Ubuntu Linux

Main Article: Operating Systems

Ubuntu is an operating system developed by an independent (or free) community and based on the Linux kernel. New versions of the system appear every six months, while there is constant support for security updates. The system is distributed free of charge. Anyone can order Ubuntu Linux by mail. The main feature of the system is convenience and maximum comfort when working. Ubuntu uses the GNOME desktop system. In addition to those applications included in GNOME, Ubuntu is released with additional software, including OpenOffice.org, the Mozilla Firefox web browser, and the GIMP raster graphics editor.

2024: Free Linux OS released that fully copies Windows 11

At the end of February 2024, the Wubuntu software platform debuted - an operating system with a Linux kernel, the interface of which completely copies Windows 11. This ensures compatibility with many Windows applications, including Copilot, Edge, OneDrive, Teams and PowerShell. Read more here.

2023

Real-time Ubuntu edition optimized for Intel Core processors

Canonical has announced the preparation of updated Ubuntu assemblies optimized for real-time tasks on systems with Intel Core processors. This became known on July 27, 2023. To improve performance and reduce the impact of third-party load on applications that are sensitive to processing and delivery delays, the assemblies involve optimizations that prioritize access to cache, memory, and network operations for real-time applications.

To ensure predictable event processing time, assemblies are involved kernel Linux with RT patches ("Realtime-Preempt," PREEMPT_RT or "-rt"). Hardware-specific Intel optimizations are based on TCC (Time Coordinated Computing) and TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking) technologies. The builds are based on the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS distribution and are distributed through the Ubuntu Pro service^[1]

Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS with Linux kernel packages version 5.19

An update to the Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS distribution kit has been formed, which includes changes related to improving hardware support, updating kernels Linux and graphics stack, fixing errors in the installer and bootloader. It also includes up-to-date updates for several hundred packages related to fixes vulnerabilities and problems affecting stability. At the same time, similar updates Ubuntu Budgie 22.04.2 LTS, Kubuntu 22.04.2 LTS, Ubuntu MATE 22.04.2 LTS, Ubuntu Studio 22.04.2 LTS, Lubuntu 22.04.2 LTS, Ubuntu Kylin 22.04.2 LTS and Xuntu 22.04.2 LTS are presented. This became known on February 24, 2023.

The release includes some improvements backported from the Ubuntu 22.10 release:

• Packages with Linux kernel version 5.19 (basic Ubuntu kernel 22.04 - 5.15) are proposed.
• Updated graphics stack components, including Mesa 22.2, which were tested in Ubuntu 22.10. New versions of video drivers for Intel, AMD and NVIDIA chips have been added.
• Updated versions of some packages, such as ceph 17.2.0, PostgreSQL 14.4, cloud-init 22.2, snapd 2.55.3, LibreOffice 7.3.4, GNOME 42.1, gtk4 4.6.5, gstreamer 1.20.3.
• Support for the RISC-V platform has been improved, assemblies have been formed for the LicheeRV and PolarFire Icicle Kit boards.
• The thermald has added support for the Intel Raptor Lake CPU.

In Ubuntu Desktop assemblies, the new kernel and graphics stack are suggested by default. For server systems (Ubuntu Server), the kernel is added as an option in the installer. It makes sense to use the latest builds only for the latest installations - systems installed earlier can receive all changes present in Ubuntu 22.04.2 through the standard update installation system.

To deliver the latest versions of the kernel and graphics stack, a rolling update support model is used, according to which backported kernels and drivers will be supported only until the next corrective update of the Ubuntu LTS branch is released. Thus, the Linux 5.19 kernel proposed in the current release will be supported until the release of Ubuntu 22.04.3, which will offer a kernel from Ubuntu 23.04. The initially delivered 5.15 core will be supported throughout the five-year maintenance cycle.

To roll back Ubuntu Desktop to the 5.15 core, run the command:

sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic

To install the last kernel in Ubuntu Server, run:

sudo apt install --install-recommendations linux-generic-hwe-22.04^[2]

Readiness of the Ubuntu Pro service

The company Canonical announced its readiness for the widespread use of the Ubuntu Pro service, which provides access to advanced updates for the Ubuntu LTS branches. This became known on January 26, 2023. The service provides the ability to receive updates with fixes vulnerabilities for 10 years (the standard maintenance period for LTS branches is 5 years) for an additional 23 thousand packages, in addition to packages from the Main repository. Ubuntu Pro also opens access to live patches that allow you to apply updates to on the fly to kernel Linux without rebooting.

A free subscription to Ubuntu Pro is provided for individuals and small businesses with up to 5 physical hosts in their infrastructure (the program also covers all virtual machines hosted on these hosts). Official members of the Ubuntu community can get free access for 50 hosts. To receive tokens for access to the Ubuntu Profree service, you need an account in Ubuntu One, which anyone can get^[3].

2022

Ubuntu 22.10 "Kinetic Kudu"

On September 30, 2022, it became known that the beta release of the Ubuntu 22.10 Kinetic Kudu distribution was presented, after the formation of which the package base was completely frozen, and the developers moved on to the final to testing and bug fixes. The release, which is classified as intermediate releases, updates for which are formed within 9 months, is scheduled for October 20, 2022. Ready-made test images are created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu, UbuntuKylin (edited for) China and Ubuntu Unity.

As reported, major changes include the following:

