for touchscreen - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23695/ 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/ == Launchpad News == === Meet Jelmer Vernooij === Jelmer Vernooij recently joined the Launchpad team at Canonical, so Matthew Revell caught up with him to get the usual Meet the developers interview. Some of the questions to Jelmer are as follows: * What do you do on the Launchpad team? * Can we see something in Launchpad that you’ve worked on? * What did you do before working at Canonical? * How did you get into free software? * Do you/have you contribute(d) to any free software projects? * Tell us something really cool about Launchpad that not enough people know about. * Is there one developer who has been an inspiration to you? If so, why? You can read Jalmer answers to these and other questions at the link below. http://blog.launchpad.net/meet-the-devs/meet-jelmer-vernooij === Sikuli — scripting your use of GUIs === The Sikuli project recently switched to using Launchpad, and Matthew Revell asked Tsung-Hsiang Chang to tell us more about the project. From the interview we learn that the current release of Sikuli is called Sikuli Script, which focuses on only automation using screenshots of GUI widgets. We have another project called Sikuli Search, which queries a search engine using screenshots instead of keywords. Although Sikuli Script is supposed to be able to “search†buttons or text on the screen, it isn’t good at scraping or analyzing information from screenshots yet. Follow this link to learn more about Sikuli: http://blog.launchpad.net/projects/sikuli == The Planet == === Daniel Holbach: Ubuntu Global Jam – preparations === I’m very excited about Ubuntu Global Jam this time around because for many people around the globe it will probably be the first time they get their hands dirty with doing actual work on Ubuntu and actually make Ubuntu itself better. In addition to that Lucid is going to be an LTS, so this time it’s personal! Definitely Going! Definitely Going! The great thing is we have a number of sessions lined up to share tips and advice about holding jams. We will meet on IRC in #ubuntu-locoteams and try to answer questions and think of creative ways to get more people together, have more fun and make Ubuntu even better. Stay tuned for more! * 26 Feb – 2100 UTC How to run a jam (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams'>https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams'>https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams) * 03 Mar – 1500 UTC How to run a translations jam (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams/Translations'>https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams/Translations) * 04 Mar – 1500 UTC How to run a packaging jam (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams/Packaging'>https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams/Packaging) * 06 Mar – 1900 UTC How to run a jam (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams) * 10 Mar – 2100 UTC How to run a jam (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams) * 11 Mar – 0900 UTC How to run a translations jam (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams/Translations) * 12 Mar – 0900 UTC How to run a packaging jam (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jams/Packaging) http://daniel.holba.ch/blog/?p=610 === Dustin Kirkland: Have you taken Lucid for a test drive yet? === Ubuntu Lucid Lynx is in Feature Freeze, and Alpha3 is right around the corner, releasing next week. If you're running Ubuntu 9.04, 9.10, or 10.04, it's trivial to test-drive Lucid in a virtual machine, without modifying your current installation! http://launchpad.net/testdrive If you're already running Lucid, congrats! All you need to do is add the testdrive ppa, and install testdrive, and either kvm or virtualbox-ose. Just pop open a terminal and run: * sudo add-apt-repository ppa:testdrive/ppa && \ * sudo apt-get update && \ * sudo apt-get install testdrive Then you can either run testdrive from the command line, or use the menu, Applications -> System Tools -> Testdrive. A menu will pop up, with a listing of the Lucid daily images. If you have previously downloaded any of these, you should see a timestamp of the cached file. If you run testdrive everyday, your cache will stay up-to-date, and the incremental download will be much faster! Select one of the offered ISOs, or enter a URL to another one of your choosing, and you should be off and running. Help us make Lucid Lynx the best Ubuntu to date! Screenshots at the link below. http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2010/02/have-you-taken-lucid-for-testrive-yet.html === Jono Bacon: Some Opportunistic Developer Updates === A few awesome opportunistic developer updates: * Firstly, I have been adding some parties every day during Ubuntu Opportunistic Developer Week. These include a couple of