FOSSwire

So Ubuntu Hardy Heron has now arrived, and you can download the new release from the Ubuntu site.

The main desktop release tends to overshadow the other projects that are official variants of Ubuntu. If you're new to the distro, new to Linux in general, or just want a refresher, here's what is available as well as the standard desktop product.

Ubuntu Server Edition

Server Edition, is, quite obviously, the version of Ubuntu tailored for running servers. Instead of being a graphical live CD, the Server version boots straight into a text-based installer, then sets up a system optimised for common server tasks.

You do have full access to the Ubuntu software repositories, so it is easy to then customise it to do whatever you need it to do.

Hardy Heron Server Edition is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, and it will be supported until 2013.

Kubuntu

Kubuntu is the official Ubuntu derivative which ships with the KDE desktop environment, rather than the GNOME desktop which comes with the standard version. I personally run this KDE variant on my desktop, although I also work with GNOME a fair bit too.

Hardy Heron actually brings two different Kubuntu releases to the table. The standard desktop PC version features KDE 3.5.9 which is less bleeding edge and is more tried-and-tested technology. There is also a 'KDE 4 Remix' disc available which features the same Ubuntu base with the newer, but less stable KDE 4 desktop. I plan to be looking at this KDE 4 Remix disc in more detail in an upcoming post.

Unlike its GNOME counterpart, the Kubuntu distro does not have the LTS tag, meaning it will only be supported for 18 months.

Xubuntu

Xubuntu uses the more lightweight Xfce desktop environment, which makes it ideally suited to lower-spec computers that might be sluggish running the main edition, or the KDE variant.

Xubuntu does have Long Term Support, and because it is a desktop release, Hardy Heron Xubuntu will be supported until 2011.

Edubuntu

Edubuntu is a derivative specially designed for use in education and schools. It is preinstalled with many educational applications and other specialised software such as the iTalc classroom management system.

Edubuntu does not have Long Term Support at this release, so it only has the standard 18 month support cycle.

Gobuntu

There are some elements of Ubuntu that aren't 100% free software/open source. Mostly these are 'restricted' drivers that are used in certain hardware configurations, that make Ubuntu able to support hardware for which there isn't a free driver available.

However, some people prefer to run an operating system that is 100% free software and open source, and Gobuntu is the official Ubuntu derivative that offers that.

Right now it is still quite early days for Gobuntu, and there is only a text-based installer. "Please note that because running Gobuntu on most laptops and many desktops will be difficult, Gobuntu is intended for experienced Linux enthusiasts at this time."

Still, if going pure is your thing, Gobuntu is worth a try.

Others

This list only encompasses the official derivatives that are part of the Ubuntu project. In reality, there are many more distros that have used Ubuntu as a base and built on top of them, but which have diverged from the Ubuntu project itself.

There is also one more that I haven't mentioned in this list - Ubuntu Mobile Edition. Its focus is more towards specific mobile devices and so I didn't include it directly here.

Hopefully this clears up the inevitable confusion as to which 'buntu is which. Most people will probably just want to try the standard desktop version, which you can always grab a copy of at this page. For the more adventurous, and those with specific requirements, however, some of these versions could be a perfect fit.

The style of Ubuntu releases has varied throughout the releases, with some differing radically from others and the rest continuing to build the style. But where do all of the art and style ideas come from? We talked with Kenneth Wimer of the Ubuntu Art Team to find out.

FOSSwire: Are there any major changes to the default theme/artwork in 8.04?

Wimer: As an LTS release it was decided that 8.04 would be the end of one "artwork cycle" which means that more radical changes are expected in 8.10. The most notable things that changed are GDM (more an artwork refresh than a redesign) and the desktop wallpaper. The Ubuntulooks, Murrine and Clearlooks Human themes that we included support the color-picker GUI which should make some people happy. Of course, there are lots of smaller pieces which we are constantly improving on which go somewhat unnoticed.

FOSSwire: In a nutshell: How does the art team work together?

Wimer: Collaboration itself takes place on the mailing list, wiki as well as on IRC. Also, any Ubuntu project wouldn't be possible without Launchpad. Community members submit their artwork and ideas, whether it be on the default Ubuntu theme or their own themes. Members are encouraged to pursue their own themes for Ubuntu, something I would like to see more of in the future. Art direction for the default Ubuntu theme is decided by Canonical, represented in this case by myself. After the basic ideas are decided we work on fleshing out the theme as a whole, piece by piece.

It is important to note that we are trying to move to a more long-term approach. Throughout the 8.04 (Hardy Heron) cycle we have also worked towards defining an art direction for the next several releases. Naturally, the goals set today will be improved upon as we steer through the process of implementation over several releases so it really becomes an evolution of a set of ideas with the final goal coming to fruition hopefully by the next LTS release.

FOSSwire: The decision to keep the standard "ubuntulooks" engine for Hardy instead of the proposed Murrine engine met with mixed reactions. Why was the decision made to keep the current style?

Wimer: There were several elements of Ubuntulooks which simply look better. The Ubuntulooks style is unique in things like the progress bars and scrollbars and no other theme said "Ubuntu" better than what we already had. We tested out both Murrine and Clearlooks and Murrine is now in the default install as well as a Human theme for both Murrine and Clearlooks so anyone who wants it doesn't have to go far to get it. Ubuntulooks is getting old and unmaintained and has several known bugs. In the long term I think we will work towards using another theme.

