List of Ubuntu Distributions

The Ubuntu project makes two releases per year, using the year and month of the release as the version number. The first Ubuntu release, for example, was Ubuntu 4.10 and 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.

Ubuntu releases are also given code names, using an adjective and an animal with the same first letter e.g: "Dapper Drake" and "Intrepid Ibex". With the exception of the first two releases, code names are in alphabetical order, allowing a quick determination of which release is newer. Commonly, Ubuntu releases are referred to using only the adjective portion of the code name.

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 (Dapper Drake)—and recently 8.04 (Hardy Heron)—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, compared to 18 months support for non-LTS releases.

The current release is 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" - and the next is 9.10 "Karmic Koala", due in October 2009.

Variants
Kubuntu is an official variant of the Ubuntu distribution which uses KDE rather than GNOME
Super OS is an un-official remaster
See also: List of Ubuntu-based distributions

Several official and unofficial Ubuntu variants exist. These Ubuntu variants install a set of packages different from the original Ubuntu. Since they draw additional packages and updates from the same repositories as Ubuntu, however, the same software is available for each of them. Unofficial variants and derivatives are not controlled or guided by Canonical and are generally forks with customizations for specific goals. The "fully supported" Ubuntu derivatives include:

• Kubuntu, a desktop distribution using KDE rather than GNOME
• Edubuntu, a distribution designed for classrooms using GNOME
• Ubuntu Server Edition
• Xubuntu, a "lightweight" distribution based on the Xfce desktop environment instead of GNOME, designed to run better on low-specification computers.
• Lubuntu, another "lightweight" distro that uses the LXDE desktop environment and Openbox window manager. This variant is still in development and is available as an add-on package.

There is an enterprise version, similar to Red Hat Enterprise Linux or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, which is a normal release but labeled as LTS (Long Term Support). For example, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop was released in April 2008 and will be maintained until April 2011 (unlike standard releases, which are supported for eighteen months).

Other Ubuntu distributions developed or otherwise recognized by Canonical include:

• Mythbuntu, a multimedia platform based on MythTV
• Ubuntu JeOS (pronounced as "juice"), is described as "an efficient variant ... configured specifically for virtual appliances".
• Ubuntu MID Edition, an Ubuntu edition that targets Mobile Internet Devices.
• Ubuntu Netbook Remix, designed for ultra-portables including the ASUS Eee PC,Dell Inspiron Mini Series, and the Acer Aspire One.
• Ubuntu Studio, a multimedia-creation form of Ubuntu

There are also a growing number of related derivative distributions such as Linux Mint, gOS, OpenGEU, Super OS (formerly: Super Ubuntu), CrunchBang Linux and gNewSense. Portable Ubuntu for Windows can run Ubuntu as a native application within Windows.

List of Ubuntu Distributions

The Ubuntu project makes two releases per year, using the year and month of the release as the version number. The first Ubuntu release, for example, was Ubuntu 4.10 and 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.

Ubuntu releases are also given code names, using an adjective and an animal with the same first letter e.g: "Dapper Drake" and "Intrepid Ibex". With the exception of the first two releases, code names are in alphabetical order, allowing a quick determination of which release is newer. Commonly, Ubuntu releases are referred to using only the adjective portion of the code name.

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 (Dapper Drake)—and recently 8.04 (Hardy Heron)—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, compared to 18 months support for non-LTS releases.

The current release is 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" - and the next is 9.10 "Karmic Koala", due in October 2009.

Variants
Kubuntu is an official variant of the Ubuntu distribution which uses KDE rather than GNOME
Super OS is an un-official remaster
See also: List of Ubuntu-based distributions

Several official and unofficial Ubuntu variants exist. These Ubuntu variants install a set of packages different from the original Ubuntu. Since they draw additional packages and updates from the same repositories as Ubuntu, however, the same software is available for each of them. Unofficial variants and derivatives are not controlled or guided by Canonical and are generally forks with customizations for specific goals. The "fully supported" Ubuntu derivatives include:

• Kubuntu, a desktop distribution using KDE rather than GNOME
• Edubuntu, a distribution designed for classrooms using GNOME
• Ubuntu Server Edition
• Xubuntu, a "lightweight" distribution based on the Xfce desktop environment instead of GNOME, designed to run better on low-specification computers.
• Lubuntu, another "lightweight" distro that uses the LXDE desktop environment and Openbox window manager. This variant is still in development and is available as an add-on package.

There is an enterprise version, similar to Red Hat Enterprise Linux or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, which is a normal release but labeled as LTS (Long Term Support). For example, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop was released in April 2008 and will be maintained until April 2011 (unlike standard releases, which are supported for eighteen months).

Other Ubuntu distributions developed or otherwise recognized by Canonical include:

• Mythbuntu, a multimedia platform based on MythTV
• Ubuntu JeOS (pronounced as "juice"), is described as "an efficient variant ... configured specifically for virtual appliances".
• Ubuntu MID Edition, an Ubuntu edition that targets Mobile Internet Devices.
• Ubuntu Netbook Remix, designed for ultra-portables including the ASUS Eee PC,Dell Inspiron Mini Series, and the Acer Aspire One.
• Ubuntu Studio, a multimedia-creation form of Ubuntu

There are also a growing number of related derivative distributions such as Linux Mint, gOS, OpenGEU, Super OS (formerly: Super Ubuntu), CrunchBang Linux and gNewSense. Portable Ubuntu for Windows can run Ubuntu as a native application within Windows.

