Ing. Calogero Bono
Canonical has announced that development of Ubuntu Core Desktop has resumed, with a dedicated team. The news comes from Jon Seager, the company's VP of Engineering. The project, previewed in 2023, had stalled. It matters because Canonical describes it as the foundation that will, over time, become the default experience of Ubuntu Desktop.
A few terms before we get into the facts. An immutable distribution has a base system that the user does not modify directly, so it is harder to break. A snap is a software package from Canonical that includes its dependencies. Strict confinement isolates the app from the rest of the system, while classic confinement gives it more freedom. Proton is Valve's compatibility layer for running Windows games on Linux.
What is Ubuntu Core Desktop?
According to the official source, it is Canonical's immutable and attestable Linux desktop, not yet released. It builds on Ubuntu Core, the immutable distribution used for almost ten years in commercial IoT, embedded and robotics platforms.
The difference lies in the architecture. Everything is a snap, including the bootloader, kernel, desktop environment, services and applications. Canonical promises a desktop that is harder to break, easier to recover and with more control over the data apps can access.
The 2023 preview, Seager admits, did not measure up. It bundled much of the desktop into a single alternative base snap, monolithic, which contained GDM, GNOME and, in some versions, even Firefox. Separating those components is a priority.
What are the three initial use cases?
The browser-centric machine
For Seager, this is the easiest and quickest case to deliver. Firefox and Chromium have been distributed as snaps in Ubuntu for years, and work is underway on permissions for controlled access to the camera and microphone.
The developer workstation
This is where Canonical Workshop comes in. It offers isolated, customized development environments and relies on LXD. With its extension for Visual Studio Code, Seager says, most developers have what they need. Today Workshop is a classic snap, but Canonical reports promising results for moving to strict confinement in the coming weeks. Seager also ties the topic to isolating coding agents, to protect credentials and sensitive files.
If you already work with containers and isolated environments, you may be interested in our piece on Docker with Laravel.
The gaming machine
Canonical maintains the Steam snap, which uses strict confinement. The goal is a gaming stack, graphics included, that can be updated independently. Seager admits the Steam snap has received less attention than it should have over the past two years, due to a lack of resources.
What are the technical challenges?
The first is app availability. Ubuntu Core requires everything to be a strictly confined snap. In the Snap Store, Seager writes, there are over 11,000 snaps, most of them compatible with Ubuntu Core. The others, particularly classic ones, need work. Visual Studio Code is one of them.
Seager's preferred idea is to run graphical apps inside a Workshop while displaying their windows on the host desktop, much like WSLg does. For apt, nix, flatpak and other package managers, the advice will be to use virtualization and containerization.
The second challenge is modularizing the desktop, with clear interfaces between the display manager, desktop environment, media servers and networking. OMG! Ubuntu adds that KDE Plasma will also be available and talks about an "app gap" problem.
When is it coming?
Again according to OMG! Ubuntu, builds will be available before the 27.04 release next year, and Seager says the classic Deb-based Ubuntu desktop is not going away. The Register headlines that Ubuntu 27.04 could bring a preview, and the conditional matters.
Limits to know
There is still no released version and no firm date. The official source we have is a vision and roadmap post, not a product to try. The text we have is also cut off in the part about the modular architecture, so we cannot report every detail.
Open questions remain – strict confinement for Workshop, support for classic apps, and the stability of the gaming stack on different hardware. Seager himself mentions greater engineering complexity.
What changes for those who work with digital tech
For now, nothing immediate. The Deb desktop stays. But the direction is clear, and developers will need to get used to working inside isolated environments rather than directly on the machine.
- Developers will have to think in terms of containers and sandboxes, an approach that reduces differences between machines.
- Those who distribute Linux software will need to evaluate the strictly confined snap format.
- Those who manage fleets of workstations may look with interest at a system that is easier to recover and verify.
On permissions and security, it helps to review the basics, for example with Linux permissions. For servers, the practices of managed hosting with security updates remain valid.
Our take
The idea is solid on paper. A system in which the kernel and bootloader can be updated and rolled back like apps solves real problems. But Canonical starts from an awkward position. The project stalled for two years, and the admission about scarce resources is honest, but it is not reassuring.
The real knot is the ecosystem. A desktop that requires strictly confined apps lives or dies by software availability. Running classic apps inside a Workshop is clever, but it shifts the complexity onto the user. If the experience is not smooth, many will stay on the traditional desktop. We will wait to see real builds before passing judgment.
Frequently asked questions
Does Ubuntu Core Desktop replace Ubuntu Desktop?
Not right away. Canonical says it will become the default experience over time, but according to OMG! Ubuntu the classic Deb-based desktop is not going away.
Can you try it already?
Not in a released version. A preview existed in 2023, but development had stopped. It has now resumed with a dedicated team.
When will the builds arrive?
Before Ubuntu 27.04, expected next year according to OMG! Ubuntu. The Register talks about a possible preview, so the timing is not guaranteed.
What does immutable mean?
It means the base system is not modified directly by the user. In Ubuntu Core everything is a snap, from the kernel to the apps, and the system is easier to recover.
Will classic apps work?
Not directly. Visual Studio Code, for example, does not run on Ubuntu Core. Seager's preferred idea is to run them in a Workshop and display their windows on the desktop.
What to watch in the coming months for Ubuntu Core Desktop
The key milestone will be seeing the first daily builds and the strict confinement of Workshop.
- Follow the announcement of the first builds and try them in a virtual machine, not on your work computer.
- Check whether the tools you use every day are available as strictly confined snaps.
- If you develop software, try isolated environments now, for example with Linux monitoring to understand how resources behave.
