Ubuntu is moving ahead with splitting the big linux-firmware package and adding a linux-firmware-hwe option for fresher blobs, Phoronix reports. It missed 26.10, and is aimed at Ubuntu 27.04, with possible SRUs back to 26.10 and 26.04 LTS.
What’s changing
- Vendor-split packages like linux-firmware-amd-graphics, intel-wireless, nvidia-graphics, qualcomm-wireless, realtek and more
- linux-firmware-hwe to carry newer firmware for AMD, Broadcom, Intel, Marvell, MediaTek, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and others
My take
Smaller packages and an HWE path should make firmware updates less painful, especially on newer Wi-Fi and GPUs. Worth watching once 27.04 lands.
God Bless, and Happy hacking!
