Big changes are coming to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Nov 5, 2015 14:56 GMT  ·  By

Ubuntu developers have a lot of plans for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and it already seems like it’s going to be a fascinating release. They have just announced that the Brasero and Empathy apps will no longer be included by default, and GNOME Calendar will be implemented.

The topic of default apps in Ubuntu has always been a hot one, but only for the main ones. People get riled up when developers talk about replacing Firefox, for example, but they are not going to be all that interested in the decision of removing Brasero and Empathy from the ISO.

Users might forget that Ubuntu does pack quite a few default app, usually for the most common task. For example, it comes with Baobab (Disk Usage Analyzer) by default or Aisleriot Solitaire, but they are not high-profile apps.

Other apps included by default in Ubuntu are Brasero, for writing CDs and DVDs, and Empathy, which is a messaging app. Both of these projects have been unmaintained for a long time, and this is well known. In fact, there was a discussion inside the GNOME project to also drop Empathy, but that hasn’t happened, at least not yet.

Apps will still be available

One of the topics at the latest Ubuntu Online Summit was the inclusion in the official installation of these apps, and that’s about it. From the looks of it, these two apps are going to be dropped, but users will still be able to find them in the official repos if they really need them.

Another interesting subject that was discussed was the adoption of the GNOME Calendar, and there is no debating that the calendar in Ubuntu needs a serious upgrade. The one from the GNOME stack is head and shoulders above the one in Ubuntu and the developers probably know this already.

You might also want to read about the fact that Ubuntu Software Center is being dropped and that Snappy packages are going to be supported by default in Ubuntu 16.04.

You can check the entire discussion below, or you can jump to the 21.40 mark for specific details.