UbuntuHandbook

Ubuntu 24.04 Going to Drop the Games from Installer

Last updated: March 2, 2024 — 1 Comment

Ubuntu has a few offline games out-of-the-box. Now, the developer team is going to remove them from the installer in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Since Ubuntu 23.10, Ubuntu Desktop no longer provides ‘Minimal installation‘ option in the installer. Instead, it’s “re-named” to “Default installation” with just the essentials, web browser and basic utilities. User can choose “Full installation” option for the office, media player, games, and other app packages that’s previously installed by default in old Ubuntu releases.

Just a few days ago, the desktop team proposed to remove the games from full installation, then made the decision with wider support.

Meaning that the game packages may be completely removed from the iso image, though they are still available to install in Ubuntu Software (App Center).

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You can now Test Ubuntu 24.04 Desktop Installer in Web Browser

Last updated: February 21, 2024 — 1 Comment

For those who are interested in the development of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, the developer team has opened a channel for the desktop installer usability test.

Anyone can try out the desktop installer by simply visiting a page in web browser. It will ask to grant permission to share the screen of browser window (Screen Sharing), so developer team can know where you spend time, get stuck, and go smoothly.

Also it asks to enable Microphone, so you can tell what you’re thinking as you go. And, of course either or both can be disabled!
Continue Reading…

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Ubuntu 24.04 Wallpaper Contest is Open! Top 8 will be Included

Last updated: February 10, 2024 — Leave a comment

Wallpaper Contest for the next Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Noble Numbat, is open! Top 8 winner images will be shipped in the iso image.

A bit different to the previous contests, this time the submissions are separated into 4 categories: Mascot Theme, Digital / Abstract Art, Nature, and Other. Each category will have 2 winners, and finally 8 mixed images will be made as optional wallpapers in Ubuntu 24.04 out-of-the-box.

The AI generated artwork is NOT allowed! Because there are active legal debates on the ownership of AI generated artwork and whether it can be copyrighted or not. And, many popular AI generation tools use a license that does not align with those for the contest.

image via meetdilip

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Ubuntu 24.04 Aims to use Thunderbird Snap as Default

Last updated: February 8, 2024 — 1 Comment

Like Firefox, Thunderbird email client in Ubuntu is going to be replaced as a Snap app runs in sandbox.

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, is working on porting core apps to Snap package format in recent years. Firefox, Chromium (in system repository), and Ubuntu Software (App Center) are now Snap apps in current Ubuntu releases. Next will be probably Thunderbird!

Canonical has built Thunderbird as Snap package for a period of time. It’s a re-pack of the upstream binary, only available for amd64 (Intel/AMD CPUs), as alternative package for the pre-installed .deb package.

Just one day ago, the Ubuntu Desktop team announced that the Thunderbird Beta Snap now is building from source instead of repacking. Meaning it can be built on other CPU architecture types, such as arm64 and armhf.

And, the Thunderbird Snap built from source aims to be default in next Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

We are aiming at using the snap built from source instead of the deb in Noble. (the reasons are the same than for Firefox, making it easier to roll new versions on older supported series and reducing the maintenance efforts).

Meaning in future, there will be (mostly) NO .deb package for the Thunderbird email client in Ubuntu repository!

Thankfully, those who prefer the classic .deb to Snap can use the Mozilla Team PPA instead, which is maintained by members from Ubuntu Developer Team.

For more about the Thunderbird package format transition, see it in discourse.ubuntu.com.

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Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Release Schedule is Out!

Last updated: October 27, 2023 — 1 Comment

Ubuntu 24.04, is in development now! Here’s when it will be released!

Ubuntu 24.04, code-name ‘Noble Numbat’, will be a new LTS release with 5 years support and another 5 years extend (ESM) support. It will probably features GNOME Desktop 46, and of course newer Linux Kernel.

The development was started this Thursday, according to this announcement. And, the final release is planned for April 25 2024.

Here’s the full release schedule according to the official discussion page.

Ubuntu 24.04 Release Schedule

February 29, 2024	Feature Freeze, Debian Import Freeze
March 21, 2024	User Interface Freeze
March 28, 2024	Kernel Feature Freeze, Documentation String Freeze
April 01, 2024	Beta Freeze, Hardware Enablement Freeze
April 04, 2024	Beta (mandatory)
April 11, 2024	Kernel Freeze
April 18, 2024	Final Freeze, Release Candidate
April 25, 2024	Final Release