Ubuntu 25.10 “Questing Quokka” Released: Flatpak Broken by AppArmor Bug After Wayland Switch
Canonical has unveiled the interim release of its Ubuntu distribution, version 25.10, bearing the codename Questing Quokka. Though not classified as an LTS edition, this release introduces several innovations that will form the foundation of the forthcoming long-term version, 26.04. Among the key enhancements are the adoption of new system utilities, the transition to Wayland as the default display protocol, an experimental implementation of full-disk encryption with TPM support, and refinements to the boot process across various architectures.
The GNOME edition now ships with version 49, operating exclusively on Wayland. Native X11 support has been removed, though XWayland components are installed automatically, ensuring seamless execution of legacy X applications without user intervention. A similar structure has been implemented in Kubuntu 25.10, which features Plasma 6.4. Other Ubuntu variants — including Budgie — continue to support X.org, though the Budgie team has already announced plans to migrate to Wayland in the next release. Users who prefer to run GNOME or Plasma sessions under X11 may still do so, as the relevant packages remain available in the repositories.
Following the release, a critical issue emerged: Flatpak ceased functioning due to a failure in the AppArmor security framework triggered by the fusermount3 command. Although Flatpak is not part of Ubuntu’s default installation nor its official variants, it is widely used in derivative distributions such as Linux Mint, Zorin OS, Elementary, and Anduin.
Canonical has already begun developing a fix, with a temporary workaround available in the meantime. It is worth noting that AppArmor is employed not only by Ubuntu but also by Debian, while Red Hat–based distributions typically rely on SELinux. Notably, openSUSE Leap 16 recently abandoned AppArmor in favor of SELinux.
Ubuntu 25.10 also marks a major shift away from the traditional coreutils suite toward Rust-rewritten utilities, including sudo. The initialization components have likewise been updated: initramfs is now generated using dracut instead of the legacy initramfs-tools package. These changes may seem subtle at first glance but could affect custom system configurations — precisely why they are being introduced in an interim release.
On the Raspberry Pi platform, the new build introduces an A/B boot scheme and focuses on minimal installations. Additionally, the ARM64 architecture now employs a new UEFI bootloader called stubble, which brings Secure Boot support to select Snapdragon-based devices. For RISC-V, version 25.10 now requires the RVA23S64 profile, restricting execution to QEMU emulation, while version 24.04.3 remains the latest supported release for nine existing boards.
The Ubuntu Unity edition has not received a Questing Quokka release. Development of this variant has been suspended, and its future remains uncertain.
The ISO image for the GNOME edition weighs 5.7 GB, with idle RAM usage around 1.7 GB and a disk footprint of approximately 7 GB. This increase in size applies only to the flagship edition; other variants remain more lightweight. Questing Quokka will be supported until July 2026, and users of the previous Plucky Puffin release are encouraged to upgrade, as its support period expires in January.
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