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.”

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