The beta version of the Ubuntu 21.04 "Hirsute Hippo" distribution has been released, after which the package base was completely frozen and the developers moved on to final testing and bug fixing. The release is scheduled for April 22. Ready test images have been created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu, and Ubuntu Kylin (the version for China).
Key Changes:
- GTK3 and GNOME Shell 3.38 continue to be supplied as desktop environments, but GNOME applications are primarily synchronized with GNOME 40 (the transition of the desktop to GTK 4 and GNOME 40 is considered premature).
- By default, a session based on the Wayland protocol is included. When using proprietary NVIDIA drivers, the X-server based session is still offered by default, as before, but for other configurations, this session has been relegated to the options list. It is noted that recently, many limitations of the Wayland-based GNOME session, which were considered blocking issues for the transition to Wayland, have been removed. For instance, the ability to share the desktop using multimedia has become available. server Pipewire. The first attempt to switch Ubuntu to Wayland by default was made in 2017 with Ubuntu 17.10, but in Ubuntu 18.04, due to unresolved issues, the traditional graphical stack based on X.Org Server was restored.
- Support for authentication using smart cards (via pam_sss 7) has been added.
- The desktop now allows moving resources from applications using a drag and drop interface.
- The settings now include the option to change the power consumption profile.
- Added multimedia support server Pipewire enables screen content recording, improves sound support in isolated applications, provides capabilities for professional sound processing, eliminates fragmentation, and unifies the sound infrastructure for various applications.
- The installer now supports creating recovery keys for accessing encrypted partitions.
- Integration with Active Directory has been improved, allowing access to Active Directory with GPO (Group Policy Objects) support immediately after installation.
- The model for accessing user home directories in the system has changed — home directories are now created with permissions 750 (drwxr-x—), which provide access to the directory only for the owner and group members. Historically, user home directories in Ubuntu were created with permissions 755 (drwxr-xr-x), allowing one user to view another's directory contents.
- The Linux kernel has been updated to version 5.11, which includes support for Intel SGX enclaves, a new syscall interception mechanism, an auxiliary bus, a prohibition on building modules without MODULE_LICENSE(), a fast syscall filtering mode in seccomp, the end of support for the ia64 architecture, the migration of WiMAX technology to the 'staging' branch, and the ability to encapsulate SCTP in UDP.
- By default, the nftables packet filter is in use. To maintain backward compatibility, the iptables-nft package is available, providing utilities with the same command line syntax as iptables, but translates the received rules into nf_tables bytecode.
- Application and subsystem versions have been updated, including PulseAudio 14, BlueZ 5.56, NetworkManager 1.30, Firefox 87, LibreOffice 7.1.2-rc2, Thunderbird 78.8.1, Darktable 3.4.1, Inkscape 1.0.2, Scribus 1.5.6.1, OBS 26.1.2, KDEnlive 20.12.3, Blender 2.83.5, KDEnlive 20.12.3, Krita 4.4.3, and GIMP 2.10.22.
- The Raspberry Pi builds now include support for GPIO (via libgpiod and liblgpio). Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support has been implemented for the Compute Module 4 boards.
- Kubuntu features the KDE Plasma 5.21 desktop and KDE Applications 20.12.3 suite. The Qt framework has been updated to version 5.15.2. The Elisa 20.12.3 music player is enabled by default. Versions of Krita 4.4.3 and Kdevelop 5.6.2 have been updated. A Wayland session is available but not enabled by default (to activate at the login screen, select 'Plasma (Wayland)').
- Xubuntu has updated the Xfce desktop to version 4.16. Applications Hexchat and Synaptic have been included in the base set. The desktop now disables application menu display on right-click by default and hides shortcuts for file systems and external drives.
- Ubuntu MATE continues the delivery of the MATE 1.24 desktop release.
- Ubuntu Studio now uses the new Agordejo music session manager by default, with updated versions of Studio Controls 2.1.4, Ardour 6.6, RaySession 0.10.1, Hydrogen 1.0.1, Carla 2.3-rc2, jack-mixer 15-1, and lsp-plugins 1.1.29.
- Lubuntu offers the LXQt 0.16.0 desktop environment.
- Ubuntu Budgie has released a new version of the Budgie desktop, 10.5.2. Builds for Raspberry Pi 4 have been added. An optional macOS-style theme is now available. Shuffler, the interface for quick navigation through open windows and grouping them in a grid, has added a Layouts interface for grouping and launching multiple applications at once, as well as the ability to pin the position and size of application windows. New applets have been introduced: budgie-clipboard-applet (clipboard management) and budgie-analogue-applet (analog clock). The desktop appearance has been updated, with a dark theme set as default. In Budgie Welcome, a tab-based interface for navigating themes has been introduced.
Additionally, Canonical has announced the start of testing a specialized build, Ubuntu Windows Community Preview, for creating Linux environments in Windows, using WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux), which enables the execution of Linux executables on Windows. A text configurator, ubuntuwsl, is available for configuration.
Source: opennet.ru
