The kernel freeze is only a couple of weeks away

Mar 30, 2015 09:11 GMT  ·  By

Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) is almost here and the developers are mostly done with the development, but the kernel team still has some time for various updates. In fact, the Linux kernel has been updated to a newer version.

The kernel freeze for Ubuntu systems comes much later than the software freeze. The developers still have a two-week window to test the latest kernel that has been implemented and to issue any patches and fix the problems that might appear in the meantime. The latest version used in Ubuntu 15.04 is now 3.19.3. Canonical does just implement the upstream version, the devs modify that version to suit their needs.

That is the reason why the version of the kernel says 3.19.0-10.10, but it's in fact based on 3.19.2. In any case, the branch of the kernel in Ubuntu 15.04 won't change from now on and it's very likely that 3.19.x will be the final version implemented. This is what usually happens and it's worth noting that the kernel won't be upgraded past this particular branch, although it will receive updates until the OS reaches end of life just nine months after it's released on April 23.

Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) is really close to launch

The kernel freeze for Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) is scheduled for April 9 and the final version of the operating systems will be here on April 23, so there is not much wiggle room.

"Our Vivid kernel has been rebased to v3.19.2 and uploaded, ie 3.19.0-10.10. We are approaching kernel freeze for Vivid. ~2 weeks away on Thurs Apr 9. If you have any patches which land for 15.04's release, please make sure to submit those," wrote Canonical's Joseph Salisbury.

In the meantime, you can download the latest Ubuntu 15.04 Beta 2 and give it a spin. It's rather stable and you can get an idea on what it will look and feel like after the launch.