Linux: Ubuntu 23.04 reaches end of support, upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 recommended

Releases of Canonical's Ubuntu Linux distribution are divided into short-term releases, such as Ubuntu 23.04, which receive updates for 9 months, and long-term support (LTS) releases, which are supported by the vendor for at least 5 years. Ubuntu 23.04 codenamed "Lunar Lobster" has reached the end of support as of today, 25 January 2024, and an upgrade is recommended.

Upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 to receive the latest security updates

Nine months after the release of Ubuntu 23.04 on 20 April 2023, support for this Linux distribution from the UK's Canonical will end. This means that Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" will no longer receive security updates and will no longer be protected from malicious attacks by third parties.

If you are still running Ubuntu 23.04 on your notebook or PC, you should upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 as soon as possible, as it has already been released in October 2023. In addition to security updates until mid-July 2024, Ubuntu 23.10 "Mantic Minotaur" will ship with the latest GNOME 45 desktop instead of GNOME 44 on Ubuntu 23.04 and Linux kernel 6.5 instead of kernel 6.2.

The upgrade to Ubuntu 23.04 can be started using either Canonical's software updater or the package management tool "apt" in the terminal. To upgrade via the Linux console, simply type "sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade" and confirm with your user password.

In April this year, Ubuntu 24.04 will be released as a long-term support (LTS) release, which then can be upgraded at the time of release. Those who do not want to update their distribution regularly can theoretically use Ubuntu 24.04 LTS until 2029.