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Canonical has released a new version of Ubuntu Linux, Ubuntu 16.04 or Xenial Xerus, as this release is known. Ubuntu 16.04 is Ubuntu 16.04 is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, meaning that Canonical will provide support for the next 5 years.
Typically Ubuntu's LTS release tend to be conservative in nature, after all no one want to try to support a brand new, potentially buggy piece of code for half a decade. That, combined with the experience of the last few Ubuntu releases -- which offered almost nothing in the way of new features -- and you'd be forgiven for thinking that 16.04 is possibly the most boring release to date.
The potential is certainly there but happily for Ubuntu users, that's not actually the case. In fact Ubuntu 16.04 is the most exciting release Canonical has put out in recent memory and possibly the best release its had to date.
That's good news for Ubuntu fans, but it's also good news for Canonical which has largely ignored its desktop in favor of mobile dreams. Those mobile plans are still coming, Unity 8, the Mir display serve and the "convergence" those tools will enable are still a big part of Ubuntu's future, but they aren't part of 16.04 (not in stable form anyway).
Instead 17.04 focuses on improvement to the desktop, through perhaps the biggest change comes from Ubuntu's experience on the server-side, namely the container packaging system Canonical calls Snap packages (more on that in a minute). The result is that, for the first time in a long time, Ubuntu's desktop release feels like an actual release rather than something its obligated to push out every six months.
## Ubuntu 16.04: Now With 100% Less 'Spyware'
For all the new stuff in 16.04, probably the biggest headline grabbing change in this release actually what's not there, namely the online search results. The controversial search "feature" debuted back in 2012's autumn release, Ubuntu 12.10. What made it controversial is that it was on by default which meant that by default all your search terms were sent first to Canonical's service and then from there on to Canonical's partners. That alone was enough for the Free software Foundation's Richard Stallman to brand Ubuntu "spyware."
Even if Canonical getting a record of your search terms didn't bother you, the feature could still be annoying for its habit of returning totally irrelevant search results, and worse, often potentially NSFW results. One frequently cited example being searches of "Bra" for the Brasero CD burning application sometimes returned results from Amazon for bras.
Canonical dug themselves an even deeper hole when it went after a site site critical of the search feature for trademark violations. FixUbuntu.com, which showed users how to disable the search features, was asked to "remove Ubuntu word from you domain name and Ubuntu logo from the website." Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth later called the letter a mistake in his blog, saying, "someone at Canonical made a mistake in sending the wrong response to a trademark issue." Whatever its intentions, it merely furthered the PR disaster that was the online shopping results.
Now the search lens is off be default, which is good for users, but the damage it did to Canonical's image and standing in the free software world is unlikely to undone at this point. In the end, Canonical managed to generate a tremendously amount of ill will for a features the majority of its users didn't seem to want and which in all likelihood generated a negligible amount of profit for the company.
If you found the search results helpful, you can turn them back on in 16.04 by heading to the system settings app.
## What's new in Ubuntu 16.04
Perhaps the biggest change for Users upgrading from Ubuntu's previous LTS release -- which is two years old now -- is the Ubuntu now uses the systemd init system rather than its homegrown init, Upstart. As with several of Ubuntu's attempts to go its own way, it has since abandoned its efforts in favor of upstream tools. In this case the work of stripping systemd out of Debian just to put in Upstart was deemed more effort than it was worth.
For most users systemd will be old news, but anyone who sticks with LTS release, well, one of the last ways to avoid systemd is now gone.
In practical terms the move from Upstart to systemd is not particularly difficult, certainly nothing like upgrading straight from an older init system like System V. Still, it is a significant change to be aware of, particularly on servers where Ubuntu's LTS release are incredibly popular.
A more visual change in 16.04 is ability to move the Unity launcher to the bottom of the screen. This long requested feature has actually been possible via third-party tools for some time, but there were always some inconsistencies and odd behavior. Thanks to the work of <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/1552630">the Ubuntu Kylin developers</a>, its now an officially sanctioned option (in fact it's the default layout for Ubuntu Kylin, the official Chinese version of Ubuntu).
That said, it does still require installing the dconf editor and diving into the options a bit to turn it on. Once you've installed dconf-editor, navigate to com > canonical > unity > launcher > launcher-position to find the option to switch the launcher position (alternately, the third party Unity-tweak-tool supports it as well).
Ubuntu 16.04 has finally managed to shed the Software Center, which has been little more than abandonware for some time now. Instead this release see Ubuntu adopting the GNOME Software app, which has been somewhat customized to fit into the Unity theme. The move to the upstream software center also means that Ubuntu users now have the ability to apply firmware updates directly through the software center (provided the hardware manufacturer in question makes them available).
Also missing are few applications that are no longer installed by default. Brasero has been retired and the Empathy IRC client is also no longer part of the install CD. If you rely on either have no fear, both apps are still available in the Ubuntu repositories.
## Snap Packages
what they are
benefits
Firefox is onboard
snap vs xdg-app vs app-image and how Ubuntu has a history of going its own way and then coming back to the fold, will snap packages be the same way?
## Kernel and other new stuff
???
## Ubuntu Flavors
MATE desktop
conclude with link to LAS and info on how to install the MATE software center.
## conculsion
best release in some time,
snap packages are a bigs deal
future looks bright.
Unity 8 will be next big change.
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