Ubuntu developers are finalising preparations for the release of the next version - dubbed Feisty Fawn - of the popular Linux distribution in mid-April. Overnight, Ubuntu developer Tollef Fog Heen announced Ubuntu's main software repository had been frozen - with no changes allowed to the code - as developers got ready to issue a fifth major test version ('Herd 5') of the next version of Ubuntu.
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Ubuntu disables the root user (for logins) for security reasons by default. If you inisist on having a root shell, use sudo -i (i for interactive shell) and type in your user password.
Take a look at this page for additional information:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo
Also, if you insist on having a root user, sudo passwd root will set the root password and unlock the account.
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Or simply cheat and do "sudo xterm".
Also, if you insist on having a root user, take off your boxing gloves, climb down from the ceiling, get your head out of your butt and join the rest of humanity, sudo passwd root will set the root password and unlock the account.
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Using sudo instead of a normal root account doesn't do much for security at least not if, you like Ubuntu, have default settings that allow:
sudo /bin/bash
However, it is still very useful in large settings where there are many people that need to perform administrative tasks on the system as they can use their own password to gain administrative righs.
It is also possible to configure what each user is allowed to do and log who does what.
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The point to using sudo is to guide users away from using root as their primary login - much like Windows users tend to use an Administrator-level account. OS/X and Vista take a similar approach.
The result is that more commands are run at normal privilege levels which increases the overall security of the system.
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However, it is still very useful in large settings where there are many people that need to perform administrative tasks on the system as they can use their own password to gain administrative righs.
Oh hell yes.
The ability to delegate certain privilages to certain/users based on domains/machines is very very handy. Lets me allow some users to do some things on certain machines, and provides an audit trail.
Having root is also handy for getting access to machines that have fallen off the network (where you use a network based authentication service).
RE[2]: Ubuntu & root
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Umm, How are they forcing anybody to anything? A smart admin wouldn't use root to do anything but the most critical of system administration. Not to mention if you are already Linux savvy you would have known to how to enable it the minute you boot into th system. Using sudo to do admin tasks is a GOOD thing. It gets the user into the habit of not using root for everything and login in as root to run one command that needs root privileges. The minute I saw this in Ubuntu, coming from Red hat, I thought it odd then I started to see how practical it was. Not every user remembers they are root when they run things, restricting it to single commands, or if you are smart, interactive mode makes it much easier for any user including experienced ones. This also lets a user do administrative tasks without remembering two passwords, all they have to know is their own password. Besides this is Linux, it works the same regardless of where it comes from, if you know what you're doing then getting it to work how you like isn't going to be a big deal. They can't restrict you from doing anything the functionality is there. Its ingrained to the system.
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Oh ok, let me guess if someone can't remember a password then YOU have NO business working with system.
Second if you are performing administration you are logged in as root.
Lastly, why not just give blind root access like in Windows so the thing can become a big mess!
NO thanks I will stick with an Operating System that actually requires one to use their memory or brain power for remembering a password...
Edited 2007-03-01 00:38
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Will this bug be fixed in time?
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/67369
Stay tune.
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Why is this news? why "a step closer to launching a product" is news?
If it is news after all,
why we did not get 5*365 articles in OS News about "Longhorn/Vista is a step closer to release"?
why are we not getting 1 daily article on every single Linux distribution under the sun?
I'm getting tired of "just because it says 'ubuntu' it's news". It's downright annoying.
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OSNews is quite balanced.
http://www.osnews.com/cloud.php
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Hmmn, probably a slow news day today.
First off, this announcement does sound a bit serious. I've seen jollier announcements detailing the launch of a North Korean missile test. Maybe a few Ubuntu devs could be shown waving alcohol containers, just to reassure viewers that this is Linux and not an international incident.
I'm also a little surprised that "Ubuntu developer Tollef Fog Heen" decided to make his announcement "Overnight" when most people are asleep and so will have missed it.
And A is called B; only knights are "dubbed". So I guess this is a question now of "Arise, Sir Feisty".
The article this announcement comes from goes on to say that some of 7.4's original aims in the 3D arena at least have had to be scaled back. I guess this is a problem for any distro: only so much can be done in six months and there are only so many folks who can do it.
So long as 7.4 continues to make the solid incremental progress of all the other Ubuntu releases, folks should be well pleased.
I'd also be interested to see some analysis of the new Zenwalk release as this offers the new XFCE 4.4 in action.
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2006-08-09
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"I and others do believe that 3D is an essential part of the modern desktop experience," wrote Shuttleworth earlier this month. "It is difficult to buy a PC or laptop that does not include such hardware, and in terms of transistor count it's almost as much as your CPU these days."
That's an argument. However, the mere fact that certain hardware is out there is not an argument in itself to start loading blobs. There was this thing called winmodems, the only way to fight it was to avoid it.
