As usual at this time of year, the pulse of Ubuntu fans is currently rising – because a new version of the popular Linux distribution is in the starting blocks in the form of Ubuntu 23.10. Because it is not a version with long-term support – support ends after nine months – Ubuntu 23.10 is aimed more at desktop users than at server admins. When it comes to new features, the new version has something for everyone.
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A central innovation that affects all Ubuntu users without exception is the completely overhauled Linux kernel 6.5, which will drive the distribution in the future. It has quite a few interesting features in its own right, especially in comparison to Kernel 6.2, which comes with its predecessor ex works. Ubuntu 23.10 provides support for WiFi 7 for the first time via the updated kernel. In the future, especially for container scenarios, it will also be possible to mount a file system under an already mounted file system. This makes overlay scenarios easier, which occur regularly, especially in a container context.
Something is also happening in terms of energy efficiency, because Linux 6.5 supports Intel’s “Topology Aware Register and PM Capsule Interface” for the first time. Behind the very unwieldy name is an interface for power management that is said to be significantly more efficient than the previous Linux implementation. Of course, the new kernel doesn’t skimp on support for a lot of new hardware. As usual, Canonical also goes one better with the Ubuntu kernel. The Ubuntu standard kernel now supports ZFS 2.2.0 as a release candidate, updates AppArmor and improves the rights management options in the CephFS distributed file system. All in all, Ubuntu 23.10 with Linux 6.5 is up to date, especially since the kernel version 6.5.6 is also the latest stable upstream kernel.
GNOME 45 and new App Center
The non-LTS versions of Ubuntu are aimed more at desktop users. Because they regularly want cutting-edge software, while server administrators tend to focus on a stable basic system. The changes between the Ubuntu version before an LTS release and this one are usually correspondingly small. However, Canonical likes to let things rip from time to time, and Ubuntu 23.10 is no exception to this rule. The new distribution includes Gnome 45. Those interested can find a list of the central innovations in the article on the release of the desktop environment.
For the first time in its history, Ubuntu 23.10 will install desktops using the “minimal” set of its own package selection. The developers are taking advantage of the fact that the new installation routine that has been included in Ubuntu for several versions offers a much more finely granulated package selection than its predecessors. For users, this specifically means that packages such as LibreOffice or Thunderbird will be missing from a freshly installed system in the future. However, the installer also offers the option of an “extended” installation for those users who want these programs from the first start after installation.
Also debuting in Ubuntu 23.10 is the option to install the entire system with an encrypted hard drive using a built-in TPM 2.0 module. However, the manufacturer still marks this option as experimental and also points out that the function is only available on a limited range of target systems. If you choose this option, you also have to do without external kernel drivers like those from Nvidia – which is likely to be a real love killer for many users, at least on desktops.
The tool for installing additional software has been completely redesigned in Ubuntu 23.10. Until now, this task fell to the Snap Store – after all, Ubuntu has settled on its own Snap container format for installing additional software, which is rather unpopular in the community. Nothing changes in Ubuntu 23.10, but it now comes with the “Ubuntu App Center”, a completely new software center developed based on Flutter. This reacts more quickly and is, according to the developers, more intuitive to use. In addition to the new software installation tool, Ubuntu 23.10 also comes with a separate tool that can be used to update the firmware of various devices in the system. Until now, this function was integrated directly into the App Center, a dependency that the Ubuntu developers obviously disliked.
New network management
Canonical has also thought about something for the heroes in the engine room and is bringing Ubuntu 23.10 with various changes relevant to servers. The way Ubuntu configures networks has been tweaked once again. Until now, NetworkManager and Netplan on Ubuntu systems competed for sovereignty over the local network configuration. That’s now over, because NetworkManager now uses Netplan in the background. From the administrator’s perspective, it will not matter in the future whether the network parameters are set via NetworkManager and its CLI or directly in Netplan – changes via both interfaces have the same effect on the actual system configuration.
There is also good news for container fans: Ubuntu 23.10 includes a fresh version of the Docker Community Engine as a runtime environment for standard containers. The virtualization stack is also undergoing a makeover and comes with Qemu 8 and the VM management Libvirt in version 9.6.0. The new emulator Qemu in particular has a variety of exciting changes in its bag, such as support for the emulation of “igb” cards, i.e. gigabit network cards in VMs. The developers have also updated several other packages such as Nginx, Apache, Samba, Dovecot and Django.
There is news regarding the supported hardware of the target platforms. For the first time, Ubuntu 23.10 offers support for the fresh Raspberry Pi 5. S390-based mainframes receive significantly better support with a new version of the “s390 tools”; On top of that, KVM now works significantly better on these platforms thanks to a number of updates to the kernel. The developers have also improved support for the RISC-V platform, for which Ubuntu 23.04 already contained a variety of functions. Further detailed changes can be found in the Release notes for Ubuntu 23.10.
All in all, Ubuntu 23.10 presents itself as a stable maintenance update that end users such as server admins need not be afraid of. As usual, the packages for existing systems are available via the regular update mechanism. Ready ISO images for installation are on Ubuntu’s download page available.
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