Linux distro Ubuntu 15.04 gets its name -- Vivid Vervet

 

Ubuntu has become one of the most popular and influential distributions of all time. It is easy to use, well designed and has a large and helpful community. Despite its general greatness, it uses a rather silly naming convention, based on sequential letters. That letter is used in the start of two consecutive words; the first being an adjective and the second being an animal. Is it fun? I suppose. Actually, it isn't too different than Android, which also uses sequential letters, but for yummy sweets.
 
Today, Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical CEO, announces the latest name, for the upcoming 15.04. For this release, the letter V is being used. The adjective? Vivid. The animal? Vervet. Yes, the next version of Ubuntu is Vivid Vervet, but what the hell is a vervet?

"This verbose tract is a venial vanity, a chance to vector verbal vibes, a map of verdant hills to be climbed in months ahead. Amongst those peaks I expect we’ll find new ways to bring secure, free and fabulous opportunities for both developers and users. This is a time when every electronic thing can be an Internet thing, and that’s a chance for us to bring our platform, with its security and its long term support, to a vast and important field. In a world where almost any device can be smart, and also subverted, our shared efforts to make trusted and trustworthy systems might find fertile ground. So our goal this next cycle is to show the way past a simple Internet of things, to a world of Internet things-you-can-trust", says Shuttleworth.
 
The CEO further explains, "in my favourite places, the smartest thing around is a particular kind of monkey. Vexatious at times, volant and vogie at others, a vervet gets in anywhere and delights in teasing cats and dogs alike. As the upstart monkey in this business I can think of no better mascot. And so let's launch our vicenary cycle, our verist varlet, the Vivid Vervet!"
 
OK, so Ubuntu 15.04 is being named after a monkey. Actually, that monkey can be seen above, where a baby is suckling on his moms teat. Of course, the name is inconsequential, as the performance and features of the Linux-based operating system are the truly important things, right?

Photo Credit: Alta Oosthuizen/Shutterstock

~ Brian Fagioli

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10 reasons why Ubuntu 12.10 desktop blows away Windows 8

Takeaway: Ubuntu 12.10 has arrived, and Windows 8 is just around the corner. Jack Wallen says there’s no contest between the two.

 History is a grand teacher. And in recent years, Ubuntu Linux has had to deal with a few hiccups in its history. To be specific, when Ubuntu Unity arrived, Ubuntu Linux usage dropped dramatically. When Windows 8 arrives, people are going to have similar issues with the drastic (and not terribly intelligent) changes made to the user interface.

 But it’s not just Windows 8’s shortcomings that make Ubuntu 12.10 the better option. Ubuntu has made some serious progress in the realm of efficiency and user friendliness. With yesterday’s release of 12.10, the improvements continue. Let’s examine some of the reasons why Ubuntu 12.10 will blow away Windows 8.

1: Amazon search

This is something new to every desktop platform. With Ubuntu Unity’s Dash, when you run a search, the search results will include items that can be purchased from Amazon.com. This feature takes online shopping (be it personal or for business) to a new level. Hopefully, at some point, the API for this feature will spread out and users and businesses will be able to include their favorite shopping sites. With all other platforms, you have to go through the steps of opening up your browser, launching the site, searching for the product, and clicking the desired product.

2: Dash previews

When you do search in the Dash, Unity will give you an interactive preview of the results. If the results are audio files, you can right-click the file to get a preview window. You can either show that file in its folder or play the file. If the file is a document, the preview will allow you to open the containing folder, open the file, or email the file.

3: Interface based on efficiency

From the ground up, Canonical and the Ubuntu Unity developers focused on creating an interface that would make day-to-day work as efficient as possible. I can attest, after using Unity since it first launched, that 12.10 is the most efficient desktop interface I have ever used. Those accustomed to switching back and forth between the mouse and the keyboard will happily make user of the Launcher. Users who want a more efficient means of interfacing with their machine will zoom along with the Dash — fingers rarely leaving the keyboard for the mouse.

4: Remote login

This feature is simply amazing. At the Ubuntu login prompt, there are three options: User Login, Guest Session, and Remote Login. The Remote Login allows you to set up remote connections (through UbuntuOne), which you can then log onto from the login screen. No more having to log onto a session and then use a VNC or RDP tool to connect. Now you can gain fast access to those remote machines. You will not find such efficient means of gaining a remote desktop in Windows 8.

5: Integrated Web services

Ubuntu 12.10 has Web services directly integrated into both the Launcher and the Dash, making it one of the most well connected interfaces on the planet. The simplest example of this is the ability to have the arrival of Gmail announced in the notification area. But the Google integration doesn’t end there. Once you’ve authenticated that online account with Unity, you can search your Google Apps account from within the Dash and open files with a simple click.

