In today's world, Edubuntu is a topic that has become relevant in different areas of society. From its impact on people's daily lives to its influence on the economy and politics, Edubuntu has become a fundamental element to take into account today. Over the years, Edubuntu has generated debates, controversies and different positions that have marked the way we perceive it and relate to it. In this article, we will delve into the different aspects surrounding Edubuntu, from its origin to its impact on today's society, analyzing its importance and the implications it has on our daily lives.
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) 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 |