The developers at the Unity Linux project are pleased to announce a brand new alpha snapshot of the upcoming 2011 release. The 2011 alpha release provides a few big updates to core packages, but the emphasis on the 2011 release will be the beginning of structural changes to the core. These changes are being done to make creating a distribution based on Unity Linux easier and less complicated.

The 2011 alpha brings new changes to Unity Linux basic ISO:

• Updated kernel 2.6.35.8 & Perl 5.12.2
• Mklivecd updates

The core structural changes slated for the 2011 release:

• All dynamic dkms kernel modules to be converted to static kernel packages. [DONE]
• NetworkManager to completely replace drakx-net [DONE]
• Fully implemented unity metapackages [DONE]
• Removal of HAL, and updating Xorg [IN PROGRESS]
• Move to rpm 5.3.x and implement RPM ACID [IN PROGRESS]
• Move to python 2.7.x [IN PROGRESS]
• Update toolchain to GCC 4.5.x [IN PROGRESS]
• Update kernel version to 2.6.37.x for better KMS support [IN PROGRESS]

As mentioned above, changes to the main branching tool, mklivecd:

• UTF-8 bug fixed
• Support for newer kernels while bootstrapping.

The 2011 alpha release is a test release to show the viability of the new direction of development for Unity Linux. We have developed an in-house script (create-basesystem) to easily and reliably recreate snapshot ISOs of the Unity Linux package repository at anytime. The idea behind this is that using the create-basesystem script and unity metapackages, while also creating a <BRANCH>-desktop metapackage, one could easily recreate reliable and good branch ISOs.

The past practice has been to take a fully loaded ISO install it and go about customizing the packages installed to your liking, then create an ISO with mklivecd. While this is a great option for people that would like do their own remasters, for branch distribution developers, this option is not very clean nor is it very repeatable. Especially for branches that want to offer both i586 and x86_64 ISOs. The create-basesystem script along with unity metapackages and <BRANCH>-desktop metapackage will simplify and streamline the process for branch developers making it even easier to create your own distribution of Linux based on Unity.

Known issues:

1. When you choose Media Check from the livecd Grub menu, you must switch to tty1 (use key combination Ctrl-Alt-F1) in order to see the output from the check.
2. Synchronization to our main mirror ibiblio.org has been interrupted while they go through a migration period. We’ll let you know when they have restored service. Until then, our mirrors are over a week behind.
3. If you use Wireless to connect to the internet, NetworkManager could well be blocking your desktop, keeping you from opening files and launching applications. Simply disconnect and reconnect to the network.

Download:

i586
http://linuxtracker.org/index.php?page=torrent-details&id=b7533ff63c23bd0377e0c12f932e09d7ff42338f

x86_64
http://linuxtracker.org/index.php?page=torrent-details&id=20113201cc4fb13803821260b7d41d867a55dc42

Edit: Access to ibiblio has been restored and syncronization to all our mirrors should began to filter through.

Check the mirrors.

For the 32bit iso Dowload here. md5 checksum

For the 64bit iso Dowload here. md5 checksum