Ubuntu 26.10 launches with Linux 7.3, GNOME 51 and nine months of updates

Canonical released Ubuntu 26.10, codenamed “Stonking Stingray,” on October 15, with desktop and server images available to download. The interim release brings GNOME 51 and a Linux 7.3 kernel, completes Ubuntu’s move to Rust-based coreutils, and switches APT signature verification to Sequoia OpenPGP with post-quantum-ready support, according to Canonical’s [release announcement](https://canonical.com/blog/canonical-releases-ubuntu-26-10-stonking-stingray). There is one detail behind the kernel headline: Ubuntu’s [release notes](https://documentation.ubuntu.com/release-notes/26.10/) identify the shipped package as 7.3.0-9.9, based on upstream Linux 7.3-rc6 because the final upstream kernel was not ready at Ubuntu’s release freeze. So the “7.3” label does not mean the image shipped with the final upstream 7.3 kernel. Ubuntu 26.10 is a six-month interim version, not an LTS. Canonical’s release cycle gives it nine months of updates, through July 2027. That makes it the faster route to newer hardware support and desktop changes, while 26.04 LTS remains the longer-support option. [Phoronix’s release coverage](https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-26.10-Released) independently confirms the main desktop and kernel changes. Download: https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop ~linux