Ubuntu: Karmic Koala to make cloud 'dance'
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Canonical chief Mark Shuttleworth introduced Karmic Koala on Friday, in a post on the Ubuntu site. That release of the Linux distribution, due in October, will follow the Jaunty Jackalope version that is expected in April.
Cloud computing lets companies set up their web-based services on third-party infrastructure, making those services available anywhere, while taking the processing load off client machines. A recent Evans Data survey suggested that 40 percent of open-source developers intend to write their applications for the cloud, partly due to lower infrastructural requirements and partly due to the greater computational capabilities associated with cloud computing.
The Ubuntu cloud strategy is, for now, based on the use of the application programming interfaces (APIs) for Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platform.
A tool called 'Ubuntu-vmbuilder' already makes it possible to create a custom Amazon Machine Image (AMI) — the image that is uploaded onto Amazon's platform in order to set up a virtual machine — but, according to Shuttleworth, "a portfolio of standard image profiles will allow easier collaboration between people doing similar things on EC2".
Karmic will also include functionality for building "EC2-style" clouds on companies' own hardware. While Jaunty will include work from a University of California-based project called Eucalyptus, which makes it possible for users to set up their own clouds, Karmic will have added functionality to make it easier to deploy applications into that virtualized infrastructure and, in Shuttleworth's words, "make those clouds dance, with dynamically growing and shrinking resource allocations depending on your needs".
"Imagine if we could make it possible to build a cloud-computing facility that drops its energy use virtually to zero by napping in the midday heat, and waking up when there's work to be done. No need to drink at the energy fountain when there's nothing going on," Shuttleworth wrote. "If that sounds rather open and nebulous, then we've hit the sweet spot for cloud-computing futurology."
The desktop version of Karmic Koala will also see visual and speed improvements in terms of startup, Shuttleworth wrote. Canonical is considering graphical boot options such as Red Hat's Plymouth, and planning a new login procedure that works for small groups as well as large installations.
The overall look of the distribution is also likely to be refreshed. "Brown has served us well but the Koala is considering other options," Shuttleworth noted.
According to Shuttleworth, the startup time for a Jaunty installation on a netbook will be 25 seconds, with Koala hopefully proving faster. The Ubuntu Netbook Remix is also being updated with technology from the Intel-led netbook Linux project Moblin, Shuttleworth said.
Further details on the features and interface of Karmic Koala will be revealed at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Barcelona in May.
This post was originally published on ZDNet.co.uk.
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Same for ubuntu - but then again, loverock is the Mike Cox of the Linux world; dyed in the wool ABL (Anything But Linux) who's hatred of Linux is either a parody or he is simply a moron who can't follow some basic instructions. I guess he is the sort of person appliance and food companies have to write stupid instructions on their products - on a pack of peanuts stating, "this product may contain nuts" or "Don't use this hair drier in the shower".
That is what happens on my old box, my new build loads in about 47 seconds, no issues, it loads at 1920x1200. I love the 940 Denub Black Edition.
I can't believe after all these years, Linux is still struggling with driver issues.
You aren't by any chance a Windows developer are you?
Ubuntu
Jaunty Jackalope
Karmic Koala
Eucalyptus
...and other half-assed, nonsensical, unfathomable names for
stuff.
Is this stupid naming practice supposed to be cute or
something???
minds of Joe Six-pack? I hear some people predicting that FOSS
will knock Microsoft off its throne, etc. IMHO, if it ever expects to
become a REAL mainstream product, the cutesy names will have
to go!
Besides in the case of Ubuntu most people don't use the nickname. They simply say Ubuntu 8.10 or what have you. The name Ubuntu itself is far from anything silly or cutesy.
is that a joke? Are we talking desktop market share or server market share? Because if we're talking desktop I'd say under 1% is not something to brag about. If we're talking server share that's a different story. If we're talking web server share than that's worlds different. Although I really don't know many deploying Ubuntu server, RHEL or Suse seem to be the Linux servers of choice.
You really are dense if you can't differentiate between a product code name and the eventual name of the product - Ubuntu 2009.10.
Do us all a favour and go back to eating tick tacs in the corner and leave the discussion to people whose IQ is above room temperature.
press release X
clone Mac OS X feature Y
change licensing
drop feature Z
running late by N years
I agree that the comments seem to be filled with a bunch of nuts ... old and bitter nuts from the sounds they are making.
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