Ubuntu is planning a new linux-firmware-hwe package, in an effort to reduce the risk of firmware updates for newer kernels causing problems for users running older ones.
On Ubuntu long-term support (LTS) releases, you can stick with the standard (GA) kernel it was released with for the duration of its support period, or you can install the HWE update, which brings newer Linux kernel versions to existing Ubuntu LTS releases.
Right now, both kernels share the same firmware package, which means firmware updates designed to work with HWE kernels can cause problems for users who stick with the GA kernel.
Ubuntu developer Juerg Haefliger noted that a firmware backport for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, intended for its Linux 7.0 HWE kernel, introduced two AMD regressions for users running the Linux 6.9 GA kernel.
Thus, a new approach is needed.
The plan, laid out by Haefliger, is for HWE kernels to use a linux-firmware-hwe package, which pulls in HWE versions of existing firmware subpackages. Ubuntu’s firmware packages were split into subpackages for 24.04 too, in case you missed that news.
The change would let users who stick with the GA kernel continue using the standard firmware set, without receiving updates intended for HWE kernels.
But both firmware sets would continue to receive targeted fixes for reported issues from Canonical for the duration of their respective support periods.
Well, albeit with a rub.
Most of us running LTS releases will, at some point, have a GA and HWE kernel installed on the same device. As only one firmware package can be installed, systems with both kernels will need a workaround of some sort.
But this change, it seems, is now coming.
Firmware packages in Ubuntu 26.10 are in the process of being packaged as ‘hwe’ versions, ahead of their upcoming backport to Ubuntu 26.04 in early 2027.