2020 is already in the final stretch (luckily), and 2021 promises to be a better year than the previous one in many ways, although the truth is that this is not exactly complicated. This year has been very busy for all operating systems, but there is one in particular that has received as many joys as dislikes: Ubuntu. This is one of the best known and most used Linux distros thanks to its ease of use and its excellent community, being one of the ones that best manages to bring the ” Linux experience ” to users.
Although it pains many to admit it, Canonical has Ubuntu a bit neglected. The company is focusing much more on the development of Cloud Computing technologies than on its desktop operating system. After all, that’s what makes the company money. This has made Ubuntu no longer the Linux distro that most attracted the attention of users, becoming the fifth in recent years.
Ubuntu achievements in 2020
A new LTS that meh
2020, as planned, has left us a new LTS of this operating system: Ubuntu 20.04. This LTS version will have support (for security patches) for 5 years, allowing users to stay on it without having to update every 9 months as with normal editions.
It is not a great milestone, since the 2020 editions do not bring great changes compared to the 2019 or 2018 versions (the truth is that Canonical has not innovated in its OS for a long time), but it never hurts to have updated versions.
Raspberry Pi support
Another important milestone for Ubuntu this year is that it has finally released an official version for the Raspberry Pi . It is not what many of us expected to see, since this edition is only an edition of Ubuntu Server adapted for the micro-computer, not the desktop Ubuntu that we all know, but at least, finally, we can enjoy this Linux on this device . Ubuntu for the Raspberry Pi first arrived alongside 20.04, although it wasn’t until 20.10 that full support for the microcomputer was achieved.
SNAP packages keep growing
Snap packages want to change the way you install and manage Linux applications. This application format is similar to that of mobile apps, or Windows, and the aim is to end the problems of library dependencies. Little by little, the number of applications compiled within this format is greater and, although there are distros (like Mint) that refuse to adopt it, users are liking it a lot. It is not the most “Linux” that exists, but it does simplify its operation a lot.
What we hope to see in this Linux in 2021
2021 doesn’t look like a revolutionary year for Ubuntu. Canonical still does not have its desktop operating system in its sights, so the two updates that we will see this next year (21.04 and 21.10) will be minor updates, with hardly any changes, that will not be worth it, just as it is not. has deserved 20.10.
A new development model for Ubuntu
Maintaining a development system like the one offered by Canonical in the middle of the year 2021 does not make sense. Updates every 6 months with a 9-month support? We have gone crazy. Windows 10, although it is also updated every 6 months (so that no one comes to “remember it”), offers 18-month support for each version. The Ubuntu development model forces us either to use an “old” version, the LTS, or to go through each and every one of the new versions. Or else, we will have problems.
We hope that 2021 will be a year of reflection and Canonical finally realizes that what Ubuntu needs to return to its glory days is a Rolling Release development model. Or, if you don’t like the concept, adopt something akin to Debian, where the stable branch has closed development, while the “testing” branch is Rolling Release.
Higher bet on games
Linux is not for playing games, people have always said. But when we run a game in this operating system it achieves a performance superior to that of Windows. And that the drivers leave much to be desired.
Steam, for its part, is working very hard to boost the game on Linux , both with native games and through Steam Play, Wine and similar tools. However Canonical does nothing more than hinder Valve by eliminating components such as 32-bit libraries. It is true that 32-bit applications are destined to disappear. However, there are many games that depend on them. Removing them from Ubuntu would be a serious blow to gaming, and then we complain that people continue to use Windows to play …
Ubuntu on Windows: a two in one
Windows 10 has a feature called WSL, or Windows Subsystem for Linux . Thanks to him, and to Hyper-V, we can install any Linux system within Windows 10, which allows us to have the best of both systems. Ubuntu, for example, is one of the distros that we can install from the Microsoft Store, but it is not one of the best.
Although Microsoft is still working on enabling graphics and desktops within WSL2, there are other distros that have already found a way to do it. Kali Linux, for example, has done it, and allows us to run any app with a GUI as if it were a why not Ubuntu?
