Kubuntu is a GNU/Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default, and almost every other package you can imagine available from the network. Kubuntu also provides security updates for 3 years and professional technical support is available from many companies around the world.
These Release Notes cover new features in Kubuntu 6.06 LTS, download and installation notes. Please read these notes before, during and after installation and configuration before reporting bugs.
We hope you enjoy the release of Kubuntu 6.06 LTS, the Dapper Drake.
Kubuntu is released regularly and predictably in order to provide you with the best Linux experience possible. The focus of Dapper Drake is long term support, hence the LS in the release name, for 3 years on the desktop. Its primary goal is stability and polish.
Sine our October 2005 release (version 5.10) a lot of changes have been made:
The new Desktop CD comes with the ability to install a brand new Kubuntu system directly instead of having to download a separate installer CD, saving both time and bandwidth.
The Alternate Install CD uses the installation system familiar to users of Kubuntu 5.10 and earlier; it can be used in situations requiring more control of the installation process. From the menu, one can either install a server version of Kubuntu or the normal desktop version, along with the ability to repair a corrupted system.
New to Kubuntu 6.06 LTS, CDs can be ordered from ShipIt. The CDs ordered are the Desktop CDs, which can function as both Live CDs or through Ubiquity can be used to install Kubuntu. Visit shipit.kubuntu.org to place your order.
Dapper comes with the latest version of KDE (the K Desktop Environment) 3.5 (3.5.2 as of release). While a lot of changes have been made to KDE, the best place to get a complete list is the KDE 3.5 Visual Guide.
There are several changes in 3.5 including Konqueror being the second browser to pass the Acid2 CSS test before both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Along with passing this test, Konqueror also has the "much requested ad block feature" which helps you filter out ads from web pages. Kopete, for instant messaging, can now use MSN and Yahoo! webcams and also download themes and chat windows styles using KHotNewStuff. On detection of different media, Kubuntu will prompt the user with a list of optional actions unless disabled through System Settings.
Big changes have been made to Adept, Kubuntu's package management system. A great addition is Add/Remove Programs, a program that simplifies installation of programs. Two more great new additions are adept-updater and adept-update-notifier. The update-notifier functions very similar to Windows Update for those that are familiar with Microsoft products. Adept-update-notifier will check to see if there are updates and will display red triangle in the task tray. Simply click on it and enter your password, adept-updater will launch and you will be able to fetch and install updates.
In the last version (Breezy_ a release candidate of OpenOffice.org was installed by default; Kubuntu 6.06 LTS has the final product.
Katapult is now configured from the start to launch programs.
Struggling with configuring your display and the X Window system? A new module is included in System Settings that can make this quite painless. Along with this addition, several changes have been made in the placement and order to make things more clear.
New to Kubuntu is Zeroconf, a utility that allows computers to communicate on a network without any kind of configuration along with providing for discovery of services.
Improved CJK support is in Dapper. CJK stands for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean and is used in localization. Now language specific settings can be applied to provide better local support.
The server kernels are now tuned differently than the desktop kernels (providing better performance for server applications). The low end server kernel is generic and will work on the same equipment that the desktop kernel runs on while the high end server kernel is geared towards systems with more than 8 CPUs.
The recommended specifications for running Kubuntu 6.06 LTS is to have 128 megabytes of RAM and at least 2 gigabytes of hard disk space.
Kubuntu 6.06 LTS supports three major architectures: Intel x86, AMD64, and PowerPC.
Kubuntu can be downloaded from http://releases.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/6.06/ and then burned onto a writeable CD. Two CD image flavors are available for download: the Desktop CD and the Alternate install CD. The Desktop CD replaces the "live" CD, but includes the ability (with Ubiquity) to install directly to your PC.
Adept will help you with upgrading; don't worry it's quite painless. Start Adept and then select the Adept menu followed by "Manage Repositories." Adept will change to a new window which will allow you to change the distribution from breezy to dapper. That's it. The next step is to apply the changes and select close. Select fetch updates to reload the sources and make sure to preview the changes to see what will happen, before committing changes.
To commit changes to finalize the upgrade, select "Full Upgrade" and go get a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage to drink while Adept upgrades your system. The time it will take will vary based on the speed of your internet connection and the speed of your computer.
If you find a problem with Kubuntu 6.06 LTS, please check http://wiki.kubuntu.com/DapperKnownProblems before reporting bugs. If the problem is not reported there, please report a new bug on Malone, the bug tracking database.
One of the great things about Kubuntu and Open Source software is the ability to give back to the community and to help make Kubuntu the best distro possible. For more information visit http://wiki.kubuntu.com/HelpingKubuntu.