Java Features

• Platform Independence
  • The Write-Once-Run-Anywhere ideal has not been achieved (tuning for different platforms usually required), but closer than with other languages.
• Object Oriented
  • Object oriented throughout - no coding outside of class definitions, including main().
  • An extensive class library available in the core language packages.
• Compiler/Interpreter Combo
  • Code is compiled to bytecodes that are interpreted by a Java virtual machines (JVM) .
  • This provides portability to any machine for which a virtual machine has been written.
  • The two steps of compilation and interpretation allow for extensive code checking and improved security.
• Robust
  • Exception handling built-in, strong type checking (that is, all data must be declared an explicit type), local variables must be initialized.
• Several dangerous features of C & C++ eliminated:
  • No memory pointers
  • No preprocessor
  • Array index limit checking
• Automatic Memory Management
  • Automatic garbage collection - memory management handled by JVM.
• Security
  • No memory pointers
  • Programs runs inside the virtual machine sandbox.
  • Array index limit checking
  • Code pathologies reduced by
    • bytecode verifier - checks classes after loading
    • class loader - confines objects to unique namespaces. Prevents loading a hacked "java.lang.SecurityManager" class, for example.
    • security manager - determines what resources a class can access such as reading and writing to the local disk.
• Dynamic Binding
  • The linking of data and methods to where they are located, is done at run-time.
  • New classes can be loaded while a program is running. Linking is done on the fly.
  • Even if libraries are recompiled, there is no need to recompile code that uses classes in those libraries.
    
    This differs from C++, which uses static binding. This can result in fragile classes for cases where linked code is changed and memory pointers then point to the wrong addresses.
• Good Performance
  • Interpretation of bytecodes slowed performance in early versions, but advanced virtual machines with adaptive and just-in-time compilation and other techniques now typically provide performance up to 50% to 100% the speed of C++ programs.
• Threading
  • Lightweight processes, called threads, can easily be spun off to perform multiprocessing.
  • Can take advantage of multiprocessors where available
  • Great for multimedia displays.
• Built-in Networking
  • Java was designed with networking in mind and comes with many classes to develop sophisticated Internet communications.

Features such as eliminating memory pointers and by checking array limits greatly help to remove program bugs. The garbage collector relieves programmers of the big job of memory management. These and the other features can lead to a big speedup in program development compared to C/C++ programming.

Message Box In Java [Using Plain AWT]

Message Box In Java [Using Plain AWT]

    import java.awt.*;
    import java.awt.event.*;
    public class MsgBox extends Dialog implements ActionListener
    {  
    private Button ok,can;
    public boolean isOk = false;
    /*  * @param frame parent frame
        * @param msg message to be displayed
        * @param okcan true : ok cancel buttons, false : ok button only   */  

    MsgBox(Frame frame, String msg, boolean okcan)
    super(frame, "Message", true);
    setLayout(new BorderLayout());
    add("Center",new Label(msg));
    addOKCancelPanel(okcan);
    createFrame();
    pack();
    setVisible(true);
    }

    MsgBox(Frame frame, String msg)
    {  this(frame, msg, false);  }
    void addOKCancelPanel( boolean okcan )
    {  Panel p = new Panel();
    p.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
    createOKButton( p );
    if (okcan == true)
    createCancelButton( p );
    add("South",p);  
    }

    void createOKButton(Panel p)
    {  
    p.add(ok = new Button("OK"));
    ok.addActionListener(this);
    }

    void createCancelButton(Panel p)
    {
    p.add(can = new Button("Cancel"));
    can.addActionListener(this);
    }

    void createFrame()
    {
    Dimension d = getToolkit().getScreenSize();
    setLocation(d.width/3,d.height/3);
    }

    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
    {
    if(ae.getSource() == ok)
    {  
    isOk = true;  setVisible(false);
    }
    else if(ae.getSource() == can)
    {  
    setVisible(false);
    }
    }

    public static void main(String args[])
    {
    Frame f = new Frame();
    f.setSize(200,200);
    f.setVisible(true);
    MsgBox message = new MsgBox  (f , "Hey you user, are you sure ?", true);
    if (message.isOk)
    System.out.println("Ok pressed");
    if (!message.isOk)
    System.out.println("Cancel pressed");
    message.dispose();
    }
    }

Google Operating System ( Goobuntu )

Goobuntu is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that Google uses internally. Some have suggested that Google might plan to market the distribution more widely.While both Google and Mark Shuttleworth, creator of Ubuntu, have confirmed that Goobuntu exists and is used internally,both have strongly refuted suggestions that Google has any plans to market the operating system.Almost half of the 20,000 employees of Google use Goobuntu.