• The desktop has been updated to GNOME 43, which has a block with buttons for quickly changing the most frequently used settings, continued the transfer of applications to use GTK 4 and the libadwaita library, updated the Nautilus file manager, added hardware and firmware security settings, and returned support for self-sufficient web applications in PWA (Progressive Web Apps) format.
• The Ubuntu Unity build is included in the official Ubuntu editions. Ubuntu Unity offers a desktop based on the Unity 7 shell, based on the GTK library and optimized for efficient use of vertical space on laptops with widescreen screens. The Unity shell shipped by default from Ubuntu 11.04 to Ubuntu 17.04, after which it was replaced by the Unity 8 shell, which was replaced in 2017 by the regular GNOME with the Ubuntu Dock panel.
• The default use of the PipeWire multimedia server for audio processing has been switched. To ensure compatibility, a pipewire-pulse layer has been added on top of PipeWire, which allows you to keep all existing PulseAudio clients running. PipeWire was previously used in Ubuntu to process video when recording screencasts and to provide screen access. The introduction of PipeWire will provide professional audio processing capabilities, eliminate fragmentation and unify the sound infrastructure for different applications.
• By default, the GNOME Text Editor is offered, implemented using GTK 4 and the libadwaita library. The previously proposed GEdit editor remained available for installation from the universe repository. GNOME Text Editor is close to GEdit in functionality and interface organization, the editor also offers a set of basic functions for editing text files, syntax highlighting, a document mini-map and a tab-based interface. Among the features, support for a dark skin and the ability to automatically save changes to protect against loss of work as a result of a failure stand out.
• The To Do application, which can be installed from the repository under the name endeavour, is excluded from the basic delivery. The application and GNOME Books have been removed, and Foliate is proposed as a replacement.
• Kernel Linux updated to release 5.19. Updated versions Mesa 22, BlueZ 5.65, CUPS 2.4, NetworkManager 1.40, Pipewire 0.3.57, Poppler 22.08, PulseAudio 16, xdg-desktop-portal 1.15, Firefox 104, 7.4 LibreOffice , 102. Thunderbird
• To start openssh, the systemd service for socket activation is enabled (starting sshd when trying to establish a network connection).
• SSSD client libraries (nss, pam, etc.) are converted to multithreaded request processing instead of sequentially parsing the queue by one process. Added support authentications using the OAuth2 protocol, implemented using the krb5 plugin and executable file oidc_child.
• The BIND DNS server and dig utility have added support for TLS certificate verification and authentication using TLS.
• Image applications support WEBP format.
• Added support for 64-bit Sipeed LicheeRV, Allwinner Nezha and StarFive VisionFive boards using RISC-V architecture and available for sale at $17, $112 and $179.
• A debuginfod.ubuntu.com service has been added that allows you to do without installing individual packages with debugging information from the debuginfo repository when debugging programs supplied with the distribution. Using the service, users were able to dynamically load debug characters from an external server directly during debugging. Debug information is provided for packages from the main, universe, restricted, and multiverse repositories of all supported Ubuntu releases.
• Kubuntu offers the KDE Plasma 5.24.4 desktop and the KDE Gear 21.12 suite of applications.
• В Ubuntu Studio обновлены версии Darktable 4.0.0, OBS Studio 28.0.1, Audacity 3.1.3, digiKam 8.0.0, Kdenlive 22.08.1, Krita 5.1.1, Q Light Controller Plus 4.12.5, Freeshow 0.5.6, openLP 2.9.5. The installer has added the ability to remove components from the system that are not of interest to the user.
• Ubuntu MATE continues to ship MATE Desktop 1.26.1, but the MATE Panel has been updated to the 1.27 branch and includes patches that allow you to center the applets. Center alignment is enabled in the MATE Tweak configurator. A separate screen has been added to customize the HUD (Heads-Up Display) pop-up interface. It includes a utility for optimizing User Manager accounts.
• Ubuntu Budgie uses the release of the Budgie 10.6.2 desktop. Applets updated. The budgie-menu is used with a traditional layout, a quick jump area and buttons for quick access to settings. Support for fractional scaling is optimized. Color profile management has been redesigned in the configurator. The default application set has been changed: GNOME-Calculator replaced by Mate Calc, GNOME System Monitor by Mate System Monitor, Evince by Atril, GNOME Font Viewer by font-manager, Celluloid by Parole. Removed from delivery GNOME-Calendar, GNOME-Maps, GNOME Screenshot,
• In Xubuntu, the Xfce desktop has been updated to experimental branch 4.17. Updated theme elementary-xfce 0.17.^[4]

On October 20, 2022, information appeared about the availability of the release of the Ubuntu 22.10 distribution kit "Kinetic Kudu," which is classified as intermediate releases (updates for which are formed within 9 months - support will be carried out until July 2023). Installation images are created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu, UbuntuKylin (edited for) China and Ubuntu Unity.^[5]

Ability to dynamically retrieve debug information

On September 15, 2022, it became known that the developers of the Ubuntu distribution presented a debuginfod.ubuntu.com service that allows you to do without installing separate packages with debugging information from the debuginfo repository when debugging programs supplied with the distribution. Using this service, users were able to dynamically load debug characters from an external server directly during debugging. This feature has been supported since GDB 10 and Binutils 2.34. Debug information is provided for packages from the main, universe, restricted, and multiverse repositories of all supported Ubuntu releases.

The debuginfod process that provides the service is a HTTP server for delivering ELF/DWARF debug information and source code. When assembling with debuginfod support, GDB can automatically connect to debuginfod servers to load missing debug information about the debug files being processed files or separate debug files and source code for the executable file being debugged. To enable the debuginfod server, set the environment variable 'DEBUGINFOD_URLS = "https://debuginfod.ubuntu.com^[6] before executing GDB. ^[7].

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish Beta

On April 1, 2022, it became known that the beta release of the Ubuntu 22.04 "Jammy Jellyfish" distribution was presented, after the formation of which the package base was completely frozen, and the developers switched to final testing and bug fixes. The release, which is classified as a long-term support release (LTS), updates for which are formed within 5 years until 2027, is scheduled for April 21. Ready-made test images are created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu and UbuntuKylin (edited for China).

Major changes:

• The desktop has been updated to release GNOME 42, which adds general settings for the entire environment for the dark style of the interface and optimizes the performance of GNOME Shell. When you click the PrintScreen button, you can create a screencast or screenshot of the selected part of the screen or a separate window. To preserve the holistic design and stability of the user environment, Ubuntu 22.04 left versions of some applications from the GNOME 41 branch (mainly about applications translated into GNOME 42 on GTK 4 and libadwaita). For most configurations protocol , a Wayland-based desktop session is used by default, but when logging in, the ability to rollback to use X- is left.servers
• 10 color options in dark and light styles are offered. By default, desktop icons are moved to the lower right corner of the screen (this behavior can be changed in the appearance settings). In the Yaru theme, orange is used for all button elements, sliders, widgets and switches instead of eggplant. A similar replacement is made in the set of icons. The color of the close button of the active window has changed from orange to gray, and the color of the slider handles from light gray to white.

• Browser Firefox now only comes in Snap format. Deb firefox and firefox-locale replacement packages with stubs that install the Snap package with Firefox. For users of the deb package, a transparent process of switching to snap through the publication of the update is provided, which will install the snap package and transfer the current settings from the user's home directory.
• To improve security, the os-prober utility is disabled by default, finding boot partitions of other operating systems and adding them to the boot menu. It is recommended to use the UEFI bootloader to load alternative operating systems. To return the automatic definition of third-party operating systems to/etc/default/grub, you can change the GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER setting and run the "sudo update-grub" command.
• Disabled access to NFS partitions using the UDP protocol (kernel assembled with the option CONFIG_NFS_DISABLE_UDP_SUPPORT=y).
• The Linux kernel has been updated to release 5.15. Updated package versions: GCC 11.2, Python 3.10, Ruby 3.0, PHP 8.1, Perl 5.34, LibreOffice 7.3, BlueZ 5.63, CUPS 2.4, NetworkManager 1.36, Mesa 22, Populer 22.02, PulseAudio 16, xdg-desktop-portal 1.14, PostgreSQL 14. The transition to new branches of OpenLDAP 2.5 and BIND 9.18 was carried out.
• The nftables batch filter is enabled by default. To maintain backward compatibility, the iptables-nft package is available, providing utilities with the same command-line syntax as in iptables, but translating the resulting rules into nf_tables byte code.
• In OpenSSH, support for digital signatures based on RSA keys with the SHA-1 hash ("ssh-rsa") is disabled by default. The "-s" option for working over the SFTP protocol has been added to the scp utility.
• Ubuntu Server assemblies for systems IBM POWER (ppc64el) have discontinued support, processors Power8 assemblies are now assembled for (" CPU Power9 --with-cpu = power9").
• Creation of live-mode installation assemblies for RISC-V architecture is provided.
• Kubuntu offers the KDE Plasma 5.24.3 desktop and the KDE Gear 21.12 suite of applications.
• Xubuntu continues to deliver Xfce 4.16 desktop. Greybird has been updated to version 3.23.1 with support for GTK 4 and libhandy, which has improved the unification of the design of GNOME and GTK4 applications with the general Xubuntu style. Updated the elementary-xfce 0.16 set, which offers many icons. The Mousepad 0.5.8 text editor is used with support for saving sessions and plugins. The Ristretto 0.12.2 Image Viewer is optimized for thumbnails.
• In Ubuntu MATE, the MATE desktop has been updated to corrective release 1.26.1. Styling has been translated into a version of the Yaru theme (used in Ubuntu Desktop), adapted for work in MATE. The main composition includes the current applications GNOME Clocks, Maps and Weather. The set of indicators for the panel has been updated. By removing proprietary NVIDIA drivers (now downloaded separately), eliminating duplicate icons and removing old themes, the installation image has been reduced to 2.8 GB (before cleaning it was 4.1 GB).

