Announcing the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 9.04 on ARM

[Steve Langasek]

 The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the Release Candidate for Ubuntu
9.04 Desktop edition for the ARM architecture.  Codenamed "Jaunty
Jackalope", 9.04 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the
latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality,
easy-to-use Linux distribution.

This first, community-supported ARM release of Ubuntu targets the i.MX51
Babbage development board and is suitable for use by developers wishing
to bring the same high-quality Ubuntu desktop to an even wider range of
energy-efficient systems.

The final release of Ubuntu 9.04 is scheduled for 23 April 2009.

Before installing Ubuntu 9.04 please review the instructions and caveats
in the release notes:

  http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/904

In addition, there are a small number of known bugs in the release
candidate that will be fixed before the Ubuntu 9.04 release, but warrant
highlighting for your attention:

  http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/904overview#Known%20issues


About The Release Candidate
---------------------------

The purpose of the Release Candidate is to solicit one last round of
testing before the final release.  You can help by participating in
installation testing using the Release Candidate disk images, by
following the testing and reporting instructions at
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/ISO


Desktop features
----------------

Faster boot times:  improvements to Ubuntu's start-up process mean you can
spend less time waiting and more time being productive with your Ubuntu
desktop.

Notification system:  notifications, those alerts that signify a change of
status on your system or whether someone is contacting you, have been
made consistent across applications to provide a pleasing, intuitive
experience for users.


About ARM
---------

This initial release of Ubuntu for the ARM architecture has been made
available for the benefit of developers working on i.MX51 Babbage boards.
Images for the NSLU2 "slug" (ixp4xx) are also provided.

Due to the particulars of the systems in question, the installation process
is more complex and differs in several important ways from that of a
standard Ubuntu desktop system.  Further instructions on installing Ubuntu
on Babbage boards can be found here:

  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BabbageJauntyRCInstall


About Ubuntu
------------

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, netbooks
and servers, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases.  A
tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an
incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional services including support are available from Canonical and
hundreds of other companies around the world.  For more information about
support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support


To Get the Ubuntu 9.04 Release Candidate
----------------------------------------

To perform a new installation or try out 9.04 "live" from a disk image,
download the Ubuntu 9.04 Release Candidate here:

  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/releases/jaunty/rc/ (Ubuntu Desktop for i.MX51 Babbage systems)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/jaunty/rc/ (Netboot for NSLU2 "slug" systems)

Note that these images will not be of interest to the vast majority of
users.  If you wish to install the Ubuntu 9.04 Release Candidate on
desktops, laptops, netbooks or x86-based servers, please see:

  https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2009-April/000121.html


Feedback and Helping
--------------------

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you
can participate at

  http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help turn this
Release Candidate into the best release of Ubuntu ever.  Please note that,
where possible, we prefer that bugs be reported using the tools provided,
rather than by visiting Launchpad directly.  Instructions can be found at

  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but are
not sure, first try asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel on FreeNode, on the
Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu forums:

  http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
  http://www.ubuntuforums.org/

We also suggest that you subscribe to the ubuntu-devel-announce list
if you're interested in following Ubuntu development. This is a
low-traffic list (a few posts a week) carrying announcements of
approved specifications, policy changes, alpha releases, and other
interesting events.

  http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-announce