Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha 2 Removes HAL
The development of Ubuntu 10.04 is taking another turn. Lucid Lynx now has a second alpha version that gets rid of HAL.
"HAL" unfortunately isn't the heinous supercomputer from Kubrick's film 2001, but Ubuntu's Hardware Abstraction Layer between Ubuntu's hardware and software. It has now disappeared entirely from the current Ubuntu 10.04 test version, it's function being taken over among other things by DeviceKit. The advantage to this, according to the official announcement, is that Ubuntu has a faster boot and startup from hibernate time.
Alpha 2 provides Kernel version 2.6.32-10.14 and has the newest GNOME and KDE packages on board. The GNOME desktop is version 2.29.4 and KDE is 4.4 RC1. Interestingly, the three proprietary versions of NVIDIA graphics drivers (190.53, 173 and 96) can be installed at the same time without a problem, provided only one is configured for use. In the past the automatic installation of the wrong driver version via Jockey could lead to a failed graphical interface in some applications. Further enhancements went into Ubuntu's Enterprise Cloud (UEC) that is now based on Eucalyptus 1.6.2.
As usual, the announcement warns about known issues with implementing Alpha 2. Removing HAL has the consequence that Wacom drivers can no longer be used for drawing tablets. Desktop ISOs from Kubuntu no longer fit on a CD, so they need to be burned to a DVD or USB stick. A LiveCD reboot can freeze on the boot logo on systems supporting Kernel Mode Setting (KMS), which may indeed be a Plymouth error. The workaround is to boot from USB stick instead of CD. The notification bubbles are rather hideous at the moment, as the notification system is still in debug mode during the development phase.
Debug mode is more or less the state of all of Ubuntu 10.04. The usual message is that the alpha is an unstable system not to be deployed in production. Nevertheless, downloads come in a variety of flavors:
Comments
comments powered by Disqus
Tag Cloud
News
-
Password Management Services Vulnerable to Attack
Should you trust an online service to store your online passwords?
-
New Raspberry Pi Adds Two USB Ports
New B+ board lets you build cool things without the complication of a powered USB hub.
-
Microsoft Grabs No-IP.com Domains
Redmond rushes in to root out alleged malware haven.
-
Firefox Steps into 3D
New initiative will bring futuristic virtual reality effects to the web surfing experience.
-
New Trojan Targets Online Banking
Dyreza malware launches a man-in-the-middle attack that compromises SSL.
-
HP Rolls Out Massive Cloud Network
New cloud combines worldwide access with local attention to data security.
-
New Attack Targets Wireless Logins
A first cousin of the recent Heartbleed attack affects EAP-based wireless and peer-to-peer authentication.
-
Geeks Petition for Free Lenovo BIOS
FOSS community acts to protect freedom of choice for laptop devices.
-
Firefox Says Yes to DRM
Quintessential open source browser shores up its market share with a step toward the proprietary dark side.
-
Webcam Hijackers Busted
Authorities in 16 countries take action against users of the imfamous BlackShades malware tool.
more to linux than ubuntu
quit using ubuntu to mean linux!
Cloning Linux systems
HAL was already removed in the RC1
Cloning Drives
HAL made it relatively easy to clone a configured and updated source drive and install it in different hardware.
Will DeviceKit give the same functionality?
I'd hate to have to go back to a base install.
HAL is/was NOT heinous...
As a sidebar, c'mon people - it's 2010 and no HAL. Let's get with it! HAL should already exist. Of course, he would be Linux-based... Yes, I admit it - I am sickly infatuated with the HAL9000, and also admit that he is my inspiration behind choosing a career of computer programming...