Ubuntu 18.04 Released
“Bionic Beaver” comes with hardware-focused improvements and Gnome as the default shell.
Canonical has announced the release of Ubuntu 18.04, aka Bionic Beaver. It’s an LTS (long term support) release that’s suitable for enterprise customers and servers. Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will be supported for 5 years for Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, and Ubuntu Core.
Ubuntu 18.04 is also the first Ubuntu LTS, after years, that ships with Gnome as the default desktop shell. In recent releases, Canonical has used its own Unity Shell on top of Gnome to gain more influence and control over the user experience.
Ubuntu 18.04 comes with a customized version of Linux kernel 4.15 that adds support for the latest hardware and peripherals. Some of the hardware-focused improvements that this kernel brings to Ubuntu include CPU controller for the cgroup v2 interface, AMD secure memory encryption support, the latest MD driver with software RAID enhancements, and management for systems with SATA Link Power Management.
Java users will continue to use OpenJDK 8, which has moved to universe and will remain available for the life of 18.04. The move is intended to help developers with migration issues for packages, custom applications, or scripts that can’t be built with OpenJDK 10 or 11.
Security is one of the core features of Ubuntu 18.04. In a conference call, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder and CEO of Canonical, said that Ubuntu 18.04 is fully protected against Spectre and Meltdown.
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
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.