• Ubuntu Budgie uses the release of the Budgie 10.6 desktop. Applets updated.

• В Ubuntu Studio обновлены версии Blender 3.0.1, KDEnlive 21.12.3, Krita 5.0.2, Gimp 2.10.24, Ardour 6.9, Scribus 1.5.7, Darktable 3.6.0, Inkscape 1.1.2, Carla 2.4.2, Studio Controls 2.3.0, OBS Studio 27.2.3, MyPaint 2.0.1.
• Lubuntu assemblies have switched to the LXQt 1.0 graphics environment.
• Beta releases of two unofficial editions of Ubuntu 22.04 are available for testing - Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix 22.04 with Cinnamon desktop and Ubuntu Unity 22.04 with Unity7 desktop.^[8]

The Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish distribution was released on April 21, 2022, as planned.^[9]

2019

Linux kernel update in Ubuntu 18.04 and 16.04 LTS

On October 23, 2019, it became known that the British the company Canonical released an update kernels Linux in versions.04 OS Ubuntu18 LTS (Bionic Beaver) and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus), fixing a number of vulnerabilities.

One of the problems (CVE-2019-15902) affects the ​​Linux 4.15 kernel for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) and is associated with an incorrect implementation of protection measures against Spectre class vulnerabilities in the ptrace subsystem. Its exploitation allows an attacker to disclose confidential information. Another buffer overflow problem (CVE-2019-15918) is contained in the SMB network file system. Two vulnerabilities (CVE-2019-15117 and CVE-2019-15118) are contained in the USB audio driver, and another (CVE-2019-14821) in the KVM hypervisor. Their operation can cause a system failure.

Fixed several vulnerabilities in the RSI 91x Wi-Fi driver of the Linux kernel (CVE-2018-21008) and the Marvell Wi-Fi driver (CVE-2019-14814, CVE -2019-14815, CVE-2019-14816), which allow you to cause a system crash or execute arbitrary code.

Fixed issues affecting the Linux 4.4 kernel for ​​Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, in particular two "race state" vulnerabilities (CVE-2016-10906 and CVE-2017-18232) in the ARC EMAC and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drivers that allow a local attacker to cause a system denial of service.

A Linux kernel update has also been released in versions of Ubuntu 19.10 (Eoan Ermine), which fixes a dangerous vulnerability. The problem of using after release (CVE-2019-18198) affects Linux kernel versions 5.3 to 5.3.4 and is contained in the IPv6 routing implementation. Its operation allows an attacker to cause a system malfunction or execute arbitrary code.

Canonical recommends that users of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS with the ​​Linux 4.15 kernel upgrade to linux-image 4.15.0-66.75, users of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with the ​​Linux 4.4 kernel upgrade to linux-image 4.4.0-166.195, and users of Ubuntu 19.10 (Eoan Ermine) upgrade to linux-image 5.3.0-19.20^[10].

Linux kernel update in Ubuntu 19.04 and 18.04 LTS, fixing 18 dangerous vulnerabilities

On October 7, 2019, it became known that the British the company Canonical released updates for kernels Linux OS Ubuntu 19.04 (Disco Dingo) and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) versions, fixing eighteen dangerous vulnerabilities.

Among others, vulnerabilities in a number of drivers have been fixed, including Intel Wi-Fi GTCO, audio driver, USB Raremono AM/FM/SW, USB Rio 500, CPiA2 video4linux, Softmac USB Prism54, USB ZR364XX, Siano USB MDTV, Line 6 USB POD and USB Line 6. The BR/EDR protocol specification is also affected. Bluetooth Exploitation of vulnerabilities allows attackers near the device to steal an important one, information cause a system malfunction, or even execute arbitrary code.

The update also fixes a vulnerability in the Bluetooth UART implementation, thanks to which an attacker can cause a denial of service and read outside the buffer (Out-of-bounds Read) in the QLIic iSCSI QEDI Initiator driver, allowing access to confidential information (kernel memory). Exploitation of vulnerabilities in the XFS file system, the Hisilicon HNS3 Ethernet driver and the Atheros driver can cause a denial of service.

Canonical recommends that all Ubuntu 19.04 (Disco Dingo) users upgrade to linux-image 5.0.0-31.33, and Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS (Bionic Beaver) users upgrade to linux-image 5.0.0-31.33 ~^[11].

Fix six vulnerabilities in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) patch

On July 30, 2019, it became known that Canonical released a security update for the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system, which fixes a number of vulnerabilities.

The patch fixes six vulnerabilities, including an integer overflow (CVE-2019-10142) hypervisor kernels Linux in the Freescale manager (PowerPC), and a race state (CVE-2018-20836) found in the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) implementation, the exploitation of which could allow a local attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service to the system.

Two problems (CVE-2019-11833 and CVE-2019-11884) in the EXT4 file system and the implementation of Bluetooth HIDP (Human Interface Device Protocol) have also been fixed, the exploitation of which could allow a local attacker to gain access to confidential information in the kernel memory.

The patch fixes a vulnerability (CVE-2019-9503) discovered by Hugues Angelkov in the Broadcom Wi-Fi driver in the Linux kernel, which lacks processing of firmware events, which allowed an attacker near the device to send firmware events.

The released update also solves a problem (CVE-2019-2054) in the Linux kernel that affects, processors ARM allowing the trace process to change the system call after a seccomp decision is made on the corresponding system call, which could allow a local attacker to bypass seccomp restrictions^[12]

2018

Starting Ubuntu virtual machines in Windows 10 has become easier than ever. Instruction

Along with the Windows 10 update in 2018, Hyper-V users received a new tool for quickly creating virtual machines, which, among other things, allows downloading ready-made machines from the company's servers. These included an optimized Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS (Bionic Beaver) image. It is available through Microsoft Hyper-V on Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise operating systems.

The finished Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS virtual machine supports the open source xrdp package. Thanks to it, it became possible to use the remote desktop protocol, which allows you to run Ubuntu in the so-called Enhanced Session Mode with support for full-screen mode, with a common clipboard and shared disks. The configuration is performed in several steps.

1. Make sure Hyper-V is enabled.
2. Open "Hyper-V Manager" and in the "Actions" area on the right, select "Quick Create."
3. Select Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS from the list of ready-made OS packages on the left.
4. Click "Create Virtual Machine." This will boot the Ubuntu image and create a virtual machine with xrdp support.
5. When the "Virtual Machine Created Successfully" dialog box appears, click "Edit Settings" to make any changes, or simply "Connect" to start setting up Ubuntu. Most of the initial configuration is simple, but it is important not to select the "Log In Automatically" option when creating a user account, otherwise xrdp will fail.