hacking parties in which you should come and join us and hack on your new apps and be around folks to ask for help, answer questions and share progress. * Secondly, given the interest brewing around opportunistic developers on Ubuntu, I have created a new IRC channel called #ubuntu-app-devel where you can go to hang out with others writing apps, you can ask questions there, share progress and talk about how we can make Ubuntu a rocking system for harnessing the creative inclinations of opportunistic developers. Rock and roll, my friends. http://www.jonobacon.org/2010/02/15/some-opportunistic-developer-updates/ === Alan Pope: Ubuntu One Music Store Sneak Peek === It looks like 7digital are providing the back-end for the Ubuntu One Music Store which is due to land in Ubuntu Lucid at Alpha 3 – very soon now. I've included some screen shots that originate from my browser. Before too long, the store can be reached from the Rhythmbox application. The landing page clearly has the Ubuntu One branding. As you’d expect you can easily search for music....to find your favourite artist or album, or download tracks. The store supports Credit/Debit cards, Click&Buy and Paypal..You can also track your existing downloads. Of course this isn’t ready yet, so we can’t see it in Rhythmbox on Ubuntu yet, but it’s clearly getting there. There are screen shots at the link below to give you a better idea of how this new feature will look. http://popey.com/blog/2010/02/19/ubuntu-one-music-store-sneak-peek/ * Update: After the post I made about the Ubuntu One Music Store, I’ve noticed a couple of things which might indicate what’s coming. First, as we know Rhythmbox is the music player of choice in Ubuntu, and we can already see the place holder for the music store in the app. I noticed something new today though, the “Music†category has a little [+] expander, and when we open that up we can see two options “Music†and “musicstoreâ€. A new Rhythmbox plugin added called “umusicstore†is now showing. More screenshots of this feature are at the link below along with more detailed information. Get ready to rock on with the Ubuntu One Music Store! http://popey.com/blog/2010/02/20/u1-music-store-store-music-in-u1/ === David Siegel: One Hundred Paper Cuts for Lucid, Round 10 === Time flies like an arrow! This week marks the final round of paper cuts for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS “Lucid Lynx.†We’ve done an outstanding job so far but we still have work ahead of us. Here are some paper cuts that need attention this round: “Create Document†Templates difficult to use * Right-clicking on the Desktop and choosing “Create Document†still shows a menu with only “No templates installed†and “Empty File.†Let’s at least put some OpenOffice Document templates in there. Shutdown/restart dialogs make it unclear whether people should wait * Users often mistakenly believe they have to wait through the 60-second countdown on Shut Down and Restart dialogs. Opening a deleted ‘recent document’ results in a new file. * Deleted files shouldn’t be displayed in the Recent Documents menu. Default setting for remembering password should be remember until logout * “When accessing a windows file share (or other network resource) that requires a password, the radio button defaults to “Forget password immediatelyâ€. While this is understandable for security reasons, it is a usability “paper cut†because one will typically be confronted with the same password prompt again in very short order (without even closing the nautilus window). Just yesterday this got a smirk out of a Windows user looking over my shoulder that I had to enter the password “again.†This has also been an annoyance for me for quite a few years.†Context menu for an USB pen-drive shows “Unmountâ€, “Eject†and “Safely Remove Drive†* Which one do I choose?! OpenOffice menus still have icons which should be removed * enough said. In the file operation dialog, the file count and the size count change in opposite direction. * File count decreases while copy size increases, causing users to go cross-eyed. In Help, Table of Contents switches from left to right when user selects topic * Eww. Unfriendly message upon typing incorrect password (Policykit-GNOME) * “AUTHENTICATION FAILURE†is a severe message to confront users with, especially users who sometimes make mistakes when typing into password fields. When a user makes a mistake while typing his password, we should be understanding, supportive, and encouraging rather than alarming, accusatory, or even perfunctory. http://davidsiegel.org/100papercuts-lucid-round-10/ === Robert Collins: Yay Dell-with-Ubuntu down under === Dell has been offering Ubuntu on selected models for a while. I had however nearly given up hope on being able to buy one, because they hadn’t started doing that in Australia. I am very glad to see this has changed though – check out their notebook page.