Mark Shuttleworth has confirmed that Google contributes patches to Ubuntu but noted that while some Google employees use this modified version of Ubuntu, others use modified versions of other Linux distributions. Google has supported Ubuntu through the Ubucon conferences and in other ways. Although Shuttleworth and Google representatives have denied any plans to release Goobuntu outside the company, it has nonetheless inspired ongoing speculation about Google entering the operating system business.

Linux filesystem

Windows has a directory tree for each drive. Each tree begins with a drive letter.

Linux has only one tree called the filesystem. It starts with the symbol for the root directory: '/'. (There is a special user also called root. User root's home directory is '/root'. Be careful not to confuse the two.) The root directory has some subdirectories:

• bin - Essential command binaries
• boot - Static files of the boot loader
• dev - Device files
• etc - Host-specific system configuration
• home - User home directories
• lib - Essential shared libraries and kernel modules
• media - Mountpoint for removeable media
• mnt - Mountpoint for mounting a filesystem temporarily
• opt - Add-on application software packages
• root - Home directory for the root user
• sbin - Essential system binaries
• tmp - Temporary files
• usr - Secondary hierarchy (for user-installed applications)
• var - Variable data

In Linux, the user never needs to know which physical drive contains particular data. This is unlike Windows where you need to know which drive (C:, D:, etc) to use. Instead, in Linux you mount a drive to a particular mountpoint in the directory tree. For instance, the first CD drive in Windows might be D: or E: or some other drive letter and might change if other drives are added to or removed from the system. In Linux, the mountpoint for the first CD drive is /media/cdrom0. The mountpoint does not change if you add or remove devices, although you can add a convenient symlink (shortcut) to the filesystem such as /cdrom.

If you install an application in Windows, the executable and related files are normally installed to C:\Program Files. In Linux,

• application executable files (binaries) are installed in /usr/bin,
• manuals in /usr/share/man,
• other documentation in /usr/share/doc,
• etc.

Linux does not have a registry. Configuration data is normally in the form of text files installed in /etc.

Disc devices and partitions

In Windows, the active primary partition on the primary master IDE disc is called C:. Other partitions (and CDROM drives) are called D:, E: etc. In Windows 98 and earlier, the allocation of drive letters to partitions is automatic and fixed. From Windows NT onwards it is possible to reassign some drive letters.

In Linux, it is often said that "everything is a file". In the case of discs, the whole primary IDE master disc is the device /dev/hda, the primary slave is /dev/hdb, the secondary master is /dev/hdc and the secondary slave is /dev/hdd.

The first SCSI hard disc is /dev/sda, the second is /dev/sdb etc. SCSI CD or DVD devices are /dev/scd0 etc.

PATA drives (connected with flat cables) are treated as IDE ATA drives (/dev/hda etc). SATA drives (not connected with flat cables) are treated as SCSI drives (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb etc).

It is possible to have up to 4 primary partitions on a hard disc. One of them can be an extended partition containing up to 63 other logical partitions. The logical partitions must be contiguous. Windows uses only one primary partition and one extended partition containing logical partitions. Linux can use all the partitions, but manual configuration is needed to use more than 20 partitions per disc in Debian.

If /dev/hda is formatted with two primary partitions, the partitions would be /dev/hda1 and /dev/hda2. In a typical dual-boot (Windows/Linux) system, primary partition 1 will be Window's drive C:, so this can be accessed as /dev/hda1. Partition 2 (/dev/hda2) will be Window's extended partition, though this never needs to be accessed directly. Partitions 3 and 4 will be unused, and 5 upwards are the partitions within the extended partition. Partition 5 will be D: or /dev/hda5.

CD or DVD drives cannot be partitioned. A typical CD drive would be /dev/hdc (IDE) or /dev/scd0 (SCSI).

In Windows, there may be two floppy drives, A: and B:. In Linux, the floppy drives are /dev/fd0, /dev/fd1 etc.

Mounting and unmounting devices

Everything in Linux is a file - including devices such as disc drives. In order to use a drive, you must mount the device to a mountpoint in the filesystem. You can then access the drive from the mountpoint. For example, you may wish to use another hard drive to store backups of your system. To add manually an EXT3 formatted partition /dev/hdb1 you might create a new directory /mnt/backup as the mountpoint. You can then mount the partition with the mount command

$ mount -t ext3 /dev/hdb1 /mnt/backup

and unmount it with the umount command (NB only one n)

$ umount /mnt/backup

or

$ umount /dev/hdb1

The configuration file /etc/fstab contains the details of devices which are mounted automatically at boot time.

Removable media can be automatically mounted if you install an automounter. The X-window desktop Gnome includes automounting as standard. The media will not unmount or eject until all processes involving it are finished. In Gnome, right-click on the CD icon and choose eject.

Filesystem formats

The most common Linux format is EXT2 (the Second Extended file system format). Recent distributions use EXT3 which is EXT2 with a journaling system. The journal protects against corruption of filesystem data which might cause lost files etc. As well as being robust, EXT2/3 partitions are efficient and do not need to be defragmented. They can be checked and repaired with the filesystem checker fsck which is similar to scandisk in Windows.

Windows cannot access native Linux formatted drives, but Linux can read from and write to other formats such as FAT, FAT32, etc. However, writing to NTFS is not recommended (see http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/info/ntfs.html#3.2).

