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(Two Column)
- Stable kernels for Friday the 13th
Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced the release of the 6.19.8, 6.18.18, and 6.12.77 stable kernels. Each of thesekernels includes a number of important fixes; users are advised toupgrade.
- An investigation of the forces behind the age-verification bills
Reddit user "Ok_Lingonberry3296" has posted theresults of an extensive investigation into the companies that arepushing US state legislatures to enact age-verification bills.
I've been pulling public records on the wave of "age verification" bills moving through US state legislatures. IRS 990 filings, Senate lobbying disclosures, state ethics databases, campaign finance records, corporate registries, WHOIS lookups, Wayback Machine archives. What started as curiosity about who was pushing these bills turned into documenting a coordinated influence operation that, from a privacy standpoint, is building surveillance infrastructure at the operating system level while the company behind it faces zero new requirements for its own platforms.
(See also this article for a look at theCalifornia law.)
- A set of AppArmor vulnerabilities
Qualys has sent out asomewhat breathless advisory describing a number of vulnerabilities inthe AppArmor security module, which is used in a number of Debian-baseddistributions (among others).
This "CrackArmor" advisory exposes a confused-deputy flaw allowing unprivileged users to manipulate security profiles via pseudo-files, bypass user-namespace restrictions, and execute arbitrary code within the kernel. These flaws facilitate local privilege escalation to root through complex interactions with tools like Sudo and Postfix, alongside denial-of-service attacks via stack exhaustion and Kernel Address Space Layout Randomization (KASLR) bypasses via out-of-bounds reads.
- Security updates for Friday
Security updates have been issued by Debian (chromium, kernel, and multipart), Fedora (dnf5, dr_libs, easyrpg-player, libmaxminddb, python3.12, strongswan, task, and udisks2), Oracle (.NET 10.0, .NET 8.0, .NET 9.0, gnutls, ImageMagick, kernel, libvpx, mingw-libpng, nginx:1.26, python3.11, and uek-kernel), Red Hat (delve, git-lfs, mingw-libpng, osbuild-composer, and rhc-worker-playbook), SUSE (cjson, curl, dnsdist, libsoup2, postgresql16, postgresql17, postgresql18, python-lxml_html_clean, python-pypdf2, python36, and thunderbird), and Ubuntu (dotnet8, dotnet9, dotnet10, freetype, golang-github-go-git-go-git, golang-golang-x-net, openssh, python-cryptography, sudo, and util-linux).
- [$] Practical uses for a null filesystem
One of the first changes merged for the upcoming 7.0 release was nullfs,an empty filesystem that cannot actually contain any files. One mightlogically wonder why the kernel would need such a thing. It turns out,though, that there are places where a null filesystem can come in handy.For 7.0, nullfs will be used to make life a bit easier for initprograms; future releases will likely use nullfs to increase the isolationof kernel threads from the init process.
- Two stable kernels for Thursday
Sasha Levin has announced the release of the 6.19.7 and 6.18.17 stable kernels. As usual, eachcontains important fixes throughout the tree; users are advised toupgrade.
- Security updates for Thursday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (gimp, git-lfs, grafana-pcp, kernel, mysql8.4, nfs-utils, opentelemetry-collector, osbuild-composer, postgresql:16, and python3.12), Debian (imagemagick and netty), Fedora (dr_libs and python-lxml-html-clean), Slackware (libarchive and libxml2), SUSE (busybox, coredns, firefox, freerdp, ghostty, gnutls, go1.25, go1.26, GraphicsMagick, grype, helm, helm3, ImageMagick, perl-Compress-Raw-Zlib, python, python311-lxml_html_clean, python311-PyPDF2, tomcat11, and traefik), and Ubuntu (curl, gimp, and libpng).
- [$] LWN.net Weekly Edition for March 12, 2026
Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition:
Front: Chardet; Linux and age verification; Debian AI; Python lazy imports; Python type-system PEP; PQC HTTPS certificates; MGLRU; Fedora strategy. Briefs: LLM vulnerability; NTP security; OpenWrt 25.12.0; SUSE sale; Buildroot 2026.02; digiKam 9.0.0; Rust 1.94.0; Quotes; ... Announcements: Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.
- [$] California's Digital Age Assurance Act and Linux distributions
A recently enacted law in California imposes an age-verification requirement onoperating-system providers beginning next year. The language of the DigitalAge Assurance Act does not restrict its requirements to proprietary or commercialoperating systems; projects like Debian, FreeBSD, Fedora, and others seem to be onthe hook just as much as Apple or Microsoft. There is some hope that the law will beamended, but there is no guarantee that it will be. This means that the developercommunities behind Linux distributions are having to discuss whether and how tocomply with the law with little time and even less legal guidance.
- Introducing Moonforge: a Yocto-based Linux OS (Igalia Blog)
Igalia has announcedthe Moonforge Linuxdistribution, based on OpenEmbeddedand Yocto.
Moonforge is an operating system framework for Linux devices thatsimplifies the process of building and maintaining custom operatingsystems.
It provides a curated collection of Yocto layers and configurationfiles that help developers generate immutable, maintainable, andeasily updatable operating system images.
The goal is to offer the best possible developer experience forteams building embedded Linux products. Moonforge handles the complexaspects of operating system creation, such as system integration,security, updates, and infrastructure, so developers can focus onbuilding and deploying their applications or devices.
- [$] HTTPS certificates in the age of quantum computing
There has been ongoing discussion in theInternet Engineering Task Force (IETF)about how to protect internet traffic against future quantum computers. So far,that work has focused on key exchange as the most urgent problem; now,a new IETF working group is looking at adopting post-quantum cryptographyfor authentication and certificate transparency as well. The main challenge todoing so is the increased size ofcertificates — around 40 times larger. The techniques that the working group is investigatingto reduce that overhead could have efficiency benefits for traditionalcertificates as well.
- Security updates for Wednesday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (kernel, kernel-rt, libvpx, nfs-utils, nginx:1.26, osbuild-composer, postgresql, postgresql:12, postgresql:13, postgresql:15, postgresql:16, and python-pyasn1), Debian (imagemagick), Fedora (perl-Crypt-SysRandom-XS and systemd), Mageia (yt-dlp), Oracle (delve, gimp, git-lfs, go-rpm-macros, image-builder, kernel, libpng, libvpx, mysql8.4, nfs-utils, osbuild-composer, postgresql16, postgresql:12, postgresql:13, postgresql:15, postgresql:16, python-pyasn1, python3, python3.12, python3.9, and thunderbird), SUSE (python-aiohttp, python-maturin, python311-pymongo, rclone, and util-linux), and Ubuntu (linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-6.8, linux-nvidia-lowlatency, and python-geopandas).
- [$] Disabling Python's lazy imports from the command line
The advent of lazy imports in the Python language is upon us, now that PEP 810 ("Explicit lazyimports") was accepted by the steeringcouncil and the feature will appear in the upcoming Python 3.15 releasein October. There are a number of good reasons,performance foremost, for wanting to defer spending—perhaps wasting—thetime to do an import before a needed symbol is used. However, there arealso good reasons not to want that behavior, at least in some cases. Thetension between those two positions is what led to an earlier PEP rejection,but it is also playing into a recent discussion of the API used to controllazy imports.
