* Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) reaches end-of-life on October 28, 2012 * Ubuntu Open Week for Quantal: Call for Instructors * Quetzal is taking flight & update on Ubuntu secure boot plans * Quantal Quetzal 12.10 Beta Freeze now in effect * Amazon search results in the Dash * Welcome New Members and Developers * Announcing the Ubuntu App Showdown community winners * Ubuntu Stats * Ubuntu in Oregon * Ubuntu Brazilian Community at Latinoware 2012 * Ubuntu Michigan Global Jam 2012 * A visit to FREE GEEK, Portland, OR (2012.07.24) * Privacy for blueprints enabled for beta testers * Catch me at build a cloud day at the Ohio Linuxfest * Rafal Cieslak: How becoming an Ubuntu Member changed my view on Ubuntu Community (and vice-versa) * Michael Hall: Help Wanted - Build a new documentation portal for Ubuntu App Developers * Ubuntu App Developer Blog: Humble Indie Bundle 6 coming to the Ubuntu Software Center * Nicholas Skaggs: Getting your bug fixed; the art of bug shepherding * Brendan Donegan: Filing bugs in Launchpad from the terminal (rapidement!) * Chris Wilson: Hello Planet Ubuntu, the Hundred Papercuts project needs your help * Canonical News * Desktop Linux: Has Ubuntu's Unity Surpassed the Mac? * In The Blogosphere * In Other News * Other Articles of Interest * Featured Audio and Video * Weekly Ubuntu Development Team Meetings * Upcoming Meetings and Events * Updates and Security for 8.04, 10.04, 11.04, 11.10 and 12.04 * And much more!
== General Community News ==
=== Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) reaches end-of-life on October 28, 2012 ===
Kate Stewart of Canonical reminds the community that support for Ubuntu 11.04 will end on October 28, 2012 and that Ubuntu 11.10 continues to be "actively supported with security updates and select high-impact bug fixes." Stewart therefore recommends using the "supported path from Ubuntu 11.04 to Ubuntu 11.10." Instructions for the upgrade are available at the following link: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OneiricUpgrades
=== Ubuntu Open Week for Quantal: Call for Instructors ===
Jose Antonio Rey announces Ubuntu Open Week for Quantal to be held from October 24th-26th and puts out a call for instructors who are willing to participate. Anyone interested can contact Jose Antonio Rey (JoseeAntonioR on #ubuntu-classroom-backstage on freenode, joseeantonior at ubuntu dot com) or Philip Ballew (philballew on ubuntu-classroom-backstage on freenode, philipballew at ubuntu dot com).
Open Week will last for three days; the first two days will consist of IRC sessions, and the third day will be dedicated to Ubuntu On Air! sessions. More information about Ubuntu Open Week can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek
=== Quetzal is taking flight & update on Ubuntu secure boot plans ===
Jon Melamut of Canonical discusses changes in the support for secure boot. Melamut explains that Canonical's first decision was EFILinux boot loader, but then had an opportunity to discuss the GRUB 2 licensing concerns with the Free Software Foundation. Following this meeting with the FSF, Canonical felt their concerns were addressed, and the decision was made stay with GRUB 2 ,which will be used in Ubuntu 12.04.2 and Ubuntu 12.10 by default.
=== Quantal Quetzal 12.10 Beta Freeze now in effect ===
Kate Stewart of Canonical reminds Ubuntu developers that the Beta freeze for Quantal Quetzal is in effect. Stewart highlights that if there are any urgent bugs to be fixed, developers should tag them with rls-q-incoming tag. Also, Stewart reminds developers to check their blueprints, and to submit any information to be added to the technical overview for Beta 2.
Mark Shuttleworth discusses the recent change to the Unity Dash for the development version of 12.10, to display search results from Amazon, writing that it "makes perfect sense to integrate Amazon search results in the Dash, because the Home Lens of the Dash should let you find *anything* anywhere. Over time, we'll make the Dash smarter and smarter, so you can just ask for whatever you want, and it will Just Work."
Shuttleworth goes on to respond to some of the main questions and comments from people since this change made it into the 12.10 release, including "Why are you putting ads in Ubuntu?" "I want to control what is searched on the Home Lens" and "This is just a moneymaking scheme."
== Community Acknowledgments and Success Stories ==
=== Announcing the Ubuntu App Showdown community winners ===
David Planella of Ubuntu App Developers announces the community vote winners of the recently held Ubuntu App Showdown. First place went to the application Ridual, a dual pane file manager. Second place belongs to Orthcal, a tool to stay up to date with the daily Eastern Orthodox Feasts (supports the Julian calendar as well). Third place belongs to Cuttlefish, an application which allows you to set up actions and reactions to computer events, such as unplugging a USB device.