To start the Ubuntu virtual machine in a full screen window, you must first exit the main session. Unlike a Windows 10 virtual machine, there is no way to switch between basic and extended sessions. When you log into an extended session, the Xorg dialog box appears, where you must enter the Ubuntu account information, and then you can start working in the virtual machine.^[13]

Output ​Ubuntu 18.10. Fingerprint support and more artificial intelligence

On October 18, 2018 , the Ubuntu 18.10 distribution was released. Its innovations center around multi-circuit environments, artificial intelligence, and the user interface.

Now Ubunti has become a global reference platform for the development of artificial intelligence and analytics, says Canonical head Mark Shuttleworth. "We've accelerated developer productivity and helped companies scale quickly with multi-cycle environments and a variety of peripherals.

The Ubuntu 18.10 distribution is called Cosmic Cuttlefish and is offered in Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Cloud, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu MATE and Xubuntu. 

One of the innovations was the implementation of support for fingerprint recognition to unlock the computer. The GNOME-based work environment has been updated to version 3.30. It uses the new Yaru Community instead of the Ambiance theme by default , developed jointly by the Ubuntu community. 

The distribution includes the OpenStack Rocky, Ceph Mimic and Kubernetes utilities, which are designed to use cloud technologies in the development and testing of heavy industrial or financial programs.

 Options have been added to the Linux Kernel 4.18 in Ubuntu 18.10 to switch hard disk controllers, USB controllers and other hardware components to a low power state when not in use. These optimizations lead to an overall reduction in device power consumption and improve battery life.

Ubuntu 18.10 starts in a few seconds thanks to the use of new LZ compression algorithms. In addition, the developers continued to abandon the 32-bit architecture, improved the program installer, added support for connecting to DLNA devices, and improved the interface.^[14]

Minimal Ubuntu Release

In July 2018, Ubuntu was released for cloud systems and isolated containers based on the Docker platform. The distribution, called Minimal Ubuntu, was created with an eye to high stability, maximum performance, fast download and implementation of automatic functions in the cloud infrastructure, Canonical said in a statement.

According to the developers, compared to the standard server assembly Ubuntu, the 157 MB version of Minimal Ubuntu takes up half the memory in the computer, and also boots 40% faster. At the same time, the novelty is fully compatible with the same packages from the Ubuntu repositories.

Minimal Ubuntu provides a minimum set of packages in the standard configuration, because the distribution kit is designed for automated support performed without user input. The assembly does not have the editors, documentation, or tools required for interactive sessions (ssh saved). If necessary, all this can be installed additionally. A special program called Unminimize is used to speed up the download of all packages that are in Ubuntu Server.

Canonical has prepared two Minimal Ubuntu builds: they are based on the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and 18.04 LTS package databases. Implemented support for working in cloud environments, Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine (GCE) LXD and/. KVMOpenStack Moreover, each of these platforms has its own optimized version of the package with the kernel (by Linux default, the kernel optimized for KVM is offered) and the utilities necessary for downloading and configuring are included.

In addition, the developers have created a specialized version based on Minimal Ubuntu to organize the execution of Docker containers, compatible with infrastructures with Kubernetes at the base.^[15]

2017

Ubuntu 17.10 recall due to BIOS issue

In December 2017, Canonical suspended the distribution of Ubuntu due to a serious problem found in the operating system. It turned out that the Ubuntu 17.10 distribution can disable the BIOS of laptops.

The problem is that after installing Ubuntu 17.10 in the BIOS of the computer, the ability to save new settings disappears. Some users also point out that it is impossible to exit the BIOS interface and boot from USB drives, as they cease to be recognized.

The problem is aggravated in the absence of DVD drives in laptops, since if USB ports are not idle, users cannot boot from another distribution kit.

This flaw primarily affected Lenovo laptops, but complaints were also recorded from users of Acer, Dell and Toshiba devices. Canonical has published an incomplete list of models in which the described bug takes place:

• Lenovo B40-70
• Lenovo B50-70
• Lenovo B50-80
• Lenovo Flex-3
• Lenovo Flex-10
• Lenovo G40-30
• Lenovo G50-70
• Lenovo G50-80
• Lenovo S20-30
• Lenovo U31-70
• Lenovo Y50-70
• Lenovo Y70-70
• Lenovo Yoga Thinkpad (20C0)
• Lenovo Yoga 2 11" - 20332
• Lenovo Z50-70
• Lenovo Z51-70
• Lenovo ideapad 100-15IBY
• Acer Aspire E5-771G
• Acer TravelMate B113
• Toshiba Satellite S55T-B5233
• Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1R7
• Toshiba Satellite S50-B-13G
• Dell XPS 13 9350 I7.

As a temporary solution to the problem, it is recommended to disable the intel-spie- * drivers in the kernel, which, apparently, were not ready for use on user laptops. By December 22, 2017, the ability to download the Ubuntu 17.10 distribution on the official website was blocked. By this time, the developers are preparing an OS version without problem drivers. The problem was not detected in previous versions of Ubuntu^[16]

Canonical returns Ubuntu Gnome interface

On April 6, 2017, it became known about the plans of the Canonical developers - along with the release of Ubuntu 18.04, to include Gnome instead of Unity 8 in the default interface. At the same time, the development of mobile Ubuntu and converged desktop will cease. The company will focus on OS versions for desktops, servers and the Internet of Things.

Funding for the development of the Ubuntu Unity 8 interface stops, as does the creation of a version of Ubuntu for mobile devices. The development of convergence mode, which allows the desktop of a stationary PC to be used on mobile devices, is also stopped^[17]

Gnome will be built into Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Long Term Support). Canonical promises to continue to support all released versions of the OS and fulfill the terms of related contracts.

Canonical is now better focused on developing Ubuntu versions for desktops, servers and IoT devices. Most public and private clouds use Linux, and many prefer Ubuntu, although the competition from RedHat and other distributions is, of course, great. Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, Ubuntu developer

The company announced the abandonment of the Gnome interface in April 2011, promising: from October 2017, the only interface in the basic delivery of Ubuntu will be the proprietary Unity graphical shell. Although Ubuntu builds with all the more or less known alternative shells, it was Gnome that was used as the default interface in all Ubuntu distributions, starting with the first public release in October 2004 and ending with version 10.10 of Maverick Meerkat.

According to the correspondence of the developers, the reason for the removal of the usual working environment from the distribution was the fundamental disagreement of the Ubuntu team with the Gnome development community regarding some design elements, issues of improving performance and ease of use of the graphics shell. As a result of the divergence of views, in the Ubuntu release in April 2011, Gnome assigned the role of an alternative shell and Unity became the main working environment.

2016

Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS

On February 19, 2016, the developer community introduced the Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS distribution update^[18] to^[18].

It included changes related to improving hardware support, upgrading the Linux kernel and graphics stack. Fixed errors in the installer and bootloader, included current updates for several hundred packages related to the elimination of vulnerabilities and problems affecting stability.

Similar updates have been prepared for Kubuntu 14.04.4 LTS, Edubuntu 14.04.4 LTS, Xubuntu 14.04.4 LTS, Mythbuntu 14.04.4 LTS, Ubuntu GNOME 14.04.4 LTS, Lubuntu 14.04.4 LTS, Ubuntu Kylin 14.04.4 LTS and Ubuntu Studio 14.04.4 LTS.