- SUSE may be for sale, again
Reuters is reportingthat private-equity firm EQT may be looking to sell SUSE:
EQT has hired investment bank Arma Partners to sound out a group ofprivate equity investors for a possible sale of the company, said thesources, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential matters. The deliberations are at an early stage and there is no certainty that EQTwill proceed with a transaction, the sources said.
SUSE has traded hands a number of times over the years. Mostrecently it was acquired byEQT in 2018, was listedon the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2021, and then takenprivate again by EQT in August 2023.
- OpenRazer 3.12 Released With Support For Newer Razer Products On Linux
OpenRazer 3.12 was just released today as the newest update to these independently-maintained, open-source drivers for Razer devices on Linux. Paired with the likes of the Polychromatic GUI, OpenRazer allows for a pleasant experience for the Razer gaming peripherals under Linux...
- Linux 6.12 Through Linux 7.0 File-System Benchmarks For EXT4 + XFS
Earlier this month were various Linux 7.0 file-system benchmarks showing how XFS is leading the race in the overall upstream Linux file-system performance on this forthcoming kernel. Stemming from that testing some premium supporters requested a fresh look at the historical performance of XFS as well as EXT4. So today's article is a look at how XFS and EXT4 have performed on every kernel release going back to Linux 6.12 LTS.
- Does Canada Need Nationalized, Public AI?
While AI CEOs worry governments might nationalize AI, others are advocating for something similar. Canadian security professional Bruce Schneier and Harvard data scientist Nathan Sanders published this call to action in Canada's most widely-read newspaper (with a readership over 6 million): "Canada Needs Nationalized, Public AI."While there are Canadian AI companies, they remain for-profit enterprises, their interests not necessarily aligned with our collective good. The only real alternative is to be bold and invest in a wholly Canadian public AI: an AI model built and funded by Canada for Canadians, as public infrastructure. This would give Canadians access to the myriad of benefits from AI without having to depend on the U.S. or other countries. It would mean Canadian universities and public agencies building and operating AI models optimized not for global scale and corporate profit, but for practical use by Canadians... We are already on our way to having AI become an inextricable part of society. To ensure stability and prosperity for this country, Canadian users and developers must be able to turn to AI models built, controlled, and operated publicly in Canada instead of building on corporate platforms, American or otherwise... [Switzerland's funding of a public AI model, Apertus] represents precisely the paradigm shift Canada should embrace: AI as public infrastructure, like systems for transportation, water, or electricity, rather than private commodity... Public AI systems can incorporate mechanisms for genuine public input and democratic oversight on critical ethical questions: how to handle copyrighted works in training data, how to mitigate bias, how to distribute access when demand outstrips capacity, and how to license use for sensitive applications like policing or medicine... Canada already has many of the building blocks for public AI. The country has world-class AI research institutions, including the Vector Institute, Mila, and CIFAR, which pioneered much of the deep learning revolution. Canada's $2-billion Sovereign AI Compute Strategy provides substantial funding. What's needed now is a reorientation away from viewing this as an opportunity to attract private capital, and toward a fully open public AI model. Long-time Slashdot reader sinij has a different opinion. "To me, this sounds dystopian, because I can also imagine AI declining your permits, renewal of license, or medication due to misalignment or 'greater good' reasons." But the Schneier/Sanders essays argues this creates "an alternative ownership structure for AI technology" that is allocating decision-making authority and value "to national public institutions rather than foreign corporations."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- New Freenet Network Launches, Along With 'River' Group Chat
Wikipedia describes Freenet as "a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, anonymous communication," released in the year 2000. "Both Freenet and some of its associated tools were originally designed by Ian Clarke," Wikipedia adds. (And in 2000 Clarke answered questions from Slashdot's readers...) And now Ian Clarke (aka Sanity — Slashdot reader #1,431) returns to share this announcement:Freenet's new generation peer-to-peer network is now operational, along with the first application built on the network: a decentralized group chat system called River. The new version is a complete redesign of the original project, focusing on real-time decentralized applications rather than static content distribution. Applications run as WebAssembly-based contracts across a small-world peer network, allowing software to operate directly on the network without centralized infrastructure. An introductory video demonstrating the system is available on YouTube. "While the original Freenet was like a decentralized hard drive, the new Freenet is like a full decentralized computer," Clarke wrote in 2023, "allowing the creation of entirely decentralized services like messaging, group chat, search, social networking, among others... designed for efficiency, flexibility, and transparency to the end user." "Freenet 2023 can be used seamlessly through your web browser, providing an experience that feels just like using the traditional web,"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Will AI Bring 'the End of Computer Programming As We Know It'?
Long-time tech journalist Clive Thompson interviewed over 70 software developers at Google, Amazon, Microsoft and start-ups for a new article on AI-assisted programming. It's title? "Coding After Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It." Published in the prestigious New York Times Magazine, the article even cites long-time programming guru Kent Beck saying LLMs got him going again and he's now finishing more projects than ever, calling AI's unpredictability "addictive, in a slot-machine way." In fact, the article concludes "many Silicon Valley programmers are now barely programming. Instead, what they're doing is deeply, deeply weird..."Brennan-Burke chimed in: "You remember seeing the research that showed the more rude you were to models, the better they performed?" They chuckled. Computer programming has been through many changes in its 80-year history. But this may be the strangest one yet: It is now becoming a conversation, a back-and-forth talk fest between software developers and their bots...For decades, being a software developer meant mastering coding languages, but now a language technology itself is upending the very nature of the job... A coder is now more like an architect than a construction worker... Several programmers told me they felt a bit like Steve Jobs, who famously had his staffers churn out prototypes so he could handle lots of them and settle on what felt right. The work of a developer is now more judging than creating... If you want to put a number on how much more productive A.I. is making the programmers at mature tech firms like Google, it's 10 percent, Sundar Pichai, Google's chief executive, has said. That's the bump that Google has seen in "engineering velocity" — how much faster its more than 100,000 software developers are able to work. And that 10 percent is the average inside the company, Ryan Salva, a senior director of product at the company, told me. Some work, like writing a simple test, is now tens of times faster. Major changes are slower. At the start-ups whose founders I spoke to, closer to 100 percent of their code is being written by A.I., but at Google it is not quite 50 percent. The article cites a senior principal engineer at Amazon who says "Things I've always wanted to do now only take a six-minute conversation and a 'Go do that." Another programmer described their army of Claude agents as "an alien intelligence that we're learning to work with." Although "A.I. being A.I., things occasionally go haywire," the article acknowledges — and after relying on AI, "Some new developers told me they can feel their skills weakening." Still, "I was surprised by how many software developers told me they were happy to no longer write code by hand. Most said they still feel the jolt of success, even with A.I. writing the lines... "A few programmers did say that they lamented the demise of hand-crafting their work. "I believe that it can be fun and fulfilling and engaging, and having the computer do it for you strips you of that," one Apple engineer told me. (He asked to remain unnamed so he wouldn't get in trouble for criticizing Apple's embrace of A.I.) He went on: "I didn't do it to make a lot of money and to excel in the career ladder. I did it because it's my passion. I don't want to outsource that passion"... But only a few people at Apple openly share his dimmer views, he said. The coders who still actively avoid A.I. may be in the minority, but their opposition is intense. Some dislike how much energy it takes to train and deploy the models, and others object to how they were trained by tech firms pillaging copyrighted works. There is suspicion that the sheer speed of A.I.'s output means firms will wind up with mountains of flabbily written code that won't perform well. The tech bosses might use agents as a cudgel: Don't get uppity at work — we could replace you with a bot. And critics think it is a terrible idea for developers to become reliant on A.I. produced by a small coterie of tech giants. Thomas Ptacek, a Chicago-based developer and a co-founder of the tech firm Fly.io... thinks the refuseniks are deluding themselves when they claim that A.I. doesn't work well and that it can't work well... The holdouts are in the minority, and "you can watch the five stages of grief playing out." "How things will shake out for professional coders themselves isn't yet clear," the article concludes. "But their mix of exhilaration and anxiety may be a preview for workers in other fields... Abstraction may be coming for us all."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- America's First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Project Finally Finishes Construction
