Ubuntu 23.04 (“Lunar Lobster”) will be released on April 20, 2023 and will use the new graphical installation routine based on Google's open source UI development kit Flutter for the first time. Turning away from the free GUI toolkit GTK is by no means a joy for all users, but it does make the desktop installer more modern.
The Flutter -Installer can already be tried
After uploading the corresponding developer tools, such as the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) and GNU Binutils as well as the GNU C library, the first test week (“Ubuntu Testing Week”) was due on December 10th, which was based on the daily Build images from the Daily Canary. The focus was also on the installation routine, the new desktop installer.
- Ubuntu 23.04 will be released on April 20, 2023
- The Release candidate will be available on April 13, 2023
- The open beta will be available on March 27, 2023
- See the roadmap for more information
The Linux author Marius Nestor of the 9to5Linux website took a detailed look at the new Flutter GUI, which is to be delivered as standard with the release of Ubuntu 23.04, and provides corresponding impressions.
The new desktop installer of Ubuntu 23.04 (“Luna Lobster”) (Image: 9to5Linux)
The new installer specifically aims to provide a modern implementation of the Ubuntu installer for the desktop operating system, using the Ubuntu Server Installer (“Subiquity”) as the backend and Flutter as the GUI toolkit.< /p>
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The new desktop installer from Ubuntu 23.04 (“Luna Lobster”) (Image: 9to5Linux)
Apart from the upgraded and more modern user interface in direct comparison to the GTK 4 version the new installer does not differ significantly from the old installation routine, but you will notice the following changes.
- During the installation the system can already be connected to a network via Wi-Fi
- Already during the installation, users can choose between a dark and light theme
- Currently there is no support for the integration of Microsoft's Active Directory directory service during the installation
- The installation step “Installation complete” offers now also the possibility to restart the computer system
By the time Ubuntu 23.04 (“Lunar Lobster”) is released, the British system and Linux distributor Canonical wants to make further improvements.
Linux 6.2 and Gnome 44 are expected
The so-called feature freeze for the 38th edition of the free operating system should take place on February 23, 2023, before the beta starts at the end of March.< /p>
Even if Canonical and the Ubuntu community have not yet commented on the main components of the new Linux distribution, it can be assumed that Ubuntu 23.04 will be based on Linux 6.2 and Gnome 44.
Many new tools are coming
Other components are expected to be the GNU Compiler Collection 13 as a system compiler, LLVM in the new version 16, Python 3.11 as standard, GNU Binutils 2.40, GNU C Library 2.37, OpenLDAP 2.6, Go 1.20 and PolicyKit 122.
< figure class="text-asset"> Roadmap – Ubuntu 23.04 (“Lunar Lobster”) Date Milestone Status October 27, 2022 Upload of developer tools
(“Toolchain Upload”) (✓) December 10, 2022 Ubuntu test week
(“Optional”) (✓) February 23, 2023 Feature Freeze
(“Debian Import Freeze”) (?) March 2, 2023 Ubuntu Test Week
(“Optional”) (?) March 16, 2023 User Interface Freeze
(“UIF”) (?) March 23, 2023 Documentation String Freeze
(“Kernel Feature Freeze”) (?) March 27, 2023 Beta Freeze
(“Hardware Enablement Freeze”) (?) March 30, 2023 Start of Beta
(“Mandatory”) (?) April 6th 2023 Kernel Freeze
(“Non Language Pack Translation Deadline”) (?) April 13, 2023 Final Freeze and Release Candidate
(“Language Pack Translation Deadline”) (?) April 20, 203 Ubuntu 23.04
(“Final Release”) (?)
Support until January 2024
After the release, Ubuntu 23.04 will be supported as a so-called “interim release” until January 2024 with software and security updates, thus replacing Ubuntu 22.10 (“Kinetic Kudu”).
User who value long-term support prefer to use Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (“Jammy Jellyfish”) instead, which Canonical will maintain with updates and product support until April 2027.
The Editor thanks the community for the Hi Notes that led to this message.