What happened to Ubuntu Home Server?

I have to apologise for rather neglecting this blog, after the release of my humble little book, Using Ubuntu, I went on to be the technical editor of Pro Windows Powershell, I know, nothing to do with Linux at all! This took quite a bit of my time and I rather neglected Ubuntu. Never mind, I’m back in an Ubuntu mood and was wondering what had happened to Ubuntu Home Server? It’s been well over 12 months since it was first announced in issue #2 of the Ubuntu Full Circle magazine. Well it seems that the development is still ongoing and you can check out the discussions at the Ubuntu Home Server development forum. Let’s hope we see it soon.

Posted by Jon 09.Aug.08 Server, Ubuntu Read more Comments (0)

Reviews of *buntu 7.10

The Lifehacker blog have a couple of posts reviewing the new features in Ubuntu and it’s cousins Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Edubuntu.

They take a screenshot tour of Ubuntu 7.10 through installation and some of it’s new or improved features, such as the now built in visual effects, easier support for multiple monitors and simple printer installation.

In another post they look at the new features in Ubuntu’s often forgotten spin-off distributions. This includes the better file manager and desktop search in Kubuntu, faster theme and better default apps in Xubuntu and the collaborative text editor and better add-on installation in Edubuntu. Take a look to see which is better for your needs.

Posted by Jon 20.Oct.07 Desktop, News, Server, Ubuntu Read more Comments (0)

Ubuntu 7.10 Released

After another 6 month development cycle, Ubuntu 7.10 (aka Gutsy Gibbon) has been released. You can read the press release here, or go straight to the downloads. If you are already using Ubuntu, then you’ll need to check out the upgrade instructions.

I expect the download speed will be a bit slow for the next couple of days so you’ll probably need some patience. I’ll be trying it out and blogging some instructions on both upgrading and installing Ubuntu and Kubuntu over the next couple of days.

Posted by Jon 18.Oct.07 Desktop, News, Server, Ubuntu Read more Comments (0)

Ubuntu 7.10 and the Ubuntu Open Week

The release of Ubuntu 7.10 (aka Gutsy Gibbon) is now only a few days away. It’s due to be released on the 18th October, but if you just can’t wait you can now download the Release Candidate to take a look. Some of the new features include:

Desktop

Server

Don’t forget to check out issue #5 of the Full Circle Magazine for more details on using Ubuntu 7.10.

To mark the release of version 7.10, the Ubuntu community is holding an Ubuntu Open Week between 22nd - 27th October. This will be include a number of online workshops to find out more on using Ubuntu desktop and server. Visit the Ubuntu Open Week community page for a timetable of events.

Posted by Jon 13.Oct.07 Desktop, News, Server, Ubuntu Read more Comments (0)

Ubuntu “Juice”

Virtualisation is the current hot topic within the IT sector at the moment. It has many advantages as well as a few disadvantages, as I discussed on my main blog in System virtualisation - future or fad?

Not to be left out, Canonical announced at the VMWorld conference that they are releasing another Ubuntu version that will be optimised for running as a virtual appliance. Ubuntu JeOS (pronounced “Juice”) stands for Just Enough Operating System, and is a cut down and optimised OS designed to be used to host applications delivered as “virtual appliances” or ready-to-run virtual machines. The optimisation has removed functionality that is not required and optimised the OS in order to improve performance when run as a guest host on VMware.

Posted by Jon 20.Sep.07 News, Server, Ubuntu, Virtualisation Read more Comments (0)

Unpatched Ubuntu community servers hacked

A number of Ubuntu community “LoCo” web servers were shutdown this week after discovering that they had been compromised and were being used to launch attacks on other systems.

An email and news letter to community members detailed how the systems were running numerous web applications and had not been patched for some time, meaning that any one of several security vulnerabilities (that had already been fixed) had allowed a hacker to gain root level access to the servers.

This compromise is another reminder of the importance of only installing the minimum amount of software required and ensuring that the system is patched as frequently as possible. 

Reported by SecurityFocus and Zero Day Blog.

Posted by Jon 18.Aug.07 News, Security, Server, Ubuntu Read more Comments (0)

Fox News Website Unsecured

PC World magazine reports that a Fox news website, apparently running Apache on Ubuntu Server, was left unsecured by a miss-configuration in directory permissions. The flaw was discovered by the The Hacker Webzine, and was found to expose directories and a Linux script complete with user name and password to connect to an ftp service run by ZiffDavis. It’s an important reminder to ensure that your system is configured correctly.

Posted by Jon 23.Jul.07 Security, Server, Ubuntu Read more Comments (0)

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