Dictionary Definition
feisty adj
2 irritable and looking for trouble; "too touchy
to make judicious decisions" [syn: touchy] [also: feistiest, feistier]
User Contributed Dictionary
Adjective
- Tenacious, energetic, spunky.
- Belligerent; prepared to stand and fight, especially in spite of relatively small stature or some other disadvantage.
Translations
Extensive Definition
Ubuntu ( in English,
[ùbúntú] in Zulu) is an operating
system for desktops,
laptops, and servers.
It has consistently been rated among the most popular of the many
Linux distributions. Ubuntu's goals include providing an up-to-date
yet stable Linux
distribution for the average user and having a strong focus on
usability and ease of
installation. Ubuntu is a derivative of Debian, another free
operating system. Ubuntu is sponsored by Canonical
Ltd, owned by South
African entrepreneur Mark
Shuttleworth. The name of the distribution comes from the
African
concept of ubuntu
which may be rendered roughly as "humanity toward others", "we are
people because of other people", or "I am who I am because of who
we all are", though other meanings have been suggested. This Linux
distribution is named as such to bring the spirit of the philosophy
to the software world. Ubuntu is free
software and can be shared by any number of users.
Kubuntu and
Xubuntu are
official subprojects of the Ubuntu project, aiming to bring the
KDE and
Xfce desktop
environments, respectively, to the Ubuntu core (by default
Ubuntu uses GNOME for its desktop
environment). Edubuntu is an
official subproject designed for school environments, and should be
equally suitable for children to use at home. Gobuntu is an
official subproject that is aimed at adhering strictly to the
Free
Software Foundation's Four
Freedoms. The newest official subproject is JeOS. Ubuntu JeOS
(pronounced "Juice") is a concept for what an operating system
should look like in the context of a virtual appliance.
Ubuntu releases new versions every six months,
and supports those releases for 18 months with daily security fixes
and patches to critical bugs. LTS (Long Term Support) releases,
which occur every two years, are supported for 3 years for desktops
and 5 years for servers. The most recent version, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS
(Hardy Heron), was released on April 24,
2008. The next
version will be 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) and is scheduled for release
in October 2008.
History and development process
Ubuntu's first release was on October 20,
2004 as a
temporary
fork of the Debian project. This
was done so that a new version of Ubuntu could be released every
six months, resulting in a more frequently updated system. Ubuntu
releases always include the most recent GNOME release, and
are scheduled to be released about a month after GNOME. In contrast
with previous general-purpose forks of Debian—such as MEPIS, Xandros, Linspire,
Progeny and Libranet, many of
which relied on proprietary
and closed
source add-ons as part of their business model—Ubuntu has
stayed closer to Debian's philosophy and uses free
(libre)
software most of the time.
The Ubuntu logo and typography has remained the
same since that first release. The hand-drawn, lowercase OpenType font used
is called Ubuntu-Title
and was created by Andy Fitzsimon. The font is distributed under
the terms of the
GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and use with logos
derived from the Ubuntu logo is encouraged. although there has been
criticism that this is not happening enough and Debian and Ubuntu
packages are not necessarily binary
compatible with each other. Many Ubuntu developers are also
maintainers of key packages within Debian itself. However, Ian Murdock,
the founder of Debian, criticized Ubuntu for incompatibilities
between its packages and those of Debian, saying that Ubuntu had
diverged too far from Debian Sarge
to remain compatible. Grumpy Groundhog should merge with Debian
Unstable every six months.
Ubuntu is currently funded by Canonical
Ltd. On July 8, 2005, Mark
Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd announced the creation of the
Ubuntu
Foundation and provided an initial funding of USD $10 million.
The purpose of the foundation is to ensure the support and
development for all future versions of Ubuntu. Mark Shuttleworth
describes the foundation as an emergency fund in case Canonical's
involvement ends.
Ubuntu 8.04, released on April 24,
2008, is the
current Long Term Support (LTS) release. Canonical has released
previous LTS versions separated by two years, and has committed to
releasing the next LTS version in 2010, two years after 8.04.
Vendor support
Ubuntu is available pre-installed on computers
from a number of different vendors, including Dell, Tesco, and System 76. Dell
and Tesco have provided this option since 2007, while System 76 has
done so since its inception in November 2005. Dell and System76
customers are able to purchase 30-day, 3-month, and 1-year support
for Ubuntu through Ubuntu's parent company Canonical. Dell later
increased the availability of Ubuntu-based computers by offering
them for sale in the United
Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Spain, and Latin
America. Selected Dell machines running Ubuntu 7.10 have free
and legal DVD playback capabilities using LinDVD.
