Ubuntu Look

Generating buzz this morning with the release of the Linux 2.6.27-rc4 kernel is word that Ubuntu may switch to the Linux 2.6.27 kernel for their forthcoming 8.10 “Intrepid Ibex” release. Canonical’s Ben Collins has proposed on the Ubuntu development mailing list that Intrepid be switched to using the Linux 2.6.27 kernel instead of using 2.6.26.

The reasons for this expected switch so late in the development cycle is the updated mac80211, updated to ALSA 1.0.17 codecs, obtain Xen 64 para-virtualization, and use an updated version of the Kernel-based Virtual Machine. Of course, the Linux 2.6.27 kernel has quite a few other updates and features too.

Read more at Phoronix

It’s been a pretty incredible year for open source on the desktop.

Dell has started selling some of its PCs with Ubuntu pre-installed, which means that even non-technical users can acquire a low-cost, powerful open source system without needing to worry about installation and handling drivers and suchlike.

The arrival of the Asus Eee PC, which created a new class of ultraportables that routinely run GNU/Linux – and which run Windows Vista not at all – has brought GNU/Linux to attention of millions of people who might otherwise never have heard the phrase (even the Sun newspaper has been writing about it without further explanation).

Read more at Computerworld