#plucky — Public Fediverse posts

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS enters Documentation String and Kernel Feature Freeze

As we are only a week away from Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Resolute Raccoon beta version scheduled for the 26th of this month, there are now two freezes to be set in place:

• Documentation String Freeze
• Kernel Feature Freeze

The documentation string freeze causes all strings (that is, text to be displayed on the screen for documentation) to be finalized in preparation for the translation that is set to end on April 9th. However, there are cases where exceptions are made, such as major typos, but the translation team must get the latest strings to avoid inconsistencies.

As for the kernel feature freeze, it’s a deadline for any new-feature-related kernel changes. It’s a point where the kernel for the upcoming version of Ubuntu, such as Ubuntu 26.04 LTS in this case, is feature-complete and is expected to only receive bug fixes.

As an aside, GNOME 50 is expected to land to Ubuntu 26.04 LTS soon, as the stable release of this version of GNOME happened yesterday.

Something has broken compatibility with #Ubuntu #Noble on my Mac Pro in the last few months. Just updated today and it now hard crashes at the desktop. Full mouse-pointer-frozen job.

The 24.04 live image still works, but once installed and updated it crashes again. Even the live installer on #Plucky has the issue. Sad times.

Anyway, that’s a long way of saying that I’m trying out #Bazzite for fun, and I’m impressed. 😁

Ubuntu will improve ARM64 support

Ubuntu had conducted a very interesting test for the ARM64 processor architecture support on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite machine during the development of Ubuntu 24.10. It was a huge success, seeing as the ARM64 laptops and desktops are being more popular in today’s computer stores, alongside the existing ARM64 machines.

As Ubuntu 25.04 Plucky Puffin gets closer to the stable release, the Ubuntu team is considering improving support for the ARM64 machines, especially those that use the Snapdragon X Elite processors. The ubuntu-x1e-settings meta-package, which is necessary for such computers, has been promoted to the main repository. At the same time, the qcom-firmware-extract package, which is necessary for Qualcomm machines and is a script that provides a way to extract Qualcomm firmware files from the Windows partition and to create a Debian package for a specific machine, has been uploaded to the universe repository. The script currently provides support for the following Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite machines, with more machines to be added to the list:

• Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11)
• ASUS Vivobook S 15
• Dell XPS 13 9345
• HP Omnibook X 14
• Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6
• Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x
• Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (13.8 inch)
• Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge

The Linux kernel package and the Ubuntu installer will be updated to support such machines to make sure that they run Ubuntu without any problems. This is going to be done starting from 25.04 to make sure that the next LTS, which will be released in the next April, runs flawlessly on such machines.

Alongside that, the Ubuntu team plans to improve support for all ARM64 machines by distributing a single working Ubuntu ISO file for ARM64 systems and by eliminating device-specific installers to make installing Ubuntu on such systems easier than never before. This will be a single official Ubuntu image that works on all the platforms, be it an Ampere powered workstation, a Snapdragon X Elite laptop, an ARM64 server, or in a virtual machine on your Apple Silicon Mac.

The Raspberry Pi machines will also experience improved system compatibility by changing the camera stack to work with such machines. The new PiSP driver has been added to the camera stack to make sure that the Raspberry Pi machines be able to use the camera on Ubuntu, in addition to the rpicam-apps (userspace apps), picamera2 (Python API for camera), and their dependencies. This allows for a smooth migration from the original OS, which is Raspberry Pi OS.

However, the AI features for the official AI camera that uses the Sony IMX500 imaging sensor are not available in this version of Ubuntu due to licensing concerns, but the Ubuntu team will be working on it to resolve the licensing issues so that Raspberry Pi machines will be able to use the AI features for such cameras outside the original OS.

https://audiomack.com/aptivi/song/ubuntu-will-improve-arm64-support

#2504 #news #Plucky #PluckyPuffin #Puffin #Qualcomm #QualcommSnapdragon #QualcommSnapdragonX #QualcommSnapdragonXElite #Snapdragon #SnapdragonX #SnapdragonXElite #Tech #Technology #Ubuntu #Ubuntu2504 #Ubuntu2504Plucky #Ubuntu2504PluckyPuffin #Ubuntu2504Puffin #update #X #XElite

Ubuntu 25.10 will use Dracut

While Ubuntu 25.04 is still ongoing development, there has been progress in switching from initramfs-tools to Dracut. Those tools both handle initrd generation for booting into the Linux kernel in preparation for the full system boot. The Ubuntu engineers are working hard to migrate such tool to Dracut to ensure better bootstrapping by reducing hard-coded logic as much as possible.

