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EDITOR'S PICK | 123,379 views | Oct 17, 2019, 6:05 am

Ubuntu 19.10 Has Two Outstanding New Features For Linux

Users
Jason Evangelho Senior Contributor
Games
I cover the fascinating worlds of Linux & consumer PC hardware.

Ubuntu 19.10 officially launches today, and if this release is any indication, next year’s Ubuntu
20.04 LTS “Focal Fossa” is going to be one outstanding desktop Linux distribution. But let’s
not dismiss the OS you can actually install today. What makes 19.10 so special to me
personally? ZFS and vastly improved hardware support.

Ubuntu 19.10′s cute little Ermine CANONICAL

#1: GPU + Hardware Support

Ubuntu 19.10 delivers a pair of welcome advancements for anyone using an Nvidia GPU, and
anyone rocking newer 7nm Navi graphics cards from AMD, such as the Radeon 5700 XT.

First is something I’ve been calling for due to the more performant nature of the proprietary
Nvidia graphics driver: it’s right on the Ubuntu 19.10 ISO now, and you can choose to install it
over the open source Nouveau driver, which is particularly useful if you want to play games.

Open source is always preferred, but the reality is that Nvidia users looking for well-rounded
graphics acceleration are forced to choose the proprietary route. Having this driver on the ISO
reduces user friction, and makes onboarding new Linux users much easier!

Read more about the open source versus proprietary driver situation in my extensive Linux
Gaming Report:

The Linux Mint 19.2 Gaming Report: Promising But Room For Improvement
 FORBES Jason Evangelho

Second is the inclusion of Linux Kernel 5.3 which introduces compatibility for a ton of new
hardware, including 3rd-generation Ryzen CPU motherboards and associated Intel Wireless
devices, and the latest 7nm GPUs from AMD.

While not as bleeding edge as a rolling release distro like Arch, Ubuntu 19.10 will solve a lot of
issues for early adopters.

#2: ZFS File System Support

Ubuntu 19.10 ships with experimental (i.e. “don’t run this on your production machine unless
you like to live dangerously”) ZFS file system support, and it’s a precursor to a more mature
implementation we’ll see in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and eventually Ubuntu Server.

To the best of my knowledge, Ubuntu is the first mainstream Linux distribution to ship ZFS right
on the installer, and it looks promising. Why? Obviously there’s the perk of preventing data loss
(or simply reversing something that borked your system), but the way it handles system
snapshots is brilliant.

Ubuntu 19.10 has an option to use ZFS right out of... [+]
the box JASON EVANGELHO

Imagine that your current installation consumes 800GB of space and you’re using a 1TB drive.
When you take your initial system snapshot, you’ll still have that ~200GB free. But as you
make changes, (let’s say you remove an app or accidentally delete a local Github repo), the
snapshot itself will now use up only the space that was carved out for that app or that repo
folder.

The process of taking snapshots and executing rollbacks is a command-line driven affair for
now. And since ZFS is new on my radar, I’m still wrapping my head around it. But Ars
Technica has a wonderfully detailed deep-dive on it using today’s Ubuntu 19.10 release as an
example. It’s an enlightening read.

One other thing to call out is that – at least for the time being – ZFS I/O performance isn’t going
to be as snappy as the Ext4 file system most of us are used to. To illustrate that point, take a
look at these test results over at Phoronix.

Through a battery of benchmarks Ext4 comes out largely ahead, although ZFS does
exceptionally well in isolated cases such as sequential drive reads. Random reads and writes
are much faster in Ext4, as are most use-cases including kernel compilation and database
access.

In any case, it’s a tantalizing glimpse into the benefits of a next-generation file system for
everyday users, server admins, and everyone in between.

Bonus Points: GNOME 3.34

Ubuntu 19.10 also ships with GNOME 3.34, and while I can’t yet quantify this with hard data, it
definitely feels more responsive than Ubuntu 19.04. For a fun experiment, try comparing the
overall desktop responsiveness on Live USBs of both Ubuntu 19.04 and Ubuntu 19.10!

There’s a lot to dig into with this release, so have fun!

Do you love Linux? You might love my new podcast Linux For Everyone!

Get the best of Forbes to your inbox with the latest insights from experts across the globe.

Check out my website.

Jason Evangelho

I've covered the PC gaming and tech industry for more than a decade and am proud to be one
of the first 30 podcasters in the world. In addition to covering the exciting… Read More

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