![]() | |
![]() Ubuntu 25.04 "Plucky Puffin" | |
Developer | Canonical Ltd. |
---|---|
OS family | Linux (Unix-like) |
Working state | Current |
Source model | Open-source[1][2] |
Initial release | Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog) / 20 October 2004 |
Latest release | Regular: 25.04[3] ![]() LTS: 24.04.2 LTS[4] ![]() |
Repository | |
Marketing target | Cloud computing, personal computers, servers, supercomputers, IoT |
Available in | More than 55 languages by LoCos |
Update method | Software Updater, Ubuntu Software, apt |
Package manager | GNOME Software, dpkg (APT), Snap – graphical front-end: Snap Store |
Platforms | |
Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux kernel) |
Userland | GNU |
Default user interface | GNOME |
License | Free software + some proprietary device drivers,[8] excluding trademarks |
Official website | ubuntu |
Ubuntu (/ʊˈbʊntuː/ ⓘ uu-BUUN-too)[9] is a Linux distribution derived from Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software.[10][11][12] Ubuntu is officially released in multiple editions: Desktop,[13] Server,[14] and Core[15] for Internet of things devices[16] and robots.[17][18] The operating system is developed by the British company Canonical[19] and a community of other developers, under a meritocratic governance model.[9][20] As of April 2025[update], the latest interim release is 25.04 ("Plucky Puffin"), with the most recent long-term support release being 24.04 ("Noble Numbat").
As with other Linux distributions, all of the editions can run on a computer alone, or in a virtual machine. An upgrade to Ubuntu is released every six months, with long-term support (LTS) releases every two years.[9][21][22] Canonical provides security updates and support for each Ubuntu release, starting from the release date until the release reaches its designated end-of-life (EOL) date.[9][23][24] Canonical generates revenue through the sale of premium services related to the Ubuntu software and donations from those who download Ubuntu directly.[25][26][27]
Ubuntu is named after the Nguni philosophy of ubuntu, "humanity to others", with a connotation of "I am what I am because of who we all are".[9] Since the release of the first version in 2004, Ubuntu has become one of the most popular Linux distributions for general purposes[28][29] and is backed by large online communities like Ask Ubuntu. Numerous community-editions of Ubuntu also exist.[30] It is also popular for cloud computing, with support for OpenStack.[31]
Ubuntu 20.04 Server Edition [...] supports four 64-bit architectures: amd64, arm64, ppc64el, s390x