110-705: The Linux Standard Base ( LSB ) was a joint project by several Linux distributions under the organizational structure of the Linux Foundation to standardize the software system structure, including the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard . LSB was based on the POSIX specification, the Single UNIX Specification (SUS), and several other open standards, but extended them in certain areas. According to LSB: The goal of
220-527: A Wayland compositor such as Sway , KDE 's KWin , or GNOME 's Mutter ), a desktop environment (most commonly GNOME , KDE Plasma , or Xfce ), a sound server (usually either PulseAudio or more recently PipeWire ), and other related programs may be included or installed by the user. Typically, most of the included software is free and open-source software – made available both as binary for convenience and as source code to allow for modifying it. A distro may also include proprietary software that
330-439: A CD with only a small amount of data on it. New users tend to begin by partitioning a hard drive in order to keep their previously installed operating system. The Linux distribution can then be installed on its own separate partition without affecting previously saved data. In a Live CD setup, the computer boots the entire operating system from CD without first installing it on the computer's hard disk. Many distributions have
440-526: A Live CD installer , where the computer boots the operating system from the disk, and it can then be installed on the computer's hard disk, providing a seamless transition from the OS running from the CD to the OS running from the hard disk. Both servers and personal computers that come with Linux already installed are available from vendors including Hewlett-Packard , Dell and System76 . On embedded devices, Linux
550-429: A Mac OS X rip-off, or worse, get sued by Apple. I believe the fans are divided right now. Some have learned to love the brown color scheme since it uniquely represents Ubuntu, while others wanted change." The naming of Ubuntu 10.10 ( Maverick Meerkat ) was announced by Shuttleworth on 2 April 2010, along with the release's goals of improving the netbook experience and a server focus on hybrid cloud computing. Ubuntu 10.10
660-409: A conscious effort to use a different operating system, and they must either perform the actual installation themselves, or depend on support from a friend, relative, or computer professional. Ubuntu version history#0904 Ubuntu releases are made semiannually by Canonical Ltd , its developers, using the year and month of the release as a version number . The first Ubuntu release, for example,
770-512: A distribution, an administrator may create a "distributionless" installation. It is possible to build such systems from scratch, avoiding distributions altogether. One needs a way to generate the first binaries until the system is self-hosting . This can be done via compilation on another system capable of building binaries for the intended target (possibly by cross-compilation ). For example, see Linux From Scratch . In broad terms, Linux distributions may be: The diversity of Linux distributions
880-537: A feature introduced in 11.10, turned on by default. Jesse Smith of DistroWatch reviewed that while many people had questioned Ubuntu's direction, he felt that the "puzzle pieces, which may have been underwhelming individually, have come together to form a whole, clear picture." He wrote that Unity had grown to maturity, was non-traditional but attractive thanks to the HUD feature and reducing mouse travel, while criticizing its lack of flexibility, unsatisfactory performance in
990-958: A graphical configuration tool for X.Org , full NTFS support (read/write) via NTFS-3G , and a revamped printing system with PDF printing by default. Compiz Fusion was enabled as default in Ubuntu 7.10 and Fast user switching was added. Ubuntu 8.04 ( Hardy Heron ), released on 24 April 2008, is Canonical's eighth release of Ubuntu and the second long-term support release. Support ended on 12 May 2011 for desktops and ended on 9 May 2013 for servers. Ubuntu 8.04 included several new features, among them Tracker desktop search integration, Brasero disk burner, Transmission BitTorrent client , Vinagre VNC client, system sound through PulseAudio , and Active Directory authentication and login using Likewise Open. In addition Ubuntu 8.04 included updates for better Tango compliance, various Compiz usability improvements, automatic grabbing and releasing of
1100-465: A means to install from a USB device, but did for the first time allow installation directly onto removable USB devices. Ubuntu 6.10 ( Edgy Eft ), released on 26 October 2006, is Canonical's fifth release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 25 April 2008. Ubuntu 6.10 added several new features including a heavily modified Human theme, Upstart init daemon, automated crash reports (Apport), Tomboy note taking application, and F-Spot photo manager. EasyUbuntu,
1210-426: A menu editor ( Alacarte ), an easy language selector, logical volume management support, full Hewlett-Packard printer support, OEM installer support, a new Ubuntu logo in the top-left, and Launchpad integration for bug reporting and software development. Ubuntu 6.06 ( Dapper Drake ), released on 1 June 2006, is Canonical's fourth release of Ubuntu, and the first long-term support (LTS) release. Ubuntu 6.06
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#17327724245701320-565: A new head-up display (HUD) feature that allows hot key searching for application menu items from the keyboard, without needing the mouse. Shuttleworth claimed that the HUD will ultimately replace menus in Unity applications. This release also switched the default media player from Banshee back to Rhythmbox and dropped the Tomboy note-taking application along with the supporting Mono framework. It also shipped with IPv6 privacy extensions ,
1430-576: A new login screen and also support for both Wacom ( hotplugging ) and netbooks . It also included a new notification system, Notify OSD , and themes . It marked the first time that all of Ubuntu's core development moved to the GNU Bazaar distributed version control system. Ubuntu 9.04 was the first version to support the ARM architecture with native support for ARMv5EL and ARMv6EL-VFP. Ubuntu 9.10 ( Karmic Koala ), released on 29 October 2009,
1540-653: A new SLS-based distribution, Slackware , was released by Patrick Volkerding . Also dissatisfied with SLS, Ian Murdock set to create a free distribution by founding Debian in August 1993, with first public BETA released in January 1994 and first stable version in June 1996. Users were attracted to Linux distributions as alternatives to the DOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems on IBM PC compatible computers, Mac OS on
1650-680: A number of third parties", and criticized the low performance and instability of the release. In early November, the Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized how the release loaded products from Amazon through HTTP , subject to eavesdropping. Jim Lynch gave a favorable review in December while noting concerns of software bloat . On 17 October 2012, Shuttleworth announced that Ubuntu 13.04 ( Raring Ringtail ) would focus on "mobile metrics, things like battery life, number of running processes, memory footprint , and polish
1760-464: A package are present (and either notify the user to install them, or install them automatically). The package can also be provided as source code to be compiled on the system. Most distributions install packages, including the kernel and other core operating system components, in a predetermined configuration. A few now require or permit configuration adjustments at first install time. This makes installation less daunting, particularly for new users, but
1870-404: A proprietary operating system or by translating proprietary API calls (e.g., calls to Microsoft's Win32 or DirectX APIs) into native Linux API calls. A virtual machine can also be used to run a proprietary OS (like Microsoft Windows) on top of Linux. Computer hardware is usually sold with an operating system other than Linux already installed by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). In
1980-493: A slideshow during the installation process (through ubiquity-slideshow) that highlights applications and features in Ubuntu. In an announcement to the community on 20 February 2009, Shuttleworth explained that 9.10 would focus on improvements in cloud computing on the server using Eucalyptus , a new theme, as well as further improvements in boot speed and development of the Ubuntu Netbook Remix . The new theme
2090-517: A specific instruction set , while some (such as Gentoo ) are distributed mostly in source code form and must be built before installation. Linus Torvalds developed the Linux kernel and distributed its first version, 0.01, in 1991. Linux was initially distributed as source code only, and later as a pair of downloadable floppy disk images: one bootable and containing the Linux kernel itself, and
2200-716: A specific application or service. Examples of packages are a library for handling the PNG image format, a collection of fonts, and a web browser . The package is typically provided as compiled code, with installation and removal of packages handled by a package management system (PMS) rather than a simple file archiver . Each package intended for such a PMS contains meta-information such as its description, version number, and its dependencies (other packages it requires to run). The package management system evaluates this meta-information to allow package searches, perform automatic upgrades to newer versions, and to check that all dependencies of
2310-422: A statement indicating that this feature is not adware and labelled many of the objections as Fear, uncertainty, and doubt . Regardless, users filed a Launchpad bug report on the feature requesting that it be made a separate lens (mode for the search engine) and not included with general desktop searches for files, directories and applications. The degree of community push-back on the issue resulted in plans by
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#17327724245702420-637: A third party program designed to make Ubuntu easier to use, was included in Ubuntu 6.10 as a meta-package. Ubuntu 7.04 ( Feisty Fawn ), released on 19 April 2007, is Canonical's sixth release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 19 October 2008. Ubuntu 7.04 included several new features, among them a migration assistant to help former Microsoft Windows users transition to Ubuntu, support for Kernel-based Virtual Machine , assisted codec and restricted drivers installation including Adobe Flash , Java , MP3 support, easier installation of Nvidia and ATI drivers, Compiz desktop effects, support for Wi-Fi Protected Access ,
2530-465: A virtual machine, and the HUD not working in many applications like LibreOffice. On 23 April 2012, Shuttleworth announced Ubuntu 12.10 ( Quantal Quetzal ) as the first of 4 releases that will culminate in LTS 14.04 and refresh the look, with work to be done on typography and iconography. The release takes its name from the quetzal , a species of Central American birds. It was released on 18 October 2012 and
2640-474: Is 9 months. Prior to 13.04, it had been 18 months. After each version of Ubuntu has reached its end-of-life time, its repositories are removed from the main Ubuntu servers and consequently the mirrors. Older versions of Ubuntu repositories and releases can be found on the old Ubuntu releases website. Ubuntu releases are also given code names , using an adjective and an animal with the same first letter – an alliteration , e.g. , "Dapper Drake". With
2750-763: Is Canonical's 11th release of Ubuntu. Support ended in April 2011. The desktop installation of Ubuntu 9.10 replaced Pidgin with Empathy Instant Messenger as its default instant messaging client. The default filesystem is ext4 , and the Ubuntu One client, which interfaces with Canonical's new online storage system, is installed by default. It introduced Grub 2 beta as its default bootloader. It also replaced Add/Remove Programs (gnome-app-install) with Ubuntu Software Center , while Canonical stated their intention to possibly replace Synaptic, Software Sources, Gdebi and Update Manager in Ubuntu 10.04. Karmic Koala also includes
2860-573: Is Canonical's 13th release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 10 April 2012. New features included the new Unity interface for the Netbook Edition, a new default photo manager, Shotwell , replacing F-Spot , the ability to purchase applications in the Software Center, and an official Ubuntu font used by default. The naming of Ubuntu 11.04 ( Natty Narwhal ) was announced on 17 August 2010 by Mark Shuttleworth. Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal
2970-482: Is Canonical's 17th release of the operating system. Support ended on 16 May 2014. The Ubuntu Developer Summit held in May 2012 forecast this release to include an improved boot up sequence and log-in screen, "wrap around" dialogs and toolbars for the head-up display, and a vanilla version of Gnome-Shell as an option while dropping Unity 2D in favor of lower hardware requirements for Unity 3D. It would ship with Python 3 in
3080-546: Is Canonical's ninth release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 30 April 2010. Ubuntu 8.10 introduced several new features including improvements to mobile computing and desktop scalability, increased flexibility for Internet connectivity, an Ubuntu Live USB creator and a guest account, which allowed others to use a computer allowing very limited user rights (e.g. accessing the Internet, using software and checking e-mail). The guest account had its own home folder and nothing done on it
3190-427: Is Eucalyptus"; see below. Ubuntu releases are often referred to using only the adjective portion of the code name, e.g. , "Feisty". Ubuntu 4.10 ( Warty Warthog ), released on 20 October 2004, is Canonical's first release of Ubuntu, building upon Debian , with plans for a new release every six months and eighteen months of support thereafter. It used the ext3 file system. Support ended on 30 April 2006. Ubuntu 4.10
3300-416: Is a Linux distribution that can be booted from removable storage media such as optical discs or USB flash drives , instead of being installed on and booted from a hard disk drive . The portability of installation-free distributions makes them advantageous for applications such as demonstrations, borrowing someone else's computer, rescue operations, or as installation media for a standard distribution. When
3410-762: Is a Linux distribution; others, such as Google engineer Patrick Brady, disagree by noting the lack of support for many GNU tools in Android, including glibc . Other Linux-kernel-based operating systems include Tizen , Mer / Sailfish OS , KaiOS and Amazon's Kindle firmware . Lightweight Linux distributions are those that have been designed with support for older hardware in mind, allowing older hardware to still be used productively, or, for maximum possible speed in newer hardware by leaving more resources available for use by applications. Examples include Tiny Core Linux , Puppy Linux and Slitaz . Other distributions target specific niches, such as: The Free Standards Group
Linux Standard Base - Misplaced Pages Continue
3520-496: Is about 3.67%. Many Linux distributions provide an installation system akin to that provided with other modern operating systems. Other distributions, including Gentoo Linux , provide only the binaries of a basic kernel, compilation tools, and an installer; the installer compiles all the requested software for the specific architecture of the user's computer, using these tools and the software's source code. Distributions are normally segmented into packages . Each package contains
3630-533: Is also registered as an official ISO / IEC international standard. ISO/IEC 23360 and ISO/IEC TR 24715 can be freely downloaded from ISO website. While LSB was a standard and without a competitor, it was followed only by few Linux distributions . For instance, only 21 distribution releases (versions) were certified for LSB version 4.0, notably Red Flag Linux Desktop 6.0, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0, SUSE Linux Enterprise 11, and Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) ; even fewer were certified for version 4.1. The LSB
3740-616: Is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro, if distributed on its own, is often obtained via a website intended specifically for the purpose. Distros have been designed for a wide variety of systems ranging from personal computers (for example, Linux Mint ) to servers (for example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux ) and from embedded devices (for example, OpenWrt ) to supercomputers (for example, Rocks Cluster Distribution ). A distro typically includes many components in addition to
3850-469: Is an organization formed by major software and hardware vendors that aims to improve interoperability between different distributions. Among their proposed standards are the Linux Standard Base , which defines a common ABI and packaging system for Linux, and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard which recommends a standard filenaming chart, notably the basic directory names found on the root of
3960-541: Is beautiful, light is ethereal, light brings clarity and comfort. Historical perspective: From 2004–2010, the theme in Ubuntu was "Human". Our tagline was "Linux for Human Beings" and we used a palette reflective of the full range of humanity. Our focus as a project was bringing Linux from the data center into the lives of our friends and global family. The new theme met with mixed critical responses. Ars Technica ' s Ryan Paul said: "The new themes and updated color palette are nice improvement for Ubuntu ... After testing
4070-671: Is due to technical, organizational, and philosophical variation among vendors and users. The permissive licensing of free software means that users with sufficient knowledge and interest can customize any existing distribution, or design one to suit their own needs. Rolling Linux distributions are kept current using small and frequent updates . The terms partially rolling and partly rolling (along with synonyms semi-rolling and half-rolling ), fully rolling , truly rolling and optionally rolling are sometimes used by software developers and users. Repositories of rolling distributions usually contain very recent software releases —often
4180-489: Is not always acceptable. For specific requirements, much software must be carefully configured to be useful, to work correctly with other software, or to be secure, and local administrators are often obliged to spend time reviewing and reconfiguring it. Some (but not all) distributions go to considerable lengths to adjust and customize the software they include, and some provide configuration tools to help users do so. By obtaining and installing everything normally provided in
4290-545: Is not available in source code form, such as a device driver binary . A distro may be described as a particular assortment of application and utility software (various GNU tools and libraries, for example), packaged with the Linux kernel in such a way that its capabilities meet users' needs. The software is usually adapted to the distribution and then combined into software packages by the distribution's maintainers. The software packages are available online in repositories , which are storage locations usually distributed around
4400-424: Is often referred to as "distro hopping". Virtual machine software such as VirtualBox and VMware Workstation virtualize hardware allowing users to test live media on a virtual machine without installing to the real system. Some websites like DistroWatch offer lists of distributions, and link to screenshots of operating systems as a way to get a first impression of various distributions. Some distributions let
4510-516: Is sometimes possible on closely related distributions. There are several ways to install a Linux distribution. The most common method of installing Linux is by booting from a live USB memory stick , which can be created by using a USB image writer application and the ISO image, which can be downloaded from various Linux distribution websites. DVD disks, CD disks, network installations and even other hard drives can also be used as "installation media". In
Linux Standard Base - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-506: Is the 22nd release of Ubuntu, and used systemd instead of Upstart by default. Jesse Smith of DistroWatch praised the stability of the release, especially amid the switch to systemd. This release also featured locally integrated menus by default, replacing the previous default global menus. This release included modest improvements in Intel Haswell graphics performance and bigger improvements for AMD Radeon graphics cards using
4730-471: Is typically held in the device's firmware and may or may not be consumer-accessible. Anaconda , one of the more popular installers, is used by Red Hat Enterprise Linux , Fedora (which uses the Fedora Media Writer ) and other distributions to simplify the installation process. Debian, Ubuntu and many others use Debian-Installer . The process of constantly switching between distributions
4840-527: The ld-lsb.so ), a number of commands and utilities that extend the POSIX standard, the layout of the file system hierarchy , run levels , the printing system, including spoolers such as CUPS and tools like Foomatic , and several extensions to the X Window System . It also specified boot facilities, such as $ local_fs , $ network , which were used to indicate service dependencies in System V -style initialization scripts. A machine readable comment block at
4950-642: The lsb-release package in Debian-based distributions. The standard stopped being updated in 2015 and current Linux distributions do not adhere to or offer it; however, the lsb_release command is sometimes still available. On February 7, 2023, a former maintainer of the LSB wrote, "The LSB project is essentially abandoned." LSB was designed to be binary-compatible and produced a stable application binary interface (ABI) for independent software vendors . To achieve backward compatibility, each subsequent version
5060-536: The Apple Macintosh , and proprietary versions of Unix . Most early adopters were familiar with Unix from work or school. They embraced Linux distributions for their low (or absent) cost, and the availability of the source code for most or all of their software. As of 2024, Linux has become more popular in server and embedded devices markets than in the desktop market. It is used in approximately 58.9% of web servers; its current operating system market share
5170-480: The Live CD and Install CD merged onto one disc, a graphical installer on Live CD ( Ubiquity ), Usplash on shutdown as well as startup, a network manager for easy switching of multiple wired and wireless connections, Humanlooks theme implemented using Tango guidelines, based on Clearlooks and featuring orange colors instead of brown, and GDebi graphical installer for package files . Ubuntu 6.06 did not include
5280-677: The Mir display server , with X11 programs to have operated through the XMir compatibility layer . However, after the development of XMir ran into "outstanding technical difficulties" for multiple monitors, Canonical decided to postpone the default use of Mir in Ubuntu. Mir was still be released as the default display server for Ubuntu Touch 13.10. Joey Sneddon of OMG Ubuntu criticized the new Smart Scopes feature, noting that internet search engines turn in more useful and better organized results and recommended selectively disabling individual scopes to reduce
5390-523: The end-user needs to use Debian's Alien program to transform them into the native package format and then install them. The LSB-specified RPM format had a restricted subset of RPM features—to block usage of RPM features that would be untranslatable to .deb with Alien or other package conversion programs, and vice versa, as each format has capabilities the other lacks. In practice, not all Linux binary packages were necessarily LSB-compliant, so while most could be converted between .rpm and .deb, this operation
5500-425: The software development process , standard releases require significant development effort to keep old versions up-to-date by propagating bug fixes back to the newest branch, versus focusing on the newest development branch . Also, unlike rolling releases, standard releases require more than one code branch to be developed and maintained, which increases the workload of the software developers and maintainers. On
5610-523: The tablet interface, specifically the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets. Ubuntu 14.04 reintroduced the ability to turn off the global menu system and use locally integrated menus instead for individual applications. Other features included a Unity 8 developers' preview, new mobile applications, a redesigned Startup Disk Creator tool, a new forked version of the GNOME Control Center called
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#17327724245705720-400: The 1990s, Linux distributions were installed using sets of floppy disks but this has been abandoned by all major distributions. By the 2000s many distributions offered CD and DVD sets with the vital packages on the first disc and less important packages on later ones. Some distributions, such as Debian also enabled installation over a network after booting from either a set of floppy disks or
5830-471: The LSB is to develop and promote a set of open standards that will increase compatibility among Linux distributions and enable software applications to run on any compliant system even in binary form . In addition, the LSB will help coordinate efforts to recruit software vendors to port and write products for Linux Operating Systems. LSB compliance might be certified for a product by a certification procedure. LSB specified standard libraries (centered around
5940-465: The Linux kernel. Commonly, it includes a package manager , an init system (such as systemd , OpenRC , or runit ), GNU tools and libraries , documentation, IP network configuration utilities, the getty TTY setup program, and many more. To provide a desktop experience (most commonly the Mesa userspace graphics drivers) a display server (the most common being the X.org Server , or, more recently,
6050-639: The Ubuntu 12.10 image would not fit on a compact disc. However, a third-party project has created a version of Ubuntu 12.10 that fits on a CD with LZMA2 compression instead of the DEFLATE compression used on the official Ubuntu DVD image. In the same month, it was announced that the version of Unity to be shipped with Ubuntu 12.10 would by default include searches from Amazon.com for searched terms. This move caused immediate controversy among Ubuntu users, particularly with regard to privacy issues and European Directive 95/46/EC , and caused Shuttleworth to issue
6160-415: The Ubuntu hardware database, Kickstart installation, and APT authentication. Beginning with Ubuntu 5.04, UTF-8 became the default character encoding . Ubuntu 5.10 ( Breezy Badger ), released on 12 October 2005, is Canonical's third release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 13 April 2007. Ubuntu 5.10 added several new features including a graphical bootloader ( Usplash ), an Add/Remove Applications tool,
6270-503: The Unity Control Center, and default SSD TRIM support. GNOME 3.10 is installed by default. In reviewing Ubuntu 14.04 LTS in April 2014, Jim Lynch concluded: "While there are not a lot of amazing new features in this release, there are quite a few very useful and needed tweaks that add up to a much better desktop experience. Canonical's designers seem to be listening to Ubuntu users again, and they seem willing to make
6380-418: The addition of Sudoku and chess , a disk usage analyzer ( baobab ), GNOME Control Center, and zeroconf support for many devices. Ubuntu 7.10 ( Gutsy Gibbon ), released on 18 October 2007, is Canonical's seventh release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 18 April 2009. Ubuntu 7.10 included several new features, among them AppArmor security framework, fast desktop search , a Firefox plug-in manager (Ubufox),
6490-606: The case of IBM PC compatibles , the OS is usually Microsoft Windows ; in the case of Apple 's Mac computers, it has always been macOS ; Sun Microsystems sold SPARC hardware with the Solaris installed; video game consoles such as the Xbox , PlayStation , Wii , and the Nintendo Switch each have their own proprietary OS. This limits Linux's market share: consumers are unaware that an alternative exists, they must make
6600-436: The changes necessary to give the users what they want." Scott Gilbertson of Ars Technica stated, "Ubuntu is one of the most polished desktops around, certainly the most polished in the Linux world, but in many ways that polish is increasingly skin deep at the expense of some larger usability issues, which continue to go unaddressed release after release." On 23 April 2014 Shuttleworth announced that Ubuntu 14.10 would carry
6710-463: The classic GNOME desktop as a fall back to Unity. Instead, 11.10 included a 2D version of Unity as a fallback for computers that lacked the hardware resources for the Compiz -based 3D version. Shuttleworth also confirmed that Unity in Ubuntu 11.10 would run as a shell for GNOME 3 on top of GNOME 3 libraries, unlike in Ubuntu 11.04 where it ran as a shell for GNOME 2. Meanwhile, users were able to install
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#17327724245706820-404: The desktop version of Ubuntu 10.04 until 9 May 2013 and for the server version until 30 April 2015. The release included improved support for Nvidia proprietary graphics drivers while switching to the open source Nvidia graphics driver, Nouveau , by default. Plymouth was also introduced, allowing boot animations. It also included a video editor for the first time by including Pitivi . GIMP
6930-551: The developers to make "conservative choices". This version, the 20th release of Ubuntu, was released on 17 April 2014. Support ended on 25 April 2019, after which extended security maintenance was available to Ubuntu Advantage customers for two more years. However, in September 2021, Canonical announced that it would extend LTS support for the 14.04 and 16.04 to a total of 10 years, extending ESM support for 14.04 until April 2024. The development cycle for this release focused on
7040-408: The developers to make the dash and where it searches user-configurable via a GUI-setting dialogue. Despite concerns that the setting dialogue would not make the release, it was completed and is present in 12.10. In reviewing Ubuntu 12.10 at the end of October 2012 for DistroWatch , Jesse Smith raised concerns that "Canonical reserves the right to share our keystrokes, search terms and IP address with
7150-494: The entire GNOME 3 stack along with GNOME Shell directly from the Ubuntu repositories. During the development cycle there were many changes to Unity, including the placement of the Ubuntu button on the left Launcher instead of on the top Panel, the autohiding of the window controls (and the global menu) on maximized windows, and the introduction of window controls and more transparency into the Dash search utility. In May 2011, it
7260-419: The exception of the first two releases, code names are in alphabetical order, and except for the first three releases, the first letters are sequential, allowing a quick determination of which release is newer. As of Ubuntu 17.10, however, the initial letter "rolled over" and returned to "A". Names are occasionally chosen so that animal appearance or habits reflects some new feature, e.g. , "Koala's favourite leaf
7370-498: The idea that "light" is a good value in software. Good software is "light" in the sense that it uses your resources efficiently, runs quickly, and can easily be reshaped as needed. Ubuntu represents a break with the bloatware of proprietary operating systems and an opportunity to delight to those who use computers for work and play. More and more of our communications are powered by light, and in future, our processing power will depend on our ability to work with light, too. Visually, light
7480-468: The image and Python 2 available via the "Python" package, the PAE switched on by default in the kernel, Ubuntu Web Apps , a means of running Web applications directly from the desktop without having to open a browser, Nautilus 3.4 as its file manager to retain features deleted from later versions, and a new combined user, session and system menu. In September 2012, Canonical's Kate Stewart announced that
7590-459: The latest stable versions available. They have pseudo-releases and installation media that are simply snapshots of the distribution at the time of the installation image's release. Typically, a rolling-release OS installed from older installation medium can be fully updated after it is installed. Depending on the usage case, there can be pros and cons to both standard release and rolling release software development methodologies . In terms of
7700-545: The mouse cursor when running on a VMware virtual machine, and an easier method to remove Ubuntu. Ubuntu 8.04 was the first version of Ubuntu to include the Wubi installer on the Live CD that allows Ubuntu to be installed as a single file on a Windows hard drive without the need to repartition the disk. The first version of the Ubuntu Netbook Remix was also introduced. Ubuntu 8.10 ( Intrepid Ibex ), released on 30 October 2008,
7810-411: The name Utopic Unicorn . This version is the 21st release, officially characterized as a release that addressed "bug fixes and incremental quality improvements". It was released on 23 October, having only minor updates to the kernel, Unity Desktop, and included packages. On 20 October 2014, Shuttleworth announced that Ubuntu 15.04 would be named Vivid Vervet . It was released on 23 April 2015. It
7920-435: The need to change the contents of the system's hard disk drive. The website DistroWatch lists many Linux distributions and displays some of the ones that have the most web traffic on the site. The Wikimedia Foundation released an analysis of the browser User Agents of visitors to WMF websites until 2015, which includes details of the most popular Operating System identifiers, including some Linux distributions. Many of
8030-542: The new theme for several hours, I feel like it's a step forward, but it still falls a bit short of my expectations." One aspect of controversy from the new design was the placement of the window-control buttons on the left instead of on the right side of the windows. TechSource's Jun Auza expressed concern that the new theme was too close to that used by Apple's Mac OS X : "I think Ubuntu is having an identity crisis right now and should seriously consider changing several things in terms of look and feel to avoid being branded as
8140-679: The noise factor. Jim Lynch of Linux Desktop Reviews described the release as "boring" and the Smart Scopes feature as "very useful". In its year-end Readers Choice Awards , Linux Journal readers voted Ubuntu as Best Linux Distribution and Best Desktop Distribution for 2013. Mark Shuttleworth announced on 31 October 2011 that by Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu would support smartphones, tablets, TVs and smart screens. On 18 October 2013, Shuttleworth announced that Ubuntu 14.04 ( Trusty Tahr ) would focus on "performance, refinement, maintainability, [ sic ] technical debt " and encouraged
8250-428: The open-source Radeon R600 and RadeonSI Gallium3D drivers. Shuttleworth announced on 4 May 2015 that Ubuntu 15.10 would be called Wily Werewolf . He initially expressed hope that the release would include the Mir display server, but it was released on 22 October 2015 without Mir. It is the 23rd release of Ubuntu, and eliminated the disappearing window edge scrollbars in favour of the upstream GNOME scrollbars,
8360-797: The operating system is booted from a read-only medium such as a CD or DVD, any user data that needs to be retained between sessions cannot be stored on the boot device but must be written to another storage device, such as a USB flash drive or a hard disk drive. Many Linux distributions provide a "live" form in addition to their conventional form, which is a network-based or removable-media image intended to be used only for installation; such distributions include SUSE , Ubuntu, Linux Mint , MEPIS and Fedora Linux . Some distributions, including Knoppix , Puppy Linux , Devil-Linux, SuperGamer , SliTaz GNU/Linux and dyne:bolic , are designed primarily for live use. Additionally, some minimal distributions can be run directly from as little space as one floppy disk without
8470-450: The other hand, software features and technology planning are easier in standard releases due to a better understanding of upcoming features in the next version(s). Software release cycles can also be synchronized with those of major upstream software projects, such as desktop environments . As for the user experience , standard releases are often viewed as more stable and bug-free since software conflicts can be more easily addressed and
8580-450: The other with a set of GNU utilities and tools for setting up a file system. Since the installation procedure was complicated, especially in the face of growing amounts of available software, distributions sprang up to simplify it. Early distributions included: The two oldest, still active distribution projects started in 1993. The SLS distribution was not well maintained, so in July 1993
8690-409: The popular distributions are listed below. Several operating systems include the Linux kernel, but have a userland that differs significantly from that of mainstream Linux distributions: Whether such operating systems count as a "Linux distribution" is a controversial topic. They use the Linux kernel, so the Linux Foundation and Chris DiBona , Google's former open-source chief, agree that Android
8800-690: The project. In September 2015, the Debian project confirmed that while support for Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) would continue, support for LSB had been dropped. Ubuntu followed Debian in November 2015. Additionally, the compliance test suites were criticized for being buggy and incomplete—most notably, in 2005 Ulrich Drepper criticized the LSB for poorly written tests which can cause incompatibility between LSB-certified distributions when some implement incorrect behavior to make buggy tests work, while others apply for and receive waivers from complying with
8910-448: The rolling release model can have advantages in timely security updates, fixing system or application security bugs and vulnerabilities , that standard releases may have to wait till the next release for or patch in various versions. In a rolling release distribution, where the user has chosen to run it as a highly dynamic system, the constant flux of software packages can introduce new unintended vulnerabilities. A "live" distribution
9020-487: The rough edges that we find when we do that." It was released on 25 April 2013, and support ended on 27 January 2014. The Wubi installer for Windows was dropped due to its incompatibility with Windows 8 and general lack of support and development. It included Unity 7, which had many performance improvements, and searching of photos and social media posts from the Dash. On 23 April 2013, Ubuntu 13.10 ( Saucy Salamander )
9130-497: The second quarter of even-numbered years, has been designated as a long-term support (LTS) release. The desktop version of LTS releases for 10.04 and earlier were supported for three years, with server version support for five years. LTS releases 12.04 and newer are freely supported for five years. Through the ESM paid option, support can be extended even longer, up to a total of ten years for 18.04. The support period for non-LTS releases
9240-544: The server version, this release was supported for five years for both versions, and support ended on 28 April 2017. Canonical continued to offer extended security maintenance to Advantage customers for an additional two years. Changes in this release include cutting the startup time for the Ubuntu Software Center by around 10 seconds, refinements to Unity that included the removal of the "window dodge" feature that made desktop panels hide from windows, and
9350-507: The software stack more thoroughly tested and evaluated, during the software development cycle. For this reason, they tend to be the preferred choice in enterprise environments and mission-critical tasks. However, rolling releases offer more current software which can also provide increased stability and fewer software bugs along with the additional benefits of new features, greater functionality, faster running speeds, and improved system and application security . Regarding software security ,
9460-507: The standard did not dictate which package format the system must use for its own packages, merely that RPM must be supported to allow packages from third-party distributors to be installed on a conforming system. Debian included optional support for LSB early on, at version 1.1 in "woody" (3.0; July 19, 2002), 2.0 in "sarge" (3.1; June 6, 2005), 3.1 in "etch" (4.0; April 8, 2007), 3.2 in "lenny" (5.0; February 14, 2009) and 4.1 in "wheezy" (7; May 4, 2013). To use foreign LSB-compliant RPM packages,
9570-492: The tests. He also denounced a lack of application testing, pointing out that testing only distributions can never solve the problem of applications relying on implementation-defined behavior. For the vendors considering LSB certifications in their portability efforts, the Linux Foundation sponsored a tool that analyzed and provided guidance on symbols and libraries that go beyond the LSB. Media: Linux distribution A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro )
9680-482: The top of a script provided the information necessary to determine at which point of the initialization process the script should be invoked; it was called the LSB header. The command lsb_release -a was available in many systems to get the LSB version details, or could be made available by installing an appropriate package, for example the redhat-lsb package in Red-Hat -flavored distributions such as Fedora , or
9790-435: The tree of any Linux filesystem. Those standards, however, see limited use, even among the distributions developed by members of the organization. The diversity of Linux distributions means that not all software runs on all distributions, depending on what libraries and other system attributes are required. Packaged software and software repositories are usually specific to a particular distribution, though cross-installation
9900-467: The user install Linux on top of their current system, such as WinLinux or coLinux . Linux is installed to the Windows hard disk partition, and can be started from inside Windows itself. Virtual machines (such as VirtualBox or VMware ) also make it possible for Linux to be run inside another OS. The VM software simulates a separate computer onto which the Linux system is installed. After installation,
10010-644: The virtual machine can be booted as if it were an independent computer. Various tools are also available to perform full dual-boot installations from existing platforms without a CD, most notably: Some specific proprietary software products are not available in any form for Linux. As of September 2015, the Steam gaming service has over 1,500 games available on Linux, compared to 2,323 games for Mac and 6,500 Windows games. Emulation and API-translation projects like Wine and CrossOver make it possible to run non-Linux-based software on Linux systems, either by emulating
10120-724: The world. Beside "glue" components, such as the distribution installers (for example, Debian-Installer and Anaconda ) and the package management systems, very few packages are actually written by a distribution's maintainers. Distributions have been designed for a wide range of computing environments, including desktops , servers , laptops , netbooks , mobile devices (phones and tablets), and embedded systems . There are commercially backed distributions, such as Fedora Linux ( Red Hat ), openSUSE ( SUSE ) and Ubuntu ( Canonical Ltd. ), and entirely community-driven distributions, such as Debian , Slackware , Gentoo and Arch Linux . Most distributions come ready-to-use and prebuilt for
10230-449: Was Ubuntu 4.10 and was released on 20 October 2004. Consequently, version numbers for future versions are provisional; if the release is delayed until a different month (or even year) than planned, the version number will change accordingly. Canonical schedules Ubuntu releases to occur approximately one month after GNOME releases, resulting in each Ubuntu release including a newer version of GNOME. Every fourth release, occurring in
10340-476: Was added as Ubuntu's backup program. Mozilla Thunderbird replaced the GNOME Evolution email client. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS ( Precise Pangolin ) is Canonical's 16th release of Ubuntu and its fourth long-term support (LTS) release, released on 26 April 2012. It is named after the pangolin anteater. While previous LTS releases have been supported for three years for the desktop version and five years for
10450-483: Was announced by Mark Shuttleworth, and it was released on 17 October 2013, is Canonical's 19th release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 17 July 2014. Consideration was given to changing the default browser from Mozilla Firefox to Chromium , but problems with updates to Ubuntu's Chromium package caused developers to retain Firefox for this release. Similarly, the aging X Window System (X11) was intended to be replaced with
10560-561: Was announced that Pitivi would be no longer part of the Ubuntu ISO, starting with Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot. The reasons given for removing it included poor user reception, lack of fit with the default user-case for Ubuntu, lack of polish and the application's lack of development maturity. Other changes included the removal of the Synaptic package manager, and removing Computer Janitor, as it caused broken systems for users. Déjà Dup
