Ubuntu adopts Windows XP users
LINUX VENDOR Canonical believes that Microsoft’s Windows XP, not Windows 8, could drive adoption of its Ubuntu Linux operating system.
With Microsoft readying Windows 8 for release later this year, companies are expected to evaluate whether it is worth renewing existing Microsoft licenses or splashing out on the latest Microsoft revision of its desktop PC operating system. However, according to Canonical CEO Jane Silber, it isn’t undercutting Windows 8 that holds the key for take-up of Ubuntu Linux but Microsoft’s termination of Windows XP support that will drive Ubuntu growth.
Talking with The INQUIRER, Silber said, “We certainly track it and keep an eye on competition. [...] The larger impact in terms of Microsoft in our customer base isn’t the emergence of Windows 8 but the upcoming, long awaited end-of-life of [Windows] XP.”
Silber’s point rests on the well known fact that many users, especially large businesses, are still running Windows XP. Microsoft has supported the operating system for over a decade, but the Redmond, Washington software house has said that it will end support for Windows XP on 8 April 2014.
Silber said, “What we are seeing there, particularly with enterprise customers with large desktop deployments in the tens of thousands, [is that they are] taking the opportunity to move to Ubuntu at that point, and they are, in some cases, not even evaluating future Windows desktop operating systems.
“It’s not that they are turning down Windows 8, [it's that] with the end of life of [Windows] XP there’s a disruption and a good point for them to re-evaluate their options.”
While Microsoft’s Windows XP April 2014 end of life date is still two years away, organisations that run thousands of Windows XP machines will have already started planning. Working out whether to upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8 or move to Linux could take the best part of a year to evaluate and test, and deployment might take another year, so the battle for those customers is well underway.
Silber believes punters are not necessarily looking for bells and whistles when evaluating an operating system. She said, “It’s more likely people are evaluating their desktop experience in terms of what they really need, this is one of the reasons why we’ve seen a lot of interest from enterprises for Ubuntu for Android. People are looking at what does it mean to have a desktop in five years from now. There’s more interest in client solutions, converged device scenarios, so it’s really an opportunity for us.”
Although some will question Silber’s belief that Windows XP, not the cost of upgrading to Windows 8, holds the key to Canonical’s push into the enterprise, the fact is that Canonical and other Linux vendors have two strong opportunities to go up against Microsoft as it tries to push customers into its next churn of its PC operating system cash machine.
UEFI, Secure Boot, and Freedom of choice
Summary: The Linux Foundation and friends are working on using UEFI so that computers can be both more secure and give users freedom of operating system choice instead of using Microsoft’s secure boot plan to lock users into Windows 8.
Last month Steven Sinofsky from Microsoft announced new requirements for manufacturers wanting to ship Windows 8 systems, including a feature called “Secure Boot”. I wrote about this last month: http://jet-computing.com/microsoft-kicks-linux-from-windows-8/
Canonical, together with Red Hat, today publishes a white paper (shown below) highlighting the implications of these requirements for users and manufacturers. The paper also provides recommendations on how to implement “Secure Boot”, to ensure that users remain in control of their PCs.
However, the obverse of this would be that Microsoft wants all new personal computers to be a closed appliance, as Apple is with it’s hardware and software.
Secondly, it would be most beneficial for the government because, if keys are decided by OEMs then they would have them by default. If keys are chosen by users then, it becomes more difficult for government. UEFI is a great thing, if it is left to users to choose keys. This way we retain complete control of our own computer systems and does so long as it is done not so as to lock out competition.
The UEFI Forum, of which Canonical is a member, is defining the next generation interface between your system’s firmware and any operating system that runs on it. The new specs will make Ubuntu systems boot quicker, have a better battery life and are easier to configure.
The latest UEFI specification also defines a process called Secure Boot (version 2.3.1 – Chapter 27). Secure Boot is designed to address the potential for malware to insert itself between the firmware and the operating system on your computer. It accomplishes this by enforcing that only “approved” software is able to boot in your computer by way of a key that recognises pre-approved and signed software.
