The arrival of the latest release of the Ubuntu operating system is going to make a big impression on businesses, says Jack Wallen.
With the release of Ubuntu Karmic Koala on 29 October, it is clear that Canonical has aimed its flagship operating system at the enterprise.
When 9.04 shipped, it became apparent that Ubuntu had succeeded where all other versions of Linux have failed — it was an operating system anyone can use. True, there are plenty of good, solid, easy-to-use Linux distributions, but none have offered such a level of simplicity and appeal.
Now, with the release of 9.10, Ubuntu has gone one better and taken its already user-friendly Linux distribution and made a concerted effort to gain ground in the enterprise. Here are 10 reasons why Ubuntu 9.10 should make businesses happy.
1. Software Center
This is the big one. Ubuntu has migrated away from the old add-remove software tool in favour of the Software Center. This tool is just as user-friendly as the old one, but has one feature the old tool lacked — commercial software.
That is correct. Ubuntu has finally included commercial software in its software installation tool. So now users can install not only the usual open-source tools, but they are also able to find plenty of commercial software that can be installed with a few simple clicks — and a purchase here and there.
This feature is good news for business users who need more than the open-source community has to offer.
2. Ubuntu One
If you have ever used DropBox, you know how helpful having a file or folder synchronisation tool can be. Ubuntu One is just as easy to use as DropBox.
It performs instant, automatic synchronisation and offers two plans — a free one with 2GB of space and a paid-for service with 50GB.
You can also add as many machines as you like to your Ubuntu One account.
3. Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud images
With Ubuntu 9.10, businesses can download and use images on the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud. You can also try out the latest 9.10 server image instantly — on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud with a preconfigured Amazon Machine Image. You can even download an image and put it directly into your Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud.
4. Quickly
A new framework called Quickly enables developers to work faster. Quickly provides a command-line framework for generating code projects, storing changes in version control, building packages and releasing software.
To do this, Quickly uses templates that allow specialised behaviours to be defined for different types of projects. The Quickly templates define such behaviours as edit, save, dialog, glade and package. You can think of Quickly as a Rails-like tool for Ubuntu application development.
5. Better Intel graphics support
The new kernel that ships with 9.10 has the kernel mode enabled for Intel graphics. Add to that the driver switch from...
Talkback
There is no doubt Ubuntu will be an enterprise hit especially providing so much value and also saving money in these tough economic times.
Ubuntu's legendary stability & security with hardly any downtime is a huge plus.
Ubuntu, like red wine keeps getting better with time!!