History and development process
Ubuntu is a fork of the Debian project's code base.[15] The original
aim was to release a new version of Ubuntu every six months, resulting
in a more frequently updated system. Ubuntu's first release was on
October 20, 2004.] Ubuntu releases are timed about one month after
GNOME releases.[
Ubuntu packages are based on packages from Debian's unstable branch:
both distributions use Debian's deb package format and package
management tools (APT and Synaptic). Debian and Ubuntu packages are
not necessarily binary compatible with each other, however, and
sometimes .deb packages may need to be rebuilt from source to be used
in Ubuntu. Many Ubuntu developers are also maintainers of key packages
within Debian. Ubuntu cooperates with Debian by pushing changes back
to Debian,[19] although there has been criticism that this does not
happen often enough. In the past, Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian,
has expressed concern about Ubuntu packages potentially diverging too
far from Debian Sarge to remain compatible. Before release, packages
are imported from Debian Unstable continuously and merged with
Ubuntu-specific modifications. A month before release, imports are
frozen, and packagers then work to ensure that the frozen features
interoperate well together.
Ubuntu is currently funded by Canonical Ltd. On July 8, 2005, Mark
Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd. announced the creation of the Ubuntu
Foundation and provided an initial funding of US$10 million. The
purpose of the foundation is to ensure the support and development for
all future versions of Ubuntu. Mark Shuttleworth describes the
foundation as an "emergency fund" [in case Canonical's involvement
ends].
Versions
Ubuntu 10.04, which was released on April 29, 2010, is the current
Long Term Support (LTS) release. Canonical releases LTS versions every
two years, with Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat as the latest normal
version released on October 10, 2010.
On March 12, 2009, Ubuntu announced developer support for 3rd party
cloud management platforms, such as for those used at Amazon EC2.
Features
Ubuntu focuses on usability, security and stability. The Ubiquity
installer allows Ubuntu to be installed to the hard disk from within
the Live CD environment, without the need for restarting the computer
prior to installation. Ubuntu also emphasizes accessibility and
internationalization to reach as many people as possible. Beginning
with 5.04, UTF-8 became the default character encoding,[28] which
allows for support of a variety of non-Roman scripts. As a security
feature, the sudo tool is used to assign temporary privileges for
performing administrative tasks, allowing the root account to remain
locked, and preventing inexperienced users from inadvertently making
catastrophic system changes or opening security holes. PolicyKit is
also being widely implemented into the desktop to further harden the
system through the principle of least privilege.
Ubuntu comes installed with a wide range of software that includes
OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Empathy (Pidgin in versions before 9.10),
Transmission, GIMP (in versions prior to 10.04), and several
lightweight games (such as Sudoku and chess). Additional software that
is not installed by default can be downloaded and installed using the
Ubuntu Software Center or the package manager Synaptic, which come
pre-installed. Ubuntu allows networking ports to be closed using its
firewall, with customized port selection available. End-users can
install Gufw (GUI for Uncomplicated Firewall) and keep it enabled.
GNOME (the current default desktop) offers support for more than 46
languages. Ubuntu can also run many programs designed for Microsoft
Windows (such as Microsoft Office), through Wine or using a Virtual
Machine (such as VMware Workstation or VirtualBox). For the upcoming
11.04 release, Canonical intends to drop the GNOME Shell as the
default window manager in favor of Unity, a graphical interface it
first developed for the netbook edition of Ubuntu.
Installation
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS LiveCD Desktop
Installation of Ubuntu is generally performed with the Live CD. The
Ubuntu OS can be run directly from the CD (albeit with a significant
performance loss), allowing a user to "test-drive" the OS for hardware
compatibility and driver support. The CD also contains the Ubiquity
installer, which then can guide the user through the permanent
installation process. CD images of all current and past versions are
available for download at the Ubuntu web site. Installing from the CD
requires a minimum of 256 MiB of RAM.
Users can download a disk image (.iso) of the CD, which can then
either be written to a physical medium (CD or DVD), or optionally run
directly from a hard drive (via UNetbootin or GRUB). Ubuntu is also
available on ARM, PowerPC, SPARC, and IA-64 platforms, although none
but ARM are officially supported [36]
Canonical offers Ubuntu[37] and Kubuntu[38] LIVE installation CDs at
no cost, including paid postage for destinations in most countries
around the world (via a service called ShipIt).
A Microsoft Windows migration tool, called Migration Assistant
(introduced in April 2007), can be used to import bookmarks, desktop
background (wallpaper), and various settings from an existing MS
Windows installation into a new Ubuntu installation.
