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Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter #177
Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #177 for the week January 17th - January 23th, 2010. In this issue we cover: Developer Membership Board election results, Ubuntu User Days A Big Success, Bugs and hugs, Ubuntu Developer Week: January 25th - January 29th, 2010, Canonical Blog: ISV support for Ubuntu Server Edition widens, January 20th America's Membership Review Board Meeting, Ubuntu LoCo Re-Approval Process, LoCo Stories: the Ubuntu Honduras School Tour, Launchpad 10.1 roll-out 09.00-11.30 27th January 2010, Anonymous Access to the Launchpad Web Service API, Introducing Ubuntu Electronics Remix 9.10, 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 == * Developer Membership Board election results * Ubuntu User Days A Big Success * Bugs and hugs * Ubuntu Developer Week: January 25th - January 29th, 2010 * Canonical Blog: ISV support for Ubuntu Server Edition widens * January 20th America's Membership Review Board Meeting * Ubuntu Stats * Ubuntu LoCo Re-Approval Process * LoCo Stories: the Ubuntu Honduras School Tour * Launchpad 10.1 roll-out 09.00-11.30 27th January 2010 * Anonymous Access to the Launchpad Web Service API * The Planet * In the Press & Blogosphere * Introducing Ubuntu Electronics Remix 9.10 * Upcoming Meetings & Events * Updates & Security == General Community News == === Developer Membership Board election results === As elected by the Ubuntu development team, the members of the Developer Membership Board are now: * Colin Watson - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ColinWatson * Emmet Hikory - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EmmetHikory * Soren Hansen - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SorenHansen * Michael Bienia - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MichaelBienia * Stéphane Graber - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/stgraber * Richard Johnson - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RichardJohnson * Cody Somerville - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CodySomerville They will serve for a 1 year term, helping to welcome new Ubuntu developers into the project, after which another election will be held. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2... === Ubuntu User Days A Big Success === Ubuntu User Days just wrapped up, and what a day it was. Lasting 15 hours, and with each presenter giving a one hour presentation, it made for a very lively day over all. The awesome crew of Ubuntu User Days[1] did a great job of organizing, and when one presenter turned up sick and another couldn't get on line, duanedesign and starcraftman volunteered to take over those two spots to keep the ball rolling. As usual with these on line sessions, the audience with their great questions and feedback was what made the day a success. If you weren't able to attend, or missed a session you wanted to be at, you can find the logs of all the sessions here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UserDays/Logs/January2010 1. http://princessleia.com/journal/?p=2547 Ubuntu User Days was also conducted in Spanish and reports that their sessions were just as productive and fun and the English version. You can can find a report of that sessions success here: http://blog.diegoturcios.net16.net/?p=372 and the logs of the day here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DiaDelUsuarioUbuntu/LogsEnero2010 http://princessleia.com/journal/?p=2547 === Bugs and hugs === We're pleased to be participating in an Ubuntu Bug Day on Thursday 28 January 2010 and hope you will join us as we triage ubuntuone-client bugs. Ubuntu Bug Day is also known as HugDay. So what exactly is a HugDay? * The HugDay is a special day where the Ubuntu Community comes together with a shared goal of triaging a specific package or set of packages. Working together allows us to share knowledge and give some much needed assistance to the Ubuntu Developers. The term HugDay is a spin on BugDay but every time someone triages a bug, then someone else should hug him/her. Why? This is a very special way for us to tell everyone that we love contributions! And triaging bugs is a really big contribution. We look forward to working with you on triaging some Ubuntu One bugs and giving numerous digital hugs along the way! * Date: Thursday 28 January 2010 * Place: #ubuntu-bugs on freenode IRC * Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBugDay/20100128 http://voices.canonical.com/ubuntuone/?p=200 === Ubuntu Developer Week: January 25th - January 29th, 2010 === Are you interested in learning how to help make Ubuntu better? If you are saying yes, then you need to check out Ubuntu Developer Week which starts on Monday.. There will be 25 workshops over the course of five days covering things like fixing bugs, hacking launchpad, server testing and many more. You can get more information about Ubuntu Developer Week by visiting the UDW wiki page at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek. http://chrisjohnston.org/2010/ubuntu-developer-week-janua... === Canonical Blog: ISV support for Ubuntu Server Edition widens === This week were very pleased to see three companies behind three great technologies announce their support for Ubuntu. In the run up to the LTS in late April we are keen