According to Microsoft’s presentation at //BUILD/2011, Secure Boot will be “Required for Windows 8 client”. While the UEFI specification does not recommend a specific implementation, Microsoft has a preferred solution (outlined on this blog post) which does not give the user full control over what software that is approved to run on their PC. This is the real issue for users.
Secure Boot should be available to all users
Canonical successfully partners with computer manufacturers to ship millions of Ubuntu pre-installed systems every year. While this distribution will continue to thrive, we are concerned for users wanting to install any Linux distribution on a PC sold with Secure Boot “ON”.
Any new Windows 8 PC will have Secure Boot switched “ON” when it leaves the shop and will be able to boot Microsoft approved software only. However, you will most likely find that your new PC has no option for you to add your own list of approved software. So to install Linux (or any other operating system), you will need to turn Secure Boot “OFF”.
However, we believe that you have the right to have your cake and eat it too! Its possible to have Secure Boot and the ability to choose your software platform.
This is why we recommend that systems manufacturers include a mechanism for configuring your own list of approved software. This will allow you to run Windows 8 and Linux at the same time in your PC with Secure Boot “ON”. This should also include you being able to try new software from a USB stick or DVD.
Even with the ability for users to configure Secure Boot, it will become harder for non-techie users to install, or even try, any other operating system besides the one that was loaded on the PC when you bought it. For this reason, we recommend that PCs include a User Interface to easily enable or disable Secure Boot and allow the user to chose to change their operating system.
Canonical has discussed these concerns with key industry partners and competitors, resulting in the “Secure Boot Impact on Linux” White Paper, authored by Jeremy Kerr (Technical Architect at Canonical), James Bottomley (Kernel Developer) and Matthew Garret (Senior Software Engineer at Red Hat).
I recommend you read this document to gain a better understanding on how Secure Boot will affect you.
GOAL: 200 million Linux users in four years
Delivering the keynote at the Ubuntu Developer Summit at Budapest, Hungary, Canonical Founder, Mark Shuttleworth, has announced that the goal of Canonical is 200 million Ubuntu users in four years.
Canonical has not officially not provide any data on how many Ubuntu users are there currently – in fact it, is quite difficult to track it. However, according to Prakash Advani, Partner Manager – Central Asia at Canonical, there are an estimated 12 million Ubuntu users.
Our goal is 200 million users of Ubuntu in 4 years.
Going from 12 million to 200 million in a span of four years means that Ubuntu cannot be content with just being the most popular Linux distribution. Canonical have to get Ubuntu out there and noticed by the majority of the people who uses Mac and Windows and make them switch side.
The idea of freedom and open-source is clearly not enough to make users switch over to Linux from Windows and Mac. Polished and useful software that takes care of user experience is what will draw users. That will mean development with users in mind – something that Canonical has been doing with Ubuntu. This is what Shuttleworth said;
We’re not playing a game for developers hearts and minds – we’re playing a game for the worlds hearts and minds. And to achieve that we’re going to have to play by a new set of rules.
In fact, unlike other Linux distributions, Canonical did a lot of design testing and user experience testing during the development of Ubuntu 11.04. If Ubuntu is to achieve the goal of 200 million users, such testing will become more and more important.
I think we’ve set a new bar for disciplined design in free software. For actually going through a vigorous design process, testing work against users actual experience of that, testing our assumptions, iterating based on that testing, and ultimately shooting for the stars.
I think that 200 million Ubuntu users in four years is certainly achievable – although it will require a lot of hard work.
Hardware Catalog for Ubuntu Linux
“But will it work with Linux?”
That’s a question that many end-users has asked over the years about PC components and peripherals. Lately, the answer is usually yes. Thanks to vendors like Dell and the efforts of the Linux Driver Project, very few devices and components won’t work at all with Linux. At the same time, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have faced the same problem at a lower level. Now, Canonical and Ubuntu Linux’s parent company, has announced that it’s opening up its complete database of certified components for Ubuntu and Linux.
