[lubuntu-users] Lubuntu 24.04 LTS Released!

Simon Quigley simon at tsimonq2.net
Thu Apr 25 14:18:44 UTC 2024 

Thanks to the hard work from our contributors, Lubuntu 24.04 LTS has 
been released. With the codename Noble Numbat, Lubuntu 24.04 is the 26th 
release of Lubuntu, the 12th release of Lubuntu with LXQt as the default 
desktop environment.

Download and Support Lifespan
-----------------------------

With Lubuntu 24.04 being a long-term support interim release, it will 
follow the standard LTS support period of **three years**, and will be 
supported until April 2027.

You can download Lubuntu 24.04 here: https://lubuntu.me/downloads/

If you would like to upgrade your existing 23.10 installation, please 
visit our manual page describing the process: 
https://manual.lubuntu.me/stable/D/upgrading.html

Common Ubuntu instructions can be found here: 
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NobleUpgrades/

New in 24.04
------------

### Try or Install Screen

Lubuntu now ships an attractive "installer prompt", which provides a 
simple, intuitive, and beautiful environment from which to connect to 
the Internet, set your desired language, and choose to Try or Install 
Lubuntu. If you select a different language and choose to Try Lubuntu, 
the live session will automatically be updated for that language.

### System Installer

#### Customize Menu

Traditionally, installing Lubuntu only provides a regular installation 
mode (a single option for installs). This changes with Lubuntu 24.04, 
where you can now pick between Normal, Full, and Minimal. A Normal 
installation gives you a traditional Lubuntu experience. The Minimal 
mode ships with just the desktop environment and essential components 
(no web browser or snapd). A Full installation is the same as Normal, 
but comes with several recommended third-party apps:

  * Virtual Machine Manager
  * Element
  * Thunderbird
  * Krita

In addition, you can choose to download and install updates during the 
installation procedure rather than having to install them afterwards. 
This can help speed up the installation process and get you 
up-and-running quicker.

#### OEM Installation Mode

Since our transition to LXQt over five years ago, we've been notably 
missing one very useful feature - an OEM installation mode. In the past, 
it was possible to install and configure Lubuntu on a system, then 
prepare it for shipping to an end-user. This is useful for hardware 
manufacturers or people giving a computer to someone else, but is not 
functionality we retained.

We are pleased to report that the OEM installer has made a comeback in 
Lubuntu 24.04.

If you're looking to sell, provision, or donate hardware with Lubuntu 
preinstalled, the OEM installation mode is meant for you. OEM 
installation is exactly the same as normal installation, except for the 
user account created at install time is a temporary OEM user rather than 
a permanent user. After installation, you can:

  * log in
  * install or remove software
  * run tests
  * configure settings
  * etc.

Once the system is configured properly, you can activate the "Prepare 
for shipping to end user" icon on the desktop, confirm that you are 
finished configuring the system, shut the computer down, and then send 
it to its intended destination. When the user receives it and powers it 
on, they will be shown a first-boot setup screen allowing them to 
configure their own user account.

You can activate OEM installation mode by selecting "OEM install (for 
manufacturers)" in the ISO boot menu. Alternatively, you can boot the 
ISO normally, click Try Lubuntu, and then launch the OEM installer from 
the Application Menu > System > Install Lubuntu 24.04 LTS (OEM mode).

### Applications and Utilities

It's not often that we add new utilities to Lubuntu, but this cycle we 
added several new applications to our default install, providing several 
new and powerful features we think you'll enjoy using.

#### Bluetooth Management

We now ship Blueman as our Bluetooth manager. This provides a convenient 
system tray icon for managing bluetooth devices. If your system is 
Bluetooth-enabled, a status icon will automatically appear in the toolbar.

#### SDDM Configuration Editor

Have you always wanted to configure the login screen? Good news, you now 
can! The SDDM configuration editor allows you to modify the login screen 
settings, changing the theme used, adjusting the reboot and shutdown 
commands used, and much more.

#### Software Updater

Our previous software update installer has been replaced by a 
new-and-improved utility, "Lubuntu Update". The UI has been 
substantially revamped, update notifications have been integrated into 
the system better, and you can now manually check for updates and 
install them whenever you want.

#### Redshift

If you are one of the many users that benefit from having a night color 
mode on your system, you'll be happy to hear that Lubuntu now ships a 
night color feature via Redshift-Qt. You can enable it by running 
Redshift from the application menu.

#### Picom Configuration Utility

Lubuntu is the lightest official Ubuntu flavor. That is by design - we 
try to keep things small, sleek, and clean, rather than big, heavy, and 
fancy. This commitment to a lightweight experience is most evident in 
our lack of fancy desktop effects.