Ubuntu and Kubuntu can be booted and run from a USB Flash drive (as
long as the BIOS supports booting from USB), with the option of saving
settings to the flashdrive. This allows a portable installation that
can be run on any PC which is capable of booting from a USB drive.[42]
In newer versions of Ubuntu, the USB creator program is available to
install Ubuntu on a USB drive (with or without a LiveCD disc).
Wubi, which is included as an option on the Live CD, allows Ubuntu to
be installed and run from within a virtual Windows loop device (as a
large image file that is managed like any other Windows program via
the Windows Control Panel). This method requires no partitioning of a
Windows user's hard drive. Wubi also makes use of the Migration
Assistant to import users' settings. It is only useful for Windows
users and it also incurs a slight performance loss.
Remastering
Various programs (such as remastersys and Reconstructor) exist to
produce customised remasters of the Ubuntu Live CDs.
Package classification and support
Ubuntu divides all software into four domains to reflect differences
in licensing and the degree of support available.[44] Some unsupported
applications receive updates from community members, but not from
Canonical Ltd.
Free software Non-free software
Supported Main Restricted
Unsupported Universe Multiverse
Free software includes only software that has met the Ubuntu licensing
requirements,[45] which roughly correspond to the Debian Free Software
Guidelines. Exceptions, however, include firmware and fonts, in the
Main category, because although they are not allowed to be modified,
their distribution is otherwise unencumbered.[citation needed]
Non-free software is usually unsupported (Multiverse), but some
exceptions (Restricted) are made for important non-free software.
Supported non-free software includes device drivers that can be used
to run Ubuntu on some current hardware, such as binary-only graphics
card drivers. The level of support in the Restricted category is more
limited than that of Main, because the developers may not have access
to the source code. It is intended that Main and Restricted should
contain all software needed for a general-use GNU/Linux
system.[citation needed] Alternative programs for the same tasks and
programs for specialized applications are placed in the Universe and
Multiverse categories.
In addition to the above, in which the software does not receive new
features after an initial release, Ubuntu Backports is an officially
recognized repository for backporting newer software from later
versions of Ubuntu.[46] The repository is not comprehensive; it
consists primarily of user-requested packages, which are approved if
they meet quality guidelines. Backports receives no support at all
from Canonical, and is entirely community-maintained.
The -updates repository provides updates to stable releases of Ubuntu
and are generally installed through update-manager. Each release is
given its own -updates repository (e.g. intrepid-updates). The
repository is supported by Canonical Ltd. for packages in main and
restricted, and by the community for packages in universe and
multiverse. All updates to the repository must meet certain
requirements and go through the -proposed repository before being made
available to the public.[47] Updates will continue to be available
until the end of life for the release.
In addition to the -updates repository, the unstable -proposed
repository contains uploads which must be confirmed before being
copied into -updates. All updates must go through this process to
ensure that the patch does truly fix the bug and there is no risk of
regression.[48] Updates in -proposed are confirmed by either Canonical
or members of the community.
Canonical's partner repository lets vendors of proprietary software
deliver their products to Ubuntu users at no cost through the same
Ubuntu is a fork of the Debian project's code base. The original aim
was to release a new version of Ubuntu every six months, resulting in
a more frequently updated system. Ubuntu's first release was on
October 20, 2004. Ubuntu releases are timed about one month after
GNOME releases.
Ubuntu packages are based on packages from Debian's unstable branch:
both distributions use Debian's deb package format and package
management tools (APT and Synaptic). Debian and Ubuntu packages are
not necessarily binary compatible with each other, however, and
sometimes .deb packages may need to be rebuilt from source to be used
in Ubuntu.[
Ubuntu is currently funded by Canonical Ltd. On July 8, 2005, Mark
Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd. announced the creation of the Ubuntu
Foundation and provided an initial funding of US$10 million. The
purpose of the foundation is to ensure the support and development for
all future versions of Ubuntu. Mark Shuttleworth describes the
foundation as an "emergency fund" [in case Canonical's involvement
ends].
Ubuntu 10.04, which was released on April 29, 2010, is the current
Long Term Support (LTS) release.[] Canonical releases LTS versions
every years, with Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat as the latest normal
version released on October 10, 2010.
Ubuntu focuses on usability, security and stability. The Ubiquity
installer allows Ubuntu to be installed to the hard disk from within
the Live CD environment, without the need for restarting the computer
prior to installation. Ubuntu also emphasizes accessibility and
internationalization to reach as many people as possible. Beginning
with 5.04, UTF-8 became the default character encoding,[28] which
allows for support of a variety of non-Roman scripts. As a security
feature, the sudo tool is used to assign temporary privileges for
performing administrative tasks, allowing the root account to remain
locked, and preventing inexperienced users from inadvertently making
catastrophic system changes or opening security holes. PolicyKit is
also being widely implemented into the desktop to further harden the
system through the principle of least privilege.
