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- [$] 25 years of Buildroot
Buildroot maintainer Peter Korsgaardgave a presentation about the long history of the build tool for embeddedLinux systems at the 2026 EmbeddedLinux Conference Europe. In it, he covered more than just the past 25years, looking at the current status of the project as well as what toexpect in Buildroot's future. It was an interesting view inside this long-running project thathas been a mainstay of the embedded-Linux world throughout almost all ofthis century.
- Announcing XRAID: declustered parity RAID for zoned XFS
Christoph Hellwig has announced theinitial public release of XRAID—declustered parity RAID that is integratedinto XFS.
The two primary aims of XRAID are to support parity RAID on zoned deviceslike SMR hard drives, and to provide a fast RAID implementation withoutinherent data integrity problems. XRAID, just like zoned XFS also workson conventional hard drives and SSDs. Optimizing for SSD performance hasnot been a focus, but even without that, writes are up to 20 times fasterthan mdraid. [...]
Work on XRAID has been ongoing for a year and a half, and while we aren'tanywhere near ready for an upstream submission, we are interested infeedback and testing from a wider audience now. The currentimplementation supports zero to 2 parities. We did experiments with theSnapRAID parity library to support 3 and more parities, and while thatis not included in the current version, support for more parities isplanned and the code is prepared for it.
The xfsprogs branch includes mkfs support and a new "xraid" utility formanaging devices and inspecting an XRAID file-systems. We have alsoextended Zonar (The zoned file-system visualisation tool) to show howeach logical zone maps onto physical zones on devices.
Hellwig gave a presentation atFOSSY in August on this topic; video of the talk does not seem to be availableyet, but his slides areavailable.
- Security updates for Friday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (.NET 10.0, .NET 8.0, .NET 9.0, firefox, gcc, grafana, grafana-pcp, gstreamer1, gstreamer1-plugins-base, java-1.8.0-openjdk, kernel, kernel-rt, libimobiledevice, mingw-libpng, nginx:1.24, nodejs:22, nodejs:24, perl-CGI, perl-DBI, qt5-qtbase, tigervnc, vim, and xorg-x11-server), Debian (apache2, c-ares, linux-6.12, node-shell-quote, nova, parted, postgresql-17, python-django, sympa, and tomcat10), Fedora (cockpit, erlang-ssl_verify_fun, httpd, ignition, jackson-bom, jackson-core, jackson-databind, jackson-modules-base, libvirt, mod_http2, mongo-c-driver, poppler, prometheus, pylint, python-discovery, python-loguru, python-PyMuPDF, rabbitmq-server, rust-crypto-bigint, rust-ctutils, rust-elliptic-curve, rust-num-bigint, rust-num-bigint0.4, rust-num-modular, rust-num-modular0.6, rust-num-prime, rust-routinator, rust-zmij, strongswan, xen, xorg-x11-server, and zvbi), Mageia (amule, peazip, and python-pytest), Red Hat (buildah, fence-agents, go-fdo-server, grafana, grafana-pcp, oci-seccomp-bpf-hook, osbuild-composer, podman, and rhc), SUSE (ansible-core, apr-util, aspell, brotli, cadvisor, civetweb, distribution-registry, elemental, elemental-register,, elemental-operator, elemental-system-agent, elemental- toolkit, ffmpeg, firefox, gimp, git-annex, go1.26, go1.27, golang-github-prometheus-prometheus, google-cloud-sap-agent, google-guest-agent, google-osconfig-agent, goose, gosec, graphicsmagick, haproxy, hauler, hawk-apiserver, hawk2, hcloud-cli, jhead, jsoup, kernel, librsvg, libXtst, libxtst, nodejs24, nvidia-open-driver-G07-signed, nvidia-open-driver-g07-signed, open-iscsi, perl-XS-Parse-Keyword, perl-xs-parse-keyword, python-asyncssh, python-Brotli, python-django, python-joserfc, python-M2Crypto, python-Pillow, python-pillow, python313-setuptools, rsyslog, speex, tiff, trivy, udisks2, vsftpd, xen, and xorg-x11-server), and Ubuntu (apache2, charybdis, debian-lan-config, glibc, golang-github-seccomp-libseccomp-golang, hiredis, httpie, imapfilter, lhasa, libjgraphx-java, libjwt, libsolv, linux-fips, linux-hwe-6.8, linux-hwe-7.0, linux-nvidia-tegra, minissdpd, ncmpc, nfdump, node-tough-cookie, openconnect, pillow, pngquant, python-gevent, radicale, ruby-openid, sa-exim, signing-party, sudo, tigervnc, and x11vnc).