Features
Ubuntu focuses on usability, including the
widespread use of the sudo
tool for administrative tasks. The Ubiquity installer allows
installing Ubuntu to the hard disk from within the Live CD
environment without the need for restarting the computer prior to
installation. Ubuntu also emphasizes accessibility and internationalization,
to reach as many people as possible. Beginning with 5.04, UTF-8 became the
default character
encoding. The default appearance of the user interface in the
current version is called Human and is characterized by shades of
brown and orange.
The most recent version of Ubuntu comes installed
with the a wide range of software including: the OpenOffice.org
productivity suite, the Internet browser Firefox, the
instant messenger Pidgin
(formerly known as Gaim), the BitTorrent
client
Transmission and the raster
graphics editor GIMP. Several
lightweight card, puzzle
games, and board games
are pre-installed including Sudoku and Chess. Ubuntu has all
networking
ports closed by default for added security, although its
firewall, which offers
more fine-grained control of incoming and outgoing connections, is
installed but not enabled. Ubuntu comes with the ability to perform
most functions such as scanning, and even includes
Optical Character Recognition software for the translation of
scans to text.
Multilingual
Ubuntu is available in many languages. GNOME
2.22—the default desktop environment of Ubuntu 8.04—offers support
for 46 languages.
Installer
There are numerous ways to install Ubuntu:
Desktop CD
The desktop CD allows
a user to try Ubuntu without actually installing Ubuntu; the user
may optionally install Ubuntu later. This is the recommended CD to
use. At least 384 MB of RAM is required to install from
this CD.
Ubuntu offers a fully featured set of
applications that work straight from the standard install, but
nonetheless fits on a single CD. The live CD allows
users to see whether their hardware is compatible before
installation to the hard disk. The live CD is then used to install
Ubuntu using the Ubiquity installer. CDs for the LTS (Long Term
Support) releases are mailed free to anyone who requests them, and
CD images for all versions are available for download. The Ubuntu
live CD requires (for version 7.10) 256 megabytes of RAM, and once
installed on the hard disk, Ubuntu needs four gigabytes of hard
disk space. An alternative installation disc using the standard
debian-installer
in text mode is available for download only, and is aimed at people
with lower system specifications, computer dealers selling systems
already installed with Ubuntu, and for complex partitioning
including the use of
LVM.
With the release of Ubuntu 7.04 in April 2007,
the Ubuntu installation process changed slightly. It now supports
migration from Microsoft Windows. The new migration tool, called
Migration Assistant, imports Windows users' bookmarks, desktop
background (wallpaper), and settings for immediate use in the
Ubuntu installation.
With Wubi, it is
possible to install Ubuntu on a Windows partition, without using an
ISO file. It also makes use of the migration tool which imports
Windows users' configurations. Wubi was born as an independent
project, as such 7.04 and 7.10 are unofficial releases. But since
8.04 the code has been merged within Ubuntu and since 8.04-alpha5,
Wubi can also be found in the Ubuntu Live CD.
Alternate Install CD
The Alternate Install CD is an alternative
installation disk designed for specialist installations of Ubuntu.
The Alternative installation CD provides an installer that is
text-based rather than graphical and it is not a Live CD.
It provides for the following situations:
- creating pre-configured OEM systems;
- setting up automated deployments;
- upgrading from older installations without network access;
- LVM and/or RAID partitioning;
- installing on systems with less than about 320 MB of RAM (although note that low-memory systems may not be able to run a full desktop environment reasonably).
- installing Ubuntu from a local network or from Ubuntu mirrors.
Network and Server Install CDs
The Network Install CD installs Ubuntu over a
local network or directly from an Ubuntu mirror. Installation from
a mirror ensures that installed packages are up-to-date. It
contains only the kernel, to start up the installation. The
installation is text-based and is not recommended for beginners.
However, the server install CD is designed for server installation
of Ubuntu and contains all packages needed for installation without
a network connection. The server installation of Ubuntu does not
install a graphical user interface.
Customized installable Live CD/DVD
Many programs exist to create a customized Live
CD/DVD from an existing Ubuntu installation, such as remastersys, the Ubuntu Customization Kit, and
Reconstructor.
