Best of Ubuntu — March 2026

  1. 1
    Article
    Avatar of itsfossIt's Foss·8w

    Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Requires More RAM Than Windows 11?

    Canonical has raised the minimum RAM requirement for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 'Resolute Raccoon' desktop to 6 GB, up from 4 GB in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. While this appears higher than Windows 11's listed 4 GB minimum, the comparison is misleading — Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0, meaning most compatible hardware already ships with 8 GB RAM, and 4 GB performs poorly in practice. The 6 GB figure reflects real-world GNOME desktop usage more honestly. Users with 4 GB machines can still run Ubuntu 26.04 but may prefer lighter alternatives like Lubuntu (LXQt) or Xubuntu, or even minimal window managers like i3 or bspwm.

  2. 2
    Article
    Avatar of collectionsCollections·9w

    Ubuntu 26.04 LTS beta is out now, with GNOME 50, Linux 7.0, and no more X11

    Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) is now in beta ahead of its April 23, 2026 stable release. Key changes include the removal of X11 sessions in favor of Wayland-only (with Xwayland compatibility), GNOME 50 with stable VRR support, and Linux kernel 7.0. New default apps include Resources (system monitor), Showtime (video player), Loop (Rust-based image viewer), and Tixis (GTK4 terminal). Rust is expanding into core utilities with sudo-rs and uutils included by default. The toolchain updates bring Python 3.14, GCC 15.2, and OpenJDK 25. GPU support covers NVIDIA 590 and AMD ROCm, now available in official repos. ARM64 joins x86 as a supported architecture. Beta images are available for testing.

  3. 3
    Article
    Avatar of collectionsCollections·9w

    Canonical joins the Rust Foundation as a Gold Member

    Canonical has joined the Rust Foundation as a Gold Member at $150,000/year, earning a seat on the Board of Directors alongside Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft. The move formalizes Canonical's existing Rust commitments: Ubuntu 25.10 ships uutils (a Rust rewrite of GNU Coreutils) and sudo-rs instead of their GNU counterparts, and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will include the latest Rust compiler and Cargo. Canonical's stated governance priorities include improving the Rust developer experience on Ubuntu, keeping toolchain packages current, and addressing security concerns around the crates.io registry — particularly relevant for regulated environments dealing with unknown transitive dependencies.

  4. 4
    Article
    Avatar of omgubomg! ubuntu!·10w

    Ubuntu 26.04 Adds a New Boot Spinner Animation

    Ubuntu 26.04 LTS introduces a new Plymouth boot spinner animation inspired by the release's Resolute Raccoon mascot, featuring a sunburst/tail design with 60 frames for a smoother animation. This replaces the spinner added in Ubuntu 25.10, which had itself replaced the Yaru theme's loading indicator after complaints about blurriness.

  5. 5
    Article
    Avatar of hnHacker News·9w

    Ubuntu 26.04 Ends 46 Years of Silent sudo Passwords

    Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 'Resolute Raccoon' (due April 23, 2026) will display asterisks for each character typed at a sudo password prompt, ending over 46 years of silent password input. The change comes via sudo-rs, a Rust rewrite of the classic C sudo that Canonical adopted as default in Ubuntu 25.10. The upstream sudo-rs project enabled the pwfeedback option by default, and Canonical cherry-picked the patch into 26.04. Proponents argue the security trade-off is negligible since password length is already visible at graphical login screens, while critics call it a break from historical security practice. Users who prefer the classic silent prompt can restore it by adding 'Defaults !pwfeedback' to their sudoers file via visudo.

See all Ubuntu archives