- Glasswing overwhelms maintainers with underwhelming findings (VulnCheck)
Patrick Garrity of VulnCheck has written a blogpost that looks at vulnerabilities found by Anthropic's Project Glasswing since itlaunched on April 7, and finds it wanting:
Of the 37,966 findings Anthropic reports, only 7,349 (19.4%) have been madepublic. Just 217 of those have been marked fixed. The more glaring number isthat 4.4% (1,654) of the project's findings have already been marked asduplicates, 7.5x more duplicates than fixes. On top of that, 419 findings havebeen withdrawn. It seems odd that the ledger now claims a 94.2% true positiverate, up from 90.8% at launch, when more findings have been withdrawn or markedas duplicates than fixed, likely a feedback loop missing to the triage rateslisted as "True Positives".
[...] AI is a valuable tool for finding vulnerabilities, and I'm notdiscounting that. But seven months in, the evidence still doesn't match thelaunch narrative. The CVEs are a sliver of this year's total, almost none arebeing exploited, fixes have stalled while duplicates and withdrawals pile up,and the triage burden is shifting onto the open source maintainers Glasswingpromised to help. The receipts keep coming in. They still don't reconcile.
- Introducing Polo: a Wayland MATE compositor
Kerem Söke has announcedthe 1.0release of Polo, aWayland compositor for the MATE DesktopEnvironment:
The idea is to keep MATE behaving as closely as possible to how it does onX11, rather than changing the desktop to fit a different compositor. [...]
Window management, metacity, workspaces, tiling, XWayland, clipboard andclipman support, multiple monitors, display scaling, hotplugging, screenshots,screen sharing, and session management are all working.
I've also added desktop effects: fade, zoom, zap, spin, squeemize, magiclamp, desktop cube, expo, and wobbly windows.
Söke is looking for people to test Polo, particularly on multi-monitorsetups, and report back with problems.
- [$] C++26 contract confusion
TheInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) has blessed seven C++language revisions since 1998.The language is mostly developed by ISO'sWorking Group 21, whichconsiders proposed additions and amendments, integrates them into a document,and then presents that document to the main ISO body to be voted on as astandard. On October 23, for the first time ever, ISO declined to ratify a documentpresented by Working Group 21, leaving the future of the C++26 standard indoubt. The decision was driven by controversy around a proposed new "contracts"feature that would add pre- and post-conditions to function signatures.
- Stenberg: 30 years of Internet transfers with curl
Daniel Stenberg reflectson the 30th anniversary of the curl project.
libcurl runs in an estimated thirty billion installations today. It is a rough estimate since the majority of all libcurl users never tell us they use it, but we need to find it mentioned in their credit screens, open source license windows or their manuals. A super popular app might use libcurl today and not tomorrow, or vice versa, which can make the numbers shift by several billions overnight. In reality of course, once the pulse raise has calmed down and your ego is content, these numbers do not matter. In our corner of the world, things don't change notably when we go from a thousand installs to billions. We still work with similar people, in similar ways, with similar challenges.
