Blogs

Edubuntu version 12.04 Beta 2 is now released. This beta release is a pre-release version released for testing purposes and shouldn't be used in production.

Here are a few highlights since the last release:

• This beta fixes a few issues that were identified in the previous beta release, including improved translations, a new Epoptes release and a new LTSP.
• Edubuntu 12.04 will be the first 5 year LTS release of the Edubuntu project.
• For this release we focused on quality and stability and refrained from any significant feature improvements.
• iTalc, our classroom management tool has been replaced by Epoptes, which is more stable and better integrated with Edubuntu and LTSP.
• LTSP is updated to the new major 5.3 release, fixing many bugs, improving performance, bandwidth usage and providing better fat client support.
• Freemind and Geogebra were dropped from the default Edubuntu installation in an effort to avoid Java on our DVD. Both of these are still available via the Software Center, but aren't covered by the LTS support term.
• The KDE version of edubuntu-desktop will only be supported on a best effort basis and isn't covered by the LTS support term either.
• Edubuntu now includes vim and pastebinit by default to make the command line experience of advanced users more pleasant.

The full technical overview for this beta release is available on the Ubuntu wiki. Be sure to read the Ubuntu parts too, since it also impacts Edubuntu.

The installation media can be downloaded from the Ubuntu cdimage site.

If you find any bugs, please report them at the usual place and tag the edubuntu-dev team. Happy testing!

Anki Tutorial

One of the things we'd like to do in Edubuntu in 2012 is showcase more of the software that we ship and tell stories of people who use it.

We stumbled upon a great write-up of Anki, a flashcard reader program installed in Edubuntu and otherwise available via Ubuntu Software Center.

Here's a snippet:

"Prepping for a Linux certification exam? Helping the kids with schoolwork? No matter what the subject is, Anki can help you commit it to memory. The flexible open source study system is based around the flashcard concept, but with support for audio, video, and more, and the program can adapt to your learning style."

Read the full story by Nathan Willis on Linux.com

WebLive Milestone

Yesterday, the Edubuntu WebLive service surpassed it's one hundred thousandth session. We're thrilled that so many people have taken the time to look at Edubuntu and find out just how easy open source software is and that it can be really valuable in an educational setting.

Try it out!

Haven't tried out WebLive yet? Give it a go! WebLive itself is also open source, if you'd like to deploy your own instance, you can find it hosted on Launchpad.net.