Release of Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS with an updated graphics stack and Linux kernel

Introduced distribution update Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS, which includes changes to improve hardware support, updates to the Linux kernel and graphics stack, and fixes for issues in the installer and bootloader. It also contains the latest updates for several hundred packages related to addressing vulnerabilities and issues, affecting stability. At the same time, similar updates Kubuntu 18.04.4 LTS, Ubuntu Budgie 18.04.4 LTS, Ubuntu MATE 18.04.4 LTS, Lubuntu 18.04.4 LTS, Ubuntu Kylin 18.04.4 LTS, and Xubuntu 18.04.4 LTS.

The release includes some improvements ported from release Ubuntu 19.10 Proposed package updates with a kernel:

• in Ubuntu 18.04 used kernel 4.15, and in Ubuntu 18.04.2 — 4.18, in Ubuntu 18.04.3 — 5.0); 5.3 Updated
• graphics stack components, including new releases of Mesa 19.2, X.Org Server 1.20.5, and libdrm 2.44.99 that were tested in Ubuntu 19.10. Fresh versions of video drivers for Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA chips have been added (including the proprietary NVIDIA driver 435); Updated package versions include OpenJDK 11 (OpenJDK 8 moved to the universe repository), OpenSSL 1.1.1 (OpenSSL 1.0.2n retained as an option), thunderbird 68.2.2, dpdk 17.11.6, snapd 2.42, cloud-init 19.4.33, open-vm-tools 11.0, openvswitch 2.9.5;
• Included in
• finalrd implemented service , allowing the generation of the contents of the directory /run/initramfs, which will be used in systemd-shutdown during the system shutdown stage, when the root partition has already been unmounted;shiftfs
• In , a virtual FS for mapping mount points to user namespace, added support for direct I/O mode (O_DIRECT, working without buffering and bypassing cache);The snap-tool utility has added support for retrying downloads in case of failure;
• A package has been added
• wslu with settings and utilities for integrating Ubuntu with WSL Windows Subsystem for Linux); In gnome-software, the categories of applications available through the snap package catalog have been updated;
• The package ubuntu-web-launchers has been removed from the list of recommended applications;
• In Thunderbird, for file sharing in FileLink mode, where an attachment is saved in external services with only a link to the external storage included in the email, the WeTransfer service is used by default.
• builds

In builds For desktop systems, the new kernel and graphics stack are offered by default. For server systems, the new kernel is added as an option in the installer. It makes sense to use the new builds only for fresh installations — previously installed systems can receive all changes present in Ubuntu 18.04.4 through the standard update installation system.

It is important to remember that the delivery of new versions of the kernel and graphics stack is conducted through a rolling model of update support, according to which backported kernels and drivers will only be supported until the next maintenance update of the LTS branch of Ubuntu is released. For example, the kernel Linux 5.3 proposed in the current release will be supported until the release of Ubuntu 18.04.5, which will offer a kernel from Ubuntu 20.04. The initially supplied base kernel 4.15 will be supported throughout the entire support cycle. The support for the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS release will last until April 2023, after which there will be an additional 5 years will be formed updates within a separate paid support framework (ESM, Extended Security Maintenance).

To transition already existing installations to the new versions of the kernel and graphics stack you should execute the command:

sudo apt-get install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-18.04 xserver-xorg-hwe-18.04

Source: opennet.ru