Day-by-day we’re learning more on what to expect in Ubuntu 25.10 ‘Questing Quokka’, the next short-term release of Ubuntu due for release in October.
Today, Canonical’s Kleber Souza, member of the Ubuntu Kernel Team, confirmed the plan is to ship the Linux 6.17 kernel in Ubuntu 25.10 – barring any unforeseen upstream hiccups, of course.
As we’re yet to see the release of the Linux 6.15 kernel, and 6.16 is yet to enter development, committing to a version so far out may seem a bit optimistic.
But it tracks.
Last year Canonical made a major change to its kernel cadence to ensure new Ubuntu releases ship with the latest kernel version at the time of their release, even if’s not yet seen a formal stable release, as Souza notes:
This approach has proven effective in delivering the latest features and hardware support to our users. As a result [we remain] committed to continuing this policy for Ubuntu 25.10 — even if the upstream kernel is still in Release Candidate (RC) status at the time of release.
Kleber Souza, Canonical
Which, potentially, it will be: Linux 6.17 is likely to be released on October 12, while Ubuntu 25.10 is released on October 9 — don’t worry: any later fixes, tweaks, changes, and additions to the kernel are issued to users as software updates.
Prior, Ubuntu would lock-in the latest stable Linux kernel release early in its development cycle. By the time a new Ubuntu release would roll out, a newer stable kernel would have been issued. In that era, Ubuntu 25.10 would ship with Linux 6.16, out in the summer.
It’s too early to know much about what Linux 6.17 will bring to Ubuntu 25.10, but we do know what else the release will offer, such as expanded support for disk encryption, GNOME 49 desktop, and new terminal and image viewer apps.