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LWN.net

  • Kernel archive /pub tree restoring
    A few astute observers have noticed that somecontent on kernel.org had disappeared and were understandablyconcerned. Konstantin Ryabitsev has provided an update viasocial.kernel.org:
    There was an unfortunate error while changing the kernel.orgprimary/secondary mirroring infrastructure, which resulted in the /pubtree suddenly becoming empty. No data was lost, just public mirrorcopies. Everything is now being restored, but deletes are fast andrestores are slow, so thank you for your patience!
    The incident isbeing tracked on the Linux Foundation's IT status page.



  • Spoofed email from LWN
    We were made aware today of an email sent to a reader that wasspoofed to appear to be from LWN. The message claimed, among otherthings, that we were providing personal information about the readerto another site user. As is explained in our privacy policy we do not,and would not, provide such information.

    If any other readers have received an odd message from LWN, it isan attempt at a hoax; if in doubt, please check the DKIM header of theemail. Any email that does come from LWN will have a proper DKIMsignature in its headers.

    If you receive such a message, please feel free to send it to us,with its headers intact. But to reiterate, we are not providing anyuser information upon request, nor banning any accounts. We hope thiswill not be a recurring problem.



  • Fedora Council proposes pausing Community Initiatives
    Aoife Moloney has, on behalf of the Fedora Council, posted anannouncement that the Fedora Council is "proposing we pause theCommunity Initiatives process as an official project process"because it has decided the current process is ineffective. It is alsoclosing discussion regarding the AI developer desktopinitiative covered by LWN in May.

    The Fedora Objectives/Initiatives framework was never intended as amandatory prerequisite to do the work in Fedora. It supposed to helpby focusing the community on a certain work when needed, not to decidewhat is allowed. The AI developer desktop initiative proposalhighlighted that the Community Initiatives process has failed to serveas a good framework in Fedora where new ideas can surface, receiverespectful feedback, and gain Council support for work that fits theproject's present and/or future. This is something that the Councilmust address.

    As a first step, we would like to halt the community initiativeprocess immediately. Existing initiatives in flight (Fedora Forge,Atomic, and Fedora Docs 2026) will continue with full Councilbacking. Their underlying work will be completed as planned in theircurrent timeboxed state, though the administrative framework aroundthem may evolve.As a second step, we would like to work out a new mechanism to allowCouncil to set strategic direction in an open, transparent way thatmore intentionally includes the community voice. We recognise that wehave to be better at being more open in our discussions and decisionmaking.

    The council is considering the "sandbox" proposal as analternative or supplement to a process that replaces the CommunityInitiatives.



  • [$] Two LLM-assisted memory-management patch sets
    The kernel community (like many other free-software projects) has recentlyseen a large influx of patches developed with the assistance of largelanguage models (LLMs). Those patches tend to come from developers whowere previously unknown to the community. At the moment, though, thememory-management developers are evaluating two large patch sets, developedwith LLM assistance, that were submitted by established and well-respecteddevelopers. The rather different reception accorded to that work may giveinsights into how LLM-generated contributions will be handled goingforward.


  • Security updates for Thursday
    Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (giflib, kernel, mariadb:10.11, mod_http2, php, rrdtool, ruby, ruby:3.3, and ruby:4.0), Debian (jq and node-lodash), Fedora (caddy, hut, ipp-usb, kernel, opkssh, rclone, thunderbird, and transmission), SUSE (389-ds, 7zip, alsa, amazon-ecs-init, avahi, cadvisor, cosign, cups, dnsdist, docker, dracut, firefox, firewalld, giflib, glib-networking, glycin-loaders, google-cloud-sap-agent, google-guest-agent, gsasl, hauler, helm, ImageMagick, kernel, keylime, krb5, libaom, libexif, libgcrypt, libnfs, libssh2_org, loupe, lrzip, mutt, ncurses, nodejs22, openCryptoki, openssh, openssl-3, pacemaker, perl-Config-IniFiles, perl-CSS-Minifier-XS, perl-DBI, perl-JavaScript-Minifier-XS, perl-libwww-perl, postfix, python-click, python-idna, python-Markdown, python-joblib, python-handy-archives, python-apache-libcloud, python-WebOb, python-PyGithub, python-soupsieve, python-pip, python-pytest-html, python-python-dotenv, python-python-multipart, python-starlette, python-tornado6, python-zeroconf, python311, python311-jupyter-server, rpcbind, sed, sg3_utils, tar, tiff, and util-linux), and Ubuntu (kernel, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-5.15, linux-aws-fips, linux-azure, linux-azure-5.15, linux-azure-fde-5.15, linux-fips, linux-gcp, linux-gcp-fips, linux-gke, linux-gkeop, linux-hwe-5.15, linux-ibm, linux-ibm-5.15, linux-intel-iot-realtime, linux-intel-iotg, linux-kvm, linux-lowlatency, linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-tegra, linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15, linux-nvidia-tegra-igx, linux-oracle, linux-realtime, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-fips, linux-gcp, linux-gcp-fips, linux-ibm, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-6.8, linux-oracle, linux-realtime, linux-realtime-6.8, linux-oem-6.17, and linux-oem-7.0).


  • [$] LWN.net Weekly Edition for July 2, 2026
    Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition:
    Front: Xsnow protestware; Git 2.55; Rhombus; kernel hardening; More LSFMM+BPF coverage; 7.2 merge window; Secure Boot certificate expiration; Ceph and Garage; OSPM 2026. Briefs: Akrites; Mageia 10; Git 2.55.0; Podman 6.0; systemd v261; Creative Commons chat; Quotes; ... Announcements: Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.



  • [$] Secure Boot certificate expiration is here
    Linux users who have Secure Boot enabled ontheir systems rely on certificates issued by Microsoft to verify the softwareused to boot a system is trusted by the user. One of those certificates expiredrecently, but that will not cause systems that are able to boot to stop doingso. There are situations where the expiration may cause problems, however, andthe window for relying on existing signed binaries is shorter than it mightappear. Users and administrators will want to stay on top of these changes. Overthe last year, part of my job at Microsoft has been to work on thisproblem. LWN wrote about thecertificate expiration in July 2025, and this article follows up with wherewe are now.


  • Security updates for Wednesday
    Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (coreutils, galera and mariadb11.8, giflib, git-lfs, glibc, httpd, kernel, mariadb10.11, mod_md, perl-Archive-Tar, perl-IO-Compress, perl:5.32, rrdtool, ruby, ruby4.0, and thunderbird), Debian (debian-security-support, librabbitmq, and nginx), Fedora (chromium, collectd, maradns, python-django-haystack, python-jupytext, varnish, varnish-modules, and vmod-querystring), Oracle (firefox, git-lfs, kernel, nginx:1.24, openssl, perl-Archive-Tar, perl-IO-Compress, and uek-kernel), Red Hat (container-tools:rhel8), SUSE (7zip, apache2, buildah, cifs-utils, curl, docker, exiv2-0_26, libonnxruntime1, libsoup, nodejs22, opensc, pacemaker, perl-Config-IniFiles, podman, sg3_utils, socat, tar, tracker, and xdg-desktop-portal), and Ubuntu (curl, hplip, libgd-perl, libssh2, libyang, ruby2.7, ruby3.0, ruby3.2, ruby3.3, and tar).


  • Creative Commons founders' fireside chat (Creative Commons blog)
    Dee Harris has published a summaryof the recent "fireside chat" featuring Creative Commons founders HalAbelson, Lawrence (Larry) Lessig, Molly Van Houweling, and Glenn OtisBrown. The chat was to mark the 25th anniversaryof Creative Commons and included a look back at its history aswell as a look at the landscape today:
    Twenty-five years ago, a small group of people made a bet. Theybelieved that if you gave creators a simple set of tools and licensesin language that a lawyer, a machine, and a human could all read,millions of people might choose to share their work with the worldinstead of locking it down.
    The videoof the chat is available on YouTube.