More Information :

http://newbiedoc.berlios.de/wiki/Debian_basic_features

Ubuntu Overview

Ubuntu Overview:

Current Rea lease

Ubuntu 9.04 ( Desktop )

Ubuntu pronounced

 "oo-boon-too"

Available Interface

GNome
KDE
Xfe

Website

www.ubuntu.com

Debian-derived computer operating system based on GNU/Linux

What does Ubuntu mean?

Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

History Deveolpment

Ubuntu was initially forked from the Debian project's code base. The aim was to release a new version of Ubuntu every six months, resulting in a more frequently updated system. Ubuntu's first release was on October 20, 2004. The name Ubuntu, pronounced IPA: [uːˈbuːntuː] in English, comes from the Zulu word "ubuntu" ([ùɓúntú]), translated as "humanity to others", describing the ubuntu philosophy: "I am what I am because of who we all are", a positive aspect of community.

New releases of Ubuntu coincide a month after GNOME releases. In contrast to 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, making an exception only for some proprietary hardware drivers.

Ubuntu packages are based on packages from Debian's unstable branch: both distributions use Debian's deb package format and package management tools, APT and Synaptic, although Debian and Ubuntu packages are not necessarily binary compatible with each other, and may need to be rebuilt from source. Ubuntu cooperates with Debian — to some extent pushing changes back to Debian, although there has been criticism that this doesn't happen often enough. Many Ubuntu developers are also maintainers of key packages within Debian. However, Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian, expressed concern about Ubuntu packages diverging too far from Debian Sarge to remain compatible.

Before release, packages are imported from Debian Unstable continuously and merged with Ubuntu-specific modifications. A month before release, imports are frozen, and soon after a feature freeze is instated, which allows for packagers to work on ensuring that the current software works well, rather than supporting the moving target that is Unstable.

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 US$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.

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.[18] 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. The font is available as a package for Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 8.04, released on April 24, 2008, is the current Long Term Support (LTS) release. Canonical has released previous LTS versions every two years, and has committed to releasing the next LTS version in 2010, two years after 8.04.Meanwhile, the current standard-support period release, Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), was released on April 23, 2009.

On March 12, 2009, Ubuntu announced full developer support on 3rd party cloud management platforms to deploy and manage cloud applications on cloud infrastructures such as Amazon EC2.

Ubuntu 9.04, released on April 24, 2009.

Ubuntu Desktop Edition

With Ubuntu Desktop Edition you can surf the web, read email, create documents and spreadsheets, edit images and much more. Ubuntu has a fast and easy graphical installer right on the Desktop CD. On a typical computer the installation should take you less than 25 minutes.

System Requirements

Ubuntu is available for PC, 64-Bit PC and Intel based Mac architectures. At least 256 MB of RAM is required to run the alternate install CD (384MB of RAM is required to use the live CD based installer). Install requires at least 4 GB of disk space.

Ubuntu Server Edition

The Ubuntu Server Edition - built on the solid foundation of Debian which is known for its robust server installations — has a strong heritage for reliable performance and predictable evolution.
The Ubuntu Server Edition is changing the server market for businesses by delivering the best of free software on a stable, fully supported and secure platform. In the two years since initial launch Ubuntu can now be found in hundreds of organisations across the world delivering key services reliably, predictably and economically. Ubuntu Server Edition is an energy efficient, low memory and disk footprint operating system that helps build server functions that respect our environment with no compromise on agility and versatility.
The Ubuntu Server Edition can become the backbone of many of the services that a typical business needs to run to be successful. With no license fees, an expanding ecosystem, minimal maintenance, a growing community of peers and references, Ubuntu Server Edition is making many organisations reconsider how they use Linux for their information technology needs.
Through the use of Ubuntu, we believe that our users will enjoy the unprecedented performance and security that Linux can provide. Because we care about your business we have ensured that the Ubuntu Server Edition:

• easily integrates in your existing networks.
• provides a low total cost of ownership.
• offers multiple life cycle scenarios for you to choose from.
• delivers free life maintenance.
• and is backed by Canonical's world class support.

Ubuntu Variants

Several official and unofficial Ubuntu variants exist. These Ubuntu variants install a set of packages different from the original Ubuntu. Since they draw additional packages and updates from the same repositories as Ubuntu, however, the same software is available for each of them. Unofficial variants and derivatives are not controlled or guided by Canonical and are generally forks with customizations for specific goals. The "fully supported" Ubuntu derivatives include:

    * Kubuntu, a desktop distribution using KDE rather than GNOME
    * Edubuntu, a distribution designed for classrooms using GNOME
    * Ubuntu Server Edition
    * Xubuntu, a "lightweight" distribution based on the Xfce desktop environment instead of GNOME, designed to run better on low-specification computers.

Download Ubuntu

Server Edition : Download

Desktop Edition : You can download Ubuntu, or request a free CD from Canonical.

Requesting an Ubuntu CD

Ubuntu is available free of charge and we can send you a CD of the latest version (9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)) with no extra cost, but the delivery may take up to ten weeks, so you should consider downloading the CD image if you have a fast Internet connection.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

Ubuntu Feature

• Productivity tools
• Web browsing
• Photos
• Music and video
• Office tools
• Accessibility

For More Information

www.ubuntu-bit.blogspot.com
www.ubuntu.com

Ubuntu Logo

Screenshots

Related Knols
Debian
Linux Overview
Linux File System
What Is Linux?

