Intrepid was the first release to include the Ubuntu Live USB creator. Guest sessions were also introduced to provide a temporary user account with restricted privileges with the idea that one could lend a computer to a friend or colleague for simple tasks like a quick email check. Encrypted private directories with the use of the ecryptfs package provided users with an alternative to the drawbacks inherit to the optional full-partition encryption using LVM and LUKS.

Intrepid did all of this and more using Gnome 2.24 and the Linux 2.6.27 kernel. As much as Intrepid forged ahead, it has finally reached the end of its 18 month life cycle. Users will be encouraged to upgrade their Intrepid installations to at least 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope to continue receiving security updates and critical bug fixes.

I am currently in the process of downloading all of the CD isos through the use of the torrents. Those will be seeded out over the next few months, probably until the first point release, 10.04.1, which we should see in July. I also have 5-packs of Ubuntu Desktop, Server, and Kubuntu Desktop CDs on order through Canonical that I hope to have in a week or so.

You can visit the “How to get Ubuntu” section of Ubuntu’s website which lists all of the available ways to get a copy of your own. The fastest way of course is to download a copy which can be burned to a CD or made into a bootable USB drive. You can also order your own CDs like I have. If all else fails, you can request a CD to be sent to you which can take up to six weeks to arrive.

Another option that is not so well known is to get in contact with one of Ubuntu’s many LoCo teams scattered around the globe and request a CD from them. They usually get a number of CDs to help spread the news about Ubuntu. The United States has plenty of state/region based teams to cover almost every state. Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, Australia (sorry, no Antarctica, yet) all have country based teams. The Loco Team List provides all of the contact information for each team and whether or not they provide any local support.

MatBoy: mhh, 9.10 upgrade on a eeepc 901 is not that easy with ssd
MatBoy: where does the 9.10 upgrade needs 1,5GB space ?
MatBoy: in /tmp ?
MatBoy: someone running 9.10 on a eeepc 901 with ssd ?
MatBoy: mhh, I can’t upgrade from 9.04 to 9.10… space issue of 1,5GB it says
MatBoy: LOL I removed my /home because I wanted to gpart the drives… which is ofcourse seperated :)
MatBoy: my install is on the 4GB part, so that might be too small by default…. I’m wondering if I move /tmp to the second drive if it works
MatBoy: I think I need a new install :(

Upgrading from Jaunty to Karmic through the Update Manager presented an interesting challenge on my Asus Eee PC 701. Since my / partition was only 4GB in size, there wasn’t enough room to download all of the necessary packages. Since there was no reason, or space, to put /var onto its own partition, the upgrade process was reliant on what the / partition contained. Fortunately, the Linux file system is very versatile making this more of an annoyance than a show-stopper.

Luckily for me, I had upgraded the SSD to a 32GB drive. I had it partitioned so that /home had its own 20GB partition. This gave me the option of “borrowing” space on that partition. Packages are downloaded to /var/cache/apt/archives/ regardless if they’re regular updates or part of a full system upgrade. What I did was create a symbolic link to a new location on the /home partition.

First, I had apt-get clean out any old updates. This would remove any old packages from the archives directory and free up a little more space on the / partition.

sudo apt-get clean

Next, I created the new temporary location with the included partial sub-directory and lock file.

sudo mkdir -p /home/temp_apt_cache/partial
sudo touch /home/temp_apt_cache/lock

Then, I temporarily changed the original location’s name to maintain a backup.

sudo mv /var/cache/apt/archives /var/cache/apt/archives_old

Lastly, I created a symbolic link to the new location.

sudo ln -s /home/temp_apt_cache /var/cache/apt/archives

I now had plenty of room for all of Karmic’s packages. The link does exactly what it sounds like, linking one location to another. When the upgrade process began downloading packages to the /var/cache/apt/archives/ directory, it was really saving them to the new /home location.

Since I wasn’t expecting to ever borrow more than about 1-1.5GB worth of space from my /home partition, I left it set up that way. To reverse the changes, I would remove the link, remove the temporary location, and rename the original location.

sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives
sudo rm -rf /home/temp_apt_archive
sudo mv /var/cache/apt/archives_old /var/cache/apt/archives

Just moments ago, 2.5.7 was officially released for everyone to download and enjoy.