LXer Linux News


  • NanoKVM-Go compact USB-C KVM supports WiFi 6 and 4K capture
    Sipeed has launched the NanoKVM-Go on Kickstarter as a compact USB-C KVM device for remote access to laptops, mini PCs, tablets, phones, and other USB-C devices. The device combines video capture, keyboard and mouse control, WiFi 6 connectivity, and browser-based access through a single USB-C connection. The NanoKVM-Go is described as a portable alternative to […]


  • Linux 7.3 To Overcome "Significant Bottleneck" For Small I/O With PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSDs
    While the Linux 7.2 feature merge window ended just days ago and the better part of two months now before v7.2 will be released as stable, there are already features beginning to accumulate that will target the Linux 7.3 cycle. The most exciting change I've seen to kick off that dance ahead of Linux 7.3 is addressing a "significant" bottleneck affecting small direct I/O performance with speedy storage such as PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSDs...





  • Setup Debian Trixie with btrfs as root FS and separate boot folder with ext4 in UEFI mode
    This is a final draft been worked out through several sessions with Google AI Assistant . Same approach would work on Debian forky as well. All commands below are supposed to be issued with root privileges. In case of /boot/efi crash low level btrfs CLI won't help you to recover so creating boot as btrfs subvolume is not a critical part of btrfs flat system layout .


  • Fedora Council Seeks To Shutdown Current Discussions Over AI Developer Desktop
    Stemming from the widely varying views over the recent Fedora proposal for an "AI Developer Desktop" catering to running local AI and machine learning workloads in pre-configured environments with a seamless hardware-accelerated experience, the Fedora Council issued a statement this evening to effectively shutdown discussions for now over a Fedora AI Developer Desktop and to pause the Fedora Community Initiatives process...



  • ASUS ROG Strix Laptop Sees Driver Fix For Linux Performance Too Low Compared To Windows
    With modern laptops, proper platform/WMI drivers are becoming more depended upon not only for supporting all typical functionality from keyboards to backlights and other handling, but also for achieving proper performance. For many laptop vendors, the Linux platform drivers are maintained by the open-source community and actual customers. The latest example of the challenges of the community-maintained support rather than from the vendor is with the ASUS ROG Strix G16 G614PR gaming laptop seeing inappropriate power values set in the open-source driver that were incorrect and led to lower power/performance than Windows...


Linux Insider"LinuxInsider"












Slashdot

  • AI Agent Executes 'First' End-To-End Ransomware Attack
    Sysdig says it has documented the first ransomware attack carried out end to end by an AI agent, which autonomously exploited exposed systems, stole credentials, established persistence, compromised a production database, and destroyed data. The research team named the attacker "JadePuffer" and said it gained initial access to an internet-facing Langflow instance by exploiting CVE-2025-3248. "The most striking characteristic, however, was the LLM's behavior," Sysdig director of threat research Michael Clark said in a blog post. An anonymous reader quotes an excerpt from The Register: JadePuffer's "self-narrating" payloads "contained natural language reasoning, target prioritization, and the kind of detailed annotations that human operators don't often write but LLM-generated code produces reflexively," Clark added. "The operation also adapted in real time, retrying failed steps within refined parameters. In one sequence, it went from a failed login to a working fix in 31 seconds." After exploiting CVE-2025-3248, a missing authentication vulnerability in Langflow that allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary Python on the host, the AI agent began scanning for and collecting secrets, including LLM provider API keys, cloud credentials "with explicit coverage of Chinese providers" including Alibaba, Aliyun, Tencent, and Huawei, while also scanning for AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform, cryptocurrency wallets, and database credentials. The AI also installed a crontab entry on the Langflow server to maintain persistence and call back to the attacker's infrastructure every 30 minutes. JadePuffer's intended target was a separate internet-exposed production server running a MySQL database and an Alibaba Nacos configuration service, we're told. Nacos is an open-source service-discovery and dynamic configuration platform developed by Alibaba and used in the cloud provider's microservices applications. The agent connected to the server's exposed MySQL port using root credentials, although Sysdig doesn't know how the attacker obtained them. These credentials weren't stolen from the victim's environment. JadePuffer then attacked Nacos via multiple vectors including an authorization bypass flaw (CVE-2021-29441) and forging a valid JSON web token (JWT) using Nacos's default signing key. Additionally, using its root database access, the LLM injected a backdoor administrator into the Nacos backing database. It ultimately encrypted all 1,342 Nacos service configuration items using MySQL's built-in AES encryption function, and created an extortion demand, ransom note, Bitcoin payment address, and a Proton Mail contact [...]. However, according to the threat hunters, the victim can't recover the encrypted data, even if they paid the ransom demand, because the agent escalated "from row-level deletion to dropping entire database schemas, narrating its own targeting rationale," without backing up any of the encrypted data.


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • Godot Game Engine No Longer Accepts AI Code
    The Godot Foundation will stop accepting AI-authored code, agent-submitted pull requests, and AI-generated text in contributor communications after maintainers were overwhelmed by low-effort submissions. "It is time for us to recognize that these problems aren't going away and therefore we need to take steps to reduce the burden on maintainers while ensuring we still have a pipeline to mentor new contributors to become future maintainers," the Godot Foundation said in a blog post. Contributors may still use AI for limited "menial things" if they disclose it, but humans must understand, own, and be able to fix the code they submit. PC Gamer reports: The Foundation says the pileup of Godot pull requests pending review isn't all bad: It's a sign that interest in using and contribution to Godot is increasing. But the influx of contributions authored or submitted by AI is sapping the projects' maintainers of their willingness to confront the "already tedious" work of reviewing pull requests. "If your feedback on PRs is just being absorbed by a machine and not going towards mentoring a potential future maintainer, it becomes much harder to justify spending your free time on PR review," the Foundation said. As the problem becomes increasingly unsustainable, the Godot Foundation says it's in the process of updating its contribution policies, focusing on "adding barriers to low-effort slop" contributions, encouraging maintainers to review code, developing new contributors into future maintainers, and crucially, requiring that all contributions come from humans who are accountable for their code -- and fixing it if it fails. "AI cannot take responsibility, and we can't trust heavy users of AI to understand their code enough to fix it," the Foundation said. The Foundation says we can expect Godot's contributing policy to soon include explicit rejections of AI-authored code, noting that contributors should only use AI assistance for "menial things" and must disclose its use. Additionally, the Foundation will reject any AI-generated text in human-to-human communications, saying it's "a basic principle of respect" -- though it says machine translations "are still acceptable" if the original text was human-authored. "Things change every day with respect to the current suite of AI tools available," the Foundation said. "We will continue taking a conservative approach in our policies towards them, but we will re-evaluate as things evolve."