It's America's first large-scale offshore wind project, reports WBUR — enough clean energy to power 400,000 homes in Massachusetts from 62 offshore wind turbines generating 800 megawatts. But it took a while... The plant's first construction delay happened back in 2019, they point out — and then "Just three months ago, when the project was 95% complete, the U.S. Interior Department issued a stop-work order." But after successfully challenging that order in court, and "with a stretch of good weather offshore, the developers behind the $4.5 billion project managed to get over the finish line." The Associated Press notes it was "one of five major East Coast offshore wind projects the Trump administration halted construction on days before Christmas, citing national security concerns."Developers and states sued, and federal judges allowed all five to resume construction, essentially concluding that the government did not show that the national security risk was so imminent that construction must halt. Another one of the five, Revolution Wind, began sending power for the first time to New England's electric grid on Friday and will scale up in the weeks ahead until it is fully operational. "That project is nearly complete as well," notes WBUR, "and will eventually be capable of powering up to 350,000 homes."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- How a Raspberry Pi Microcontroller Saved the Super Nintendo's Infamously Inferior Version Of 'Doom'
"Just the anachronism of seeing Doom, one of the poster children for the moral panic around violent video games, on a Nintendo console is novel," writes Kotaku — especially with the console's underpowered "Super FX" coprocessorHampered by a nearly unplayable framerate, especially in later levels, and mired by sacrifices, like altered levels, no floor or ceiling textures, and the entire fourth episode being cut, [1995's] Doom on the Super NES was not a good version of the game, but it was Doom running on the Super NES, and, for that alone, [programmer Randal] Linden's genius deserves recognition. But then in 2022 when Audi Sorlie interviewed Linden on the YouTube show DF Retro, "Not really knowing where fate was going to take us, I asked [Linden] a throwaway question regarding the source code for Doom."If you ever worked on this again, Sorlie asked, would you make any improvements or do anything differently?" "Yeah," Linden replied. "I have plenty of ideas if I could go back, but, you know, I don't think anyone's asking me to go back to Super Nintendo Doom and improve it." A few years passed, and Sorlie joined Limited Run Games as lead producer for their development department. When LRG asked him to run down his craziest ideas, a new, improved release of Randal Linden's Doom loomed large. Convincing Linden was easy, and Sorlie said even the folks at license holder Bethesda were more amused than anything. "You want to go back and develop for Super Nintendo?" they asked Sorlie. "Like, for real...?" "The trick was actually pretty cool," Linden said. "It's right here." He pointed to a chip on the prototype SNES cartridge, similar to the one Limited Run sent me to test out the game. "It's a Raspberry Pi 2350." Super FX chips are no longer in production for obvious reasons, but with a clever bit of programming, Linden was able to load software onto the Raspberry Pi that fools the SNES into thinking the game has one. "The Super Nintendo doesn't know that it's not talking to a Super FX," he explained. When he programs for it, he writes code almost identical to what he'd write for an authentic Super FX chip. "I had to go back and reverse-engineer my own code from 30 years ago," Linden laughed. "It's like, what was I doing here? And what was I doing there? Yeah, it was pretty tricky, some of the code. I was like, wow, I used to be very smart." The result of Linden's work? It's Doom, running right on a Super Nintendo, but it's smoother, packed with new content, and even includes rumble.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Are U.S. Utilities Trying to Delay Easy-to-Use Solar 'Balcony' Panels?
Plug-in (or "balcony") solar panels can also be hung out a window or be set up in a backyard, reports NPR. They channel energy from the sun straight into a home's electrical outlet, generating enough electricity to power a refrigerator or microwave while "displacing electricity that otherwise would come in from the grid..." But what's holding up their adoption in America?For the panels to become more widely available in the U.S., state lawmakers are proposing bills that eliminate complicated utility connection agreements, which are required for larger rooftop solar installations and, most utilities say, should apply to plug-in solar too. Those agreements, along with permitting and other installation costs, can double the price of solar panels. Utah enacted the first law, last May, supporting plug-in solar, and now some 30 pieces of similar legislation have been introduced around the United States. [And Virginia seems poised to pass a similar law.] But the drive toward plug-in solar is facing pushback from electric utilities. They are raising safety concerns and prompting legislators to delay votes on the bills. So far, utilities have won over lawmakers in five states and convinced them to delay votes on plug-in solar bills... Plug-in solar advocates say that safety concerns about the new technology have been addressed and that utilities are really just worried about losing business, because every kilowatt-hour generated by a plug-in solar panel is one less the utility sells to a customer... There are safety risks with any electrical appliance, and it's true that plug-in solar panels present some unique problems. But safety experts also say those issues can be managed.... German utilities expressed many of the same concerns nearly a decade ago when plug-in solar started to become popular in Germany. But with more than a million systems installed, no safety incidents have been reported for customers who used the panels as instructed, according to a research paper funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Gaming Site Editor Jailbreaks an Amazon Echo Show
"A few developers found a way, for now, to turn a few of these increasingly mediocre Amazon Show devices into friendly, useful, open computers," writes the co-founder of the gaming/tech news site Aftermath. For under $50 each, he bought some used versions of the devices and tested their instructions, partly to escape the full-screen ads Amazon began showing late last year, and also to overwrite Amazon's locked down Android fork "Fire OS" (and "a similarly neutered version of Linux called Vega OS") Customers who bought these devices and used them for several years were not used to them showing full screen ads, and now they do. People were justifiably pissed. So what do you do when an already evil device gets shittier...? I wiped Fire OS from the device and used ADB sideload to directly load two packages on the device: LineageOS and MindTheGapps. MindTheGapps lets you turn the device into something resembling a traditional Android device, for both good and bad.... It took a few times of wiping the device, but after a few tries it finally worked as intended... I immediately installed the Home Assistant app... Not only can the hacked Echo Show 8 control my entire smart home, it now plays back my entire local music library as well as any internet radio channels like The Lot Radio and NTS. It can also synchronize with any additional Echo Show running LineageOS in my house using the SendSpin protocol... I would gladly take it any day of the week over most of the devices these companies offer, especially Amazon. It may not be as intuitive as out-of-the-box smart home products, but I don't need my devices to be intuitive, I need them to behave. I had finally found a smart display that wasn't a cop... The hardware is old and creaky, and after the hack it can only use 1GB of the 2GB of ram. And yet it still manages to feel snappier than the stock hardware. "The amount of telemetry, ads, and general bloat Amazon shoves down our throats definitely doesn't help performance," [XDA Devs Forum user] Rortiz2 told me. "That's actually another reason why we did LineageOS, it kind of gives the device a second life. Even though it's still a bit buggy, it feels way better to use than the stock firmware...." If you want a smart speaker with a display that just runs a stripped-down version of Android that you have full control over, you're going to have a hard time finding it outside of these three specific models unless you cobble something together yourself. It is a deceptively simple thing to desire — the kiosk computer from science fiction that isn't a narc — yet few companies really offer it. "It should be against the law to not give an end user the ability to consensually load whatever OS or program they want on their device..." the article concludes, arguing that "If we budge on the inalienable right to modify our hardware then we forsake a key part about what makes computers special." And in the mean time, "There are so many devices that could be put to use rotting in e-waste facilities and thrift stores..."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Should Keycaps Use Text or Glyphs for Delete, Return, Tab, Caps Lock, and Shift?
