We’re now less than a day form the release of Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala” (just to be clear, that’s version 9-point-one-zero, not nine-point-one) and now that I’m finally caught up with my news feeds (thanks in no small part to the great work by Antoine Pairet and Andrew Starr-Bochicchio on resolving Bug #460462 for evolution-rss I am back to using Evo for my news feeds) I’ve got some links to pass along. I won’t post links for all 62 articles I flagged as wanting to blog, but I will share a number of links that could be of direct assistance in deciding whether to hold onto Ubuntu 9.04 (or even Ubuntu 8.04 LTS if that’s what you’re using).
- Chenthill Palanisamy: Evolution 2.28.0 released!! I already mentioned some nice updates in Evo and Chenthill wrote a post on Planet GNOME that gives some more info on how Evo has been improved. Shane Fagan has another important post on backing up your Evolution data. You are going to perform a backup before you upgrade. Right?
- Fabián Rodríguez: (Almost) risk-free Karmic testing. Fabián has some very nice information on putting Ubuntu onto a USB flash drive rather than on a disk. I know some of you may be looking for just that kind of info.
- Leandro Gómez: Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 CD labels. Anyone can burn a disk and write on it with a Sharpie to label it, but do you really need to do that? Leandro has 25 pieces of artwork for labels you can use to make your home-burnt disks look even nicer. It could be just what you need to help make the perfect gift for family and friends this coming holiday season. If those aren’t your cup of espresso Ubuntu Geek has compiled a listing of other designs.
- Musings on maintaining Ubuntu: Caveats for audio in Ubuntu Karmic Beta. Granted, some of this info may be a smidge outdated now, but it has some info you may want to have as you look at the upgrade. This is a big part of why some of us recommend testing the new version with either a LiveCD (or a USB drive) before committing to the update. That way you can get an idea of any gotchas you may have coming your way. There is one thing that’s started bugging me about the upgrade, and that’s the loss of a perfectly useful volume controller and replacing it with a Sound Preferences dialog that is nowhere as usable as it was in Ubuntu 9.04.
- Alan Lord: Another Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Review. Alan has a nice review of Ubuntu 9.10 with a lot of screenshots so you can get a better look at how things look in the newest version.
- Martin Owens: Ubuntu’s Minimum Requirements. While not about the new release, Martin has a very nice look at exactly what kind of hardware you need to run Ubuntu. Bryan Quigley takes it a step further and compares it with the minimum memory requirements of some other operating systems. You should also check out Martin’s piece on The BBC Ubuntu Experiment.
- Benedict Stein: How to use Google Calendar in Evolution. Ben’s got just the info you need if you want to merge your gCalendar with your local calendar. It’s now even easier than it used to be. And if you use an encrypted home directory then you absolutely have to read another of Ben’s posts.
- David E. Cruz Avalos: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. Want more specifics? Want more screenshots? David may have just the post you’re looking for.
- Ubuntu Geek: Nice themes for Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) users. I don’t know anyone who gets a single desktop theme and never changes it. Hell, not even I do that, although I do tend to come back to the Mac4Lin themes before long. Ubuntu Geek has also found some other great themes and makes it easy to get them.
- Collin Pruitt: Advice on Downloading Ubuntu Karmic. I definitely wanted to save the best for last. If you think about snagging a disk image on Thursday you could be in for a looong wait. Colin has the key to bypassing the lag that will be created by everyone trying to get it at once. And no, it’s not “wait a day or three.”
If you want to check out an Ubuntu 9.10 Release Party you can check out the list of confirmed parties on the Ubuntu Wiki. Due to some scheduling issues the party for the Boston area, organized by the Ubuntu Massachusetts LoCo Team, will be held on the 7th of November.
