Ubuntu 21.10 Released With GNOME 40 Desktop, Many Underlying Improvements

[Vorpal]

Funny thing about stable distros (and this is my personal experience and will likely not reflect everyone's experience) they aren't more stable than rolling release.

Specifically I switched from Ubuntu LTS on my previous computer to Arch Linux on my new one earlier this year. So far Arch Linux has been more stable. Fewer weird graphics bugs. Granted, the previous computer was a Intel laptop and the new one is an AMD desktop. Both have nvidia graphics (mx150 and a reused 1070 respectively, not buying a new gpu these days!). It is quite possible that dual graphics has a lot to do with the lack of stability in the laptop.

I'm probably going to install arch on my laptop at some point when I have time. I want to do a more apples to apples comparison of the stability of Ubuntu vs arch.

Only thing I miss with arch is debug symbol packages. So not an option for my work laptop unfortunately.

[QwertyChouskie]

While I understand, and agree, why "bleeding edge" should not be the default for most distros, this attitude is one of the more frustrating aspects of the Linux community. If Fedora met my user requirements, I might well be using it. I'm not. On the other hand, I do have a need to have later kernels and other software. I have an RX5700XT (NOT a bleeding edge card any more) that has regular green screen crashes. Some kernel, and mesa, updates have improved the situation, others have regressed it. I'm hoping one of these kernel, mesa, etc. updates will resolve the issues. So I'm stuck waiting and dealing with crashes when it is possible a fix may be available already. And please don't try to tell me to compile and deploy later kernels myself. 1. I can't afford to have my main system down for a few days trying to fix things if something goes badly wrong and 2. my experience compiling and deploying software is about 25 years out of date, and was not that extensive to begin with. It's not something an average user should ever hear as a recommendation.

What I would like to see would be a channel built into Ubuntu and derivatives where a user can choose to move more aggressively on updates to resolve issues. It shouldn't be the default, but it should be an option without having to be a software developer and getting out of spec.

The 5700XT commonly has hardware issues that causes these sorts of symptoms, a software fix is unlikely if it's a hardware issue.

[ColdDistance]

Debian decided to stick with GNOME 3.38 (!!!!!). Yeah, I know they entered Freeze on January, but come on...

Debian and Ubuntu have different purposes. Ubuntu demonstrated that can follow GNOME releases. Just see Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, it shipped the latest GNOME version for that moment and it was the best LTS since 14.04.

It seems that GNOME will start to develop the DMA-BUF support for Radeon and NVIDIA. If you want to record a gameplay (or a fullscreen app) from Wayland, unless you use a capture card, you need DMA-BUF support. The DMA-BUF support for NVIDIA and Radeon (it's for Intel since GNOME 3.38) will be enabled in GNOME 42 at earliest, so if Canonical keeps its politic to not use the last version of GNOME, there are lots of probabilities to see Ubuntu 22.04 LTS using Xorg by default.

[mantide]

I can't install the latest Nvidia driver 495 on Ubuntu 21.10. So I don't see how wayland will work with it? Or does that run also on the 470 driver series?

I am also going to do this. Please share your progress. If you succeed, could you try overclocking/undervolting your GPU? I know for Xorg you need additional steps for root access. Don't know if this is still the case for wayland.

[Steffo]

Some kernel, and mesa, updates have improved the situation, others have regressed it. I'm hoping one of these kernel, mesa, etc. updates will resolve the issues.

It's more likely a stable point release will fix your issue than a bleeding edge release.

What I would like to see would be a channel built into Ubuntu and derivatives where a user can choose to move more aggressively on updates to resolve issues. It shouldn't be the default, but it should be an option without having to be a software developer and getting out of spec.

This exists at least for some tools for Ubuntu LTS. But if you want this also for non-LTS releases, this would be a big maintainance burden for Canonical. Keep in mind, that the regular user doesn't pay for Ubuntu and canonical makes money with their LTS releases, because this is what matters for enterprise.

To be honest: I'm not sure why Fedora doesn't meet your user requirements as you can do the same think on Fedora like on Ubuntu.

[jabl]

Too bad they didn't switch to pipewire.

[Danny3]

Again with outdated stuff ?
And this is not the LTS version (for people defending them for choosing older versions).
The only good thing is they switched to cgroups unified hierarchy (V2), if that can bring any advantage to the users.

I still can't believe they didn't switch to Pipewire !
Or to Intel's IWD for wireless !

I hear that many other things are outdated.

This is a really disappointing release !

I still can't decide if Canonical is crap like always or Microsoft is funding them to be that bad.

[andre30correia]

I am also going to do this. Please share your progress. If you succeed, could you try overclocking/undervolting your GPU? I know for Xorg you need additional steps for root access. Don't know if this is still the case for wayland.

nvidia 470 works with wayland and xwayland hardware accl

[krzyzowiec]

I have an RX5700XT (NOT a bleeding edge card any more) that has regular green screen crashes. Some kernel, and mesa, updates have improved the situation, others have regressed it. I'm hoping one of these kernel, mesa, etc. updates will resolve the issues. So I'm stuck waiting and dealing with crashes when it is possible a fix may be available already. And please don't try to tell me to compile and deploy later kernels myself.

No need to compile your own kernel. I used a PPA myself back when support for my 6800 was rather raw. Oibaf is good for an updated graphics stack. For a newer kernel there are many choices. I recommend Xanmod though. If you change your mind later you can always ppa-purge to go back to stock, or for Xanmod just install the stock kernel and delete the sources entry from the Software Properties(?) app.

[andre30correia]

Again with outdated stuff ?
And this is not the LTS version (for people defending them for choosing older versions).
The only good thing is they switched to cgroups unified hierarchy (V2), if that can bring any advantage to the users.

I still can't believe they didn't switch to Pipewire !
Or to Intel's IWD for wireless !

I hear that many other things are outdated.

This is a really disappointing release !

I still can't decide if Canonical is crap like always or Microsoft is funding them to be that bad.

releases before lts are always this, nobody cares about them, most of the people who wants upgrade software jump to lts beta since is stable enough. the next lts will use gnome 41 with some apps at 42 version, the next lts kernel 5.15/5.16 and wayland session. Pipewire in my experience do not work like pulseaudio in laptops iwd maybe they want to continue stable before changing