As of July 14, 2022, all flavors of Ubuntu 21.10, including Ubuntu Studio 21.10, codenamed “Impish Indri”, have reached end-of-life (EOL). There will be no more updates of any kind, including security updates, for this release of Ubuntu.
If you have not already done so, please upgrade to Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS via the instructions provided here.
No single release of any operating system can be supported indefinitely, and Ubuntu Studio has no exception to this rule.
Regular Ubuntu releases, meaning those that are between the Long-Term Support releases, are supported for 9 months and users are expected to upgrade after every release with a 3-month buffer following each release.
Long-Term Support releases are identified by an even numbered year-of-release and a month-of-release of April (04). Hence, the most recent Long-Term Support release is 22.04 (YY.MM = 2022.April), and the next Long-Term Support release will be 24.04 (2024.April). LTS releases for official Ubuntu flavors (not Desktop or Server which are supported for five years) are three years, meaning LTS users are expected to upgrade after every LTS release with a one year buffer.
The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu Studio 22.04, code-named “Jammy Jellyfish”. This marks Ubuntu Studio’s 31st release. This release is a Long-Term Support release and as such, it is supported for 3 years (until April 2025).
Since it’s just out, you may experience some issues, so you might want to wait a bit before upgrading. Please see the release notes for a complete list of changes and known issues.
You can download Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS from our download page.
Upgrading
Since it’s just out, you may experience some issues, so you might want to wait a bit before upgrading.
Due to the change in desktop environment that started after the release of 20.04 LTS, direct upgrades from 20.04 LTS are not supported and may only be attempted at-your-own-risk. As with any system-critical operation, back-up your data before attempting any upgrade. The safest upgrade path is a backup of your /home directory and a clean install.
We have had anecdotal reports of successful upgrades from 20.04 LTS (Xfce desktop) to later releases (Plasma desktop), but this will remain at your own risk, and it is highly recommended to wait until 22.04.1 is released in August before attempting such an upgrade.
Instructions for upgrading are included in the release notes.
New This Release
Most of this release is evolutionary on top of 21.10 rather than revolutionary. As such, most of the applications contained are simply upgraded versions. Details on key packages can be found in the release notes.
Dark Theme By Default
For this release, we have a neutral-toned dark theme by default. While we could have gone with the Breeze Dark color scheme since we dropped the Materia KDE widget and window theme (it was difficult to maintain and work with new Plasma features), we decided to develop our own based on GNOME’s Adwaita Dark theme with a corresponding Light theme. This was to help with photography since a neutral tone is necessary as Breeze Dark has a more blueish hue, which can trick the eye into seeing photos as appearing warmer than they actually are.
However, switching from the dark theme to the light theme is a breeze (pun somewhat intended). When opening the System Settings, one only has to look at the home screen to see how to do that.
Support for rEFInd
rEFInd is a bootloader for UEFI-based systems. Our settings which help to support the lowlatency kernel help to create a menu entry to help apply those settings and keep the lowlatency kernel as the default kernel detected by rEFInd. To keep it current, simply enter sudo dpkg-reconfigure ubuntustudio-lowlatency-settings in the command line after a kernel update.
For a more complete list of changes, please see the release notes.
Backports PPA
System Settings with Accent Colors (Folder Colors will follow if Backports PPA is added)
There are a few items planned for the Backports PPA once the next release cycle opens. One of those is folder icons that match the accent color set in the System Settings.
We plan on keeping the backports PPA up-to-date for the next two years until the release of 24.04 LTS, at which point you will be encouraged to update.
Instructions for enabling the Ubuntu Studio Backports PPA
Note that at release time, there’s nothing in there yet, so if you add it now (at the time of this writing) you’ll get a 404 (file not found) error.
On a related note, at this time, the Backports PPA is frozen for 21.10 and 20.04 LTS. To receive newer versions of software, you must upgrade.
Plasma Backports
Since we share the Desktop Environment with Kubuntu, simply adding the Kubuntu Backports will help you with keeping the desktop environment and its components up-to-date with the latest versions:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
sudo apt upgrade
More Updates
There are many more updates not covered here but are mentioned in the Release Notes. We highly recommend reading those release notes so you know what has been updated and know any known issues that you may encounter.
Get Involved!
A great way to contribute is to get involved with the project directly! We’re always looking for new volunteers to help with packaging, documentation, tutorials, user support, and MORE! Check out all the ways you can contribute!
Special Thanks
Huge special thanks for this release go to:
Len Ovens: Studio Controls, Ubuntu Studio Installer, Coding
Thomas Ward: Packaging, Ubuntu Core Developer for Ubuntu Studio
Eylul Dogruel: Artwork, Graphics Design, Website Lead
Ross Gammon: Upstream Debian Developer, Guidance, Testing
Sebastien Ramacher:Upstream Debian Developer
Dennis Braun: Debian Package Maintainer
Rik Mills: Kubuntu Council Member, help with Plasma desktop
Mauro Gaspari: Tutorials, Promotion, and Documentation, Testing
Brian Hechinger: Testing and bug reporting
Chris Erswell:Testing and bug reporting
Robert Van Den Berg:Testing and bug reporting, IRC Support
Krytarik Raido: IRC Moderator, Mailing List Moderator
Erich Eickmeyer: Project Leader, Packaging, Direction, Treasurer
The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the beta release of Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS, codenamed “Jammy Jellyfish”.
While this beta is reasonably free of any showstopper DVD build or installer bugs, you may find some bugs within. This image is, however, reasonably representative of what you will find when Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS is released on April 21, 2022.
Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS will be Ubuntu Studio’s first Long-Term Support(LTS) release with the KDE Plasma Desktop Environment.
Special notes:
Due to the change in desktop environment, directly upgrading to Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS from 20.04 LTS is not supported and will not be supported. However, upgrades from Ubuntu Studio 21.10 will be supported. See the Release Notes for more information. Anecdotally, some people have had success upgrading from 20.04 LTS to a later version, so your mileage may vary.
The Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS disk image (ISO) exceeds 4.0 GB and cannot be downloaded to some file systems such as FAT32, and may not be readable when burned to a DVD. For this reason, we recommend creating a bootable USB stick with the ISO image.
Full updated information is available in the Release Notes.
New Features
Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS includes the new KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS desktop environment. This is a beautiful and functional upgrade to previous versions, and we believe you will like it.
Studio Controls is upgraded to 2.3.0 and includes numerous bug fixes.
OBS Studio is upgraded to version 27.2.3 and works with Wayland sessions. While Wayland is not currently the default, it is available as unsupported and experimental.
There are many other improvements, too numerous to list here. We encourage you to take a look around the freely-downloadable ISO image.
Known Issues
At this time, the installer (Calamares) will crash when attempting an installation on a manually-partitioned btrfs file system. (LP: #1966774)
MyPaint crashes upon launching (LP: #1967163), may be resolved after an update.
There are a few cosmetic issues that should be resolved before final release.
Q: Does KDE Plasma use more resources than your former desktop environment (Xfce)? A: In our testing, the increase in resource usage is negligible, and our optimizations were never tied to the desktop environment.
Q: Does Ubuntu Studio contain snaps? A: Yes. Mozilla’s distribution agreement with Canonical changed, and Ubuntu was forced to no-longer distribute Firefox in a native .deb package. We have found that, after initial launch, Firefox performs just as well as the native .deb package did.
Q: If I install this Beta release, will I have to reinstall when the final release comes out? A: No. If you keep it updated, your installation will automatically become the final release.
Q: Will you make an ISO with {my favorite desktop environment}? A: To do so would require creating an entirely new flavor of Ubuntu, which would require going through the Official Ubuntu Flavor application process. Since we’re completely volunteer-run, we don’t have the time or resources to do this. Instead, we recommend you download the official flavor for the desktop environment of your choice and use Ubuntu Studio Installer to get Ubuntu Studio.
