Ubuntu is developing a new Ubuntu Desktop Installer

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Canonical Design Team and Ubuntu Desktop Team are working together to develop a new installation program for the Ubuntu Desktop Installer. The installer will take full advantage of technologies such as Flutter (bring Flutter applications to Linux), Curtin (designed to quickly install Ubuntu), and Subiquity (Ubuntu Server installer and setup tool).

The desktop image file currently being used by Ubuntu still uses the Ubiquity-based installer. Ubiquity was first launched in 2010. At that time, it had good functionality and moderate speed. As time goes by, Ubiquity is old And the problems caused by the complex code base are exposed. Therefore, the development of a leaner, faster, and more modern alternative to Ubiquity is on the agenda.

Martin Wimpress, Director of Ubuntu Desktop, said that his team evaluated many alternative installers and toolkits on the market, and finally decided that bringing a consistent installation experience for different users is the best solution because it can be adapted to all Ubuntu product lines And use the Yaru design language of Ubuntu.

In addition, restarting the project can give developers the opportunity to provide all Ubuntu users across the desktop, enterprise, and server with the features they want, need, and expect (for example, ZFS support, repair options, GRUB recovery, and advanced partitioning, etc.).

The Ubiquity-based installer will not disappear immediately. The Ubuntu 21.04 installer that will be released in April this year will still use Ubiquity and will continue to be kept in the Ubuntu archive in the future for users and official use.

The Ubuntu team said:

We have started working on the new desktop installer, and plan to have a preliminary version ready for testing in the 21.10 release; due in October 2021. This paves the way to transitioning to the new installer for the next LTS release, which will be 22.04, due for release in April 2022.

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