Ubuntu 15.04 Available

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Oh, OK...

[Unobscured Vision]

Here's an interesting tidbit about the future of Ubuntu ... 

 

Article Link | Webupd8.org Website

 

Article: "UBUNTU DESKTOP TO EVENTUALLY SWITCH TO SNAPPY PACKAGES BY DEFAULT"

 

 

 

Ubuntu Desktop will eventually switch to Snappy packages by default, while continuing to provide deb-based images as an alternative, at least for a while. I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise for some of you, but further details regarding this have been revealed today.

 

Will Cooke, Ubuntu Desktop Manager at Canonical, posted a notice for Ubuntu Desktop Next users which mentions that for 15.10, the plan is to have "a build based on Snappy Personal and so the current .deb based Desktop Next image will be going away and will be replaced with the new Snappy version".

 

Since Will's notice was pretty vague, it raised quite a few questions, especially regarding the future of Ubuntu Desktop and Michael Hall from Canonical tried to answer some of them on Reddit (/r/Ubuntu). Here's a quick summary (copy/pasted from Reddit):

 

Q: Will all of Ubuntu be based on snappy packages in the mid-/long term instead of deb/click?
A: All Ubuntu will use snap packages eventually, yes. But the system images and even some of the snappy apps will be built from debs.

 

Q: What happens after Ubuntu 16.04 (assuming Mir and Unity 8 land as default)? Are there going to be two branches, one with click packages, one with deb?
A: That is the plan, yes, but the details still need to be worked out at UOS.

 

Q: Is Ubuntu moving away from dpkg and apt altogether? What does that mean for its relationship with Debian?
A: Our system images are still built from debs in the archive, our relationship with Debian isn't going away anytime soon.

 

Q: How does Snappy (or click--whatever) improve updates on the Desktop? Does it bring improved security & privacy in any ways so there is less chance of installing harmful software or more secure delivery methods?
A: Snap packages are more secure, yes, and they can be updated by their upstream at any time, they don't get frozen to the Ubuntu release. So you get newer apps, safer apps, and the upstream gets more control over it's distribution.

 

Q: Snappy Personal = *.click?
A: Snappy is an evolution of click, which will eventually replace clicks on the phone. Snappy Personal is to phone and desktop what Snappy Core is to cloud and IoT, it's the base install image that provides the minimum functionality needed for you to get started.

 

Q: Could you briefly explain the advantages of snappy packages over click packages?
A: Snappy packages can provide platforms or services that other snap packages can depend on, something clicks could not. Otherwise they are the same. The snappy tool can also update your system image, where that was a separate tool from click.

 

Q: What about the impact of that in other ubuntu editions (kubuntu, xubuntu)? Everyone is supposed to move to snappy and abandon apt/dpkg?
A: The flavors won't be affected unless they choose to add snappy support themselves to get its benefits.

 

Q: In this future scenario, will we see ppa's moving from apt/deb to snappy too? If yes, will we have both versions running?
A: With click/snappy you really don't need a PPA anymore.

 

The Ubuntu Online Summit, which will take place between 5th and 7th of May, should reveal more information about this.

 

Not sure how I feel about this yet ...

[simonlang]

i don't even get it. what are these snappy packages all about and why i am hearing/reading today the first time about it?

 

back OT. i am running ubuntu 15.04 and kubuntu 15.04 in virtualbox and here are my impressions so far:

 

ubuntu 15.04

- love the search filters in the unity launcher.  probably not the best about privacy, but having an easy way to search deviantart or wiki is amazing. i now also realize that it works quite fast. (long time ago since i last time tried it out) so it's either because i am using a better system now but i also read often that unity itself has improved massively since it's first release.

 

 

cons: the file browser. even more minimalistic than the gnome one. i can't cope with that sorry.  however i realize that the trend goes to minimalization, the ubuntu webbrowser (first time included along firefox) just confirms that.

 

kubuntu 15.04

installation went fine however the plasma next desktop starts to look boring for me already - don't know why that is, but something is still lacking for me compared to kde4x. calendar module in systray still not showing any weeknumbers.

i used the possibility to upgrade directly to plasma 5.3 beta. still no desktop effects possible in virtualbox and just for the desktop effects i start to think to install it locally, my hdd has ennough space left by now. and i wanna see it's full performance ofc.

another thing: i am really unsure if we will ever see kde 4.14.3 or 4.14.4 via kubuntu backports. developers seem to be busy with plasma next now and seeing kde 4.14.7 in arch based antergos hurts a lot.

 

just: i can't see myself moving away from kde 4.x anytime soon. i feel too comfortable with it by now, it's fast and stable.

[MikeM97]

Smart to me, is get the best hardware at what I can afford.

 

I do the same , but with all software I need too .

For example , right now , I rather want to buy an Intel NUC and put Ubuntu on it than buying another Desktop PC . 

[Unobscured Vision]

Everything I'm reading says that Ubuntu Core is what they want to base future releases on, possibly starting after 16.04 (according to the article) -- that small install base called "Snappy", and then they install those *.snap packages onto that base install.

 

It's meant to take care of dependency issues by making packages self-contained, like Android .apk's. I am of the opinion that it'll cause more problems than it solves.

 

Back on the OT. I knew that the Kubuntu variant wasn't going to be ready for prime time a month ago when I tested it. I read the list of known issues for release last night and nodded to myself, because I had experienced half of them during testing. They've really shot themselves in the foot by releasing Kubuntu with Plasma 5.2 in this condition. They should have (as Jack said) stuck with the stable KDE 4.14 series and offered 5.2 as a testing image instead.

[4CxbqFxVnstmA Veteran]

I'm back to using Ubuntu MATE, which is really my favourite spin anyway. I was having some trouble with it on 14.04 and 14.10, but I think it was freezing caused by something I could never identify but that has been fixed.

I had been using Kubuntu in the meanwhile, and I quite liked it. I tried Kubuntu 15.04 and did like the new Plasma, but the proprietary Nvidia driver was wonky (was it Wayland that was the problem there?). Plus, there were other issues (kdewallet is not my favourite!).

I tried Ubuntu GNOME 15.04 and Unity 15.04, but I just can't get used to the minimalist approach to the file managers and gedit. I know other things can be substituted, but really I have always preferred MATE. It's a good balance for me in those areas.

Plus, I like the new default theme on MATE 15.04, and I think it's the first time that that spin has been an official Ubuntu one. The guy in charge of it, Martin Wimpress, and his team have done an awesome job, IMO.