Linux Filesystem

Linux filesystem

Windows has a directory tree for each drive. Each tree begins with a drive letter.

Linux has only one tree called the filesystem. It starts with the symbol for the root directory: '/'. (There is a special user also called root. User root's home directory is '/root'. Be careful not to confuse the two.) The root directory has some subdirectories:

• bin - Essential command binaries
• boot - Static files of the boot loader
• dev - Device files
• etc - Host-specific system configuration
• home - User home directories
• lib - Essential shared libraries and kernel modules
• media - Mountpoint for removeable media
• mnt - Mountpoint for mounting a filesystem temporarily
• opt - Add-on application software packages
• root - Home directory for the root user
• sbin - Essential system binaries
• tmp - Temporary files
• usr - Secondary hierarchy (for user-installed applications)
• var - Variable data

In Linux, the user never needs to know which physical drive contains particular data. This is unlike Windows where you need to know which drive (C:, D:, etc) to use. Instead, in Linux you mount a drive to a particular mountpoint in the directory tree. For instance, the first CD drive in Windows might be D: or E: or some other drive letter and might change if other drives are added to or removed from the system. In Linux, the mountpoint for the first CD drive is /media/cdrom0. The mountpoint does not change if you add or remove devices, although you can add a convenient symlink (shortcut) to the filesystem such as /cdrom.

If you install an application in Windows, the executable and related files are normally installed to C:\Program Files. In Linux,

• application executable files (binaries) are installed in /usr/bin,
• manuals in /usr/share/man,
• other documentation in /usr/share/doc,
• etc.

Linux does not have a registry. Configuration data is normally in the form of text files installed in /etc.

Disc devices and partitions

In Windows, the active primary partition on the primary master IDE disc is called C:. Other partitions (and CDROM drives) are called D:, E: etc. In Windows 98 and earlier, the allocation of drive letters to partitions is automatic and fixed. From Windows NT onwards it is possible to reassign some drive letters.

In Linux, it is often said that "everything is a file". In the case of discs, the whole primary IDE master disc is the device /dev/hda, the primary slave is /dev/hdb, the secondary master is /dev/hdc and the secondary slave is /dev/hdd.

The first SCSI hard disc is /dev/sda, the second is /dev/sdb etc. SCSI CD or DVD devices are /dev/scd0 etc.

PATA drives (connected with flat cables) are treated as IDE ATA drives (/dev/hda etc). SATA drives (not connected with flat cables) are treated as SCSI drives (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb etc).

It is possible to have up to 4 primary partitions on a hard disc. One of them can be an extended partition containing up to 63 other logical partitions. The logical partitions must be contiguous. Windows uses only one primary partition and one extended partition containing logical partitions. Linux can use all the partitions, but manual configuration is needed to use more than 20 partitions per disc in Debian.

If /dev/hda is formatted with two primary partitions, the partitions would be /dev/hda1 and /dev/hda2. In a typical dual-boot (Windows/Linux) system, primary partition 1 will be Window's drive C:, so this can be accessed as /dev/hda1. Partition 2 (/dev/hda2) will be Window's extended partition, though this never needs to be accessed directly. Partitions 3 and 4 will be unused, and 5 upwards are the partitions within the extended partition. Partition 5 will be D: or /dev/hda5.

CD or DVD drives cannot be partitioned. A typical CD drive would be /dev/hdc (IDE) or /dev/scd0 (SCSI).

In Windows, there may be two floppy drives, A: and B:. In Linux, the floppy drives are /dev/fd0, /dev/fd1 etc.

Mounting and unmounting devices

Everything in Linux is a file - including devices such as disc drives. In order to use a drive, you must mount the device to a mountpoint in the filesystem. You can then access the drive from the mountpoint. For example, you may wish to use another hard drive to store backups of your system. To add manually an EXT3 formatted partition /dev/hdb1 you might create a new directory /mnt/backup as the mountpoint. You can then mount the partition with the mount command

$ mount -t ext3 /dev/hdb1 /mnt/backup

and unmount it with the umount command (NB only one n)

$ umount /mnt/backup

or

$ umount /dev/hdb1

The configuration file /etc/fstab contains the details of devices which are mounted automatically at boot time.

Removable media can be automatically mounted if you install an automounter. The X-window desktop Gnome includes automounting as standard. The media will not unmount or eject until all processes involving it are finished. In Gnome, right-click on the CD icon and choose eject.

Filesystem formats

The most common Linux format is EXT2 (the Second Extended file system format). Recent distributions use EXT3 which is EXT2 with a journaling system. The journal protects against corruption of filesystem data which might cause lost files etc. As well as being robust, EXT2/3 partitions are efficient and do not need to be defragmented. They can be checked and repaired with the filesystem checker fsck which is similar to scandisk in Windows.

Windows cannot access native Linux formatted drives, but Linux can read from and write to other formats such as FAT, FAT32, etc. However, writing to NTFS is not recommended (see http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/info/ntfs.html#3.2).

