Short Bytes: For those waiting for the second point release of the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, the time has been slightly increased. Ubuntu 16.04.2 will now be available for update on Feb 2. The development team wants to polish the newer HWE stack before stuffing it into the new Ubuntu point release. This release will be based on Linux kernel 4.8.

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anonical is facing a slight delay in pushing the latest update for its Linux distro Ubuntu 16.04 LTS aka Xenial Xerus. The second point release, Ubuntu 16.04.2, will bring support for Linux kernel 4.8 and an updated HWE stack.

The support for Linux kernel 4.8 is already present in the non-LTS release Ubuntu 16.10. However, the Linux kernel 4.9 is now available, so you can manually update it on your Ubuntu 16 series (Xenial and Yakkety) and Linux Mint distros.

According to an announcement message by Adam Conrad of Canonical, the development team is facing some issue while deploying the latest HEW stack, which has delayed the 16.04.2 point release till February 2, 2017.

HWE (Hardware Enablement) is an updated kernel (linux-hwe-generic) variant released (with point releases) for Ubuntu. It helps in coping up with hardware compatibility issues arising in the time between major Ubuntu releases.

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