Ubuntu comes installed with a wide range of software that includes
OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Empathy (Pidgin in versions before 9.10),
Transmission, GIMP (in versions prior to 10.04), and several
lightweight games (such as Sudoku and chess). Additional software that
is not installed by default can be downloaded and installed using the
Ubuntu Software Center or the package manager Synaptic, which come
pre-installed. Ubuntu allows networking ports to be closed using its
firewall, with customized port selection available. End-users can
install Gufw (GUI for Uncomplicated Firewall) and keep it enabled.
GNOME (the current default desktop) offers support for more than 46
languages. Ubuntu can also run many programs designed for Microsoft
Windows (such as Microsoft Office), through Wine or using a Virtual
Machine (such as VMware Workstation or VirtualBox). For the upcoming
11.04 release, Canonical intends to drop the GNOME Shell as the
default window manager in favor of Unity, a graphical interface it
first developed for the netbook edition of Ubuntu.
Installation
Installation of Ubuntu is generally performed with the Live CD. The
Ubuntu OS can be run directly from the CD (albeit with a significant
performance loss), allowing a user to "test-drive" the OS for hardware
compatibility and driver support. The CD also contains the Ubiquity
installer,[34] which then can guide the user through the permanent
installation process. CD images of all current and past versions are
available for download at the Ubuntu web site. Installing from the CD
requires a minimum of 256 MiB of RAM.
Users can download a disk image (.iso) of the CD, which can then
either be written to a physical medium (CD or DVD), or optionally run
directly from a hard drive (via UNetbootin or GRUB). Ubuntu is also
available on ARM, PowerPC, SPARC, and IA-64 platforms, although none
but ARM are officially supported
Canonical offers Ubuntu and Kubuntu LIVE installation CDs at no cost,
including paid postage for destinations in most countries around the
world
A Microsoft Windows migration tool, called Migration Assistant
(introduced in April 2007), can be used to import bookmarks, desktop
background (wallpaper), and various settings from an existing MS
Windows installation into a new Ubuntu installation.
Ubuntu and Kubuntu can be booted and run from a USB Flash drive (as
long as the BIOS supports booting from USB), with the option of saving
settings to the flashdrive. This allows a portable installation that
can be run on any PC which is capable of booting from a USB drive. In
newer versions of Ubuntu, the USB creator program is available to
install Ubuntu on a USB drive (with or without a LiveCD disc).
Wubi, which is included as an option on the Live CD, allows Ubuntu to
be installed and run from within a virtual Windows loop device (as a
large image file that is managed like any other Windows program via
the Windows Control Panel). This method requires no partitioning of a
Windows user's hard drive. Wubi also makes use of the Migration
Assistant to import users' settings. It is only useful for Windows
users and it also incurs a slight performance loss.
Remastering
Various programs (such as remastersys and Reconstructor) exist to
produce customised remasters of the Ubuntu Live CDs.
[edit] Package classification and support
Ubuntu divides all software into four domains to reflect differences
in licensing and the degree of support available.[44] Some unsupported
applications receive updates from community members, but not from
Canonical Ltd.
Free software Non-free software
Supported Main Restricted
Unsupported Universe Multiverse
Free software includes only software that has met the Ubuntu licensing
requirements, which roughly correspond to the Debian Free Software
Guidelines. Exceptions, however, include firmware and fonts, in the
Main category, because although they are not allowed to be modified,
their distribution is otherwise unencumbered.[citation needed]
Non-free software is usually unsupported (Multiverse), but some
exceptions (Restricted) are made for important non-free software.
Supported non-free software includes device drivers that can be used
to run Ubuntu on some current hardware, such as binary-only graphics
card drivers. The level of support in the Restricted category is more
limited than that of Main, because the developers may not have access
to the source code. It is intended that Main and Restricted should
contain all software needed for a general-use GNU/Linux
system.[citation needed] Alternative programs for the same tasks and
programs for specialized applications are placed in the Universe and
Multiverse categories.
In addition to the above, in which the software does not receive new
features after an initial release, Ubuntu Backports is an officially
recognized repository for backporting newer software from later
versions of Ubuntu. The repository is not comprehensive; it consists
primarily of user-requested packages, which are approved if they meet
quality guidelines. Backports receives no support at all from
Canonical, and is entirely community-maintained.