Version 2.5.7 (06/20/2009)

• Yahoo Protocol 16 support, including new HTTPS login method; this should fix a number of login problems that have recently cropped up. (Sulabh Mahajan, Mike “Maiku” Ruprecht)
• Only display the AIM “Unable to Retrieve Buddy List” message once per connection. (Rob Taft)
• Blocking MSN users not on your buddy list no longer disconnects you.
• When performing operations on MSN, assume users are on the MSN/Passport network if we don’t get network ID’s for them.

Users can choose to either upgrade their clients or continue using the workaround that was posted by myself and a few others this weekend. Ubuntu users wanting to upgrade will either have to add Pidgin’s PPA repository or hope that Ubuntu backports the new version.

The Pidgin PPA has not been updated with 2.5.7, yet, as it’s only just been released from the time I’m writing this (<45 mins).

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/PPA_OpenOffice.org.list

Copy and paste the following deb lines:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

This website’s formatting may split those lines. Each line from “deb” to “main” should be unbroken. Change jaunty in each entry to either intrepid or hardy accordingly for your own Intrepid or Hardy installation.

CTRL-O to write to the file.
CTRL-X to exit.

nano ppa_keys

Copy and paste the PGP Public Key Block for the OpenOffice.org Scribblers PPA from HERE.

CTRL-O to write to the file.
CTRL-X to exit.

sudo apt-key add ppa_keys

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Answer yes when prompted. Wait for the packages to download and set up and enjoy OO.o 3.1 on your Hardy, Intrepid, or Jaunty Ubuntu installation.

As an added bonus, if you don’t already have the full OpenOffice.org suite, as some unnecessary packages are left off of the install CDs, just tell apt-get to get them:

sudo apt-get install openoffice.org

Ubuntu CTO Matt Zimmerman posted a great article on his blog to explain why Ubuntu is based off of Debian’s unstable branch.

Dustin Kirkland, a Core Developer working on the Ubuntu Server, posts on his blog about increasing the security of the new encrypted home directory by using a 2-factor authentication, and commenting on the use of biometrics and fingerprint readers. It’s a follow-up to an earlier post describing how to mount an encrypted home directory when using a Jaunty LiveCD.

Efraín Valles, fellow Ubuntu enthusiast, wrote on his blog about the GNU/LINUX CDs application at Facebook to help spread the use of Linux to the “not-so-linux crowds” (IE: your Windows-only friends).

There are deb packages for 8.10 Intrepid found at getdeb. While using Christopher Korn’s Launchpad PPA for getting 0.9.8a installed onto my Hardy machines, I came across the getdeb link on his PPA page. There’s an overwhelming list of files at that location, but you only need to be concerned with the following:

For i386 (32-bit) machines:

• libvlc2_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• libvlccore0_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc-data_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_all.deb
• vlc-nox_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc-plugin-arts_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc-plugin-esd_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc-plugin-ggi_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc-plugin-jack_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc-plugin-pulse_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc-plugin-sdl_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• vlc-plugin-svgalib_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
• mozilla-plugin-vlc_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_i386.deb

For amd64 (64-bit) machines:

• libvlc2_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• libvlccore0_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc-data_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_all.deb
• vlc-nox_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc-plugin-arts_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc-plugin-esd_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc-plugin-ggi_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc-plugin-jack_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc-plugin-pulse_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc-plugin-sdl_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• vlc-plugin-svgalib_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb
• mozilla-plugin-vlc_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb

The first five packages are required while the others are optional plugins. Depending on your setup or preferences, you may need some or all of them. Most users will want the vlc-plugin-pulse package for Pulseaudio support.

Download each of the required packages and any optional plugins that you need into a temporary folder. I used one titled “VLC” on my desktop. To install the debs, open a terminal window and at the command line issue the following:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Desktop/VLC/*.deb

Replace “~/Desktop/VLC/” with where you saved your deb packages. You’ll be prompted for your password, then dpkg will go through the deb packages and install them in the right order.

