Ubuntu 25.10 for the Raspberry Pi will ship with a minimal set of pre-installed software, a move that bring the Pi images in line with regular Intel/AMD desktop builds.

The change reduces the amount of disk space an Ubuntu install on Raspberry Pi uses by around 800MB. Users will (of course) be able to install the ‘missing’ apps from the repos or Snap Store, or not – choice is the key here.

Canonical’s resident Pi engineer Dave Jones, fresh off implementing a new A/B booting system in the Ubuntu Raspberry Pi builds, tested the software sweep and noted that the fresh install footprint shrunk from around 8.7 GB to 7.9 GB.

Why the Change is Needed on Pi

Unlike a traditional desktop installation, Ubuntu for Raspberry Pi uses a pre-installed image (IMG) that gets flashed directly to an SD card or other storage.

The regular desktop ISO is a live environment containing an installer that builds Ubuntu on a hard drive, while a preinstalled image copies an already installed system – a bit like an OEM install.

On first a setup, a wizard gets users to configure their hardware, set a location and create a user account.

Since the Flutter-based installer isn’t involved, there is no choice between having a ‘minimal’ or ‘expanded’ software set – hence this change to what’s baked into the Pi image.

On a PC, the ISO contains the full suite of “expanded” applications already. Choosing a minimal install there does not download less, but uninstalls those apps during the installation process.

Since the Pi images are ‘preinstalled’, the expanded software will not be included in the image (at least, from what I gather; the changes haven’t hit daily builds yet).

Edit: These changes are now in the daily builds.

What’s Being Removed?

The following apps will no longer be pre-installed on Ubuntu for Raspberry Pi from 25.10 onwards. All of these are available to install from the archives; they’ve not been expunged from existence:

  • Thunderbird
  • LibreOffice
  • Calendar
  • Rhythmbox
  • Deja Dup (Backup tool)
  • File Roller (Archive manager)
  • Snapshot (Camera app)
  • Remmina
  • Shotwell
  • Simple Scan
  • Totem (Media player)
  • Transmission

Practical Decision

Most people who run Ubuntu desktop on a Raspberry Pi are not running it as their main, productivity work hub, but a platform for development, tinkering or other specific use-cases. Not having LibreOffice available immediately won’t crater their productivity.

The change also mirrors the approach taken with the official Raspberry Pi OS, which has long provided separate images: a slim install with only essential utilities and a ‘full-fat’ one with recommended software included, ready to use out-of-the-box.

In his reasoning for Ubuntu’s need to make a switch, Dave Jones says it: “will alleviate our image building issues, but it also gives users more choice in what they want in their installation.”

He adds that under the old system, uninstalling a “seeded” (i.e., preinstalled) application sometimes had rogue consequences, like uninstalling Ubuntu’s package of tweaks for Pi hardware – tweaks most users will want.

Shipping a ‘low fat’ Ubuntu Pi image caters to the way people actually use these devices, giving them a cleaner starter base to build on.