Slashdot Mirror
Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr Released
An anonymous reader writes with this announcement: "Ubuntu Linux version 14.04 LTS (code named "Trusty Tahr") has been released and available for download. This updated version includes the Linux kernel v3.13.0-24.46, Python 3.4, Xen 4.4, Libreoffice 4.2.3, MySQL 5.6/MariaDB 5.5, Apache 2.4, PHP 5.5, improvements to AppArmor allow more fine-grained control over application, and more. The latest release of Ubuntu Server is heavily focused on supporting cloud and scale-out computing platforms such as OpenStack, Docker, and more. As part of the wider Ubuntu 14.04 release efforts the Ubuntu Touch team is proud to make the latest and greatest touch experience available to our enthusiast users and developers. You can install Ubuntu on Nexus 4 Phone (mako), Nexus 7 (2013) Tablet (flo), and Nexus 10 Tablet (manta) by following these instructions. On a hardware front, ARM multiplatform support has been added, enabling you to build a single ARM kernel image that can boot across multiple hardware platforms. Additionally, the ARM64 and Power architectures are now fully supported. See detailed release notes for more information. A quick upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu is possible over the network."
given Shuttleworth's complete and utter contempt for the open source community.
Where are you getting that from? Shuttleworth has done nothing but help the open source community in every way imaginable.
Ubuntu *did* (past tense) an amazing amount for the community, and for a long time Ubutunu was justifiably the dominant distribution because they gave people what they wanted (as you more or less said, it was the first distro that was super user-friendly). I do give them props for that.
Then it all went to Shuttleworth's head, and he started thinking he could dictate to the Linux world what we would all use. That's when many Linux users started abandoning Shutttleworth/Canonincal and going to distributions that actually cared: there's a reason why (on many distribution watchlists at least) Mint has surpassed Ubuntu.
I'll be upgrading all of our Ubuntu 12.04 machines (and many 10.04 servers) over the coming months, and I'm looking forward to the changes.
Canonical and Ubuntu have done more for desktop Linux than any other company I can think of. I look forward to their regular releases, strong committment to patches, and easy, reliable upgrades. As a sysadmin, they've made my life much easier on both server and desktop. Predictable releases and solid relationships with Dell, IBM, and HP mean that I can buy almost server or laptop and know that it will "just work."
Thank you to the developers, backers, hackers, and community.
Yes, how dare an open source project dream of one day not being a black hole money pit.
The flip side of that is that Canonical has been pretty clear that they're not building this for their existing users but rather to get new users on phones, tablets, phablets, convertibles, touchscreen laptops, TVs and whatnot other household devices. To trot out the old Henry Ford quote, if I asked my users what they'd wanted they'd say a faster horse. Well that's you, you want a better "classic" desktop the way it's been for the last 20 years or so but the users they have is 1% of a declining PC market that's being swarmed by other non-PC devices. That's why they won't listen when you complain that they're trying to put a steering wheel and pedals on your horse cart, they're trying to build a car and going back on that is clearly a step backwards compared to their goals.
Yes, he's trying to be Steve Jobs just like Google is, just like Microsoft is and when giants like that throw their weight around it's easy to get flung into irrelevance which is why the new business isn't exactly rolling in and the old business is cranky. Particularly now when Android has rolled in almost everywhere he wanted Ubuntu to be. He could just tuck his tail between his legs, admit defeat and say we'll be building a desktop of the geeks, by the geeks, for the geeks and that's that. Or at least aim the sights back to Microsoft, the old archenemy even though Ubuntu never managed to get very far there. But my impression is that he's too ambitious and stubborn to do that, besides "We're making this new Unity thing that no one wants and we'll force it on our users before its ready" sounds like GNOME 3, KDE 4 and a bunch of other projects so he fits right in.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings