The last 12 months in Ubuntu (and a brief look ahead)

[ Thanks to Linux User & Developer magazine for this link. ]

"This has been an interesting year for Ubuntu with two on-schedule releases. Ubuntu community leader, Ubuntu Developer and general a good egg Dave Walker takes a look back at the last 12 months of Ubuntu.

"The former release was rather important as it is the third LTS (Long Term Support) release in Ubuntu history. This means that it will receive support (updates) for three years on the desktop, and five years on the server – rather than the traditional 18 months that an interim release receives. The operating system is gaining traction with age, and with the release cycle, which I believe many thought was unsustainable, is solidifying this. The predictable release time has always been something that has been key to Ubuntu's adoption.

"For the upgrade path to Lucid Lynx, many users would have upgraded from the previous release of 9.10 (Karmic Koala). However, users could have upgraded directly from the previous LTS, 8.04 (Hardy Heron), which was released in 2008. For these users, they would have seen the largest changes, which would have incorporated all of the changes introduced in the interim three releases between 8.04 and 10.04. The additional testing required to test upgrades from both is significant. If bug reports and other media (such as forums) are used as a base for issues encountered, it seems that this was covered well."

Complete Story

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