Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) alpha 1 officially released
(30/11/2007)
The Ubuntu development community has officially announced the release of Ubuntu 8.04 alpha 1. Ubuntu 8.04 (codenamed Hardy Heron) is the next major version of the popular Linux distribution. The final release of Ubuntu 8.04, which is scheduled for April 2008, will be supported on the desktop for three years and on the server for five years.
The alpha release, which is now available for download from Ubuntu's mirrors, is not intended for use in production environments and is primarily for testing. The alpha includes Xorg 7.3, which delivers improved support for automatic graphics configuration. The alpha release also includes new packages merged in from Debian.
Desktop and server CD installation images are available for x86 and AMD 64 architectures. A server installation CD image is also available for SPARC. Installation images are available for a number of other Ubuntu flavors as well, including Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu, Gobuntu, and Ubuntu Studio.
For more information about features planned for inclusion in Hardy Heron, check out our overview from the Ubuntu Developer Summit earlier this month and our coverage of the Hardy Heron visual refresh.
Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) alpha 2 officially released
(21/12/2007)
The Ubuntu development community has officially announced the release of Ubuntu 8.04 alpha 2. Ubuntu 8.04—scheduled for release in April 2008—is a long-term support (LTS) release, which means that it will be supported on the desktop for three years and on the server for five years.
This second alpha, which is available for download from Ubuntu's mirrors, is a development release that is primarily intended for testers. This is the first Ubuntu release to include PulseAudio, an innovative next-generation sound server. Although PulseAudio is installed by default in alpha 2, the volume control tools haven't been integrated yet. There is much that still must be done before Ubuntu's PulseAudio support is fully in place. Ubuntu 8.04 alpha 2 also includes version 2.6.24-2.4 of the Linux kernel and Xorg 7.3, which offers better automated graphics configuration.
Installation ISO images are available for other Ubuntu flavors as well, including Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Gobuntu, Ubuntu JeOS, and UbuntuStudio. Since this is an early alpha, there are still many bugs that need to be resolved and it isn't considered suitable for production environments.
For more information about features planned for inclusion in Hardy Heron, check out our overview from the Ubuntu Developer Summit earlier this month and our coverage of the Hardy Heron visual refresh.
Ubuntu Hardy Heron alpha 3 released
(11/01/2008)
Introduction
The Ubuntu developers are moving very quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. Hardy Heron Alpha 3 is the third alpha release of Ubuntu 8.04, and with this new alpha release comes a whole host of excellent new features.
Note: This is still an alpha release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released in April 2008.
In General
These features are showcased for your attention. Please test them and report any bugs you find. If you want to see what the developers have cooking for the next alpha release take a look through the hardy blueprint page https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy
Upgrading from Ubuntu 7.10
To upgrade from Ubuntu 7.10, run "update-manager -d" using the update-manager package from Gutsy.
Xorg 7.3
The latest Xorg is available in Hardy, Xorg 7.3, with an emphasis on better autoconfiguration with a minimal configuration file.
Linux kernel 2.6.24
Alpha 3 includes the 2.6.24-3.5 (2.6.24-rc6-based) kernel. This brings in significant enhancements and fixes that have been merged in the last few months into the mainline kernel. Among these is the introduction of dynticks support for amd64, bringing the same power savings already available on 32-bit systems to 64-bit laptops and desktops.
PulseAudio
Alpha 3 includes PulseAudio enabled by default. Some non-GNOME applications still need to be changed to output to pulse/esd by default and the volume control tools are still not integrated. https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/cleanup-audio-jumble
PolicyKit
With Alpha 3, PolicyKit integration is gaining visibility in the administrative user interfaces. PolicyKit makes it possible to run administrative applications as a normal user, and have them get a particular set of extra privileges for certain operations, which allows fine grained control over user permissions and enhances usability, as well as eliminating the security implications of running the whole application as root.
For details of PolicyKit integration in Hardy, refer to the policykit-integration blueprint.
Firefox 3 Beta 2
The latest Firefox 3 beta comes with Alpha 3, bringing much better system integration including theming that mirrors the system such as icons and colours as well as having GTK2 form buttons and open dialog.
You can read more about the work on the Fox and Penguin blog post by Michael Ventor, a Mozilla intern.