that our users are aware of the growing number of application options that they can have on their preferred operating system. These will be a mix of open source solutions, the ?enterprise' version of open source solutions or proprietary applications. A healthy and growing ecosystem is an obvious prerequisite for any successful OS. PGP has extended its enterprise-focused data protection solutions to include Ubuntu in addition to Windows and Mac. For companies running a mixed environment (an increasingly common scenario as Ubuntu begins to find a place in businesses as a replacement technology) security and administrative concerns are reduced as the same tool can used whatever the choice of OS. GroundWorks Open Source announced its support for Ubuntu Server. GWOS' excellent systems monitoring and management tools will give users a great, low-cost option for their Ubuntu deployments, something that is very important as Ubuntu Server is pushed into larger and more critical use environments. Finally LikeWise and the Ubuntu development team were able to confirm the latest version Likewise Open 5.4 has made the alpha of Ubuntu 10.04 where it will undergo rigorous testing for stability before confirmation in the release. Users from 9.10 and 8.04LTS will have a direct upgrade path at release and a version supported for five years when they do. I hope you take time to consider these options as part of your Ubuntu deployment. Expect to see more of these types of announcements as we broaden support for the 10.04 release. We will also be able to give details soon of some programs for the ISVs themselves to more easily come on board with the LTS release and understand why it is a great addition to their portfolios. We're looking well set for a great release. http://blog.canonical.com/?p=318 === January 20th America's Membership Review Board Meeting === The approval results from the July 15th Americas Membership meeting are as follows: Diego Turcios - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DiegoTurcios Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~diegoturcios Diego is currently acting as the team contact for the Honduras LoCo team. Diego has also contributed to many events in Honduras including FLISOL, Ubuntu Global Bug Jam, two release parties, and many more. He is also a member of the Spanish Translators team and Beginner's team. José Ernesto Dávila Pantoja - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Josernesto Launchpad: http://launchpad.net/~josernestodavila José is a member of the Nicaraguan LoCo team where he helps administer both the IRC channel and mailing list. He has given many presentations at conferences such as FLISOL and other events including the first event organized by the Nicaraguan LoCo team. Allen Dye - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Iowan Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~Iowan Allen is a active member of the Ubuntu Forums where he spends much of his time providing support to other users. And he has provided a lot of it, 3600 posts in the last 10 months. His support work does not end at the Forum; he is also active on Launchpad Answers and is working towards becoming a member of the Ubuntu Answers team. Sergio Andres Meneses Echavéz - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SergioMeneses Launchpad: http://www.launchpad.net/~sergiomeneses Sergio is a member of the Colombian LoCo team where he a member of the team council and support team. He helped organize and execute the Ubuntu Global Bug Jam in Colombia and has also worked with such events as FLISOL and Free Software Symposium. Victor Vargas - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/VictorVargas Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~kamus Victor is a member of the Chilean LoCo team and has been active within the team by doing training events on bug triage. Additionally, he is working on HUUF, Help Ubuntu Users in Forums, which will help users provide useful information about their computes to those who are trying to help. Cristian Barahona G. - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CristianBarahona Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~cristianvirtual Cristian is another member of the Chilean LoCo team and is on their LoCo council along with being its team contact. He was one of the creators of FUCH, which is the precursor to HUUF. He has also been active in the community by presenting at and working booths at conferences. Jamal Fanaian - Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/jamalta Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~jamalta Jamal is a member of the Florida US LoCo team where he has attended many events Bug and Packaging Jams, release parties, and other meetups. He has been working with the Ubuntu Learning team and has contributed code to Launchpad. He has also submitted patches to Gwibber and created GrooveNotify, which integrates Grooveshark with the Ubuntu notification system. Please join the Americas Board in welcoming these great new Ubuntu members! https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2010-J... == Ubuntu Stats == === Bug Stats === * Open (76540) +5 # over last week * Critical (36) -1 # over last week * Unconfirmed (39567) -40 # 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 (11152) -134 # over last week 2. French (43408) -647 # over last week 3. Brazilian