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • Meta Is Charging a Subscription for Smart Glasses Features
    Meta is introducing a subscription for expanded access to advanced smart-glasses features. According to Wired, "[U]sers will need the Meta One Premium Plan to unlock expanded access to some features for their smart glasses, whether it's the Ray-Ban, Oakley, or Meta-branded version." They'll still be usable with a subscription, but "certain features will be limited," the report says. From the report: Specifically, a feature called Conversation Focus, which boosts the audio of the person you're speaking with so you can hear them better in loud environments. You'll get three hours per month without a subscription, but if you want to use it more often, then you'll need to pay up. Though even then, you're still capped at 15 hours. Subscribing also nets you "Premium Device Support," where you'll get faster access to what Meta says are "human experts" trained on the smart glasses' features, should any problems arise. Guess humans are better at some things after all. A Meta spokesperson tells WIRED that this is "not an AI rate limit." Rate limits are common on other AI platforms -- users get free access to a feature until they hit a certain cap, then they'll need to subscribe to use it more until the limit resets at the end of the month. However, the Conversation Focus feature runs on-device, meaning it doesn't need to head to Meta's servers for AI processing. There's no real-time way to monitor how many hours you've used Conversation Focus, but you'll receive a notification when you get near the limit. "The subscription supports that ongoing work and gives power users expanded access along with premium device support," the spokesperson says. "We're going to start testing new optional subscription plans that offer more premium features and advanced capabilities for those who want to unlock more from our apps and AI glasses."


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • OpenAI 'In Early Talks To Give 5% Stake To US Government'
    OpenAI is reportedly in early talks to give the U.S. government a 5% stake, potentially alongside similar contributions from other major AI companies. "Such a deal would help improve the industry's relations with the Trump administration and could help garner political support by sharing wealth generated by the AI boom with the public," reports The Guardian. From the report: [OpenAI CEO Sam Altman] and other OpenAI bosses have suggested that each of the biggest AI developers in the US should give 5% to their equity to an investment vehicle such as the Alaska Permanent Fund, a sovereign fund that invests US oil wealth into stocks and pays dividends to the state, the FT reported. The talks are "conceptual" and in early stages, it said, and any deal could require an act of Congress to implement. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have previously suggested in policy papers that a public or sovereign wealth fund may be required in the future to distribute shares to the public. In April, OpenAI said that a "public wealth fund" could provide "every citizen -- including those not invested in financial markets -- with a stake in AI-driven economic growth." Further reading: Bernie Sanders Unveils $7 Trillion Plan To Give Americans Control of AI Industry


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • WhatsApp Usernames Are Already Raising Impersonation Red Flags
    An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: WhatsApp this week started rolling out username reservations ahead of the broader launch planned later this year. The feature -- which lets people find and message each other by handle instead of phone number -- is already raising impersonation concerns, drawing scrutiny from security experts and regulators in India, the app's largest market, with more than 500 million users. The rollout marks a shift in how people identify one another on WhatsApp. Instead of relying on phone numbers as the primary identifier, users will increasingly interact through platform-managed usernames, a change that Meta says improves privacy but that critics argue could create new opportunities for impersonation. [...] Asked about how it protects against impersonation, Meta told TechCrunch it reserves usernames for public figures, government entities, and "some variations" of those names so only the legitimate owner can claim them. The company did not explain, however, how it decides which lookalike usernames get proactively reserved and which don't. The concerns have already reached regulators in India, where cyber fraud schemes frequently exploit messaging platforms to impersonate police, banks, and government officials. [...] Rachel Tobac, chief executive of SocialProof Security, called usernames a net privacy gain because they reduce the need to share phone numbers, which can expose users to SIM-swap attacks, phishing, and account takeovers. Still, she said, lookalike usernames still create opportunities for impersonation. "Ultimately, usernames are a great idea to avoid leaking your phone number to folks you don't know, but it's important to verify identity with the username function too," Tobac told TechCrunch. Her advice for most users: Pick a username that isn't easily guessable, so it's harder for attackers to find you, message you cold, or harass and spam you. [...] The Mozilla Foundation said the introduction of usernames is likely to bring new tradeoffs. "Increased scams and impersonation from fake handles are potentially a big one," it told TechCrunch. "Checking a phone number can be a useful verification tool, but these harms are also permitted by the platform's fundamental design choices." Mozilla also flagged a broader interoperability question -- one worth logging if you're building on top of, or competing with, Meta's ecosystem. While letting users claim their existing Facebook and Instagram usernames may cut down on impersonation, it also shows how easily Meta can stitch identity together across its own apps, even as users still can't take that identity, or their contacts, to a rival platform. For now, WhatsApp says it is taking a gradual approach to the rollout. "We're taking our time and listening to feedback so that when it rolls out later this year we get it right," the company said in its FAQ.


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • OnePlus Is Quietly Steering Customers Toward OPPO Products
    OnePlus is directing customers in some European markets toward OPPO devices, with its German website presenting OPPO as the natural upgrade path for existing users. The regional handoff adds to "months of speculation that the smartphone brand is slowly being folded into its parent company," reports Android Authority. From the report: The banner, seen on OnePlus' German website, tells visitors seeking "the experience you trust" that OPPO offers the same speed, performance, and compatibility that OnePlus users have come to expect. It hosts devices ranging from earbuds and tablets to OPPO's latest foldables, with each button taking users straight to OPPO's website. Particularly revealing is the wording. Instead of pushing future OnePlus hardware, the company focuses on the fact that OPPO's products are built on the hardware and software that users already know, while promising seamless compatibility with current OnePlus devices. In other words, if you're up for your next upgrade, OnePlus seems to be saying OPPO has what you're looking for right now. Reports in the past several months have said OnePlus has been scaling back operations in several global markets. Previous restructuring reportedly included cutting headcount, a more focused regional strategy, and greater dependence on OPPO's infrastructure. The two brands have been sharing engineering resources, software development, and supply chains for years now, particularly as OxygenOS and ColorOS have begun to look more and more alike. Interestingly, the change appears to be regional. OPPO already has a retail footprint in Germany, so the handoff is fairly straightforward. In the United States, however, things are very different, where OPPO does not officially sell smartphones. That means American OnePlus customers aren't getting the same messaging, mostly because there isn't an OPPO lineup waiting to step in.


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • The Space-Based Data Center Hype Machine Is Already In Orbit
    IEEE Spectrum argues that orbital data centers remain far from economically or technically practical despite Elon Musk's prediction that space will become the cheapest place to run AI within a few years. Deploying SpaceX's proposed million-satellite constellation would require enormous increases in launch and manufacturing capacity, while cooling, radiation, maintenance, latency, orbital debris, and astronomical interference present major unresolved obstacles. Longtime Slashdot reader xetdog shares the report: Consider this: There are roughly 14,500 active satellites in orbit. Musk's Starlink constellation accounts for about two thirds of those. Both the launch cadences and satellite-manufacturing capacity would have to scale up astronomically to deploy a million orbital data center satellites. For context, there have been roughly 7,000 orbital launches in all of human history. To loft 1 million satellites into low Earth orbit on SpaceX's Starship, which is designed to carry up to 60 satellites per vehicle, would require 16,666 launches exclusively devoted to satellite deployments. Considering that SpaceX launched a record 165 orbital missions in 2025, even at 10 times that cadence, it would take a decade. And how long would it take to build 1 million satellites, given Starlink's current pace of around 4,000 per year and a generous tenfold increase in capacity? Short of a manufacturing revolution, try 25 years. Dissipating heat in space also requires enormous radiators. As IEEE Spectrum editor Dina Genkina noted, startup Starcloud has sent only one Nvidia H100 GPU into orbit, and "their radiator was too weak to let the chip run at full power." A single 700-watt H100 would require about 1.4 square meters of radiator area, while a 100-megawatt data center could need 2,500 radiators measuring 80 square meters each. So, why are the hyperscalers hyping orbital data centers? Answer: because it's lucrative. "The Elon Musk part of it is honestly genius because he's got xAI building the data centers, SpaceX sending them to space, and Tesla building solar panels," Genkina says. "It's almost like he's paying himself."


