Ubuntu Feisty Fawn Drawing Near

daria42 writes "Ubuntu developers are finalizing preparations for the release of the next version — dubbed Feisty Fawn — of the popular Linux distribution in mid-April. Overnight, Ubuntu developer Tollef Fog Heen announced Ubuntu's main software repository had been frozen — with no changes allowed to the code — as developers got ready to issue a fifth major test version ("Herd 5") of the next version of Ubuntu."

AWW damn!!

[by Anonymous Coward]

Fuck, I just spent $399 on Vista Ultimate!!!!

Re:AWW damn!!

[MartinG (52587)]

No.

What is illegal is abusing monopoly power in one area to force your way into another.

So bundling MS office with Windows would be illegal because they own and control both and are a monopoly. Ubuntu is nowhere near a monopoly.

I'm using feisty since herd 1

[vivaoporto (1064484)]

And I can say is that Feisty is a big improvement over Edgy, both in hardware support and software "smoothness". It is a pity that Xorg 7.2 will not be ready for Feisty launch, but this is certainly a candidate to bring an alternative to Windows on the Desktop.

X.org 7.2 will (perhaps) be in feisty

[MrvFD (711808)]

Actually Xorg 7.2 is currently on its way to feisty, thanks to efforts by a community member, working together with Debian and helped by some Ubuntu core developers: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/200 7-February/023252.html [ubuntu.com]

The xserver-xorg-core is already version at 7.2 (or "1.2") now, with the rest of the modules going in gradually. With the modularity of X.org nowadays, it's not certain that all the newest driver work will be in, though. For example the ati driver has seen only some important patches backported to feisty, while there has been a lot of development and reworking without a proper release of xserver-xorg-video-ati lately.

Re:X.org 7.2 will (perhaps) be in feisty

[lavid (1020121)]

I'm pretty sure the X.org 7.2 merge is pretty close to complete. It borked a bunch of stuff, beryl, compiz, 3d stuffs, when they only half merged it with the repos last week. From what I see right now all the X.org drivers (except fglrx, ATI's proprietary driver) are at 7.2 as are the xorg server bins. I'm sure there are some modules still to be upgraded especially since Compiz hasn't worked for me since last week. There are plenty of threads about this on http://www.ubuntuforums.org/ [ubuntuforums.org].

Why Xorg 7.2 is so important?

[pato101 (851725)]

Please would you point major features of Xorg 7.2 so it is a pity it does not get included? (not pretending to troll, I'm just ignorant).

Re:Why Xorg 7.2 is so important?

[squiggleslash (241428)]

I've never used it, but I believe the usual pattern is that the latest version of something contains the device drivers for the one device you need support for, except that it's actually for a similarly named chipset from the same company and doesn't actually work with your card, but it does feel slightly faster, but has a whopping great memory leak that means you have to reboot your computer every few days.

Windows users, take note:

[ABoerma (941672)]

You know you've stumbled into an *NIX-centric discussion when people say 'reboot every few days' like it's a bad thing.

Re:Why Xorg 7.2 is so important?

[jeevesbond (1066726)]

There are some details on the release page [freedesktop.org] on the Freedesktop wiki.

From that page:

X11R7.2 supports Linux, BSD, Solaris, Microsoft Windows and GNU Hurd systems. It incorporates significant stability and correctness fixes, including improved autoconfiguration heuristics, enhanced support for GL-based compositing managers such as Compiz and Beryl, and improved support for PCI systems with multiple domains. It also incorporates the new, more extensible XACE security policy framework.

Release notes should be on the download page [x.org], they're marked 'forthcoming' at the moment, but wait a day or two and they should appear.

No changes allowed

[Bob54321 (911744)]

Ubuntu's main software repository had been frozen -- with no changes allowed to the code

As opposed to freezes where you are allowed to change things...

Re:No changes allowed

[plover (150551)]

Our standard joke regarding code freezes at work is "If this is a freeze, I wouldn't walk on it."

But I suppose you have to be from a place where they do a lot of ice fishing before that joke makes any sense at all.

Re:No changes allowed

[jeevesbond (1066726)]

This might sound harsh, but they don't care whether you know what a code freeze is. In fact if you don't know what that is why are you reading Slashdot?!

It's not like Microsoft, Canonical didn't create some press-release to tell everyone: 'We're freezing our codebase! Make sure all technical journals know!'

This story got on to Slashdot because of geeks avidly following Ubuntu's development process, which--unlike Windows--is totally open. If you don't know what a code freeze is: don't worry, just wait for the release. The fact you don't know is not Canonical's fault or problem.

If you do want to know: first imagine all the software projects Ubuntu uses (the Synaptic package manager on my system tells me I've currently got access to 20,304 bits of software, so much for the old: 'There isn't any software available for Linux' argument). When the devs start working on a release they use the newest versions of whatever software is available. As the new version of Ubuntu nears release though they have to be certain all the software will work together, so they do what's called a 'code freeze'.

A code freeze means they don't use any newer versions of software that are made available. They just make sure that whatever is now in the software repositories works. The reason for this is to stop any unforseen incompatibilities creeping in when a new version of a software package is used.

Here's a scenario:

The devs are working on the new version of Ubuntu: Happy Hippo. A new version of Firefox (no pedants, I am aware of the policy regarding Firefox, this is just a common software package and something the reader will identify with. No corrections needed!) has been created since the last release, so they import it into the software repositories. Call it: Version 2.

Before the code freeze a new version of Firefox is released (v2.1), with an autoPr0n feature many people love. This is imported into the new version of Ubuntu: Happy Hippo.