adam@nyx:~$ sudo dpkg -i ~/Desktop/VLC/*.deb
[sudo] password for adam:
(Reading database … 156009 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace libvlc2 0.9.4-1ubuntu3.1 (using libvlc2_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb) …
Unpacking replacement libvlc2 …
Preparing to replace libvlccore0 0.9.4-1ubuntu3.1 (using libvlccore0_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb) …
Unpacking replacement libvlccore0 …
Preparing to replace mozilla-plugin-vlc 0.9.4-1ubuntu3.1 (using mozilla-plugin-vlc_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb) …
Unpacking replacement mozilla-plugin-vlc …
Preparing to replace vlc 0.9.4-1ubuntu3.1 (using vlc_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb) …
Unpacking replacement vlc …
Preparing to replace vlc-data 0.9.4-1ubuntu3.1 (using vlc-data_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_all.deb) …
Unpacking replacement vlc-data …
Preparing to replace vlc-nox 0.9.4-1ubuntu3.1 (using vlc-nox_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb) …
Unpacking replacement vlc-nox …
Preparing to replace vlc-plugin-pulse 0.9.4-1ubuntu3.1 (using vlc-plugin-pulse_0.9.8a-1~getdeb1_amd64.deb) …
Unpacking replacement vlc-plugin-pulse …
Setting up vlc-data (0.9.8a-1~getdeb1) …
Setting up libvlccore0 (0.9.8a-1~getdeb1) …

Setting up libvlc2 (0.9.8a-1~getdeb1) …

Setting up vlc-nox (0.9.8a-1~getdeb1) …
Processing triggers for man-db …
Setting up vlc (0.9.8a-1~getdeb1) …

Setting up vlc-plugin-pulse (0.9.8a-1~getdeb1) …
Setting up mozilla-plugin-vlc (0.9.8a-1~getdeb1) …
Processing triggers for libc6 …
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
adam@nyx:~$

This will either replace or install VLC with version 0.9.8a. The downside to this will be that you won’t receive any updates from Ubuntu unless they push a version greater than 0.9.8a for Intrepid. But with Jaunty coming out, that may never happen. If you’re more concerned with security updates, stay with 0.9.4 from the repositories.

If you decide to remove these packages at a later date, you can find them listed in Synaptic using “vlc” as a search term. If you set vlc-data for removal, or issue sudo apt-get purge vlc-data at a command line, the other vlc packages will also be set for removal.

• January 22: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Hardy Heron, starts the year off by reaching it’s second point release (8.04.2).
• April: Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon, reaches it’s End Of Life status ending support and security updates. Users are urged to upgrade to a newer version to continue receiving security fixes.
• April 23: Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, officially released into the wild after its six month build process.
• June: Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Dapper Drake, Ubuntu’s first LTS reaches its End Of Life status for the Desktop edition. This includes each of its two subsequent point releases. The Server edition will be supported for another two years until 2011. Desktop users will be urged to upgrade to continue receiving security fixes.
• July: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Hardy Heron, reaches it’s third point release (8.04.3) with one more scheduled in 2010 before the next LTS version.
• October: Ubuntu 9.10, whose codename is yet to be determined, should be released to the public.

The dates shown above are taken from various www.ubuntu.com and wiki.ubuntu.com pages, and are considered tentative. Official announcements can be followed at Ubuntu’s News page or by subscribing to their latest news RSS feed.

Ubuntu’s releases get updates and security fixes for 18 months following their release dates. LTS (Long Term Support) releases get support for 3 years for the Desktop edition and 5 years for the Server edition.

LTS releases also reach milestones called “point releases” where, among certain bug fixes and enhancements, the packages on the install CD/DVDs are brought up to date with their current versions. There is some confusion for new users who think that these represent brand new releases. They’re only meant to reduce the amount of updates required from the repositories in order to bring new installations up to date. Current installations will reach these point releases automatically throughout the regular use of the update process.

An excellent graph showing the release cycle of up-coming versions can be found here.

And while looking at the current list of available software listed under Third-Party Sources, I noticed a listing for OpenOffice.org 3.0. The downside is that it’s only available for Intrepid Ibex users, but it offers a much easier way of installing OO.o 3.0.0 onto Ubuntu 8.10 desktops without having to hack it on.

Other new sources include Ubuntu Chinese, Amarok, and Banshee.

UPDATE: A bugfix was released only two days later bringing Ubuntu Tweak to 0.4.3. It addressed using Ubuntu Tweak without having compiz installed. It also provided additional translations for Bulgarian, Czech, Faroese, French, German, Italian, and Polish languages.

What follows are the original instructions. Users are advised to go to PPA For OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 For Hardy/Intrepid for a better solution.

It’s a good bet that OpenOffice.org won’t be making its way into the Ubuntu 8.04.1 Hardy Heron repositories. A quick look at the package information for openoffice.org shows that Ubuntu devs, while keeping up with security fixes, don’t backport OO.o to previous Ubuntu releases. Considering that I’ve decided to stick with Hardy Heron on my personal laptop until the release of 10.04, I don’t feel like being stuck with OO.o 2.4.1 until then. Not that 2.4.1 isn’t any good. I use it quite a bit, which is why I’d like to stay up-to-date with it.