- Security updates for Thursday
Security updates have been issued by Debian (aodh, apache2, dnspython, firefox-esr, mutt, octavia, spip, thunderbird, and watcher), Fedora (epiphany, firefox, freerdp, java-25-openjdk, java-latest-openjdk, libsoup3, perl-HTTP-Parser-XS, perl-libnet, php-getid3, pipx, python-crate-ingredients, python-pillow, python-robotframework, python3.9, rsync, rubygem-nokogiri, tpm2-tss, udns, and xorg-x11-server-Xwayland), Gentoo (curl, ImageMagick, libheif, and PCRE2), Mageia (nginx and python-django), Oracle (go-toolset:rhel8, libimobiledevice, nodejs:22, util-linux, and vim), Red Hat (.NET 10.0, .NET 8.0, .NET 9.0, cockpit, freerdp, gdb, go-fdo-client, grafana-pcp, ignition, kernel, kernel-rt, krb5, openssh, openssl, osbuild-composer, rpm, rsync, and webkit2gtk3), Slackware (git, httpd, and tigervnc), SUSE (aliyun-cli, alloy, apache-parent, aqute-bnd, google-gson, logback, maven, maven-artifact-transfer, maven-parent, maven-resolver, methanol, osgi-service- subsystem, slf4j, xmvn, bcel, benchdnn, containerd, distribution, dpdk, efivar, elemental, elemental-register, elemental-system-agent, elemental-toolkit, firefox, kernel, liblldpctl4, libonnxruntime1, openssl-1_0_0, openssl-1_1, openvpn, pcre2, perl-Net-DNS, perl-Plack, perl-Starman, psqlODBC, python-M2Crypto, python-Pillow, python-Twisted, python-urllib3_1, python313-djangorestframework, python313-fpdf2, python313-langgraph-sdk, python313-nltk, rust-keylime, skopeo, traefik, zchunk, and zvbi), and Ubuntu (asyncpg, awl, btrbk, davical, dotnet8, dotnet10, dotnet11, libfcgi, linux-raspi, logback, mysql-8.0, mysql-8.4, mysql-9.7, network-manager-ssh, node-babel, php-pecl-http, prosody-modules, rkhunter, ruby-actionpack-page-caching, ruby-jwt, ruby-kramdown, shiro, snmptt, and yodl).
- [$] LWN.net Weekly Edition for November 12, 2026
Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition:
Front: Synaptics patent claims; Git LLM policy; Hibernation and lockdown; User namespaces; glibc tunables. Briefs: *sshole; Amutable foundations; Asahi Linux 7.3; OpenIndiana 2026.10; Firefox 160; Quotes; ... Announcements: Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.
- Miniature industrial IoT gateway with dual Gigabit Ethernet and optional Wi-Fi 6, LTE
Compulab has detailed its IOT-GATE-IMX8PV2, a fanless industrial IoT gateway powered by NXPs i.MX8M Plus processor. The small-form-factor system combines dual Gigabit Ethernet, optional Wi-Fi 6 and LTE connectivity, and isolated industrial I/O in a 105 80 30mm aluminum enclosure. The gateway uses a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor running at up to 1.8GHz,0
- Google Summer of Code mentor summit 2026
Every year, the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) Mentor Summit brings together open source maintainers, community leads, and mentors from across the globe. It is an energizing unconference where the diversity of open source can be touched. This is a unique occasion to share what works (and what doesnt) across0
- Running Android apps on Ubuntu is surprisingly easy
Ubuntu doesnt run Android apps and games natively, but Waydroid is an open-source effort that lets you use them and its now really easy to setup on Ubuntu. Earlier this year, Waydroid was packaged in Debian. That put it a simple apt install away on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and later. No need to add a PPA, find a third-party package or run scripts from Reddit threads. Waydroid runs a containerised0
- 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.
- XRAID Publicly Released As New RAID Implementation For XFS
Longtime Linux developer Christoph Hellwig today announced the initial public release of XRAID. XRAID is a declustered parity RAID implementation integrated into the XFS file-system. XRAID is focused on RAID for zoned XFS deployments...
- Linux 7.5 To Upstream Driver For New Glanda GPU
Sent out today was the drm-misc-next pull request for the week of new material to queue in DRM-Next until the Linux 7.5 merge window gets underway in late December. Most notable this week is the introduction of the new GlandaGPU driver...
- Intel Posts Initial GCC Compiler Code For Razor Lake & Coral Rapids
One of the consistent wonderful praise I have for Intel over the past 22+ years of covering the Linux hardware scene has been their upstreaming of new CPU targets into the open-source compilers like GCC well ahead of product launches. Particularly with GCC on an annual feature release cycle and not being quickly picked up by new Linux distribution releases, Intel upstreaming their new CPU targets and ISA features at times years in advance of product releases has helped ensure smooth compiler ecosystem support by the time their products ship. The latest example, today they posted their patches providing new ISA features and enabling for both Coral Rapids and Razor Lake processors...
- NVIDIA Highlights Their Open-Source vGPU Upstreaming Work Built Atop Nova
The Rust-based NVIDIA Linux kernel driver "Nova" is set to take on an important role in the official NVIDIA Linux driver stack of the future. This mainline kernel driver continues seeing a flurry of activity to bring it into a usable state and eventually parity and beyond compared to the existing out-of-tree NVIDIA Linux driver code or the incomplete and largely reverse engineered Nouveau kernel driver. Presented at this week's KVM Forum was the current status of NVIDIA bringing vGPU support to the upstream kernel...