More Information :

http://newbiedoc.berlios.de/wiki/Debian_basic_features

What Is Linx?

What is Linux?

Linux is a free Unix-type operating system for computer devices. The operating system is what makes the hardware work together with the software. The OS is the interface that allows you to do the things you want with your computer. Linux is freely available to everyone. OS X and Windows are other widely used OS.

Linux gives you a graphical interface that makes it easy to use your computer, yet it still allows those with know-how to change settings by adjusting 0 to 1. It is only the kernel that is named Linux, the rest of the OS are GNU tools. A package with the kernel and the needed tools make up a Linux distribution. Mandrake , Suse,Gentoo and Redhat are some of the many variants. Linux OS can be used on a large number of boxes, including i386+ , Alpha, PowerPC and Sparc.

For More Information

Web Browsing Features In Ubuntu

Web Browsing

Ubuntu comes by default, with the latest browser from Mozilla; Firefox 3 Beta 5. Firefox has quickly become one of the most popular browsers being used on millions of desktops throughout the world.
The version on Ubuntu has been specifically themed for the operating system and uses familiar looking icons so browsing is the smooth experience that users should expect. And as we get more of our applications and other content through the web this is more important than ever.

New features in Firefox 3

Enhanced bookmarking, tagging and history. Bookmarking a page simply means clicking on the empty star in the location bar. Clicking again allows you to file the the bookmark in the correct folder for better organisation.

Safer than ever. Firefox has gained a terrific reputation for protecting users from malware, viruses, phishing sites and other deliverers of malicious content.
Firefox 2 already gave strong protection by blocking sites it believed would steal your personal information. In Firefox 3 this is being extended (in combination with Google) to sites that are likely to install malware on your computer.
Linux and Ubuntu are already considerably safer environments to operate in than proprietary operating systems. These additions mean you can lead your digital life without fear of catastrophic damage to your network, computer or finances!
Wonderful world of add-ons. Firefox has hundreds of add-ons available to extend or customise your browsing. Users often have specific requirements depending on how they use their browser. Chances are someone has built a tool to help.

Improved address prompting in location bar. The autocomplete list that appears when you start entering letters in the location bar is no longer restricted to web addresses but also looks into bookmark and history page titles and tags which make it more comprehensive.
Mozilla has also added adaptive learning to this function so that the more you use it the better it will become at learning what you are looking for and displaying the relevant information more quickly

No more pop-ups, forced add-ons and other irritations. If you are moving to Firefox for the first time with Ubuntu 8.04 you will notice the easy-to set preferences block or warn about annoying pop-ups, cookie additions or any sites that try to place an add-on to your machine with your permission. Surf in peace.

Kubuntu

Home

Kubuntu is an official derivative of Ubuntu using the KDE environment instead of GNOME. It is part of the Ubuntu project and uses the same underlying system. It is an exciting distribution that showcases the full potential of the KDE desktop. Kubuntu shares the same repositories as Ubuntu, and relies on the same underlying architecture.

The K Desktop Environment

A powerful graphical desktop environment, combines the ease of use, contemporary functionality, and outstanding graphical design with the technological superiority of the Kubuntu operating system. 

Photo Management

Digikam is now included by default. This advanced digital photo management application provides you with the tools necessary to view, manage, edit, enhance, organise, tag and share photographs. Organising both photos and photo albums is a snap with Digikam as it allows you to sort chronologically, by directory layout, or by custom collections.

Power Management

Kubuntu received a new power management overhaul with the latest release. Guidance, the power management system, allows users to select various functions to control the power of their portable computing system, whether it is controlling the brightness of the display during low battery, locking the system upon closing the lid or controlling access to multiple batteries.

 

Easy Networking and Printer Sharing

Zeroconf and print sharing let you browse the local network for available services. Both are now simple to setup and maintain requiring nothing more than ticking a box to enable the feature.

Accessibility Profiles

Kubuntu now offers users the ability to use a preconfigured accessibility profile depending on the type of disability right from the initial point of setup. This provides users the accessibility features they need in order to not only install the Kubuntu operating system but to use the system on a daily basis for all of their computing needs. Press F5 at the CD boot screen to choose a profile.

Visit the Kubuntu download page to try it out for yourself.

Contribute Ubuntu

The Ubuntu community consist of individuals and teams, working on different aspects of the distribution, giving advice and technical support, and helping to promote Ubuntu to a wider audience. For more detailed information about how to contribute, see the Contribute to Ubuntu article on the Ubuntu wiki.

Contribute

Development Contribute by writing new software, packaging additional software, or fixing bugs in existing software.	Documentation Help produce official documentation, share the solution to a problem, or check, proof and test other documents for accuracy.
Design Put your creativity to best use by improving the look and feel of Ubuntu. Help design graphics and backgrounds, or themes of the next release.	Support Share your technical know-how with other users by joining email and discussion lists, or IRC (chat) channels and respond to users requests for help in forums.
Local Community ("LoCo") teams Find and join an official LoCo team near you, or get advice on how to create a team in your local community.	Testing Ubuntu releases new versions every 6 months and many testers are needed who can report or confirm problems. If you like to be on the cutting edge of Ubuntu, consider helping!
Bug Squad Help make Ubuntu even better by working with bug reports to ensure they're complete, understandable and if possible, reproducable. Anyone can help!