Among the features of Ubuntu 14.04.4 is the reverse porting of some improvements from the Ubuntu 15.10 release related to providing support for new hardware. An update of packages with the Linux 4.2 kernel was proposed (Ubuntu 14.04.3 offered the 3.19 kernel). The graphics stack has been updated to the latest releases of Mesa, X.Org Server and video drivers for Intel, AMD and NVIDIA chips.

From the release of Ubuntu 15.04, the reverse porting of fixes for the Unity shell was made, modifications related to the use of the keyboard for navigation in Dash and the creation of application shortcuts on the desktop were transferred by moving the icon from Dash with the mouse. Shotwell has added a new key to integrate with Facebook. The installer has added verification of the presence of Windows 10 during installation. Updated the browser engine oxide-qt (used in Ubuntu Touch).

Support for the release of updates and security fixes for the server and desktop editions of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS will last until April 2019.

Ubuntu 16.04 "Xenial Xerus"

March 25, 2016 announced the start of testing the final beta release of the Ubuntu 16.04 "Xenial Xerus" distribution, which is classified as a long-term support release (LTS), updates for which are being formed within 5 years^[19].

Ready-made test images were created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Core and Kubuntu (only daily builds were offered for them in the past stages of testing), for Ubuntu GNOME, Xubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Lubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Cloud and UbuntuKylin (edit for China). The release is scheduled for April 21, 2016.

Major changes:

• Updated package versions, including the Linux 4.4 kernel, LibreOffice 5.1, Python 3.5, Golang 1.6, Chromium 48, Firefox 45;
• Added the ability to horizontally place the Unity panel;
• Improved the integration of the launcher with the file manager and the interface for connecting new devices;
• Support for formatting external drives has been added to the quicklist menu;
• Improved support for GTK applications, in which the toolbar and menu are transferred to the window header (HeaderBars);
• An option has been added to the Unity control center to enable the constant display of menus in applications;
• Support for cursor scaling on systems with HiDPI screens;
• The panel provides display of working application icons, regardless of how the application was launched;
• Dash has improved support for themes and implemented new overlapping scrollbars;
• Dash disables the online search function by default, i.e. from now on, without special configuration, the system will not access external resources when performing a search using Smart Scope in Unity 7, including disabling the display of contextual ads. Amazon The change will be applied only to new installations and will not affect previous releases and systems that switched to Ubuntu 16.04 as a result of the update;
• All applications and libraries supplied in the basic delivery that work with web content are translated into the WebKit 2 engine;
• From the basic delivery, modules of the Audacious, Clementine, gmusicbrowser, Gourmet, Guayadeque and Musique smart areas were moved to the Universe repository, and support for the Music Store service was completely discontinued.
• Discontinued delivery of the proprietary AMD Catalyst driver (fglrx), which was not included in the release. Users are advised to switch to open AMDGPU/Radeon drivers;
• Improved splash screen performance on high resolution screens (HiDPI);
• Expanded support for languages ​ ​ and localization packages in the basic delivery;
• The Ubuntu server and cloud port for the 64-bit IBM LinuxONE mainframe architecture (z/Architecture) is presented. About 95% of packages are available to users, including OpenStack, Juju, MAAS and LXD systems;
• Kubuntu: Desktop components updated to KDE Plasma 5.5.4 and KDE Applications 15.12;
• Ubuntu GNOME: Most desktop components, including GNOME Shell, have been updated to GNOME 3.18. Instead of Ubuntu Software Center, the standard GNOME Software installation interface is used. GNOME Calendar and GNOME Logs are included in the delivery. Empathy and Brasero have been removed from the base line-up. Packages with the GNOME Builder development environment have been added to the repository. Testing of the experimental session based on Wayland continues, for the use of which you must install the gnome-session-wayland package and select "GNOME on wayland" at login (works only when using open video drivers).
• Ubuntu MATE: It is possible to use the Synapse launcher (disabled by default, activation via MATE Tweak), which resembles Dash in its functions. Improved integration with Compiz Composite Manager. Updated Plank panel 0.11. The Ubuntu MATE Welcome has added a Software Boutique interface with an overview of more than 120 additional programs (you can immediately install the selected application, filter the output by category, see details and screenshots).
• Lubuntu: Since the development of the LXQt environment has not yet been completed, Lubuntu's transition to LXQt is once again postponed and LXDE will continue to be used in Lubuntu 16.04.
• Xubuntu: bug fixes and application version updates.

Alpha testing Ubuntu 16.10 "Yakkety Yak"

On July 1, 2016, the project announced the start of alpha testing of the Ubuntu 16.10 "Yakkety Yak" distribution^[20]

According to the development plan, individual alpha assemblies will not be formed, instead of them, it is proposed to use daily experimental assemblies for testing. Ready-made test images are created only for Lubuntu, Ubuntu MATE and UbuntuKylin (edition for China). Assemblies of Kubuntu, Ubuntu GNOME and other editions are not yet ready. The second alpha release of Ubuntu 16.10 is scheduled for July 28, with a release scheduled for October 13, 2016.

The alpha release synchronizes package versions from the Debian Unstable repositories and migrates to the Linux 4.4 kernel. In Lubuntu, in addition to updating LXDM 0.5.3 and LXpanel 0.8.1, no noticeable changes were noted - LXDE will still be used in Lubuntu 16.10, since the development of the LXQt environment has not yet been completed. In Ubuntu, Unity 7 is offered by default, as before, with the ability to launch Unity 8 as an alternative session, which will be offered on the login page. Unity 8 functionality is planned to be brought to parity with Unity 7, including providing work on multi-monitor configurations, expanding windows management in desktop mode, establishing the use of the clipboard and organizing seamless launch of X-applications using XMir.

Ubuntu MATE has switched to GTK3 + library (without GTK2 + delivery), the new release of MATE Desktop 1.14 was used (assembled only with GTK 3.18), support for the GNOME Main Menu applet was discontinued (MATE 1.16 will have a new applet openSUSE with a style menu implementation), Pidgin removed from delivery (can be installed through Software Boutique), meta-packages redesigned, Welcome app updated (new appearance, port for WebKit2 4.0, advanced initial configuration tools), added a new version of the Software Boutique installation interface (added search, list of innovations, application installation queue, more than 160 applications are available for installation), updated the MATE Tweak tool, added support for Snap packages.

2015: Ubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf"

On August 27, 2015, the developer community presented the beta release of the Ubuntu 15.10 distribution "Wily Werewolf." This indicates the transition to the first stage of freezing the batch base and the displacement of the development vector from the development of new features to testing and bug correction^[21].

Release Schedule, 2015

According to the development plan, it is proposed to use daily experimental assemblies for testing. Ready-made test images are created for Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Cloud, Ubuntu GNOME and Xubuntu. The release is scheduled for October 22, 2015.

Meaningful innovation

• Ubuntu GNOME: The GNOME Shell desktop and most GNOME components have been updated to release 3.16. Instead of Shotwell, GNOME Photos is used to work with the photo collection. The GNOME Music application has been added to the delivery by default. Bluetooth stack updated to Bluez 5. An introductory guide offered at the first launch is provided. GNOME Online Accounts (GOA) has added support for the syncevolution service. An experimental session based on Wayland has been implemented, for the use of which you must install the gnome-session-wayland package and select "GNOME on wayland" when entering (works only when using open video drivers).