The -updates repository provides updates to stable releases of Ubuntu
and are generally installed through update-manager. Each release is
given its own -updates repository (e.g. intrepid-updates). The
repository is supported by Canonical Ltd. for packages in main and
restricted, and by the community for packages in universe and
multiverse. All updates to the repository must meet certain
requirements and go through the -proposed repository before being made
available to the public. Updates will continue to be available until
the end of life for the release.
In addition to the -updates repository, the unstable -proposed
repository contains uploads which must be confirmed before being
copied into -updates. All updates must go through this process to
ensure that the patch does truly fix the bug and there is no risk of
regression. Updates in -proposed are confirmed by either Canonical or
members of the community.
Canonical's partner repository lets vendors of proprietary software
deliver their products to Ubuntu users at no cost through the same
familiar tools for installing and upgrading software. The software in
the partner repository is officially supported with security and other
important updates by its respective vendors. Canonical supports the
packaging of the software for Ubuntu and provides guidance to vendors.
The partner repository is disabled by default and can be enabled by
the user. Some popular products distributed via the partner repository
as of August 2010[update] are Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader, Skype
and Sun Java.
Availability of third-party software
Ubuntu has a certification system for third party software. Some
third-party software that does not limit distribution is included in
Ubuntu's multiverse component. The package ubuntu-restricted-extras
additionally contains software that may be legally restricted,
including support for MP3 and DVD playback, Microsoft TrueType core
fonts, Sun's Java runtime environment, Adobe's Flash Player plugin,
many common audio/video codecs, and unrar, an unarchiver for files
compressed in the RAR file format.
Additionally, several third party application suites are available for
purchase through the Canonical web-based store,[citation needed]
including software for DVD playback and media codecs
Releases
Version Code name Release date Supported until
Desktop Server
4.10 Warty Warthog 2004-10-20 2006-04-30
5.04 Hoary Hedgehog 2005-04-08 2006-10-31
5.10 Breezy Badger 2005-10-13 2007-04-13
6.06 LTS Dapper Drake 2006-06-01 2009-07-14 2011-06
6.10 Edgy Eft 2006-10-26 2008-04-25
7.04 Feisty Fawn 2007-04-19 2008-10-19
7.10 Gutsy Gibbon 2007-10-18 2009-04-18
8.04 LTS Hardy Heron 2008-04-24 2011-04 2013-04
8.10 Intrepid Ibex 2008-10-30 2010-04-30
9.04 Jaunty Jackalope 2009-04-23 2010-10-23
9.10 Karmic Koala 2009-10-29 2011-04
10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx 2010-04-29 2013-04 2015-04
10.10 Maverick Meerkat 2010-10-10 2012-04
11.04 Natty Narwhal 2011-04-28 2012-10
Colour Meaning
Red Release no longer supported
Green Release still supported
Blue Future release
There are two Ubuntu releases per year, using the year and month of
the release as the version number. The first Ubuntu release, for
example, was Ubuntu 4.10 and was released on October 20, 2004. Version
numbers for future versions are provisional; if the release is delayed
the version number changes accordingly.
Ubuntu releases are also given alliterative code names, using an
adjective and an animal (e.g., "Dapper Drake" and "Intrepid Ibex").
With the exception of the first three releases, code names are in
alphabetical order, allowing a quick determination of which release is
newer. There is no indication as to what will happen when the end of
the alphabet is reached in November 2017. Commonly, Ubuntu releases
are referred to using only the adjective portion of the code name.
Releases are timed to be approximately one month after GNOME releases
(which in turn are about one month after releases of X.org).
Consequently, every Ubuntu release comes with an updated version of
both GNOME and X. Selected releases (such as 6.06 Dapper Drake, 8.04
Hardy Heron and 10.04 Lucid Lynx) have been labeled as Long Term
Support (LTS) versions, indicating that they are supported (with
updates) for three years on the desktop and five years on the
server,[56] as compared to the 18-month support period for non-LTS
releases.
Upgrades between releases have to be done from one release to the next
release (e.g. Ubuntu 10.04 to Ubuntu 10.10) or from one LTS release to
the next LTS release (e.g. Ubuntu 8.04 LTS to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS).
The current release is 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, released on October 10,
2010 (10/10/10). This is a departure from the traditional schedule of
releasing at the end of October to get "the perfect 10", and a playful
reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, since, in binary,
101010 is equal to the number 42, the "Answer to the Ultimate Question
of Life the Universe and Everything" within the series.
Ubuntu 11.04 planned for April 28, 2011 is code named "Natty Narwhal".
Variants
Official Ubuntu editions, which are created and maintained by
Canonical and the Ubuntu community and receive full support from
Canonical, its partners and the Community, are the following
* Ubuntu Desktop Edition, designed for desktop and laptop PCs.
