Historical Week for Debian and Ubuntu (a Look Back)
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-02-15 11:34:24 UTC
- Modified: 2014-02-15 11:34:24 UTC
Summary: A roundup of news about Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives of Ubuntu
Debian
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The Debian project is pleased to announce the fourth update of its stable distribution Debian 7 (codename "wheezy"). This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustments for serious problems. Security advisories were already published separately and are referenced where available. Please note that this update does not constitute a new version of Debian 7 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away old "wheezy" CDs or DVDs but only to update via an up-to-date Debian mirror after an installation, to cause any out of date packages to be updated.
Systemd in Debian
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Since this weekend we have known that systemd was winning the Debian init system battle, but now it's official: systemd has prevailed over Upstart in Debian.
After a very heated fight between the Debian technical committee and also Debian stakeholders, Bdale Garbee as the chairman of the tech committee has announced systemd will be used in Debian 8.0 Jessie.
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systemd already has a wide adoption withing the GNU/Linux distribution with all major distros including openSUSE, Fedora, Arch Linux, etc using it as their default init system. Upstart was either way not getting much support from the free software community due to the restrictive CLAs Canonical requires which is often criticized by the community. With Debian going* for systemd, it will get even more developer power whereas Canonical will be left alone to deal with Upstart along with many more project that it’s trying to do on its own – including the recently discussed File Manager which may replace Nautilus (Files).
Systemd in Ubuntu
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Going forward, systemd will be Debian's default init system for Linux distributions, an init system soon to be used by every other major Linux distribution other than Ubuntu.
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With this move Canonical has slowed the alienation of Ubuntu from the rest of the Linux community. It also shows that Canonical also understand that it can’t fork it’s path too much from the mainstream Linux community, especially from mommy Debian. In a nutshell it’s a wise and welcome decision by Ubuntu leadership and will help them focus on more pressing issues which will help make Ubuntu better.
Systemd
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My view is that this idea is wrong: systemd is broken by design, and despite offering highly enticing improvements over legacy init systems, it also brings major regressions in terms of many of the areas Linux is expected to excel: security, stability, and not having to reboot to upgrade your system.
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As usual in these cases, not just Lennart, but many of those who supported him, also those who sponsored these efforts, has suffered all kind of attacks. Sadly not just for technical, I mean ATTACKS. Even journalists have been involved. Yes, Free Software is also mature enough to have "yellow (technical) press" associated, political and business interests and people in different communities willing to use them against anybody who threaten the current status quo.
Mobile
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Vodafone joined Ubuntu’s Carrier Advisory Group, as Ubuntu demoed progress on a unified desktop/mobile UI, but a Debian decision may further isolate Ubuntu.
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One of Canonical's main goals in bringing Ubuntu to mobile devices is to create a converged platform across smartphones, tablets, and PCs. As such, a developer should be able to write an app that has a single code base yet runs on all three types of devices, presenting a different interface to the user on each form factor.
Licence Agreement
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Canonical has issued an official explanation for the reason why Linux Mint developers have to sign a license agreement in order to continue to distribute the package straight from the Ubuntu repos.
Valve
LTS
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After this weekend sharing benchmarks of the recent Ubuntu 12.04 LTS point releases, here's some complementary tests that offer a look at the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" performance against the current state of the "Trusty Tahr", a.k.a. Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.
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The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS
(Long-Term Support) for its Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products,
as well as other flavours of Ubuntu with long-term support.
Development
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Last week I was in Orlando sprinting with my team as well as the platform, SDK, and security teams and some desktop and design folks. As usual after a sprint, I have been slammed catching up with email, but I wanted to provide a summary of some work going that you can expect to see soon in the Ubuntu app developer platform.
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The Ubuntu Developer Summit is the primary place where we discuss, debate, and plan the future of Ubuntu. The entire event takes place online, is open and accessible to all, and every session is recorded so everyone can see how decisions are made. It is a useful, fun, and rewarding event to join.
Ubuntu Variants
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Various flavors of Ubuntu 14.04 have come out today with their Trusty Tahr Alpha 2 spins.
Bodhi Linux
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We are huge fans of Jeff Hoogland’s work as a Software Developer and his efforts with Bodhi Linux. So we invited Jeff for a quick chat with Unixmen Australia. We were privileged when Jeff accepted our invitation. Here is what he had to say.
Linux Mint
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It’s no great secret that our organization Reglue uses Linux Mint on many of our outgoing computers. I run Mint on one of my work computers and at home as well. Linux Mint has given us the opportunity to create a respin for educational purposes within our non profit, largely due to an app named mintConstructor. It provides a fairly simple method of making custom systems using Linux Mint as the base.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Links 29/04/2026: "Snowden Affair 13 Years Later" and "Landmark Data Center Pause"
- Links for the day
- IBM is Already Doing 'Voluntary' Layoffs This Year in Europe ('Buyouts' Ahead of Mass Layoffs)
- IBM's efforts to hide or belittle layoffs is noteworthy
- Like GAFAM, US Telecom Industry Has Severe Debt Problem
- Maybe their real problem is true profitability
- Latest Example of False Marketing by Anthropic
- Like Scam Altman, they're better at buying publicity (paying for hype) than they are at delivering something of genuine value [...] That has the full make-up of fake news and a publicity stunt
- IBM: From RAs to "Workforce Re-balancing" (New Names for Mass Layoffs)
- Well, "workforce re-balancing" means "RAs", which is a misleading acronym IBM has devised to soften if not hide mass layoffs.
