Canonical/Ubuntu: Visuals, GPUs, Channel Partners and More

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Mar 17, 2026

• OMG Ubuntu ☛ Ubuntu’s new folder icons are here – and you’re going to have opinions

  Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is refreshing its folder icons with a squatter shape and more colourful design – if past icon changes are anything to go by, not everyone is going to be thrilled. The restyled icons are among a number of visual changes to hit Ubuntu 26.04 ‘Resolute Raccoon’ daily builds in recent days. Redesigned LibreOffice app icons, new accessibility feature symbolics and an adaptive Calculator icon have also been introduced, alongside system-wide theme changes that pull Yaru closer to the style of vanilla GNOME Shell/Adwaita.

• Ubuntu ☛ Canonical announces it will distribute NVIDIA DOCA-OFED in Ubuntu

  NVIDIA DOCA-OFED is a widely adopted high-performance networking stack, commonly used in large-scale AI factories and HPC clusters. By exposing advanced capabilities like RDMA (remote direct memory access) and NVIDIA GPUDirect, NVIDIA DOCA-OFED provides CPU offload, lower and more predictable tail latency, and sustained throughput under load. This enables ultra-low latency and high-throughput data transfers – essential for training large language models (LLMs) and running complex distributed simulations. DOCA‑OFED is delivered as the DOCA‑Host networking driver stack, including kernel drivers, user‑space libraries, and management tools for supported NVIDIA network adapters.

• Ubuntu ☛ Meet Canonical at NVIDIA GTC 2026: NVIDIA CUDA and NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 support in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

  With Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Canonical is continuing its collaboration with NVIDIA by directly distributing NVIDIA CUDA in Ubuntu, and by delivering day-one platform readiness for NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 rack-scale architecture. Together, these advancements provide developers and enterprises with a stable, enterprise-grade foundation for building, scaling, and operating AI workloads across edge, workstation, and data center environments.

• IT Web ☛ First Distribution appointed as first Canonical distributor in Africa

  First Distribution is excited to announce its partnership with Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu and provider of open source security, support and services. First Distribution positions itself as a leading value-added distributor of complex ICT solutions, delivering world-class technology offerings to enterprise and SME markets through a strong network of trusted resellers and partners. With this partnership, First Distribution is becoming the first official distributor for Canonical solutions dedicated to Africa.

• Security Boulevard ☛ Cryptographic Agility in MCP Resource Server Orchestration

  Ever wonder how we went from juggling a dozen passwords for linux tools to just one? It’s been a wild ride since the early days of Ubuntu One.

  Back in 2010, things were pretty fragmented before the Ubuntu single sign on service launched, which finally gave us a central place to login. It started as a way to handle cloud storage, but it quickly grew into something much bigger for the whole ecosystem.

• Hacker Noon ☛ How to Properly Install JetBrains Toolbox on Linux (Kubuntu/Ubuntu)

  I've been using JetBrains products for many years. Recently, there's been a lot of buzz around AI, and often the conversation pushes developers toward other IDEs like VS Code. Honestly, it made me a bit sad. I love my PhpStorm, PyCharm, and WebStorm — I didn't want to switch, but I also didn't want to fall behind.

• PearOS Brings Mac-Level Polish to Any Aging Laptop for Free

  Old laptops have a habit of ending up in a drawer the moment manufacturers stop supporting them, left to gather dust while modern software demands more than they can comfortably give. PearOS exists to change that. It’s a free operating system that breathes new life into neglected hardware, bringing a Mac-like experience complete with a familiar menu bar, a clean dock, and smooth gestures to machines that most people had written off. The latest release, built on Arch Linux and going by the name NiceC0re, is designed to make everyday tasks feel effortless on exactly the kind of hardware that usually gets left behind.