The Mantic Minotaur release of Ubuntu 23.10 introduces several new features and updates. Notable changes include an updated Linux kernel (version 6.5), improvements to PPA management, an updated systemd version (v253.5), and the introduction of Netplan v0.107. The toolchain upgrades include GCC 13.2.0, Python 3.11.6 by default, Perl 5.36.0, LLVM 16, and Rust 1.71. OpenJDK 21 is now available, and .NET 7 packages were updated to 7.0.110, while Go was updated to version 1.21. Several security improvements were made, including the ability to require programs to have an AppArmor profile for unprivileged user namespaces. On the Ubuntu Desktop side, there are changes to the installer and upgrades, including minimal installations, support for ZFS guided installations, and TPM-backed full-disk encryption. A new Ubuntu App Center replaces the Snap Store. The GNOME environment was updated to version 45. Other changes include updates to various applications, subsystems, and platforms, such as Apache2, Django, Docker, Nginx, Spamassassin, and more. Known issues and workarounds are also provided for various platforms and components.
PipeWire has gained numerous improvements, including fixes for prosumer and professional audio. The JACK compatibility now performs in real-time, and some FireWire features have now been implemented. We also include a new utility, called the Ubuntu Studio Audio Configuration utility, found in the Ubuntu Studio Information menu. This can be used to configure the default PipeWire Quantum value, Enable or Disable the PipeWire-JACK compatibility layer (handy for using JACK by itself), or switch to the classic PulseAudio-JACK setup that was the default prior to 23.04. QPrompt is a Qt-based teleprompter application now available in the repositories. While a snap version does exist and is installable from Discover, the version in the repositories is more up-to-date. Since Discover does not see the version in the repositories, it needs to be installed from the command line by issuing the following command: 'sudo apt install qprompt
Highlights: Improved hardware support for Bluetooth headphones and touchpads. Color emoji is now included and supported in Firefox, Thunderbird, and newer GTK-based apps. Significantly improved screensaver integration and stability. Known issues: The shutdown prompt may not be displayed at the end of the installation. Instead you might just see a Xubuntu logo, a black screen with an underscore in the upper left hand corner, or just a black screen. Press Enter and the system will reboot into the installed environment. Xorg crashes and the user is logged out after logging in or switching users on some virtual machines, including GNOME Boxes. You may experience choppy audio or poor system performance while playing audio, but only in some virtual machines (observed in VMware and VirtualBox).
We are once again utilizing Calamares 3.3 Alpha 2 in Lubuntu 23.10, as it has proven to be highly reliable since its initial use in Lubuntu 22.10. During testing, we did note that if you attempt to create an encrypted installation without a passphrase, Lubuntu will be installed unencrypted. This is unlikely to be a problem for most users as disk encryption requires a passphrase for it to be effective. More information can be found here. We have a new wallpaper (which is also used as at the login screen), created one of our Lubuntu Members; Walter Lapchynski, with a bit of assistance from Ubuntu Studio's Erich Eickmeyer. Thanks to both Walter and Erich. Please also check the Ubuntu Release Notes for more common issues and bugs affecting all Ubuntu flavors.
I am happy to announce our 2nd release as an official flavor, Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10 'Mantic Minotaur'. This update includes the Cinnamon 5.8 desktop environment, along with newer versions of most software. Cinnamon 5.8.4: the themes module in the Cinnamon Settings has an optional view for making simplified themes (this includes being able to configure an easier way to switch between light and dark themes); supports gestures with Touchegg. Cinnamon Screensaver 5.8.1: a user interface issue with the backup screensaver screen has been fixed; no longer uses libaccountsservice (can block startup). Nemo 5.8.4: performance – memory leaks fixed; thumbnails generation now uses multiple threads....
The Ubuntu Kylin team has announced the release of Ubuntu Kylin open-source operating system, version 23.10. As a short term support release, Ubuntu Kylin 23.10 comes with the Linux 6.5 kernel by default, and has comprehensively upgraded a series of system libraries, subsystems and core software. This version is mainly used to provide developers with a development and testing platform. Features: Intel's 'Topology Aware Register and PM Capsule Interface' (interface that provides better power-management features); arm64 permission-indirection extension (technology to set special memory permissions); RISC-V now supports ACPI; the Loongarch architecture now supports simultaneous multi-threading (SMT); support for unaccepted memory (protocol by which secure guest systems accept memory allocated by the host)....
The Ubuntu Kylin team has announced the release of Ubuntu Kylin open-source operating system, version 23.10. As a short term support release, Ubuntu Kylin 23.10 comes with the Linux 6.5 kernel by default, and has comprehensively upgraded a series of system libraries, subsystems and core software. This version is mainly used to provide developers with a development and testing platform. Features: Intel's 'Topology Aware Register and PM Capsule Interface' (interface that provides better power-management features); arm64 permission-indirection extension (technology to set special memory permissions); RISC-V now supports ACPI; the Loongarch architecture now supports simultaneous multi-threading (SMT); support for unaccepted memory (protocol by which secure guest systems accept memory allocated by the host)....
Ubuntu Unity 23.10 'Mantic Minotaur' has now been released. Ubuntu Unity 23.10 continues to use Unity 7.7, which has undergone maintenance. Our primary focus for this release has been to gradually migrate away from Nux in UnityX, which is progressing well. Nux is holding us back from offering Wayland support without Xwayland. We were also pre-occupied with adding support for CUPS 2.0 in Unity (printing), which has now been pushed back by Ubuntu to 24.04. A Lomiri variant of Ubuntu Unity is also in progress, and was supposed to be released today. Unfortunately, some app launcher-related bugs held us back, and we’re unable to make it available for download with the release announcement, but we hope to be able to do so within the next few days.
This release is meant to be evolutionary, not revolutionary. We are still working out which applications and features work best in the overall educational ecosystem. As always, feedback is appreciated. New apps: Startup Disk Creator: This will help users and administrators make an easy USB drive from a .iso image of any Ubuntu flavor. GNOME Videos: Video player. GNOME Music: Music player. Backup: Backup utility. Basic256: Teaches students the BASIC programming language (@eeickmeyer, our technical lead, first learned to program in this language when he was 10 years old on a Commodore VIC-20!) Extension Manager: An easy way to add and administer GNOME Shell extensions. OpenBoard: A whiteboard application for teachers. Mnemosyne: A flashcard application. Convertall: A powerful standalone unit converter (Bonus: GNOME Shell can also convert units, just ask it!)
MATE Desktop has been updated to 1.26.2 with a selection of bugs fixes and minor improvements to associated components. caja-rename 23.10.1-1 has been ported from Python to C. libmatemixer 1.26.0-2+deb12u1 resolves heap corruption and application crashes when removing USB audio devices. mate-desktop 1.26.2-1 improves portals support. mate-notification-daemon 1.26.1-1 fixes several memory leaks. mate-system-monitor 1.26.0-5 now picks up libexec files from /usr/libexec. mate-session-manager 1.26.1-2 set LIBEXECDIR to /usr/libexec/ for correct interaction with mate-system-monitor. mate-user-guide 1.26.2-1 is a new upstream release. mate-utils 1.26.1-1 fixes several memory leaks.