Ubuntu 8.04 hardy heron released

[madokie]

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/blogs/mcallister_on_software/145054/ubuntu_804_released.html

Ubuntu 8.04 Released

More Business Center Blogs The latest version of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution was officially released to the public today after the customary beta-test period. This version is designated "LTS," for "long-term support," which should make it attractive to business customers who prefer a longer upgrade cycle for their operating systems.

Ubuntu 8.04 is available in a version tailored for server systems, but in the past it has been the desktop version that has garnered the most attention. The new release should be no different, as it includes a number of improvements for desktop users -- most notably, a new installer that allows the OS to coexist on a Windows computer without partitioning or re-formatting the hard drive.

As is customary for Linux distributions, Ubuntu 8.04 includes incremental updates to many of the software packages that make up the system, from low-level details like the window manager and graphics subsystem, all the way up to the bundled OpenOffice.org productivity suite. The new release is also the first to ship with the Firefox 3.0 browser, which is currently still in late-stage beta testing. Despite some bleeding-edge additions to the package, my early testing of Ubuntu 8.04 showed it to be a remarkably stable and well-polished Linux desktop.

Full disclosure: I've tried many different desktop Linux distributions, but Ubuntu remains my personal favorite. I will definitely be upgrading the Ubuntu partition on the computer from which I write this, just as soon as I'm able.

[hunter]

1. Ubuntu 8.04 is a keeper.

Of course my own personal favorite is Debian, since it's more of computer enthusiast's paradise, but its close sibling Ubuntu is solid.

With each new Linux or BSD release I begin to feel more certain that Microsoft Windows is a dead end operating system, and that eventually Microsoft will be forced to do something like Apple did and build Windows upon on code supported by the Open Source community. They could do this by either opening up their own Windows code, or by building it on top of BSD or Linux.

If they don't, the process of keeping Windows up to date and competitive with operating systems that are open and freely distributed is going to become even more expensive, tangled, and troublesome than it is now. Pigs can't fly.

[RoyGBiv]

2. A bit of an irritant ...

Not trying to knock Debian or Ubuntu, but this is rather annoying.

Luciano Bello discovered that the random number generator in Debian's
openssl package is predictable. This is caused by an incorrect
Debian-specific change to the openssl package (CVE-2008-0166). As a
result, cryptographic key material may be guessable.

This is a Debian-specific vulnerability which does not affect other
operating systems which are not based on Debian. However, other systems
can be indirectly affected if weak keys are imported into them.

More ...