Qubes OS 4.0 has been released!

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Andrew David Wong

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Mar 28, 2018, 1:36:45 PM3/28/18
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After nearly two years in development and countless hours of testing,
we're pleased to announce the stable release of Qubes OS 4.0!


Major changes in version 4.0
============================

Version 4.0 includes several fundamental improvements to the security
and functionality of Qubes OS:

* The Qubes Admin API [01]
* Qubes Core Stack version 3 [02]
* Fully virtualized VMs for enhanced security [03]
* Multiple, flexible Disposable VM templates [04]
* A more expressive, user-friendly Qubes RPC policy system [05]
* A powerful new VM volume manager that makes it easy to keep VMs on
external drives [06]
* Enhanced TemplateVM security via split packages [07] and network
interface removal [08]
* More secure backups with scrypt for stronger key derivation [09] and
enforced encryption
* Rewritten command-line tools with new options [10]

This release delivers on the features we promised in our announcement of
Qubes 4.0-rc1 [11], with some course corrections along the way, such as
the switch from HVM to PVH for most VMs in response to Meltdown and
Spectre [03]. For more details, please see the full Release Notes [12].
The Qubes 4.0 installation image is available on the Downloads [13]
page, along with the complete Installation Guide [14].


Current 4.0 release candidate users
===================================

In our Qubes 4.0-rc5 announcement [15], we explained that if the testing
of 4.0-rc5 did not reveal any major problems, we would declare it to be
the stable 4.0 release without any further significant changes and that,
in this scenario, any bugs discovered during the testing process would
be fixed in subsequent updates. This is, in fact, what has occurred. We
found that, with the fifth release candidate, 4.0 had finally reached a
level of stability that met our standards such that we were comfortable
designating it the stable release. Accordingly, current users of 4.0-rc5
can upgrade in-place by downloading the latest updates from the *stable*
repositories in both dom0 [16] and TemplateVMs [17].

We know that this stable release has been a long time in coming for many
you. We sincerely appreciate your patience. Thank you for sticking with
us. We're especially grateful to all of you who have contributed code
[18] and documentation [19] to this release, tested [20] release
candidates, and diligently reported bugs [21]. This stable release would
not have been possible without your efforts. Your involvement makes
Qubes a truly open-source project. Your energy, skill, and good will
make this project a joy to work on. We are lucky to have you.


The past and the future
=======================

Since first announcing extended support for Qubes 3.2 [22], we
determined that users would be better served by having a version of
Qubes 3.2 with updated TemplateVMs and a newer kernel. We've designated
this release Qubes 3.2.1. As the name suggests, this is a point release
for Qubes 3.2 that does not contain any major changes, and it is this
release to which the extended support period will apply. We intend for
Qubes 3.2.1 to be a viable alternative to version 4.0 for those who wish
to use Qubes on hardware that does not meet the system requirements for
Qubes 4.0 [23]. While our standard policy [24] is to support each Qubes
release for six months after the next major or minor release, the
special extension for 3.2.1 raises this period to one full year.
Therefore, the stable release of Qubes 4.0 sets the EOL (end-of-life)
date for Qubes 3.2.1 at one year from today on 2019-03-28. We expect
3.2.1 to be available soon, after Kernel 4.9 testing is completed.

Looking forward, our work on Qubes 4.x has only just begun. Our sights
are now set on Qubes 4.1, for which we have a growing list [25] of
planned enhancements to nearly every aspect of Qubes OS. Whether you're
new to Qubes or have been here for years, we welcome you to join us and
get involved [26]. We've personally chosen to devote our time and skills
to making Qubes freely available to the world because we believe that
being open-source is essential to Qubes being trustworthy and secure. If
Qubes is valuable to you, we ask that you please consider making a
donation [27] to the project. With your support, we can continue to make
reasonable security a reality for many years to come.


[01] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2017/06/27/qubes-admin-api/
[02] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2017/10/03/core3/
[03] https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-secpack/blob/master/QSBs/qsb-037-2018.txt
[04] https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2253
[05] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/qrexec3/#extra-keywords-available-in-qubes-40-and-later
[06] https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/1842
[07] https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2771
[08] https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/1854
[09] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/backup-emergency-restore-v4/
[10] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/tools/4.0/
[11] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2017/07/31/qubes-40-rc1/
[12] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/releases/4.0/release-notes/
[13] https://www.qubes-os.org/downloads/
[14] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/installation-guide/
[15] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2018/03/06/qubes-40-rc5/
[16] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/software-update-dom0/#how-to-update-software-in-dom0
[17] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/software-update-vm/#installing-or-updating-software-in-the-templatevm
[18] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/contributing/#contributing-code
[19] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/doc-guidelines/
[20] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/testing/
[21] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/reporting-bugs/
[22] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2016/09/02/4-0-minimum-requirements-3-2-extended-support/#extended-support-for-qubes-os-32
[23] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/system-requirements/#qubes-release-4x
[24] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/supported-versions/#qubes-os
[25] https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+milestone%3A%22Release+4.1%22+label%3Aenhancement
[26] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/contributing/
[27] https://www.qubes-os.org/donate/

This announcement is also available on the Qubes website:
https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2018/03/28/qubes-40/

- --
Andrew David Wong (Axon)
Community Manager, Qubes OS
https://www.qubes-os.org

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robótico

unread,
Mar 28, 2018, 8:51:47 PM3/28/18
to qubes...@googlegroups.com, qubes-a...@googlegroups.com, qubes...@googlegroups.com
We sincerely appreciate *your* patience. Thank *you* for sticking with
*us*.
This stable release never would have been possible without *your*
enormous efforts.
*Your* involvement makes Qubes a truly open-source project. *Your*
energy, skill,
and good will make this project a joy to work with. *We* are lucky to
have QUBES.

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