- Dasharo ACPI Fan Control Linux Driver Posted For Adjusting Fan Curves
The 3mdeb consulting firm that has ported their Coreboot-based open-source firmware stack to the likes of an AMD Ryzen AM5 motherboard from MSI and a Gigabyte EPYC server motherboard, among others, has posted a new Linux kernel driver for supporting fan controls with Dasharo firmware...
- OpenAI Codex Helps Uncover & Fix A Nearly 20 Year Old Radeon Linux Driver Bug
Sent out today was the latest batch of AMD kernel graphics/compute driver patches destined for the Linux 7.5 merge window opening up at year's end/ Besides a lot of fixes and continued work around new IP enablement for upcoming GPUs, there is even a fix for old ATI/AMD Radeon R600 era hardware after help from OpenAI's Codex...
- ReactOS makes strides in SMP, 64bit, and more
The ReactOS project organised two hackfests this year, and the work done during those in-person sessions, combined with the ongoing regular progress, has led to some pretty significant breakthroughs and progress. More NT6+ syscalls have been added, ReactOS supports floppy disks now, NTFS support has been vastly improved, and much more. Theres also a new USB3/4 stack, which is now merged and offers basic support for these versions of USB. One of the biggest additions is a new kernel shim engine which gives ReactOS the ability to work around buggy drivers and implement quirks, moreso than even Windows itself can. For instance, thanks to this new shim, XP-era NVIDIA drivers can run on NT6 ReactOS. The ongoing efforts to implement SMP are yielding results too: ReactOS can now run with SMP for days on end while doing tasks in the background, which is quite promising. The team is showing off Steam and the game Among Us running on ReactOS, which is definitely impressive.
- Polo: a new Wayland compositor for MATE
MATE is probably the last X11-only holdout among the major desktop environments, but thats about to change if Kerem Söke has anything to say about it. Polo is a port of Marcos behavior and window management policies to Wayland, built on libweston and written in Vala and C. Its a window manager, compositor, and session authority for the MATE Wayland desktop. It takes over, step by step, what Marco, mate-session-manager and the compositor-facing parts of mate-settings-daemon do on X11. ↫ Polos GitHub page Söke is looking for testers with this very first Polo 1.0.0 release cute name, too which is available on its GitHub page.
- IBM to offer access to a dual-processor quantum system in 2027
Ars Technica published a short write-up about changes to IBMs quantum computing plans. The changes greatly expand the scope of its next-generation Nighthawk general-use processors by adding a version with over 500 programmable qubits. At the same time, it’s stepping back a bit on its plan to link multiple Nighthawk processors together, dropping the intended number of linked systems from nine to two. The total number of qubits planned for next year will remain the same; how the company is getting there, however, will be different. Meanwhile, the company is touting the performance boost achieved via a major change that was made in the generation of Nighthawk processors released in September: hardware-based qubit resets. ↫ John Timmer at Ars Technica Im convinced quantum computing will eventually have a big impact in the areas its characteristics are presumed to be well-suited for. Also, it just looks and sounds incredibly cool, even if as the technology currently stands its not particularly useful yet.