Since the word got out early that OO.o 3.0.0 was being distributed to the mirrors, I wanted to see if I could get it installed before the official announcement is made. Surprisingly enough, it was easier than I had anticipated. There was only one small snag which was easy enough to fix.

Step 1

First we need to get the new release from the mirrors. Chances are, even after the announcement is made, the download option that OpenOffice.org presents you with may be for the RPM archive with JRE included. Since Ubuntu is Debian based, this will present a difficult challenge. Fortunately, they also offer DEB archives through the mirrors. JRE isn’t included, and not needed, in them but can be obtained through Ubuntu’s repositories if you wish to install it later.

The OpenOffice.org mirror list can be found HERE. Choose the closest location and preferably a HTTP link. Some web browsers don’t work well with FTP and even fewer users have a FTP client installed. Once at the mirror, click on stable/ and then 3.0.0/ and you will be presented with a list of archives. To download the release, click on OOo_3.0.0_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz for i386 installations or OOo_3.0.0_LinuxX86-64_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz for AMD64 installations.

Step 2

Open a terminal window (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and change to your download location. Extract the files with:

tar xzvf OOo_3.0.0_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz

or

tar xzvf OOo_3.0.0_LinuxX86-64_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz

You will have a new directory named OOO300_m9_native_packed-1_en-US.9358 with a DEBS/ directory inside. Navigate to that DEBS/ directory.

cd OOO300_m9_native_packed-1_en-US.9358/DEBS/

Inside will be all of the DEBs that you’ll need to install OO.o 3.0.0.

Step 3a

There are two options for Step 3. If OO.o 2.4.1 isn’t installed, proceed to Step 3b.

If you already have OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 installed through Ubuntu’s repos, you will need to remove it. One of the 3.0.0 packages (debian menus) has a conflict with one of the 2.4.1 packages, openoffice.org-core. Removing openoffice.org-core will also remove OO.o 2.4.1 from your computer.  Remove OO.o 2.4.1 by using apt-get at the command line:

sudo apt-get remove openoffice.org-core

You’ll see apt-get prompt you for removing the other 2.4.1 packages as well. Just hit enter and apt-get will do the rest. Proceed to Step 3b.

Step 3b

Install OO.o 3.0.0 using dpkg. You could try installing each DEB one by one, but dpkg will figure out the correct order for you and do it all automatically. Just issue the following at the command line and watch the magic happen: (UPDATE: More concise command used)

sudo dpkg -i -R .

All the OpenOffice.org 3.0.0 apps can now be launched from the Applications > Office menu. The first time you launch one, you’ll be presented with a setup screen for your personal details and to register with OpenOffice.org.

Now For The Bad News On Dark Themes

Some dark themes still won’t work well with OO.o 3.0.0. You can still apply the workaround I posted HERE, but you’ll need to change the directory locations accordingly. This version of OO.o 3.0.0 installs to a different directory than where Ubuntu installs 2.4.1. Those changes are detailed at the end of the workaround instructions.

Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

Also, this should work for Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid as well, but there’s still a possibility that OO.o 3.0.0 will be included in the final release of Intrepid. If that is the case, I would rather have it installed from Ubuntu through the repositories with the package managers. UPDATE: OO.o 3.0.0 did not ship with Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex, so you’ll have to do it yourself. Just follow the steps above. UPDATE UPDATE: You can use the new Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.2 to have an OO.o 3.0.0 source installed that will update your Intrepid system easily.

Removing OpenOffice.org 3.0

If you no longer want OO.o 3.0 installed, removing it is rather simple. At a command line, just enter the following:

sudo apt-get remove ooobasis3.0-* openoffice.org3* openoffice.org-debian-menus

Afterwards, to put 2.4.1 back use the following command:

sudo apt-get install openoffice.org

Difficulty With ubuntu-desktop

I’ve seen some people stating that the ubuntu-desktop gets removed when removing the OO.o 2.4.1 packages. It really shouldn’t as they are listed as recommended packages and not dependent for ubuntu-desktop. However, in response to a comment below, I experimented with re-installing ubuntu-desktop after OO.o 3.0.0 was installed and detailed it below.