Oct 26, 2009

What can we expect from 10.04 - Lucid Lynx?

DIGG this Although Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) isn't out the door yet, let's take a look at what's coming in Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx).

What do we know?
Well, not very much at the moment, but that will all change next month. In November, Ubuntu developers from around the world will gather to help shape and scope the next release of Ubuntu at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Dallas. At UDS it will be decided what the developers will be working on over the next six months, and as a result, what we'll be seeing in the next versions of Ubuntu. However, until UDS arrives let’s see what we can predict at this time.

LTS release

Ubuntu 10.04 will be Ubuntu’s third long-term support (LTS) release, coming, as promised, two years after 8.04, the last LTS release. With security updates available for five years for servers and three years for desktops. The enhanced stability and longer lifecycle of LTS releases make them appealing to hardware makers and organizations that are rolling out large Ubuntu deployments. With the increased focus on stability, this also means that there won’t be a long list of new features.


No new interface
If you’re waiting for Gnome 3 to arrive, don’t hold your breath – at least not as default. Ubuntu 10.04 will use Gnome 2.x as its desktop environment, with the focus to shift to Gnome 3.0 thereafter.  This means the user interface won’t look very different from previous releases. It is of course to be expected that Gnome 3 will have a lot of rough edges at its birth, which again doesn’t make it ideal in a LST release. The Gnome shell will be available for installation though, should you want to take it for a test drive. Overall, a wise decision.

The upcoming Gnome 3 that is to be released early 2010, can already be tested in an early stage in Ubuntu 9.10. If you want to test the Gnome Shell, install the package "gnome-shell", open a terminal and enter the command "gnome-shell --replace&".

Gnome Shell
Artwork
With Ubuntu 9.10 things has started to look really good. Michael Forrest, the Canonical Design Team GUI prototyping guy, explains on his blog that we must remember that this is work in progress and I’m sure they won’t let us down. Michael writes: “There is a lot of work to do on a million other aspects of Ubuntu so I hope people won't get fixated on things like the default desktop too much - these are matters of taste and there are no correct answers - you have to trust that we have a long-term vision and that decisions are made to move things in a certain direction. We don't think you'll be disappointed when things really start to come through over the next few releases.”

Faster
Boot speed has been a hot topic for a long time now and Ubuntu has come a long way in the last few releases. For Ubuntu 10.04 the target boot speed is 10 seconds! The reference platform for this target is a Dell Mini 9 netbook with a slow CPU and fast SSD that makes it an excellent "middle of the road" machine.  Some people's machines will be slower, some will be faster.

There’s also a plan to improve the speed on the installation process. Currently when installing packages in Ubuntu the download is a separate step from the unpack/configure. Ubuntu will be able to install package faster by doing downloads and installs in parallel. While downloading the cpu and disk are mostly idle. While installing the network is idle. Doing them in parallel is a good way to utilize both systems.

Under the hood Ubuntu 10.04 will also be switching to using a swap file, instead of a separate partition. This will allow on-the-fly resizing.

Boot experience
In Ubuntu 9.10 the boot experience went through intensive surgery and came out with a much improved look and feel. We will be seeing more improvements in this area in 10.04.
On shutdown will we have the option to install updates. This feature was planned for 9.10, but deferred.
 A graphical OS selector is planned for switching (rebooting) between two or more operative systems. The preferred version of the graphical OS selector will have easily recognizable logos for the installed OSs. This will require a lot of work and might not actually land in 10.04.


Ubuntu Software Center
One of the biggest features that were introduced in 9.10 was the Software Centre. With a simple design it can be used to install and remove software packages and to add repositories for finding, installing and managing new applications. In Ubuntu 10.04 the Software Center will expanded its features and will replace Synaptic, Software Sources, Gdebi and (if appropriate) Update Manager.

Mark Shuttleworth's announcement
Attendees at Atlanta Linux Fest's breakout session Ubuntucon were among the first to hear the Lucid Lynx announcement straight from Mark Shuttleworth himself.









What does it all mean
All over Ubuntu 10.04 is looking to be an amazing release!