Portuguese (44737) -193 # over last week 4. Swedish (66419) +5 # over last week 5. English (United Kingdom) (67787) -1095 # 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 === * Touchpad Speed, seperate from Anything else speed - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23363/ * It's not easy enough to install a desktop cube in Ubuntu - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23424/ * display the size of files in software center - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23428/ * Consider Brainstorm contributions in Launchpad Karma - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23365/ * Better Print-preview - http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23415/ 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 == === Ubuntu LoCo Re-Approval Process === From the Ubuntu LoCo Council. For the Lucid cycle we have undertaken to look at the re-approving all approved Ubuntu LoCos. This was discussed at UDS Lucid in November.(https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/community-l...) We thought it best to publicize and inform everyone about the re-approval process of a LoCo. It was decided back at UDS to start this process. It gives us a chance to see how LoCos are doing, if they need a hand in areas and to give you a chance to give us some feedback. How it will work, for all teams which have been approved over 2 years, a member of the LoCo Council is selected to be the point of contact with the LoCo team for re-approval, they will contact your Team contact / leader. They will attempt to contact you three times over one month. Once contact is made, you will then invite you to the next available IRC meeting. Using the method you were originally approved, https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoGettingApproved. We just want to see how you've progressed, your activity, and if you've had any issues, how you've handled them. During this time, we may need to have more IRC meetings, but we will let you know when you are requested to attend. The re-approval process is documented and the information is on the wiki https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoCouncil/LoCoTeamReApproval The members of the current LoCo Council you will hear from are regarding this re approval process are · Laura Czajkowski (czajkowski) · Alan Pope (popey) · Jan Claeys (janc) · Efrain Valles (effie-jayx) · Christophe Sauthier (huats) · Chris Crisafulli (itnet7) https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/loco-contacts/2010-Janu... === LoCo Stories: the Ubuntu Honduras School Tour === This week we're travelling to Central America to visit the Ubuntu Honduras team, a LoCo true to the Ubuntu ethos and a mission of their own: encourage and promote the use of free technology through Ubuntu in the Republic of Honduras. One of the most special activities the Honduran team organises to pursue this noble goal are their Ubuntu School Tours, a series of events where they travel to schools around the country and talk to students about Ubuntu. The idea is to promote the use of Open Source and raise awareness on its significance among students and teachers in educational institutions. * Ubuntu School Tour: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HondurasTeam/Ubuntu_Tour * Events: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HondurasTeam/Eventos2009 In words of Diego Turcios, the team contact lead, the idea is that "more and more people in Honduras learn about Ubuntu and Free Software and see it as an excellent Operating System option for laptops, desktops and servers. We also want to show that with Ubuntu everyone, be it home users or companies, have all the applications they need, such as a web browser, word processor, spreadsheet editor, instant messaging and others." Despite the political unrest in the country, which forced them to cancel many presentations, they showed their strong determination and great team organization in running two School Tour events last year, both with great success. In particular, they were at the Master School and at the Tridentino Institute in San Pedro Sula, the second biggest city in Honduras, in which we'll focus to learn more on the event. It was in the morning on the last Saturday of September last year, and during that time, they managed to provide a very complete overview of the team, Ubuntu and Open source in general. They started with a brief introduction to the Honduran team, followed by a presentation about what Open Source is and why Ubuntu is the OS of their choice. Next up was a demonstration of free office suite applications, GNU/Linux distributions and the four Free Software freedoms, followed by a showcase of Compiz which left more than one with their mouths open. The grand finale was an installation workshop and Q&A session, after which they left Ubuntu installed in one of the school's machines and gave them a LiveCD to share. From the testimonials of those present it was a very interesting experience: 20 students attended, showing a lot of enthusiasm in the subject, and who were in the end invited to join the LoCo and to participate in future team activities, which was also received with great interest. All in all, another great example of the Ubuntu LoCo culture and spirit! Links for the Honduras Team: * Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HondurasTeam * Website: http://ubuntu-honduras.org/ * Forum: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=369 * Mailing list: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-hn * IRC chat at #ubuntu-hn on Freenode http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1974 == Launchpad News == === Launchpad 10.1 roll-out 09.00-11.30 27th January 2010 === Launchpad's web interface will be read-only, and all other parts of Launchpad offline, for roughly two and a half hours from 09.00 UTC on the 27th January 2010. * Starts: 09.00 UTC 27th January 2010 * Expected back: 11.30 UTC 27th January 2010 This is for the roll-out of our Launchpad 10.01 code. https://launchpad.net/launchpad-project/+milestone/10.01 We'll post details of what's new after the release. http://blog.launchpad.net/notifications/launchpad-10-1-ro... === Anonymous Access to the Launchpad Web Service API === You asked for it and we've delivered. Your launchpadlib scripts can now get read-only access to the Launchpad web service API without going through any authorization process. Previously, to authorize your script, you had to open a web page in the end-user's web browser and get the user to click a button. Now, you only have to go through that process if you want to access someone's private data or modify the Launchpad dataset on their behalf. If you're using the latest version of launchpadlib (1.5.4), you can log in anonymously with the login_anonymously helper method. You just have to pass in a string identifying your client, and the name of the Launchpad server you want to access. * from launchpadlib.launchpad import Launchpad * launchpad = Launchpad.login_anonymously("my client", "edge") * print launchpad.bugs[1].title * # Microsoft has a majority market share' (That code also illustrates how the latest version of Launchpadlib lets you specify a short string like "edge" instead of having to importing a constant like EDGE_SERVICE_ROOT.) If you're using an older version of launchpadlib, you can log in anonymously using the login helper method. You can get anonymous access by passing in empty strings for the token string and access secret: * from launchpadlib.launchpad import Launchpad, EDGE_SERVICE_ROOT * launchpad = Launchpad.login("my client", "", "", EDGE_SERVICE_ROOT) * print launchpad.bugs[1].title * # Microsoft has a majority market share' Right now, anonymous access only works on Launchpad's ?edge' and 'staging' instances. It'll be installed on production at the end of the month, with the release of Launchpad 10.01. http://blog.launchpad.net/general/anonymous-access-to-the... == The Planet == === Daniel Hobach: Django and the LoCo Directory === If you're confronted with the task of setting up some kind of website that allows some kind of user interaction, you suddenly have two tasks: first find out which of the many "web frameworks" you want to use and second to implement the whole thing. There was a couple of reasons why I thought I'd try out Django. First I like using python whenever possible, but there's also been recommendations of friends and coworkers that were far beyond usual fanboyism. Almost everybody told me to have a look at the Django tutorial, so I checked it out, played around with it and I very much liked what I saw. The definition of the application and its structure was very clear and structured and easy to extend. * Django: http://www.djangoproject.com/ * Django tutorial: http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/intro/tutorial01/ What I liked most about it was that even though I knew I didn't know much, I never felt stupid but got lots of stuff done. Of course working together with very clever and very enthusiastic people, I quickly found out how to things more elegantly and easily. Django takes care of all the "regular" cases you might encounter and you'll quickly solve all of them. The LoCo Directory journey was a lot of fun up until now and I'm sure it'll stay that way. We all learned a lot and together we quickly went from our first objective (replace long list of LoCos - done) to our second one (implement event handling system - almost done). If you want to join in and help out, have a look at the bugs, translations or branches and talk to us on #ubuntu-locoteams. * Bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/loco-directory * Tanslations: https://translations.launchpad.net/loco-directory * Branches: https://code.launchpad.net/loco-directory http://daniel.holba.ch/blog/?p=564 I'm very happy that one of our team, Daviey, decided to give a session about Django and Ubuntu Developer Week next week! Make sure you're there! === Dustin Kirkland: 35,000-Core Ubuntu Farm Renders Avatar === I just attended Paul Gunn's talk at LCA2010, entitled: * Challenges in Data Centre Growth (or, "You need how many processors to finish the movie???") Paul is a Systems Administrator at Weta Digital, a Wellywood digital effects studio here in Wellington, New Zealand. Check out some of the feature films that Weta Digital has worked on, and I think you'll recognize a few. District9, Day the Earth Stood Still, Jumper, King Kong, Lord of the Rings, Fantastic Four, Eragon, X-Men, i-Robot. Wow! It was a great talk, about the type of data center needed to render special effects in today's blockbuster movies. They have a 2 Petabyte disk array, 10gbps networking, and 35,000 cores (4,000+ HP blades) in their data center, and still it