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • SpaceX Reportedly Has an AI Device Prototype
    According to the Wall Street Journal, SpaceX showed investors an early prototype of a slim, "handset-like" AI device running a proprietary operating system and integrating xAI technology. Elon Musk, however, denied the report, calling it "utterly false." TechCrunch reports: SpaceX, alongside sister company Tesla, does have the manufacturing expertise to pull off mass-producing a bunch of AI devices -- not to mention access to the chips needed to power any on-device compute. SpaceX has also signaled that it's keen to expand into wireless, with Starlink Mobile as a potential competitor to Verizon and AT&T. One analyst even went as far as to speculate that T-Mobile or AT&T would make fine acquisition targets for the rocket builder, though such a purchase would, undoubtedly, be pricey. It's also not clear if SpaceX is just throwing spaghetti at the wall or if it will attempt to really mass-produce and market such a device. But one thing that seems clearer is that if OpenAI is doing it, Musk would, perhaps, want to try to do it better. [...] Like OpenAI, SpaceX's prototype is reportedly designed to run on a proprietary operating system and integrate technology from xAI, Musk's AI company that SpaceX acquired earlier this year. This would prevent these new devices from being trapped inside another company's platforms (like Google's Android). But the intent also appears to be to create something new, with native AI interfaces. That said, the graveyard is crowded with the unsuccessful launches of AI devices from companies like Humane and Rabbit. A company wanting to sell an AI device does not equate to consumers wanting to buy such a thing. Yet.


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • US Home Battery Installations Hit Record High On Rising Electricity Costs
    An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: US homeowners have embraced home batteries in record-breaking numbers in early 2026, spurred on by state incentives while seeking to offset rising residential electricity costs. The trend could even unlock a more flexible energy supply for power grid operators and even AI data centers. New home battery installations reached a record 673 megawatts of energy storage in the first quarter of 2026, according to the US Energy Information Administration. That trend was driven by states with high electricity prices that have implemented policies to incentivize home battery installation, Bloomberg News reported. This residential battery trend stands out as a natural next step for states that have already successfully boosted rooftop solar adoption among homeowners, given how batteries enable homeowners to use stored solar energy at night. California and Hawaii accounted for the majority of new residential battery storage, while Texas and Arizona also saw significantly higher numbers of installations. California incentivizes homeowners with solar panels to also install batteries by offering better pricing for residential electricity exported to the grid after sunset, Bloomberg reported. Hawaii offers a one-time payment of $400 for every kilowatt of battery storage that homeowners install. However, the record-breaking home battery installations coincided with a slowdown in residential installations of solar panels -- the result of the Trump administration and Republican-driven One Big Beautiful Bill having eliminated a 30 percent federal solar tax credit for homeowners. Nonetheless, US electricity generation from solar power continues to rise and even surpassed coal-fired generation in April. The battery installation spree also coincides with rising electricity costs for US residential customers. The Energy Information Administration's latest data shows that the nationwide average for residential electricity costs increased by more than 7 percent in April 2026 when compared to electricity costs in April 2025. So homeowners with smart home battery-management systems could benefit from storing energy when electricity prices are lowest and draining them during peak demand periods.


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


  • T-Mobile Appears To Be Quitting VMware Amid Support Rights Lawsuit With Broadcom
    T-Mobile appears to be migrating its 303,000-core VMware environment to another platform while fighting Broadcom in court for the extended support it says its perpetual-license agreement guarantees. "The matter is somewhat urgent," The Register reports, because a court-ordered support arrangement expires August 3, "so T-Mobile may soon be unable to get support for its very substantial VMware estate." The Register reports: The dispute relates to a deal T-Mobile struck with VMware in August 2023, which saw the telco acquire perpetual licenses and two years of support for some software, plus the option for a further year of support. When Broadcom acquired VMware in 2023, it stopped selling perpetual licenses and standalone support deals for customers with those licenses. Broadcom also reduced the virtualization giant's product range from over 150 products to two subscription-only bundles. Broadcom now mostly sells its Cloud Foundation (VCF) private cloud suite. Customers including AT&T and Tesco tried to exercise their right to extended support, but Broadcom declined to do so. AT&T settled on confidential terms. Tesco is pursuing the matter in the courts. When customers exercise their option for extended support, Broadcom argues it can't deliver because the products covered by the contract don't exist anymore, its contracts allow it to deny support for dead products, and subscriptions are now the industry standard. T-Mobile started using VMware's products in 2008. In one hearing, the carrier's counsel described T-Mobile's VMware implementation as "the base of the entire internal network" and "the place where 1,000 applications reside." Another filing, from Broadcom, says the telco runs VMware software on over 303,000 CPU cores. Court documents allege that in 2024 Broadcom notified T-Mobile it would not renew support after the initial two-year deal expired in 2025. The two parties kept talking about possible new arrangements. T-Mobile also sought an injunction that would compel Broadcom to provide extended support. Broadcom opposed the injunction, arguing that T-Mobile deliberately waited too long to seek it. At one point T-Mobile suggested a $20 million deal for another two years of support. An affirmation filed last week by T-Mobile vice president of technology Kevin Luu says the carrier sought that arrangement "to be able to complete T-Mobile's transition away from VMware at a more deliberate pace." The court eventually granted the injunction forcing Broadcom to offer support beyond August 2025, but required T-Mobile to pay $5.28 million and post a $500,000 undertaking. Broadcom continued to provide support but also sought damages on grounds that the injunction meant it missed out on a new deal with T-Mobile. The telco has rubbished that argument in part because the two parties were still talking about a new deal. Broadcom later proposed to charge $24 million for extended support covering six products, a sum it said would cover over 20 staff needed to support T-Mobile. The carrier fired back by pointing out that it has made just two support calls in 2026, which hardly justifies such a massive staff and expense.


    Read more of this story at Slashdot.


www.theregister.com - Articles












Linux.com


  • From DHCP to SZTP – The Trust Revolution
    By Juha Holkkola, FusionLayer Group The Dawn of Effortless Connectivity In the transformative years of the late 1990s, a quiet revolution took place, fundamentally altering how we connect to networks. The introduction of DHCP answered a crucial question, Where are you on the network?!, by automating IP address assignment. This innovation eradicated the manual configuration [0]

    The post From DHCP to SZTP – The Trust Revolution appeared first on Linux.com.










Phoronix



  • RISC-V RVV Vector Performance Benchmarks With The SpacemiT K3 SoC
    Since May we have been benchmarking the SpacemiT K3 RISC-V SoC as one of the first to market RISC-V chips supporting the RVA23 profile. The SpacemiT K3 has shown how far RISC-V performance has come in the past half decade and one of the promising elements of this modern RISC-V SoC with its X100/A100 cores is supporting the RISC-V Vector Extension "RVV" 1.0. In this article are some initial benchmarks looking specifically at the RISC-V RVV 1.0 performance impact in different supported software.


  • Intel Posts Initial GCC Compiler Patches For AI Compute Extensions "ACE"
    The x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group led by Intel and AMD recently firmed up the AI Compute Extensions (ACE) specification for optimizing x86 for AI computation tasks around matrix multiplication and the like for machine learning workloads. The cross-vendor ACE extension is ultimately a successor to Intel's Advanced Matrix Extensions (AMX). Posted to the GCC mailing list today by Intel engineers are the initial patches in preparing the compiler support for ACE...




  • Linux Looking To Retire A Number Of Old ARM Platforms In Early 2027
    It's not only old x86 i486 CPU support being removed from the Linux kernel but a number of older ARM platforms and features are on the chopping block too. A proposal has been laid out for deprecating and then removing a number of outdated ARM platforms and features from the Linux kernel in early 2027...


