Ubuntu 22.10’s default wallpaper has been revealed.
The new background image will grace the desktop of users who install or upgrade to Ubuntu 22.10 in October.
Per tradition, all new versions of Ubuntu come with a custom-designed background image that carries a carefully-rendered character based on the codename mascot, which in this case is an African kudu.
But in a break with the past, the mascot depicted in this drape has not been drawn using rigid geometry or bisecting circles, as previous ones have (to great effect, I should add).
Instead, the leaping Kudu in the new wallpaper is a single-line drawing, interwoven within itself — the vaulting pose serving to convey the “kinetic” energy of the release codename, as does the subtle gradient fill. The mascot artwork looks alive and in-motion.
If the full-colour version isn’t quite to your tastes then a lighter, greyscale version is also provided:
You don’t need to use the latest daily build of the Kinetic Kudu to appreciate this drape; you will be able to download the Ubuntu 22.10 wallpaper from Launchpad in 4K and 8K quality to use it wherever you bleedin’ well like — is it sacrilegious to use an Ubuntu wallpaper on a different distro?!
Personally, I think the Kinetic Kudu is my favourite Ubuntu wallpaper since the mascot-revival resumed under the Artful Aardvark — that’s not a glib comment as there have been some real stunners in that period (as well as, yes, a pair of hairy coconuts).
Feel free to pick up your artist palette 🎨, don a beret 👨🎨, and channel your inner art critic down in the comments!