Last year Canonical committed to shipping the latest upstream Linux kernel versions in new Ubuntu releases compared to their more conservative choices in prior releases that didn’t always align nicely for the latest Linux kernel upstream. Back in December they confirmed Ubuntu 26.04 plans for Linux 6.20~7.0 and their plans remain that way, even if it means the stable Linux 6.20~7.0 stable release won’t be officially out quite in time for the initial ISO release.
Due to the end of year holidays, the current Linux 6.19 cycle is to be extended by one week. Rather than releasing this Sunday following last week’s v6.19-rc7 release, v6.19-rc8 is planned for peace of mind given the holidays. Linux 6.19 stable will then be out 8 February but that places additional pressure on the Linux 6.20~7.0 kernel cycle and Canonical’s plans for officially shipping Ubuntu 26.04 LTS on 23 April.
If no -rc8 is needed next cycle, Linux 6.20 (or more than likely to be called Linux 7.0) will be out on 12 April. But if an extra release candidate is needed this next kernel cycle, the stable kernel will be out on 19 April. That is days past the final freeze for Ubuntu 26.04 set to happen on 16 April. The official kernel freeze is also marked for 9 April.
Even with the tight timing, Kleber Souza of the Canonical Kernel Team reaffirmed their commitment for shipping this up-to-date kernel version in April with Ubuntu 26.04. Souza noted that given the competing schedules it may mean a day-0 stable release update (SRU) in order to send down that final non-RC stable kernel version:
“Similarly to what we delivered for the [25.10] Questing Quokka release, the Canonical Kernel Team plans to continue rebasing the Ubuntu Kernel on the upstream RCs and final releases even after the Kernel Freeze milestone, to quickly provide users with kernel updates based on the final upstream release. We’re calling this update a “Day-0 SRU,” aiming to release it before the regular SRU cadence starts. Our goal is to deliver this update as soon as possible after the 26.04 final release; however, we cannot commit to a specific date at this moment.”
The details were shared today in this Ubuntu Discourse post.