  • FFmpeg Introduces Vulkan APV Encoder
    Back in May the FFmpeg project introduced Vulkan-accelerated decoding for the APV video format. The Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec was being handled using Vulkan shaders in a similar way to how FFmpeg implemented Vulkan acceleration for Apple ProRes. Now there is Vulkan-accelerated APV encoding too...





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OSnews

  • OSNews statement on slopcoded operating systems!
    Recently, there has been a surge in slopcoded new/hobby operating systems!. Such slopcoded projects  which, due to the nature of AI! tools, effectively consist of stolen code  will not be featured on OSNews and submitting them is fruitless. Other websites may choose to employ lower standards, as is their prerogative, but OSNews will not. I obviously cannot guarantee nothing will ever slip through the cracks, but I will take utmost care to ensure OSNews remains free of these so-called sloperating systems!. Plagiarism, license-washing, and code theft have no place in the world of enthusiast and hobby operating systems.


  • European digital ID wallets are a gift to Google and Apple
    European governments are rolling out digital identity wallets, which are to be used by citizens to access services, and to verify their age online. As reported by Follow the Money and Android Authority, there is a serious problem with this: these wallets rely on safety services of Google and Apple. These are known as Google Play Integrity API, and Apple’s Managed Device Attestation. Such safety services (known as “remote attestation”) are used to ensure that wallet apps run on hardware that is not tampered with. In this article we explain why the EU-wallet case is part of a bigger problem: by embedding these safety services in public infrastructure, Europe risks making society dependent on private companies while serving their corporate interests. ↫ Danny Lämmerhirt Setting aside the age verification nonsense, the fact that some European government are tying their identification services to iOS and Google Android is absolutely bonkers, especially in this day and age. Theres endless talk about reducing European dependence on the American tech giants who seem all too eager to do roll over when the Trump regime so much as glances in their general direction, and yet, they seem to want to effectively force us citizens to use American tech products. Essential online tools, like banking, government services, communication services, digital drivers licenses, and more, should not require the use of iOS or Google Android.


  • Apple should end their prohibition on shapes in MacOS app icons!
    Theres a lot you can say about macOS, but one thing Apple used to be incredibly good at were making beautifully crafted, detailed icons. As with almost every other aspect of macOS, this deteriorated sharply over the years, with the recent macOS releases with Liquid Glass being an absolute low point. Not only have they become bland and featureless, Apple also started forcing every icons to have the exact same rounded-rectangle shape, making them even harder to distinguish from one another. Rogue Amoeba, a company with a long history of developing applications with beautiful iconography, published a blog post pleading Apple to go back to proper icon design. With last year’s release of MacOS 26 (Tahoe), Apple made a mess of app icons. In the first betas of MacOS 27 (Golden Gate), however, there are signs of a turnaround. We’re urging Apple to continue making improvements, by restoring the ability for MacOS app icons to have distinct shapes. ↫ Paul Kafasis at the Rogue Amoeba blog I really hope Apple will turn its icon ship around.


  • Linux ported to Segas Mega Drive
    If you have a Sega Mega Drive, you obviously want to run Linux on it. Thats something you can do now. You do need to have an EverDrive, but dont worry, the port in question contains a custom fork of Qemu for those of us that dont. I dont know what else to say, other than I wonder why nobody did this sooner.


  • Microsoft now says 8GB RAM is fine for Windows 11, after years of pushing for 16GB
    Theres something poetic about the World Cup taking place in North America while Microsoft keeps scoring own goals like this. Microsoft updated its Surface buying guide to describe 8GB RAM as “great for everyday use like browsing, streaming, schoolwork, and productivity apps.” A companion FAQ adds that 16GB or more is what unlocks Copilot+ PC features. No acknowledgment that, for two years, Microsoft was the loudest voice telling everyone that 16GB was non-negotiable for a good Windows 11 experience. What makes this infuriating is that Microsoft is one of the biggest reasons why the RAM situation got so bad in the first place. ↫ Abhijith M B at Windows Latest This industry is a joke.


  • Astral is a hobby operating system with X.org, Minecraft, and now Wine
    Astral is a hobby operating system written in C for 64bit architectures, with a collection of ported software like X.org, fvwm, the xbps package manager, and tons more. I think its quite a neat system  the codes on GitHub  made even neater by the fact it can run not only Minecraft, but now also has a working port of Wine that can run a few games. A few months ago, I posted about Astral, a hobby OS I have been working on over the years, running Minecraft. Since then, others have gotten modern versions of Minecraft to run as well as Factorio (using a glibc compatible libc). However, while these games are made or packaged in a way that makes it easier to get them to run under a new OS, most games are not. A lot of games are closed source and compiled for Windows, which makes something like Wine a necessity for playing them. One of my favorite games, Cogmind, falls under that umbrella. It is a 32-bit Windows only roguelike, and it became my goal to run it under Astral. While there was already an existing Wine port, it was extremely incomplete, as not even notepad.exe worked properly. To run Cogmind, the Wine port had to be finished, which also meant adding the ability to run 32-bit code on an otherwise 64-bit-only OS. ↫ Blog post on the Astral website This process obviously is quite involved, but in the end, they managed to get it working. Quite impressive.


  • The ‘papers, please’ era of the internet will decimate your privacy
    Imagine your favorite team just scored an incredible, last-second goal at the World Cup. So you log online to celebrate with other fans. But, using data it’s already collected on you, the social media platform you like to post on wrongly guesses that you’re under 16 so it forces you to go to a third-party verification app and provide images of your face or your government-issued ID. You don’t really know much about the verification app, what country it’s based out of, what happens with your information, and whether you’re protected from hackers or data breaches. You’re not happy about it, but you hand over a photo of your passport and hope it doesn’t come back to haunt you. Now imagine that instead of posting about sports, you’re criticizing a powerful politician, or talking about your experiences with abuse or addiction, or discussing embarrassing medical issues you’re facing. Suddenly this “papers, please” approach to the internet sounds even more invasive, right? Unfortunately, that’s the direction we’re all headed — even here in the United States — and we have good reason to be wary of the global rush to sacrifice user privacy on the altar of age verification. ↫ Sarah McLaughlin at Expression The insane push for age verification on the internet is the biggest threat to whatevers left of the free internet. I have two young children  3 and 5, currently  and Im diametrically opposed to any kind of creepy verification processes that they claim are designed to keep kids like mine safe!. Not only is their safety not predicated on giving up their privacy, my children are also not my or anyone elses property; they have rights, and the right to privacy is one of them. Nobody mentioned in the Epstein files has been charged, by the way.


  • Microsoft capitulates again, extends Windows 10 support by another year
    Its been quiet for a few days since Ive been sick, but Im feeling a bit better since today marks the official end of my one month of using Windows 11 that you people donated for. An article about my experience is definitely upcoming, including whether or not Ill actually stick with Windows 11 on my laptop or go back to Linux, but before we get there, lets talk about Microsoft once again capitulating to the reality that a lot of people really dont want to let go of Windows 10. In a surprising move, Microsoft has quietly confirmed that it’s extending Windows 10 support until October 12, 2027, which is one full year beyond the October 2026 cutoff that home users had been planning around. ↫ Abhijith M B at Windows Latest Hundreds of millions of people are still using Windows 10, and with the AI! techbros buying up all the RAM and other chips for their pachinko machines  making this whole thing a bit of an own goal for prime AI! booster Microsoft  buying new PCs that are actually compatible with Windows 11 isnt exactly a fun prospect for the vast majority of us normal folk dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. As such, Microsoft really doesnt have any other choice but to keep extending support for Windows 10. It aint much, but Ill take any morsel of justice I can get. While everyone else has to pay for getting access to these Windows 10 updates, users in the European Union get them entirely for free thanks to the Digital Markets Act. This additional year, too, can be partially attributed to the DMA, as the very same consumer rights organisations who pressured Microsoft into giving EU users truly free access to the Extended Security Updates also put pressure on the company to offer these for more than just one year. Basic consumer protection legislation works.