After doing many installs of the Linux operating system and it’s wonderful flavor of distributions, rarely do I find it it impossible to install on any new or older server, laptop/netbook or desktop computer. I have had VERY good results with Dell, HP, Nvidia and Xerox.
This is good news. It means Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) working on Ubuntu or Linux notebooks and PCs can much more quickly design systems that they can be sure will work with Linux and Ubuntu in particular.
The catalog presents ODMs and OEMs with a selection of over 1,300 certified components from 161 manufacturers. The database laid out both by vendor, and by type of component. With the former you can quickly see, for example, what ATI, NIVIDIA, and Broadcom have to offer, and with the latter you can find out who’s offering Linux-certified Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), USB and touch interfaces. You can also search the catalog for specific equipment.
In a statement, Victor Palau, Platform Services Manager at Canonical said, “There has not been a comprehensive, up-to-date freely available catalog like this for a long time. By making this open and easily searchable we want to speed the component selection for Ubuntu machines, and allow us and our partner manufacturers to focus on the value-added user experience.”
According to Ubuntu, with this database, “corporate buyers can specify the design of their Ubuntu desktops or servers from manufacturers much more efficiently. Individuals can be sure that the key components of the machine they are considering will work with their preferred Ubuntu or Linux distribution. The PC and server industry will also have a simple single source to publicize the work that they do in certifying Linux components and making that knowledge freely available.”
In addition, Canonical has also released a listing of Ubuntu certified complete PCs, laptops and servers.
While this new catalog is handy, it leaves me wanting more. It would be great if say the Linux Foundation could put together a comprehensive list from not just Canonical but all the major Linux distributors, such as Red Hat and Novell, and the hardware members of the Linux Foundation like Intel, NEC, and Qualcomm. What Canonical has done is useful. A comprehensive vendor-neutral catalog would be even better.
Revive an old computer with Puppy Linux
There’s no doubt Canonical’s popular Ubuntu Linux distribution gets the majority of attention in the Linux world these days, but there are myriad others equally worthy of consideration.
I looked at Linux Mint long ago, as well as a few key Ubuntu derivatives, but today I’d like to focus on Puppy Linux, a new version of which was just recently released.
Puppy Linux began life as a really cool small-sized Linux distribution designed primarily for lower specification hardware while still providing most of the amenities that make Linux fun and usable. It included lots of original utilities and tools for completing tasks and configurations without a lot of resource overhead. Best of all, it was blazing fast. Well, the little puppy has grown up some and branched out, but is still that same light-weight wonder in spirit.
The latest release, 5.2, codenamed Lucid Puppy, is a result of branching out of the project in new directions. In late 2008 Puppy developers designed a new build system, Woof, that can take binaries of other popular distributions and incorporate them into new Puppy builds. One of the most commonly used, and probably most popular, is Ubuntu. Underneath, the foundation is still the independent Puppy we know and love, but many components come from Ubuntu such as shared libraries and some applications. As a result, Puppy Linux 5.2 is compatible with many other Ubuntu packages. Whether this has increased Puppy’s popularity could be debated, but according to Distrowatch.com‘s Page Hit Ranking, Puppy has been moving up the chart each year with the biggest jumps seen since Woof has been used to make Ubuntu compatible versions.
Small and fast
Puppy Linux’s primary distinguishing feature is that it’s tiny, taking up roughly 100MB of space. Also remarkable about it is that it loads into RAM, making it extraordinarily fast. Boot time is 30 to 40 seconds on most systems.
Similar in some ways to Damn Small Linux (DSL), Puppy is ideally suited both for older hardware and for usage situations where minimal resources are available. Whereas most LiveCD versions of Linux must go back and forth to the CD, Puppy’s RAM-loadable size means that applications are lightning fast to start and to respond to user input.
The full-featured but free Linux distribution can boot off LiveCD or DVDs, floppy disks, internal hard drive, zip disk, LS/120/240 Superdisk, flash drives or any USB memory device. In fact, it can even use a multisession formatted CD-RW/DVD-RW to save everything back to the CD/DVD with no hard drive required at all.