[1] Not all models yet, but a reasonable number have Ubuntu as an option. Yay! [1] http://go2.wordpress.com/?id=725X1342&site=rbtcollins.wordpress.com&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww1.ap.dell.com%2Fcontent%2Fproducts%2Fresults.aspx%2Fnotebooks http://rbtcollins.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/yay-dell-with-ubuntu-down-under/ == In The Press == === Ubuntu 10.04's Nouveau Stack Gets Ready === Phoronix's Michael Larabel states that one of the slated features for Ubuntu 10.04 early on in its development cycle was support for the Nouveau graphics driver on NVIDIA hardware since it's much better than the xf86-video-nv driver mess and has a much brighter future, which is especially important with 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" being a Long-Term Support (LTS) release. This was prior to Nouveau going mainline with Linux 2.6.33, but Ubuntu Lucid is running with the Linux 2.6.32 kernel so as a result Nouveau's DRM was back-ported. Canonical's Bryce Harrington describes this Nouveau stack as being "nearly ready" for Lucid and is requesting a final test among those interested in the open-source NVIDIA graphics hardware support. If you are interested in testing out Ubuntu 10.04's Nouveau stack you can do so by following this call [1] for testing thread and checking out the Nouveau evaluation Wiki page. [2] [1] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2010-February/030231.html [2] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Testing/NouveauEvaluation http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Nzk3OQ === EXT3, EXT4, Btrfs Ubuntu Netbook Benchmarks === Phoronix's Michael Larabel reminds us that last month he published benchmarks of EXT4 comparing this file-system's performance when it was first marked stable in the mainline kernel and then where it is at now in the Linux kernel while testing every major release in between. This article was followed up by a Btrfs versus EXT4 comparison using the Linux 2.6.33 kernel to see how the two most talked about Linux file-systems are battling it out with the latest kernel. After those Linux file-system benchmarks were published, he received a request from Canonical to look at the EXT3 performance too. With that said, we have done just that and have published EXT3, EXT4, and Btrfs benchmarks from Ubuntu 9.10 and a Ubuntu 10.04 development snapshot from an Intel Atom netbook. Under Ubuntu 9.10, the Intel Atom N270 netbook did the best with Btrfs and its numbers even improved with Ubuntu 10.04, but the EXT4 file-system had a much stronger boost that led it to a first place finish. The performance between EXT3 and EXT4 was close at unpacking the Linux kernel linux-2.6.32.tar.bz2 file, but Btrfs was a bit slower. More Linux file-system tests are on the way! http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_netbook_fs&num=1 === Ubuntu One Music Store Pushed In Rhythmbox === Michael Larabel of Phoronix tells us that one of the features that was talked about and proposed a few months back was a music store for Ubuntu where one could easily purchase music and somewhat fits in with Canonical's plans for the Ubuntu Software Store. Plans were laid out for an Ubuntu One Music Store and the first packages to support this in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS are now available. The Lucid specifications for the Ubuntu One Music Store on the Ubuntu Wiki mention "The Lucid music store project aims to deliver the ability to purchase music from within a desktop music player. Look for more on Canonical's Ubuntu One Music Store as the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS release approaches in April. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Nzk5Ng === The Linux Box to Market Ubuntu OS in the U.S. === eWeek's Darryl K. Taft reports that the Linux Box has announced a partnership with Canonical whereby it will market the Ubuntu Linux operating system in the United States. As a Canonical Silver Solution Provider Partner, The Linux Box will sell, install and support customized Ubuntu-based solutions to organizations running Linux systems. It will also provide businesses with large-scale migration deployment support and training services for cloud computing infrastructures and enterprise desktop alternatives. "Combining forces with The Linux Box enables many more U.S. businesses in every industry to embrace Ubuntu as their end-to-end open-source data center solution," said Steve George, director of corporate services at Canonical, in a statement. "We look forward to Ubuntu being The Linux Box's best-of-breed open-source solution." http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux-and-Open-Source/The-Linux-Box-to-Market-Ubuntu-OS-in-the-US-568799/?kc=rss&utm_source=fee === Ubuntu Optimizes its OS for ARM CPUs === Ryan Whitwam of Maximum PC believes that an ARM-based netbook running Ubuntu could be in your future with the newest version