Happy Little Numbats
We are pleased to announce the Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat) Wallpaper Competition! This release is special as it’s an LTS (Long Term Support) version, which means it will receive support for 5 years (up to 10 with Ubuntu Pro!). We need your help to compile an ensemble of truly special wallpapers to celebrate this very regal release.
As in competitions past, we’ll be collecting the submissions here on the Ubuntu Discourse via this thread, but with a few changes this time around…
Mixing things up
We’re shaking things up a bit this year in an effort to encourage a more diverse set of wallpapers. In past competitions, we’ve seen a lot of mascot themed submissions. We love our mascots! But we also love to provide a diverse wallpaper selection to our users.
This year, we’ve created four style categories. When submitting your artwork, please indicate which category your submission falls under. You can only choose one category per submission.
- Mascot Theme
- Digital / Abstract Art
- Nature
- Other
After the submission window closes, members of the community will have a chance to vote on their favorite entries. The top TWO vote earners from each category will be included in the Ubuntu 24.04 Noble Numbat!
The AI Question
We’ve made the decision to disallow the entry of AI generated artwork for this competition. Here’s a few reasons why we’ve made that choice:
- Many popular AI art generation tools use a license that does not align with those that we have chosen for our competition.
- There are active legal debates on the ownership of AI generated artwork and whether it can or can’t be copyrighted.
- Many popular AI models have been shown to include artwork from artists without their consent. We do not believe this aligns with our community’s values and stated mission.
If your submission displays hallmarks of AI generation, you may be asked to provide proof of human creation, which may include a request for source project files.
Competition Rules
If you’d like to join in the wallpaper fun, there are a few other important rules that you need to follow:
- You must own the rights to the image you are submitting, it should be your original work of art.
- The full quality image must be 3840x2160px. PNG and WebP formats are preferable.
- Please ensure you create a high quality image. Avoid image compression artifacts, pixelation, chromatic aberration and noise. Please do not add any watermarks, names or logos. See also these helpful guidelines from GNOME on screen backgrounds.
- The Ubuntu Discourse will automatically compress all posted images. A full resolution submission will be requested of the chosen winners at the conclusion of the competition.
- When posting your image, please include a note that you are licensing the image as CC BY-SA 4.0 or CC BY 4.0. If you do not specify a license we will assume CC BY-SA 4.0. By entering the competition you are agreeing to these license terms.
Important Dates
Make sure you put the following dates into your calendar:
February 9, 2024 (UTC) - Submission Window opens.
March 4, 2024 (UTC) - Submission Window closes and Voting Period begins.
March 18, 2024 (UTC) - Voting Period closes and the winners are announced!
Previous Competitions
Not sure where to start? Check out the results from recent wallpaper competitions:
Go out on a limb—that’s where the fruit is
Participating in the Wallpaper Competition is a fun and easy way to contribute to Ubuntu! You don’t need to be an expert artist of a professional photographer. As a great artist one said, "Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you’re willing to practice, you can do.”
To learn more ways that you can get involved, check out ubuntu.com/community.
