The bull has escaped Minos’ labyrinth, and El Reg follows the thread
The last interim Ubuntu release before next spring’s LTS is out. Some editions are seeing big changes, others very small ones.
Ubuntu 23.10 « Mantic Minotaur » appeared this week across multiple editions and ten « flavors » with different desktops. This is the last short-term or interim release before next April’s 24.04 code, which will be the next long-term support edition. Mantic has just nine months of support, so it will reach end of life just three months after the LTS.
We covered some of what’s new in this version when we looked at the new full-disk encryption and file system support in September, followed by checking out the beta version later that month. It comes with kernel 6.5.0-9, and experimental support for installing onto ZFS returns thanks to OpenZFS 2.2.0-rc3.
If you have a UEFI PC with a TPM 2 chip, you can opt for the new self-unlocking full-disk encryption system – albeit with some restrictions. This needs a snap-packaged kernel, and that doesn’t include as many driver modules, so for example it can’t handle NVMe RAID.
The standard editions are Ubuntu Desktop, based on GNOME 45, and Ubuntu Server, which also supports various non-x86 systems. For IBM kit, Server supports System Z mainframes, plus little-endian mode for POWER9 and POWER 10. Server for RISC-V supports six different single-board computers, including the new SiFive HiFive Pro P550, and the QEMU emulator. On Arm64, you get both both Server and Desktop editions for various systems including the Raspberry Pi, right up to the latest Raspberry Pi 5.
The primary GNOME edition comes with GNOME 45 and a Snap-packaged version of Firefox 118. This renders using Wayland by default where available, which should result in faster screen updates and some sharper images. By default, Ubuntu doesn’t install much else, because what was formerly called the Minimal Install is now the default installation. If you want the rest of the app suite, you must pick the Expanded Installation.
This provides Firefox 118, LibreOffice 7.6, and Thunderbird 115.2, shared by all the desktop flavors. Behind the scenes, there are BlueZ 5.68, Cairo 1.18, NetworkManager 1.44, Pipewire 0.3.79, Poppler 23.08, and xdg-desktop-portal 1.18. This should mean improved support for Bluetooth headphones and trackpads, among other things. Alternatively, you can select your own choice of additional applications from the new, rewritten App Center.
The release notes also flag up a few issues. The live environment you get if you choose to « Try Ubuntu » isn’t fully localized yet, so while you can use other languages, you’ll need an internet connection to use or install them.
The new Subiquity installer doesn’t support screenreaders fully as yet, so visually impaired users should opt for the version with the legacy installer for now. There may also be some issues booting from volumes formatted with XFS.