"The new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models feature a keyboard change," reports MacRumors:On the U.S. English version of the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro keyboards, the tab, caps lock, shift, return, and delete keycaps now have glyphs on them. On previous-generation models, these keys are labeled with text instead... Given the U.S. English keyboard layout is the default option for MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Neo models sold in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, this change effectively extends to those countries and a few others. "Apple already uses glyph-based key labels on several European keyboard layouts," notes The Mac Observer, "including British English versions of the MacBook. Because of this, the design will feel familiar to many users outside the United States." The change was noticed last week by Chicago-based X.com/YouTube user "Mr. Macintosh", who makes how-to videos about now and old Macs.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- System76 CEO Sees 'Real Possibility' Colorado's Age-Verification Bill Excludes Open-Source
Last week System76 CEO Carl Richell criticized age-verification laws for operating systems — but he now sees a "real possibility" Colorado's law might exclude open-source. Phoronix reports that the System76 CEO met with the state Senator who co-authored Colorado's bill, and then posted on X.com that the Senator "suggested excluding open source software from the bill." Richell: This appears to be a real possibility. Amendments are expected... It's my hope we can move fast enough to influence excluding open source.. No illusions, it's an uphill battle, but we have an open door to advocate for the open source community. Vague language has been a recurring problem with new state age-verification legislation. Richell pointed out later that "In one proposed bill, Garmin would have to verify the age of their watch customers at device setup." Richell also sees New York's bill as "unlikely to be applicable to Linux distributions," since its language calls for "commercially reasonable age assurance" that free operating systems could use — and Richell isn't sure one exists as described by the bill. "As written today, it's extremely broad and vague and that makes it scary." Richell answered several follow-up questions about operating system age-verification laws. "What about California?" someone asked... Richell: We hope to make sensible, strong arguments for excluding open source which then becomes a standard for other states. It's going to be difficult. Q: Open source is not the only target to exclude. Please ensure that the bill is amended so that it does not require applications that have no possible use for the age bracket to ask about it. Richell: We discussed this as well. I proposed that apps that do not require age to modify app behavior or access by some other legislation be barred from reading age brackets to better protect privacy.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- US Set To Receive $10 Billion Fee For Brokering TikTok Deal
The deal to take control of TikTok's U.S. business came with an unusual condition, according to people familiar with the matter. The investors — which include Oracle, Abu Dhabi investor MGX, and private-equity firm Silver Lake — "paid the Treasury Department about $2.5 billion when the deal closed in January," reports the Wall Street Journal, "and are set to make several additional payments until hitting the $10 billion total."The $10 billion payment would be nearly unprecedented for a government helping arrange a transaction, historians have said... Investment bankers advising on a typical deal receive fees of less than 1% of the transaction value, and the percentage generally gets smaller as the deal size increases. Bank of America is in line to make some $130 million for advising railroad operator Norfolk Southern on its $71.5 billion sale to Union Pacific, one of the largest fees on record for a single bank on a deal. Administration officials have said the fee is justified given Trump's role in saving TikTok in the U.S. and navigating negotiations with China to get the deal done while addressing the security concerns of lawmakers... The TikTok fee extracted from private-sector investors is the administration's latest transaction involving the nation's largest businesses. Trump took a nearly 10% stake in semiconductor company Intel and has agreed to take a chunk of chip sales to China from Nvidia in exchange for granting export licenses. The administration has also taken equity stakes in other companies and has a say in the operations of U.S. Steel following a "golden share" agreement with Japan's Nippon Steel in its takeover. Reuters notes earlier this month, a lawsuit was filed by investors in two of TikTok's social media rivals, seeking to reverse the approval of the deal. Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- How a Species Evolved Fast Enough to Save Itself from Extinction
California saw its worst drought in 10,000 years between 2012 and 2015, remembers the Washington Post. And yet genetic analyses of California's scarlet monkeyflower "found that many rapidly evolved... allowing them to cope with water scarcity and rebound from decline.""The fact that certain organisms are able to adapt just because of genetics that are already present is a great source of hope," said Daniel Anstett, a plant biologist at Cornell University and lead author on a new study on the issue. "It's one more arrow in the quiver of different ways that populations might be able to survive the massive climate change we're inflicting on the planet." The recovery of [Sequoia National Park's] scarlet monkeyflowers offers rare, real-world evidence of what scientists call "evolutionary rescue," according to the study published Thursday in the journal Science. It suggests that some species may be able to evolve quickly enough to keep up with the accelerating consequences of human-caused warming — essentially saving themselves from extinction. This discovery could help people decide how to distribute limited conservation funds by pinpointing which species have enough genetic diversity to be resilient, ecologists Mark Urban and Laurinne Balstad, who were not involved in the study, wrote in a separate analysis published by Science. "The challenge going forward is to identify when evolutionary rescue is possible, when it is not, and how to rescue those species that cannot rescue themselves," Urban and Balstad wrote.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- AI's Productivity Boost? Just 16 Minutes Per Week, Claims Study
"A new study suggests the productivity boost from AI may be far smaller than executives claim," writes Slashdot reader BrianFagioli:According to research cited in Foxit's State of Document Intelligence report, while 89% of executives and 79% of end users say AI tools make them feel more productive, the actual time savings shrink dramatically once people account for reviewing and validating AI-generated output. The survey of 1,000 desk-based workers and 400 executives in the United States and United Kingdom found executives believe AI saves them about 4.6 hours per week, but they spend roughly 4 hours and 20 minutes verifying those results. End users reported a similar pattern, estimating 3.6 hours saved but 3 hours and 50 minutes spent reviewing AI work. Once that "verification burden" is factored in, executives gain just 16 minutes per week, while end users actually lose about 14 minutes.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- U.S. State Bans on Lab-Grown Meats Challenged in Court
Last June Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in a statement that Texans "have a God-given right to know what's on their plate, and for millions of Texans, it better come from a pasture, not a lab. It's plain cowboy logic that we must safeguard our real, authentic meat industry from synthetic alternatives." But California company Wildtype sells lab-grown salmon — and is suing Texas over its ban on cell-cultivated meat, the Austin Chronicle reported this week. The company's founder says lab-grown salmon eliminates the mercury, microplastic, and antibiotic contamination commonly found in seafood. And one chef in Austin, Texas says lab-grown salmon is "awesome" and "something new"-- at the only Texas restaurant that was serving it last summer:Just two months after the salmon hit the menu, Texas banned the sale of cell-cultivated meat...A lawsuit from Wildtype and one other FDA-approved cultivated meat company [argues] it's anti-capitalism and unconstitutional... This law "was not enacted to protect the health and safety of Texas consumers — indeed, it allows the continued distribution of cultivated meat to consumers so long as it is not sold. Instead, SB 261 was enacted to stifle the growth of the cultivated meat industry to protect Texas' conventional agricultural industry from innovative competition that is exclusively based outside of Texas...." [according to the lawsuit]. It was filed in September, immediately after the ban took effect, and cell-cultivated companies are awaiting judgment. That Texas ban would last two years, notes U.S. News and World Reports, adding that Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Nebraska have also passed bans, some temporary "on the manufacturing, sale or distribution of cell-cultured meat." Meanwhile, a new five-year moratorium on lab-grown meat was signed this week by the governor of South Dakota "after rejecting a permanent ban last month," reports South Dakota Searchlight:The new law bars the sale, manufacture or distribution of "cell-cultured protein" products from July 1 this year through June 30, 2031. Violations are punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both. "But supporters of lab-grown meat are not going down without a fight," adds U.S. News and World Reports, with another lawsuit also filed challenging a ban in Florida:When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the ban in Florida, he described it as "fighting back against the global elite's plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals." He added that his administration "will save our beef."