Please Test!
This release we are participating in Ubuntu Testing Week, which begins as soon as this beta is released. During this testing cycle we will work with the amazing folks at the Ubuntu Hideout Discord (https://discord.gg/ubuntu). They have created a #testing-cycles channel in Discord and had a very good response with users coming forward and helping with testing. They have expressed a desire to have the Ubuntu Hideout Discord community make an even greater impact during this release.
Whether or not you choose to participate on Discord is up to you. If you do find something that is a legitimate bug, please open a terminal and type “ubuntu-bug (package name)” to file the bug report since this collects valuable information we need when debugging. If you get a popup while something is running saying that something has crashed, don’t hesitate to click on the “send bug report” button.
Beginning with the release of Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS, you will notice a new logo in the startup and splash screens, along with the website. These changes can be seen on the Ubuntu Studio Daily Builds and will be on the Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS Beta image.
You will see two variations of this logo. Here’s the inline variation, both old and new:
Here’s the stacked variation:
This will be the first update in over 12 years. We realize not everyone will like this update, but we hope it grows on you.
The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu Studio 21.10, code-named “Impish Indri”. This marks Ubuntu Studio’s 30th release. This release is a regular release, and as such it is supported for nine months until July 2022.
Since it’s just out, you may experience some issues, so you might want to wait a bit before upgrading. Please see the release notes for a complete list of changes and known issues.
You can download Ubuntu Studio 21.10 from our download page.
Due to the change in desktop environment that started after the release of 20.04 LTS, direct upgrades from supported releases prior to 21.04 are not supported.
We have had anecdotal reports of successful upgrades from 20.04 LTS (Xfce desktop) to later releases (Plasma desktop), but this will remain at your own risk.
Instructions for upgrading are included in the release notes.
New This Release
This release includes Plasma 5.22.5, the full-featured desktop environment made by KDE. The theming uses the Materia theme and icons are Papirus icons.
Audio
Studio Controls has seen further development as its own independent project and has been updated to version 2.2.7. This version has an all-new layout and features, including JACK over network and MIDI over network.
Ardour 6.9
Ardour has been updated to version 6.9 and includes a ton of bugfixes and enhancements. For more information, check out the official release announcement.
For those that would like to use the advanced audio processing power of JACK with OBS Studio, OBS Studio is JACK-aware!
More Updates
There are many more updates not covered here but are mentioned in the Release Notes. We highly recommend reading those release notes so you know what has been updated and know any known issues that you may encounter.
Get Involved!
A great way to contribute is to get involved with the project directly! We’re always looking for new volunteers to help with packaging, documentation, tutorials, user support, and MORE! Check out all the ways you can contribute!
Special Thanks
Huge special thanks for this release go to:
Len Ovens: Studio Controls, Ubuntu Studio Installer, Coding
Thomas Ward: Packaging, Ubuntu Core Developer for Ubuntu Studio
Eylul Dogruel: Artwork, Graphics Design, Website Lead
Ross Gammon: Upstream Debian Developer, Guidance, Testing
Sebastien Ramacher:Upstream Debian Developer
Dennis Braun: Debian Package Maintainer
Rik Mills: Kubuntu Council Member, help with Plasma desktop
Mauro Gaspari: Tutorials, Promotion, and Documentation, Testing
Brian Hechinger: Testing and bug reporting
Chris Erswell:Testing and bug reporting
Robert Van Den Berg:Testing and bug reporting, IRC Support
Krytarik Raido: IRC Moderator, Mailing List Moderator
Erich Eickmeyer: Project Leader, Packaging, Direction, Treasurer
The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the beta release of Ubuntu Studio 21.10, codenamed “Impish Indri”.
While this beta is reasonably free of any showstopper DVD build or installer bugs, you may find some bugs within. This image is, however, reasonably representative of what you will find when Ubuntu Studio 21.10 is released on October 21, 2021.
