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What is Ulteo?

Gaël Duval, founder of Mandrake-Linux, started Ulteo after he was laid off by Mandriva in 2006. The first alpha release was announced several months later.

In the past two years the project has had some time to mature and with the announcement that OpenOffice.org 3.0 is available through Ulteo.com it seemed like a good time to revisit the project.

Ulteo is aimed at Windows users, and gives them a slow and easy to way to convert to Linux using the first of several several sub-projects; the Ulteo Online Desktop. Many Linux applications are available through a Java enabled web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. OpenOffice.org, KPdf, Kopete, Skype, Thunderbird + Enigmail, Gimp and Digikam, Inkscape and Scribus and many other applications are available in the Online Desktop without installing any new software on the PC. A subscription to Ulteo Premium provides extra storage for documents and other benefits.

Once the user becomes comfortable with Linux applications they could be ready for the Ulteo Application System which is an installable system for the PC. The Application System features automatic document synchronization/backup, automatic updates and upgrades, and all the applications included in the online desktop.

The Ulteo Virtual Desktop seems to be much the same as the Online Desktop. It is designed to run under Windows and allows the use of both Linux and Windows applications. The Virtual Desktop uses coLinux to provide the Linux desktop on Windows.

The final Ulteo product, for now at least, is the Documents Synchronizer. This, like the Virtual Desktop, is Windows software but it can be used with the Online Desktop to backup and retrieve documents, whether these are produced locally with Windows applications or with Linux applications using Online Desktop.

Ulteo is not something that will be of immediate interest to the average LWN reader. Presumably most readers are already knowledgeable about running Linux and its applications. However most of us probably do know someone who is not ready to run Linux natively. At least some of those people could start using the Online Desktop and become more familiar with various Linux applications without having to download and install those applications. Who knows where they might go after that.

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New Releases

Mandriva Linux 2009 has been released

Mandriva has announced the release of Mandriva Linux 2009. "Mandriva Linux 2009 goes further in its innovations and offers a thoroughly modern and cutting-edge graphical environment: KDE 4.1. Personalizable, modular, scalable, and full of visual effects that enhance the environment, KDE's new version is usable everywhere, from the oldest hardware to the newest. Mandriva’s team has gone to great lengths to integrate this new environment in a way that ensures everyone can jump right in to using it, with a customized graphical theme, careful choice of the most powerful applications, and a default configuration tuned to your system's particular hardware."

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Fedora 10 Snapshot 1 Released

A snapshot of Fedora 10 (beta) is available for testing. "As part of our development schedule, we are releasing a snapshot of Rawhide in Live form. We are releasing these via bittorrent only as it is a much lighter weight method to get bits out the door than to go through our mirroring system. If you cannot use bittorrent we apologize for the inconvenience."

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Announcing the General Availability of XO Software Release 8.2.0

The XO Software Release 8.2.0 was developed by OLPC engineers and the OLPC open source community. "Release 8.2 is based on a child focused graphical interface called Sugar, a Red Hat Fedora 9 Linux operating system and OLPC customized implementations of core software including power management, wireless drivers, NAND flash file system, Open Firmware, and other components."

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Distribution News

Debian GNU/Linux

Bits from the Debian Eee PC team

The Debian Eee PC team reports numerous successes in getting the various Eee PC models to run Debian. Most of the work has been on getting wireless networking working with in-tree (i.e. not binary) drivers, but there has also been work done on ACPI support. They are also keeping an eye on the 5-second-boot work that Arjan van de Ven and Auke Kok are doing. Click below for the full report.

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Bits from the Debian CD team

The Debian CD team has been building CD and DVD images of each weekly Lenny build. Lenny is the codename for the upcoming Debian 5.0 release. Some Blu-ray images are also available for i386, amd64 and source, *jigdo only*. Grab an image and start testing.

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Debian bugs #600000 and #1000000 contest

The Debian project has set up a small contest, a bet on the day that bug numbers 600000 and 1000000 will be reported. "The winner(s) will be the person(s) placing her|his|their bet as close as possible to the real moment bug #600000 and #1000000 are reported."