- Im not descending into madness because mount and unmount icons make no sense
There are many problems in this world some big, some small, some so minute nobody ought to put them to paper at all. The problem Im going to highlight here is even smaller than that. This literally the actual literally does not matter and absolutely nobody should care about it, let alone put any work into changing it or addressing it some other way. I want to talk about the iconography GNOMEs Disks utility uses to symbolise mount! and unmount!. No, Im not descending into madness. GNOMEs Disks utility uses the play! symbol on the mount button, and the stop! symbol on the unmount button. Inexplicably, considering the state of the world in general and the rapidly deteriorating quality of software specifically, this bothers me. Out in the real world, built on decades of consistent use, these symbols have gained clearly defined meanings, and mounting and unmounting disks definitely isnt one of them. In fact, the meaning of these symbols isnt mere convention; theyre defined in a variety of international standards for symbols for use in software and on equipment, such as ISO/IEC 18035 (which you need to buy to read; my copy fell of a truck): ISO/IEC 18035:2002 defines a consistent set of icons and related functions that are represented by multimedia applications on a computer screen and that users interact with to control such applications. It describes controls applying to such functions as: Play, Pause, Stop, Rewind, Scan forward, Scan backward, Replay backward, Loop, Go to beginning, Go to previous, Go to next, Go to end, Set volume and Mute. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Theyre also part of ISO 7000/IEC 60417, a much larger, more encompassing standard that also contains things like the various symbols used on laundry machines, tumble dryers, in cars, and so on. The symbols themselves are much older than the standards, of course, with many of them dating back to the 1960s and possibly even 1950s. The point remains, though: the play and stop symbols have clearly defined meanings, and I dont think they are at all a good fit for mount and unmount. The function of the play! symbol according to ISO/IEC 18035: To enable the user to start the presentation of dynamic media, except where the task requires automatic playing of that media. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 And of the stop! symbol: To enable the user to stop the presentation of dynamic media. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Neither of these descriptions match what mounting and unmounting mean or do. Mounting a drive or partition doesnt present any media at all; it merely makes the drive or partition in question accessible. Unmounting also doesnt eject anything; it merely makes the drive or partition inaccessible. I would argue that play and pause act upon contents of a drive or volume, and not upon the drive or volume itself. As it stands right now, you play! a drive! to play! a video stored on said drive. Madness. I already know what youre thinking, and yes, I agree that the Disks utility is a tool aimed at more advanced use cases and users, and most normal, average users will never even know it exists, let alone open it at all. Very few people get to see these symbols, and those that do already know full well what mounting and unmounting mean, reducing the importance of said symbols considerably. But now its time for the big surprise, the twist in the story that turns this entire thing on its head. Files, GNOMEs file manager, uses an entirely different symbol for unmounting! Instead of the stop! symbol, Files uses the eject! symbol. You may think this is a more accurate visual representation of what unmounting means, but I strongly disagree. Lets turn to ISO/IEC 18035:2003 once again: To enable the user to eject the current physical media from the appropriate drive. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Unmounting doesnt eject anything! If you unmount a USB stick, the stick doesnt get fired out of the USB port. If you unmount a volume, it doesnt get removed from the SSD. Hell, if you unmount a CD-ROM, it doesnt even eject it! Ejecting a CD-ROM opening the drives tray or spitting the CD-ROM out of a slot-loader is an entirely different act! Are we really ejecting! a CD-ROM twice? Are we mounting! a CD-ROM when we merely close the tray? No! Madness! The real underlying problem here is, of course, that mounting and unmounting are deeply weird and confusing concepts, bordering on the esoteric, that simply do not have physical equivalents to fall back on. Using symbols and iconography designed in the 1960s explicitly for playing music or stopping a video or ejecting a cassette tape are not a good fit for something as difficult to explain to most people as mounting and unmounting. Its like putting an eject symbol on a cars door handle or a play symbol on a soap dispenser. Should GNOME developers waste any time or resources to address this? No, of course not, that would be stupid. Nobody should care about this but me. I should suffer in silence, every time I need to mount or unmount something, forced to look for an eject or stop symbol in whatever user interface I happen to be using. Every time, I should die a little inside. Please, dont be like me and waste precious resources thinking about this. Im not descending into madness. I just want mount and unmount symbols that make sense. Im not descending into madness.
- Haiku gets multifinger touchpad taps
Were almost halfway through November, but we hadnt seen Haikus monthly activity report for October yet. Its here now, and theres quite a few good things in here, like support for two and three-finger tap gestures on touchpads for right and middle-click, a new driver that adds Universal Flash Storage support, and even some build fixes for Haikus SPARC port as well as some fixes on the RISC-V side. Of course, thats just a selection, as theres the usual long list of smaller changes, bugfixes, and improvements as well.
- Microsoft releases .NET 11
Today, we’re excited to announce the release of .NET 11! This year’s release makes building modern applications faster, more productive, and has improvements across C# 15, ASP.NET Core, .NET MAUI, and Windows development. With hundreds of runtime optimizations, more responsive SDK tooling, and less overhead in everyday commands, you can spend less time waiting and more time creating. Build richer web and cross-platform applications, take advantage of new C# language features, and explore AI-powered development with improved tools and agentic capabilities. ↫ .NET Team Im not going to pretend to care about .NET, but I know many of you have to care on a professional level, because .NET is remarkably popular in places where the spotlights dont often shine.
- What if any process could handle SIGKILL?
