Hardy Heron reflects Ubuntu Linux ambitions

Correction 8 p.m. PT: I included the wrong duration for regular Ubuntu releases. It's 18 months.

Canonical plans to release Hardy Heron, its newest version of Ubuntu Linux on Thursday, and Chief Executive Mark Shuttleworth isn't being shy and retiring about it.

"This is our most significant release ever," he said in an interview.

Ordinarily I avoid publishing such marketing superlatives, but Shuttleworth is right. Hardy Heron, also called version 8.04 for its April 2008 launch date, is Canonical's proof-in-the-pudding moment that will show whether the company can grow beyond its subsidized roots into a self-sustaining business. Ubuntu has a strong following among Linux enthusiasts, but it's Red Hat and Novell that still dominate the commercial Linux market.

The reason so much weight rests on the skinny legs of Hardy Heron is because it's only the second Linux product from the company to come with long-term support. The first LTS version of Ubuntu, Dapper Drake, arrived when the company was still comparatively immature and unknown.

Long-term support means the company releases bug fixes, security patches, and other updates for five years on the server version and three years on the desktop version, time frames more palatable to businesses than the 18-month life spans of other Ubuntu versions.

On the server, the new version has support for KVM virtualization built in and comes in a stripped-down version called JEOS (Just Enough Operating System) for software "appliances" that run on KVM or VMware. The company has been working on better hardware support--though it no longer supports Sun Microsystems' Sparc processors, Shuttleworth said. Also included are better integration with Windows' Active Directory for corporate users and a certified, downloadable version of Java software.

On the desktop, Hardy Heron now can be installed directly into the Windows file system so people can try it without having to reformat their hard drives. The software also deals better with online music and photo sites such as Flickr, he added. However, because of an upgrade timing disconnect, fans of the KDE user interface software will have to make do with only 18-month support for the older KDE 3.5 or an unsupported developer version based on the new KDE 4.0.

Still not profitable
Shuttleworth, who funded Ubuntu with wealth from his sale of an earlier start-up to VeriSign, cares about business success, but he's also willing to continue spending to help Canonical grow into new areas--such as the mobile version that's beginning in earnest with Hardy Heron.

"Ubuntu will require continuing investment from me and from others. We are on a trajectory that will make the company sustainable," Shuttleworth said. But he wouldn't say when he envisions profitability: "I'd rather not be on the hook...I keep finding additional areas to invest in."

What's a surprise to Shuttleworth, though, is that the desktop Linux is financially more significant than the version for servers.

"The desktop contributes more to Canonical's bottom line than the server," he said. The server business is still Canonical's primary focus for support revenue. But the company has been getting paid for desktop and consumer-electronics work, he said.

"On the desktop, we see strong demand for custom engineering and assurance programs as people look to Canonical to indemnify them against potential copyright or patent issues," Shuttleworth said.

Canonical also works on unbranded Linux for consumer-electronics companies, though Shuttleworth expects they'll eventually opt for something like Ubuntu. "The hardware vendors are leaping at the ability to do their own operating system. I believe over time they'll tire of the costs and risks of doing that," he said.

Regarding engineering work, he added that Canonical has a tight partnership with Intel, an "extensive on-site engineering relationship where we integrate support for latest platforms."

[gsekse]

the 18-year life spans of other...MONTHS!

I think you mean months...<br /><br />Now Microsoft... it might need to support XP for 18 years... I dunno... 8)

[shaft350x]

Typo

18-year life span? I think he means 18 month.

[Steve Charles]

Could you have the time wrong?

Is it possible that the normal support period is 18 months for interim releases of the Ubuntu family and not 18 year-life spans? <br /><br />Regards Steve<br />SBClist.com

[Shankland]

Yes--18 months. Thanks.

I obviously mistyped the duration of regular support. Thanks for catching it!

