Lucid Linux is Coming, 4.29

This April 29, Canonical will be releasing its new long-term support version of Ubuntu, codenamed Lucid Lynx. Ubuntu is a free linux distribution that is growing in popularity among everyday consumers, an unlikely group which tends to avoid the complexity of linux. Nonetheless, the open nature of the software and the company's efforts to increase usability have propeled Ubuntu into the retail consumer space in shops like Dell, Lenovo, and even Sharp. The operating system's rising popularity is attracting commercial software developers - Alfresco, Incres, IBM, VMware, Zimbra, and Yahoo! - who have committed to certify applications. Even Adobe, tired of fighting with the Apple's locked down systems, has redirected its focus towards bringing its software on Canonical's platform starting with Flash 10.1.

But what does this long-awaited release bring to the table? With Lucid Lynx, Canonical has embraced the cloud philosophy. Starting with Ubuntu One, a Windows Live Mesh wannabe, they are trying to create a platform for developing cloud apps that integrate with the operating system. In addition, this new cat will natively support social networks like Twitter and Facebook directly into its fabric. This is a radical paradigm shift in how operating systems should work. The standard definition was that they would provide a layer between the hardware and the software, so that application developers would not have to worry about resources and hardware issues. Now, Canonical has expanded on Apple's vision of the experience to redefine what the operating system should do. While some believe that these steps will make linux a valid replacement for Mac OSX and Windows, linux fanatics say that Canonical has shot themselves in the foot.

via COMPUTERWORLD
via ZDNET