DistroWatch has announced the new rereleases of 9 flavors of Ubuntu, including Ubuntu Mate.
This is a short term release. I have Ubuntu Pro, and plan on waiting it out for a LTS release.
The Ubuntu MATE team have done really well this cycle.
As a ‘fly on the wall’ in some discussion rooms (matrix etc) I’ve been impressed, especially given they’re so new to Ubuntu procedures, and had some difficulties getting ‘keys’ too.
They’ve done well, as have the other flavor teams.
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I’m happy to read this on behalf of anyone who enjoys the Ubuntu MATE interface.
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Upgrade to 26.10 doesn’t get done yet. Normal waiting, I guess.
W
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The initial push for Ubuntu teams is to get the ISO/images out so people can install and use it, that now happened, but No it’s not yet open as per normal Ubuntu procedures.
Existing users systems explore (to see if release-upgrades are available) the meta changefile
though Quality Assurance testers or anyone can use the -d to force the upgrade which cause a different file to be used where it is seen, ie.
The Ubuntu Release team review the bug reports filed & issues reported in Quality Assurance testing, and when all reported issues have been mitigated (fixed in code/packages or documented in release notes; those release notes can still be altered in regards the release-upgrade instructions still for specific package issues). That team meet & discuss the upgrades & determine when the ‘taps’ will be turned, or file edited to allow actual release-upgrades.
That’s normally not done late in the week, but early in a subsequent week, so staff are around & capable of quickly fixing problems if they occur; which for sure isn’t now just after the ‘mad sprint’ to get the new ISO/images of the release out (people want some sleep & a weekend for themselves). Normal procedure is early in the week following for the first review meeting, OR if issues remain more meeting(s) are arranged in the days/week(s) following ISO/image release.
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Thanks for the information Chris. I still have two more questions if you have any knowledge on the forum.
Do we have any idea of when the Ubuntu Mate forum will be reopened so people can get help? I check every now and then and it is still archived. Will it continue from where it shut down or will a new forum be established?
(yes I plan to stay on this forum too, I enjoy it)
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Ubuntu MATE now use Ubuntu Discourse, with what was the Ubuntu MATE Community (running Discourse software) now shutdown permanently. Luke (@lah7) created the static archive that is now there (Luke did a wonderful job!), and as far as I know there is no plan to chase funding/sponsorship and thus set up a [new] Ubuntu MATE [/MATE] forum on Discourse or other software.
In other words: as I see it, the Ubuntu part of what the Ubuntu MATE community [discourse] was, is now [permanently] at Ubuntu Discourse; with no intention (currently) of moving. For the parts of the Ubuntu MATE community [discourse] that were asking about EOL/EOSS releases of Ubuntu MATE or MATE running on other OSes, or just liked a ‘less formal/less strict’ forum - they’ve actually moved to this site! or where you are now.
On another note, the Ubuntu MATE team are not big users of Ubuntu Discourse (or forums I gather), but they’re very active on Matrix…
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That is sad. The forum was the best Linux forum on the Internet. The people were great with their help, not just to Ubuntu Mate users but to all Mate users. I guess times change and their isn’t much that can be done about it.
Does anyone have a link to Matix? I was unaware of it.
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Matrix has largely replaced IRC for Ubuntu teams…
There are exceptions of course, I’ve actually spoken up to 30 times today in IRC chats, which is more than I’ve said on Matrix, but that maybe just myself & Billy (who I was mostly talking with) are ‘oldish guys’ who haven’t changed all our ‘old’ ways… (we’re both admins of the Matrix room of the same team anyway, we just keep some discussions on IRC out of habit).
There are benefits in Matrix over IRC, eg. if I wanted to send a message to Billy but he was offline, as neither I or him run ‘bouncers’ (on IRC) that track (& keep) conversations when we’re offline, if I speak and he’s not online, he’ll never see what I said (unless we check irclogs to catch that), but with Matrix if he’s not online when I speak, he’ll get a ‘ping’ & message when he opens the client even if its hours later (we also PM on Discourse often, or speak in Discourse chat rooms, as we’re both in a number of teams).
Matrix also allows pictures & more to be included (ie. more modern than IRC), replies in a thread, emoticon reactions & more too.
Some links
- Getting started with Matrix - Ubuntu project documentation
- Matrix | Ubuntu (main index page)
Some Ubuntu MATE links
- https://matrix.to/#/#ubuntu-mate-general:ubuntu.com (Ubuntu MATE General Chat)
- https://matrix.to/#/#ubuntu-mate-development:ubuntu.com (Ubuntu MATE Development)
I’m interacting with Ubuntu MATE team members on occasion in the Ubuntu MATE development room, but sometimes elsewhere (inc. Ubuntu Flavors room), and even rarely sometimes directly (PM).
Addendum: Most will know this, but I’m NOT a developer, so my discussions in development rooms will not be about coding, but maybe about testing, publishing this & that, or more general type things where I maybe more useful (eg. giving a 2c thoughts on PR191, publishing stuff on UD where I’m a moderator etc)
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Just to clarify, the static archive hasn’t actually been pushed yet. That’s on me - it’s about 95% completed. Life keeps me busy and I need to drink some bottles of motivation to get it over the finish line. 
Till then, it’s permanently in read-only mode.
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I suspected as such, I didn’t expect a static archive to actually respond so CLOSELY to actual Discourse software.
Thanks Luke, there is no hurry, as I suspect where we are currently is better for people’s searches etc anyway.
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I was not quite identical, but similar during my career before I retired. Documenting ideas, plans, coordinating activities, testing and managing systems were all things that came more naturally than coding, though I do write small scripts and I certainly write configuration files and update them.
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The only thing I am capable of writing is some comments, even some of those either ignorant or stupid! (a bit of a self-deprecating joke)
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