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On April 23, the official Linux distribution announcement took place. Ubuntu version 20.04 with a code name Focal fossa. The new distribution is as follows with long-term support (LTS), with the previous LTS Ubuntu 18.04 launching in 2018.
Interesting is the codename of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. The word Focal can be interpreted as a “focal point” or “most important part” and is directly associated with focus, the center of some properties and events. The root of Fossa is FOSS (free and open source software): free and open software. At the same time, traditionally, Ubuntu code names are rare animal names. In the case of Fossa or Madagascar, the long-tailed weaver is the largest mammal in Madagascar.
The developers have positioned Ubuntu 20.04 as a major and successful update with technical support for desktops and servers for the next 5 years.
Ubuntu 20.04 continues and refines the ideas behind Ubuntu 19.04 Disco Dingo and Ubuntu 19.10 Eoan Ermine. In the desktop version, according to the new fashion, a dark theme is introduced. There are now three variants of the standard Yaru theme in Ubuntu 20.04:
The Amazon app has been removed. The Ubuntu 20.04 graphical desktop environment is the latest GNOME 3.36.
Key changes and innovations
Ubuntu 20.04 is based on version 5.4 of the Linux kernel, which was released on November 24, 2019. There are a number of major innovations in the new distribution.
lz4
Canonical specialists have tested a variety of initramfs bootloader and kernel compression algorithms, making the best possible compromise between the best compression (smallest file size) and compression time. The best results were shown by the lz4 algorithm, which was added in Ubuntu 19.10. This greatly reduces the system boot time and reduces the size of the boot files.
Linux Kernel Lockdown
The blocking function increases the security of the Linux kernel, limiting access to functions that can allow arbitrary code to be executed through the user’s process code. In other words, even the root account cannot change the kernel code. In this way, the damage from possible attacks is very limited, even when the root account is compromised. The overall security of operating system information is increased.
exFAT
The Microsoft FAT file system does not allow the use of files larger than 4 GB. To overcome this limitation, Microsoft created exFAT (Extended FAT). In the new distribution, it is possible to format the flash memory in exFAT format, since this file system is already supported by default.
WireGuard
WireGuard is a new word in the VPN industry, and the inclusion of WireGuard in the Linux kernel still benefits Ubuntu 20.04 in the cloud industry.
Using Kubernetes
Canonical has implemented full support for Kubernetes 1.18 in Ubuntu 20.04, including Charmed Kubernetes, MicroK8s, and kubeadm.
The installation of Kubectl in Ubuntu 20.04 can be as follows:
snap install kubectl --classic
Using SNAP
Canonical continues to develop and offer the universal fit format. This is pretty obvious in Ubuntu 20.04: if you try to run a program that has not yet been installed, the system will first ask you to install the appropriate plugin package.
Improved ZFS support
Although Linus Torvalds doesn’t like ZFS very much, it’s a popular file system, with its experimental support added to Ubuntu 19.10. Now it is stable and comfortable to work.
ZFS supports disk partitions up to 256 square Zbytes (hence the letter Z in the name) and can process files of up to 16 exabytes. ZFS gives a checksum (hash) to each file and continuously checks it. If the file gets corrupted, the system will try to restore it automatically.
Now a new feature has appeared in the Ubuntu 20.04 installer, which allows you to use ZFS.
Goodbye Python 2.X
A third version of Python was introduced in 2008, but 12 years was insufficient to allow Python 2 projects to adapt to it. Back in Ubuntu 15.10, I tried to quit Python 2, but its support continued. And now, on April 20 of this year, Python 2.7.18 is released, which is the latest version of Python 2.
By default Ubuntu 20.04 is no longer supported by Python 2 and uses Python 3.8. But there are a lot of projects with Python 2, and this transition can be too painful for them.
But the latest version of Python 2 can be installed with the following command:
apt install python2.7
In addition to the availability of Python 3.8, developers will likely appreciate the updated set of software tools including:
- MySQL 8
- glibc 2.31
- OpenJDK 11
- PHP 7.4
- Perl 5.30
- Golang 1.14
Goodbye 32 bits
Ubuntu has not been offering ISO disk images for 32-bit computers for several years. Users with similar machines can install a maximum of Ubuntu 18.04, but cannot upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04. In other words, if you are currently using the Ubuntu 18.04 32-bit distribution, you can keep it until April 2023, when its support ends.
Servers
By default, all supported processor architectures are provided with the Ubuntu Server ISO image with the Subiquity installer, making the installation active. Subiquity supports operations such as partitioning, partitioning and keyboard selection, user creation, network connection settings, RAID, LVM, and VLAN settings. Automatic installation via JSON profile is possible. The bootloader is allowed to write to multiple disks at the same time, so even in the event of a failure of one of the disks, the system can boot.
Others
CFS quota error has been fixed and multithreaded applications now work faster. Controller for Ryzen processor voltages and temperature sensors added.
Kubuntu
Kubuntu uses the KDE Plasma 5.18 desktop environment, the KDE 19.12.3 suite, and the Qt 5.12.5 framework. The default is the Elisa 19.12.3 music player, which replaced the previous Cantata.
Latte-dock 0.9.10, KDEConnect 1.4.0, Krita 4.2.9, Kdevelop 5.5.0 updated. Support for KDE4 and Qt4 applications has been discontinued. KDE PIM is excluded from distribution and can be installed from storage if desired. An experimental session with Wayland is offered, which appears after installing the plasma-workspace-wayland package.
Ubuntu MATE 20.04
The MATE desktop environment has been updated to version 1.24. Added interface to change firmware using fwupd. Compiz and Compton have been removed from the distribution. When using Alt-Tab, the icons of the respective applications are displayed on the taskbar. Notifications are organized in a new way. Evolution is used as an email client instead of Thunderbird. The installation of the Nvidia company drivers provided by the installer gives you the opportunity to use a graphics card and an integrated NVIDIA Optimus video accelerator.
Ubuntu Budgie
By default, the stylish applet is used with the app menu plus its own network connection settings applet. A fast desktop type change interface has been added (Budgie, Classic Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Budgie, Cupertino, The One, and Redmond). GNOME firmware and GNOME drawing applications are included in the distribution. Improved GNOME 3.36 integration. Budgie’s graphical environment has been updated to version 10.5.1. Font smoothing adjustments and hints have been added. Everything is adapted for HiDPI displays.
Ubuntu Studio
In Ubuntu Studio, the Jack Master configuration is separate from the additional devices and software layers for PulseAudio. RaySession 0.8.3 updated, Audacity 2.3.3, Hydrogen 1.0.0-beta2, Carla 2.1-RC2, Blender 2.82, KDEnlive 19.12.3, Crete 4.2.9, GIMP 2.10.18, Ardor 5.12.0, Scribus 1.5. 5, Darktable 2.6.3, Piti 0.999, Inkscape 0.92.4, OBS Studio 25.0.3, MyPaint 2.0.0, Rawtherapee 5.8.
Xubuntu
A dark theme has been added to Xubuntu. The application interfaces installed by the deb, snap, and flatpak packages have been unified. The apt-offline package, which requires Python 2, has been removed from the distribution. Xfce 4.14 desktop environment is used.
Lubuntu
Lubuntu 20.04 is the first version of LTS to offer LXQt instead of LXDE by default. The application installer uses the Discover Software Center 5.18.4 software manager.
Deepin
A Ubuntu build with Deepin Desktop is also available. So far, this distribution is considered unofficial, but developers are in talks with Canonical to include UbuntuDDE in the official Ubuntu distributions.
