Release notes:

New features in 23.10 Updated Packages

add-apt-repository now adds PPAs as deb822 .sources files (Improvements to PPA management in 23.10 116).

Linux kernel :penguin:

Ubuntu 23.10 includes the new 6.5 Linux kernel that brings many new features.

Notable upstream changes:

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 - Seeking an acceptable unaccepted memory policy 5.
The io_uring subsystem can now store the rings and submission queue in user-space memory.
Ability to mount a file system underneath an existing mount on the same mount point; useful in container scenarios (Merge tag ‘v6.5/vfs.mount’ of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/vfs/vfs 5).
New cachestat() system call (query the page-cache state of files and directories).
Usual set of changes to support new hardware.

Notable Ubuntu-specific changes:

zstd compressed modules (LP: #2028568 11) to shorten boot time.
New Apparmor/Stacking LSM patch set.
Updated shiftfs patch set.
Enabled multi-gen LRU page reclaiming by default (LP: #2023629 1).
.config tuning of the low-latency kernel for desktop-oriented tasks (LP: #2028568 6).
New zfs 2.2.0~rc3.
Ceph support for idmapped mounts.

systemd v253.5

The init system was updated to systemd v253.5. See the upstream changelog 6 for more information about individual features. Netplan v0.107

The network stack was updated to Netplan v0.107 3, introducing support for dummy and veth devices in addition to providing Python bindings to libnetplan in the python3-netplan package. Toolchain Upgrades :hammer_and_wrench:

GCC was updated to the 13.2.0 release, binutils to 2.41, and glibc to 2.38.
Python :snake: now defaults to version 3.11.6, and 3.12.0 is available in the archive.
Perl :camel: at version 5.36.0.
LLVM now defaults to version 16, and 17 is available in the archive.
Rust :crab: toolchain defaults to version 1.71.
    • I’m about to jump from Ubuntu back to good ol’ Debian. I was planning on testing, but I’ve heard a few times recently that people are running unstable for day-to-day desktop use. Is there any particular reason you went with unstable instead of testing? Any issues so far?

      • most of the time it works every time. :)

        I’m using debian unstable as a desktop OS on all of my 3 regularly used systems: 2 notebooks and 1 desktop. And debian 11 on citrix virtual desktop at work. debian stable on around 200 servers.

        I rarely have bigger issues in my day to day usage of unstable which includes surfing, gaming and coding. at the moment my bluetooth headset microphone doesn’t work, which i guess is due to some changes to pipewire but only on my desktop. both my work and private notebook seem to not have issues.

        this is one of the worst problems i had in the last 8 years. other then that, if you use apt-listbugs to exclude any updates with serious bugs by pinning them until a bugfree version gets released, you wont have any more issues then you get with arch for example.

  • Shortened version: Snap, snap, snap. Snap snap snap. Snap. Snap.

    Seriously, Canonical. Having software that automatically updates itself without user consent or the ability to opt out is so laughably against the open source ethos that it makes me sick.

    Patching prod servers without the consent of an admin or following the strictures of a deployment strategy?

    I genuinely, genuinely do not know why Ubuntu is even seen as an option by server admins. They try to upsell you more than a fast food mobile app and suffer from NIH to an absurd degree.

    • On top of that I’m still baffled how they let a contributor purposefully fuck up a translation to the point they had to stop downloads. Sure bad eggs happen but how did they not notice until after… especially with what happened with cyberpunks translation.

      So happy I finally moved from Ubuntu to arch finally last week.

    • Hi - been a sysadmin for 19 years and I can tell you why: software that ‘requires’ Ubuntu. I work at a University and all of our required software runs on either RHEL or Ubuntu. I would LOVE to move everything to RHEL and rid my life of Canonical shenanigans, but we have software that just won’t run (in any sane form) on RHEL. The researchers especially love Ubuntu because much of the software used in the LLM/AI explosion is generally released with Ubuntu packages, or install instructions based on Ubuntu package dependencies.

      tl;dr - it’s not the sysadmin choosing, it’s the developer choosing.

  •  dark_stang   ( @dark_stang@beehaw.org ) 
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    1 year ago

    I wonder if pop_os is going to stick with Ubuntu with snap being pushed so hard now. It’d be cool if they switched to Debian.

    Edit: looking at the pop repos, the branches are named after the new Ubuntu release still. Hopefully they’re removing snap dependencies at least.

    • I haven’t used pop os but I always hear good. I really do hope they switch to Debian. Ubuntu should not be so many people’s first choice anymore. 10+ years ago sure but now? No reason. They just push so hard the newbies gravitate to them.

    • New version of GNOME, new tiling window tool, replacement for Ubuntu Software app, new firmware management app. A fair amount, really. Nothing groundbreaking, but then what were you expecting?