The alternate install CD allows you to perform certain specialist installations of Ubuntu. It provides for the following situations:

• creating pre-configured OEM systems;
• setting up automated deployments;
• upgrading from older installations without network access;
• LVM and/or RAID partitioning;
• installs on systems with less than about 384MB of RAM (although note that low-memory systems may not be able to run a full desktop environment reasonably).

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS will be supported for 3 years on both desktops and servers.

An updated set of CD and DVD images of Ubuntu 8.04, a distribution with long-term security support (5 years on servers, 3 years on desktops), was released today: "The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the release of Ubuntu 8.04.2 LTS, the second maintenance update to Ubuntu's 8.04 LTS release. This release includes updated server, desktop, and alternate installation CDs for the i386 and amd64 architectures. In all, over 200 updates have been integrated, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS."