dramatic usability improvements to Ubuntu based software appliances

[Liraz Siri]

Hi guys,

As you may recall we launched TurnKey Linux about a month and a half
ago, with the goal of creating an Ubuntu-based opensource project that
specialized in making certain niche tasks (e.g., setting up a LAMP
stack, a CMS, etc.) easier by pre-integrating solutions into a software
appliance type package.

The response we got from the Ubuntu community was fantastic, and we used
the feedback to guide our efforts as while working the kinks out of our
current crop of appliances.

Our main focus has been to try and figure out how to dramatically
improve the usability of the handful of appliances we have released so
that they appeal to a much wider audience (e.g., not everybody likes
mucking around with the command line).

We are proud to announce that recently released versions of our Lamp,
Joomla, Drupal appliances now feature:

* easy to use configuration console (written from scratch in Python)
* a beautiful web administration interface
* auto-login while in demo/live mode
* root password configuration during installation

As usual, detailed information, screenshots and release notes is
available in the appliances section on our website:

http://www.turnkeylinux.org/appliances

Launchpad blueprints for this release can be found at:

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/turnkeylinux/2008.10.17-hardy-x86

The news release on our website can be found at:

http://www.turnkeylinux.org/news/new-releases-feature-dramatic-usability-improvements

With the most pressing usability issues under our belt we are now in the
process of expanding the range of appliances we're building...

What do you think?

Cheers,
Liraz