[Bug 1911614] Re: Ubuntu 20.04 and 20.04.1 images use linux-generic-hwe-20.04 instead of linux-generic

[Erick Brunzell]

Unfortunately apport-collect just says "no additional info collected"
(see pic added). I presume because 'ubuntu-meta' is not an installed
package????? I struggled a bit trying to decide what the best way was to
report a bug like this because it's not actually a bug in the kernel
itself, it's just that I believe the 5.8 series kernel should not be
installed without specific user action to do so.

That had been the case in the past. LTS installs using the original iso
or the first point release iso would remain on the original GA (General
Availability) throughout the duration of the 5 year support cycle. In
fact I see the HWE Wiki has been updated to say "The 20.04.2 and newer
point releases will ship with an updated kernel and X stack by default
for the desktop":

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack

And 20.04.2 is not due for release until early February. It's worth
mentioning that LTS point releases are frequently delayed by a week or
two if bugs are encountered. Anyway I would expect an installation
performed with 20.04.2 media to include the HWE kernel. You'll also
notice that they do say "kernel and X stack" and as mentioned above the
HWE X stack is not yet even in the repos!

I will probably be testing the 20.04.2 daily build very soon and I'll
then report a bug against 'linux-generic-hwe-20.04' making note that the
accompanying X stack is missing. And yes, this does effect only Ubuntu
Desktop because as mentioned above I checked some of the other flavors
manifests. Only the Ubuntu isos have the HWE version of kinux-generic
installed.

** Attachment added: "Screenshot from 2021-01-14 19-45-49.png"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-meta/+bug/1911614/+attachment/5453132/+files/Screenshot%20from%202021-01-14%2019-45-49.png

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1911614

Title:
  Ubuntu 20.04 and 20.04.1 images use linux-generic-hwe-20.04 instead of
  linux-generic

Status in ubuntu-meta package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Just as the title says, the 20.04 and 20.04.1 images use the HWE
  version of linux-generic resulting in upgrades to the 5.8 series
  kernel. This seems to effect Ubuntu only, or I should say I checked
  the Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Xubuntu, and Lubuntu iso manifests which all
  correctly list linux-generic. Also HWE is not truly complete without
  the accompanying HWE Xstack.

  I checked all the documentation I could find and this was clearly not
  intentional. In fact the manifest for Ubuntu Focal Beta still used
  linux-generic, so this got messed up some time between April 3, 2020
  and April 23, 2020. Here's just one example of the documentation for
  kernel support in Focal LTS:

  https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle#ubuntu-kernel-release-cycle

  Installations performed with 20.04 and 20.04.1 media were supposed to
  remain on the 5.4 series kernel throughout Focal's 5 year lifespan as
  had been the case since HWE was introduced. The first step in fixing
  this needs to be stopping fresh installs of Focal using the 20.04 and
  20.04.1 media from immediately upgrading to the 5.8 series kernel.

  It might be a little tricky to revert users from 5.8 to 5.4, but there
  have been reports of breakage, particularly concerning Broadcom wifi
  drivers and some graphics problems. But the graphics problems could
  also be exacerbated by the lack of the matching HWE Xstack? At any
  rate it's a bug.

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