takes 48 hours to render some of their graphic sequences. According to Paul, Ubuntu is at the core of all of this, running on all of the rendering nodes, and 90% of the desktops at Weta Digital. He notes that his farm (he calls it a "render wall") is in fact an Ubuntu Server farm, and not RHEL as he has seen reported in the media. Here's a couple of articles on Weta Digital's data center and their work on Avatar: * http://www.information-management.com/newsletters/avatar_... * http://www.itworld.com/hardware/93127/data-center-plays-s... http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2010/01/39000-core-ubuntu-... === Jorge Castro: Docs for upstreams and how to work with upstreams === As part of my cycle goals I have (mostly) finished the cut of the upstream section of our wiki docs. Sometimes I get a mail from an upstream project who has no idea how Ubuntu works, but they want to get their software into Ubuntu to get it out in people's hands. They have no idea what SRU, PPAs, and all that other stuff is. * Upstream section: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Upstream This document kind of gives you an overview of Ubuntu development that you as an upstream care about. So if you've ever run into "hey how do we get this fix into Ubuntu?" then this will steer you in the right direction. Ubuntu development can be a bit daunting to step your foot into so I hope this helps people figure out what they need to do to get in Ubuntu. The next bit is the "Adopt a Package". The great bit about this is there's already people out there doing this, so we're putting together a place where we can share information on best practices so we can be more efficient and weeding through old bugs and making sure that upstream bugs go to the right place. We've also put together a nice set of recommendations on how to talk to upstreams to make the work easier for everyone. * Adopt a Package: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad/AdoptPackage * Recommendations: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Upstream/Adopt http://castrojo.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/docs-for-upstrea... === Thierry Carrez: Nominate your favorite Ubuntu Server papercuts === An Ubuntu Server LTS release stays around for 5 years, so during the development cycle there is an increased focus in QA, bugfixing and stability. During Lucid UDS in Dallas, we discussed of various ways of translating that effort into clear actions. One of those discussions was geared towards improving the Ubuntu Server user (sysadmin) experience: we could focus on fixing lots of minor annoyances, low-hanging-fruit bugs that traditionally get less attention than others. On the footsteps of the excellent One hundred papercuts project (from the User experience team), this project was named Server papercuts. * QA bugfixing and stability: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS * One hundred paper cuts: https://launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts This project is led by the Ubuntu Server community, for the Ubuntu Server community. We discussed the implementation details during our weekly IRC meetings, a specific Launchpad project was created, together with a team to triage the candidates (with a cool badge). * Weekly IRC meetings: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/Meeting * Launchpad project: https://launchpad.net/server-papercuts Now it's time to nominate your personal pet bug, your favorite minor annoyance, your preferred PITA ! Here is the process to follow: 1. If the papercut isn't already filed as an Ubuntu bug in Launchpad, file a bug against the affected Ubuntu package 2. Look up the bug you want to nominate as a Server papercut, then click on "Also affects project" 3. Click "Choose another project" and type in "server-papercuts", click "Continue" 4. Click on "Add to Bug report" That's it ! Your bug will now show up on the Server papercuts buglist and we'll Confirm or Invalid-ate it soon, when we start getting a good list. * Server papercuts buglist: https://bugs.launchpad.net/server-papercuts Here are a few guidelines on what makes a good Server papercut: * Bug affects a server package * Bug has an obvious and easy fix * Bug makes the life of the sysadmin more miserable Here are a few guidelines on what doesn't make a good Server papercut: * New features * Large-scale improvements that affect multiple packages * Your solution is likely to result in a new papercut for someone else For more details, complete acceptation criteria is described in the project spec. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerPapercutsSpec http://fnords.