Canonical: Mir Isn't Quite Ready
Ubuntu's replacement for the X graphics system will have to wait for a later release.
Canonical's Head of Engineering Product Strategy has announced that the upcoming Ubuntu 13.10 release won't ship with the Mir graphics system enabled. Oliver Ries writes in his blog "Mir has made tremendous progress and is currently available on the Ubuntu archive for use, but there are still some outstanding quality issues that we want to resolve before we feel comfortable turning it on by default."
Mir is Canonical's entry as a next-generation replacement for the widespread yet ancient X Window graphics system. The effort to design Ubuntu for a broad range of hardware platforms (from smartphone to desktop) led to the need for a newer, more agile graphics environment. According to Ries, Mir is working well as a native system with Unity 8 on mobile devices. The technical issues are related to the XMir component, which provides an interface with X Server. For desktop systems, the eventual goal is for Ubuntu to boot using Mir if the graphics hardware supports it, and otherwise boot to X. The full implementation of this goal in the default configuration will have to wait for a later release, although Mir and XMir will still be available through the Ubuntu archives if you are interested in experimenting.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.