An interesting question, and a detailed technical rundown of how to make this happen, which involved building a custom Linux kernel, of course. I really, really enjoy the conclusion. And you know? It turned out fine. Nothing exploded on my system. As I could predict, because this was otherwise impossible, nobody did it. The signal system was setup in such a way that you would most likely realize something you were doing was wrong, and not try it. To pull back further, it is interesting to notice how the rules we all take for granted are just set somewhere in code. They were written by someone, at some point. If there is code restricting you from doing something, someone wrote it. Either they did not think anyone would want to do that thing, or they specifically prevented you from doing it. Those rules are written somewhere, and you can take it in your paws to go sniff around the code, pull out the relevant parts, and hack around the things that bother you. For fun, learning, or convenience. Snoop around. Sniff code. Put your paws in it. Hack shit. ↫ lux at VulpineCitrus Even if theres no real reason to do, even if its just to satiate an odd and possibly slightly morbid sense of curiosity, fuck with code.
- OpenIndiana Hipster 2026.10 released
OpenIndiana is a rolling-release illumos distribution, but they do release snapshots twice a year to serve as a base for installations, which they call Hipster. The projects just released OpenIndiana Hipster 2026.10, and it brings a number of welcome changes. First, theres UEFI framebuffer support on the live image, which is automatically configured when loading up the image. Second, Firefox and Thunderbird versions have been bumped to 159.0, and a whole slew of development tools have been updated to newer versions as well. This snapshot also brings QEMU 11.1.2 and VirtualBox 7.2.22, and a number of new applications have been added as well. In addition, SPARC build support has been improved to enable new and updated packages for Suns dead ISA as well. You can download a fresh image, or update an existing installation through IPS.
- Making musl and proprietary NVIDIA drivers work together
Creator and lead developer of Chimera Linux, Nina q66!, write about their efforts to get NVIDIA drivers to work properly on musl-based distributions. As you may be aware, one of the limitations of musl-based distributions is that they will not function to their proper extent when used in computers with various NVIDIA graphics cards. This is due to the proprietary nature of the driver, being built for glibc. I have been experimenting with trying to make this work, and this post is the summary of that effort. ↫ Nina q66! on the Chimera blog What follows is a deeply technical exploration of the problem, and the steps Nina q66 and the Chimera team are taking to try and fix it. With how popular and widespread NVIDIA hardware still is, this is a hugely important issue to try and address, and Im grateful theyre trying to address it.
- MorphOS 3.21 released with new office suite
About five months after the previous release, the MorphOS team has released MorphOS 3.21. It brings the usual list of big fixes and smaller improvements, but theres a few big ticket items in here as well. MorphOS 3.21 introduces BasicWorks, an office suite made up of CellBasics and PageBasics. It offers document and spreadsheet authoring and loads and saves Microsoft Office and OpenOffice documents. Also new are NVMEMount, an auto-mounter for booting from and mounting NVMe partitions, and the Marbles and Cyber 3D blankers. Graphics performance has been improved, with a faster Radeon driver on cards with little video memory thanks to GART backed bitmap transfers, quicker TinyGL texture copies, hardware accelerated antialiased text in TTEngine and much faster color SVG glyph rendering in Cairo. The Bcm43xx wireless driver has been substantially reworked, with automatic transmit rate selection, updated firmware and numerous connection fixes. PowerBook and iMac hotkeys are now fully configurable. ↫ MorphOS 3.21 release announcement The BasicWorks office suite has been in the works for a while now, and more information on it can be found in a thread on the MorphZone forums and on the website for the spreadsheet component of the suite, CellBasics. The formula loaders and xlsx loaders are ports of open source projects, but the rest of the application is new code based on ObjectiveC++ and Cairo/Harfbuzz. It uses its own file format, but can import csv and xslsx files, so Im assuming the same more or else applies to the word processor (but with docx, of course). Alongside MorphOS 3.21 also comes a new release for Wayfarer, the web browser the Amiga-inspired operating system uses. Wayfarer 12.0 moves to WebKitGTK 2.52.5 (which was released in July of 2026, so its quite up to date), and now uses the Skia graphics library. R300-R500 Radeons will render websites with Skia-GL for some massive performance improvements, helped further along by a slew of additional performance optimisations. Adblocking has been improved as well, YouTube should work a lot better now, and much more. The full release notes for MorphOS 3.21 give you all the details.
- EU OS: A Bold Step Toward Digital Sovereignty for Europe
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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
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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
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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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