Package classification and support
Ubuntu divides all software into four components,
to reflect differences in licensing and level of support available.
Packages are assigned to components as follows:
"Free" software here includes only that which
meets the Ubuntu license requirements, which correspond roughly to
the
Debian Free Software Guidelines. There is one exception for
Main however; it "also may contain binary firmware and selected fonts (which are used by free
components of Main) that cannot be modified without permission from
their authors" so long as their "redistribution is
unencumbered."
Non-free software is usually unsupported
(Multiverse), but some exceptions (Restricted) are made for very
important non-free software, such as non-free device drivers,
without which users might be prevented from running Ubuntu on their
system, particularly binary-only graphics
card drivers.
The level of support is more limited than for main, since the
developers may not have access to the source
code.
It is intended that Main and Restricted should
contain all software needed for a general-use Linux system.
Alternative programs for the same tasks and programs for
specialised applications are placed in Universe and
Multiverse.
Beyond the official repositories is Ubuntu
Backports, which is an officially recognized project to backport newer versions of
certain software that are available in later versions of Ubuntu.
The repository is not comprehensive; it mostly consists of
user-requested packages, which are approved if they meet quality
guidelines.
For releases which are classified as old and
therefore no longer supported, users can still download
installation CD/DVD's and perform package updates from old-releases.ubuntu.com.
Editing /etc/apt/sources.list and replacing references to
"archive.ubuntu.com" with "old-releases.ubuntu.com" should allow
continued installation of packages through synaptic and apt-get on
unsupported releases.
Availability of proprietary software
Ubuntu has a certification system for third party
software. Ubuntu-certified proprietary software should work well in
Ubuntu. However, many programs familiar to users of non-free
operating systems, such as Microsoft
Windows, are incompatible and are not Ubuntu-certified. Some
proprietary software that does not limit distribution is included
in Ubuntu's multiverse component.
Some examples of software not distributed by
Ubuntu, but that can be easily installed:
- Software that enables the playback of region-locked video DVDs, due to the questionable legal status of the Libdvdcss open-source DVD-decoding library in some parts of the world. Libdvdcss, as well as much other software that might be forbidden in certain parts of the world, is readily available for Ubuntu through the package libdvdread3.
- Some popular proprietary web-browser plugins, such as Adobe's (formerly Macromedia's) Flash. One workaround to the specific prohibition against redistribution in the Flash EULA is the multiverse package "flashplugin-nonfree" which automatically downloads the Linux Flash plugin directly from Adobe's site and then installs.
The package ubuntu-restricted-extras additionally
contains software that may be legally restricted, including:
- Support for MP3 and DVD playback
- Microsoft TrueType core fonts
- Sun's Java runtime environment
- Adobe's Flash Player plugin
- Common audio/video codecs
- unrar, an unarchiver for .rar files (non-free version)
Releases
Each release has both a code name and a version
number. The version number is based on the year and month of
release. For example, the very first release of Ubuntu 4.10 was
released on October 20,
2004.
Consequently, version numbers for future versions are provisional;
if the release is delayed until a different month to that planned,
the version number changes accordingly.
The first characters of release names form an
alphabetical series. This makes the recognition process to
determine which release is newer if someone writes (for example)
"This bug seems to be related to Gutsy rather than Feisty".
Exceptions are the first few releases that should have begun with
A, B, C.
Releases are timed to be approximately one month
after GNOME releases, which are in turn about one month after
releases of X.org. Consequently, every Ubuntu release comes with a
newer version of both GNOME and X.
Release 6.06—and recently 8.04—have been labeled
as a Long Term Support (LTS), to indicate support with updates for
three years on the desktop and five years on the server, with paid
technical support available from Canonical
Ltd.
Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog)
Features
- ShipIt -- giving the ability to order Ubuntu on CD for free
Notable Programs
Desktop:- Gaim 1.0
- GIMP 2.0
- GNOME 2.8
- Mozilla Firefox 0.9
- OpenOffice.org 1.1
Server:
System:
Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog)
Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary
Hedgehog), released on 2005-04-08, was
Canonical's second release of Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu 5.04's support
ended on 2006-10-31
Features
- Update Manager
- Upgrade Notifier
- readahead and grepmap
- suspend, hibernate and standby support
- Dynamic frequency scaling for processors
- Ubuntu hardware database
- Kickstart
- installation from USB devices
- UTF-8 by default
- APT authentication
Notable Programs
Desktop:
- Gaim 1.1
- GIMP 2.2
- GNOME 2.10
- Mozilla Firefox 1.0
- OpenOffice.org 1.1
Server:
- MySQL 4.0
- PHP 4.3
- Python 2.4
System:
- Linux 2.6.10
- X.Org 6.8
Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger)
Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy
Badger), released on 2005-10-13, was
Canonical's third release of Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu 5.10's support
ended on 2007-04-13.