6: Ease of app installation

This ties into the Dash, as do many other features in 12.10. Open the Dash, click on the Application Lens, search for an application, and right-click the listing to immediately install. There’s not even a need to open the Ubuntu Software Center to install applications. If you left-click on the search result, the Software Center will open. It’s wise to retain this option so that when applications have settings (such as plug-ins that can be installed alongside the application), the user can take advantage of them. Windows 8’s app store includes only Windows 8 (Metro) apps, and it’s not nearly as efficient as the Unity take on installation.

7: Gradual change in UI

Ubuntu 12.10 benefits from a user interface that has been in the wild for more than a year. During that year, Unity has been prodded and polished by users and developers alike. Unity has matured faster than any desktop I can remember. Unlike Unity users, Windows users are going to be tossed into the arena with little-to-no-introduction. Yes, the same thing happened with Unity. But in the case of Ubuntu, users were able to continue using either Classic GNOME or GNOME Shell while they learned Unity.

8: Same interface from server to tablet

One of Mark Shuttleworth’s goals has been to have an identical interface on all Ubuntu-powered devices. Now that the Linux kernel has tackled the ARM issue, Ubuntu will be able to find its way onto tablet devices. With users (and support) being able to enjoy the same interface on tablets, desktops, and servers, life will become much easier across the board.

9: Performance boost

A number of improvements combine to give Ubuntu 12.10 a significant performance increase. The merging of the Unity 2D and 3D, kernel improvements, OpenGL performance boosts, and the inclusion of the new X.org X Windows stack all make for a lightning fast Unity desktop. From Ubuntu 12.04 to 12.10, I have noticed a significant increase in both performance and reliability — and that was an upgrade install!

10: Share Links file sharing

Ubuntu already had a built-in cloud storage system — UbuntuOne. I’ve been using that system for quite some time now and have found it to be much richer than, say, Dropbox. But Canonical wasn’t happy with just the inclusion of cloud storage in Ubuntu. To take this to a new level, it decided to allow users to share files with others via Share Links. This feature lets you copy links to files within your UbuntuOne cloud storage and share those files with other users. Yet another tool in Ubuntu arsenal called “efficiency.”

Watershed release?

The user friendliness keeps piling on with Ubuntu 12.10. I fully believe this will be the release that opens the eyes of the public at large to Ubuntu. Once users see how much more friendly and usable Ubuntu is over Windows 8, they’ll be flocking to the open source desktop.

Do you agree that Ubuntu 12.10 has it all over Windows 8? What other factors do you think make one platform better than the other?

~ Jack Wallen

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20-million new Ubuntu Linux PCs in 2012?

Summary: Ubuntu 12.04 will be arriving shortly and Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth expects big things from it: 20-million new PCs sold with Ubuntu in the next twelve months.

Will there be 20-million new Ubuntu users in the next twelve months?

 In less than two weeks, the latest version of Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux distribution, Ubuntu 12.04, Precise Pangolin, will be released. This new Ubuntu is looking good. How good? In a recent interview with Julie Bort, Canonical and Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth said, “We expect to ship close to 20 million PCs in the next year.”

He wasn’t talking about 20-million new copies of Ubuntu being installed. That’s easy to believe. True, desktop Linux has only a fraction of the total desktop market, but there are certainly tens of millions of Linux users. Mind you, there are hundreds of millions of Mac OS X users and over a billion Windows users.

A first look at Ubuntu 12.04 (Gallery)

Still, 20-million people buying Ubuntu pre-installed on their computers in the next twelve months? That’s a lot! Indeed, in Canonical’s own recent user survey, a mere 0.1% of Ubuntu users bought their Linux PCs with Ubuntu pre-installed from such vendors as Dell, System76, and ZaReason.

In analyzing those numbers, Gerry Carr, Canonical’s director of communications, said “The low number of [Ubuntu] pre-loads is certainly a concern . [It's] reflecting the continuing lack of availability in the market. We also probably under-counted this as we asked about the version users are currently running versus how they originally acquired a version. Still the good news from the sales team in Canonical is that 2012 should see a turnaround in this availability issue at least in many markets so again, a figure that is worth tracking over time.” In short, Canonical expects that there will be a lot more vendors selling a lot more Ubuntu equipped PCs and laptops this year.

20-million or so more though? I asked Shuttleworth about it and he stands by his prediction. “That’s what we think, based on projections, tell you how it went in a year :) Globally, with all the big brands, pretty evenly distributed. We ship with Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and quite a few smaller ones.”

Well, there you go. Even globally I’ll be surprised if Ubuntu can move that many unit. Still, Ubuntu 12.04 is looking great and I really can’t see many Windows users switching from XP or Windows 7 to Windows 8 later this year. So, as was the case with Vista, desktop Linux in general, and Ubuntu in specific, may get a brief shot at gaining more desktop users. Yes, conceivably even 20-million more who are willing to buy PCs with Ubuntu ready to go on them.

~ Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

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