Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) is coming along, and it looks like the developers are preparing for the release of the first Alpha version.

The first Alpha release of the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) flavors is scheduled for December 31, but it's not all that likely that people are going to work on New Year's Eve just to get a new version out the door, especially since the Ubuntu team has expressed the desire to possibly delay the launch for a few days.

In fact, the main Ubuntu flavor won't have an Alpha version at all. A couple of years ago, Canonical dropped all of these intermediary releases, with the exception of the final Beta, and they are focusing on daily builds. Most of the other flavors continue to provide Alphas and Betas, so they might be interested in joining.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) Alpha is coming

For the time being, only the Ubuntu Kylin has answered the call of Alpha versions, but that might have to do with the fact that it's build by Chinese developers as well, and they celebrate the New Year at a different time.

"Xenial Alpha 1 is scheduled for Dec 31 and, given the above, I'm inclined to assume that no one is particularly interested in doing an alpha. If someone would like to prove me wrong and step up to do the paperwork bits . I'll be glad to drive the CD Image release machinery to make it happen. So, if you wanted to get an alpha out the door for your flavour, do speak up now, and we'll make it happen. If not, we'll assume that everyone is waiting for later milestones," Canonical's Adam Conrad has explained.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) already promises to be a really exciting release and quite a few new features have been announced already. This is going to be supported for the next five years, so it's a very important version.