* English (United Kingdom) (10401) -376 over last week * Spanish (12898) +514 over last week * English (Australia) (17787) -1457 over last week * Brazilian Portuguese (37856) -74 over last week * German (48684) -314 over last week
Ubuntu Brainstorm is a community site geared toward letting you add your ideas for Ubuntu. You can submit your own idea, or vote for or against another idea. http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/
Benjamin Kerensa shares how he spent one afternoon visiting local libraries to distribute brochures and Ubuntu CDs in order to grow awareness of "not only the Ubuntu User (and Contributor) community in Oregon but also the amount of people using Free Open Source Software in general."
Kerensa informs us that anyone needing help getting started with Ubuntu can visit Ubuntu Oregon web site http://www.ubuntu-oregon.org/. Kerensa also reminds about the Ubuntu 12.10 release party to be held in October. Anyone interested visiting the party can RSVP at the following link: http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/ubuntu-us-or/1964/detail/
=== Ubuntu Brazilian Community at Latinoware 2012 ===
Thiago Hillebrandt shares details about Latinoware 2012, which will be held from October 17th-19th. Hillebrandt also informs us about the Ubuntu Brazilian community attendees, as well as their presenters and topics to be featured at the conference, including: Ubuntu packaging, games on Linux, Unity, and much more.
Craig Maloney reports how the Michigan team spent their Ubuntu Global Jam. Maloney states that his friends Gib and Robert played with getting the new version of Ubuntu running on their machines, while Maloney went through askubuntu.com to help answer some questions. "All in all, it was a pretty productive Jam, and we can't wait for the next one!"
=== A visit to FREE GEEK, Portland, OR (2012.07.24) ===
Kevin Cole writes on the blog for the Washington D.C. LoCo about his visit in July, while in Portland, OR, to Free Geek, a company that recycles hardware and sells used computers with free software, including Ubuntu. Cole describes the volunteer orientation tour he attended there and also interviews recycling co-coordinator Darryl Kan about e-cycling and more.
=== Privacy for blueprints enabled for beta testers ===
Deryck Hodge of Launchpad describes the new privacy feature for blueprints recently enabled for beta testers. "For projects with a commercial subscription on Launchpad, this means blueprints can now be set to proprietary or embargoed."
Hodge states: "Enjoy privacy for blueprints, beta testers! And please file bugs on any issues you find."
=== Kubuntu: KDE Plasma Workspaces, Applications and Platform 4.8.5 Updates Released For All 12.04 Users ===
Kubuntu team announces that "KDE SC 4.8.5 has completed post-release quality assurance testing and is now available in the precise-updates repository for all Kubuntu 12.04 users."
=== Rafal Cieslak: How becoming an Ubuntu Member changed my view on Ubuntu Community (and vice-versa) ===
Rafal Cieslak writes about changes to his role as a participant in the Ubuntu community since becoming an official member, including: being a trustworthy person after becoming an Ubuntu community member, appreciation, confidence, greater responsibility, and becoming a representative.
Cieslak concludes: "These "unofficial benefits" are actually what gives me power to be as awesome member of the community as I can!"
=== Michael Hall: Help Wanted - Build a new documentation portal for Ubuntu App Developers ===
Michael Hall puts out a call for front end developers who are familiar with CSS, HTML and Javascript, and back end developers who are familiar with Python and Django to help on a project called Gnome Developer Network. The project can be found at the following link: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-api-website
=== Ubuntu App Developer Blog: Humble Indie Bundle 6 coming to the Ubuntu Software Center ===
The sixth Humble Indie Bundle will be available at the Ubuntu Software Center. David Planella of the Ubuntu Developer blog shares a presentation of the games and how to get them.
=== Nicholas Skaggs: Getting your bug fixed; the art of bug shepherding ===
Nicholas Skaggs writes steps how to report a bug to be fixed which include:
* If you don't know how to file a good bug, ask first! * File a good bug, using your newly formed knowledge. * Get someone else to confirm it. * Answer questions promptly when asked by others. * Get your bug triaged. * Help debug, test, and confirm and fixes that are made for your issue. * Remember no one will care about your bug as much as you do.