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- Meta Plans Sweeping Layoffs As AI Costs Mount
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers. No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalized, the people said. Top executives have recently signaled the plans to other senior leaders at Meta and told them to begin planning how to pare back, two of the people said. If Meta settles on the 20% figure, the layoffs will be the company's most significant since a restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023 that it dubbed the "year of efficiency." It employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to its latest filing. The speculation follows a recent report from The New York Times claiming that Meta has delayed the release of its next major AI model after falling behind competing systems from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
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- Two Long-Lost Episodes of 'Doctor Who' Found
Longtime Slashdot reader tsuliga writes: Two new episodes of Doctor Who that were previously lost have been found. The original Doctor Who episodes were wiped or deleted by the BBC because they were not aware of the future use of re-runs of these shows. Ninety-five of the 253 episodes from the program's first six years are currently missing. How many more episodes are out there waiting to be rediscovered? "The main broadcasters in the UK in the 1960s, 70s, up to the 80s really, junked quite a lot of content," said Justin Smith, a cinema professor at England's De Montfort University and film archivist. "In some ways finding missing 'Doctor Whos' is the holy grail" of classic TV discoveries, Smith said. The two episodes were "The Nightmare Begins" and "Devil's Planet," both of which aired during the show's third series in 1965. It features William Hartnell as the Doctor in a story involving archvillains the Daleks -- pepperpot-shaped metal aggressors whose favorite word is "Exterminate!" Smith said that for fans of the show, "it's got it all, it really has. It is intergalactic, it's got some great performances. It stands up really, really well."
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- Those who 'circle back' and 'synergize' also tend to be crap at their jobs
Cornwell Uni researchers pivot to pluck low-hanging fruit to optimize bandwidth
Workers who believe "leveraging cross-functional synergies" sounds profound may want to rethink their career trajectory because a new study suggests people who fall for corporate word salad also tend to perform worse at their jobs.…
- Claude charts a new course with charts, of course
Conversations with Anthropic's models may now be accompanied by interactive apps
Seeing is believing, or so it was said up until AI required questioning everything. But even when braced to resist the slop roulette of online interaction, pictures are worth a thousand tokens.…
- Watchdog boss calls Capita's £370M DWP win 'extraordinary' amid pension portal dumpster fire
PAC chair asks Cabinet Office if anyone bothered telling dept about the shambles before handing over the keys
The chair of the UK Parliament's public spending watchdog has dubbed the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) decision to award Capita a £370 million shared service contract "extraordinary," given the outsourcing firm's "failings" in supporting the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS).…
- AI Burning Man happens next week –what to expect at Nvidia GTC 2026
From Groq-ing about tokenomics to OpenClaw and the silicon that powers it, our predictions for the hottest ticket in town
Nvidia has a bit of a problem. Popular generative AI workloads like code assistants and agentic systems generate massive quantities of tokens and need to move them at speed. But the GPU giant's chips currently struggle to deliver.…
- Pentagon AI chief praises Palantir tech for speeding battlefield strikes
Going from eight systems to one means fewer people make decisions to unleash Epic Fury
As the US continues its strikes on Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury, speakers at Palantir's AIPCON event on Thursday said the company’s Maven Smart System product has shortened the time it takes the Department of Defense to select and hit targets on the battlefield during the conflict.…
- Rogue AI agents can work together to hack systems and steal secrets
Prompt like a hard-ass boss who won't tolerate failure and bots will find ways to breach policy
AI agents work together to bypass security controls and stealthily steal sensitive data from within the enterprise systems in which they operate, according to tests carried out by frontier security lab Irregular.…
- District denies enrollment to child based on license plate reader data
Automated checks raised doubts, though key questions remain unanswered
American parents of school-aged children may want to pay attention to where their cars are parked and for how long, as license plate reader data is now being cited by at least one school district when challenging whether students live where they say they do.…
- Microsoft Copilot now boarding your health information
It's safe and secure, Redmond insists, but don't expect medical advice
Microsoft wants to store your healthcare data so that its AI "delivers personalized health insights that you can act on," but without the liability that comes with actual medical advice.…
- Oracle tops up restructuring fund for FY26 by $500M
Pot of money grows to $2.1BN for fiscal '26, as Big Red exec says AI helping smaller engineering teams do more
Oracle has increased funding for its restructuring plans for the current financial year by $500 million, with some observers anticipating a spate of job losses.…
- Musk makes the Macrohard joke again
The idea being that fleets of AI agents could emulate the 'function of entire companies'
Elon Musk wheeled out his "Macrohard" dad joke again in the form of a supposed fleet of "Digital Optimus" agents that he claims would be capable of "emulating the function of entire companies."…
- Users protest as Google Antigravity price floats upward
Google evolves its pricing for agentic AI tool, pointing devs towards on-demand credits or $250 per month Ultra plan
Developers using Google's Antigravity agentic AI coding tool are complaining about higher prices following an announcement yesterday that the company is evolving its AI plans.…
- Quicksort inventor Tony Hoare reaches the base case at 92
Classicist, philosopher, wit, and one of the greatest British computer scientists of all time
Obit Professor Charles Anthony Richard Hoare has died at the age of 92. Known to many computer science students as C. A. R. Hoare, and to his friends as Tony, he was not only one of the greatest minds in the history of programming – he also came up with a number of the field's pithiest quotes.…
- CISA warns max-severity n8n bug is being exploited in the wild
No rest for project maintainers battered by slew of vulnerability disclosures
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has confirmed that hackers are exploiting a max-severity remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in workflow automation platform n8n.…
- Campaigners claim NHS Palantir system could be accessed by police and immigration
US spy-tech biz and platform provider retorts that this would be against the current law and a breach of its contract
Medical and legal rights campaigners are warning that the Palantir data platform, designed to be at the heart of England's health system, risks enabling UK immigration and policing departments to access confidential patient information.…
- Smart mirror shows dumb Windows in elevator
All aboard the elevator where only Microsoft knows where you're going
Bork!Bork!Bork! Smart mirrors are all the rage. However, rather than a list of headlines and tasks to do today, an unhappy Windows installation can make a smart mirror seem very dumb indeed.…
- So much for power to the people – AI datacenters could jump UK grid queue
Plan to fast-track bit barn connections leaves housing developers fuming and billpayers on the hook
The British government is consulting on reforms to prioritize "strategically important" grid connections – including datacenters – amid reports of delays stretching more than a decade on some projects.…
- China’s CERT warns OpenClaw can inflict nasty wounds
Like deleting data, exposing keys, and loading malicious content - which may be why Beijing has reportedly banned it
China’s National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team has warned locals that the OpenClaw agentic AI tool poses significant security risks.…
- Atlassian to shed ten percent of staff, because AI
Company is ‘reshaping our skill mix’ amid long share price slide and SaaSpocalypse whispers
Australian collaborationware company Atlassian has announced it will shed ten percent of staff – around 1,600 people.…
- Security: Why Linux Is Better Than Windows Or Mac OS