FOSSwire: We've seen Murrine on GNOME as well as XFCE. Is there any plan to bring the look to KDE, or will each environment retain its uniqueness?

Wimer: The idea of having both Kubuntu and Ubuntu use the same theming has come up several times over the years. I understand the logic behind the idea - it would be nice to have all apps on one desktop look the same, no matter which toolkit an app uses. However, the two projects, in and of themselves, are quite different. Just look at the logos and colors. Beyond that, the differences between KDE and GNOME at the UI and themeing level present a real obstacle.

FOSSwire: Is there anything you wish the team could have done given more time?

Wimer: (sings "We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there")

Always wishing you had a few more days is the consequence of a short development cycle. More than anything else I would like to see the team itself grow and and become more effective.

FOSSwire: What do you envision 8.10's theme as?

Wimer: Something new. We have a lot of ideas. Figuring out which ones are realizable in which time frame and moving forward is the task at hand.

FOSSwire: We've seen the base color scheme for Ubuntu change from brown, to caramel, to orange over the years. Are there plans to alter it any more?

Wimer: I think that we are slowly moving back from orange into the caramel and browns. One issue that has come up is that there is too much orange. Orange in itself is a color often used in warnings, etc.

FOSSwire: What's the best way for people to get involved with the art team?

Wimer: Stop by the wiki page, join the mailing list or pop by IRC (#ubuntu-artwork on freenode).

Any artists looking for something to do should definitely check us out. :-)

It's official: Ubuntu 8.04 has gone gold. This is one of the most highly anticipated releases of Ubuntu to date, but does it hold up to the hype? We take a look at what's new, what's stable, what's good and what's not in our latest review.

Ubuntu 8.04 is a LTS release. This means that this release will receive security updates and support for three years for desktop users and five years for server users. Being an LTS, the major focus is clearly stability and building up the strength of existing features.   That doesn't mean however that it is without its share of new features....

Features

To start, 8.04 ships with GNOME 2.22. This, to the user, may not look entirely new, but the bulk of new features are hidden below the surface. GVFS replaces the old GNOME-VFS system with an entirely new backend, allowing for applications to use any resource, such as SSH or a Samba share, in a uniform manner. GVFS provides a FUSE hook that allows applications that don't even support GVFS to use the services provided by it. While GNOME-VFS took criticism for being somewhat slow and tedious, GVFS stands to fix that image.

GNOME 2.22 also introduces other features, such as the Cheese webcam viewer, Metacity compositing, Google Calendar support in Evolution, and a new remote desktop viewer. Personally, I think that the inclusion of Cheese, while nice to GNOME, could have been replaced on the default Ubuntu setup with something else, as a webcam viewer seems a little extraneous.

A new addition to the default Ubuntu setup is the Brasero disc burning utility, which allows users to make a CD or DVD with very little effort.

Also new is Transmission, a newly popular BitTorrent client. This replaces the old standard BitTorrent utility, allowing for better torrent management with an interface similar to µTorrent.

Introduced in 7.10, PulseAudio provides a sound system for applications to hook into. It allows the volume of individual applications to be controlled, mixed into other sound devices, and with a little work, even played out of Bluetooth headphones. 8.04 improves upon this by enabling the sound server for most, if not all, applications. There are a few gripes here and there, such as minor bugs with Flash audio, but 95% of it works very well.

Firefox 3 is included in the package, even in its beta form. It has apparently been proven to be stable enough to be included, though updates to the final release are likely to follow in June.

Security and Stability

As stated above, 8.04 is focused on improving the ground laid out, and not radically changing things. Security enhancements galore ensure this release will indeed have a long life. One major security feature of GNOME 2.22 and 8.04 is the introduction of PolicyKit. PolicyKit allows fine-grained access control, and helps you allow or deny users access to specific parts of applications. This allows for a system to be locked down completely except to a group of trusted users.

Another addition in the security field is ufw, or "Uncomplicated Firewall." The firewall is an extension of iptables, and while it does not currently have a GUI, the command-line interface is dead simple:

ufw deny 80
ufw allow from 192.168.1.1 port 80

Other security additions include more strict memory protection and application rules, along with the addition of SELinux support.

Many applications have gone through the usual slew of bug fixes with any release, and the update to X.Org 7.3 is no different. 7.3 provides support for newer compositing mechanisms, though the implementation is somewhat unfinished. The end result may be a slightly slower Compiz and 3D acceleration for some, but lays yet more groundwork for a more stable display system.

Theme

The beta release of 8.04 saw yet another new theme, however the older one was reverted as the default. The theme that almost made the release is still available in Appearance properties, but it didn't make the final cut for default status. For now, users will be greeted by the tried-and-true Human theme, with 8.10 to have a major theme overhaul.

Below is a preview of the proposed default theme for 8.04, still available on the CD:

Overall

Ubuntu 8.04 is a great release that definitely lives up to the attention it received. It adds several new features and applications, while improving on a solid security base. It's not without problems: the speed of some 3D applications may be an issue for some folks, and the use of beta software could be a potential problem, but the good features far outnumber the problems.

Hardy Heron, a big release for both the home user and enterprise, is yet another milestone in the Linux cycle. Of course, more Ubuntu releases will come every six months, and we'll be following the developments of the next version: the Intrepid Ibex. For its time though, 8.04 is a winner.