Vlogcanic

Hardy Heron’s fifth alpha release is scheduled for release today, but if you are running something like alpha 4 chances are you already noticed a kernel upgrade and of many packages in your system as well, including the new art for the desktop wallpaper which is really beautiful. It’s barely two months now before Hardy Heron’s final release is presented to the world so Mark Shuttleworth has notified the Ubuntu developing community that the time to think about the next step in Ubuntu’s history is now.

In a mail to the Ubuntu developers the distro’s founder unveiled the code name for version 8.10: Intrepid Ibex.

One of the goals for the Ibex will be to set it up to take advantage from the pervasive internet signals found almost everywhere these days so your roaming goat can get internet access using a variety of wireless technologies wherever you may find yourself.

This is interesting, specially taking into account the tumultuous relationship that Linux and WiFi have had over the years (let alone Bluetooth). So the Ubuntu enthusiasts all over the world have something to look forward to even if Hardy Heron hasn’t been properly released yet.

The development summit is planned for next May in Prague. Let’s see what transpires in the meantime.

The Debian Project announced the third update to their flagship stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 4.0.

This is not a new distribution but rather the release of a series of new packages for updating Debian systems already in place through Debian’s package manager and there are no new .iso images available for download –but there could come up in the days ahead.

While this is relevant mainly for users who already are using this distro, it could end up being very important for other users as well, given Debian’s huge influence in the free software world and the amount of distros using it as a development base.

Some of the interesting changes are:

• Complete removal of the Adobe Flash Player. The reason given is that Debian cannot get or give security support for it since it’s not an open source piece of software. Chances are that the project’s interpretation of the GPL license played a roll there too.
• New packages with modules for newer kernel support. These include drivers for nvidia graphics cards.
• Lots of bugfixes and security fixes.

Debian is known for their quality control and strong emphasis on stability. Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 was released last april and the current update is the third one.