Linux is a free and open source operating system that was released in 1991 developed and released by Linus Torvalds. Since its release it has reached a user base that is greatly widespread worldwide. Linux users swear by the reliability and freedom that this operating system offers, especially when compared to its counterparts, windows and [0]
- Essential Software That Are Not Available On Linux OS
An operating system is essentially the most important component in a computer. It manages the different hardware and software components of a computer in the most effective way. There are different types of operating system and everything comes with their own set of programs and software. You cannot expect a Linux program to have all [0]
- Things You Never Knew About Your Operating System
The advent of computers has brought about a revolution in our daily life. From computers that were so huge to fit in a room, we have come a very long way to desktops and even palmtops. These machines have become our virtual lockers, and a life without these network machines have become unimaginable. Sending mails, [0]
- How To Fully Optimize Your Operating System
Computers and systems are tricky and complicated. If you lack a thorough knowledge or even basic knowledge of computers, you will often find yourself in a bind. You must understand that something as complicated as a computer requires constant care and constant cleaning up of junk files. Unless you put in the time to configure [0]
- The Top Problems With Major Operating Systems
There is no such system which does not give you any problems. Even if the system and the operating system of your system is easy to understand, there will be some times when certain problems will arise. Most of these problems are easy to handle and easy to get rid of. But you must be [0]
- 8 Benefits Of Linux OS
Linux is a small and a fast-growing operating system. However, we can’t term it as software yet. As discussed in the article about what can a Linux OS do Linux is a kernel. Now, kernels are used for software and programs. These kernels are used by the computer and can be used with various third-party software [0]
- Things Linux OS Can Do That Other OS Cant
What Is Linux OS? Linux, similar to U-bix is an operating system which can be used for various computers, hand held devices, embedded devices, etc. The reason why Linux operated system is preferred by many, is because it is easy to use and re-use. Linux based operating system is technically not an Operating System. Operating [0]
- Packagekit Interview
Packagekit aims to make the management of applications in the Linux and GNU systems. The main objective to remove the pains it takes to create a system. Along with this in an interview, Richard Hughes, the developer of Packagekit said that he aims to make the Linux systems just as powerful as the Windows or [0]
- What’s New in Ubuntu?
What Is Ubuntu? Ubuntu is open source software. It is useful for Linux based computers. The software is marketed by the Canonical Ltd., Ubuntu community. Ubuntu was first released in late October in 2004. The Ubuntu program uses Java, Python, C, C++ and C# programming languages. What Is New? The version 17.04 is now available here [0]
- Ext3 Reiserfs Xfs In Windows With Regards To Colinux
The problem with Windows is that there are various limitations to the computer and there is only so much you can do with it. You can access the Ext3 Reiserfs Xfs by using the coLinux tool. Download the tool from the official site or from the sourceforge site. Edit the connection to “TAP Win32 Adapter [0]
- CSMWrap: make UEFI-only systems boot BIOS-based operating systems
What if you have a very modern machine that is entirely UEFI-only, meaning it has no compatibility support module and thus no way of enabling a legacy BIOS mode? Well, install a CSM as an EFI application, of course! CSMWrap is an EFI application designed to be a drop-in solution to enable legacy BIOS booting on modern UEFI-only (class 3) systems. It achieves this by wrapping a Compatibility Support Module (CSM) build of the SeaBIOS project as an out-of-firmware EFI application, effectively creating a compatibility layer for traditional PC BIOS operation. ↫ CSMWraps GitHub page The need for this may not be immediately obvious, but heres the problem: if you want to run an older operating system that absolutely requires a traditional BIOS on a modern machine that only has UEFI without any CSM options (a class 3-machine), you wont be able to boot said operating system. CSMWrap is a possible solution, as it leverages innate EFI capabilities to run a CSM as an EFI application, thereby adding the CSM functionality back in. All you need to do is drop CSMWrap into /efi/boot on the same drive the operating system that needs BIOS to boot is on, and UEFI will list it as a bootable operating system. It does come with some limitations, however. For instance, one logical core of your processor will be taken up by CSMWrap and will be entirely unavailable to the booted BIOS-based operating system. In other words, this means youre going to need a processor with at least more than one logical processor (e.g., even a single-core machine with hyperthreading will work). Its also suggested to add a legacy-capable video card if youre using an operating system that doesnt support VESA BIOS extensions (e.g. anything older than NT). This is an incredibly neat idea, and even comes with advantages over built-in CSMs, since many of those are untested and riddled with issues. CSMWrap uses SeaBIOS, which is properly tested and generally a much better BIOS than whatever native CSMs contain. All in all, a great project.
- Understanding SMF properties in Solaris-based operating systems
SMF is the illumos system for managing traditional Unix services (long-lived background processes, usually). It’s quite rich in order to correctly accommodate a lot of different use cases. But it sometimes exposes that complexity to users even when they’re trying to do something simple. In this post, I’ll walk through an example using a demo service and the svcprop(1) tool to show the details. ↫ Dave Pacheco Soalris system management facility or SMF is effectively Solaris systemd, and this article provides a deeper insight into one of its features: properties. While using SMF and its suite of tools and commands for basic tasks is rather elementary and easy to get into even I can do it once you start to dive deeper into what is can do, things get complex and capable very fast.
- Chrome comes to Linux on ARM64
Google has announced that it will release Chrome for Linux on ARM64 in the second quarter of this year. Launching Chrome for ARM64 Linux devices allows more users to enjoy the seamless integration of Google’s most helpful services into their browser. This move addresses the growing demand for a browsing experience that combines the benefits of the open-source Chromium project with the Google ecosystem of apps and features. This release represents a significant undertaking to ensure that ARM64 Linux users receive the same secure, stable, and rich Chrome experience found on other platforms. ↫ The Chromium Blog While the idea of running Linux on Arm, only to defile it with something as unpleasant as Chrome seem entirely foreign to me, most normal people do actually use Googles browser. Having it available on Linux for Arm makes perfect sense, and might convince a few people to buy an Arm machine for Linux, assuming the platform can get its act together.
- Just try Plan 9 already
I will not pass up an opportunity to make you talk about Plan 9, so lets focus on Acme. Acme is remarkable for what it represents: a class of application that leverages a simple, text-based GUI to create a compelling model of interacting with all of the tools available in the Unix (or Plan 9) environment. Cox calls it an “integrating development environment,” distinguishing it from the more hermetic “integrated development environment” developers will be familiar with. The simplicity of its interface is important. It is what has allowed Acme to age gracefully over the past 30 or so years, without the constant churn of adding support for new languages, compilers, terminals, or color schemes. ↫ Daniel Moch While the article mentions you can use Acme on UNIX, to really appreciate it you have to use it on Plan 9, which today most likely means 9front. Now, I am not the kind of person who can live and breathe inside 9front you need to be of a certain mindset to be able to do so but even then I find that messing around with Plan 9 has given me a different outlook on UNIX. In fact, I think it has helped me understand UNIX and UNIX-like systems better and more thoroughly. If youre not sure if Plan 9 is something that suits you, the only real way to find out is to just use it. Fire up a VM, read the excellent documentation at 9front, and just dive into it. Most of you will just end up confused and disoriented, but a small few of you will magically discover you possess the right mindset. Just do it.