• Ubuntu MATE: Most desktop components have been updated to MATE 1.10. MATE Tweak ported to Python 3, added support for selecting panel layouts as in Fedora and Mageia. The Caja file manager provides integration with the Deja Dup backup tool. Ubuntu MATE Welcome adds access to backup, firewall and user management settings, categorizes applications, adds links for quick application installation: App Grid, Chromium, Disks, Hardinfo, SpiderOakONE, Ubuntu Software Center and VeraCrypt.

• Kubuntu: Applications updated to KDE Applications 15.08. The desktop has been updated to the beta release of Plasma 5.4.

• Lubuntu: since the development of the LXQt environment has not yet been completed, the transition of Lubuntu to LXQt is again postponed and LXDE will continue to be used in Lubuntu 15.10.

2014: Ubuntu 14.04 "Trusty Tahr"

On March 27, 2014, Canonical announced the release of the final beta version of Ubuntu 14.04 "Trusty Tahr."

This Linux distribution belongs to the category of products with a long support time (LTS). Updates for this group are formed within five years. The final version of the distribution will be released on April 17. Installation images are created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Ubuntu GNOME, Xubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Edubuntu and Kubuntu.

Description

• A large number of changes in version 14.04 affected the Unity shell. The developers here finalized the interface, made adjustments to the behavior and manipulation of windows.

• Support for TRIM technology is enabled.

• Improved support for Nvidia Optimus technology, which allows you to switch between discrete and built-in processor graphics in laptops to save battery power.

• New types of notifications have been implemented with recommendations for the availability of more hardware-appropriate drivers and suggestions for installing packages to improve localization.

• The new device driver installation manager helps you select and install hardware drivers.

• Improved integration with Google services, the ability to search for materials in Google Drive from Dash and display event reminders from Google Calendar in the panel. A button for quick reduction of the sound level has been added to the sound control menu, it is possible to set the volume outside 100% (enabled through a special option).

The distribution uses the Linux 3.13 kernel.

It was decided to use MySQL 5.6 as the default implementation of MySQL in the LTS release of Ubuntu.

Canonical does not plan to default to, MariaDB as is practiced in other distributions. This is due to noticeable improvements in package support MySQL for Ubuntu from the outside Oracle and the elimination of shortcomings that occurred in terms of its interaction with distribution developers. Linux

The Ubuntu 14.04 "Trusty Tahr" offshoots have changed:

• Kubuntu. Upgrade desktop environment components to KDE 4.12.2 release. Improving the USB Creator interface, improving the convenience of choosing disks, normalizing the size of widgets and lists;
• Ubuntu GNOME. Implementation of support for work in classic desktop mode, a separate GNOME Classic session has been added to the login manager;
• Lubuntu. A new version of the PCManFM 1.2 file manager is included with support for dual panel mode and menu editing;
• Xubuntu. Light Locker is used to lock the screen instead of Xscreensaver. Updated the placement of items on the panel, Whiskermenu was used as the implementation of the menu. The Mugshot application has been added to manage personal settings;
• Edubuntu. Added support for diskless download. Integrated directory server for the organization of a single user entry point;
• Ubuntu Server. Puppet 3 is included in the composition;
• Ubuntu Cloud. System images are developing to run in cloud environments such as Amazon EC2, OpenStack, SmartOS.

Updated applications for Ubuntu 14.04 include Firefox, LibreOffice and many other software.

2013

Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail

On April 25, 2013, the version of the free operating system, Ubuntu 13.04, was launched. Ubuntu 13.04 for desktop systems includes many improvements that make it the "fastest" and "most visually polished" version. When creating a new release, the developers focused on the task of obtaining maximum performance on mobile systems. This was the preparation for running Ubuntu on devices of various form factors. The result of the work was a significant reduction in the response time in everyday use and less memory consumption.

The new release demonstrates 40% less boot time on Acer Veriton desktop systems with Intel and AMD processors, takes up 50 MB less RAM space, offers a smaller image size and reduced power consumption, according to ZDNet.

13.04 includes the Developer Preview SDK for developers, which allows you to create native applications for Ubuntu devices. With this SDK, developers can create unified applications for devices of various form factors and publish them in the Ubuntu Software Center store - for all devices at once in one package.

However, so far there are some differences in the code of applications for Ubuntu 13.04 and versions intended for tablets (Ubuntu Touch) and smartphones. The company promises to get rid of these differences in the next releases of the operating system. This is planned for the release of Ubuntu 13.10 in October 2013.

As for the innovations, among the most significant are the following: using the Linux 3.8 kernel; Upstart initialization system has been updated to version 1.8, but support for user session management for graphic sessions has been added as an experimental feature; The Wubi Windows bootloader has been removed from the distribution package, which allowed installing Ubuntu on a computer in the same partition as Windows. (This decision was caused by the fact that the bootloader's work, due to its incorrect operation, caused frequent complaints from users, which led to a drop in demand for Wubi among the bulk of users. Thus, bootable LiveDVD or LiveUSB media remain an alternative way to install Ubuntu 13.04 on a Windows computer).

The Unity custom shell has been upgraded to version 7. Among the changes in the interface, we can note a new implementation of the menu for synchronizing data using the Ubuntu One service, new shutdown dialogs, new visual effects (for example, when moving the window outside the screen in transparent form, it indicates the area that the application will occupy when the mouse button is released), new panel and lens icons. As for the GUI, it includes new animation effects in the Dash home screen, a new file search algorithm and improved system menus for power management and Bluetooth.^[22]

Introduced the Friends service, which replaced Gwibber. The service allows you to organize access to all user accounts on social networks through a single account in Ubuntu Online. Release 13.04 includes the Developer Preview SDK for developers, which allows you to create native applications for Ubuntu devices. With this SDK, developers can create unified applications for devices of various form factors and publish them in the Ubuntu Software Center store - for all devices at once in one package. However, so far there are some differences in the application code for Ubuntu 13.04 and the Ubuntu Touch version for tablets and smartphones. The company promises to get rid of these differences in the next releases of the operating system. This is planned for the release of Ubuntu 13.10 in October 2013.

The server edition has updated the OpenStack cloud platform before the release of Grizzly, and new versions of Ceph 0.56.4, MongoDB 2.2.4 and OpenvSwitch 1.9.0 are also presented. New tools for deploying and managing distributed applications are included, allowing the developer not to think about where these programs are executed - in private or public clouds, on x86 or ARM servers, or on the developer's laptop. These tools are suitable for local testing and deployment of cloud solutions. It is based on the idea of ​ ​ launching a local 'microcloud' based on the OpenStack cloud infrastructure. After testing the product in the microcloud, the developer can move the product to external cloud systems such as Amazon's EC2, or to remote servers.

It should be noted that version 13.04 will receive a life cycle according to the updated (shortened) graphics, which has been reduced from 18 to 9 months for all non-LTS versions of Ubuntu systems. According to the now adopted release cycle, Ubuntu 13.10 will be released in October. However, Ubuntu version 14.04 may be the last released as part of the semi-annual release cycle. 14.04 also becomes the next version with extended support life (LTS).

Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander

On October 17, 2013, Canonical announced the availability of the server version of Ubuntu 13.10. According to Canonical, installing the server version of Ubuntu 13.10 will take no more than three minutes.

New opportunities

The codename of the Saucy Salamander release and it is available for download on October 17, 2013. The product contains improvements aimed at improving the speed. As explained in Canonical, this is done as part of a plan to turn Ubuntu into an ideal environment for developing, testing and executing cloud services.