Initially, Ubuntu 25.04 would have used Dracut as the initrd generator, but the work wasn’t complete yet, so the Ubuntu engineers have delayed the migration to after Ubuntu 25.04 gets released so that the next version of Ubuntu uses Dracut completely.

However, you have an opportunity to try out Dracut in Ubuntu 25.04 when it gets released. This is so that you can provide feedback to the Ubuntu team about your experience with the Dracut integration.

Ubuntu 25.04 will be the last version that uses initramfs-tools as the default initrd generator, with the October release of Ubuntu being the first version that uses Dracut. This is going to be exciting news for the next year’s Ubuntu LTS release that will be out in the next April.

https://audiomack.com/aptivi/song/ubuntu-2510-will-use-dracut

#2504 #2510 #Dracut #Initramfs #InitramfsTools #Initrd #news #Plucky #PluckyPuffin #Puffin #Tech #Technology #Ubuntu #Ubuntu2504 #Ubuntu2504Plucky #Ubuntu2504PluckyPuffin #Ubuntu2510 #update

Ubuntu 25.10 will use Dracut

While Ubuntu 25.04 is still ongoing development, there has been progress in switching from initramfs-tools to Dracut. Those tools both handle initrd generation for booting into the Linux kernel in preparation for the full system boot. The Ubuntu engineers are working hard to migrate such tool to Dracut to ensure better bootstrapping by reducing hard-coded logic as much as possible.

Initially, Ubuntu 25.04 would have used Dracut as the initrd generator, but the work wasn’t complete yet, so the Ubuntu engineers have delayed the migration to after Ubuntu 25.04 gets released so that the next version of Ubuntu uses Dracut completely.

However, you have an opportunity to try out Dracut in Ubuntu 25.04 when it gets released. This is so that you can provide feedback to the Ubuntu team about your experience with the Dracut integration.

Ubuntu 25.04 will be the last version that uses initramfs-tools as the default initrd generator, with the October release of Ubuntu being the first version that uses Dracut. This is going to be exciting news for the next year’s Ubuntu LTS release that will be out in the next April.

#2504 #2510 #Dracut #Initramfs #InitramfsTools #Initrd #news #Plucky #PluckyPuffin #Puffin #Tech #Technology #Ubuntu #Ubuntu2504 #Ubuntu2504Plucky #Ubuntu2504PluckyPuffin #Ubuntu2510 #update

Ubuntu 25.10 will use Dracut

While Ubuntu 25.04 is still ongoing development, there has been progress in switching from initramfs-tools to Dracut. Those tools both handle initrd generation for booting into the Linux kernel in preparation for the full system boot. The Ubuntu engineers are working hard to migrate such tool to Dracut to ensure better bootstrapping by reducing hard-coded logic as much as possible.

Initially, Ubuntu 25.04 would have used Dracut as the initrd generator, but the work wasn’t complete yet, so the Ubuntu engineers have delayed the migration to after Ubuntu 25.04 gets released so that the next version of Ubuntu uses Dracut completely.

However, you have an opportunity to try out Dracut in Ubuntu 25.04 when it gets released. This is so that you can provide feedback to the Ubuntu team about your experience with the Dracut integration.

Ubuntu 25.04 will be the last version that uses initramfs-tools as the default initrd generator, with the October release of Ubuntu being the first version that uses Dracut. This is going to be exciting news for the next year’s Ubuntu LTS release that will be out in the next April.

https://audiomack.com/aptivi/song/ubuntu-2510-will-use-dracut

#2504 #2510 #Dracut #Initramfs #InitramfsTools #Initrd #news #Plucky #PluckyPuffin #Puffin #Tech #Technology #Ubuntu #Ubuntu2504 #Ubuntu2504Plucky #Ubuntu2504PluckyPuffin #Ubuntu2510 #update

Ubuntu 25.10 will use Dracut

While Ubuntu 25.04 is still ongoing development, there has been progress in switching from initramfs-tools to Dracut. Those tools both handle initrd generation for booting into the Linux kernel in preparation for the full system boot. The Ubuntu engineers are working hard to migrate such tool to Dracut to ensure better bootstrapping by reducing hard-coded logic as much as possible.

Initially, Ubuntu 25.04 would have used Dracut as the initrd generator, but the work wasn’t complete yet, so the Ubuntu engineers have delayed the migration to after Ubuntu 25.04 gets released so that the next version of Ubuntu uses Dracut completely.

