14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu developers have updated the Linux kernel for the 15.04 branch (Vivid Vervet) and it's now ready in the official repositories.
Ubuntu 15.04 development cycle is coming to an end and that means that the Linux kernel is probably the last package that will get updates at the last moment. The kernel freeze is only four weeks away and the official launch is scheduled for April 23, so the difference between the two dates is pretty small.
The Linux kernel is one of the most important packages in a distribution and Canonical always makes sure that is has the latest stable version installed. They don't ship with the exact versions that can be found upstream and they often had to continue the development of a kernel after it officially reached EOL on the regular channels.
From the looks of it, Linux kernel 3.19 is going to be the default one implemented in Ubuntu 15.04, but it's not sure if it's going to survive the nine months of support of the Ubuntu distro. If that happens, Canonical will pick up the kernel where it was left off by the initial maintainers.
Linux kernel 3.19 is a good choice
As it stands right now, the 3.19 branch of the kernel is the most advanced stable iteration that you can find, but it already had a couple of updates. These updates will most likely land in Ubuntu in the following weeks.
"We have rebased our Vivid kernel to the first upstream stable release and uploaded, ie. 3.19.0-8.8. Please test and let us results once it's available. This is also a reminder that kernel freeze for Vivid is ~4wks Apr 9. If you have any patches which need to land for please make sure to submit those sooner rather than later," said Canonical's Joseph Salisbury.
You can download the Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) daily build from Softpedia and give it a spin. It's still under development, but it's pretty stable.