LABS GALLERY: Ubuntu Linux 9.10 Beta Provides Security, Web Integration Enhancements

by Jason Brooks

Ubuntu 9.10 will be the first Ubuntu Linux release to offer a file-level disk encryption option right from the system’s default, LiveCD-based installer. This feature encrypts user home directories, along with the system swap partition.

In previous releases, Ubuntu offered a block-level encryption option, but only from the distribution’s text-based “alternate” install disc.

After installing Ubuntu 9.10 with home directory encryption, the system prompted me to take note of my automatically generated pass phrase, which I’d need to decrypt my data manually. In typical usage, simply logging into the system with one’s password is sufficient for decryption.

Ubuntu 9.10 ships with an AppArmor policy (seen here) for constraining Firefox permissions. Rather than allow Firefox to access all resources available to the user who runs the browser—including sensitive data stored in user home directories—AppArmor can bolster security by helping to eliminate excessive rights.

With the Firefox AppArmor policy enabled, my attempts to access the contents of my test machine’s SSH configuration directory were blocked, spawning these denial messages in my system log.

UbuntuOne is a new synchronization service integrated with the Ubuntu desktop. The service covers file synchronization, and is expanding to take on certain application configuration and data sync duties.

After signing up for the UbuntuOne service and installing the right client components, the contents of an Ubuntu One folder in my home directory stay in sync with a service online.

The synced files are accessible online, but the Web interface could use some work—note, for instance, the errant clouds in the middle of my file list.

One of the first Ubuntu desktop applications to take advantage of UbuntuOne synchronization is the Tomboy Notes application.

As with the file sync service, synced Tomboy Notes are accessible from the Web, albeit through a somewhat rough interface.

Evolution is another application that’s starting to take advantage of UbuntuOne, with a desktop-based implementation of the open-source CouchDB project taking on a share of the replication load.

Authentication for UbuntuOne is handled through the Ubuntu project’s Launchpad system. Launchpad accounts are also used for filing bugs, signing on to Ubuntu forums and other sorts of participation with the project. It will be interesting to see whether the free 2GB of storage available via UbuntuOne will spur more Ubuntu users to increase involvement with the project.