Mark Shuttleworth talks Ubuntu 7.10

Canonical is set to ship Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon on Thursday. The latest version of the popular Linux distribution packs a bunch of new features, including:

• Integrated desktop search with Tracker
• Streamlined Firefox add-on support
• Read/write access to Windows partitions by default
• 3D desktop effects are enabled by default on systems that meet the minimum requirements.
• AppArmor security
• Improved printer support (Shuttleworth says they're getting closer to being able to say that if your printer works with OS X it will work with Ubuntu)

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth held a conference call with reporters today in advance of the October 18th release. The sound got a little funky during the Q & A portion, so here's a recording of Shuttleworth's presentation followed by a few notes from the Q & A.


First off, our favorite part of the audio clip is about 12 and a half minutes in, when Shuttleworth refers to 3D desktop effects as "bling."

A few other notes:

• Canonical estimates that there are about 6 million Ubuntu users today.
• A number of smaller internet companies have begun using Ubuntu Server as their backbone, including Joost.

The roadmap for Ubuntu 8.04 will be determined at the Ubuntu Development Summit in Boston later this month.

Tags: apparmor, gutsy-gibbon, opensource, osupdates, tracker, ubuntu, ubuntu-7.10