Ubuntu

Last reviewed on 2026-05-13 Reference

Quick facts

Type: Debian-based, general-purpose Linux distribution.
Maintainer: Canonical Ltd, with a large volunteer community.
Package manager: apt (plus the Canonical-specific snap).
Default desktop: GNOME on the main Desktop edition; other official editions use KDE Plasma, Xfce, MATE and several alternatives.
Release cycle: Interim releases every six months; long-term-support (LTS) releases every two years.

Who Ubuntu is for

Ubuntu is the most widely-installed desktop Linux distribution and a common server choice. It suits:

People new to Linux who want something that mostly works out of the box.
Developers who want a Debian-family system with newer packages than Debian stable provides.
Cloud and server deployments where Canonical's LTS support window is useful.
Users who want commercial support available as an option (through Ubuntu Pro) without being required.

It suits less well if you want to follow the absolute latest upstream releases (Fedora or Arch will get you there faster) or if you want a strictly community-run distribution (Debian is the obvious choice in that case).

Installing Ubuntu

How to install Ubuntu LTS

The step-by-step installation guide covers downloading and verifying the ISO, creating bootable media, the installer flow itself (including dual-boot with Windows and optional disk encryption), and a sensible post-install checklist. It's the most-read page on the site and is reviewed periodically against the current LTS release.

Read the installation guide

Day-to-day reference

A few quick reminders that apply across Ubuntu releases:

Updating

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt full-upgrade

Then reboot if a new kernel was installed.

Adding a PPA

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:<owner>/<repo>
sudo apt update

Personal Package Archives (PPAs) are convenient but trust-on-first-use. Stick to PPAs from upstream projects you already trust.

Snap and Flatpak

Snap is preinstalled and a few default applications (such as Firefox on recent releases) are delivered as snaps. Flatpak is not installed by default but can be added with sudo apt install flatpak gnome-software-plugin-flatpak and then configured to use Flathub.

Going deeper

For an overview of the Ubuntu project itself — Canonical, the release schedule, the official editions and flavours, the relationship to Debian — see the Ubuntu project overview.

For broader Linux context:

Comparing Linux distributions — how Ubuntu compares to Debian, Fedora and Arch.
Essential Linux commands — reference for the everyday command-line tools that come preinstalled.
Linux security overview — how to read Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) in practice.
Fix Wi-Fi on Linux — a distro-agnostic troubleshooting walkthrough that applies to Ubuntu too.

Official Ubuntu resources

ubuntu.com — downloads, documentation, release notes.
Ubuntu Help — the official documentation site.
Ubuntu Discourse — release announcements and project discussion.
Ask Ubuntu — community Q&A on Stack Exchange.
Ubuntu Security Notices — authoritative security advisories.

Ubuntu is a trademark of Canonical Ltd. This page is not affiliated with Canonical.