Ubuntu 13.10 will include a new edition of the cloud platform OpenStack - Havana, it will be released on October 17, 2013.

• The new installer reduces the time to install the OS over the network on physical servers or virtual machines by less than three minutes.
• This version of the system has improved support for virtualizations Linux Containers technology. Canonical They say that containers hold fewer resources than full-fledged virtual machines, so they can be launched in more quantities. Containers share some resources but are completely isolated from each other.
• Havana OpenStack will have a Heat system for managing complex composite services and a mechanism for storing Swift objects. In addition, the new version will be able to work with other hypervisors in addition to KVM, in particular, with VMWare ESX - through the Nova plugin.
• The new Mir graphics stack, created to replace the aging X Window, is not yet included in Ubuntu 13.10.

Ubuntu 14.04

On December 20, 2013, Ubuntu 14.04 was released. Canonical developers have improved a number of different components in this version.

The most significant change was the improved tool for updating the software installed on the system - Software Updater. The upgraded software solution is more convenient than ever before. Now it will be much easier for users installing Ubuntu for the first time to understand the OS interface and compile a list of software packages they need.

The new Software Updater provides more detailed information about what exactly the system owner is installing. In the future, the developers intend to implement the reflection of information about changes in new versions of various programs.

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is under development, it is possible that by the time a stable release is released, developers will add optimizing updates to the operating system.

2011

Mark Shuttleworth wants to make Ubuntu the national operating system of the PRC

The founder of the Ubuntu project, Mark Shuttleworth, wants to give Ubuntu the status of a national operating system PRC - this was announced by the chairman of the Chinese League for Promotion ON with Lu open source Showqun.

In his blog, Lu Showqun cites excerpts from correspondence with Mark Shuttleworth, the head of Canonical, which is developing the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. Mark Shuttleworth announced that he was going to visit China in 2011, present new Ubuntu projects and assist in creating an 'official state version of Linux' for desktop use. It is noteworthy that Mark Shuttleworth is also an adviser to the Expert Center of the China Association for the Promotion of Open Source Software.

Mark Shuttleworth admits that there are already several local projects in China to create Linux distributions, but he still hopes to discuss his proposal. "I plan to meet with representatives of several companies and would very much like to see you again, Mr. Lu," writes Mark Shuttleworth. "I will be very happy if you can help me meet with officials of the Chinese government," writes the head of Canonical.

Lu Showqun notes that last year Mark Shuttleworth already came to China and voiced his proposal. However, it was not received with great enthusiasm - most Chinese Linux distribution manufacturers base their products on the source texts of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and the transition to Ubuntu will mean abandoning the usual technology platform. However, Lu Shouqun believes a return to the issue this year 'makes a lot of sense'.

Mark Shuttleworth's plans did not come from nothing. Despite the fact that Microsoft software occupies a dominant position in this country, there are several companies in China that release Linux distributions. In addition, a well-known national development - the Loongson processor - is currently simply incompatible with Windows and is used only in combination with free operating systems. By the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, 60,000 laptops with this processor had already been delivered to schools in Jiangsu province.

In 2009, a representative of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the PRC announced that the development of open source software will be one of the priorities of the 12 five-year plan (which should be approved in the first quarter of 2011). Despite the fact that the recommendations for the 12th five-year plan, released in October 2010, do not explicitly mention open source software, however, they mention the development of 'system software'. According to forecasts of the analytical agency CCID Consulting, the development of "basic software," including the launch of desktop Linux distributions from Chinese manufacturers on the international market, will be one of the main results of the 12th five-year plan.

It should also be noted that the recently published Plans for the transfer of federal authorities and budgetary institutions to free software in Russia were received with great interest in the West. Many observers believe that the Russian initiative can be picked up by other countries. If this happens, then it is beneficial for companies such as Canonical to provide the most profitable positions for themselves in advance.

Version 11.04 Natty Narwhal

The main innovation is the Unity user interface, designed for simplified access to programs and user data. According to the creators, the new graphics shell most optimally uses the screen space and offers more efficient work tools compared to the popular Linux environments GNOME and KDE. The new interface supports hardware acceleration, which, in general, increases the risk of computer outages.

Other features of the operating system include an upgraded installer of the OS itself and an updated software package, which includes the LibreOffice 3.3.2 office suite, which replaced the OpenOffice.org, as well as an improved application installation manager (Ubuntu Software Center), which provides the ability to purchase commercial solutions and trial programs on a remote server before installing them on a PC.

Most notable among the many fundamental changes in Natty Narwhal is the new Unity multi-touch desktop, replacing GNOME and using icons lined along the left edge of the display. Canonical conceived Unity as a means of pushing Ubuntu into tablets, as well as laptops and netbooks with touch screens. However, at the moment, very few Ubuntu users have computers with such displays. So Unity's life or death depends on the mouse.

There is a launchpad on the left side of the Unity desktop that you can hide to increase free space. This is one of many features designed to make Ubuntu more convenient for small screens of netbooks and tablets. Another important new feature is Dash, which can be invoked by clicking in the upper left corner of the display. After that, access to icons and the search mechanism is opened.

Unity will also debut a new workspace display mode for managing multiple windows and applications. Workspaces should make switching between running applications easier. Other Unity features include drag-and-drop reordering of icons, full keyboard navigation support, hotkeys, and right-click shortcut menus for quick access to commands, project participants report* * *

LibreOffice and Software Center enhancements

Major improvements to Ubuntu 11.04 include the inclusion of LibreOffice 3.3.2 instead of OpenOffice.org and updates such as Firefox 4 and Banshee 2.0. Other improvements include the easier-to-use Ubiquity installer and the further developed Network Manager.

The Ubuntu One cloud service, which provides data storage and work with music files, has received a new control panel that provides selective synchronization and displays the synchronization process, project participants say. In addition, file synchronization has become faster.

The improvements affected the Software Control Center, which allows you to determine the rating of programs and compile feedback about them. Now, thanks to the new integration features of the updated Gwibber application, the Center provides the opportunity to publish reviews on social networks.

As noted in our previous publications, the Software Control Center has the opportunity to make a'trial trip' - testing selected applications before installing them. However, when we decided to use it, it turned out that it was not immediately available, but required additional preparatory actions. Applications are run on a remote server using the NX protocol. To do this, you need to manually install a special package called qtnx.

Among the updated components are X.org 1.10.0 and Mesa 7.10.1, GNU gcc 4.5, Python 2.7 and Upstart 0.9.7-1. One notable innovation in Ubuntu 11.04 is Qt libraries as a development environment instead of the GNOME Gtk + project.

Linux kernel 2.6.38, Natty power management and server upgrade

At the end of April, Phoronix published the results of testing the latest beta version of Ubuntu 11.04, showing the presence of a serious power management problem, due to which power consumption grows by an average of 10%. This problem is related to the new Linux 2.6.38 kernel used in Ubuntu. So in the near future we should expect its appearance in other distributions. In the meantime, the project participants are studying it.

However, the Linux kernel version 2.6.38 is very good. It provides Natty Narwhal users with AppArmor protection, Intel IPS (Intelligent Power Sharing) support, the ability to disable Big Kernel Lock and use Btrfs, Ext4, and XFS file systems.