"However, when we reviewed the status of the free software applications that depend on that hardware functionality we found that they were not ready for inclusion by default in Feisty. Neither Compiz nor Beryl have the requisite stability and compatibility to be a default option in Feisty."
Stability and compatibility.. all right. But how stable are binary blobs, and how compatible are they with free software?
Just a few questions..
I don't have the illusion that anyone could stop Ubuntu from taking this road, but those that have made efforts to open up hardware specs will not feel terribly encouraged by all this.
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2006-09-15
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Been testing Feisty 64 for the last couple of months and it is shaping up to be a very solid distribution.
There have been some issues though the development but the Devs have been doing a great job to iron out the bugs. All in all, Feisty is a marked step above Edgy.
Kudos to the Ubuntu Devs.
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I am typing this from one of my personal boxes running Feisty Fawn. So far it has proven stable to me as well.
Everything works, though I need to do something about the fonts on this particular box, blech. Will have to figure out what I have wrong since it is the only Ubuntu box I have problems with the fonts on.
I hope the release a server iso this time though. For some reason herd 4 did not have one. I prefer to use the server iso then build my desktop from there since I do not like some of the package choices in the desktop iso (network manager...)
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I installed Edgy (6.10) on my system recently. Here's how it went, as a new user. I have a lot to say so I'll do multiple posts 
. I'll start with my experience getting it installed and my display set up...
Installation:
-Popped the liveCD in, booted, everything working fine ff live CD. I run through graphical installer intalling Edgy in a primary partitions. Installation does not give any errors.
-I reboot (rather excited having got it installed)... and get: "Grub" : "read error". Strange, there is definitely nothing wrong with my disk.
-I then decide to install Edgy in a primary partition on my other disk. Installation goes fine, no errors. I reboot and get: "Grub" , the system hangs with the word "Grub" on the screen.
-After numerous reinstalls, I finally figure out that the Grub boot menu will only appear if I install in an extended partition.
Display setup:
-I now have the basic system "working". Everything is really slow. Graphics settings are "Generic graphics card" and "Vesa" etc. I download linux drivers from Nvidia, but the install fails because it "can't find" libc. I decide to run an xorg config utility, which generates a new xorg.conf file. This file has my graphics card listed correctly. It can't detect my mouse and has my monitor mode settings all wrong. I ended up manually merging the graphics card settings from the new xorg.conf file into the old xorg.conf. A half dozen reboots and tweaks later I have the display hardware accelerated, at the correct resolution, but the display is shifted to the right so that part of the screen is not visible.
-I eventually find a xvidTune (or some name like that) utility to run which lets me shift the display to the left. It gives me a cryptic string which I insert into xorg.conf, and after several failures to start X, I figure out that I need to use the ModeLine keyword, and this string of numbers for various vsync, hsync, refresh rates, and clock settings. I reboot and my system is working smoothly as it is now hardware accelerated with "nv" drivers.
It took me two days, but I finally got it setup.
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Wow, you certainly are having an unusually rough time of it. Sorry to hear that. Was the display correct from the live cd? From the sound of it something is failing during install.
On the grub issue your diagnosis is incorrect. An extended partition is not a requirement so something. Next time try hitting the Ubuntu Forums and see if they can help.
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Wow, you certainly are having an unusually rough time of it. Sorry to hear that. Was the display correct from the live cd? From the sound of it something is failing during install.
The display looked fine off the live CD, and after initial install. Only problem was it was very slow, defaulting to Generic VESA display adapter or some similar name. Hardware acceleration appeared to be nonexistant until I did everything manually. BTW using GeForce 6100 onboard.
Edgy is still better than the Ubuntu 5.04 install I tried a while back, hoary couldn't even get X started to do the install.
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2007-03-01
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Once I got Edgy up and running I had trouble getting additional software installed...
-The add/removed programs option wasn't very useful for me. My Ubuntu system isn't connected to the Internet, which means that connecting to an online repository isn't an option.
-I have to download any additional software using Windows on another system, and copy the files across.
-I happily download various applications to play MP3s, do desktop search etc. These typically come as .tar.gz files. I unzip the files and run ./configure. For every one of these types of applications I get an error:
"/usr/bin/ld: crt1.o: No such file: No such file or directory"
-Well maybe I should find a .deb file for each of the apps I need. I decide to look for beagle as this appears to be the only desktop search option for Gnome. I go over to :
http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/beagle
And guess what - I have to get dozens of other packages for this package to work. see the "depends" links on the page above. From previous experience many of these packages also require packages, and the dependencies span out like a giant tree. How can I track down and individually download each of these packages. It seems totally impractical. There must be an easier way to do this.
-It seems like the only additional software which I could get installed easily was Sun's Java and related applications (manually downloaded using a Windows PC).
-Any advice about getting software (desktop search, mp3, avi and mpeg codecs etc.) installed would be appreciated!
PS When I select Nvidia binary drivers in add/remove programs I get a message that this software is not compatible with my system (Linux i386) - I can't remember the exact message, but it was vague.