* Ubuntu Netbook Edition, (formerly Ubuntu Netbook Remix designed
for netbooks and other ultra-portables.
* Ubuntu Server Edition, made for use in servers.
There are many Ubuntu variants (or derivates) based on the official
Ubuntu editions. These Ubuntu variants install a set of packages that
differ from the official Ubuntu distributions.
The variants recognized by Canonical as contributing significantly
towards the Ubuntu project are the following:
* Edubuntu, a GNOME-based subproject and add-on for Ubuntu,
designed for school environments and home users.
* Kubuntu, a desktop distribution using the KDE Software
Compilation desktop environment rather than GNOME.
* Mythbuntu, designed for creating a home theater PC with MythTV
and uses the Xfce desktop environment.
* Ubuntu Studio, a distribution made for professional video and
audio editing, comes with higher-end free editing software and is a
DVD .iso image unlike the live CD the other Ubuntu distributions use.
* Xubuntu, a distribution based on the Xfce desktop environment
instead of GNOME, designed to run more efficiently on
low-specification computers.
Mythbuntu, Ubuntu Studio and Xubuntu are not commercially supported by
Canonical.
Other variants are created and maintained by individuals and
organizations outside of Canonical and they are self governed projects
that work more or less closely with the Ubuntu community. Some of the
variants, such as Lubuntu, a lightweight variant using LXDE, have the
explicit goal of earning
System requirements
The desktop version of Ubuntu currently supports the Intel x86, AMD64,
and ARM architectures. Some server releases also support the SPARC
architecture] Unofficial support is available for the PowerPC, IA-64
(Itanium) and PlayStation 3 architectures (note however that Sony
officially removed support for OtherOS on the PS3 with firmware 3.21,
released on April 1, 2010)
Development
The Ubuntu Developer Summit is a gathering of software developers
which occurs prior to the release of a new public version of Ubuntu.
At the beginning of a new development cycle, Ubuntu developers from
around the world gather to help shape and scope the next release of
Ubuntu. The summit is open to the public, but it is not a conference,
exhibition or other audience-oriented event. Rather, it is an
opportunity for Ubuntu developers, who usually collaborate online, to
work together in person on specific tasks.
Reception
Chris Kenyon, vice president for OEM at Canonical Ltd., indicates that
because of a lack of registration, any numbers provided for Ubuntu
distributions should be treated as guesstimates. Nevertheless, a
number of estimates and the results of surveys have been provided. In
an August 2007 survey of 38,500 visitors on DesktopLinux.com, Ubuntu
was the most popular distribution with 30.3% of respondents claiming
to use it. In January 2009, the New York Times reported that Ubuntu
had over ten million users. In June 2009 ZDNet reported, "Worldwide,
there are 13 million active Ubuntu users with use growing faster than
any other distribution," though Kenyon provided a more conservative
estimate of 12 million users in April 2010.
Ubuntu was awarded the Reader Award for best Linux distribution at the
2005 LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in London, has been favorably
reviewed in online and print publications, and has won InfoWorld's
2007 Bossie Award for Best Open Source Client OS. In early 2008 PC
World named Ubuntu the "best all-around Linux distribution available
today", though it criticized the lack of an integrated desktop effects
manager.[
The public sector has also made use of Ubuntu. The Ministry of
Education and Science of the Republic of Macedonia deployed more than
180,000 Ubuntu GNU/Linux based classroom desktops, and has encouraged
every student in the country to use Ubuntu-powered computer
workstations. The French police, having already started using open
source software in 2005 by replacing Microsoft Office with
OpenOffice.org in 2005, decided to transition to Ubuntu from Windows
XP after the release of Windows Vista in 2006. By March 2009, the
Gendarmerie Nationale had already switched 5000 workstations to
Ubuntu. Based on the success of that transition, it planned to switch
15,000 more over by the end of 2009 and to have switched all 90,000
workstations over by 2015. Lt. Colonel Guimard announced that the move
was very easy and allowed for a 70% saving on the IT budget without
having to reduce its capabilities.
Jamie Hyneman, co-host of the television series Mythbusters, has
advocated Linux, specifically giving the example of Ubuntu, as an
alternative to proprietary software, citing software bloat as a major
hurdle in proprietary operator
Local Communities (LoCos)
In an effort to reach out to users who are less technical, and to
foster a sense of community around the distribution, Local
Communities, better known as "LoCos", have been established throughout
the world. Originally, each country had one LoCo Team. However, in
some areas, most notably, the United States, each state or province
may establish a team. A LoCo Council approves teams based upon their
efforts to either aid in the development or the promotion of Ubuntu.
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