However, you have an opportunity to try out Dracut in Ubuntu 25.04 when it gets released. This is so that you can provide feedback to the Ubuntu team about your experience with the Dracut integration.

Ubuntu 25.04 will be the last version that uses initramfs-tools as the default initrd generator, with the October release of Ubuntu being the first version that uses Dracut. This is going to be exciting news for the next year’s Ubuntu LTS release that will be out in the next April.

#2504 #2510 #Dracut #Initramfs #InitramfsTools #Initrd #news #Plucky #PluckyPuffin #Puffin #Tech #Technology #Ubuntu #Ubuntu2504 #Ubuntu2504Plucky #Ubuntu2504PluckyPuffin #Ubuntu2510 #update

Ubuntu 25.10 will use Dracut

While Ubuntu 25.04 is still ongoing development, there has been progress in switching from initramfs-tools to Dracut. Those tools both handle initrd generation for booting into the Linux kernel in preparation for the full system boot. The Ubuntu engineers are working hard to migrate such tool to Dracut to ensure better bootstrapping by reducing hard-coded logic as much as possible.

Initially, Ubuntu 25.04 would have used Dracut as the initrd generator, but the work wasn’t complete yet, so the Ubuntu engineers have delayed the migration to after Ubuntu 25.04 gets released so that the next version of Ubuntu uses Dracut completely.

However, you have an opportunity to try out Dracut in Ubuntu 25.04 when it gets released. This is so that you can provide feedback to the Ubuntu team about your experience with the Dracut integration.

Ubuntu 25.04 will be the last version that uses initramfs-tools as the default initrd generator, with the October release of Ubuntu being the first version that uses Dracut. This is going to be exciting news for the next year’s Ubuntu LTS release that will be out in the next April.

https://audiomack.com/aptivi/song/ubuntu-2510-will-use-dracut

#2504 #2510 #Dracut #Initramfs #InitramfsTools #Initrd #news #Plucky #PluckyPuffin #Puffin #Tech #Technology #Ubuntu #Ubuntu2504 #Ubuntu2504Plucky #Ubuntu2504PluckyPuffin #Ubuntu2510 #update

This version of Ubuntu started the development with one of the most significant changes ever done. This time, it’s about compiler optimization level used on Ubuntu packages by default. When this version of Ubuntu had started its development, the mailing list entry said the following:

* perl 5.40 and haskell / ghc 9.6.6 already migrated to the releasepocket, to avoid entanglement with other transitions.* dpkg-buildflags defaults to -O3 instead of -O2. This might require changes in package builds. Please be aware that we already build with -O3 on ppc64el, so look for possible packaging adjustments.

While the Perl one is irrelevant in this blog post, the second entry in the toolchain changes is interesting. The default build flags for all Ubuntu packages that are determined by dpkg-buildflags have been changed so that -O3 is being used as a default instead of -O2.

This means that all future builds for all Plucky Puffin packages will be more optimized. Because of this, the build times will increase, but that doesn’t affect the end user. As a result, the packages that are built with the third optimization level will be faster than before, which means that your computer will be faster the second you upgrade to 25.04.

However, the binary size for the packages will be bigger, and there is uncertainty whether all packages benefit from this level of optimization that will be applied to all the packages. Furthermore, all builds and tests will be run, so expect delays. After that, when you test 25.04 during the development cycle, you should experience performance improvements.

On a side note, Perl 5.40 was released to Ubuntu 25.04, which brings several new features, new analyzers, and breaking changes, such as the :reader attribute for field variables, the breaking changes related to use VERSION declarations, the Infinity (inf) and Not-a-Number (nan) constants in builtin static class (module), the medium-precedence Logical XOR ^^ operator, the try...catch...finally block being a stable Perl feature, and stable support for multiple value iterations for the for loop.

Let’s see what Ubuntu 25.04 Plucky Puffin will offer as the next LTS, 26.04 RR, gets closer to the development period.

https://officialaptivi.wordpress.com/2024/11/04/ubuntu-25-04-plucky-puffins-packages-are-more-optimized/

#O2 #O3 #2504 #Acceleration #C #C_ #Computer #computers #GCC #GCCCompiler #improvements #Linux #LinuxUbuntu #news #Optimization #performance #Plucky #PluckyPuffin #speed #Tech #technology #Ubuntu #Ubuntu2504 #Ubuntu2504Plucky #Ubuntu2504PluckyPuffin #Ubuntu2504Puffin #UbuntuLinux #ubuntulinux #update