- Microsoft's Grip Has Slipped, Market Share Steadily Declining
- This is why Microsoft is having financial issue
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- Slop Has a Long Way to Go Before It Gets Basic Facts Right
- Please do not rely on slop for anything
- The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part IX - European Patents That Are Illegal (But Serve Non-European Monopolists in Exchange for 'Quick Cash')
- People who shamelessly violate the European Patent Convention (EPC) have the audacity to lecture workers on "ethics"
- Canonical is Selling You, Ubuntu is a Data-Collecting Platform
- Canonical is looking for money in the wrong places
- Seems Like Only Techrights Covered IBM Laying Off About 33% of Confluent Staff
- How can such a large round of layoffs evade today's media?
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, April 28, 2026
- Gemini Links 29/04/2026: Bad Diet, New Middle Ages, and Temperature Model
- Links for the day
- Tracing Back the Misuse of the Word "Buyout" to Describe Merciless Mass Layoffs
- So we can assume very large Microsoft layoffs are on the way, this time not spun as "buyouts"
- Growing the List of Sites That Are Rogue
- It's very important to raise and spread awareness of which ones are fake
- Links 28/04/2026: Uganda Criminalising ‘Foreign Agents’ and China’s Economy "Starts to Show Cracks"
- Links for the day
- Anthropic and Claude Are National Security Risks Not Because of Politics But False Marketing and Vandalism, Plagiarism Sold as Innovation
- The slop hype is causing severe damage
- Gemini Links 28/04/2026: Misfin, ELPiS, and Developing Another Gemini Client
- Links for the day
- US Government Sites See More Traffic From Apple Devices Than Microsoft Windows PCs
- Keep this in mind when Microsoft talks about mass layoffs while calling these "buyouts"
- Layoffs Versus Buyouts
- Microsoft has mass layoffs and those target the most experienced people in one of the best-paid locations
- Aaron Hillel Swartz Would Have Turned 40 This Year
- Aaron Swartz killed himself in 2013
- The Trumps Are Making Jimmy Kimmel More Famous and Popular
- Comedy has long been "controversial", but trying to get people sacked for the 'wrong' joke results in having no comedians or only pseudo-comedians who are the dictator's jester/joker
- Links 28/04/2026: Microsoft's GitHub Upselling After Two Leaders Jumped Ship (Losses Pile Up), "Inflation Jumps," and More
- Links for the day
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 60 Out of 200: Talking About Corruption at Microsoft and Arrest for Strangulation is "Malice"
- At the moment Brett Wilson LLP has no new clients
- The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part VIII - "Red Line" When the European Patent Office (EPO) President Sleeps With Sister of "Cocaine Communication Manager" (Whom He Unconditionally Protects)
- If only management took its own words (idealistic pontification) seriously
- IBM Laying Off Thousands of Workers Again, Based on Q1 Earnings Call
- under the guise of "workforce rebalancing" we are again seeing that IBM plans to pay people (severance) to leave
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 27, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, April 27, 2026
- Gemini Links 28/04/2026: Good Sunrise Viewing and Self-hosting from Home
- Links for the day[1;5C
- Microsoft Insiders: If You Don't Take the Lousy Severance-Like Offer, They'll PIP You Out (Microsoft Signals to People Over 40 That They'd Better Vacate the Place)
- Microsoft targets its most experienced (read: expensive) workers
- "AI" 16 Times in One 'Article'. The Register MS Got Paid to Post This Spammy, Promotional Piece of Slop.
- Pay closer attention to who pays and who gets paid
- Links 27/04/2026: Chernobyl Disaster at 40, "Heartbreaking" Decline of Australia
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 27/04/2026: Gopher Catchup, MNT Reform, and Injuries
- Links for the day
- Red Hat Circling Down the Slop Drain
- IBM, governed by slop fanatics, is going to do a lot of damage
- Slop is an Addiction, Its Users Find It Addictive
- please do not tolerate people who slop
- The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part VII - Secrecy at the EPO (Regarding Cocaine and Nepotism) Has Undermined Trust in Management
- If Europe's second-largest institution is run by the "Alicante Mafia", does this mean that other key European institutions are "Mafia"?
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 59 Out of 200: Mentioning the Fact Alex Graveley Arrested and Charged for Strangulation in Texas is "Reckless" and "Malicious", According to His 'Hired Guns' in London
- it was framed as "malicious"
- Links 27/04/2026: Strikes, Corruption in Spain (Spanish PM Sanchez' Wife), and YouTuber Faces Jail Time
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 27/04/2026: Gopher Catch-up, Year of Contentment, and Path to Freedom
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 26, 2026
- IRC logs for Sunday, April 26, 2026