[The_Decider]

Ubuntu is its own worse enemy

It is always lagging behind the vastly superior openSuSe, in terms of hardware support and software.<br /><br />openSuSE 10.3 had built in support for KDE4 before it was released.<br /><br />The 6 months release schedule is the reason for all these problems. They release every 6 months, come hell or high water, and that is exactly what happens.<br /><br />Ubuntu..100% hype, 0% substance.<br /><br />It is hurting Linux far more than it is helping. <br /><br />for those curious about Ubuntu, try openSUSE 10.3, it is several years ahead of Ubuntu. Yes, Ubuntu is better than XP or Vista, but what isn't?

[B.E2]

Ubuntu = easy of use

I've never used openSUSE, but Ubuntu make things so much easier (even easier than Windows), to get my work done. Even installing drivers is a snap (rarely do I have to go out and find a Linux driver for one of my devices).

[Darryl Snortberry]

re ubuntu enemy

i agree. i think they need to start selling it if for no more than 5 dollars to gauge the success and failure of each release and to also generate incentive for a working desktop linux. like a rapper with his "yes men" ubuntu won't get any truth out of the hardcore linux community on what is and what isn't working.

[samoanbiscuit]

Fashionale, isnt it?

It's fashionable to fashionably non-comformist, aye? I think a lot of people switched to linux years ago, for that geek cool... And now are upset that a distro like ubuntu is making it so easy for technological retards... Just remember that more market and mind share equals better driver support.

[Iendicis]

OpenSUSE shouldn't be talking

After making a deal with the devil and trailing behind with a few too many poor relases, I can't stand OpenSUSE. By making GNOME look like Windows and throwing in slow, bloated "features" the OS is a shadow of what it used to be.<br /><br />Ubuntu is moving. I love and use it everyday, much more than OpenSUSE. Don't assume the only opinion out there is your own.

[cabdriverjim]

opensuse?

By some measures, and in your experience, opensuse is lovely. In my experience its way, way, way too complicated and includes too much useless junk. For my needs opensuse is awful, sorry. Absolutely horrendously awful. I buy hardware that I know works with Ubuntu, for one. Maybe I'm not imaginative enough to need whatever hardware opensuse is more compatible with.<br /><br />KDE? KDE doesn't support accessibility. Oh boy, it talks, big deal. How do you support blind or otherwise disabled desktop users with something that thinks kludgey speech support is accessibility? And, great, KDE4 was included in opensuse before KDE4 released. Now, tell me, doesn't that seem rather reckless? Ubuntu 8.04 includes KDE4, as an alternative to KDE3, because KDE4 is not a minor update and has not been time-tested.<br /><br />Mind you, I was a SuSE user before Novell bought them. I ditched them the instant Ubuntu came out for many reasons.

[ethana2]

Buying a Dell with Hardy soon :)

Inspiron, 1440 x 900 LCD, nVidia GeForce Go<br />1 GB of RAM, 1.6 GHz C2D, built in webcam, dual mic, 120 GB SATA HDD.....<br />$800<br /><br />I think I'm going to order some of those stickers you know, to put the logo on the back of the screen and such..<br /><br />Heh, almost makes me feel like a mac user...<br />....but not quite ;)

[Imalittleteapot]

I think

You may want to check out the Dell deals on sites like deals2buy.com. I know they have the Ubuntu desktop right now. Laptops I dont' know about.<br /><br />Depending on if you need a monitor or not it may be cheaper to buy the same model with Vista on it if you can get a deal, and then install Linux on it. Just watch out for the broadcom wireless cards. Don't know if they got those working or not yet.

[ferretboy88]

OpenSuse=garbage

Ubuntu is way easier to use. Most people don't want to waste an entire day figuring stuff out. After I paid $50 for a Suse 10.1 box set and found nothing in the box except a disk and a 10 page manual I was not fond of Suse. I thought I would give the company some money and all I received in return was a book that was useless.

[Imalittleteapot]

Looking forward.