 DIGG this 

24 comments:

  1. Du har en lille fejl i den første linje med nogen versions numre :)

    Men ellers fedt at se fremad mere end 3-4 dage :)

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  2. "Although Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) isn't out the door yet, let's take a look at what's coming in Ubuntu 9.10 (Lucid Lynx)."
    Oops read it carefully OR Write (type) it carefully mister.

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  3. Akram & cmol -> Oops, Thanks for the heads up ;-)

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  4. All I can say is that I'm waiting for Gnome 3.
    Though, we'll see that happening probably in 10.10 release.
    Stability, maturity (LTS after all) and soft-looking desktop is important as well but not what a geek will ask :)

    Anyways, I'm looking forward to Lucid.
    One thing is certain, it'll attract many more users in Ubuntu and Linux in general.

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  5. "these are matters of taste and there are no correct answers".....

    Therefore once again we have selected turd brown as the default. Smells delicious!

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. I have a feeling that this release is going to totally ROCK dude!

    RT
    www.anonymous.ua.tc

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  8. Looks cool. I am not a big linux user but I like the look of the shell on this, maybe it can be something to play with on my netbook.

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  9. each release of ubuntu is better than previous :)

    way to go, ubuntu

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  10. Will I finally be able to get my headset to work properly with Wine?

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  11. When you get the opportunity to release a better linux under the name 'Lynx', it should be really, really, good. You're only going to get to do that once! I'm a proud Ubuntu adopter for 2 years now, and will never go back to MS bullshit. My one request is make it easier to install software!

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  12. Under the hood Ubuntu 10.04 will also be switching to using a swap file, instead of a separate partition. This will allow on-the-fly resizing.

    bad idea, this is a windows feature we do not want

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  13. "the Software Center will expanded its features and will replace Synaptic"

    Ugh no please. Software center sucks if you want to install/uninstall more than 3 packages. Too many steps, too many tabs stealing focus, too slow.

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  14. Please include driver support for GMA500!!! My netbook runs ubuntu waaaaay to slow.

    Electric Cigarette Inc

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  15. I use Ubuntu everyday, both at work and at home. Thank you to everyone who contributes to Ubuntu, GNU/Linux, F/OSS, Wine, great job!!

    With that being said, I'd like to put some emphasis on a couple of issues in hopes of drawing more attention to them.

    1.) Webcam/Voice chat - while I am able to get this working on my Linux machine, the setup should get a lot easier... Lot's of people use their desktop machine to do this, so it needs some more polish (hopefully sooner rather than later).

    2.) Multiple monitors - don't get me wrong, Ubuntu has come a long way with multi-monitors in just a few releases. I went from using xrandr (and xorg.conf tweaks) to using the GUI "Display" settings utility
    to setup an external monitor.. this is great progress. But what I'd like to suggest is that the external monitor be able have an individually set wallpaper and have better handling of higher resolution monitors.

    Looking forward to future releases of Ubuntu! I'll be right here waiting to run the upgrade!

    Free yourself! Use Ubuntu and GNU/Linux!

    Shannon VanWagner
    humans enabled

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  16. Hey MadsRH, I saw Michael Forrest's blog to take a look in the statement you cited in the "Artwork" topic above, but did not see it. Could you please give the link of your source to this phrase? Thk U.

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  17. Mestre -> http://mikebuntu.blogspot.com/2009/09/on-ubuntu-910-default-wallpaper.html

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  18. The Ubuntu 10.04 release is near. Recently the Ubuntu 10.04 final version was made avaialble to testers for testing.It is also known as Lucid Lynx. This technology supports kernel mode-setting for Linux kernel image boot more fluid between the boot and start X server. I am a Linux- Ubuntu user and I am very much eager to get the Ubuntu 10.04. I got the information about this from:
    http://www.techarena.in/news/27123-ubuntu-1004-lucid-lynx-made-available-testers.htm

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  19. What can we expect in the next version of Ubuntu? Things that have been in Fedora for a year.

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  20. 10 second boot times? just downloaded Lynx, and my bootchart time is down to 52 seconds. You should put down the crack pipe before you write these articles.

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  21. Sherman - "...10 Seconds...Some people's machines will be slower, some will be faster."

    Maybe you should put your pipe down and read the article?

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  22. i am currently testing beta 2. Feels good but some bugs are there. Can't say until LTS is released,

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