Booting from DVD or CD, Puppy can save all work back to the same medium. Booting from USB drive or other flash media, Puppy will minimise writes to extend its life.
In short, if you have a PC with a broken hard disk or that will no longer work with newer technology, Puppy Linux on a CD or USB is a way to keep that PC productive. Not insignificantly, it’s also a perfect example of a Linux distribution that can be used to rescue a Windows PC infected with malware.
Compatible with Ubuntu 10.04
Like both Ubuntu and Linux Mint, Puppy is extremely easy to use, it automatically detects most hardware, for example. Included with it is also a wide range of applications for productivity and other purposes.
Lucid Puppy 5.2 adds to the popular Lucid Puppy 5.1.1 distribution with a raft of upgrades and improvements to all of the main programs as well as many of the other programs in the menu and system. Based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS “Lucid Lynx” binary packages, the latest Puppy is also compatible with Ubuntu 10.04 repositories.
Included in the latest release are QuickSet for point-and-click desktop configuration, QuickPet for updates, diagnostics and package installs and several alternative window managers available through the package manager, including Xfce and Fluxbox. The software features version 2.6.33.2 of the Linux kernel. Language packs are available for 11 different languages.
No commitment
A fuller list of the version’s features is available on the Puppy Linux site, where it’s also available for download as a 127MB .iso image file. Meanwhile, you can find a testing video of the release below on YouTube.
Perhaps the best part of all, of course, is that as with most Linux distributions there’s no commitment involved in trying it out. Particularly if you have old hardware lying around, it will be worth your while to take Puppy Linux for a tour.
Specifications
- Compatible with Ubuntu packages
- QuickSet for point-and-click desktop configuration
- Quickpet for updates, diagnostics, and package installs
- Alternative window manager
- Language packs for 11 different languages
So if you have an old computer setting at home not being used, or know of someone tossing one out that is still usable, then try out Puppy Linux on it. You will be amazed on how fast it works. There is no good reason to toss out a 5-year old computer, just because it is slow from using Windows.
Support improves for ARM devices, thanks to Ubuntu
As Apple, Google and Microsoft battle for mobile supremacy, Canonical — promoter of Ubuntu Linux — is preparing its own mobile moves. Ubuntu 11.04 will ship in April 2011 with a kernel version customized for OMAP 3 ARM processors, according to Ubuntu developer notes. Does this mean Canonical hopes to target more types of mobile devices in the future? Here’s the scoop, along with some thoughts.
Texas Instruments’ OMAP 3 chips are a family of ARM processors designed primarily for use in mobile devices. They boast ready support for multimedia applications and acceleration, and are already in use on a variety of phones.
During the last meeting of the Ubuntu Kernel Team on Jan. 4, 2011, developers decided to release a kernel for the next version of Ubuntu, 11.04, customized for the OMAP 3 architecture. This is part of an ongoing effort to expand Ubuntu support for ARM chips.
While no OMAP 3 kernel has been released yet, meeting notes indicate that one should be coming in the future, as the development cycle for the next version of Ubuntu continues. “We are still working to determine how to provide OMAP 3 kernels; testing is ongoing of a master-based kernel,” according to the notes.
Ubuntu 11.04 Desktop
Ubuntu On Your Phone?
Ubuntu ports customized for OMAP chips already exist, and plenty of geeks have successfully run Ubuntu on mobile phones in the past. In that sense, the announcement of an OMAP 3 kernel build for Ubuntu 11.04 may not be too exciting.
Official Ubuntu support for OMAP 3 devices, however, represents a major milestone in that it would be the first Ubuntu kernel flavor targeted primarily at mobile hardware — not to mention smartbooks, which may well become an important new family of devices in the coming year.
That change itself may not mean that 2011 will become the Year of the Ubuntu Cellphone, but it could be a significant first step toward a new market for Ubuntu, a Linux distribution traditionally focused on desktops and servers.
Other ARM-related goals for Ubuntu 11.04 include the release of an ARM image and ARM build support on Launchpad, a further indication of Canonical’s aspiration of placing Ubuntu at the forefront of the ARM-based hardware market.
