14 DAY TRIAL // The Ubuntu Kernel Team has just released a new installation of their weekly newsletter, informing all Ubuntu users about the latest work done on the maintenance of the kernel packages for the GNU/Linux operating system.
As reported last week, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, which will be dubbed Xenial Xerus, remains based on the Linux 4.3.3 kernel packages that are also used in the current stable release of the operating system, Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf). At the same time, the Ubuntu Kernel Team is making the final preparations for the long-term supported Linux 4.4 kernel, which currently resides in the ubuntu-unstable repositories.
"Our ubuntu-unstable repo remains based on the v4.4 kernel. We're still cleaning up some DKMS package before we move our official xenial kernel git repo over to track v4.4. We will then officially upload our first v4.4 based kernel to the archive for 16.04. We would like to aim for this to be available for widespread testing before the end of the month," says the Ubuntu Kernel Team in the latest newsletter.
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS will be powered by Linux Kernel 4.4 LTS
We've said this since November 2015, but we will take this opportunity to remind you that the upcoming Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system, due for release on April 21, 2016, will be powered by Linux kernel 4.4 LTS, which was officially unveiled by Linus Torvalds on January 10, 2016. The Ubuntu Kernel Team tracked every single Release Candidate (RC) build of Linux kernel 4.4 LTS.
Of course, we will inform you again when the Linux kernel 4.4 packages land in the stable repositories of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS later this month. Until then, the Ubuntu developers have announced earlier that they managed to patch the kernel packages of Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 15.04 and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, fixing a notorious zero-day vulnerability, thus urging all Ubuntu users to update their systems immediately.