10670-561: Was criticized for not taking input from projects, most notably the Debian project, outside the sphere of its member companies. LSB specified that software packages should either be delivered as an LSB-compliant installer, or (preferably) be delivered in a restricted form of the RPM Package Manager format. This choice of package format precluded the use of other existing package formats not compatible with RPM. To address this,
10780-532: Was defined as, "a trivially fixable usability bug that the average user would encounter on his/her first day of using a brand new installation of the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop Edition." Shuttleworth first announced Ubuntu 10.04 ( Lucid Lynx ) on 19 September 2009 at the Atlanta Linux Fest before it was released on 29 April 2010. It is Canonical's 12th release of Ubuntu and its third long-term support (LTS) release. Canonical provided support for
10890-512: Was later delayed to version 10.04, and only minor revisions were made to the default theme. Other graphical improvements included a new set of boot up and shutdown splash screens, a new login screen with a new transition into the desktop and greatly improved performance on Intel graphics chip-sets. In June 2009, Canonical created the One Hundred Paper Cuts project, focusing developers to fix minor usability issues. A "paper cut"
11000-448: Was merged into the desktop edition. Jesse Smith of DistroWatch criticized the instability of the release. The naming of Ubuntu 11.10 ( Oneiric Ocelot ) was announced on 7 March 2011 by Mark Shuttleworth. He explained that Oneiric means "dreamy". Ubuntu 11.10 was released on 13 October 2011. It is Canonical's 15th release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 9 May 2013. In April 2011, Shuttleworth announced that Ubuntu 11.10 would not include
11110-573: Was offered as a free download and, through Canonical's ShipIt service, was also mailed to users free of charge in CD format. Ubuntu 5.04 ( Hoary Hedgehog ), released on 8 April 2005, is Canonical's second release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 31 October 2006. Ubuntu 5.04 added many new features and packages including installation from USB devices, the Update Manager , an upgrade notifier, readahead , grepmap, suspend, hibernating and standby support, dynamic frequency scaling for processors,
11220-478: Was purely additive. In other words, interfaces were only added; no interfaces were removed. The LSB adopted an interface deprecation policy to give application developers enough time in case an interface was removed from LSB. This allowed the developer to rely on every interface in LSB for a known time and also to plan for changes. Interfaces were only removed after having been marked "deprecated" for at least three major versions, or roughly eleven years. LSB 5.0
11330-418: Was released behind schedule, having been intended as 6.04. It is sometimes jokingly described as their first "Late To Ship" (LTS) release. Development was not complete in April 2006 and Mark Shuttleworth approved slipping the release date to June, making it 6.06 instead. Support ended on 14 July 2009 for desktops and ended in June 2011 for servers. Ubuntu 6.06 included several new features, including having
11440-577: Was released on 10 October 2010 (10.10.10) at around 10:10 UTC. This is a departure from the traditional schedule of releasing at the end of October to get "the perfect 10", and a playful reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , since, in binary , 101010 is equal to the number 42 , the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything" within the series. It
11550-409: Was released on 23 April 2009, is Canonical's tenth release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 23 October 2010. New features included faster boot time and integration of web services and applications into the desktop interface. Because of that, they named it after the mythical jackalope . It was the first release named after a mythical animal, the second being Utopic Unicorn. It had a new usplash screen,
11660-542: Was released on 28 April 2011. It is Canonical's 14th release of Ubuntu. Support ended on 28 October 2012. Ubuntu 11.04 used the Unity user interface instead of GNOME 2 as default. The move to Unity was controversial as some GNOME developers feared it would fracture the community and marginalize GNOME Shell. Ubuntu 11.04 employed Banshee as the default music player, replacing Rhythmbox . Other new applications included OpenStack , Firefox 4 , and LibreOffice , which replaced OpenOffice.org . The Ubuntu Netbook Edition
11770-449: Was replaced with F-Spot due to the former's complexity and file size. The distribution also included integrated interfaces for posting to social media. On 4 March 2010 it was announced that Lucid Lynx would feature a new theme, including new logos, taking Ubuntu's new visual style into account: The new style in Ubuntu is inspired by the idea of "Light". We're drawn to Light, because it denotes both warmth and clarity, and intrigued by
11880-592: Was restricted to a subset of packages. By using Alien, Debian was LSB-compatible for all intents and purposes, but according to the description of their lsb package, the presence of the package "does not imply that we believe that Debian fully complies with the Linux Standard Base, and should not be construed as a statement that Debian is LSB-compliant." Debian strived to comply with the LSB, but with many limitations. However, this effort ceased around July 2015 due to lack of interest and workforce inside
11990-417: Was stored permanently on the computer's hard disk. Intrepid Ibex also included an encrypted private directory for users, the inclusion of Dynamic Kernel Module Support , a tool that allows kernel drivers to be automatically rebuilt when new kernels are released, and support for creating USB flash drive images. On 24 October 2008. Ubuntu 9.04 ( Jaunty Jackalope ) was announced by Mark Shuttleworth, and it
12100-477: Was the first major release that broke backward compatibility with earlier versions. The LSB, version 3.1, is registered as an official ISO / IEC international standard. The main parts of it are: There is also ISO/IEC TR 24715:2006 which identifies areas of conflict between ISO/IEC 23360 (the Linux Standard Base 3.1 specification) and the ISO/IEC 9945:2003 (POSIX) International Standard. The LSB, version 5.0,
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