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Thread: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

  1. #1
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    What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    I know there are far more ubuntu-based distros out there beside the usual *buntus, (Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc), and as far as I can tell, the main discerning factor is that some are "officially supported" and some aren't. What does that term actually mean?
    (also, I wasn't sure what prefix to use for the thread, sorry)
    The main difference between Windows forums and the Ubuntu forums is that the Ubuntu forums has hundreds of questions and thousands of answers, but Windows forums just have hundreds of questions.
    As for the OS X forums, I wouldn't know, I'm too poor.

  2. #2
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    Re: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    Quote Originally Posted by TheGuyWithTheFace View Post
    I know there are far more ubuntu-based distros out there beside the usual *buntus, (Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc), and as far as I can tell, the main discerning factor is that some are "officially supported" and some aren't. What does that term actually mean?
    (also, I wasn't sure what prefix to use for the thread, sorry)
    Hi,

    Please have a look at
    https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SecurityTeam/FAQ

    Regards,
    Abhinav

  3. #3
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    Re: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    Officially supported means that these projects work closely with Ubuntu, contribute to the project and use Ubuntu as their base:

    http://www.ubuntu.com/project/about-ubuntu/derivatives
    http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1757621

  4. #4
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    Re: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    I think jbicha described it nicely in a thread on the Ubuntu Gnome remix. I should have bookmarked that post but didn't

  5. #5
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    Re: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    I think most Ubuntu users who are GNOME fans want there to be a successful and popular GNOME flavor of Ubuntu.

    And if we're going to ship GNOME 3.6, we might as well ship all of it, right?

    On the other hand, there are huge advantages to becoming an officially recognized Ubuntu flavor.

    Canonical will supply the bandwidth for our images so that we don't have to force our users to use torrents.
    Official daily images (For 12.10, since we're unofficial we may only have as few official images as one Alpha, one Beta, and a final build.)
    Canonical builds the images for us, which saves a huge amount of time and effort and will end up significantly improving the quality of the images.
    Equal status with the other recognized flavors
    Far more users, as it's easier for users to use our releases and our releases are more trusted since they are coming from ubuntu.com infrastructure.
    More consideration for bugs that badly affect the GNOME remix (or similar GNOME remixes)
    I believe an official Ubuntu GNOME flavor will get more attention than UGR or the Ubuntu GNOME Shell Remix got.

    We will have a better, more successful product if we are a recognized flavor.

    One of the rules of official flavors is that they must not use PPAs. It's hard enough to become a recognized flavor without trying to bend the rules.
    Copy pasta from here: Why becoming a recognized Ubuntu flavor matters

  6. #6
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    Re: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    Quote Originally Posted by 2F4U View Post
    Officially supported means that these projects work closely with Ubuntu, contribute to the project and use Ubuntu as their base
    Work closely with Ubuntu? How?

    All they do is, add some their own apps, some scripts and wallpapers...They use the Ubuntu base and/or the whole distro, whether it is Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu or Xubuntu. Some even forget to change the content of certain files and the users can't update. I won't name one "dev" or his "OS", but it uses a "cold" wallpaper. The 2nd release couldn't be updated. He changed one file to get the "distro name" in, but forgot to change the other file in /usr/shre!

    I have that distro. Then, he suddenly went Debian, but back again with a 3rd release.

    Okay, any Ubuntu release could be made to have unlimited support time. Have look at this; http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2082728

    ZevenOS had stopped development at Oneiric. but the upgraded distro I have would have support until Raring would end its life. But, by that time, I'd upgrade it to the next Ubuntu release. So, even though ZevenOS has stopped development, it would be supported until Ubuntu makes distros with upgrade-to-next-release option through Apt, means unlimited time.

  7. #7
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    Re: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    To become a "recognized flavour" of Ubuntu you need to do a number of things:

    Guidelines to become and remain a recognized flavor:

    •Image has track record of community interested in creating, supporting and promoting its use.

    •Leading members have signed Ubuntu Code of Conduct.

    •One or more developer with upload rights.

    •Flavor lead identified and responsive though 6 month cycle.

    •Flavor QA lead (may be different from flavor lead) identified to coordinate testing of image at milestones during release.

    •Follow the milestone and release processes.

    •Best effort support from flavor community for security updates and high priority bug fixes for default 18 month support period.

    •If flavor ceases to do active releases for consecutive cycles, release team may request the TechnicalBoard review whether it should remain recognized flavor.
    Source

    Canonical doesn't lightly endorse the other flavours... It holds it to the same quality standards it holds Ubuntu too.



    404

  8. #8
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    Re: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    Quote Originally Posted by not found View Post
    To become a "recognized flavour" of Ubuntu you need to do a number of things:


    Source

    Canonical doesn't lightly endorse the other flavours... It holds it to the same quality standards it holds Ubuntu too.

    404
    Absolutely!!!

  9. #9
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    Re: What does it mean to be "Officially supported"?

    Thanks everyone, that clears it up!
    The main difference between Windows forums and the Ubuntu forums is that the Ubuntu forums has hundreds of questions and thousands of answers, but Windows forums just have hundreds of questions.
    As for the OS X forums, I wouldn't know, I'm too poor.

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