Lubuntu is a derivative, therefore a variant of the popular Linux distribution Ubuntu. The name Lubuntu is taken from the denomination “Lightweight Ubuntu” and immediately specifies what the system is intended for. With this derivative, even the computers with poor performance and older hardware are offered an operating system with many possibilities with minimal requirements. Lubuntu uses LXQt as desktop environment to this end, in order to present as few requirements as possible in this area as well.
Lubuntu’s origins date back to 2009. In March of that year, Mario Behling launched the minimalist system as a community project. The first version could be tested as a Live CD from September 2009, but without being installed. Installations were possible from the following year. This option remained unofficial at first, however, as genuine LTS release status had not yet been granted at that time. This milestone was reached in 2013 with version 11.10, which was bundled as a 64-bit Live CD and is the first official member of the Ubuntu family. Since then, other versions and updates followed every six monthsalongside the release of Ubuntu.
