Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole takes flight - with a blend of innovation and nostalgia

Ubuntu

2004 was a heck of a year for Linux. SCO was still suing IBM and was sure it owned the copyrights to Unix's code and would control Linux's fate. In the meantime, Red Hat switched from consumer Linux, Red Hat Linux, to business Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Red Hat Linux users hated this move. Meanwhile, a South African technology millionaire named Mark Shuttleworth decided to release a new end-user-friendly Linux distribution he called Ubuntu. 

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As he said at the time: "'Ubuntu' is an ancient African word for "humanity towards others," and we think it's a perfect name for an open-source community project. In that spirit, we invite you to join, contribute, and share Ubuntu with your own community."

In short, Ubuntu's original motto was "Linux for Human Beings."

Then, as now, Ubuntu was based on Debian Linux. Unlike Debian, which never met a delivery deadline it couldn't miss, Ubuntu is updated with a new release every six months. Canonical, Ubuntu's parent company, has kept to that cadence -- except for the Ubuntu 6.06 release -- for 20 years. 

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From the start, Ubuntu had big ambitions: to create an operating system that was as feature-rich, user-friendly, and accessible as its proprietary counterparts. While Ubuntu Linux has had critics over the years, most users would agree that Ubuntu is a powerful and easy-to-use Linux distribution. 

Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole, which marks the 20th anniversary of Ubuntu, combines nostalgia with cutting-edge features. 

Starting with the honored past, the new Ubuntu 24.10 includes the original Ubuntu 4.10 startup sound that played when you logged in; the Ubuntu 4.10 "Warty Warthog" accent colors; and the 20 Years Ubuntu logo.

Ubuntu 24.10 also ships with the Linux 6.11 kernel, providing improved performance and hardware support. This update represents a shift to a more aggressive kernel version selection policy for Ubuntu. While the server version of the Linux distro will continue to use older kernels, the desktop will use the newest available Linux kernels. 

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The flagship Ubuntu Desktop flavor features the brand new GNOME 47. This desktop includes enhancements to performance, user experience, and touchscreen support. The Ubuntu Dock now visualizes Snap, the universal Linux package system, and offers better handling for Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) installed via the Chromium Snap.

Ubuntu 24.10 now defaults to Wayland display protocol instead of Xorg on machines using Nvidia GPUs. This approach aims to provide a more modern graphics stack for Nvidia users.

All these updates mean the new Ubuntu desktop runs really well. Early reports on Reddit and other sites suggest that Ubuntu 24.10 offers excellent performance, even on modest hardware. The combination of GNOME 47 and kernel 6.11 contributes to snappy application launches and quick system updates.

Ubuntu 24.10 also features an updated toolchain for programmers. It includes GCC 14.2, LLVM 19, Rust 1.80, Go 1.23, OpenSSL 3.3, and .NET 8[1][2]. Ubuntu 24.10 also provides TCK-certified packages for OpenJDK 21 and 17.

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Ordinary end users will find the latest versions of the usual desktop applications, such as Firefox for web browsing, LibreOffice for office work, and Thunderbird for email. As always, it's easy to install other programs, such as Chrome for web browsing or Evolution for e-mail. Linux means having it your way -- not Microsoft's way -- when it comes to applications, 

The release also introduces a new Security Center application. While useful, the name is somewhat misleading. It sounds like you could manage all your security settings from the center, but that's not what the app does. It's a graphical frontend for managing snap app permissions and that's about it.   

On the security front, Oracular Oriole includes sysprof for application and workload profiling by default. Additionally, kdump-tools are now included on relevant platforms for automatic kernel crash dumps.

Other relatively minor improvements include:

• Enhanced power management for AMD CPUs and GPUs via power-profiles-daemon

• Improved fingerprint reader support via libfprint

• Valkey replaces Redis

• The APT 3.0 graphical package installer with an improved layout for better readability

Ubuntu 24.10 will be supported for nine months until July 2025. Users seeking long-term support (LTS) should use Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, which will be supported until at least 2029. Yes, that's 12 years of Ubuntu Linux support. 

Unlike upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04 from earlier versions, which could be a pain, moving from Ubuntu 24.04 to 24.10 is simple. However, you can't easily update to Ubuntu 24.10 from earlier Ubuntu versions. Sorry, that's just the way it is. 

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This release continues Ubuntu's tradition of delivering a polished, user-friendly Linux distribution while incorporating the latest open-source technologies. It offers a blend of nostalgia and innovative features, making it an attractive option for long-time Ubuntu users and those new to the platform. 

While Linux Mint remains my favorite Linux desktop, you should make no mistake: Ubuntu Linux is a great desktop in its own right.