Ubuntu Studio For Linux

Ubuntu Studio has long been the go-to Linux distribution for creative Ubuntu fans out there. 21.10, code-named Impish Indri, is the last interim release until the future LTS (22.04) is set to release in 2022.

It's the second release that features the Plasma desktop environment and not the Xfce which has been the norm for many years now and boasts support for only 9 months (until July 2022).

Besides a new Plasma version, 21.10 also brings forth a series of changes and improvements regarding the OS' audio, graphics, publishing, and video editing capabilities.

Impish Indri includes Plasma 5.225 (with the same Materia theme and Papirus icons).

Ubuntu Studio uses the same KDE Plasma desktop environment as Kubuntu. This means that, while the core packages are from the mainline Ubuntu release, it suffers from the same known issues as Kubuntu. Thankfully they're not system-breaking issues.

The audio section of the OS has seen a massive improvement over the last interim release (21.04). Studio Project has been updated to version 2.2.7 and has seen various bug fixes, a new layout, as well as qmidinet and zita-njbridge integration.

Other noteworthy changes include the JACK and MIDI over network components, as well as new versions for RaySession (0.11.1), Hydrogen (1.1.0 Beta 1), Carla (2.4), and lps-plugins (1.1.30).

In the graphics department, Krita has been upgraded to version 4.4.8, Darktable to 3.6.0, and Inkscape to 1.1. Calibre and Scribus have both received updates to version 5.25.0 and 1.5.7 respectively.

Included in this release is OBS Studio 27.0.1. OBS now comes with support for the upcoming (experimental) Wayland compositor via PipeWire. KDEnlive is also updated to 21.04.3.

Ubuntu Studio 21.10 Impish Indri provides users with a clear idea of what's to come in the next LTS release and allows them to experience some of the latest changes in terms of default apps included in the OS.