Features
- Usplash (graphical boot loader)
- https://help.ubuntu.com/7.04/add-applications/C/gnome-app-install.html Add/Remove Applications tool
- menu editor (alacarte)
- easy language selector
- Logical volume management support
- full Hewlett-Packard printer support
- OEM installer support
- Launchpad integration
Notable Programs
Desktop:
- Gaim 1.5
- GIMP 2.2
- GNOME 2.12
- Mozilla Firefox 1.0
- OpenOffice.org 1.9 (pre-2.0 release)
Server:
- MySQL 4.1
- PHP 5.0
- Python 2.4
System:
- Linux 2.6.12
- X.Org 6.8
Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake)
Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper
Drake), released on 2006-06-01, was
Canonical's fourth release, and first Long Term Support (LTS)
release. Ubuntu 6.06's support will end in 2009-06 for desktops and
2011-06 for servers.
Features
- Long Term Support (LTS) release
- Live CD and Install CD merged onto one disc, but it does not include a USB installer
- Ubiquity graphical installer on Live CD
- Usplash on shutdowns
- Network Manager for easy switching of multiple wired and wireless connections
- 'Humanlooks' theme implemented using Tango guidelines, based on Clearlooks and featuring orange colours instead of brown
- LAMP installation option
- installation to USB devices
- GDebi graphical installer for package files
Notable Programs
Desktop:
- Gaim 1.5
- GIMP 2.2
- GNOME 2.14
- Mozilla Firefox 1.5
- OpenOffice.org 2.0
Server:
- MySQL 5.0
- PHP 5.1
- Python 2.4
System:
- Linux 2.6.15
- X.Org 7.0
Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft)
Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy
Eft), released on 2006-10-26, was
Canonical's fifth release of Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu 6.10's support
ended on 2008-04-25.
Features
Notable Programs
Desktop:
- Gaim 2.0
- GIMP 2.2
- GNOME 2.16
- Mozilla Firefox 2.0
- OpenOffice.org 2.0
Server:
- MySQL 5.0
- PHP 5.1
- Python 2.4
System:
- Linux 2.6.17
- X.Org 7.1
Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)
Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty
Fawn), released on 2007-04-19, was
Canonical's sixth release of Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu 7.04's support
will end in 2008-10.
Features
- Migration assistant
- Kernel-based Virtual Machine support
- easy codec and restricted drivers installation
- Compiz desktop effects
- Wi-Fi Protected Access support
- PowerPC support dropped
- Sudoku and chess games added
- disk usage analyser (baobab) added;
- GNOME Control Center
- Zeroconf for many devices
Notable Programs
Desktop:
- Gaim 2.0
- GIMP 2.2
- GNOME 2.18
- Mozilla Firefox 2.0
- OpenOffice.org 2.2
Server:
- MySQL 5.0
- PHP 5.2
- Python 2.5
System:
- Linux 2.6.20
- X.Org 7.2
Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)
- Fast user switching
- graphical configuration tool for X.org is Canonical's eighth and latest release of Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu 8.04's support will end in April 2011 for desktops and April 2013 for servers.
Features
- Long Term Support (LTS) release
- Better Tango compliance
- Compiz usability improvements
- Tracker integration
- Brasero disk burner, Transmission BitTorrent client and Vinagre VNC client by default
- PulseAudio by default
- automatic grabbing and releasing of the mouse cursor when running on a VMware virtual machine
- Wubi installer included in LiveCD
- Easy uninstall
Notable Programs
Desktop:
- GIMP 2.4
- GNOME 2.22
- Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Beta 5
- OpenOffice.org 2.4
- Pidgin 2.4
Server:
- MySQL 5.0
- PHP 5.2
- Python 2.5
System:
- Linux 2.6.24
- X.Org 7.3
Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)
Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex), to be released on
2008-10-30, will
be Canonical's ninth release of Ubuntu Linux and Ubuntu's fourth
anniversary on October 10.
- Improvements to mobile computing and desktop scalability
- Increased flexibility for Internet connectivity
- OpenGL face browser for GDM