• Ubuntu 22.04, codenamed Jammy Jellyfish, was released on 21 April 2022.

  • It was followed by Ubuntu 22.10 Kinetic Kudu on 20 October 2022.

  • It was followed by Ubuntu 23.10 Mantic Minotaur on 12 October 2023.

  • It was followed by Ubuntu 25.04 Plucky Puffinnwas on 17 April 2025

  • It was followed by Ubuntu 25.10 Questing Quokka on 9 October 2025

All Linux distros keep publishing new versions: Fedora, Mint, Debian

Yet strangely, I don’t actually notice any change. I’m just a normie user. It seems only computer nerds understand why the new versions are game changers.

Apart from “increased security”, what is actually the point of these releases?

  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    7·
    2 hours ago

    You mean for the Linux kernel specifically? Linux distributions?

    For software in general — not Linux-specific — updates fix bugs (some of which might be security-related). Adds features.

    That may be too general to be useful, but the question doesn’t have much by way of specifics.

    I feel like maybe more context would make for better answers. Like, if what you’re asking is “I have a limited network connection, and I’d like to reduce or eliminate downloading of updates” or “I have a system that I don’t want to reboot; do I need to apply updates”, that might affect the answer.

    EDIT: Okay, you updated your post, and it sounds like it’s the Ubuntu distribution and the new release frequency that’s an issue.

    Well, if you want fewer updates and are otherwise fine with Ubuntu, you could try using Ubuntu LTS.

    https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle

    LTS releases

    LTS are released every two years and receive 5 years of standard security maintenance.

    LTS releases are the go-to choice for users who value stability and extended support. These versions are security maintained for 5 years with CVE patches for packages in the Main repository. They are recommended for production environments, enterprises, and long-term projects.

    You’ll still get security updates, but you won’t see new releases on a six-month basis.

    It can be nice to have a relatively-new kernel, as it means support for the latest hardware (like, say you have a desktop with a new video card), but if you have some system that’s working and you don’t especially want it to change, a lower frequency might be preferable for you.

    I use Debian myself, and Debian stable tends to have less-frequent new releases. You’ll normally get a new stable release every two years, with inter-release updates generally just being bugfixes, and new stuff going in every two years.

    https://www.debian.org/releases/

    Debian announces its new stable release on a regular basis. The Debian release life cycle encompasses five years: the first three years of full support followed by two years of Long Term Support (LTS).

    EDIT2: If you already have Ubuntu on your system and only want LTS updates, it looks like this is how one selects notification of new LTS releases or all releases.

    https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/upgrading-ubuntu-desktop#5-optional-upgrading-to-interim-releases

    Navigate to the ‘Updates’ tab and change the menu option titled ‘Notify me of a new Ubuntu version’ to For any new version.

    EDIT3: I’d wait until an LTS release to switch to LTS, if you aren’t currently using LTS, so that you aren’t on a system that isn’t getting updates. Looking at that Ubuntu release page, it looks like 26.04 is an LTS release. The Ubuntu versioning scheme refers to the year and month (26.04 being the fourth month of 2026). It’s the third month of 2026 right now, so the next release will be LTS, so switching over to LTS notifications now is probably a good time. You’ll get a release update notification next month. You do that update, and then will be on LTS and won’t receive another notification again for the next two years.