  • In memory of the man who put red and green squiggles under words
    Every little thing in a graphical user interface that we take for granted today, no matter how small, was thought up by someone, at some point. Case in point: the little red squiggly lines underneath misspelled words. In one form or another, these are everywhere now, and have just become a regular staple of every single text editing field we encounter every single day and dont stop to think about. Still, they were invented by someone, and we happen to know exactly who that was: Tony Krueger. In early versions of Word, the Spell Check feature was something that you explicitly invoked, and then you had to sit and wait while the program looked for all your potentially-misspelled words, and then showed them to you one at a time for a decision on what to do for each one. Word did introduce an Auto Spell Check feature to run spell check when the user was idle, so that when you hit the Spell Check button, the results were ready to go. However, the Auto Spell Check was still a blocking operation. As a result, a lot of users turned it off because it always seemed to decide “Now would be a good time to spell-check the document” just as you wanted to do something, forcing you to wait for the spell check pass to complete before you could, say, save and exit. Tony made the spell checker much more unobtrusive so that it didn’t interfere with your foreground work. And when it found a problem, instead of waiting for you to trigger a spell check, it immediately drew red squiggles under potentially-misspelled words (and later green squiggles under potential grammatical errors). ↫ Raymond Chen at The Old New Thing Tony Krueger passed away recently, after, among other things, having worked on an dizzying number of Microsoft Word releases. Imagine coming up with something that seems to basic and elementary to us now, and seeing it spread pretty much everywhere. I wonder what it must feel like to have invented something that seems so simple, most people dont even realise they use it every single day.


  • KDE is going to fix network shares
    Ive had my share of issues with network shares on any operating system, but since I mostly use KDE these days I found this deep dive into how, exactly, network shares work in KDE quite interesting. It turns out that while network shares in KDEs Dolphin mostly work, it does involves a few layers that sometimes dont interact well with each other, leading to really curious and annoying problems with mounted shares not appearing, permission issues, and so on. The biggest cause of problems is when using a non-KDE application in KDE that also happens to use a non-KDE save/open dialog. Such a non-KDE save/open dialog wont be able to see any network shared mounted by KDE, and sadly, quite a few applications youre likely to use on a KDE installation use non-KDE open/save dialogs, like Blender, GIMP, LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Inkscape, Audacity, DaVinci Resolve, and more. Thats one hell of a list of applications to offer inconsistent or outright broken access to network shares youve set up and mounted in KDE. Luckily, this issue seems to be getting a ton of attention soon. All is not lost. Happily, KDE just received an investment of over €1.2 million from the Sovereign Tech Fund, and it includes funding for improvements to KDE’s network share handling! ↫ Nate Graham The project is in the planning phases at the moment, but theyre considering a whole slew of possible changes, fixes, and workarounds to make this stupid and annoying problem just go away. In 2026, nobody should be dealing with manually editing /etc/fstab or getting frustrated over supposedly disappearing network shares.



Linux Journal News

  • EU OS: A Bold Step Toward Digital Sovereignty for Europe
    Image
    A new initiative, called "EU OS," has been launched to develop a Linux-based operating system tailored specifically for the public sector organizations of the European Union (EU). This community-driven project aims to address the EU's unique needs and challenges, focusing on fostering digital sovereignty, reducing dependency on external vendors, and building a secure, self-sufficient digital ecosystem.
    What Is EU OS?
    EU OS is not an entirely novel operating system. Instead, it builds upon a Linux foundation derived from Fedora, with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. It draws inspiration from previous efforts such as France's GendBuntu and Munich's LiMux, which aimed to provide Linux-based systems for public sector use. The goal remains the same: to create a standardized Linux distribution that can be adapted to different regional, national, and sector-specific needs within the EU.

    Rather than reinventing the wheel, EU OS focuses on standardization, offering a solid Linux foundation that can be customized according to the unique requirements of various organizations. This approach makes EU OS a practical choice for the public sector, ensuring broad compatibility and ease of implementation across diverse environments.
    The Vision Behind EU OS
    The guiding principle of EU OS is the concept of "public money – public code," ensuring that taxpayer money is used transparently and effectively. By adopting an open-source model, EU OS eliminates licensing fees, which not only lowers costs but also reduces the dependency on a select group of software vendors. This provides the EU’s public sector organizations with greater flexibility and control over their IT infrastructure, free from the constraints of vendor lock-in.

    Additionally, EU OS offers flexibility in terms of software migration and hardware upgrades. Organizations can adapt to new technologies and manage their IT evolution at a manageable cost, both in terms of finances and time.

    However, there are some concerns about the choice of Fedora as the base for EU OS. While Fedora is a solid and reliable distribution, it is backed by the United States-based Red Hat. Some argue that using European-backed projects such as openSUSE or KDE's upcoming distribution might have aligned better with the EU's goal of strengthening digital sovereignty.
    Conclusion
    EU OS marks a significant step towards Europe's digital independence by providing a robust, standardized Linux distribution for the public sector. By reducing reliance on proprietary software and vendors, it paves the way for a more flexible, cost-effective, and secure digital ecosystem. While the choice of Fedora as the base for the project has raised some questions, the overall vision of EU OS offers a promising future for Europe's public sector in the digital age.

    Source: It's FOSS
    European Union


  • Linus Torvalds Acknowledges Missed Release of Linux 6.14 Due to Oversight

    Linus Torvalds Acknowledges Missed Release of Linux 6.14 Due to Oversight

    Linux kernel lead developer Linus Torvalds has admitted to forgetting to release version 6.14, attributing the oversight to his own lapse in memory. Torvalds is known for releasing new Linux kernel candidates and final versions on Sunday afternoons, typically accompanied by a post detailing the release. If he is unavailable due to travel or other commitments, he usually informs the community ahead of time, so users don’t worry if there’s a delay.

    In his post on March 16, Torvalds gave no indication that the release might be delayed, instead stating, “I expect to release the final 6.14 next weekend unless something very surprising happens.” However, Sunday, March 23rd passed without any announcement.

    On March 24th, Torvalds wrote in a follow-up message, “I’d love to have some good excuse for why I didn’t do the 6.14 release yesterday on my regular Sunday afternoon schedule,” adding, “But no. It’s just pure incompetence.” He further explained that while he had been clearing up unrelated tasks, he simply forgot to finalize the release. “D'oh,” he joked.

    Despite this minor delay, Torvalds’ track record of successfully managing the Linux kernel’s development process over the years remains strong. A single day’s delay is not critical, especially since most Linux users don't urgently need the very latest version.

    The new 6.14 release introduces several important features, including enhanced support for writing drivers in Rust—an ongoing topic of discussion among developers—support for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile chip, a fix for the GhostWrite vulnerability in certain RISC-V processors from Alibaba’s T-Head Semiconductor, and a completed NTSYNC driver update that improves the WINE emulator’s ability to run Windows applications, particularly games, on Linux.

    Although the 6.14 release went smoothly aside from the delay, Torvalds expressed that version 6.15 may present more challenges due to the volume of pending pull requests. “Judging by my pending pile of pull requests, 6.15 will be much busier,” he noted.