Please note: Due to the change in desktop environment, directly upgrading to Ubuntu Studio 21.10 from 20.04 LTS is not supported and will not be supported. However, upgrades from Ubuntu Studio 21.04 will be supported. See the Release Notes for more information.
Full updated information is available in the Release Notes.
New Features
Ubuntu Studio 21.10 includes the new KDE Plasma 5.22 desktop environment. This is a beautiful and functional upgrade to previous versions, and we believe you will like it.
Studio Controls is upgraded to 2.2.3 and includes a frontend to qnetjack which allows Jack sources to/from the local network.
OBS Studio is upgraded to version 27 and works with Wayland sessions. While Wayland is not currently the default, it is available as unsupported and experimental.
We now use the Icon-Only Task Manager by default. You can change this by right-clicking on the taskbar/top panel and select “Show Alternatives…”.
There are many other improvements, too numerous to list here. We encourage you to take a look around the freely-downloadable ISO image.
The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu Studio 21.04, code-named “Hirsute Hippo”. This marks Ubuntu Studio’s 29th release. This release is a regular release, and as such it is supported for nine months until January 2022.
Since it’s just out, you may experience some issues, so you might want to wait a bit before upgrading. Please see the release notes for a complete list of changes and known issues.
You can download Ubuntu Studio 21.04 from our download page.
Due to the change in desktop environment this release, direct upgrades from release prior to 20.10 are not supported.
In the coming weeks, you should see a prompt to upgrade from 20.10 during your regular updates. If you wish to update at that time, click “Install Upgrade”.
New This Release
This release includes Plasma 5.21.4, the full-featured desktop environment made by KDE. The theming uses the Materia theme and icons are Papirus icons.
Audio
Studio Controls has seen further development as its own independent project and has been updated to verison 2.1.4.
Ardour 6.6+ (Future 6.7 Snapshot)
Ardour has been updated to version 6.6+, meaning this is a git snapshot of what will eventually be Ardour 6.7. This had to be done because Ardour 6.5 started to fail to build with a newer library introduced into the Ubuntu archives, and could only be resolved with this snapshot. We hope to have Ardour 6.7 in via official updates once released.
New Application: Agordejo
Agordejo is new to Ubuntu Studio this release. It was brought-in for those unsatisfied with RaySession’s audio session management but found New Session Manager’s interface to be too old and clunky. Agordejo comes in and provides the best of both worlds: Legacy NSM compatibility and advanced session management for your audio sessions.
Included this cycle is OBS Studio 26.1.2, which includes the ability to use OBS as a virtual webcam in another application! (requires administrative access to machine to create loopback device)
For those that would like to use the advanced audio processing power of JACK with OBS Studio, OBS Studio is JACK-aware!
More Updates
There are many more updates not covered here but are mentioned in the Release Notes. We highly recommend reading those release notes so you know what has been updated and know any known issues that you may encounter.
Get Involved!
A great way to contribute is to get involved with the project directly! We’re always looking for new volunteers to help with packaging, documentation, tutorials, user support, and MORE! Check out all the ways you can contribute!
Special Thanks
Huge special thanks for this release go to:
Len Ovens: Studio Controls, Ubuntu Studio Installer, Coding
Thomas Ward: Packaging, Ubuntu Core Developer for Ubuntu Studio
Eylul Dogruel: Artwork, Graphics Design, Website Lead
Ross Gammon: Upstream Debian Developer, Guidance, Testing
Dennis Braun: Debian Package Maintainer
Rik Mills: Kubuntu Council Member, help with Plasma desktop
Mauro Gaspari: Tutorials, Promotion, and Documentation, Testing
Krytarik Raido: IRC Moderator, Mailing List Moderator
Erich Eickmeyer: Project Leader, Packaging, Direction, Treasurer
The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the beta release of Ubuntu Studio 21.04, codenamed Hirsute Hippo.
