Ubuntu is a Debian based Linux distribution. Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distribution in the world.

Welcome to Hardy Heron a.k.a Ubuntu 8.04 LTS

Here are some key features of "Ubuntu":

· Ubuntu will always be free of charge, including enterprise releases and security updates.
· Ubuntu comes with full commercial support from Canonical and hundreds of companies around the world.
· Ubuntu includes the very best translations and accessibility infrastructure that the free software community has to offer.
· Ubuntu CDs contain only free software applications; we encourage you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.

Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you'll ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools.

Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing.

We issue a new desktop and server release every six months. That means you'll always have the the latest and greatest applications that the open source world has to offer.

Ubuntu is designed with security in mind. You get free security updates for at least 18 months on the desktop and server. With the Long Term Support (LTS) version you get three years support on the desktop, and five years on the server. There is no extra fee for the LTS version, we make our very best work available to everyone on the same free terms. Upgrades to new versions of Ubuntu are and always will be free of charge.

Everything you need on one CD, which provides a complete working environment. Additional software is available online.

The graphical installer enables you to get up and running quickly and easily. A standard installation should take less than 25 minutes.

Once installed your system is immediately ready-to-use. On the desktop you have a full set of productivity, internet, drawing and graphics applications, and games.

On the server you get just what you need to get up and running and nothing you don't.

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

Installer Updates:
· Fix persistent mode on the live CD (#219192, #274076)
· Fix GPT/MBR syncing on modern Intel Macs (#222126)
· Fix handling of UUIDs on existing swap partitions during install (#336992)

Desktop Updates:
· Set hdparm power management based on AC state on resume/thaw (#59695)
· Fix LSB compliance in foomatic-rip (#376732)
· Work around crash when navigating around ssh locations (#236953)
· Don't inaccurately report all suspends >= 6 hours as failed (#242713)
· Disable the ability to create a new user whose name is owned by a previously defined group, which, if allowed to happen, would overwrite the old group. If this happened to 'admin', for example, it would render any system administration by sudoers impossible (#236305)
· Fix nautilus shortcuts to smb shares (#216104)
· Recover lost DAV over HTTPS mounting functionality (#222532)
· Fix connection issue with new ICQ protocol (#340151)

Server updates:
· Fix for mod_proxy with SSL using all the CPU (#306293)
· Fix kernel oops when shutting down NFS server (#253004)
· Fix open-iscsi installation and startup (#227848, #236640)
· Adjust openldap apparmor profile to allow cnconfig (#243525)
· Avoid getting stuck in infinite loops in redhat-cluster-suite (#290399)

General Updates:
· /etc/lsb-release: include "LTS" in the DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION field (#225735)
· Fix libgomp to work with shared libraries (#235070)
· Fix kernel oops when invalid character occurs in filename on udf filesystem (#321606)
· Fix kernel oops in the NFS client (#341783, #212485)
· Upgrade the lsb package to support LSB 4.0 (#370066)