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/nominate-your-favo... === Laura Czajkowski: New flavors of Ubuntu being developed in Ireland === Laura Czajkowski recently popped down to the BT Young Scientist Exhibition for secondary and high school junior students in Dublin. Walking through the exhibition she stumbled upon Zorin OS, an OS that Kyrill and Artyom Zorin have developed based on Ubuntu, which caught her eye. She stopped and asked Kyrill and Artyom Zorin a few questions which she shares in this article. Czajkowski thinks it's pretty amazing that a 4th year and a 2 year student came up with this idea, and implemented it. She would still prefer to work on the idea of getting more people using Ubuntu, then having it themed to look more windows like, but Czajkowski admits that she can see the reasoning behind it. Laura also thinks it's pretty amazing these developments are happening in her back yard, here in Ireland, and makes her rather proud, that if students can do this, what else we can do? http://www.lczajkowski.com/2010/01/23/new-flavours-of-ubu... == In The Press == === New Low-Latency Ubuntu Server Build Proposed === Michael Larabel of Phoronix tells us that Canonical's Tim Gardner is seeking comments regarding a new build of Ubuntu Server that he is proposing. Canonical is considering another build of Ubuntu Server (there is already Ubuntu Server 32-bit and 64-bit along with specialized builds for cloud computing with Amazon EC2 and UEC), but this one would be specialized for just 64-bit platforms that have low-latency requirements and on power consumptive systems. This new build would be tuned for tasks like Asterisk that have low-latency requirements and where the current Ubuntu Server builds may not be sufficient. Though from the initial RFC, it may just end up being an alternate kernel that can be selected during the installation process of Ubuntu Server. The thread regarding low-latency improvements for Ubuntu Server and this new build can be found on the ubuntu-devel mailing list. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Nz... === Analysis: Will Ubuntu Take Windows 7 In Speed War? === ChannelWeb's Edward F. Moltzen thinks that the Ubuntu development community spent much of the last year losing a lot of momentum, as Microsoft gave birth to its Windows 7 operating system and its latest releases of the Linux OS failed to overly impress. Among the many differences between Microsoft and the Ubuntu community is speed. While it took more than three (painful) years between the launch of Windows Vista and the launch of Windows 7, the Ubuntu folks are already in full stride toward the next desktop release of the Linux-based desktop OS, version 10.04 -- code-named "Lucid Lynx." Ubuntu leader Mark Shuttleworth has said, "Speed remains our goal." And it's a good goal to have. In earlier versions of both Windows and Ubuntu, we've seen Ubuntu overtake Windows in overall system performance -- including speed. The Linux OS still has an edge in boot time, and that edge could grow significantly. http://www.crn.com/software/222301154;jsessionid=SFZTST5C... === Canonical to bundle CodeWeavers CrossOver? === Tom Wickline of Wine-Reviews notes that in a official post on the Ubuntu Forums, user Matthew Helmke asks users to complete a survey with the applications they would like to see in the upcoming versions of Ubuntu. Among the applications one can find: Spotify, Pandora, Hulu, Skype, WoW, Picasa, Adobe Photoshop, Apple iTunes, CodeWeavers and a couple more applications. Wickline wonders if Canonical has plans to bundle CodeWeavers CrossOver with forthcoming releases? Most of the applications CodeWeavers already supports and the one or two apps they don't officially support will already run as Unsupported apps in CrossOver now. The only change would be for CodeWeavers to officially support the apps in a upcoming release. Follow this link for more information, and to a link to the survey: http://www.wine-reviews.net/wine-reviews/news/canonical-t... === Linux Mint 8 vs Ubuntu 9.10 === LinuxBSDos.coms says that on the surface, trying to write a comparative review of Linux Mint 8 (Helena) and Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic koala) would seem like a pointless exercise. After all, Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. So what's the point? Well, as in cases such as this, where one product is based on another, there begins to emerge - at some point - a product differentiation. In the case of Mint and Ubuntu, that differentiation has been apparent almost from the first year of Mint's existence. They compare the benefits and similarities of both distros, and they think that Karmic Koala (Ubuntu 9.10) is better in in terms of the Updates Manager, Games, USB Startup Disk Creator, and Cloud Service. Follow this link for their complete break down of both Linux Mint 9 and Ubuntu 9.10. http://linuxbsdos.com/2010/01/16/linux-mint-8-vs-ubuntu-9... === Ubuntu primes music service === Alastair Otter of MyBroadbandNews notes that although it is not yet official, Ubuntu's next release looks likely to include a music store service similar to Apple's iTunes. The first hint that Ubuntu developers were considering a music store came in September last year when Canonical chief Mark Shuttleworth announced plans for Lucid Lynx, the next version of Ubuntu. At the time Shuttleworth made vague references to an Amazon- and iTunes-like music store for the next release. Since then the noise around an Ubuntu music store has grown into a coherent direction and a number of details suggest that the Ubuntu One Music Store is on track for possible inclusion in Lucid Lynx which is scheduled to be released in April this year. Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx will be released in April this year when questions around the Ubuntu One Music store will be clarified but for now it does appear that Ubuntu's music plans are more than just speculation. http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Software/11114.html == In The Blogosphere == === Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Wallpapers - The Ubuntu Artwork Pool === The OMG! Ubuntu! site takes a look into the artwork pool for Lucid Lynx and the various Wallpapers that available. There are links to the "Ubuntu Artwork" site on Flickr where many of wallpapers you'll seen in Lucid will come from. The article highlights 8 wallpapers that according to the article were "just too darn wonderful not to mention". Don't want to wait for Lucid to grab those Wallpapers, the article links to the Wallpapers on Flickr where you can download, comment, rate, or as in the case of this article, blog about them. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/01/ubuntu-1004-lucid-lynx...(Omg!+Ubuntu!) === Ubuntu Help Centre To Get Major Overhaul For Lucid? === The folks over at the OMG! Ubuntu! site talk about whether "The Ubuntu "Help and Support" system may be getting a overhaul in time for Lucid." They point out that developers are wondering what the majority of users think about "Help and Support". "Developers feel the majority of users are either simply unaware that the help system exists or find it overly complicated to navigate and draw information from." OMG! Ubuntu! points out that users see this option when they do fresh install but after that a large number of users for get that "Help and Support" application is there, sitting that users will use Google or head straight to the forum for answers instead. "As the discussions surrounding the documentation are still on-going and due to the fact that Lucid is fast approaching, these changes may have to sit out and be included in Lucid +1." http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/01/ubuntu-help-centre-to-...(Omg!+Ubuntu!) === The Ubuntu Effect === Ed Hewitt, Yet Another Tech & Gaming Blog, writes about the effect Ubuntu has on users even when they don't know what they are using. Ed mentions that his brother was using a windows XP machine, when XP broke, Ed installed Ubuntu for his brother as a work around until he could get and XP CD and fix it for him. Ed points out that when he went to reinstall XP his brother was quite happy with the "thing I had put on his laptop" (his [Ed's brother's] words)." Ed notes his brother really just wanted to be able to get on Facebook and MSN and was happy with the speed of Ubuntu over Windows, "Fair point. If all he wants is a Web browser, why do you need Windows. It seems Ubuntu is having an effect on people, who don't even know what it is!" http://www.edhewitt.co.uk/2010/01/11/the-ubuntu-effect/ == In Other News == === Introducing Ubuntu Electronics Remix 9.10 === Markus Nestor, of Softpedia, introduces Ubuntu Electronics Remix, 9.10, "We are proud to present today a new Ubuntu-based (or Remix) Linux distribution, this time for electronics. Called Ubuntu Electronics Remix, or UER for short, it is based on the popular Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system and comes as a Live DVD ISO image with lots of free electronics software. Except for the electronics software, everything else is exactly the same as in the original Ubuntu 9.10 distribution. The goals of the Ubuntu Electronics Remix operating system are to make Ubuntu easy to use for electronics, to promote the use of 100% and open source applications for electronics, to create a Live CD with electronics programs, and provide good tutorials for using Ubuntu Linux for electronics design. "The software included in Ubuntu Electronics Remix is Free Open Source Software with developed active communities. This means you get all the power of electronic software with all the advantages of open sources software." - was stated on the project's website. You can also access the home page, if you want to get involved in this project!" There is a list of applications that are included in UER 9.10 as well as screen shots of the electronics software as well as a link to download the UER 9.10. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Introducing-Ubuntu-Electro... == Upcoming Meetings and Events == === Monday, January 25, 2010 === ==== Ubuntu Developer Week ==== * Start: 16:00 UTC * End: 20:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-classroom * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek/ ==== 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, January 26, 2010 === ==== 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 ==== Ubuntu Developer Week ==== * Start: 16:00 UTC * End: 20:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-classroom * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek/ ==== 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 === Wednesday, January 27, 2010 === ==== 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 ==== Ubuntu Developer Week ==== * Start: 16:00 UTC * End: 20:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-classroom * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek/ ==== 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, January 28, 2010 === ==== Ubuntu Java Meeting ==== * Start: 14:00 UTC * End: 15:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: None listed as of publication ==== Ubuntu Developer Week ==== * Start: 16:00 UTC * End: 20:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-classroom * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek/ ==== MC Meeting ==== * Start: 17:00 UTC * End: 18:00 UTC * Location: Not listed as of publication * Agenda: None listed as of publication === Friday, January 29, 2010 === ==== Ubuntu Developer Week ==== * Start: 16:00 UTC * End: 20:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-classroom * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek/ ==== Lucid Weekly Release Meeting ==== * Start: 16:00 UTC * End: 17:30 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: http://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReleaseTeam/Meeting/2010-01-29 === Saturday, January 30, 2010 === ==== Ubuntu Manual Meeting ==== * Start: 20:00 UTC * End: 21:30 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-manual/Meetings === Sunday, January 31, 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 == Updates and Security for 6.06, 8.04, 8.10, 9.04 and 9.10 == === Security Updates === * USN-886-1: Pidgin vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-886-1 * USN-887-1: LibThai vulnerability- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-887-1 * USN-888-1: Bind vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-888-1 * USN-889-1: gzip vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-889-1 * USN-890-1: Expat vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-890-1 * USN-890-2: Python 2.5 vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-890-2 * USN-890-3: Python 2.4 vulnerabilities- http://www.ubuntu.com//usn/USN-890-3 === Ubuntu 6.06 Updates === * bind9 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2010-Jan... * gzip- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2010-Jan... * expat (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2010-Jan... * python2.4 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2010-Jan... === Ubuntu 8.04 Updates === * pidgin_2.4.1-1ubuntu2.8_i386_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * base-files 4.0.1ubuntu5.8.04.8 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * debian-installer 20070308ubuntu40.13 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * klibc 1.5.7-4ubuntu5 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * bind9 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * gzip- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * expat (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * acroread 9.3-1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * python2.5 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... * python2.4 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2010-Janu... === Ubuntu 8.10 Updates === * pidgin_2.5.2-0ubuntu1.6_powerpc_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-J... * bind9_9.5.0.dfsg.P2-1ubuntu3.5_sparc_translations.tar.gz (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-J... * gzip- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-J... * expat (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-J... * python2.5 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-J... * acroread 9.3-1intrepid1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-J... * python2.4 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2010-J... === Ubuntu 9.04 Updates === * gdesklets 0.36-5ubuntu1.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * pidgin_2.5.5-1ubuntu8.5_armel_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * horde3_3.2.2+debian0-2+lenny2build0.9.04.1_i386_translations.tar.gz (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * bind9_9.5.1.dfsg.P2-1ubuntu0.4_ia64_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * gzip- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * expat (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * proftpd-dfsg_1.3.1-17ubuntu1.1_hppa_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * python2.5 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * python2.4 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... * acroread 9.3-1jaunty1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/jaunty-changes/2010-Jan... === Ubuntu 9.10 Updates === * pidgin_2.6.2-1ubuntu7.1_ia64_translations.tar.gz- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * quassel 0.5.0-0ubuntu1.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * uex 1.1.0.0-2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * debian-installer 20081029ubuntu70.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * gnome-power-manager 2.28.1-0ubuntu1.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * krb5 1.7dfsg~beta3-1ubuntu0.4 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * bind9- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * gzip- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * expat (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * python2.5 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * acroread 9.3-1karmic1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... * python2.4 (delayed)- https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/karmic-changes/2010-Jan... == 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 * Dave Bush * Craig A. Eddy * Amber Graner * And many others == Glossary of Terms == 1. API - Application Programming Interface. 1. IRC - Internet Relay Chat. 1. ISV - Independent Software Vendors. 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. 1. QA - Quality Assurance. 1. UDS - Ubuntu Developer Summit. 1. UEC - Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud. 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. 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