=== Nicholas Skaggs: Call for Testing: Unity 6.6 and Lenses ===
Nicholas Skaggs highlights specific features which landed in Unity 6.6, and puts out a call to the community for testing. Features needing testing are: improved Window and workspace management, all launcher icons can be reordered, new shopping lens. "In support of this late landing code, the Unity development team is asking for some extra testing on these specific features." The site for testing can be found at the following link: http://packages.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/237/builds/23813/testcases
=== Brendan Donegan: Filing bugs in Launchpad from the terminal (rapidement!) ===
Brendan Donegan writes about his experiences on his day-to-day job at Canonical with emphasis on his work at Launchpad. Donegan expresses discomfort with Launchpad because it doesn't meet his needs for bug filing, so he wrote a script which will help him and others on the future work with bugs. Donegan points out that "you may install the latest version of it for Precise using:
=== Phillip Kern: IPv6 support in Debian Installer, take 2 ===
Phillip Kern shares that "IPv6 patch set for netcfg (part of debian-installer) has landed in Debian unstable." Kern points out changes he put in the patch including: DUID-LL usage drop out, work with SLAAC and netcfg. Kern also points out bugs and problems related to the IPv6 patch including:
* DUID generated in the debian-installer environment is not copied into the installed system * DHCPv6 client will not time out and continuously retry to get an address * netcfg/use_autoconfig does not work correctly * The installer does not show in the mirror list if a mirror is IPv6-capable
=== Chris Wilson: Hello Planet Ubuntu, the Hundred Papercuts project needs your help ===
Chris Wilson has recently taken over leadership of the Hundred Papercuts project and is exploring ways to breathe new life into this way of contributing to Ubuntu. The link to the newly created wiki page can be found in the article.
Kyle McDonald of Canonical informs us that the OpenStack Foundation has been launched recently, and highlights the role of Canonical within OpenStack development. Also, McDonald highlights why Canonical and Ubuntu are "number one" for OpenStack with the following assertion: "Ubuntu Cloud Archive, unique to Ubuntu, it gives users the chance to run new versions of OpenStack as they are released, with full maintenance and support from Canonical, in the Ubuntu OS, even if they want to stay on the last LTS release. The best way to build your OpenStack cloud is through the proven, rock-solid combination of OpenStack and Ubuntu."
=== Desktop Linux: Has Ubuntu's Unity Surpassed the Mac? ===
Bruce Byfield of Datamation leads us through Ubuntu's journey from 2008 when "Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu and Canonical, challenged the crowd at OSCON with the following question: Can we not only emulate, but can we blow right past Apple?" through today.
Byfield also includes Ubuntu vs. Mac comparison:
* Launcher vs. Dash * Ubuntu Dash vs. OS X Finder / Spotlight
Byfield concludes: "If you value an interface for its configuration options and its ability to meet the needs of users with varying degrees of experience, then you are more likely to conclude that Unity still has a ways to go before it can match much less overtake OS X."
Damien Oh of Make Tech Easier takes a look at Ubuntu 12.10 Beta 1 in this review filled with screenshots and details about major changes, including LVM and full disk encryption support in the installer, new login screen, removal of Unity 2D, previews in the Dash, and more.
=== Messaging Menu update adds "remove" option, new status icons ===
Joey Sneddon of OMG! Ubuntu! highlights some changes landing in the messaging menu in the upcoming 12.10 release, including showing of chat status in the panel icon itself.
Slashdot user jones_supa highlights an Intel graphics bug that has caused problems for many 12.04 users and asks if someone "possibly could offer some detective work to help the OSS community find and apply the correct fix?"
=== Unity 6.6.0 released in Ubuntu 12.10, gets new animations and 2 new lenses ===
Andrew of Webupd8 covers the landing of Unity 6.6.0 in Ubuntu 12.10, including some polish and new animation, updates to existing lenses like Gwibber, and two new lenses including the Unity Shopping Lens.
=== Popular 2D Game Engine 'GameMaker' to Support Ubuntu ===
Nitesh of Ubuntu Vibes reports that YoYo Games' 2D game engine GameMaker will soon feature an option to export to Ubuntu, "similar to what Unity 4.0 game engine is doing."
Michael Larabel of Phoronix brings "benchmarks showing some of the performance improvements made -- and regressions -- in upstream GCC and the Linux kernel that can be found when upgrading to the forthcoming Ubuntu 12.10." These benchmarks are related with AMD FX "Bulldozer" processors.
Canonical's employees are discussing Ubuntu's role in OpenStack which includes: bringing the best open source technology to the world, foundation of OpenStack, Ubuntu being a developing platform for OpenStack development and much more.
The Ubuntu community consists of individuals and teams, working on different aspects of the distribution, giving advice and technical support, and helping to promote Ubuntu to a wider audience. No contribution is too small, and anyone can help. It's your chance to get in on all the community fun associated with developing and promoting Ubuntu. http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate
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