While this beta is reasonably free of any showstopper DVD build or installer bugs, you may find some bugs within. This image is, however, reasonably representative of what you will find when Ubuntu Studio 21.04 is released on April 22, 2021.
Please note: Due to the change in desktop environment, directly upgrading to Ubuntu Studio 21.04 from 20.04 LTS is not supported and will not be supported. However, upgrades from Ubuntu Studio 20.10 will be supported. See the Release Notes for more information.
Full updated information is available in the Release Notes.
New Features
Ubuntu Studio 20.04 includes the new KDE Plasma 5.21 desktop environment. This is a beautiful and functional upgrade to previous versions, and we believe you will like it.
Agordejo, a refined GUI frontend to New Session Manager, is now included by default. This uses the standardized session manager calls throughout the Linux Audio community to work with various audio tools.
Studio Controls is upgraded to 2.1.4 and includes a host of improvements and bug fixes.
BSEQuencer, Bshapr, Bslizr, and BChoppr are included as new plugins, among others.
QJackCtl has been upgraded to 0.9.1, and is a huge improvement. However, we still maintain that Jack should be started with Studio Controls for its features, but QJackCtl is a good patchbay and Jack system monitor.
There are many other improvements, too numerous to list here. We encourage you to take a look around the freely-downloadable ISO image.
The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu Studio 20.10, code-named “Groovy Gorilla”. This marks Ubuntu Studio’s 28th release. This release is a regular release, and as such it is supported for nine months until July 2021.
Since it’s just out, you may experience some issues, so you might want to wait a bit before upgrading. Please see the release notes for a complete list of changes and known issues.
You can download Ubuntu Studio 20.10 from our download page.
Due to the change in desktop environment this release, direct upgrades to Ubuntu Studio 20.10 are not supported. We recommend a clean install for this release:
Backup your home directory (/home/{username})
Install Ubuntu Studio 20.10
Copy the contents of your backed-up home directory to your new home directory.
New This Release
The biggest new feature is the switch of desktop environment to KDE Plasma. We believe this will provide a more cohesive and integrated experience for many of the applications that we include by default. We have previously outlined our reasoning for this switch as part of our 20.04 LTS release announcement.
This release includes Plasma 5.19.5. If you would like a newer version, the Kubuntu Backports PPA may include a newer version of Plasma when ready.
We are excited to be a part of the KDE community with this change, and have embraced the warm welcome we have received.
You will notice that our theming and layout of Plasma looks very much like our Xfce theming. (Spoiler: it’s the same theme and layout!)
Audio
Studio Controls replaces Ubuntu Studio Controls
Ubuntu Studio Controls has been spun-off into an independent project called Studio Controls. It contains much of the same functionality but also is available in many more projects than Ubuntu Studio. Studio Controls remains the easiest and most straightforward way to configure the Jack Audio Connection Kit and provide easy access to tools to help you with using it.
Ardour 6.3
We are including the latest version of Ardour, version 6.3. This version has plenty of new features outlined at the Ardour website, but contains one caviat:
Projects imported from Ardour 5.x are permanently changed to the new format. As such, plugins, if they are not installed, will not be detected and will result in a “stub” plugin. Additionally, Ardour 6 includes a new Digital Signal Processor, meaning projects may not sound the same. If you do not need the new functionality of Ardour 6, do not upgrade to Ubuntu Studio 20.10.
Other Notable Updates
We’ve added several new audio plugins this cycle, most notably:
Our inclusion of OBS Studio has been praised by many. Our goal is to become the #1 choice for live streaming and recording, and we hope that including OBS Studio out of the box helps usher this in. With the game availability on Steam, which runs native on Ubuntu Studio and is easily installed, and with Steam’s development of Proton for Windows games, we believe game streamers and other streamers on Youtube, Facebook, and Twitch would benefit from such an all-inclusive operating system that would save them both money and time.
For those that would like to use the advanced audio processing power of JACK with OBS Studio, OBS Studio is JACK-aware!
