Developer | Canonical Ltd. and community contributors |
---|---|
OS family | Linux (Unix-like) |
Working state | Current |
Source model | Open source |
Initial release | 2005 |
Latest release | 24.10 LTS (Oracular Oriole) / 10 October 2024 |
Kernel type | Monolithic Linux kernel |
Default user interface | GNOME |
License | Mainly GPL and various others (free with some restricted components) |
Official website | www |
Edubuntu, previously known as Ubuntu Education Edition, is an official derivative of the Ubuntu operating system designed for use in classrooms inside schools, homes and communities. [1]
Edubuntu is developed in collaboration with teachers and technologists in several countries. Edubuntu is built on top of the Ubuntu base, incorporates the LTSP thin client architecture and several education-specific applications, and is aimed at users aged 6 to 18. It was designed for easy installation and ongoing system maintenance.
Included with Edubuntu is the Linux Terminal Server Project and many applications relevant to education including GCompris, KDE Education Suite, Sabayon Profile Manager, Pessulus Lockdown Editor, Edubuntu Menueditor, LibreOffice, Gnome Nanny and iTALC. Edubuntu CDs were previously available free of charge through their Shipit service; since version 8.10 (2008) [update] it is only available as a download in a DVD format.
In 23.04, Edubuntu's default GUI is GNOME. [2] From 12.04 to 14.04, Edubuntu's default GUI was Unity; however GNOME, which had previously been the default, was also available. [3] Since release 7.10, KDE is also available as Edubuntu KDE. In 2010, Edubuntu and the Qimo 4 Kids project were working on providing Qimo within Edubuntu, [4] but this was not done as it would not have fit on a CD. [5]
The primary goal of Edubuntu was to enable an educator with limited technical knowledge and skills to set up a computer lab or an online learning environment in an hour or less and then effectively administer that environment.
The principal design goals of Edubuntu were centralized management of configuration, users and processes, together with facilities for working collaboratively in a classroom setting. Equally important was the gathering together of the best available free software and digital materials for education. According to a statement of goals on the official Edubuntu website: "Our aim is to put together a system that contains all the best free software available in education and make it easy to install and maintain." [6]
It also aimed to allow low-income environments to maximize utilisation of their available (older) equipment.
The first Edubuntu release coincided with the release of Ubuntu 5.10, which was codenamed Breezy Badger on 2005-10-13. With the 8.04 Hardy Heron release of Edubuntu it was given the name of Ubuntu Education Edition [7] and was changed to be an add-on to a standard Ubuntu installation instead of being an installable Live CD. From version 9.10 onwards, Edubuntu changed to be available as a full system DVD instead of an Add-on CD. [8] Edubuntu is also installable [9] via a selection of "edubuntu" packages for all distributions using the official Ubuntu repositories (Ubuntu and Kubuntu mainly).
Since 14.04, Edubuntu became LTS-only; [10] Edubuntu announced that they would skip the 16.04 LTS update and that they planned on staying with 14.04 due to lack of contributors. [11] It would then be discontinued for a number of years, but as of April 2023, the distro has returned as an official flavor.
Release | Codename | Release date | End-of-life date |
---|---|---|---|
5.10 [12] | Breezy Badger | 13 October 2005 | 13 April 2007 |
6.06 LTS [13] | Dapper Drake | 1 June 2006 | 14 July 2009 |
6.10 [14] | Edgy Eft | 26 October 2006 | 25 April 2008 |
7.04 [15] [16] | Feisty Fawn | 19 April 2007 | 19 October 2008 |
7.10 [17] [18] | Gutsy Gibbon | 18 October 2007 | 18 April 2009 |
8.04 LTS [19] [20] | Hardy Heron | 24 April 2008 | 12 May 2011 |
8.10 [21] | Intrepid Ibex | 30 October 2008 | 30 April 2010 |
9.04 [22] | Jaunty Jackalope | 23 April 2009 | 23 October 2010 |
9.10 [23] [24] | Karmic Koala | 29 October 2009 | 29 April 2011 |
10.04 LTS [25] [26] | Lucid Lynx | 29 April 2010 | 9 May 2013 |
10.10 [27] [28] | Maverick Meerkat | 10 October 2010 | 10 April 2012 |
11.04 [29] [30] | Natty Narwhal | 28 April 2011 | 28 October 2012 |
11.10 [31] [32] | Oneiric Ocelot | 13 October 2011 | 9 May 2013 |
12.04 LTS [33] [34] | Precise Pangolin | 26 April 2012 | 28 April 2017 |
12.10 [35] [36] [37] | Quantal Quetzal | 18 October 2012 | 16 May 2014 |
13.04 [38] [39] | Raring Ringtail | 25 April 2013 | 27 January 2014 |
13.10 [40] [41] | Saucy Salamander | 17 October 2013 | 17 July 2014 |
14.04 LTS [42] [43] [44] | Trusty Tahr | 17 April 2014 | 30 April 2019 |
23.04 [1] [45] [46] | Lunar Lobster | 20 April 2023 | 25 January 2024 [47] |
23.10 [48] | Mantic Minotaur | 12 October 2023 | July 2024 |
24.04 LTS [49] | Noble Numbat | 25 April 2024 | May 2029 |
24.10 | Oracular Oriole | 10 October 2024 | July 2025 |
Legend: Old version, not maintained Older version, still maintained Current stable version Future version |
Ubuntu is a Linux distribution derived from Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in multiple editions: Desktop, Server, and Core for Internet of things devices and robots. The operating system is developed by the British company Canonical and a community of other developers, under a meritocratic governance model. As of October 2024, the latest interim release is 24.10, with most-recent long-term support release is 24.04.
Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, including how quickly security upgrades are available; ease of package management; and number of packages available.
Kubuntu is an official flavor of the Ubuntu operating system that uses the KDE Plasma Desktop instead of the GNOME desktop environment. As part of the Ubuntu project, Kubuntu uses the same underlying systems. Kubuntu shares the same repositories as Ubuntu and is released regularly on the same schedule as Ubuntu.
Xubuntu is a Canonical-recognized, community-maintained derivative of the Ubuntu operating system. The name Xubuntu is a portmanteau of Xfce and Ubuntu, as it uses the Xfce desktop environment, instead of Ubuntu's customized GNOME desktop.
Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based and Debian-based Linux distribution, it comes bundled with a variety of free and open-source applications. Linux Mint offers three different desktop environments by default; Cinnamon, Xfce, and MATE.
Trisquel is a computer operating system, a Linux distribution, derived from another distribution, Ubuntu. The project aims for a fully free software system without proprietary software or firmware and uses a version of Ubuntu's modified kernel, with the non-free code removed. Trisquel relies on user donations. Its logo is a triskelion, a Celtic symbol. Trisquel is listed by the Free Software Foundation as a distribution that contains only free software.
Ubuntu releases are made semiannually by Canonical Ltd, its developers, using the year and month of the release as a version number. The first Ubuntu release, for example, was Ubuntu 4.10 and was released on 20 October 2004. Consequently, version numbers for future versions are provisional; if the release is delayed until a different month than planned, the version number will change accordingly.
Lubuntu is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that uses the LXQt desktop environment in place of GNOME. Lubuntu was originally touted as being "lighter, less resource hungry and more energy-efficient", but now aims to be "a functional yet modular distribution focused on getting out of the way and letting users use their computer".
Peppermint OS is a Linux distribution based on Debian and Devuan Stable, and formerly based on Ubuntu. It uses the Xfce desktop environment. It aims to provide a familiar environment for newcomers to Linux, which requires relatively low hardware resources to run.
Unity is a graphical shell for the GNOME desktop environment originally developed by Canonical Ltd. for its Ubuntu operating system. It debuted in 2010 in the netbook edition of Ubuntu 10.10 and was used until Ubuntu 17.10. Since 2017, its development was taken over by the Unity7 Maintainers (Unity7) and UBports.
Pinguy OS was a Linux distribution for x86-based personal computers. Pinguy OS is based on Ubuntu, a GNOME-based desktop environment, which was discontinued in 2019 due to it no longer being financially viable. Despite no longer receiving any major version updates, a few of the previous LTS releases are still maintained.
Mir is a computer display server and, recently, a Wayland compositor for the Linux operating system that is under development by Canonical Ltd. It was planned to replace the currently used X Window System for Ubuntu; however, the plan changed and Mutter was adopted as part of GNOME Shell.
Antergos is a discontinued Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. By default, it includes the GNOME desktop environment, but it also offers options for Cinnamon, MATE, KDE Plasma 5, Deepin, and Xfce desktops. Originally released in July 2012 as Cinnarch, it quickly gained popularity and was ranked among the top 40 most popular distributions on DistroWatch by June 2013. The name Antergos derived from the Galician word for ancestors, was chosen to "to link the past with the present".
Ubuntu MATE is a free and open-source Linux distribution and an official derivative of Ubuntu. Its main differentiation from Ubuntu is that it uses the MATE desktop environment as its default user interface, instead of the GNOME 3 desktop environment that is the default user interface for Ubuntu.
Zorin OS is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu with both free and paid versions. It uses a GNOME 3 and XFCE 4 desktop environment by default, although the desktop is heavily customized for users more familiar with Windows and macOS.
KDE neon is a Linux distribution developed by KDE based on Ubuntu long-term support (LTS) releases, bundled with a set of additional software repositories containing the latest versions of the Plasma 6 desktop environment/framework, Qt 6 toolkit and other compatible KDE software. First announced in June 2016 by Kubuntu founder Jonathan Riddell following his departure from Canonical Ltd., it has been adopted by a steadily growing number of Linux users, regularly appearing in the Top 20 on DistroWatch.com's popularity tables.
Ubuntu Budgie is an official community flavor of Ubuntu. It combines the Ubuntu-based system with the independently developed Budgie desktop environment.
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