Brainstorm

Ubuntu Brainstorm
Brainstorm is a special web site where everyone can participate. It is full of ideas on how to improve Ubuntu. Once ideas mature, they move on to become Specs, which are detailed blueprints of future Ubuntu features. Anyone can suggest new ideas and the community votes to show which ideas are the most important.

Ubuntu 9 JauntyJackalope/TechnicalOverview

Introduction

The Ubuntu team is happy to bring you the latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. This is their latest result, the Ubuntu 9.04 release candidate, which brings a host of excellent new features.

For information about Kubuntu, see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/JauntyJackalope/RC/Kubuntu

Download

Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:

• 
  
  http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04/ (Ubuntu Desktop, Server, and Netbook Remix)
  http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/kubuntu/9.04/ (Kubuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04/rc/ (Ubuntu MID)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/9.04/rc/ (Ubuntu Education Edition)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/9.04/rc/ (Xubuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/9.04/rc/ (UbuntuStudio)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/9.04/rc/ (Mythbuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/9.04/rc/ (Ubuntu ARM)

Local mirrors are also available:

• 
  
  FIXME: import mirror list automatically

Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.10

To upgrade from Ubuntu 8.10 on a desktop system, press Alt+F2 and type in "update-manager -d" (without the quotes) into the command box. Update Manager should open up and tell you: New distribution release '9.04' is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 8.10 on a server system: install the update-manager-core package if it is not already installed; edit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades and set Prompt=normal; launch the upgrade tool with the command sudo do-release-upgrade; and follow the on-screen instructions.

New features since Ubuntu 8.10

GNOME 2.26

Ubuntu 9.04 RC includes the latest GNOME 2.26 desktop environment with a number of great new features, including:

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  brasero, version 2.26.0, developed by Philippe Rouquier and Luis Medinas, as an all-in-one CD burning application. Brasero is now the default disc burning utility in Nautilus.

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  Improved handling of multiple monitors with an updated gnome-display-properties by Federico Mena Quintero.

X.Org server 1.6

The latest X.Org server, version 1.6, is available in Jaunty. The latest Mesa 3D DRI, version 7.4, is also available. A number of video cards have been transitioned to free drivers as part of these updates.

The -ati driver has received numerous fixes and performance improvements. It now uses the EXA acceleration method by default. 2D acceleration support for the newest R6xx/R7xx family of cards is also available. 3D support is available up to R5xx cards for -ati. An updated -fglrx proprietary driver is available for R6xx/R7xx users who need 3D support.

The -intel driver now uses GEM for memory management. The new UXA acceleration architecture and DRI2 is available as an option.

Wacom tablet hotplugging

Wacom tablets now are enabled automatically when attached, no longer requiring xorg.conf modification. Button mapping configuration is not yet supported, but can be set manually by adding an fdi file to /etc/hal/fdi/policy/.

New style for notifications and notification preferences

Included in Jaunty is a simple menu which can be used to set preferences for notification icons, such as where they pop up on the taskbar. Ubuntu 9.04 beta also includes a whole new notification system, as shown in the Flash movie here:

http://www.markshuttleworth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/jaunty904_notifications_example1_web_092.swf

Boot performance

A number of improvements to the Ubuntu start-up process bring significantly improved boot performance to Ubuntu 9.04 RC. Please open bugs if you experience any degradation, and tag them with boot-performance.

Linux kernel 2.6.28

Ubuntu 9.04 RC includes the 2.6.28-11.37 kernel based on 2.6.28.8.

Ext4 filesystem support

Ubuntu 9.04 RC supports the option of installing the new ext4 file system. ext3 will remain the default filesystem for Jaunty, and we will consider ext4 as the default for the next release based on user feedback. There has been extensive discussion about the reliability of applications running on ext4 in the face of sudden system outages. Applications that use the conventional approach of writing data to a temporary file and renaming it to its final location will have their reliability expectations met in Ubuntu 9.04 beta; further discussion is ongoing in the kernel community.

Ext4 support in GRUB was provided by Colin King. If you choose to upgrade your / or /boot filesystem in place from ext2 or ext3 to ext4 (as documented on the ext4 wiki), then you must also use the grub-install command after upgrading to Ubuntu 9.04 RC to reinstall your boot loader. If you do not do this, then the version of GRUB installed in your boot sector will not be able to read the kernel from the ext4 filesystem and your system will fail to boot.

Ext4 support in gparted has been provided by Curtis Gedak.

Cloud computing

Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition makes it easy to experiment with cloud computing. Eucalyptus, an open source technology which is included in Ubuntu as a technology preview, enables you to use your own servers to deploy, experiment and test your own private cloud that matches the Amazon EC2 API. You can dynamically create virtual machines, configure multiple clusters into a single Cloud and even provide an EBS (elastic block storage) equivalent and an S3 compatible storage manager.

