Why does Startup Disk Creator say Ubuntu 14.04.3 is a beta version?

Question

When I was making a bootable usb drive by Startup Disk Creator utility, it said that the OS version of ubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso is Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Beta amd64 (20150805). Why does it say such thing? By the way I am running Startup Disk Creator on 14.04.3 LTS.

Not technically. He has a beta of the 14.04.3 point release from before it was stable. If you download 14.04.3 now, you'll get the stable release.
Point releases have beta periods too. As for whether it matters, see chaskes' answer: it probably doesn't. Any 14.x installer .iso, as long as it works, should update you to the latest version after installation anyway. — thomasrutter, Nov 05 '15 at 02:34
Possible duplicate of What are point releases in LTS versions? — karel, Nov 05 '15 at 18:52
That question and its answers make no mention of "beta" releases at all, what made you say it was a duplicate? — thomasrutter, Nov 05 '15 at 23:53

chaskes · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-06T04:43:47.510

14.04.03 was released August 6, 2015. Your iso has the date August 5, so you downloaded it while it was still a beta.

But it doesn't matter. You can use it and it will update to the release version. Or you can re-download it if you feel better about it. But there's no need to use 14.04.02, since .03 is the current release.

That said, there may be a minor bug with the 14.04.3 iso. I also just downloaded the ubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso file and in the README.diskdefines it says:

#define DISKNAME  Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Beta amd64

And the /.disk/info includes the date info that you are seeing:

Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Beta amd64 (20150805)

So Startup Disk Creator says the version is a beta because the iso file says it is a beta.

I haven't been able to find any documentation to say whether this is a bug or is by design. But using dd to burn the disk creates a usb with the label:

Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS amd64

Note the absence of 'beta' and the date. If it were truly a beta or development branch this would show up in the name.

So Startup Disk Creator is just displaying the info that it sees. Whether the bug is with the iso (and the creators neglected to remove 'beta' from those to spots) or the bug is with how SDC pulls the info to display, I can't say.

You are better off just using sudo dd if=/path/to/iso of=/dev/usually-sdb, although you need to be very careful that you have the output file (device) named correctly before pressing Enter.

In the end, the iso is fine to use and I seriously doubt there is any reason to think you would have ever noticed any issue at all if you had originally used dd to create the installation media.

I downloaded a new one, but it still says Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Beta amd64 (20150805)! Also the md5 of both iso files are the same. — Dante, Nov 06 '15 at 02:52

Why does Startup Disk Creator say Ubuntu 14.04.3 is a beta version?

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