As of January 25, 2024, all flavors of Ubuntu 23.04, including Edubuntu 23.04, codenamed “Lunar Lobster”, have reached end-of-life (EOL). There will be no more updates of any kind, including security updates, for this release of Ubuntu.
If you have not already done so and are running Edubuntu 23.04, please upgrade to Edubuntu 23.10 via the “Software Updates” tool, which should prompt you that a new release of Edubuntu (or Ubuntu) is available.
No single release of any operating system can be supported indefinitely, and Edubuntu has no exception to this rule.
Regular Ubuntu releases, meaning those that are between the Long-Term Support releases, are supported for 9 months and users are expected to upgrade after every release with a 3-month buffer following each release.
Long-Term Support releases are identified by an even numbered year-of-release and a month-of-release of April (04). Hence, the most recent Long-Term Support release is 22.04 (YY.MM = 2022.April), and the next Long-Term Support release will be 24.04 (2024.April). LTS releases for official Ubuntu flavors (not Desktop or Server which are supported for five years) are three years, meaning LTS users are expected to upgrade after every LTS release with a one-year buffer.
We have great things coming for Edubuntu 24.04 LTS, and we are hard at work. Some new planned features include:
- an all-new installer based on the new Ubuntu Desktop Installer
- a (true) minimal install option
- a new metapackage with tools for teachers
- a new metapackage with music education packages
Upgrading to Edubuntu 23.10 is the first step toward this, and while Edubuntu 23.04 was our first release in 9 years, Edubuntu 24.04 LTS will be our first long-term support release in 10 years!