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The latest version 2.6.27 of the Linux kernel has been released. New and improved Wi-Fi drivers now allow the kernel to routinely deal with a considerably higher number of 802.11n Wi-Fi chips than before. Add the gspca webcam driver and a host of further changes to kernel drivers and infrastructure and you get a Linux kernel with much better hardware support and a much wider range of features. In addition, 2.6.27 is said to be faster and better scalable than its predecessors.

A detailed description of the new kernel features and their benefit für Linux users can be found in Kernel Log: Linux 2.6.27 Released on heise open UK.

The latest version of Ubuntu Linux, 8.04 has been released. “Hardy Heron” is the first release with Long Term Support release since two years: Ubuntu sponsor Canonical garantees three years of updates for the desktop version and five years for the server version. The unusually long support for a Linux distribution that can be downloaded for free, together with the support offerings by Canonical, makes Ubuntu 8.04 also attractive for the enterprise world. Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth hopes that the new version of Ubuntu will become a serious competitor to Novell’s Suse Linux Enterprise and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Sun already offers some of its servers with Ubuntu preinstalled.

Like the previous LTS version Ubuntu 6.06, “Hardy Heron” puts a stronger focus on stability and ease of use than on new features. Despite this it does include quite a few changes: A new installer allows Ubuntu to be installed directly under Windows without having to boot from CD or re-partition the hard disk. Several desktop tools like the Brasero burner have been added or improved and there’s a new security feature called PolicyKit. Ubuntu 8.04 is the first Linux distribution to install the new Firefox 3 as its default browser.

A review of Ubuntu 8.04 can be found here.

• Oliver Diedrich

  

  Oliver Diedrich has written about Linux and Open Source for the German c't magazine for the last ten years. He is also the editor-in-chief of the online publication heise open source.