What if you actually want some fancy desktop effects?

With the Picom Configuration utility, you can now easily enable window 
transparency, titlebar transparency, shadows, and fade-in/fade-out 
effects on your desktop, and more. Note that changes made in this 
utility will require you to log out and log back in before they take effect.

Artwork
-------

Thanks to the efforts of our team and the work of other open-source 
artists and designers, we have significantly refreshed the artwork in 
Lubuntu 24.04:

  * The wallpaper and login screen have been refreshed with images 
designed specifically for Lubuntu 24.04.
  * The Lubuntu Manual icon has been refreshed.
  * For those who like to customize their desktop, you can install the 
`lxqt-themes-extra` package to get two new LXQt themes (win-eleven-dark 
and sombre-et-rond).

Known Bugs
----------

Please see the current list on the official release announcement: 
https://lubuntu.me/noble-released/

Common Release Notes
--------------------

Please also check the Ubuntu Release Notes for more common issues and 
bugs affecting all Ubuntu flavors: 
https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/noble-numbat-release-notes/39890

What is Lubuntu?
----------------

Lubuntu is an official Ubuntu flavor which uses the Lightweight Qt 
Desktop Environment (LXQt). The project’s goal is to provide a 
lightweight yet functional Linux distribution based on a rock-solid 
Ubuntu base. Lubuntu provides a simple but modern and powerful graphical 
user interface, and comes with a wide variety of applications so you can 
browse, email, chat, play, and be productive. You can find the following 
major applications and toolkits installed by default in this release:

  * LXQt 1.4.0
  * Qt 5.15.13
  * Mozilla Firefox as shipped in the snap package, the version present 
on the ISO is version 125.0.2.
  * LibreOffice 24.2.2
  * VLC 3.0.20
  * Featherpad 1.4.1
  * Discover Software Center 5.27.11

You can find a variety of other applications installed which aim to 
enhance your experience while staying out of the way of your normal 
workflow. New features and bugfixes in core Ubuntu components can be 
found here: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/noble-numbat-release-notes/39890

Lubuntu Manual
--------------

The Lubuntu Team has been hard at work in polishing the Lubuntu Manual 
to make it easy for new and experienced users alike to use their system 
more productively. The manual can be found at manual.lubuntu.me. We want 
to thank Lyn Perrine for all the hard work she has put into the Lubuntu 
Manual. Thank you!

Need help quickly? The Lubuntu Manual can be accessed via the “Lubuntu 
Manual” desktop icon.

Lubuntu Project
---------------

### How can I help?

We can always use more help! No matter your skill level or your 
technical experience, there’s something you can help with that can make 
a huge difference in Lubuntu. Join us on our chat (which is bridged 
three ways to Matrix, Telegram, and IRC) and talk to us there. Whether 
you know another language, have some spare time to help us test Lubuntu, 
are good at writing documentation, or just want to stay “in the know,” 
that is the place to be. More information about contributing can be 
found here. If you want to contribute to Lubuntu but do not feel you 
have the time or skills, consider buying a t-shirt or donating to 
Lubuntu. Another great method to get involved is bug reporting. If you 
notice an issue, please file a bug using the instructions on the Lubuntu 
Wiki. Don’t want to file a bug? Let us know what the problem is (in 
detail, enough that we can reproduce it) and we can assist you in filing 
one or do it ourselves.

### Contributors

We would like to thank the following contributors for dedicating their 
time to Lubuntu this cycle. Thank you!

  * Simon Quigley
  * Aaron Rainbolt
  * Walter Lapchynski
  * Lyn Perrine
  * Dan Simmons
  * Chris Guiver
  * Thomas Ward
  * Rober
  * sudodus
  * Leó Kolbeinssonn
  * KGIII
  * Rik Mills
  * Erich Eickmeyer
  * Many more contributors!

### Global Team

The Lubuntu Global Team has been created to foster communities in 
non-English languages and locales. An up-to-date list of our communities 
can be found on our Links page, but the existing groups include: 
Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Chinese, German, Japanese, 
Arabic, and French. If you would like to start a language group, join 
our development channel and talk with the Global Team. At minimum, you 
should have a few interested drivers of the community, and at least one 
administrator that speaks English. We now have multiple languages 
available in the support section of our Discourse forum.

On behalf of the Lubuntu team,
-- 
Simon Quigley
simon at tsimonq2.net
@tsimonq2:ubuntu.com on Matrix
tsimonq2 on LiberaChat and OFTC
5C7A BEA2 0F86 3045 9CC8
C8B5 E27F 2CF8 458C 2FA4
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