of Ubuntu Netbook Edition. Much like Windows, the popular Linux distro did not previously have support for ARM processors. With the anticipated flood of ARM packing “smartbooks†expected to materialize, the Ubuntu devs got to work rewriting Ubuntu. According to Ubuntu’s Jamie Bennet, the problem was that Ubuntu Netbook Edition required 3D graphics drivers that didn’t exist for ARM chips. They got around this by employing 2D Enlightenment Foundation Libraries to fake a 3D interface. We’re hearing that you won’t be able to tell the difference in the interface. That’s a big win for smartbooks and Ubuntu. This may be the space that Ubuntu specifically, and Linux in general, can succeed in. http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/ubuntu_optimizes_its_os_arm_cpus === Five Ubuntu Features You Didn't Know About === Ken Hess of Linux Magazine knows that the quest to discover something new and fresh about Ubuntu, which is arguably the world’s most popular and best documented Linux distribution, is an almost ridiculous one to accept and an almost impossible one to fulfill. Hess says he felt like the Mission Impossible character, Jim Phelps, as I read the request from my editor to come up with five Ubuntu features you didn’t know about. Here's what he came up with: * Byobu: A Better Screen * Dynamic MOTD * UEC Scheduling * Over Provisioning * PowerNap Hess does think that Ubuntu has many secrets left but these five, until now, were perhaps the last of their kind. He also gives special thanks to Dustin Kirkland, Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud Developer for his assistance and information with this material. Follow this link for more information on each of these the five features: http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7704/1.html == In The Blogosphere == === Are smartbooks and Linux meant for each other? === Smartbooks are an upcoming mobile computing device category built around ARM’s Cortex A8 and A9 line of processors. These devices are awaited with great anticipation because they promise a mixture between smartphone features, and the functionality of netbooks/laptops at a price point lower than that of current netbooks. The biggest question according to this blogger is, will widen Linux adoption and erode the often criticized monopoly of Windows on pc-like computing devices. Windows CE can be used on ARM, however the 6.5 version does not support multi-core processors. Android is another possibility, but the author believes it would be better suited for smartbook tablets. laptop-like smartbooks with keyboards are better served with a full-desktop Linux like Ubuntu due to the fact, that on these devices, buyers will expect full-fledged applications like OpenOffice, Thunderbird, Firefox…etc. His conclusion is that every kind of smartbook device can be put to its full potential with a properly customized Linux variant like Ubuntu. http://soltesza.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/are-smartbooks-and-linux-meant-for-each-other/ === 5 New Things about Windows 8 and Ubuntu 10.04 === This blogger acknowledges that Windows 8 won't be out until late 2011 or early 2012, but goes ahead to list 5 things the development team finalized as key scenarios. But what should be expected of Ubuntu? How can they one-up themselves, after the hat-trick they pulled with 9.10? According to the author, Gautham Raj, you can expect a new look, more speed, a GUI at startup, and the ability to install updates at shutdown, and Ubuntu Software Center as the core application installation tool. Gautham believes this could be the Ubuntu release that the public would have a hard time turning down as its desktop OS. Not only will it have a very solid foundation, the overlaying structure will be much more modern looking. http://linuxtree.blogspot.com/2010/02/5-new-things-about-windows-8-and-ubuntu.html === Canonical Launches Ubuntu Single Sign On === Canonical has launched a new service, dubbed Ubuntu Single Sign On. The effort seeks to simplify and unify all login services for all Ubuntu-related sites. Sound like a good idea? Here’s the deal. The plan is to make it more “convenient for Ubuntu users and community members to access information, communicate, and contribute.