Ubuntu News Archives

For next year's Ubuntu 24.04 LTS release, Canonical is planning to offer an Ubuntu Core based immutable desktop OS flavor as an alternative to the traditional Ubuntu Desktop image. A new Ubuntu.com blog post today outlines Ubuntu Core usage for an immutable Linux desktop.

Announced on Thursday was the Ubuntu High Performance Computing (HPC) team to promote Ubuntu Linux for running AI/ML, energy, bioinformatics, meteorology, and other workloads on Ubuntu Linux.

While for an Ubuntu desktop user that is used to running Snap versions of Firefox and other desktop application sandboxing it may seem strange for Canonical to be comparing Snaps to Docker containers, the emphasis of their comparison is on the IoT/edge computing side where they are trying to better position Snaps as a superior alternative to using Docker containers.

One of the great longtime features of Ubuntu Linux has been Launchpad's Personal Package Archives (PPAs) for easily augmenting the official Ubuntu repositories with additional packages either to supply updated versions of select software or for software not yet found in the official Ubuntu archives. With Ubuntu 23.10 a change is being made in how PPAs are managed to enhance the security and reliability.

The ISC DHCP software was marked end-of-life at the end of 2022 and thus Ubuntu Linux developers have been deciding on a new isc-dhcp-client package replacement to use by default.

Following last month's release of Ubuntu 23.04, the "Lunar Lobster", Ubuntu 23.10 development is now officially opened under the "Mantic Minotaur" codename.

While distributions like Fedora Linux have been using Dbus-Broker for years already as their high performance D-Bus compatible implementation to, for Ubuntu 23.10 later this year is finally where it looks like Ubuntu will be transitioning to this better alternative to dbus-daemon.

Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" release images are now available for download for those wanting to fetch the latest Ubuntu desktop or server builds or alternatively the various downstream flavors/spins.

It was just four years ago in Ubuntu 19.10 that Ubuntu's desktop installer added OpenZFS support for carrying out root file-system installations atop this ZFS file-system. Since then the Canonical/Ubuntu interest has waned. Ahead of the Ubuntu 23.04 release this week, I tried out the Ubuntu Lunar Lobster daily snapshot this weekend to find the OpenZFS install support with Ubuntu's new desktop installer to still be missing.

Canonical announced today that their kernel livepatching service will now be available for their hardware enablement "HWE" kernels on Ubuntu Long-Term Support releases.

Ubuntu 23.04 is being talked up for how it can aide developers that want to begin programming with Rust code for Linux kernel modules. It's possible to get started with Rust kernel development on Ubuntu 23.04 thanks to its generic kernel having the necessary kernel configuration, but ultimately it's still in an early state and there isn't much to do with the stock kernel.

The beta of Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" and its various spins/flavors were released overnight for testing.

Since 2019 there has been Ubuntu Cinnamon as an unofficial remix of Ubuntu paired with Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop environment. After the three years of progress, Ubuntu Cinnamon has now been granted an official status with next month's Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" release.

Ubuntu Touch as the community maintained version of Ubuntu Linux for smartphones and tablets has for years been frustratingly limited to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS as its base operating system for when Canonical had abandoned their smartphone ambitions. Today though that has finally changed with Ubuntu Touch OTA-1 Focal having been released that moves things forward to an Ubuntu 20.04 LTS base.

Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS is available today as the newest point release for those continuing to employ this older long-term support releases.

Canonical is preparing to ship an updated set of Ubuntu Font files for the Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" release but is hoping to see more user testing ahead of the official release next month.

Canonical has been preparing to ship a Linux 6.2 based kernel for Ubuntu 23.04 and now it's in the process of rolling out over the coming days.

Ahead of next month's Ubuntu 23.04 release, Canonical has published Mir 2.13 as the latest version of their software project that in its current incarnation is focused on serving as a Wayland compositor and abstraction layer.

The Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" development builds recently transitioned from Linux 5.19 as in use by Ubuntu 22.10/22.04.2 to a Linux 6.1 based kernel. This led some -- including myself -- to wonder if Canonical changed course and shifted to Linux 6.1 LTS instead of the Linux 6.2 kernel that has been out as stable since last month. Fortunately, that's not the case and Ubuntu 23.04 is preparing to soon land Linux 6.2 across all kernel flavors.

Following work bringing Ubuntu Linux to the RISC-V boards like the StarFive VisionFive 2, LicheeRV, Nezha, and others, Canonical today announced they have published an optimized RISC-V image for the Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA powered "Icicle Kit" development board.

Following a small delay, Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS has been released as the latest point release for this current Long Term Support series for Ubuntu Linux.

While Ubuntu Linux hasn't provided Flatpak support out-of-the-box due to their preference of using their own Snap app packaging/distribution format, Ubuntu flavors/spins have to this point been able to pre-install Flatpak support if they desired. However, for the 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" cycle and moving forward, Ubuntu flavors will no longer be permitted to install Flatpak packages by default.

Canonical and Elektrobit have jointly announced EB Corbos Linux, a new platform built on Ubuntu that is intended to be used as an automotive software platform.

