Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
This release of Xubuntu 23.04 finds us right in the middle of the release cycle, this being the middle of three interim releases leading to the next Long Term Support (LTS) version.
This second interim release is much like the first one, in that it incorporates only some small changes. This leads me to believe that the next LTS version, Xubuntu 24.04 LTS, due out in April 2024, will not be greatly different from the last LTS and overall that is a good thing!
Xubuntu 23.04 is the 35th version of Xubuntu and is supported for nine months, until January, 2024.
Installation
I downloaded the Xubuntu 23.04 ISO from the official source by BitTorrent and carried out an SHA256 sum check on it to confirm the file was uncorrupted.
Xubuntu 23.04 is 3.0 GB in size which is slightly bigger than the last release which was 2.8 GB. Xubuntu is growing in size over time, but not as quickly as Ubuntu itself has been, which reached 4.9 GB in the 23.04 release.
Dropping Xubuntu 23.04 onto a USB key equipped with Ventoy 1.0.91 allowed me to boot it up for testing. Ventoy does all the hard work of unpacking the ISO and booting to the desktop. It is a real boon for anyone distro-hopping, doing some testing, or just writing reviews!
System requirements
The recommended system requirements for Xubuntu 23.04 have not changed since 21.04 and remain:
1.5 GHz dual core processor 2 GB RAM 20 GB of hard-drive space
That 2 GB of RAM will quickly be eaten up by Firefox all by itself with only a few tabs open and so 8 GB of RAM is probably a more realistic minimum for decent performance, here in 2023. More RAM always makes life better!
New
Xubuntu 23.04 uses the Xfce 4.18 desktop, replacing Xfce 4.16 (plus a few parts from 4.17) in Xubuntu 22.10. Xfce 4.18 brings some improvements to the Thunar file manager including image preview, undo/redo, file highlights and recursive search.
Mainstream Ubuntu switched audio controllers from PulseAudio to PipeWire in Ubuntu 22.10 and Xubuntu now follows that too, with PipeWire, using WirePlumber as its modular session policy manager.
The whole Ubuntu family of distributions, including Xubuntu 23.04, have now dropped default support for FlatPak as a method for installing applications, in favor of debs and snaps. FlatPak is still available, though, and can be installed from the command line, if needed.
This Xubuntu release also brings status for Xubuntu Minimal as “an officially supported subproject”. It has been around for the past eight years under the unofficial name of Xubuntu Core, as a community-supported project. Xubuntu Minimal provides a very stripped down version of Xubuntu with only the Xfce desktop, a few components and the Xubuntu look and feel files. It comes with a terminal emulator, the Thunar file manager, system settings, the Snap package manager, a screenshot tool and not a lot more. Anything else you want, you will have to add on your own. Overall this is a good concept for experienced users, as it gives them the chance to add only what they need and not have to spend time removing unwanted applications to declutter their installation and its menus. The official Xubuntu Minimal 23.04 download provided is 1.7 GB, compared to 3.0 GB for the full version.
Settings
This version comes with yet another inoffensive blue wallpaper. There are also 22 other wallpapers provided, many of which are from past Xubuntu releases. Of note, despite this release being codenamed Lunar Lobster, unlike most other Ubuntu flavors, none of the wallpapers have a lobster on them so the Xubuntu developers get credit for avoiding that cliché.
Xubuntu 23.04 retains Greybird as the default window color scheme. There are still six window themes provided: Adwaita, Adwaita-dark, Greybird, Greybird-dark, High Contrast and Numix.
There is also a choice of eight icon themes, the same as in the last release, with Elementary Xfce Darker as the default.
Just like all the Xubuntu releases over the past nine years since 14.04 LTS, this one has the Whisker Menu as its menu system. Whisker is the main feature that makes Xubuntu distinctive from the other Ubuntu flavors and, uniquely, it can even be resized.
Applications
Some of the applications included with Xubuntu 23.04 are:
Atril 1.26.0 PDF viewer* CUPS 2.4.2 printing system* Catfish 4.16.4 desktop search* Firefox 111.0.1 web browser GIMP 2.10.34 graphics editor Gnome Disk Utility 44.0disk space and health monitor Gnome Disk Usage Analyzer 44.0 (baobab) disk display Gnome Software 44.0 package management system Gparted 1.3.1 partition editor* Hexchat 2.16.1 IRC client* LibreOffice 7.5.2 office suite Mousepad 0.5.10 text editor* Parole 4.18.0 media player Pipewire 0.3.65 audio controller Ristretto 0.12.4 image viewer Rhythmbox 3.4.6 music player* Document Scanner 44.0 (simple-scan) scanning utility Software Updater 23.04.2 (update-manager) software update manager Synaptic 0.91.3 package management system Thunar 4.18.4 file manager Thunderbird 102.10.0 email client Transmission 3.00 BitTorrent client* Wget 1.21.3 command line webpage downloader* Xfburn 0.6.2 CD/DVD burner* Xfce4 Panel 4.18.2 desktop panel Xfce4 Power Manager 4.18.1 system power manager * indicates same application version as used in Xubuntu 22.10 supplied as a snap, so version depends on the upstream package manager
There have been no changes to the default list of applications included in this release, just some updated versions, although, as the asterisks show, not that many!
As with all the recent Xubuntu releases, there is no default webcam or video editing application, although there are several in the repositories that can be installed. Xubuntu remains unique in the Ubuntu family in providing the GIMP image editor as part of the default set of applications.
Xubuntu is also one of the few Ubuntu flavors to still retain a CD/DVD burner application by default, too. It has been many years since new computers came with those installed so that says something about the perceived user base and their hardware!
Xubuntu 23.04 includes LibreOffice 7.5. which is only lacking only LibreOffice Base, the database application, which is probably the least used LibreOffice component. It can easily be installed from the repositories, if required.
Conclusions
Xubuntu 23.04 is a very solid release that looks good and works well. In fact, there is not much to find fault with here and any faults are probably omitted from the newly official Xubuntu Minimal version anyway.
The small number of updates and changes incorporated in 23.04 tend to point to the next interim release, Xubuntu 23.10, due out on 12 October, 2023, also having only a few tweaks. Likewise the April 2024 LTS release, which will be the culmination of this development cycle, is not expected to be hugely different from the last LTS. Every time I talk to Xubuntu users, they seem to like the way it works and don’t see a need for big changes, so only making small adjustments will keep the users happy.
External links
Official website: https://xubuntu.org/