Ubuntu Lucid about future
Known for its idiosyncratic naming conventions, Ubuntu will call its next release of the popular Linux operating system, Lucid Lynx.
Canonical head and Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth said over the past weekend that the Lucid Lynx, or Ubuntu 10.04, desktop would still be based on the Gnome 2 desktop environment and that the release following Lucid Lynx would use the Gnome 3.0 desktop.
The popular Gnome 2 desktop is nearing the end of its life and developers have already begun work on its successor. Shuttleworth said that the Lucid Lynx release would have the “best” of Gnome 2.
Long-term support
Lucid Lynx is the third of the Ubuntu long-term support (LTS) releases which are supported for three years on the desktop and five years on the server.
Traditionally LTS releases are more conservative than the standard releases as they are expected to be used in mostly enterprise environments. LTS releases also focus a little more on the server capabilities than the standard six-monthly releases and Lucid Lynx is no exception. In previous releases the start of cloud computing services were introduced to Ubuntu, in Lucid, said Shuttleworth, there will be a significant focus on cloud computing. He said that Lucid Lynx would take the “scalability heritage of Debian and push that into cloud computing. We want Lucid Lynx to be the platform for anyone building large scale web infrastructure.”
Regular releases
Ubuntu was one of the first operating systems to adopt a fast-paced release schedule, opting to release new versions every six months, interspersed with occasional long-term support releases for enterprise users. Shuttleworth said that this had proved to be a successful strategy.
“In practising the art of building Ubuntu and creating this enormous community, we’ve not lost sight of the importance of delivering all of that goodness from all of those many communities on a predictable cadence,” he said. “Delivering Ubuntu
10.04 as an LTS, is the definitive proof that that two-year cadence works.”
Desktop
The Ubuntu desktop, which is based on the Gnome interface, has been criticised over the past year for being “dated”. Shuttleworth has regularly said that the development team was working to update its appearance but to date the changes have been relatively few.
Announcing Lucid Lynx, Shuttleworth made little mention of the direction for the desktop, saying only that it would be built on Gnome 2 and subsequent releases would be based on Gnome 3. As a long-term support release that makes sense but many desktop users will be disappointed at the slow pace of change, with an interface overhaul only looking likely in late 2010.
Lucid Lynx, otherwise known as Ubuntu 10.04, is scheduled for release in April 2010. It’s predecessor, Karmic Koala, will be released next month.
Ubuntu Lucid Lynx – discussion
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