If you’re attached to Ubuntu’s previous LTS release you’ll be interested to know the fifth point release is now available to download.
Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS (like all point releases before it) consolidates all the app, performance, and bug fixes Ubuntu devs have issued to the OS since the previous point release image was made.
I.e., you get a shiny new installation image that doesn’t saddle you a tonne of post-install updates.
But there is another reason why this point release may appeal to you and that’s the fact it has a new Linux kernel!
Okay, okay: so it’s not the newest Linux 5.8 kernel. But Linux 5.4 is the same kernel version that’s used in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, which makes it pretty appealing. Plus, as you’d expect, it ships with a boatload of benefits like better hardware support, bug fixes, and so on.
If you already run Ubuntu 18.04 LTS you do not need to download the new iso and reinstall. You will get the “newer” Linux kernel in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS as a system update if you installed your system using the Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS (or later) .iso image; or if have run the command posted below to ‘opt-in’ to hardware enablement stack (HWE) updates:
sudo apt-get install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-18.04 xserver-xorg-hwe-18.04
If you don’t yet use the HWE don’t feel pressured into upgrading, especially if you you don’t have any hardware incompatibilities or quirks that a newer kernel might solve. Linux kernel 4.19 (the GA kernel Bionic Beaver shipped with) is supported until April 2023.
Below is a direct link to the Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS desktop .iso, but an official .torrent file is available should you fancy getting it that way:
If you’re running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS you can upgrade to 18.04 directly.
If you’re running Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS or earlier just install any/all pending updates to ride the same crest as newbie installers.