Edgy and Beyond

It's been a few days since Ubuntu 6.10/Edgy Eft was released, and you haven't upgraded already, here's a few reasons to:

• Rhythmbox now has iPod read AND write support. [1]
• Avahi/DAAP sharing in Rhythmbox/Banshee
• What's this? Rhythmbox also has cover art support now:
  
  
  
• The "hubackup" package makes backing up a snap:
  
  
• Built-in AIGLX means fully accelerated wobbly windows for Nvidia users, and workaround-less OpenGL gaming for everyone.
• Better software updating mechanism, less chance of something bad happening:
  
  
• Firefox 2.0 baby.
• Evolution has been noticeably tweaked. It's tendency to hang seems to be gone.
• Beagle is actually stable and works for me for the first time ever. Hello instantaneous computer-wide searches.
• Did I mention that Upstart makes booting up even quicker now?
  
  

So what are you waiting for?
Upgrade to Edgy now, or if you still haven't given Ubuntu a shot, now would be a good time. You won't regret it.

If you're interested in finding out what's on the drawing board for the next Ubuntu, version 7.04/Feisty Fawn, here's some things we might see:

• RapidReboot
• PulseAudo might finally replace ESD as GNOME's software sound mixer/server...
• Easy codec installation finally?

If there's one thing that's clear to me from running Ubuntu 6.10 for over a month now, it's that Ubuntu is still getting better and seems to be making great strides toward becoming the most usable operating system on the planet. I can't imagine where we'll be in three years.

Random News (Beryl release and video, Edgy Beta)

Here's some interesting recent happenings:

• MacSlow's got a video of Edgy running Beryl, showing off blurred transparent windows.
  
• On that note, the first version of Beryl (0.1.0) was released (yeah, it's still lacking a website). If you've already got the QuinnStorm repositories enabled in Ubuntu, a "sudo apt-get install beryl emerald emerald-themes" should do it for you. (Launch it with beryl-manager.) If you don't have XGL or anything set up yet, I suggest waiting until Ubuntu 6.10 comes out at the end of this month, as it'll be much easier to set up then. Beryl does feel a bit snappier than the old QuinnStorm compiz though and things seem less buggy so far. (The nice thing about Beryl is that Quinn's team can now make their own releases and stabilize them beforehand. No more buggy development compiz.)
• Ok, last bit of Beryl news for today, I promise! Linux.com has an interview with QuinnStorm on the new release and the divergence from Compiz. It doesn't contain a whole lot of new information, but there is one gem tucked away at the end:
  

  "I would tell a layperson to look forward to a desktop that can really outshine what both other major players in the field offer, especially once X gets its input redirection code in, but even before that we'll be able to really catch some attention."
  

  
  The article doesn't explain what X's "input redirection code" is, but it rang a bell with me. I've read that in Compiz (and now Beryl), when you click on a wobbling window, your click won't "land" on the right spot. It turns out this is actually a limitation in the X server, so I'm pretty sure Quinn was referring to the solution to this problem. I'm sure this'll open up some interesting ways to interact with windows though. (Also, my memory is terrible, so someone correct me if I'm wrong on this one...)
  
• The beta of Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft has been released. The official Ubuntu release notes details the big noticeable changes and includes some screenshots as well.
  

Edgy CDs, NVIDIA preview, Neuros OSD, Linux 2.6.18

Lots of Linux news happening around the web today:

• Apparently Canonical's ShipIt isn't going to offer free CDs for Ubuntu 6.10/Edgy Eft...
• Phoronix.com has a preview of NVIDIA's 1.0-9XXX series drivers, which don't currently have a ETA, but should offer the long saught-after "GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap" extension for hardware accelerated XGL/AIGLX.
• Neuros is offering cheap beta hardware of their new "OSD" device to open source hackers. (Think someone can get that thing to run MythTV?)
• The new Linux 2.6.18 kernel was released. It's got a ridiculously huge changelog, and features some new SATA stuff, and some other things that I can't seem to find a list of. (If you're interested, read the changelog.)
• Polishlinux.org has a very good article on running Linux on older computer and gives a summary of the major distributions designed for the task. Neat stuff.
  

Edgy Eft and GNOME 2.16 Features

A Stranger's Universe has a nifty article on Edgy Eft (Ubuntu 6.10) & GNOME 2.16 Features. Most of the items in the preview are mild improvements to individual GNOME applications, but there's still plenty of time for the next Ubuntu to become a bit more "edgy".