Ubuntu Linux is the most popular “Linux OS” out there, according to at least one unscientific measurement. (Curiously, Solaris makes the 'Linux cut,' placing 54th). In fact, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes argues that Ubuntu is becoming the generic Linux distro. And now, according to Information Week's Serdar Yegulalp, Sun and Ubuntu are cozying up:
Sun's getting ready to provide support for the server flavor of Ubuntu on their small-to-mid-sized server hardware, in conjunction with Canonical. Their existing Linux lineups include Red Hat Enterprise and SUSE, two well-established server players, with Ubuntu Server as the newest addition.
Ubuntu 8.04 is being released in three weeks, and so I checked out the Beta page to find out what's new. Near the bottom of the page, I found details on a new installation interface:
There is a new installation option for Windows users. Wubi allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows application. It does not require a dedicated partition, nor does it affect the existing bootloader, yet users can experience a dual-boot setup almost identical to a full installation. Wubi works with a physical CD or in stand-alone mode, by downloading an appropriate ISO to install from. It can be found on the root of the CD as Wubi.exe. A full installation within a dedicated partition is still recommended, but Wubi is a great way to try Ubuntu for a few days and weeks before committing dedicated disk resources.
My first thought was that improvements to the Ubuntu installation interface merit top-of-page placement, but then again, I'm partial to that kind of thing. My second thought was that being able to install Ubuntu as a standalone program is pretty rad. All of you developers out there, is this doable for OpenSolaris?