While the new Ubuntu 23.04 desktop installer is shaping up nicely, Canonical engineers continue to be busy working on additional features and ironing out functionality found within the existing Ubiquity installer but not yet their new Flutter-based graphical installer.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is one of the most interesting Arm-powered laptops at the moment with this laptop powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 SoC, 13.3-inch 1920 x 1200 display, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 28 hour battery life, and current pricing starting below $1k USD. Upstream Linux support has been progressing around the ThinkPad X13s and it looks like Ubuntu has also been making some strides on easily supporting this Arm laptop.

Nearly one year ago with the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS premiere came a beta real-time kernel offered by Ubuntu maker Canonical and intended to help with Ubuntu Linux deployments in industrial environments, automotive, and other sectors with real-time computing needs. This Valentine's Day the Ubuntu real-time kernel has been promoted to general availability (GA) status.

Canonical announced this morning that their Ubuntu Pro subscription service has been promoted from beta to general availability (GA).

The Ubuntu xx.04.2 LTS releases tend to be a bit more meaningful for long-term support users since it includes the back-ported hardware enablement "HWE" stack with updated Linux kernel from the newer non-LTS release. Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS had been due for release on 9 February with that updated stack but is now pushed back to the end of the month over technical issues.

ASRock Industrial, the independent company spun out of ASRock that is focused on industrial computers, edge systems, hardware for retail environments, has now partnered with Canonical to begin offering certified devices for Ubuntu Linux.

Last year with the release of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS there was a beta real-time kernel offering from Canonical.

A new version of Mir has been released, which in recent years has been serving as a Wayland compositor and used for various niche use-cases like smart exercise mirrors and other IoT and kiosk-type deployments.

A new Ubuntu desktop installer has been talked about going back many years and over the past two years has been focused on providing a rewritten installer making use of Subiquity and Flutter. With Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" in April that new desktop installer is poised to finally be used by default.

One of the early alternative spins of Ubuntu back in the day was Edubuntu as an education-focused flavor of Ubuntu shipping with various educational packages pre-installed and an optimized workflow for students. Edubuntu gradually faded away but in 2023 is looking to re-establish itself and become an official flavor under new leadership.

As a long awaited gift for those using UBports' Ubuntu Touch, for Christmas the open-source, community-driven crew published a beta/RC build of Ubuntu Touch re-based atop Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

The UBports community continuing to maintain Ubuntu Touch for running this Linux distribution on smartphones and tablets is out with OTA-24 as their newest over-the-air update.

This summer saw official Ubuntu Linux images released for the StarFive VisionFive RISC-V board while now Canonical engineers are working to ensure their Linux distribution is all squared away for the upcoming VisionFive 2.

Canonical announced today they have collaborated with Intel to provide new enterprise-grade Ubuntu images designed for next-gen Intel IoT platforms.

With Ubuntu 22.10 "Kinetic Kudu" having shipped last week, Canonical engineers are moving ahead and beginning to get things going for the Ubuntu 23.04 development cycle now under the "Lunar Lobster" codename.

A new version of Canonical's Mir open-source display server is now available for what serves as a Wayland compositor for various Ubuntu use-cases around IoT and other niche purposes.

In addition to supporting the SiFive HiFive Unmatched, Allwinner D1 Nezha, and VisionFive RISC-V board support, Canonical has formally announced Ubuntu 22.10 for the LicheeRV as a $16~19+ RISC-V board.

Canonical has formally released Ubuntu 22.10 "Kinetic Kudu" as the latest six-month, non-LTS update to Ubuntu Linux.

Among the new applications becoming available with Ubuntu 22.10 "Kinetic Kudu" later this month is GNOME-Network-Displays for dealing with Miracast wireless displays.

Canonical announced today the launch of free personal Ubuntu Pro subscriptions for up to five systems.

On Thursday night Canonical released the beta of next month's Ubuntu 22.10 "Kinetic Kudu" Linux distribution update.

In addition to Ubuntu supporting the StarFive VisionFive and Nezha RISC-V boards, Canonical engineers are also working on supporting the Sipeed LicheeRV board too for next month's 22.10 release. The Sipeed LicheeRV is notable in being one of the cheapest RISC-V boards out there: pricing starts at $16.90 USD.

Canonical announced this morning that they have partnered with ASUS IoT, the division of ASUS focused on providing "Internet of Things" hardware, to certify Ubuntu Linux for their devices.

One of many changes to find with next month's Ubuntu 22.10 release is Debuginfod integration.

Canonical used to host a stellar in-person event each Ubuntu Linux development cycle with the Ubuntu Developer Summit. That was over a decade ago and then it became largely a virtual event and then faded away in favor of Canonical's internal road-map planning and other developer sprints among their employees. Coming up in November in Prague is the return of an in-person official event with the Ubuntu Summit.

Originally carried as a patch against Ubuntu 22.04 for its GNOME 42 desktop and continued to be maintained against GNOME 43 for the upcoming Ubuntu 22.10 is supporting dynamic triple buffering with the Mutter compositor. This has allowed Ubuntu's GNOME desktop environment to perform better for some systems albeit not upstream in GNOME.

While it's been years since Canonical dropped Unity as the official desktop environment of Ubuntu, some within the open-source community have still been maintaining it and running an unofficial Ubuntu Unity flavor of the distribution. Now with next month's Ubuntu 22.10 release, Ubuntu Unity will be an official flavor/spin.