| Second Lucid Lynx alpha said to offer 15-second start-ups |
Jan. 22, 2010
 The second alpha of Ubuntu 10.06 boasts 15-second boot-time, says an industry report. Meanwhile, the Ubuntu project posted a controversial survey about which proprietary apps might be considered for inclusion with the distro, and Canonical announced a support plan for IBM's Ubuntu/Lotus "Smart Work" cloud distribution.
The Canonical-backed Ubuntu Project released the second of three alphas last week for Ubuntu 10.04 ("Lucid Lynx"), which arrived in its first alpha incarnation last month. Due for final release on April 29, Lucid Lynx builds upon Linux kernel 2.6.32, moving up from the Linux 2.6.31 kernel in Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala). It also offers the latest GNOME 2.29.3 desktop, and the Kubuntu version offers a beta of the KDE SC 4.4 desktop, says the Ubuntu project.
On ChannelWeb, Ed Moltzen tried out the second alpha and reports that Ubuntu boots in only 15 seconds, compared to an already estimable 20 seconds for the initial alpha release. By comparison, tested on the same PC, Windows 7 came in at a surprisingly respectable 30 seconds (which is no doubt much faster than Vista would have fared), even beating out Fedora 12 (37 seconds), but still twice as slow as Ubuntu. Moltzen's system is based on an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 clocked at 2.80GHz, with 2GB of RAM. Canonical's goal for Ubuntu is a 10-second start-up time, said Moltzen.
Ubuntu flirts with proprietary software
The Ubuntu project has posted a survey on the Ubuntu Forums asking users which third-party proprietary applications they would like to see in upcoming version of Ubuntu. Possibilities on the rather short list include Spotify, Pandora, Photoshop, iTunes (as if!), Hulu, Skype, World of Warcraft, Picasa, Steam, Codeweavers, and Evernote, but users can also add their own suggestions.
Not surprisingly, the posting has reignited the age-old controversy on the topic of how "pure" an open source Linux distribution should be. Ubuntu has been considerably more pure than many other major Linux distros, but appears to be edging toward pleasing incoming Windows users with more familiar proprietary apps, regardless of what no matter what the FOSS (free and open source software) movement would prefer.
A statement accompanying the survey reads, "While we all believe in the power of open source applications we are also very keen that users should get to choose the software they want to use. There are some great apps that aren't yet available to Ubuntu users and Canonical would like to know the priority that users would like to see them."
The post goes on to note, apparently after the initial survey posting, that, "There has been some confusion that I would like to clear up -- this is not about applications to be included by default, but merely things that we may attempt to make more easily available for Ubuntu users to install for themselves from official repositories."
Despite that caveat, there were numerous outcries that Ubuntu was abandoning FOSS principles when it should be forcing the companies to release open source versions of their software. One forum-writer posted, "Why the focus on windoz applications? I [came] to Linux to get away from them!!!"
Others, however, suggested it was time to move on, with one poster writing, "The [FOSS] philosophy is fine, it just gets ruined when the FOSS extremists hijack it and start yelling that everything that isn't open source is evil."
Many of the posts, however, steered clear of the controversy, however, and merely lobbied for one or another particular proprietary app they'd like to see in Ubuntu (or at least made available for easy integration). There seemed to be a particular push for Adobe apps such as Photoshop, with some giving up hope that Adobe will ever support open source.
Canonical launches "Smart Work" support
In other Canonical news, earlier this week the company announced a dedicated support program for IBM's Lotus Symphony, the no-charge office productivity alternative that forms the core of IBM Client for Smart Work (ICSW) on Ubuntu. The support is said to be made available to customers by Canonical through the IBM and Canonical partner network.
IBM announced the package on Oct. 22, touting IBM Client for Smart Work as a way to help companies save up to 50 percent per seat on software costs versus a Microsoft-based desktop. The cost savings are based on the fact that users can run a combination of Web-based applications and Linux on their existing PCs, netbooks, and thin clients. The distribution is based on the VERDE virtualization technology from Virtual Bridges, and includes Linux versions of IBM's Open Collaboration Client Solution software (OCCS), based on IBM Lotus Symphony, Lotus Notes, and other Lotus applications.
Availability
The second alpha of Ubuntu 10.04 may be found here, and the ChannelWeb story on the release should be here.
The Canonical survey and forum responses should be here, and more information on the Canonical Lotus Symphony support program should be here.
-- Eric Brown
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