Posted 11/03/09 at 03:56:09 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Exactly a week after the much anticipated launch of Windows 7, Canonical rolled out Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala). Although it may not have been as keenly awaited as Windows 7, Karmic Koala's launch was special for a particular demographic that romances Linux, and especially its subset that dotes on Ubuntu. But early adopters of the latest Ubuntu release are having a torrid time.

Excited users have been rewarded with a plethora of problems in exchange of their bravura and enthusiasm. Karmic Koala's poor handling of graphics drivers - blank and flickering screens are quite common - and its failure to install the latest 2.6.31 Linux kernel figure prominently on the list of flaws. Also, the latest version of Ubuntu is not too good at spotting hard drives, according to initial reports.

According to a poll on Ubuntuforums.org, more than one-third of about 1,500 people polled so far have encountered some major flaws. Users upgrading to 9.10 are experiencing more issues than those opting for a fresh install.

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Posted 10/29/09 at 04:25:26 PM by Bart Salisbury

Making good on its promise, Canonical is right now pushing out the door version 9.10 of Ubuntu, the infamous “Karmic Koala.” Ubuntu is one of the more popular renditions of open source Linux, that small, but dedicated, niche in the operating system universe that follows the path less taken.

And quite the path it is. Renai LeMay, of Cnet News, judged the current version, 9.04, to be “as slick and beautiful as Mac OS X and Windows 7.” Version 9.10 builds on this, adding faster boot times, a better driver for Intel integrated graphics, build in cloud storage, and a Software Centre that permits better management of applications. Ubuntu offers a suite of office applications, plus games, music, video, photo, email and chat software. And, naturally, includes Mozilla’s Firefox 3.5 for browsing the web. 

Ubuntu is at home on PC or Mac hardware, and comes in 32-bit. Ubuntu also comes in a server edition. And a netbook version, Kubuntu, is also available. Get everything you need to know about Ubuntu 9.10 from our guide.

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Posted 08/25/09 at 09:25:56 AM by Paul Lilly

Good news for open-source developers. Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu, have launched a new project called "Quickly" that purports to make the process of developing and deploying Linux much easier, Arstechnica reports. It does this by providing a framework for generating code projects, storing any changes in version control, building packages, and releasing finished software.

The project is built around a template system to help users build applications with Python and Glade. Not surprisingly, the default template -- called ubuntu-project -- is geared towards building applications for Ubuntu, but the Quickly container can support other tools and development technologies. It was designed that other templates are easy to write.

Want to try making a Quickly project yourself? Check out this tutorial.

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