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Fedora

Fedora Board Meeting Recap 2008-10-07

Some note from the Fedora Board Meeting of October 7, 2008 are available. Topics include codecs, a trademark update, and more.

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First steps of the transition from Livna to RPM Fusion begins now for livna-devel users!

RPM Fusion is the merger of Dribble, Freshrpms and Livna, still in progress. "Most of the packages from Livna have been imported and build for RPM Fusion already, hence we now begin to slowly move users from Livna over to RPM Fusion by activating the RPM Fusion free and nonfree rawhide repos for users of livna's devel branch *now*." Click below for more on the status of this new "extras" repository for Fedora users.

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Distribution Newsletters

Arch Linux Newsletter

The October 2008 issue of the Arch Linux Newsletter is out, with news about TeXLive in extras, netcfg in core, Arch Linux in the media, and several other topics.

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DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 274

The DistroWatch Weekly for October 13, 2008 is out. "Mandriva Linux, traditionally the first among the major distribution releases, boldly unveiled its latest product late last week. Shipping with KDE 4.1.2, an updated system installer, and a variety of usability enhancements, version 2009 should have been the company's best release ever. It was somewhat spoilt by a long list of known bugs that weren't fixed in time for the release - hopefully these will be corrected through post-install package updates soon, but there are those who'd argue for a postponement of a release in such situations. No similar dilemma is ever likely to face the Debian development team. If it isn't ready, it won't be released - that's the message given to the user community which has been hoping for a timely arrival of "Lenny". And while most other distributions have been quietly fixing the bugs in their own development trees, DistroWatch has compiled another package management cheatsheet - now incorporating two distro-agnostic tools, as well as source-based distributions."

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Fedora Weekly News #147

This week the Fedora Weekly News looks at New Fedora 9 Re-spins, Fedora Test Day, Uberpackager Replaces Packager. The marketing beat has Fedora's Community Attracts Experienced Users and Five Second Boot of a Modified Version of Fedora. In Developments there are Unsigned Rawhide Packages an Attack Vector ?, Procedure for Re-naming a Package, Review of trash-cli Raises Generic Naming Issues, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugins Obsoletes Codeina, LXDE Feature Removal Disappointment - How to Avoid; and much more.

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Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter #112

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter for October 11, 2008 covers: Ubuntu Countdown banner for WordPress, Follow up: Xubuntu Hug Day, Ubuntu Free Culture Showcase Winners, New Ubuntu Members, Getting help from the Launchpad Team, Launchpad to be off-line, Server Team meeting summary, and much more.

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Newsletters and articles of interest

Mandriva Linux 2009 'optimised' for mini laptops (vnunet)

vnunet covers the release of Mandriva Linux 2009. "Linux publisher Mandriva has released its latest distribution, Mandriva Linux 2009, offering a faster boot time and up-to-date versions of tools such as KDE, Gnome, OpenOffice and Firefox, plus an installer that optimises the platform for mini-laptops. Available immediately for download, Mandriva Linux 2009 integrates the latest innovations, from office applications to the newest virtualisation technology, according to the firm."

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Distribution reviews

Foresight Kid's can inspire young minds (Linux.com)

Susan Linton looks at the Foresight Kid's Edition. "Foresight Kid's Edition captures children's attention immediately with its happy bumblebee character, smiling and waving from the lower corner of the brightly colored desktop. Distractions are kept to a minimum on the panel and desktop, with only a few icons such as Trash and Home showing. The customized Slab menu is also constructed for children, having entries for the applications of interest to youngsters in the Favorite Applications screen (main panel)."

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Sidux grows on you (Linux.com)

Susan Linton reviews Sidux. "Sidux, a relatively new desktop Linux distribution, is based on Sid, the unstable developmental branch of Debian. The developers strive for an easy-to-install and easy-to-use modern Debian derivative, and pride themselves on remaining true to the principles and values of the Debian project. Despite a few inconveniences, I like Sidux a bit more each time I use it."

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