Ubuntu 'Stonking Stingray' beta swims out: Deeper Rust 'oxidization' plus LLM speech-to-text
GNOME 51 is here, and Ubuntu interim releases are getting interesting again
Ubuntu 26.10, also known as "Stonking Stingray," has entered beta testing and is scheduled for release on October 15. While many users may stick with the LTS version, there are notable features in this edition. Canonical has made significant progress in replacing core Unix tools written in C with new Rust replacements, extending to OpenPGP encryption support via the Rust-based Sequoia-PGP.
Another daring feature is the LLM-powered Myna speech-to-text tool, which is not installed by default but can be added with various speech-recognition models. However, configuring this feature proved challenging, with issues such as missing themes causing persistent errors. GNOME 51, the latest GNOME release, is also included in the Ubuntu beta, but its performance has some limitations, such as missing icons and unsupported Wi-Fi networks with WEP encryption.
Despite these issues, the installation process has been improved, making it clearer which control is currently selected with an orange highlight. The new installation program in the 2024 LTS version works well and provides a more streamlined user experience. The beta version of Ubuntu 26.10 requires 13 GB of disk space, with about 9 GB of actual data, including 4 GB of swap space.
Although Linux kernel 7.3 is still in development, its RC5 version is up to date, and the testing ran smoothly without any issues.
Written by urgent.news from The Register's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