The code freeze happens... But a new version of Firefox is released afterwards (v2.2), with an enhanced autoPr0n feature (many people are calling this the next 'killer app'). Unfortunately, this is after the code freeze, so the new version of Firefox does not get imported.

Imagine if the devs didn't do the code freeze, and the new enhanced autoPr0n feature (in v2.2) caused a problem with The GIMP. But the devs had already checked Firefox, but not the latest version.

So the code freeze is necessary, although you don't necessarily need to know about it. :)

Skip this one

[pkspks (881839)]

I'll wait for the "zombie zebra"

Been using it for about a month...

[physicsnick (1031656)]

I've been beta-testing Kubuntu Feisty for about a month now, and it's amazing. It's already a huge improvement over Edgy. Everything is so intuitive and easy to use; Feisty is going to kick ass.

Some of the new stuff they've added are a new wireless network manager by default, big improvements to the package installation system, easy codec/flash installation, lots of user interface tweaks... It looks so polished now, I love it.

Here are the Herd release announcements, containing a subset of the changes Feisty brings:
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/FeistyFawn/Herd1/Kubuntu [kubuntu.org]
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/FeistyFawn/Herd2/Kubuntu [kubuntu.org]
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/FeistyFawn/Herd3/Kubuntu [kubuntu.org]
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/FeistyFawn/Herd4/Kubuntu [kubuntu.org]

Breaking news!

[jotaeleemeese (303437)]

Feisy Fawn is even closer as I type!

Tollef Fog Heen came back from lunch and just turned on his screen. Now that is progress.

Oh man, we live excilarating times.

Please check back for updates:

In one hour Tollef Fog Heen will finish to write an email.

In three hours Tollef Fog Heen will complete one icon missing in one of the menus in the graphic installer.

In 5 hours Tollef Fog Heen goes home. Nooooooo! Ubuntu development stalled! Stop the presses....

Must be said

[Necreia (954727)]

"Ubuntu Feisty Fawn Drawing Near"

> Command? (A)ttack (S)pell (I)tem (R)un:

Re:Frozen code?

[Trip Ericson (864747)]

It merely means that the code and repos have been frozen in order to allow for anything that's broken to be fixed and made ready for a public, stable release.

Development continues anyway, just that the code for this release has been frozen except for bug fixes.

At least, that's my understanding of it.

Re:Frozen code?

[jimstapleton (999106)]

it's not perma-frozen, and the actual projects aren't stopped.

It's the version of the code that is in the repository specifically for ubuntu that is frozen. This is a common release process to make sure everything is relatively solid and stable. It happens on most OSS OSes as they go through the final stages of testing and planning.

Re:Fast going cold on Ubuntu

[Trip Ericson (864747)]

Your problems sound more like Gnome problems than Ubuntu problems; I should know, I didn't like Ubuntu on my first shot because I'm partial toward KDE (which I had going on Fedora). I made the switch to Kubuntu and haven't looked back.

It combines the wonderful Ubuntu codebase and DEB packaging system with the KDE interface. I certainly recommend you try it.

Re:Fast going cold on Ubuntu

[hey! (33014)]

You don't need to run KDE. You just need the dependencies installed. Naturally, though, if you do use KDE stuff its going to increase your memory footprint.

Maybe if you prefer KDE you should use Kubuntu. I haven't had your problems with Evolution because I use Thunderbird.

I've been using Gnome on Ubuntu; I started out preferring KDE strongly, but after using Gnome for a while ... I still prefer KDE. But I understand the point of Gnome. It's not that one is perfect and the other is trash. Adjusting from one to another simply involves a series of small irritations as your unconscious expectations are violated, until you adjust. I found the Gnome file dialogs irritating at first; but they get the job done, only in a different way than I expected.

Re:Fast going cold on Ubuntu

[pato101 (851725)]

Do not need to try Kubuntu instead: you can just install the kubuntu packages in your ubuntu install, by doing just this:

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Alternatively, you may play with xfce if you like by adding xfce packages as follows:

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

Mod Parent Up

[physicsnick (1031656)]

GP, simply hop into a terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get autoremove

No need to reinstall anything; it's that easy to switch. If you liked KDE in Mandrake, you'll surely like KDE in Kubuntu.

Re:Whatever happened to version numbers?

[Bazman (4849)]

Ubuntu version names are (now) alphabetical, so Dapper Drake preceded Edgy Eft, which precedes Feisty Fawn. The names are always Adjective Animal ('eft' is another name for a newt).

There are also version numbers, so that Edgy Eft is 6.10 (meaning year 2006, month 10). The releases are supposed to be every six months in April and October.

Barry

Re:how about WoW?

[physicsnick (1031656)]

Actually, WoW really does work right out of the box with Wine. It has entirely Gold or Platinum status on WineHQ:
http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=648 2 [winehq.org]

On that page there's a hugely overcomplicated guide on getting it working; Feisty will tremendously simplify things, especially since it comes with Wine 0.9.30. Here's how you'd install WoW in Feisty:

1) Install your video card drivers. This involves clicking Applications->Add Applications, clicking Advanced, and choosing nvidia-glx for NVidia cards or xorg-driver-fglrx for ATI. Much simpler than on Windows.
2) Restart X (press CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE).
3) Put the WoW install CD in the drive.
4) Browse to your CD-rom (/media/cdrom) and double-click Installer.exe
5) Do the Next-Next-Finish dance
6) Double click the icon on your desktop to launch the game.

So it's pretty much identical to Windows, except the CD won't autorun. :/

Re:Smoother update process?

[Quila (201335)]

that way you could just use the bittorrent protocol and it would download from the http server if there were no seeders.

Or have a server that's always seeding instead of an http server. Anyone who wants a file to be always available should have this anyway.