The release of the Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" distribution has been published, which is classified as an intermediate release, updates for which are formed within 9 months (support will be provided until January 2024). Install images are created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu, UbuntuKylin (China Edition), Ubuntu Unity, Edubuntu, and Ubuntu Cinnamon.
Major changes:
- The desktop has been updated to the GNOME 44 release, which continues to transition applications to use GTK 4 and the libadwaita library (GNOME Shell user shell and the Mutter composite manager have been translated to GTK4, among other things). The mode of displaying content in the form of a grid of icons has been added to the file selection dialog. Numerous changes have been made to the configurator. Added a section for Bluetooth control to the quick change settings menu.
- In the Ubuntu Dock, application icons are provided with a label with a counter of unviewed notifications generated by the application.
- The official editions of Ubuntu include the Ubuntu Cinnamon build, which offers a Cinnamon user environment built in the classic GNOME 2 style.
- The official assembly of Edubuntu has been returned, providing a selection of educational programs for children of different ages.
- Added a new minimalistic assembly of Netboot, 143 MB in size. The assembly can be used for burning to CD/USB or for dynamic boot via UEFI HTTP. The assembly provides a text menu with which you can select the edition of Ubuntu of interest, the installation image for which will be loaded into RAM.
- A new installer is used by default to install Ubuntu Desktop, implemented as an add-on to the low-level curtin installer already used by the default Subiquity installer in Ubuntu Server. The new installer for Ubuntu Desktop is written in Dart and uses the Flutter framework to build the user interface. The design of the new installer is designed with the modern style of the Ubuntu desktop in mind and is designed to provide a consistent installation experience for the entire Ubuntu product line. The old installer is available as an option in case of unexpected problems.
- A snap package with the Steam client has been moved to the stable category, which provides a ready-made environment for launching games, which allows you not to mix the dependencies necessary for games with the main system and get a pre-configured actual environment that does not require additional configuration. The package includes the latest versions of Proton, Wine and the latest versions of the dependencies necessary to run games (the user does not need to perform manual operations, install a set of 32-bit libraries and connect PPA repositories with additional Mesa drivers). Games run without access to the system environment, which creates an additional bastion of protection in case games and game services are compromised.
- Improved handling of package updates in snap format. Whereas previously the user was notified that a snap update was available, but installation required launching Ubuntu Software, manipulating the command line, or waiting for the update to install automatically, updates are now downloaded in the background and applied as soon as the application associated with them is closed (when you can pause the installation of updates if you wish).
- Ubuntu Server uses a new edition of the Subiquity installer that allows you to download server builds in live mode and quickly install Ubuntu Desktop for server users.
- Netplan, which is used to store network interface settings, has a new "netplan status" command to display the current network status. Changed the behavior of matching physical network interfaces with the "match.macaddress" parameter, which is checked against the value of PermanentMACAddress, not MACAddress.
- Added support for authentication using Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), which allows Microsoft 365 (M365) users to connect to Ubuntu using the same login options as M365 and Azure.
- The official editions of Ubuntu stopped supporting Flatpak in the base distribution and by default excluded the flatpak deb package and packages for working with the Flatpak format in the Application Install Center from the base environment. Users of previously installed systems that used Flatpak packages will still be able to use this format after upgrading to Ubuntu 23.04. Users who did not use Flatpak after the update by default will only have access to the Snap Store and the distribution's regular repositories, if you want to use the Flatpak format, you should separately install the package to support it from the repository (flatpak deb package) and, if necessary, activate support for the Flathub directory.
- The Linux kernel has been updated to release 6.2. Updated Mesa 22.3.6, systemd 252.5, PulseAudio 16.1, Ruby 3.1, PostgreSQL 15, QEMU 7.2.0, Samba 4.17, CUPS 2.4.2, Firefox 111, LibreOffice 7.5.2, Thunderbird 102.9, VLC 3.0.18, BlueZ 5.66 , NetworkManager 1.42, Pipewire 0.3.65, Poppler 22.12, xdg-desktop-portal 1.16, cloud-init 23.1, Docker 20.10.21, Containerd 1.6.12, runc 1.1.4, Dnsmasq 2.89, libvirt 9.0.0, Open vSwitch 3.1.0 .XNUMX.
- Formed packages with LibreOffice for RISC-V architecture.
- AppArmor profiles included to protect rsyslog and isc-kea.
- The capabilities of the debuginfod.ubuntu.com service have been expanded, which allows you to do without installing separate packages with debugging information from the debuginfo repository when debugging programs supplied in the distribution. With the help of the new service, users can dynamically load debugging symbols from an external server directly during debugging. The new version provides indexing and processing of package sources, which eliminates the need for a separate installation of source packages via "apt-get source" (the sources will be transparently downloaded by the debugger). Added support for debug data for packages from PPA repositories (so far only ESM PPA (Expanded Security Maintenance) is indexed).
- Kubuntu offers the KDE Plasma 5.27 desktop, KDE Frameworks 5.104 libraries, and the KDE Gear 22.12 application suite. Updated versions of Krita, Kdevelop, Yakuake and many other applications.
- Ubuntu Studio uses the PipeWire media server by default. Software versions updated: RaySession 0.13.0, Carla 2.5.4, lsp-plugins 1.2.5, Audacity 3.2.4, Ardour 7.3.0, Patchance 1.0.0, Krita 5.1.5, Darktable 4.2.1, digiKam 8.0.0 Beta, OBS Studio 29.0.2, Blender 3.4.1, KDEnlive 22.12.3, Freeshow 0.7.2, OpenLP 3.0.2, Q Light Controller Plus 4.12.6, KDEnlive 22.12.3, GIMP 2.10.34, Ardour 7.3.0 , Scribus 1.5.8, Inkscape 1.2.2, MyPaint v2.0.1.
- Ubuntu MATE is running the MATE Desktop 1.26.1 release, and the MATE Panel has been updated to the 1.27 branch and includes additional patches.
- Ubuntu Budgie features the Budgie 10.7 desktop release. The system for performing actions by moving the mouse pointer to the corners and edges of the screen has been completely redesigned. A new tiling control system has been added by moving the window to the edge of the screen.
- Lubuntu offers the LXQt 1.2 user environment by default. The installer has been updated to Calamares 3.3 Alpha 2. Snap is used instead of the deb package for Firefox.
- In Xubuntu, the Xfce desktop has been updated to release 4.18. Pipewire media server included. Updated Catfish 4.16.4, Exo 4.18.0, Gigolo 0.5.2, Mousepad 0.5.10, Ristretto 0.12.4, Thunar File Manager 4.18.4, Xfce Panel 4.18.2, Xfce Settings 4.18.2 Xfce Task Manager 1.5.5. 1.26.0, Atril 1.26.0, Engrampa XNUMX.
Added a stripped-down build of Xubuntu Minimal that takes up 1.8 GB instead of 3 GB. The new assembly will be useful for those who prefer a different set of applications than in the base distribution - the user can select and download the set of installed applications from the repository during the installation of the distribution.
Source: opennet.ru