After Ubuntu 23.10 Mantic Minotaur was released, the Ubuntu team started development of the next version of Ubuntu, called Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Noble Numbat. Since then, new versions of software were being introduced with new features and bug fixes.
However, like all the other development schedules for all the Ubuntu versions while they’re in development, the feature freezes were to be expected in the last week of the last three months. The following schedule focuses on the current month, which explains what will happen:
| April 2024 | When | Events |
| 24 | April 01 (Monday) | Beta Freeze, Hardware Enablement Freeze |
| April 04 | Beta (Mandatory) | |
| 25 | April 11 | Kernel Freeze, Non Language Pack Translation Deadline |
| 26 | April 18 | Final Freeze, Release Candidate, Language Pack Translation Deadline |
| 27 | April 25 | Final Release |
April 11
On April 11, the kernel freeze starts for this version of Ubuntu, which means that no more kernel updates are being accepted. The Ubuntu team explains that they “require several lockstep actions which must be folded into the CD building process,” which provides the point that the latest kernel will be shipped in the final release.
Some of the application translations can’t be updated using the language pack updates at this current time, and, as a result, are given an earlier deadline to allow the developers to integrate non-language-pack translations to these packages that will be listed after the next paragraph.
In general, any non-language-pack translations that are proposed after this deadline are not going to enter the final release. However, this may be exempted from the packages that has a different workflow from what is expected, in which the new translations that are proposed after the deadline will be included.
The following packages are affected by this freeze and will no longer accept new localizations:
- Debian installer
- Ubiquity
- The Ubiquity Slideshow
- The bootloader
- ubuntu-release-upgrader
- The debconf template
- Package description translations.
- Translations included in the source packages
- Language selector
- Ubuntu Docs
- Xubuntu Docs
Release Candidate Day
Ubuntu will also enter the final freeze in preparation for the final release. This means that each bug fix will have to be manually reviewed and accepted by the release team. This is to ensure that nothing gets messed up days prior to the release.
Very close to release, all the new proposals of packages will have to be uploaded to the -proposed repository which will then be cherry picked-from. This cherry-pick will then be used to allow such packages into the release pockets if possible. If such packages didn’t make it to the release, they will become the candidates for the next update.
All of the translations for the final release of this version of Ubuntu will stop getting updates after April 18, and any new localizations for any package will have to be done after the final release. All of the translations that were done until this freeze “will be included in the final release’s language packs.”
For example, if you made translation A before the deadline, and made another translation B after the deadline for package X, then translation A will be included in the initial version of package X which will be shipped with the release and translation B will be included to an update for package X which will be built with the updates to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
During the week leading up to the final release, the images produced are all considered release candidates.
The final week of the new version development will take place starting on April 18. Every single image produced during this week will be considered release candidates, better described as Daily Release Candidates. This period allows many testing to take place now that everything is frozen so that bugs can be caught before they barge in the final release.
However, the bugs can be very critical to the point that the release will be delayed to give time for developers of an affected package to debug the problem and fix it. Such bugs must be caught and fixed. For example,
- System crash on startup,
- Desktop crash on login,
- Login manager crash on startup,
- Severe memory corruption,
- Severe filesystem corruption,
- …and other catastrophical bugs.
Release Day
In April 25, as soon as all the bugs are caught and fixed, there will be an official release of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Noble Numat.
Are you ready?
No major package upgrades were also planned for this month. This implies that the release will, hopefully, be stable.
Enjoy!
Aptivi 
Thoughts?