London (ip-192.com): Lucid Lynx, the next generation of Ubuntu’s Linux distribution, has been released. Ubuntu 10.04, available in desktop, server, and netbook editions, features a number of new tools geared towards social network integration.
Gwibber, an open source micro-blogging client for Linux, is integrated in Ubuntu's new LTS (Long Term Support) release. Gwibber provides a combined stream of messages from social networks and automatically shortens URL's 
when they are pasted. A multicolumn interface supports the view of several streams. Empathy supports Facebook chat in the new release, in addition to several other IM networks.
All editions benefit from performance enhancements of Linux Kernel 2.6.32. Since Ubuntu has removed the Hardware Abstraction Layer from the boot process, the new versions start up almost twice as fast as the predecessors.
The server edition provides a direct update path from Ubuntu 8.04 and 9.10 and includes AppArmor security by default on key packages. Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu distribution, did spend some time to harden the kernel. The firewall extends to all common services and the home folder and all private directories can be encrypted.
MySQL 5.1, PHP 5.3, Tomcat 6, Samba 3.4, Ruby and Python 2.6 are among many added and updated applications. Ubuntu 10.04 supports virtualization and emphasizes on cloud computing, utilizing both Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) and Amazon EC2. Advanced storage capabilities include RAID and iSCSI support.
"Ubuntu 10.04 LTS challenges the perceptions of the Linux desktop, bringing a whole new category of users to the world of Ubuntu," said Canonical CEO Jane Silber. "Changes like the new look and feel and the addition of a music store, layered on top of our relentless focus on delivering an intuitive and attractive user experience for new and existing Ubuntu users - these are the bridging elements to the mainstream market that our community, our partners and our users really want. Long-term support makes Ubuntu 10.04 LTS very attractive to corporate IT as well."
Enhanced desktop integration for the online service means files and folders can be shared and saved on the cloud more easily. Bookmark and contacts sharing has been added, and the Ubuntu One Music Store allows users to store purchased tracks and share DRM-free music from one location across multiple computers and devices. The first 2 GB of storage are free.
Memory protection, module loading blocking and address space layout randomization increase security for all users.
"Ubuntu's user base continues to grow rapidly and it is important to Adobe that Ubuntu users are able to enjoy the full Adobe Flash experience," said Anup Murarka, director for Technology Strategy and Partner Development, Flash Platform, Adobe. "We are working with Ubuntu and other partners to enable certification of Flash Player 10.1 for Linux on the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS release, an exciting release for Linux-based desktops and devices.”
Ubuntu is named after the Southern African ethical ideology Ubuntu, which stands for "humanity towards others", and is distributed as open source software. Additional proprietary software is available. While Ubuntu features the Gnome desktop environment, Kubuntu uses KDE. Edubuntu is a Gnome based subproject designed for educational environments.
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