- Hello, world! in Z80 assembly language
Im feeling kind of nostalgic today so I thought Id write Hello, world! in Z80 assembly for the ZX Spectrum! The last time I wrote any Z80 assembly was when I was 14 so around 36 years ago! I may be a little rusty! ↫ Old Man By the Sea Its easy to tell the world hello in BASIC, but a bit more involved in Z80 assembly.
- Fedora struggles bringing its RISC-V variant online due to slow build times
Red Hat developer Marcin Juszkiewicz is working on the RISC-V port of Fedora Linux, and after a few months of working on it, published a blog post about just how incredibly slow RISC-V seems to be. This is a real problem, as in Fedora, build results are only released once all architectures have completed their builds. There is no point of going for inclusion with slow builders as this will make package maintainers complain. You see, in Fedora build results are released into repositories only when all architectures finish. And we had maintainers complaining about lack of speed of AArch64 builders in the past. Some developers may start excluding RISC-V architecture from their packages to not have to`wait. And any future builders need to be rackable and manageable like any other boring server (put in a rack, connect cables, install, do not touch any more). Because no one will go into a data centre to manually reboot an SBC-based`builder. Without systems fulfilling both requirements, we can not even plan for the RISC-V 64-bit architecture to became one of official, primary architectures in Fedora`Linux. ↫ Marcin Juszkiewicz RISC-V really seems to have hit some sort of ceiling over the past few years, with performance improvements stalling and no real performance-oriented chips and boards becoming available. Everybody seems to want RISC-V to succeed and become an architecture that can stand its own against x86 and Arm, but the way things are going, that just doesnt seem likely any time soon. Theres always some magical unicorn chip or board just around the corner, but when you actually turn that corner, its just another slow SBC only marginally faster than the previous one. Fedora is not the first distribution struggling with bringing RISC-V online. Chimera Linux faced a similar issue about a year ago, but managed to eventually get by because someone from the Adélie Linux team granted remote access to an unused Milk-V Pioneer, which proved enough for Chimera for now. My hope is still that eventually were going to see performant, capable RISC-V machines, because I would absolutely jump for joy if I could have a proper RISC-V workstation.
- Amazon enters find out! phase
Now lets go live to Amazon for the latest updates about this developing story. Amazon’s ecommerce business has summoned a large group of engineers to a meeting on Tuesday for a “deep dive” into a spate of outages, including incidents tied to the use of AI coding tools. The online retail giant said there had been a “trend of incidents” in recent months, characterized by a “high blast radius” and “Gen-AI assisted changes” among other factors, according to a briefing note for the meeting seen by the FT. Under “contributing factors” the note included “novel GenAI usage for which best practices and safeguards are not yet fully established.” ↫ Rafe Rosner-Uddin at Ars Technica Oh boy.
- Youre supposed to replace the stock photos in new picture frames
Back in 2023, John Earnest created a fun drawing application called WigglyPaint. The thing that makes WigglyPaint unique is that it automatically applies what artists call the line boil effect to anything you draw, making it seem as if everything is wiggling (hence the name). Even if youre not aware of the line boil effect, youve surely encountered it several times in your life. The tool may seem simple at first glance, but as Earnest details, hes put quite a lot of thought into the little tool. WigglyPaint was well-received, but mostly remained a curiosity that is, until artists in Asia picked up on it, and the popularity of WigglyPaint positively exploded from a few hundred into the millions. The problem, though, is that basically nobody is actually using WigglyPaint: theyre all using slopcoded copycats. The sites are slop; slapdash imitations pieced together with the help of so-called “Large Language Models” (LLMs). The closer you look at them, the stranger they appear, full of vague, repetitive claims, outright false information, and plenty of unattributed (stolen) art. This is what LLMs are best at: quickly fabricating plausible simulacra of real objects to mislead the unwary. It is no surprise that the same people who have total contempt for authorship find LLMs useful; every LLM and generative model today is constructed by consuming almost unimaginably massive quantities of human creative work- writing, drawings, code, music- and then regurgitating them piecemeal without attribution, just different enough to hide where it came from (usually). LLMs are sharp tools in the hands of plagiarists, con-men, spammers, and everyone who believes that creative expression is worthless. People who extract from the world instead of contributing to it. It is humiliating and infuriating to see my work stolen by slop enthusiasts, and worse, used to mislead artists into paying scammers for something that ought to be free. ↫ John Earnest Theres a huge amount of slopcoded WrigglyPaint ripoffs out there, and it goes far beyond websites, too. People are putting slopcoded ripoffs in basic webviews, and uploading them en masse to the Play Store and App Store. None of these slopcoded ripoffs actually build upon WrigglyPaint with new ideas or approaches, theres no creativity or innovation; its just trash barfed up by glorified autocomplete built upon mass plagiarism and theft, made! by bottom feeders who despise creativity, art, and originality. You know how when you go to IKEA or whatever other similar store to buy picture frames, they have these stock photos of random people in them? I wonder if AI! enthusiasts understand youre supposed to replace those with pictures that actually have meaning to you.
- Redox bans code regurgitated by AI!
Redox, the rapidly improving general purpose operating system written in Rust, has amended its contribution policy to explicitly ban code regurgitated by AI!. Redox OS does not accept contributions generated by LLMs (Large Language Models), sometimes also referred to as AI!. This policy is not open to discussion, any content submitted that is clearly labelled as LLM-generated (including issues, merge requests, and merge request descriptions) will be immediately closed, and any attempt to bypass this policy will result in a ban from the project. ↫ Redox contribution policy Excellent news.
- FreeBSD 14.4 released
While FreeBSD 15.x may be getting all the attention, the FreeBSD 14.x branch continues to be updated for the more conservative users among us. FreeBSD 14.4 has been released today, and brings with it updated versions of OpenSSH, OpenZFS, and Bhyve virtual machines can now share files with their host over 9pfs among other things, of course.
- ArcaOS 5.1.2 released
While IBMs OS/2 technically did die, its development was picked up again much later, first through eComStation, and later, after money issues at its parent company Mensys, through ArcaOS. eComStation development stalled because of the money issues and has been dead for years; ArcaOS picked up where it left off and has been making steady progress since its first release in 2017. Regardless, the developers behind both projects develop OS/2 under license from IBM, but its unclear just how much they can change or alter, and what the terms of the agreement are. Anyway, ArcaOS 5.1.2 has just been released, and it seems to be a rather minor release. It further refines ArcaOS support for UEFI and GPT-based disks, the tentpole feature of ArcaOS 5.1 which allows the operating system to be installed on a much more modern systems without having to fiddle with BIOS compatibility modes. Looking at the list of changes, theres the usual list of updated components from both Arca Noae and the wider OS/2 community. Youll find the latest versions of of the Panorama graphics drivers, ACPI, USB, and NVMe drivers, improved localisation, newer versions of the VNC server and viewer, and much more. If you have an active Support 8 Maintenance subscription for ArcaOS 5.1, this update is free, and its also available at discounted prices as upgrades for earlier versions. A brand new copy of ArcaOS 5.1.x will set you back $139, which isnt cheap, but considering this price is probably a consequence of what must be some onerous licensing terms and other agreements with IBM, I doubt theres much Arca Noae can do about it.
