14 DAY TRIAL // With Ubuntu 16.10 being in development and all that, it usually gets at least a few updated packages every 24 hours, and today, September 21, 2016, we were surprised to see that the Linux 4.8 kernel packages have finally landed.
The fact of the matter is that the Ubuntu developers have been working on rebasing the Linux kernel of Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak) on the upcoming Linux 4.8 kernel series, which is currently in development too, and the final release is expected to hit the streets later this month or on October 2, 2016.
Until today, Ubuntu 16.10 shipped with the long-term supported Linux 4.4 kernel from the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system, but patched with some of the goodies from the now deprecated Linux 4.6 kernel series. The Ubuntu devs briefly attempted to rebase Yakkety's kernel on the Linux 4.7 branch too.
However, considering they set in stone that the final release of Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak) would be powered by Linux kernel 4.8, they decided to wait for it to get more mature and closer to a final version before pushing it to the main, stable repositories for early adopters to upgrade.
Ubuntu 16.10 Final Beta to arrive on September 22
Tomorrow, September 22, 2016, Canonical will release the Final Beta build of the Ubuntu 16.10 operating system, which in fact is the first and only Beta for Ubuntu and the Beta 2 milestone for some of the opt-in flavors, such as Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu GNOME, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin, and Ubuntu Studio.
As you might know, the GNOME 3.22 desktop environment has been officially released today, and it looks like Ubuntu 16.10 is already getting some of the applications and core components from the GNOME 3.22 Stack, but many remain based on the previous one, namely GNOME 3.20.2. More details about Ubuntu 16.10 Final Beta tomorrow!
