Apart from Easter eggs, April is also the time for the spring release of Ubuntu. I use Ubuntu mainly for running ROS, coding and for servers.

You have to be careful of the compatibility between ROS versions and Ubuntu. As I am currently not using ROS and I do not plan to need it in the coming days, I have decided to upgrade Ubuntu to the 14.04 version this weekend. The new version of ROS expected for May, Indigo, should run on it. The install page is already available. I look forward trying it.

The full process takes a couple of hours, just for installing every software that I use. The installation of ROS can take several hours by itself but I did not do it this weekend.

I have noticed only minor improvements between the 13.04 and the 14.04 versions. The user interface is exactly the same.

Unfortunately, a bug noticed on the WiFi connexion is not fixed. I faced another issue. The mouse pointer was blinking and sometimes stuck on the right of the screen. This is due to the system considering a second built-in display. It has been fixed by switching it off.

This version is a LTS (long term support) and my plan is to keep it as long as possible. The previous one has been installed at the end of November, let’s see if I will be able to keep it longer.

Yes, I look for more stability!