Billed as the perfect 10, Ubuntu 10.10 became available for download on 10/10/10. According to Canonical, the leader of the Ubuntu project, Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition makes it easier to configure, update and run both in development and deployment environments of public clouds.
"With Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition we continue to make Ubuntu the default open source choice for cloud computing," said Neil Levine, vice president of corporate services at Canonical, announcing the new release. "We are adding features and functions that extend our lead in the public cloud and bridge the gap to hybrid and local computing environments. The infrastructure layer is the enabler of cloud computing and Ubuntu 10.10 is leading the way to put open source at the heart of those efforts."
Already a popular operating system on Amazon EC2, Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition provides kernel upgrades, more configuration options at boot time, and the ability to run the AMI (Amazon Machine Image) offline on a KVM-virtualized machine, enabling users to test and develop on local servers before pushing to the public cloud, says Canonical.
Ubuntu 10.10 extends "CloudInit," a configuration tool that allows users of Ubuntu on the cloud to set a default locale, set the hostname, generate and set up SSH private keys, and set up mount points. Users can also run custom commands and scripts on initial startup or on each reboot.
And with this release, Canonical is launching the "Ubuntu Server on Cloud 10" program which allows anyone to try out Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition on Amazon EC2 for free for one hour. Additionally, in Ubuntu 10.10, Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud adds virtio support, a new interface for administrators, eased deployment for developers and the ability to run UEC from a USB stick. Eucalyptus 2.0, the latest version of the core cloud technology in UEC, has been included. GlusterFS and Ceph have been integrated into the core product and the groundwork has been laid for additional cloud-focused enterprise-scale applications to be introduced over the lifecycle of Ubuntu 10.10 and the current LTS version (10.04) of Ubuntu Server.
Separately, Canonical announced that Ubuntu Desktop Edition and Ubuntu Netbook Edition are available for download as well. Focused on home and mobile computing users, Ubuntu 10.10 introduces a range of online and offline applications to Ubuntu Desktop Edition with a focus on the personal cloud, while Ubuntu Netbook Edition provides a new desktop interface called "Unity" that is tuned for smaller screens and computing on the move.
Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition, including Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud; the Ubuntu Desktop Edition; and the Ubuntu Netbook Edition are available for download here.
Ubuntu Server on Cloud 10 can be found here.