†It’ll replace the Launchpad login service, but don’t worry — existing Launchpad accounts will still work with the single sign-on service. Over the next few months Canonical plans on shifting the entirety of Ubuntu and Canonical related sites running Launchpad and migrating them to Ubuntu single sign on. Ubuntu single sign-on is build on the OpenID standard. That means any site that accepts the standard will let you pop on with that account name. http://www.workswithu.com/2010/02/18/canonical-launches-ubuntu-single-sign-on/ === Lubuntu: Not Just for Lusers === The Lubuntu project, which was established a year ago as a community endeavor, aims to create a lightweight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. Towards this end, it uses the LXDE desktop environment in combination with the Openbox window manager to keep the demand on system resources low. This author downloaded the Lucid Alpha 2 version of Lubuntu for testing. What he found was a clean desktop and a relatively attractive interface. Most of the software that comes installed by default diverges from that of regular Ubuntu. Lubuntu ships with Firefox, Pidgin, Transmission and Synaptic, but the similarities end there. The obvious competitor for Lubuntu’s niche is Xubuntu, an official Ubuntu flavor based on the Xfce desktop environment and designed for less powerful or older hardware. The bottom line? A lot of work remains to be done on Lubuntu to make it stable and bring it up to speed with the other Ubuntu flavors. But so far, it’s looking very impressive and may finally provide the truly modern and functional, yet lightweight, distribution that many Ubuntu users have been looking for for years. http://www.workswithu.com/2010/02/16/lubuntu-not-just-for-lusers/ === Product Spotlight: Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud === According to Jack Wallen, if you are even remotely considering cloud computing, you owe it to yourself to begin with the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) open source cloud software. There are many reasons for this. Not only is this tool feature-rich, it is also free. If you are only just now trying to decide if you want to deploy a cloud environment, then you do not want to shell out your entire IT budget only to find out if cloud computing is for you (or your company). That is where UEC comes in. The Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud is for anyone (personal, SMB, enterprise) needing to either test or deploy a cloud environment. The biggest problem UEC solves is the determining if a cloud environment is suitable for your needs. By deploying UEC you will only be spending budget on hardware (unless you already have the hardware available) and not on software. This gives your administration a certain freedom they won’t have by using a commercial solution. If you are not sure about deploying a cloud, and want to give it a try without breaking your IT budget, Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud is the way to go. http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/products/?p=1133 == In Other News == === Mark Shuttleworth to give keynote address at PyCon === Mark Shuttleworth and Antonio Rodriguez are to be the keynote speakers at PyCon 2010, the world's largest conference of the Python programming community. Over 1,000 Python programmers are gathering now at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta for eight days of intensive education, cooperation, and networking. Mark Shuttleworth is the founder of the Ubuntu Project, which produces a Linux distribution enormously popular among software developers and end users alike for its utility and ease of use. The Ubuntu Project is often cited as an example of a well-run cooperative programming effort; it relies heavily on highly-readable Python programs which make collaboration between developers easy. Many Python programmers, in turn, benefit from the powerful, no-fuss Linux development platform provided by Ubuntu. http://www.prlog.org/10537095-shuttleworth-rodriguez-keynote-at-pycon-2010.html * About PyCon 2010: http://us.pycon.org/2010/about/ * Mark being interviewed by The Bit Source at PyCon: http://www.thebitsource.com/people/mark-shuttleworth-at-pycon-cadence-quality-and-design/ === Ubuntu UK Podcast returns === Ciemon Dunville, Alan Pope, Dave Walker, Tony Whitmore and Laura Cowen are back with an all new first episode of 3rd season of the Ubuntu Podcast from the UK LoCo Team. Highlights of this podcast include: * What we’ve been doing since the last episode all those months ago including running, playing with new laptops, yet more packaging and talks for our LUG, setting up an etherpad service and lots more fun packed frolics. * In the wake of a recent ReadWriteWeb article we discuss the news that many Facebook users can’t tell the logon screen from a hole in the ground and what that means for us. * In the News this week * Interviews of Kyrill and Artyom Zorin, who have created some interesting Ubuntu derivatives – yes, more than one! * Upcoming events * News discussions * And finally, tweets and dents and voicemail since our last show Comments and suggestions are welcomed to: podcast ( -at -) ubuntu-uk.org Visit the link below to download or stream the latest edition of the Ubuntu UK Podcast! http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/2010/02/17/s03e01-the-golden-web/ === Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 gets ported onto Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1 === Engadget's Darren Murph comments that not even a fortnight after we saw Android 