Xubuntu Development Update February 2025
- Sean Davis
- Development Update
- February 22, 2025
Table of Contents
Better late than never, here’s your Xubuntu February 2025 update! This month, Xubuntu 24.04.2 was released with a new Linux kernel and bug fixes in tow. 25.04 Feature Freeze is now in effect, with many package updates arriving just before the deadline. Xubuntu’s first RISC-V package support has landed. And so much more!
February Schedule
The Plucky Puffin Release Schedule for February includes Feature Freeze on the 20th and an optional testing week at the end of the month. It also features the next point release for Xubuntu 24.04 “Noble Numbat”.
| Date | Milestones |
|---|---|
| February 06 | |
| February 13 | 24.04.2 Point Release (delayed to 2/20) |
| February 20 | Feature Freeze, Debian Import Freeze |
| February 27 | Ubuntu Testing Week (optional) |
Major Package Updates in Xubuntu 24.04.2
Xubuntu 24.04.2 was released on Thursday, February 20, 2025. It features a modest set of changes in addition to the 6.11 Linux kernel and updated graphics stack. xfce4-panel 4.18.4-1ubuntu0.1 features a fix for the crash-on-exit bug that plagued users with unexplainable error notifications (LP: #2064846).
Changes from Xubuntu 24.04.1 to 24.04.2
| Package | 24.04.1 | 24.04.2 |
|---|---|---|
| firefox | 134 | 135 |
| libdrm | 2.4.120 | 2.4.122 |
| libreoffice | 24.2.5 | 24.2.7 |
| Linux kernel | 6.8.0 | 6.11.0 |
| Mesa | 24.0.9 | 24.2.8 |
| xfce4-panel | 4.18.4-1build2 | 4.18.4-1ubuntu0.1 |
Major Package Updates in Xubuntu 25.04
There was a flurry of upload activity in the lead up to the 25.04 Feature Freeze. GIMP 3.0.0 was bumped from RC2 to RC3. The Linux kernel was updated from 6.11.0 to 6.12.0. A handful of Xfce components also saw new releases to further stabilize Xubuntu’s base. For more information on the progress of Xubuntu 25.04, check out the following links:
| Package | January 1, 2025 | February 22, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| blueman | 2.4.3 | 2.4.4 |
| gigolo | 0.5.3 | 0.5.4 |
| gimp | 3.0.0 RC2 | 3.0.0 RC3 |
| gnome-mines | 40.1 | 48 Alpha |
| libgtk-3 | 3.24.43 | 3.24.48 |
| libgtk-4 | 4.17.1 | 4.17.4 |
| libreoffice | 24.8.4 | 25.2.1 |
| libxfce4windowing | 4.20.0 | 4.20.2 |
| lightdm | 1.30.0 | 1.32.0 |
| Linux kernel | 6.11.0 | 6.12.0 |
| Mesa | 24.2.8 | 24.3.4 |
| parole | 4.18.1 | 4.18.2 |
| python | 3.12.8 | 3.13.1 |
| rhythmbox | 3.4.7 | 3.4.8 |
| snapd | 2.66.1 | 2.67.1 |
| synaptic | 0.91.3 | 0.91.5 |
| thunar | 4.20.0 | 4.20.2 |
| xfce4-notifyd | 0.9.6 | 0.9.7 |
| xfce4-panel | 4.20.0 | 4.20.3 |
| xfce4-panel-profiles | 1.0.14 | 1.0.15 |
| xfce4-screensaver | 4.18.3 | 4.18.4 |
| xfce4-taskmanager | 1.5.7 | 1.5.8 |
| xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin | 2.8.3 | 2.9.1 |
| xfce4-xkb-plugin | 0.8.3 | 0.8.5 |
| xfwm4 | 4.18.0 | 4.20.0 |
| xubuntu-default-settings | 25.04.0 | 25.04.1 |
| xubuntu-meta | 2.265 | 2.266 |
In the interest of keeping this post short, I’m only going to dive into Xubuntu’s package updates…
xubuntu-default-settings 25.04.1
xubuntu-default-settings 25.04.1 includes a minor improvement: The gtk-print-preview-command setting has been correctly associated with Atril (LP: #2025332). Will Thompson’s Evince, Flatpak, and GTK print previews provides more context on this feature:
GTK provides API for applications to print documents. This presents the user with a print dialog, with many knobs to control how your document will be printed. That dialog has a Preview button; when you press it, the dialog vanishes and another one appears, showing a preview of your document. You can press Print on that dialog to print the document, or close it to cancel.
xubuntu-meta 2.266
xubuntu-meta 2.266 adds support for the riscv64 architecture (LP: #2092942)! Similar to the arm achitectures, this isn’t supported by the Xubuntu team and you won’t find downloadable ISOs. Instead, this enables package builds so the xubuntu-desktop metapackage will be found on the riscv64 archives. If you put in the effort, you should now be able to get Xubuntu up and running on your riscv hardware. Let me know if you do!
The 25.04 To-Do List
The Xubuntu 25.04 project board lists many outstanding tasks that we’d like to review this cycle. If you’d like to contribute to Xubuntu, pick a task and get to work. :) There are many other ways to contribute to Xubuntu listed on our website.
Xubuntu development marches steadily onward!