I've been looking forward to the release. Actually I've really only been looking forward to KDE 4 unsupported version to experiment, but I'm going to try Fedora 9 eventually anyway. Fun fun hopefully.<br /><br />As for Ubuntu ambitions I think Linux has problems narrowed down to two or three major things. Those are power management (hibernate, shutdown, and sleep) and wireless cards.<br /><br />Power management works like a charm on my system, but that's a system specifically chosen to be a Linux system.<br /><br />It is also a desktop that looks like it weighs more than I do. I didn't feel the need for a wireless card. However, those seem to be the two major complaints on the message boards. Both caused by hardware makers not supporting Linux, and Windows isn't perfect either in these regards.<br /><br />Here's an idea. Correct me if I'm wrong. There may already be a site like this. Linux has hardware compatibility lists, but when I'm searching out a computer I might know it has a wireless card, but I don't know which wireless card. I won't be able to check the HCL until I've already bought it.<br /><br />Is there a wiki somewhere that could track the whole model number of a PC? I could just go to a site and see if the new Dell Inspiron was fully, partially, or not compatible with Linux instead of the individual parts. It could also list which customs configurations work. Like if I had an HP I could test Linux on it, and report my results.<br /><br />The last problem is, installing apps on a system that isn't Internet connected. I can't apt-get anything that way. You can make your own offline software repo, but it wasn't very intuitive last time I looked.<br /><br />Apt could package an app with all its dependencies (both from the repo, and what was already installed) into a single compressed file with a single command. Apt-get ?package appname packagename or whatever.<br /><br />Then I can copy that file over to the machine without Internet, and just apt-get -fromfile appname.pkg or whatever. If there was a conflict I would just get an error on install letting me know what is wrong. Like in Windows when the setup file doesn't ship with the needed version of Java or whatever.<br /><br />Some packages apt would assume are already on the target machine so the file isn't as big. However, you could choose to package them anyway if needed. Almost the same thing as a local repo, but way easier. Might work, might not. Don?t know. Just a thought.

[desmondhaynes]

Ubuntu comes of age

Cool features! Have been waiting for this release. <br />Installation in progress! <br />-TW<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://techwatch.reviewk.com/2008/04/ubuntu-hardy-heron-8-04-2/" target="_newWindow">http://techwatch.reviewk.com/2008/04/ubuntu-hardy-heron-8-04-2/</a>

[djacobow1]

Am I the last Fedora user left?

I've been installing the new Fedora releases for years. Is anyone else still using these? Drivers are sometimes a hassle, but overall I've never had a huge problem with it. (once you find livna for all the non-free A/V stuff). Since I switched from Slackware before that, I haven't even looked at the distros. What's compelling enough to justify a switch? (seriously curious)

[Imalittleteapot]

Nope.

I use Fedora. I'll experiement or use both, but I'll still be a Fedora user. Ubuntu 7.10 64 bit went a little spastic on the Nvidia 8000 lines of cards. There's a bug report about it, and is fixed in 8.04 if I recall.<br /><br />Go to distro watch. Fedora may not be at the top of the list, but it ain't at the bottom either.<br /><br />I haven't had any problems with drivers. All my hardware works. mp3 player, flash drive, digital camera, printer, scanner, sound card, network, 3D accel, mouse, keyboard, USB, CD/DVD burner. All real plug and play. Not like Windows plug and play where I have to install mountains of bloatware before I can plug and play.<br /><br />I'm about to get a new monitor though and Fedora has problems with some LCD, DVI, and Nvidia combinations. So we'll see. If it doesn't want to work I'll find something that does, but so far it has been fine.<br /><br />I do not like yum, the repos, or livna. They work fine, but then again I don't like apt-get either. I still like downloading a package and double clicking on it to install a package. I can back it up somewhere if I need it again or need if offline without messing with the hassle of making a local repo.<br /><br />Other that that I'm happy. If it works when I get my new monitor it stays. If it doesn't it goes.