[ubuntu-studio-devel] Ubuntu Studio 24.04 LTS Beta Released

[Erich Eickmeyer]

The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the beta release of Ubuntu 
Studio 24.04 LTS, codenamed “Noble Numbat”.

While this beta is reasonably free of any showstopper installer bugs, 
you will find some bugs within. This image is, however, mostly 
representative of what you will find when Ubuntu Studio 24.04 is 
released on April 25, 2024.


    Special Notes

The Ubuntu Studio 24.04 LTS disk image (ISO) exceeds 4 GB and cannot be 
downloaded to some file systems such as FAT32 and may not be readable 
when burned to a DVD. For this reason, we recommend downloading to a 
compatible file system. When creating a boot medium, we 
recommendcreating a bootable USB stick 
<https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu#1-overview>with 
the ISO image or burning to a Dual-Layer DVD.

Images can be obtained from this 
link:https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/24.04/beta/

Full updated information, including*Upgrade Instructions,*are available 
in the*Release Notes 
<https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-24-04-LTS-release-notes/>*. 
<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GroovyGorilla/Beta/UbuntuStudio>

*Please note that upgrading before the release of 24.04.1,**due August 
2024, is unsupported.*


    New Features This Release

  * *PipeWire*continues to improve with every release and is so robust
    it can be used for professional and prosumer use. Version 1.0.4
  * *Ubuntu Studio Installer*‘s included*Ubuntu Studio Audio
    Configuration
    <https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-installer/#audioconfig>*utility
    for fine-tuning the PipeWire setup or changing the configuration
    altogether now includes the ability to create or remove a dummy
    audio device. Version 1.9


    Major Package Upgrades

  * *Ardour*version 8.4.0
  * *Qtractor*version 0.9.39
  * *OBS Studio*version 30.0.2
  * *Audacity*version 3.4.2
  * *digiKam*version 8.2.0
  * *Kdenlive*version 23.08.5
  * *Krita*version 5.2.2

There are many other improvements, too numerous to list here. We 
encourage you to look around the freely-downloadable ISO image.


    Known Issues

  * Ubuntu Studio’s classic PulseAudio-JACK configuration cannot be used
    on Ubuntu Desktop (GNOME) due to a known issue with the
    ubuntu-desktop metapackage. (LP: #2033440
    <https://launchpad.net/bugs/2033440>)
  * We now discourage the use of the aforementioned classic
    PulseAudio-JACK configuration as PulseAudio is becoming deprecated
    with time in favor of PipeWire. PipeWire’s JACK configuration can be
    disabled to use JACK2 via QJackCTL for advanced users.
  * Due to the Ubuntu repositories being in-flux following the time_t
    transition and xz-utils security issue resolution, some items in the
    repository are uninstallable or causing other packaging conflicts.
    The Ubuntu Release Team is working around the clock to help resolve
    these issues, so patience is required.

Official Ubuntu Studio release notes can be found 
athttps://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-24-04-LTS-release-notes/

Further known issues, mostly pertaining to the desktop environment, can 
be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/NobleNumbat/ReleaseNotes/Kubuntu

Additionally, the main Ubuntu release notes contain more generic 
issues:https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/noble-numbat-release-notes/39890


    How You Can Help

Please test using the test cases onhttps://iso.qa.ubuntu.com. All you 
need is aLaunchpad <https://launchpad.net/>account to get started.

Additionally, we need financial contributions. Our project lead, Erich 
Eickmeyer, is working long hours on this project and trying to generate 
a part-time income. Seethis post 
<https://ubuntustudio.org/2023/09/a-message-from-the-project-lead/>as to 
the reasons why andgo here <https://ubuntustudio.org/contribute/>to see 
how you can contribute financially (options are also in the sidebar).


    Frequently Asked Questions

*Q:*Does Ubuntu Studio contain snaps?
*A:*Yes. Mozilla’s distribution agreement with Canonical changed, and 
Ubuntu was forced to no longer distribute Firefox in a native .deb 
package. We have found that, after numerous improvements, Firefox now 
performs just as well as the native .deb package did.

Thunderbird has become a snap this cycle in order for the maintainers to 
get security patches delivered faster.

Additionally, Freeshow is an Electron-based application. Electron-based 
applications cannot be packaged in the Ubuntu repositories in that they 
cannot be packaged in a traditional Debian source package. While such 
apps do have a build system to create a .deb binary package, it 
circumvents the source package build system in Launchpad, which is 
required when packaging for Ubuntu. However, Electron apps also have a 
facility for creating snaps, which can be uploaded and included. 
Therefore, for Freeshow to be included in Ubuntu Studio, it had to be 
packaged as a snap.

*Q:*If I install this Beta release, will I have to reinstall when the 
final release comes out?
*A:*No. If you keep it updated, your installation will automatically 
become the final release. However, if Audacity returns to the Ubuntu 
repositories before final release, then you might end-up with a 
double-installation of Audacity. Removal instructions of one or the 
other will be made available in a future post.

*Q*: Will you make an ISO with {my favorite desktop environment}?
*A:*To do so would require creating an entirely new flavor of Ubuntu, 
which would require going through the Official Ubuntu Flavor application 
process. Since we’re completely volunteer-run, we don’t have the time or 
resources to do this. Instead, we recommend you download theofficial 
flavor for the desktop environment of your choice 
<https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours>and useUbuntu Studio Installer 
<https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-installer>to get Ubuntu Studio – 
which does *not* convert that flavor to Ubuntu Studio but adds its benefits.

*Q:*What if I don’t want all these packages installed on my machine?
*A:*Simply use the*Ubuntu Studio Installer*to remove the features of 
Ubuntu Studio you don’t want or need!
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