Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (also called the “Hardy Heron” or the “Robust Heron”) is the eighth version of Ubuntu. The stable version was published on April 24, 2008. It follows Ubuntu 7.10, also known as the “Gutsy Gibbon”, and precedes Ubuntu 8.10, the “Intrepid Ibex”.
Ubuntu 8.04 is the second version that has long-term support. It will be supported for 3 years on workstations (until April 2011) and for 5 years on servers (until April 2013).
Which version of Ubuntu is currently installed on your computer?
Get Ubuntu 8.04 LTS – Click here to download Ubuntu 8.04 LTS
To download or order a free copy of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS for workstations on PC computers, go to the download page of Ubuntu. This page gives you the opportunity to:
– immediately download a free CD image of Ubuntu or one of its variations, which you can burn onto a CD-ROM (+ 700 million);
– order a free Ubuntu CD-ROM or one of its variations through the Ship-It service (delivery takes between 3 to 10 weeks), and
– find other ways to get a copy of Ubuntu (e.g. through the press or computer magazines).
The specialized CD images of the different variations of Ubuntu (Alternate CD and CD-ROM installation server) can be downloaded directly from the Ubuntu download server.
If you have a computer that is not PC compatible (e.g. Macintosh G3, G4, G5, iBook, PowerBook and IBM OpenPower; Sony PlayStation 3; Itanium and Itanium 2 servers; Sun UltraSPARC server, or HP PA-RISC server), ports have been made and can be found in the Ubuntu download server. These ports are not officially supported by Ubuntu.
Changes
The changes listed below were made to the previous stable version, Ubuntu 7.10:
The workstation
– The desktop environment GNOME 2.22.1 (Ubuntu, Ubuntu Educational Addon), KDE 3.5.9 (Kubuntu) or KDE 4.0.4 (Kubuntu Remix), or Xfce (Xubuntu)
– World Clock Applet, a new clock
– New applets, in the panel, to indicate the indexing state of Tracker
– Compiz-Fusion version 0.7.4, which includes new graphic effects
Office
– OpenOffice.org 2.4
– InkScape 0.46 for native PDF support for editing documents with text and graphics
Internet and communication
– Firefox version 3.0 rc 1
– Transmission replaces Gnome-BitTorrent as default manager of BitTorrent transfers
– The burning software Brasero, replacing Serpentine, completes the Nautilus basic tools for burning CDs and DVDs
– Uncomplicated FireWall (ufw) allows to easily manage the firewall rules
– Network Manager 0.6.6 replaces 0.6.5 and facilitates the choice of what networks to connect automatically
Computer management
– The improvement of APT protocol to manage the installation of several packages at once
– GIO/GVFS
– PolicyKit to finely manage access rights to software and system features
– Vinagre, a VNC viewer to manage remote computers that can also discover the VNC servers by Avahi
– Adjustments to the Resources tab in the GNOME System Monitor
Under Windows
– Integration of Wubi in the Ubuntu Desktop CD, to enable a quick installation of Ubuntu on Windows (read the documentation about Wubi)
– uMenu, a new start menu of the Windows Desktop CD to find and install free software in Windows
Internally
– Linux kernel 2.6.24
– X.org 7.3
– PulseAudio
– Cairo, gives a more refined look at some applications
– KVM is now officially maintained in the Ubuntu kernel
– ActiveDirectory Integration
– Support for the iSCSI protocol in the kernel
– Integration of new mechanisms for Memory protection
As always, Ubuntu includes the best software 100% free and mostly available, and each new version incorporates many new features and debugging solutions thanks to community development.
Bugs specific Ubuntu 8.04
To eliminate future sound problems with Flash player, install the bundle libflashsupport. This problem is caused by an incompatibility between PulseAudio and the Adobe Flash player (not free).
For some computers, nVidia drivers do not work with the generic kernel! Use a an old kernel for 3D effects.
See page: Bug Hardy
Participating in the Ubuntu project
If you would like to help improve Ubuntu, check out the different ways to participate at http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/.
External Resources
Official site;
Announcements by Martin Hardy Heron Albisetti regarding “The Fridge”;
Ubuntu Documentation;
Release Notes;
HardyHeron at Ubuntu;
Hardy Release Schedule on Ubuntu.com;
Objectives for Hardy on Launchpad;
Ubuntu Linux Hardy Heron on Wikipedia.
Thanks to hardy for inspiring this article.
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