Google’s Chrome OS, of course, which is based on Ubuntu, will also support ARM chips, and it seems likely that many more end users will run Google’s operating system on their devices than Ubuntu 11.04.
All the same, Canonical’s casting of a direct bid for ARM market share could have significant implications for the evolution of Ubuntu going forward, as smaller devices may become an increasingly important focus of Ubuntu developers. It’s also good news for end users who want smartbook hardware but are reluctant to sell their souls to Google by running Chrome OS, which in all likelihood will come tightly entwined with Google services.
Ubuntu Server Survey 2011 — How do You Ubuntu?
Summary: The Ubuntu Server team asks the community about its server usage |
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 LONDON, Jan. 17, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Ubuntu Server community and Canonical are again asking Ubuntu users just exactly how they are using Ubuntu Server Edition — and in what kinds of organizations.
Ubuntu Server has established itself as a popular operating system in organizations of all sizes performing numerous standard and critical tasks in multiple environments. It has also become one of the most popular operating systems on public cloud environments and has established itself as the core host Infrastructure-as-a-Service solution for private clouds. This is the third year of the survey. The results of last year’s survey can be found at http://blog.canonical.com/?p=365 and give an overview of the type of invaluable information that can be gleaned from users. The survey [http://survey.ubuntu.com/] will gather more detailed knowledge to: * Improve future product releases * Prioritize feature requests * Guide partnerships to add technologies * Drive the focus at the next Ubuntu Developer Summit in May 2011 The anonymous survey takes 10 to 20 minutes to complete and is open to anyone deploying Linux servers today, whether or not they use Ubuntu. The Ubuntu Server Community Team will present the results publicly at the beginning of February. About Canonical Canonical provides engineering, online and professional services to Ubuntu partners and customers worldwide. As the company behind the Ubuntu project, Canonical is committed to the production and support of Ubuntu – an ever-popular and fast-growing open-source operating system. It aims to ensure that Ubuntu is available to every organization and individual on servers, desktops, laptops and netbooks. Canonical partners with computer hardware manufacturers to certify Ubuntu, provides migration, deployment, support and training services to businesses, and offers online services direct to end users. Canonical also builds and maintains collaborative, open-source development tools to ensure that organizations and individuals can participate fully in innovations within the open-source community. For more information, please visit www.canonical.com. |
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Defensive Computing for Windows Users
One of the best things a Windows user can do for Defensive Computing is to have a bootable copy of Linux on hand. The classic reason being to rescue a broken copy of the operating sytem, but the much more important reason is for on-line banking.
Anyone that does online banking on a Windows machine is taking a huge risk. Don’t take my word for it, read what the FBI, FDCI and American Bankers Association are saying.
- http://jet-computing.com/doing-online-banking-with-windows-why/
- http://jet-computing.com/businesses-should-conduct-online-banking-from-dedicated-computers/
Most likely they don’t understand how sophisticated the bad guys are at writing malware. Or, perhaps, they put way too much trust in their antivirus program. Or, they may fail to appreciate how hard it is to keep all the installed software up to date with the latest patches. Perhaps the worst type of infection, a man-in-the-browser, can even defeat two factor authentication schemes. (more…)
HP Ditches Windows Home Server
Another MS product tossed aside.
HP has ditched Microsoft’s Windows Home Server operating system, codenamed ‘Vail’, just days after the software giant killed a popular feature in the product.
However, Microsoft insists that HP’s decision to retire its MediaSmart Server line, which includes Windows Home Server in the line-up, had nothing to do with Microsoft’s plan to remove its popular Drive Extender feature from Vail.
“HP has told us they do not plan to provide a platform for Windows Home Server code name ‘Vail’. HP has told us they will continue to sell the existing version of MediaSmart Server through the end of the calendar year 2010 and will honour service and support agreements,” said Microsoft in a blog post yesterday.
“This news is in no way related to recent announcements about feature changes in Windows Home Server ‘Vail.’”
Microsoft confirmed last week that it would dump the Drive Extender feature from Vail, even though it has tested it in the most recent beta version of the product.
Drive Extender supports multiple internal and external hard drives in the home server edition of Windows, and Microsoft’s decision to axe the feature led to complaints aplenty from customers.
MS will spin out a new beta of Vail – minus its Drive Extender tech – early next year. The final code won’t be released, meanwhile, until the first half of 2011.
HP has probably mulled for some time over its decision to walk away from Microsoft’s MediaSmart Server product line-up.
According to MediaSmartServer.net, which quotes HP marketing manager Allen Buckner, the move away from Vail was due to “shifting additional resources to focus on webOS initiatives”.
All of which has got to hurt Microsoft, which already took a sizeable bruising from customers following its decision to kill the Drive Extender feature.
But then, as the Steve Ballmer-led company reminded us, it still has Acer and, er, Tranquil on board the not-so-good-ship Vail.
MS even admits to the products failures:
When certain programs are used to edit or transfer files that are stored on a Windows Home Server-based system that has more than one hard drive, the files may become corrupted
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946676/en-us?spid=12624
If your looking for a serious Home Server solution, you can go about doing it two ways.
Reusing an older PC that you have laying around, or purchasing a brand new-device. For reusing an older computer, you have a few options:
- http://www.serverelements.com/index.php (I’ve been using this for years, not one problem ever!)
- http://freenas.org/ WARNING: it uses software raid, which can lead to problems later.
For those looking to spend money, Qnap devices are worth the money as are HP Proliant Servers certified by Canonical, creators of the Ubuntu operating system.
Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition Offers Revamped User Interface
Canonical announced today, October 7th, the upcoming availability of the new Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system for download on Sunday, October 10th.
The Ubuntu 10.10 release introduces various offline and online applications for the Desktop Edition, and a brand-new user interface for the Netbook Edition, called Unity. The Server Edition of Ubuntu 10.10, as well as the Enterprise Cloud EC2, also introduces new features.
The Unity interface is Canonical’s strong point for this release of the Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition. And, as you can see from the screenshots presented in this article, it looks quite amazing!
“Ubuntu 10.10 for desktops and netbooks is our most consumer-friendly release yet,” said Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical.
“Ubuntu One’s personal cloud services will put Ubuntu at the heart of many users’ computing worlds even when they need or prefer to use other platforms.”
“Unity has the opportunity to change how we think about our use of computers and the Software Centre will bridge Ubuntu with the applications users need to switch to the world’s best OS.”
This is how your netbook, running the new Ubuntu 10.10 release, might look like…
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New application shortcuts can be easily added to and removed from the Unity launcher. Rearanging them is also an easy process.
Pressing the Ubuntu logo situated in the upper left corner will show you a very well designed page with the default applications for each category.
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The Smart Search function is also included, and it helps users to easily find the most commonly used applications, just by typing the first letters of their names.
Pressing the non-removable Applications button from the Unity launcher, will give you access to all the installed applications. From here, you can also go straight to any desired category and see the installed apps.
Right clicking on the Applications entry will offer the possibility to directly access a software category.
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There are four workspaces now, and a dedicated button to access them from the Unity launcher…
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…and better integration with the Ubuntu One service!
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Also, the Ubuntu One service includes brand-new features, various performance enhancements and compatibility with Google’s Android, Microsoft Windows, and Apple’s iPhone.
“Ubuntu One Basic, available free of charge, provides a personal cloud for sharing and syncing files, contacts, bookmarks and notes, with 2GB of free storage, access to music from the integrated store and (new in 10.10) a beta client for Windows allowing users to integrate their Windows and Ubuntu worlds.”
“As part of the paid Ubuntu One Mobile service, applications are now available for Android and iPhone so users can stream their music collections from their personal cloud to their mobile devices and synchronize contacts.”
“Users might find that they need extra capacity so 20GB blocks of additional storage can be purchased on demand.” – was stated in today’s press release. For more information check out the Ubuntu One website.
And… let’s not forget about the new Global Menu…
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