AppArmor and many other features of the Linux 2.6.38 kernel will primarily affect Ubuntu Server 11.04. This operating system is also available. It includes an updated Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) platform based on Eucalyptus 2.02, as well as a trial version of the open source cloud platform OpenStack Cactus. Other features include simplification of server provisioning, new power management features, and the above improvements related to Linux kernel version 2.6.38.

The server edition is covered in more detail in our previous publications. In addition, it is likely that in the coming weeks, enterprise systems specialists from eWeek will carefully study Ubuntu Server 11.04.

ARM Unity-2d desktop, standalone versions for PandaBoard and BeagleBoard

Like most Linux distributions, Ubuntu is primarily intended for x86 processors, but now supports ARM processors. Although the Ubuntu Netbook Edition (UNE) has disappeared from this release for x86-based systems, the functions of which are included in the main desktop version, pre-installed Ubuntu Netbook images for ARM processors are available. Among them is a version of the Unity desktop Unity-2d based on Enlightenment Foundation Libraries for graphics cards that support 2D graphics.

There are also standalone developer reference images for two open source Texas Instruments OMAP/ARM platforms, distributed by Digi-key. These images support PandaBoard boards with a dual-core Cortex-A9 OMAP4430 1 GHz processor and BeagleBoard with ARM Cortex-A8 OMAP 1 GHz processors, including the latest TI DM730 1 GHz processor.

Ubuntu was announced online LWN.net: http://lwn.net/Articles/440438/. There are links to accompanying comments and reviews, addresses for download are indicated. You can access the source directly from the Ubuntu download page, which includes links to the online trial version, download sites, and USB the/CD versions.

Ubuntu Linux 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)

In October 2011, the developers of Ubuntu Linux announced that a new version of the platform - Precise Pangolin - should become a powerful platform suitable for industrial use in critical applications.

Ubuntu Linux 12.04 will receive LTS (Long-Term Support) status, which guarantees full platform support from the manufacturer within three years from release. These long-term products are ideal for critical applications and large enterprises. The developers are going to pay special attention to supporting new equipment in Ubuntu 12.04 throughout the support cycle.

After switching to the native Unity graphical shell and GNOME 3 environment, Ubuntu Linux will offer even more advanced versions of these components. Management of large PC fleets will be simplified with increased security and easy updating of software components, including the transition from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS to version 12.04 LTS. It is planned to improve the work with several monitors on one PC.

For the first time in version 12.04, the Ubuntu platform will receive support for server machines with ARM processors, although at the initial stage only some models of integrated chips with the specified architecture will be supported. Support for ARM architecture is especially important in conditions where the density of computing power becomes significant, and not performance on single-threaded applications. In addition, the new version of Ubuntu will be optimized for cloud computing - with its help, customers will be able to easily run and control services in private, public and hybrid clouds.

The next release of Ubuntu will include a new Head-Up Display (HUD) user interface, which will allow you to perform any function of any application by typing the key words describing it on the command line. In addition, HUD will support voice commands. The first version of the interface will appear in April 2012 in Ubuntu 12.04 Long Term.

HUD runs on top of Unity, Ubuntu's standard desktop interface, and looks like a translucent console, which is essentially an application resource search engine. By typing keywords in it, you can search for functions, bookmarks and files. After the first access to the function, subsequent calls to it will occur faster thanks to auto-completion of input. Any program that supports the Unity menu will be able to work with HUD.

HUD was created as an alternative to traditional menus, devoid of their disadvantages - the difficulty of finding functions, the need to remember hot keys, etc. Thanks to the fuzzy matching mechanism, HUD allows you to quickly find commands that users do not know what they are called exactly. HUD operations are supported on the Linux command line - they can be included in scripts and command pipelines.

Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

As the developers themselves say, the new system "destroys the barrier between the computer and the Internet" by integrating the desktop into the Network. Thus, it is assumed that system users are able to easily move between local and web applications, as well as content hosted on PCs and on the Internet.

For example, search for documents using the local Dash search engine in Ubuntu 12.10 includes, for example, search results for online services: in Google Drive, Gmail, Twitter, Flickr or Facebook.

In practice, the most controversial implementation of this concept was the inclusion of commercial and free online store offers in the Dash local search space. Amazon This innovation caused a mixed reaction from Ubuntu beta testers, and, in response to criticism, Canonical included in the distribution the ability to disable online search results in the Security tab of the System Settings menu. However, using this feature turns off Internet search across all sources.

Among the interesting technological innovations of Ubuntu 12.10 are support for the UEFI Secure Boot (UEFI Secure Boot) mode. Thus, the new Ubuntu can also be installed on computers using UEFI instead of BIOS. Support for UEFI Secure Boot in Ubuntu is carried out using the standard GRUB 2 bootloader.

The new Unity 6.8.0 shell with improved usability is based on the GNOME 3.6 GUI, although Nautilus from GNOME 3.4 was used as a file manager due to its higher functionality. Support for the "lightweight" Unity 2D shell is not provided in the new distribution.

The release of Ubuntu 12.10 is presented in versions for desktops, servers and cloud environments. Simultaneously with the main release, a number of side projects were released: Kubuntu, using the KDE 4.9 desktop environment, Xubuntu with the Xfce 4.10 environment, Lubuntu with the LXDE shell, multimedia-oriented Ubuntu Studio, Mythbuntu, and Edubuntu with a selection of training software.

Starting with the current version of Ubuntu 12.10, the creation of distribution images placed on CD 640 MB has been discontinued. Now the system is delivered as an 800 MB image, which can be used when installing it from DVD or Flash media.

According to Olli Ries, CTO of Ubuntu developer Canonical, an additional section that users see while searching is designed to help find information on the Internet in addition to the one on their device, which is a good example of implementing the universal search function in Ubuntu.

However, the true motive for adding a new section, as noted by ZDNet, is hidden in another - this is a new source of income for Canonical, and the company admitted this. "In some cases, when a user clicks on a link and buys an item, some of the proceeds from their sale go to us. We invest this revenue in our project. We realized that this source of income can help us develop Ubuntu, "Rice said

.

The appearance of the ad caused a sharp negative reaction from the community of users who tested it in the beta version of the system, ZDNet reports with reference to the sites Slashdot and Reddit, on which many negative reviews were published.

2010: Ubuntu 10.10

In early October 2010, Canonical updated the Ubuntu Linux distribution options for desktops, netbooks and servers. You can download Ubuntu 10.10 from Desktop, Netbook and Server Edition from October 10.^[23]

Ubuntu for netbooks has a Unity user interface specifically designed for smaller screens. The Desktop and Netbook editions also provide basic support for simultaneous touches when using touch screens. The desktop version provides maximum ease of searching and installing software. The set of Ubuntu One cloud services for Ubuntu Desktop Edition has been expanded: it is possible to exchange and synchronize files, contacts, bookmarks and notes with Android, iPhone and Windows platforms.

The server version is optimized for cloud execution and cloud application development. In particular, Server Edition provides the ability to execute images of cloud applications in Amazon Machine Image format locally in virtual machines running the KVM hypervisor. As part of the Ubuntu Server on Cloud 10 promotion, those who wish can work for free with Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud for an hour.

Links

• Official website
• Ubuntu Wiki
• Official Forum
• Website of the Russian-speaking community Ubuntu
• Forum of the Russian-speaking community Ubuntu Linux
• Unofficial Ubuntu Guide
• Information about Ubuntu on the DistroWatch.com
• Ubuntu ShipIt - ordering free disks with Ubuntu

Notes