2.0.1 slapped onto Sony Ericsson's all-but-forgotten Xperia X1, along comes a port that makes the other look like child's play. A dedicated coder over at XDA Developers has managed to stuff Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 onto an X1, and while the functionality is limited, the amount of fun to be had is restrained only by your imagination. Go on and peek that source link[1] to join the discussion. [1] http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=631437 http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/ubuntu-hardy-heron-8-04-gets-ported-onto-sony-ericssons-xperia/ === Ubuntu torrents are now IPv6 enabled === Since February third, the official Ubuntu torrents found on releases.ubuntu.com include an IPv6-enabled tracker in the announce list. This means that we are one step further in getting Ubuntu downloadable over IPv6. Clients connected only via IPv6 (which are unfortunately rare, but still) can download the torrent from the IPv6 enabled releases.ubuntu.com and start downloading the iso via IPv6. There are a few (fast connected) IPv6 enabled seeders around, so downloading should work great. Stats over the last two weeks show reasonable usage, although we expect more and more users switching to IPv6. All we need now, is an IPv6 address for www.ubuntu.com. For more information about IPv6, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipv6 == Upcoming Meetings and Events == === Monday, February 22, 2010 === ==== PyCon ==== * Location: Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA * Agenda: Main annual conference of the Python programming community. ==== 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. === Tuesday, February 23, 2010 === ==== PyCon ==== * Location: Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA * Agenda: Main annual conference of the Python programming community. ==== Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting ==== * Start: 13:00 UTC * End: 14:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MobileTeam/Meeting ==== Technical Board Meeting ==== * Start: 15:00 UTC * End: 16:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: None listed as of publication ==== 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 ==== Global Jam Meeting ==== * Start: 20:00 UTC * End: 21:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: Not listed as of publication === Wednesday, February 24, 2010 === ==== PyCon ==== * Location: Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA * Agenda: Main annual conference of the Python programming community. ==== Server Team Meeting ==== * Start: 14:00 UTC * End: 15:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/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 ==== * Start: 17:00 UTC * End: 18:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/Meetings/ ==== Edubuntu Meeting ==== * Start: 19:00 UTC * End: 20:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/Meetings/Agenda === Thursday, February 25, 2010 === ==== PyCon ==== * Location: Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA * Agenda: Main annual conference of the Python programming community. ==== 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 UTC * End: 18:00 UTC * Location: None listed as of publication * Agenda: None listed as of publication ==== Regional Membership Board - Americas ==== * Start: 23:00 UTC * End: 01:00 UTC Friday, February 26, 2010 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership/RegionalBoards/Americas === Friday, February 26, 2010 === ==== Lucid Weekly Release Meeting ==== * Start: 16:00 UTC * End: 17:30 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: http://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReleaseTeam/Meeting/2010-02-26 ==== How to Run a Jam ==== * Start: 21:00 UTC * End: 22:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-locoteams * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGlobalJam === Saturday, February 27, 2010 === ==== BugJam ==== * Start: 21:00 UTC * End: 23:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-us-dc and IRC channel #ubuntu-bugs * Agenda: None listed as of publication ==== DC Loco IRC meeting ==== * Start: 23:00 UTC * End: 24:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-us-dc * Agenda: None listed as of publication === Sunday, February 28, 2010 === ==== Ubuntu IRC Council Meeting ==== * Start: 18:00 UTC * End: 19:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IrcTeam/IrcCouncil/MeetingAgenda ==== Ubuntu Gaming Team Meeting ==== * Start: 20:00 UTC * End: 22:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: None listed as of publication == Updates and Security for 6.06, 8.04, 8.10, 9.04 and 9.10 == === Security Updates === * USN-893-1: Samba vulnerability- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-893-1 * USN-892-1: FUSE vulnerability- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-892-1 * USN-894-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-894-1 * USN-897-1: MySQL vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-897-1 * USN-898-1: gnome-screensaver vulnerability- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-898-1 * USN-899-1: Tomcat vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-899-1 * USN-900-1: Ruby vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-900-1 * USN-901-1: Squid vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-901-1 * USN-895-1: Firefox 3.0 and Xulrunner 1.9 vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-895-1 * USN-896-1: Firefox 3.5 and Xulrunner 1.9.1 vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-896-1 * USN-890-5: XML-RPC for C and C++ vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-890-5 === Ubuntu 6.06 Updates === * squid_2.5.12-4ubuntu2.5_i386_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2010-February/012816.html === Ubuntu 8.04 Updates === * flashplugin-nonfree- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-February/012391.html * squid_2.6.18-1ubuntu3.1_powerpc_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-February/012392.html * mozplugger 1.10.1-2ubuntu2.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-February/012393.html * virtualbox-ose-modules 24.0.13 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-February/012394.html * php5 5.2.4-2ubuntu5.11 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-February/012396.html * evolution-data-server 2.22.3-0ubuntu4 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-February/012395.html * hybserv (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-February/012397.html * chrony (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-February/012398.html === Ubuntu 8.10 Updates === * flashplugin-nonfree- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-February/009839.html * ruby1.9- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-February/009840.html * squid_2.7.STABLE3-1ubuntu2.2_hppa_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-February/009841.html * landscape-client 1.4.4-0ubuntu0.8.10 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-February/009842.html * hybserv (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-February/009843.html === Ubuntu 9.04 Updates === * flashplugin-nonfree- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-February/010003.html * ruby1.9- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-February/010004.html * squid_2.7.STABLE3-4.1ubuntu1.1_sparc_translations.tar.gz (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-February/010005.html * landscape-client 1.4.4-0ubuntu0.9.04 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-February/010006.html * hybserv (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-February/010007.html * chrony (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-February/010008.html === Ubuntu 9.10 Updates === * flashplugin-nonfree- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012239.html * ruby1.9- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012240.html * squid_2.7.STABLE6-2ubuntu2.1_sparc_translations.tar.gz (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012241.html * landscape-client 1.4.4-0ubuntu0.9.10 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012242.html * samba 2:3.4.0-3ubuntu5.5 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012243.html * eucalyptus 1.6~bzr931-0ubuntu7.5 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012244.html * libapache2-mod-authz-unixgroup 1.0.1+svn67-1ubuntu0.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012245.html * foomatic-filters 4.0.3-0ubuntu2.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012246.html * linux-ec2 2.6.31-304.11 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012247.html * linux-fsl-imx51 2.6.31-108.22 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012248.html * hybserv (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012250.html * chrony (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012249.html * gnome-games 1:2.28.0-0ubuntu3 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012251.html * xmlrpc-c (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-February/012252.html == Subscribe == Get your copy of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter delivered each week to you via email at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-news == 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: 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: * John Crawford * Craig A. Eddy * Dave Bush * And many others == Glossary of Terms == 1. BTRFS - B-Tree File System 1. DRM - Direct Rendering Manager 1. LTS - Long Term Support. - Said of a release that will receive support for 3-years/5-years rather than the typical 18 months 1. OS - Operating System 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. 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