It's scheduled for tomorrow, but The first beta (candidate) of Ubuntu 19.10 is now available. After the moment of presentation of the wallpaper from the main version, this is the first serious step in the development of Eoan Ermine, since this version of the operating system is ready for public testing. We can also say that it is the first important moment because the beta is something that all the official flavors also launch, not like the wallpaper that only has to do with Ubuntu.
Now that we are facing a launch (not yet official) much more advanced than the Daily Build that they have been launching for almost 5 months, the questions come: should I update? And, if I decide to do it, what is the best way? Next we will get you out of doubts, but we will tell you that not worth updating in our main team / installation if we are not developers or we are clear that anything can fail.
How to install the Ubuntu 19.10 beta
By default, Ubuntu will check for a new version every six months, but we can modify this behavior. And is that Canonical launches an operating system with everything new every six months, supported for 9, and another Long Term Support, more stable, every two years, supported for 5 years. With this explained, what we have to do is configure it to also include pre-releases in its check. We will do it as follows:
- From the applications menu, we select "Software and Updates". In other operating systems such as Kubuntu we will access this section from Discover / Sources and, at the top right, "Software Sources".
- We go to the "Updates" tab.
- We mark the box "Updates without technical service", also "Updates not yet published" in other operating systems.
- We accept by clicking «Close».
- We open a terminal and write:
sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade
- In the GRUB configuration window, we ask you to keep the current installation.
- Next, we continue in the terminal, we write (in Ubuntu, in other systems it is in its software center):
sudo update-manager -d
- It will tell us that our equipment is up to date, but that Ubuntu 19.10 is available. We click on «Update».
- We follow the instructions of the installer and, once the process is finished, we restart to enter Eoan Ermine.
Do not install it in production equipment
Another way to update is download the beta ISO from Eoan Ermine, create an installation USB and update from it. If I have to be honest, this method is the one I like the best, partly because in the past I kept messing up and reinstalling my operating system this way. You can download a copy of this ISO at this link. Keep in mind that the launch is not official yet; it will be tomorrow. UPDATED: the launch is now official and you can download the beta from these links: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Budgie y Ubuntu Kylin.
As we have explained, although it is a test version that is already close to the stable version, its use is not recommended unless we are developers, we know what we are exposed to or we test it in a virtual machine or Live Session. Most likely, we will find bugs that can be annoying, especially if we have to work with our computer.
The Eoan Ermine family arrives with the main novelty of Linux 5.3, but also with updated versions of the graphical environments that in Ubuntu is GNOME 3.34 and in Kubuntu it is Plasma 5.16.