Kdenlive
We have chosen Kdenlive to be our default video editor for several reasons. The largest of which is that it is the most professional video editor included in the Ubuntu repositories, but also it integrates very well with the Plasma desktop.
This release brings version 20.08.1, which includes several new features that have been outlined at their website.
Graphics and Photography
Krita
Artists will be glad to see Krita upgraded to version 4.3. While this may not be the latest release, it does include a number of new features over that included with Ubuntu Studio 20.04.
For a full list of new features, check out the Krita website.
Darktable
This version of the icon seemed appropriate for an October release. :)
For photographers, you’ll be glad to see Darktable 3.2.1 included by default. Additionally, Darktable has been chosen as our default RAW Image Processing Platform.
With Darktable 3.2 comes some major changes, such as an overhaul to the Lighttable, A new snapshot comparison line, improved tooltips, and more! For a complete list, check out the Darktable website.
Introducing Digikam
For the first time in Ubuntu Studio, we are including the KDE application Digikam by default. Digikam is the most-advanced photo editing and cataloging tool in Open Source and includes a number of major features that integrate well into the Plasma desktop.
The version we have by default is version 6.4.0. For more information about Digikam 6.4.0, read the release announcement.
We realize that the version we include, 6.4.0, is not the most recent version, which is why we include Digikam 7.1.0 in the Ubuntu Studio Backports PPA.
There are many more updates not covered here but are mentioned in the Release Notes. We highly recommend reading those release notes so you know what has been updated and know any known issues that you may encounter.
Introducing the Ubuntu Studio Marketplace
Have you ever wanted to buy some gear to show off your love for Ubuntu Studio? Now you can! We just launched the Ubuntu Studio Marketplace. From now until October 27th, you can get our special launch discount of 15% off.
We have items like backpacks, coffee mugs, buttons, and more! Items for men, women, and children, even babies! Get your gear today!
Proceeds from commissions go toward supporting further Ubuntu Studio development.
Now Accepting Donations!
If you find Ubuntu Studio useful, we highly encourage you to donate toward its prolonged development. We would be grateful for any donations given!
The official launch date of our Patreon campaign is TODAY! We have many goals, including being able to pay one or more developers at least a part-time wage for their work on Ubuntu Studio. However, we do have some benefits we would like to offer our patrons. We are still hammering-out the benefits to patrons, and we would love to hear some feedback about what those benefits might be. Become a patron, and we can have that conversation together!
Liberapay
Liberapay is a great way to donate to Ubuntu Studio. It is built around projects, like ours, that are made of and using free and open source software. Their system is designed to provide stable crowdfunded income to creators.
PayPal
You can also donate directly via PayPal. You can establish either monthly recurring donations or make one-time donations. Whatever you decide is appreciated!
Get Involved!
Another great way to contribute is to get involved with the project directly! We’re always looking for new volunteers to help with packaging, documentation, tutorials, user support, and MORE! Check out all the ways you can contribute!
Special Thanks
Huge special thanks for this release go to:
Len Ovens: Studio Controls, Ubuntu Studio Installer, Coding
Thomas Ward: Packaging, Ubuntu Core Developer for Ubuntu Studio
Eylul Dogruel: Artwork, Graphics Design, Website Lead
Ross Gammon: Upstream Debian Developer, Guidance
Rik Mills: Kubuntu Council Member, help with Plasma desktop
Mauro Gaspari: Tutorials, promotion, and documentation
Krytarik Raido: IRC Moderator, Mailing List Moderator
Erich Eickmeyer: Project Leader, Packaging, Direction, Treasurer, KDE Plasma Transition
We are aware that, as of this writing, our website is not 100% https. Our website is hosted by Canonical. There is an open ticket to get everything changed-over, but these things take time. There is nothing the Ubuntu Studio Team can do to speed this along or fix it ourselves. If you explicitly type-in https:// to your web browser, you should get the secure SSL version of our site.
Our download links, merchandise stores, and donation links are unaffected by this as they are hosted elsewhere.