Download Alpha 3
Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:
Caveats
There are several known bugs that users are likely to run into with Hardy Alpha 3. We have documented them here for your convenience along with any known workarounds, so that you don't need to spend time reporting these bugs again:
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The new kernel in Alpha 3 is unable to access CD-ROM devices in some configurations, which means some users who were previously able to install Ubuntu will not be able to install this alpha from CD media. Investigation is ongoing; no workaround is known at this time. https://launchpad.net/bugs/181561
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Video problems have been reported with the 64-bit (amd64) version of Edubuntu desktop. As a workaround, users can manually specify a video resolution at the boot menu. https://launchpad.net/bugs/173130
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Users with an older ATI Radeon graphics card might have video problems. As a workaround, you can boot the livecd with a failsafe mode, and after installation add 'Option "AGPMode" "4"' to the "Device" -section of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf. https://launchpad.net/bugs/180343
-
The livecd installer will crash when selecting languages that are not used by more than one country. As a workaround, install in English and change the language afterwards, or install a new version of the ubiquity package on the livecd before starting the installer. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/174937
First look: Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) alpha 4
(02/02/2008)
Ubuntu 8.04 alpha 4 was officially released today and is now available for testing. This alpha offers an early look at some of the features that will be included in the final 8.04 release, which is scheduled for April. Codenamed Hardy Heron, Ubuntu 8.04 will be the second long-term support (LTS) release, which means that it will be supported on the desktop for three years and on the server for five years.
We tested alpha 4 ourselves, and we are very impressed with some of the hot new features. Ubuntu 8.04 is the first version to include PulseAudio, an open-source sound server that offers sophisticated mixing capabilities and network transparency. PulseAudio offers several potential improvements to the desktop user experience, including support for independently controlling the volume of individual applications, transferring audio streams between devices, and outputting a stream on multiple devices at the same time. PulseAudio is installed by default in alpha 4 but hasn't been fully integrated into the system yet. During this stage of the transition, volume controls are inaccessible, so there isn't much testing that one can do with it right now.
Another very significant architectural change in Ubuntu 8.04 is the inclusion of GIO and GVFS, a new I/O abstraction layer and virtual file system mechanism. GVFS replaces the antiquated GnomeVFS library and uses the D-Bus interprocess communication protocol to coordinate between various daemons that handle mounting and file operations. These components have been integrated into Nautilus, the GNOME file manager. There are still some bugs that need to be resolved and not all of the previously supported network protocols are working with it yet, but it already provides a few new features that are visible to the user. In particular, Nautilus will now queue up long file transfer operations and display them in a single window rather than spawning a separate window for each file transfer operation.
File transfer queue in Nautilus using GVFS
Ubuntu 8.04 also adds PolicyKit, a new framework for secure privilege escalation. The Ubuntu developers aim to completely eliminate the anachronistic gksudo component by bringing pervasive PolicyKit integration to every corner of the system. Unlike gksudo, which grants elevated root privileges to an entire program, PolicyKit makes it possible to isolate privileged actions and make them accessible to programs through a D-Bus interface. This approach provides a much higher level of security and also gives administrators more flexible control over what operations are accessible to individual users. PolicyKit still uses password prompts like gksudo, so the difference to end users will be minimal. In some system configuration utilities, like the network settings tool, there are now Unlock buttons which, when clicked, will present the user with a password prompt before making privileged elements of the user interface accessible. PolicyKit also includes an authorization management tool that provides an overview of all the privileged operations exposed through PolicyKit and allows administrators to configure permissions for each individual operation.
The PolicyKit authorization manager tool
There are a handful of other subtle improvements in Ubuntu 8.04 that are already present in this alpha release. The panel clock applet, for instance, has been improved to include support for displaying weather information and times for multiple locations in its expanded view. Ubuntu 8.04 also replaces the unmaintained GNOME BitTorrent client with Transmission, a cross-platform BitTorrent client that offers a nice GTK interface for Linux. Also new is the Brasero CD burning program and a much-improved System Monitor utility with a rich Cairo-based visual display.
The new GNOME System Monitor tool
The new world clock feature
Although many of the significant architectural features like PulseAudio and GIO are still in transitional stages and aren't fully functional yet, Ubuntu 8.04 alpha 4 is still very impressive. I'm a big fan of D-Bus, and I'm very pleased to see it being adopted throughout the entire desktop stack in core components. I'm also very impressed with the relative completeness of PolicyKit integration, and I'm looking forward to the promised performance improvements and support for pausing file transfers that we should get when GIO is more mature. Many of the major pieces are falling into their proper places for Hardy Heron, but there are still some things that haven't landed yet. One of the significant features planned for 8.04,for instance, is a complete visual refresh, with totally new artwork and new GTK theme. The new artwork hasn't begun showing up yet.
It should be noted that this is a prerelease and isn't intended for use in production environments. Some parts are particularly fragile, and the Ubuntu developers are encouraging users to refrain from using Nautilus to operate on valuable files until GVFS stabilizes a bit. Users who want to test Ubuntu 8.04 alpha 4 can download an installation ISO and give it a try. ISOs are also available for Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu JeOS, Xubuntu, and Gobuntu.
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