    You can download the latest kernel here.
    Linus Torvalds kernel


  • AerynOS 2025.03 Alpha Released with GNOME 48, Mesa 25, and Linux Kernel 6.13.8
    Image
    AerynOS 2025.03 has officially been released, introducing a variety of exciting features for Linux users. The release includes the highly anticipated GNOME 48 desktop environment, which comes with significant improvements like HDR support, dynamic triple buffering, and a Wayland color management protocol. Other updates include a battery charge limiting feature and a Wellbeing option aimed at improving user experience.

    This release, while still in alpha, incorporates Linux kernel 6.13.8 and the updated Mesa 25.0.2 graphics stack, alongside tools like LLVM 19.1.7 and Vulkan SDK 1.4.309.0. Additionally, the Moss package manager now integrates os-info to generate more detailed OS metadata via a JSON file.

    Future plans for AerynOS include automated package updates, easier rollback management, improved disk handling with Rust, and fractional scaling enabled by default. The installer has also been revamped to support full disk wipes and dynamic partitioning.

    Although still considered an alpha release, AerynOS 2025.03 can be downloaded and tested right now from its official website.

    Source: 9to5Linux
    AerynOS


  • Xojo 2025r1: Big Updates for Developers with Linux ARM Support, Web Drag and Drop, and Direct App Store Publishing
    Image
    Xojo has just rolled out its latest release, Xojo 2025 Release 1, and it’s packed with features that developers have been eagerly waiting for. This major update introduces support for running Xojo on Linux ARM, including Raspberry Pi, brings drag-and-drop functionality to the Web framework, and simplifies app deployment with the ability to directly submit apps to the macOS and iOS App Stores.

    Here’s a quick overview of what’s new in Xojo 2025r1:
    1. Linux ARM IDE Support
    Xojo 2025r1 now allows developers to run the Xojo IDE on Linux ARM devices, including popular platforms like Raspberry Pi. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for developers who want to create apps for ARM-based devices without the usual complexity. Whether you’re building for a Raspberry Pi or other ARM devices, this update makes it easier than ever to get started.
    2. Web Drag and Drop
    One of the standout features in this release is the addition of drag-and-drop support for web applications. Now, developers can easily drag and drop visual controls in their web projects, making it simpler to create interactive, user-friendly web applications. Plus, the WebListBox has been enhanced with support for editable cells, checkboxes, and row reordering via dragging. No JavaScript required!
    3. Direct App Store Publishing
    Xojo has also streamlined the process of publishing apps. With this update, developers can now directly submit macOS and iOS apps to App Store Connect right from the Xojo IDE. This eliminates the need for multiple steps and makes it much easier to get apps into the App Store, saving valuable time during the development process.
    4. New Desktop and Mobile Features
    This release isn’t just about web and Linux updates. Xojo 2025r1 brings some great improvements for desktop and mobile apps as well. On the desktop side, all projects now include a default window menu for macOS apps. On the mobile side, Xojo has introduced new features for Android and iOS, including support for ColorGroup and Dark Mode on Android, and a new MobileColorPicker for iOS to simplify color selection.
    5. Performance and IDE Enhancements
    Xojo’s IDE has also been improved in several key areas. There’s now an option to hide toolbar captions, and the toolbar has been made smaller on Windows. The IDE on Windows and Linux now features modern Bootstrap icons, and the Documentation window toolbar is more compact. In the code editor, developers can now quickly navigate to variable declarations with a simple Cmd/Ctrl + Double-click. Plus, performance for complex container layouts in the Layout Editor has been enhanced.
    What Does This Mean for Developers?
    Xojo 2025r1 brings significant improvements across all the platforms that Xojo supports, from desktop and mobile to web and Linux. The added Linux ARM support opens up new opportunities for Raspberry Pi and ARM-based device development, while the drag-and-drop functionality for web projects will make it easier to create modern, interactive web apps. The ability to publish directly to the App Store is a game-changer for macOS and iOS developers, reducing the friction of app distribution.
    How to Get Started
    Xojo is free for learning and development, as well as for building apps for Linux and Raspberry Pi. If you’re ready to dive into cross-platform development, paid licenses start at $99 for a single-platform desktop license, and $399 for cross-platform desktop, mobile, or web development. For professional developers who need additional resources and support, Xojo Pro and Pro Plus licenses start at $799. You can also find special pricing for educators and students.

    Download Xojo 2025r1 today at xojo.com.
    Final Thoughts
    With each new release, Xojo continues to make cross-platform development more accessible and efficient. The 2025r1 release is no exception, delivering key updates that simplify the development process and open up new possibilities for developers working on a variety of platforms. Whether you’re a Raspberry Pi enthusiast or a mobile app developer, Xojo 2025r1 has something for you.
    Xojo ARM


  • New 'Mirrored' Network Mode Introduced in Windows Subsystem for Linux

    Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) continues to evolve with the release of WSL 2 version 0.0.2. This update introduces a set of opt-in preview features designed to enhance performance and compatibility.

    Key additions include "Automatic memory reclaim" which dynamically optimizes WSL's memory footprint, and "Sparse VHD" to shrink the size of the virtual hard disk file. These improvements aim to streamline resource usage.

    Additionally, a new "mirrored networking mode" brings expanded networking capabilities like IPv6 and multicast support. Microsoft claims this will improve VPN and LAN connectivity from both the Windows host and Linux guest. 

    Complementing this is a new "DNS Tunneling" feature that changes how DNS queries are resolved to avoid compatibility issues with certain network setups. According to Microsoft, this should reduce problems connecting to the internet or local network resources within WSL.

    Advanced firewall configuration options are also now available through Hyper-V integration. The new "autoProxy" feature ensures WSL seamlessly utilizes the Windows system proxy configuration.

    Microsoft states these features are currently rolling out to Windows Insiders running Windows 11 22H2 Build 22621.2359 or later. They remain opt-in previews to allow testing before final integration into WSL.

    By expanding WSL 2 with compelling new capabilities in areas like resource efficiency, networking, and security, Microsoft aims to make Linux on Windows more performant and compatible. This evolutionary approach based on user feedback highlights Microsoft's commitment to WSL as a key part of the Windows ecosystem.
    Windows


  • Linux Threat Report: Earth Lusca Deploys Novel SprySOCKS Backdoor in Attacks on Government Entities

    The threat actor Earth Lusca, linked to Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups, has been observed utilizing a new Linux backdoor dubbed SprySOCKS to target government organizations globally. 

    As initially reported in January 2022 by Trend Micro, Earth Lusca has been active since at least 2021 conducting cyber espionage campaigns against public and private sector targets in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Their tactics include spear-phishing and watering hole attacks to gain initial access. Some of Earth Lusca's activities overlap with another Chinese threat cluster known as RedHotel.

    In new research, Trend Micro reveals Earth Lusca remains highly active, even expanding operations in the first half of 2023. Primary victims are government departments focused on foreign affairs, technology, and telecommunications. Attacks concentrate in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Balkans regions. 

    After breaching internet-facing systems by exploiting flaws in Fortinet, GitLab, Microsoft Exchange, Telerik UI, and Zimbra software, Earth Lusca uses web shells and Cobalt Strike to move laterally. Their goal is exfiltrating documents and credentials, while also installing additional backdoors like ShadowPad and Winnti for long-term spying.

    The Command and Control server delivering Cobalt Strike was also found hosting SprySOCKS - an advanced backdoor not previously publicly reported. With roots in the Windows malware Trochilus, SprySOCKS contains reconnaissance, remote shell, proxy, and file operation capabilities. It communicates over TCP mimicking patterns used by a Windows trojan called RedLeaves, itself built on Trochilus.