Turn-key mail servers

The dovecot-postfix package in Ubuntu 9.04 RC provides an easy-to-deploy mail server stack, with support for SMTP, POP3, and IMAP with TLS and SASL.

dovecot-postfix was packaged by Ante Karamatić.

Known issues

There are a small number of known bugs that users may run into with Ubuntu 9.04 RC which will be fixed before the final release. We have documented them here for your convenience along with any known workarounds.

For a full list of errata for Ubuntu 9.04, please see the Ubuntu 9.04 release notes.

• 
  
  When using the ext4 filesystem, accessing large files can trigger a kernel panic and filesystem corruption. The fix for this problem will be included in the final 9.04 release. Users installing from the Ubuntu 9.04 Release Candidate may wish to avoid this problem by using the default ext3 filesystem and converting it to ext4 after release. 348836.
• 
  
  The OEM setup mode is not usable in the Kubuntu release candidate. This will be corrected for the final release. 361665.
• 
  
  The mythtv frontend in mythbuntu fails to render fonts correctly when using video drivers other than the Intel or closed-source nVidia drivers. This issue is expected to be resolved for the final 9.04 release. 341898

Participate in Ubuntu

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at

• 
  
  http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/

Help Spread the Word About Ubuntu 9.04

New banners are available for counting down the days until the Ubuntu 9.04 release:

• 
  
  http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/countdown

You can add the countdown banner to your website to help build excitement for the new release as the date approaches.

More information

You can find out more about Ubuntu on the Ubuntu website and Ubuntu wiki.

To sign up for future Ubuntu development announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's development announcement list at:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-announce

What is Ubuntu?

 Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you'll ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools.
Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing.
We issue a new desktop and server release every six months. That means you'll always have the latest and greatest applications that the open source world has to offer.
Ubuntu is designed with security in mind. You get free security updates for at least 18 months on the desktop and server. With the Long Term Support (LTS) version you get three years support on the desktop, and five years on the server. There is no extra fee for the LTS version, we make our very best work available to everyone on the same free terms. Upgrades to new versions of Ubuntu are and always will be free of charge.
Everything you need comes on one CD, providing a complete working environment. Additional software is available online.
The graphical installer enables you to get up and running quickly and easily. A standard installation should take less than 25 minutes.
Once installed your system is immediately ready-to-use. On the desktop you have a full set of productivity, internet, drawing and graphics applications, and games.

On the server you get just what you need to get up and running and nothing you don't.
More about Desktop Edition »

More about Server Edition »

Get Ubuntu now »

What does Ubuntu mean?

Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

Operating System Introduction

An operating system (commonly abbreviated to either OS or O/S) is an interface between hardware and user; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer. The operating system acts as a host for applications that are run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating system is to handle the details of the operation of the hardware. This relieves application programs from having to manage these details and makes it easier to write applications. Almost all computers, including handheld computers, desktop computers, supercomputers, and even video game consoles, use an operating system of some type. Some of the oldest models may however use an embedded operating system, that may be contained on a compact disk or other data storage device.

Operating systems offer a number of services to application programs and users. Applications access these services through application programming interfaces (APIs) or system calls. By invoking these interfaces, the application can request a service from the operating system, pass parameters, and receive the results of the operation. Users may also interact with the operating system with some kind of software user interface (UI) like typing commands by using command line interface (CLI) or using a graphical user interface (GUI, commonly pronounced “gooey”). For hand-held and desktop computers, the user interface is generally considered part of the operating system. On large multi-user systems like Unix and Unix-like systems, the user interface is generally implemented as an application program that runs outside the operating system. (Whether the user interface should be included as part of the operating system is a point of contention.)

Common contemporary operating systems include Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux, BSD and Solaris. Microsoft Windows has a significant majority of market share in the desktop and notebook computer markets, while servers generally run on Unix or Unix-like systems. Embedded device markets are split amongst several operating systems.

Full History Of Windows Operating System

Wiziontech Solutions

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Many longtime PC users trace the Microsoft Windows® operating system to the 1990 release of Windows 3.0, the first widely popular version of Windows and the first version of Windows many PC users ever tried. However, Microsoft initially announced the Windows product seven years earlier and released the first version in 1983.

• The Windows 1.0 product box featured the operating system's new, tiled windows and graphical user interface (GUI).

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• Versions
  

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  • Microsoft Windows History
  • 1985: Windows 1.0
  • 1987: Windows 2.0
  • 1990: Windows 3.0
  • 1993: Windows for Workgroups 3.11
  • 1993: Windows NT 3.1
  • 1994: Windows NT Workstation 3.5
  • 1995: Windows 95
  • 1996: Windows NT Workstation 4.0
  • 1998: Windows 98
  • 1999: Windows 98 Second Edition
  • 2000: Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)
  • 2000: Windows 2000 Professional
  • 2000 : Windows Server 2000
  • 2001: Windows XP
  • 2001: Windows XP Professional/Home Edition
  • 2001: Windows XP 64-bit Edition
  • 2002: Windows XP Media Center Edition
  • 2002: Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
  • 2003: Windows Server 2003
  • 2007: Windows Vista
  • 2007: Windows Vista Editions
  • 2008: Windows Server 2008
  • Windows 7