Ubuntu Planned, Reviewed, Hacked, and Giving Up

Ubuntu seemed to dominate much of the headlines today. Two new reviews emerged, both rather flattering for Ubuntu. This couldn't come at a better time to draw attention away from Canonical's decision to pull-back from their Ubuntu on Android project. An Aussie has discovered a most embarrassing security issue for Ubuntu while the release schedule for 14.10 is drafted.

Ubuntu 14.10 was released recently and reviews have been trickling in. Two new reviews today said things like this release "is a real turning point" for Ubuntu and that it's "a very, very decent distribution." PC ADVISOR's Andrew Harrison said after testing, "Using Ubuntu is a breeze. The interface is clean, accessible and silky smooth in operation; the interface fast leaving you, its user, productive." dedoimedo.com expected Double T to fail in several key areas, but was pleasantly surprised. He concluded:

Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr is a very, very decent distribution. Solid, stable, reserved, mature, with great hardware compatibility and a well-balanced mode of work. I was kind of expecting it to fail on my touch-enabled Asus VivoBook with its preinstalled mess of Windows 8 and hidden partitions plus the use of GPT, UEFI and the Secure Boot. Guess what, none of these were a problem, whatsoever. Ubuntu swallowed them mightily and offered a stellar experience.

Yesterday PC World reported that Canonical is backing away from its Ubuntu on Android project saying it wasn't dead, but "in limbo" in order to focus on its own Touch system. However, today, www.techradar.com says Canonical confirmed to Android Authority that Ubuntu for Android is no longer "in active development."

Darren Pauli at www.itnews.com.au is reporting that a user discovered an easy security by-pass on Ubuntu 14.04. At the lock screen, the user found they could hold down the Enter key for about 30 seconds to crash the system. The bug has been reported and a spokesperson said it was embarrassing and needs to be addressed urgently.

And finally in Ubuntu news today is the new release schedule draft for Ubuntu 14.10, subject to change, of course. Looks like June 26 and July 24 will bring the alphas and betas are planned for August 28 and September 25. Ubuntu 14.10 is due for release October 16.