    At least two SprySOCKS versions have been identified, indicating ongoing development. This novel Linux backdoor deployed by Earth Lusca highlights the increasing sophistication of Chinese state-sponsored threats. Robust patching, access controls, monitoring for unusual activities, and other proactive defenses remain essential to counter this advanced malware.

    The Trend Micro researchers emphasize that organizations must minimize attack surfaces, regularly update systems, and ensure robust security hygiene to interrupt the tactics, techniques, and procedures of relentless threat groups like Earth Lusca.
    Security


  • Linux Kernel Faces Reduction in Long-Term Support Due to Maintenance Challenges

    The Linux kernel is undergoing major changes that will shape its future development and adoption, according to Jonathan Corbet, Linux kernel developer and executive editor of Linux Weekly News. Speaking at the Open Source Summit Europe, Corbet provided an update on the latest Linux kernel developments and a glimpse of what's to come.

    A major change on the horizon is a reduction in long-term support (LTS) for kernel versions from six years to just two years. Corbet explained that maintaining old kernel branches indefinitely is unsustainable and most users have migrated to newer versions, so there's little point in continuing six years of support. While some may grumble about shortened support lifecycles, the reality is that constantly backporting fixes to ancient kernels strains maintainers.

    This maintainer burnout poses a serious threat, as Corbet highlighted. Maintaining Linux is largely a volunteer effort, with only about 200 of the 2,000+ developers paid for their contributions. The endless demands on maintainers' time from fuzz testing, fixing minor bugs, and reviewing contributions takes a toll. Prominent maintainers have warned they need help to avoid collapse. Companies relying on Linux must realize giving back financially is in their interest to sustain this vital ecosystem. 

    The Linux kernel is also wading into waters new with the introduction of Rust code. While Rust solves many problems, it also introduces new complexities around language integration, evolving standards, and maintainer expertise. Corbet believes Rust will pass the point of no return when core features depend on it, which may occur soon with additions like Apple M1 GPU drivers. Despite skepticism in some corners, Rust's benefits likely outweigh any transition costs.

    On the distro front, Red Hat's decision to restrict RHEL cloning sparked community backlash. While business considerations were at play, Corbet noted technical factors too. Using older kernels with backported fixes, as RHEL does, risks creating divergent, vendor-specific branches. The Android model of tracking mainline kernel dev more closely has shown security benefits. Ultimately, Linux works best when aligned with the broader community.

    In closing, Corbet recalled the saying "Linux is free like a puppy is free." Using open source seems easy at first, but sustaining it long-term requires significant care and feeding. As Linux is incorporated into more critical systems, that maintenance becomes ever more crucial. The kernel changes ahead are aimed at keeping Linux healthy and vibrant for the next generation of users, businesses, and developers.
    kernel


  • Linux Celebrates 32 Years with the Release of 6.6-rc2 Version

    Today marks the 32nd anniversary of Linus Torvalds introducing the inaugural Linux 0.01 kernel version, and celebrating this milestone, Torvalds has launched the Linux 6.6-rc2. Among the noteworthy updates are the inclusion of a feature catering to the ASUS ROG Flow X16 tablet's mode handling and the renaming of the new GenPD subsystem to pmdomain.

    The Linux 6.6 edition is progressing well, brimming with exciting new features that promise to enhance user experience. Early benchmarks are indicating promising results, especially on high-core-count servers, pointing to a potentially robust and efficient update in the Linux series.

    Here is what Linus Torvalds had to say in today's announcement:
    Another week, another -rc.I think the most notable thing about 6.6-rc2 is simply that it'sexactly 32 years to the day since the 0.01 release. And that's a roundnumber if you are a computer person.Because other than the random date, I don't see anything that reallystands out here. We've got random fixes all over, and none of it looksparticularly strange. The genpd -> pmdomain rename shows up in thediffstat, but there's no actual code changes involved (make sure touse "git diff -M" to see them as zero-line renames).And other than that, things look very normal. Sure, the architecturefixes happen to be mostly parisc this week, which isn't exactly theusual pattern, but it's also not exactly a huge amount of changes.Most of the (small) changes here are in drivers, with some tracingfixes and just random things. The shortlog below is short enough toscroll through and get a taste of what's been going on. Linus Torvalds


  • Introducing Bavarder: A User-Friendly Linux Desktop App for Quick ChatGPT Interaction

    Want to interact with ChatGPT from your Linux desktop without using a web browser?

    Bavarder, a new app, allows you to do just that.

    Developed with Python and GTK4/libadwaita, Bavarder offers a simple concept: pose a question to ChatGPT, receive a response, and promptly copy the answer (or your inquiry) to the clipboard for pasting elsewhere.

    With an incredibly user-friendly interface, you won't require AI expertise (or a novice blogger) to comprehend it. Type your question in the top box, click the blue send button, and wait for a generated response to appear at the bottom. You can edit or modify your message and repeat the process as needed.

    During our evaluation, Bavarder employed BAI Chat, a GPT-3.5/ChatGPT API-based chatbot that's free and doesn't require signups or API keys. Future app versions will incorporate support for alternative backends, such as ChatGPT 4 and Hugging Chat, and allow users to input an API key to utilize ChatGPT3.

    At present, there's no option to regenerate a response (though you can resend the same question for a potentially different answer). Due to the lack of a "conversation" view, tracking a dialogue or following up on answers can be challenging — but Bavarder excels for rapid-fire questions.

    As with any AI, standard disclaimers apply. Responses might seem plausible but could contain inaccurate or false information. Additionally, it's relatively easy to lead these models into irrational loops, like convincing them that 2 + 2 equals 106 — so stay alert!

    Overall, Bavarder is an attractive app with a well-defined purpose. If you enjoy ChatGPT and similar technologies, it's worth exploring.
    ChatGPT AI


  • LibreOffice 7.5.3 Released: Third Maintenance Update Brings 119 Bug Fixes to Popular Open-Source Office Suite

    Today, The Document Foundation unveiled the release and widespread availability of LibreOffice 7.5.3, which serves as the third maintenance update to the current LibreOffice 7.5 open-source and complimentary office suite series.

    Approximately five weeks after the launch of LibreOffice 7.5.2, LibreOffice 7.5.3 arrives with a new set of bug fixes for those who have successfully updated their GNU/Linux system to the LibreOffice 7.5 series.

    LibreOffice 7.5.3 addresses a total of 119 bugs identified by users or uncovered by LibreOffice developers. For a more comprehensive understanding of these bug fixes, consult the RC1 and RC2 changelogs.

    You can download LibreOffice 7.5.3 directly from the LibreOffice websiteor from SourceForge as binary installers for DEB or RPM-based GNU/Linux distributions. A source tarball is also accessible for individuals who prefer to compile the software from sources or for system integrators.

    All users operating the LibreOffice 7.5 office suite series should promptly update their installations to the new point release, which will soon appear in the stable software repositories of your GNU/Linux distributions.

    In early February 2023, LibreOffice 7.5 debuted as a substantial upgrade to the widely-used open-source office suite, introducing numerous features and improvements. These enhancements encompass major upgrades to dark mode support, new application and MIME-type icons, a refined Single Toolbar UI, enhanced PDF Export, and more.

    Seven maintenance updates will support LibreOffice 7.5 until November 30th, 2023. The next point release, LibreOffice 7.5.4, is scheduled for early June and will include additional bug fixes.

    The Document Foundation once again emphasizes that the LibreOffice office suite's "Community" edition is maintained by volunteers and members of the Open Source community. For enterprise implementations, they suggest using the LibreOffice Enterprise family of applications from ecosystem partners.
    LibreOffice


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Page last modified on November 17, 2022, at 06:39 PM