- AI! translations are ruining Wikipedia
Oh boy. Wikipedia editors have implemented new policies and restricted a number of contributors who were paid to use AI to translate existing Wikipedia articles into other languages after they discovered these AI translations added AI “hallucinations,” or errors, to the resulting article. ↫ Emanuel Maiberg at 404 Media There seems to be this pervasive conviction among Silicon Valley techbro types, and many programmers and developers in general, that translation and localisation are nothing more than basic find/replace tasks that you can automate away. At first, we just needed to make corpora of two different languages kiss and smooch, and surely that would automate translation and localisation away if the corpora were large enough. When this didnt turn out to work very well, they figured that if we made the words in the corpora tumble down a few pachinko machines and then made them kiss and smooch, yes, then wed surely have automated translation and localisation. Nothing could be further from the truth. As someone who has not only worked as a professional translator for over 15 years, but who also holds two university degrees in the subject, I keep reiterating that translation isnt just a dumb substitution task; its a real craft, a real art, one you can have talent for, one you need to train for, and study for. Youd think anyone with sufficient knowledge in two languages can translate effectively between the two, but without a much deeper understanding of language in general and the languages involved in particular, as well as a deep understanding of the cultures in which the translation is going to be used, and a level of reading and text comprehension that go well beyond that of most, youre going to deliver shit translations. Trust me, Ive seen them. Ive been paid good money to correct, fix, and mangle something usable out of other peoples translations. You wouldnt believe the shit Ive seen. Translation involves the kinds of intricacies, nuances, and context AI! isnt just bad at, but simply cannot work with in any way, shape, or form. Ive said it before, but it wont be long before people start getting seriously injured or worse because of the cost-cutting in the translation industry, and the effects thats going to have on, I dont know, the instruction manuals for complex tools, or the leaflet in your grandmothers medications. Because some dumbass bean counter kills the budget for proper, qualified, trained, and experienced translators, people are going to die.
- I don’t know what is Apple’s endgame for the Fn/Globe key, and I’m not sure Apple knows either!
Every modifier key starts simple and humble, with a specific task and a nice matching name. This never lasts. The tasks become larger and more convoluted, and the labels grow obsolete. Shift no longer shifts a carriage, Control doesn’t send control codes, Alt isn’t for alternate nerdy terminal functions. Fn is the newest popular modifier key, and it feels we’re speedrunning it through all the challenges without having learned any of the lessons. ↫ Marcin Wichary Grab a blanket, curl up on the couch with some coffee or tea, and enjoy.
- MenuetOS 1.59.20 released
MenuetOS, the operating system written in x86-64 assembly, has released two new versions since we last talked about it roughly two months ago. In fact, Im not actually sure its just two, or more, or fewer, since it seems sometimes releases disappear entirely from the changelog, making things a bit unclear. Anyway, since the last time we talked about MenuetOS, it got improvements to videocalling, networking, and HDA audio drivers, and a few other small tidbits.
- Haiku inches closer to next beta release
And when a Redox monthly progress report is here, Haikus monthly report is never far behind (or vice versa, depending on the month). Haikus February was definitely a busy month, but theres no major tentpole changes or new features, highlighting just how close Haiku is to a new regular beta release. The OpenBSD drivers have been synchronised wit upstream to draw in some bugfixes, theres a ton of smaller fixes to various applications like StyledEdit, Mail, and many more, as well a surprisingly long list of various file system fixes, improving the drivers for file systems like NTFS, Btrfs, XFS, and others. Theres more, of course, so just like with Redox, head on over to pore over the list of smaller changes, fixes, and improvements. Just like last month, Id like to mention once again that you really dont need to wait for the beta release to try out Haiku. The operating system has been in a fairly stable and solid condition for a long time now, and whatevers the latest nightly will generally work just fine, and can be updated without reinstallation.
- Redox gets NodeJS, COSMICs compositor, and much more
February has been a busy month for Redox, the general purpose operating system written in Rust. For instance, the COSMIC compositor can now run on Redox as a winit window, the first step towards fully porting the compositor from COSMIC to Redox. Similarly, COSMIC Settings now also runs on Redox, albeit with only a very small number of available settings as Redox-specific settings panels havent been made yet. Its clear the effort to get the new COSMIC desktop environment from System76 running on Redox is in full swing. Furthermore, Vulkan software can now run on Redox, thanks to enabling Lavapipe in Mesa3D. Theres also a ton of fixes related to the boot process, the reliability of multithreading has been improved, and theres the usual long list of kernel, driver, and Relibc improvements as well. A major port comes in the form of NodeJS, which now runs on Redox, and helped in uncovering a number of bugs that needed to be fixed. Of course, theres way more in this months progress report, so be sure to head on over and read the whole thing.
- Intel Expands Linux Graphics Team to Boost Drivers and Gaming Support
by George Whittaker
Intel is once again investing in Linux development. The company has recently posted several job openings aimed at strengthening its Linux graphics driver and GPU software teams, signaling continued interest in improving Intel hardware support on the open-source platform.
For Linux users, especially gamers and developers, this could mean faster improvements to Intel’s graphics stack and stronger support for modern workloads.
New Roles Focused on Linux Graphics
Intel has listed multiple GPU Software Development Engineer positions, many of which specifically focus on Linux graphics technologies. These roles involve working on the full graphics stack, including firmware, kernel drivers, and user-space components used by applications and games.
The responsibilities for these positions include:
Developing and optimizing Intel GPU drivers for Linux
Improving the Linux graphics stack, including kernel DRM drivers and Mesa components
Working with graphics APIs and tools used by modern applications
Ensuring compatibility across desktop, workstation, and data-center hardware
The job listings also emphasize experience with C/C++ development and the Linux kernel graphics ecosystem, highlighting the technical depth required for these roles.
Linux Gaming Is Part of the Plan
One of the more notable details from the job postings is the mention of Linux gaming technologies such as Wine and Proton. These compatibility layers allow Windows games to run on Linux, making them central to platforms like SteamOS and the Steam Deck.
Intel’s focus on these tools suggests the company wants its GPUs to perform well not just in enterprise workloads but also in gaming environments. That aligns with the growing popularity of Linux gaming driven by:
Valve’s Proton compatibility layer
Vulkan-based graphics APIs
The success of devices like the Steam Deck
Beyond Gaming: HPC and Data Center Work
While gaming support is part of the focus, the hiring effort isn’t limited to consumer graphics. Intel is also recruiting engineers for areas such as:
High-performance computing (HPC)
AI and machine-learning workloads
Middleware development for supercomputing systems
Cloud and data-center GPU optimization
These roles indicate Intel’s broader strategy to strengthen Linux across multiple sectors, from desktops and laptops to supercomputers and cloud infrastructure.
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- AerynOS 2026.02 Alpha Released: Advancing a Modern Atomic Linux Vision
by George Whittaker
The developers behind AerynOS have released AerynOS 2026.02 Alpha, the latest development snapshot of the independent Linux distribution previously known as Serpent OS. This new release continues the project’s rapid evolution, bringing updated packages, improved build tools, and new installation options while the system remains in an early testing stage.
Although still labeled as an alpha-quality release, the new ISO gives enthusiasts and developers a chance to explore the direction AerynOS is taking as it builds a modern Linux platform from scratch.
A Modern Atomic Approach
AerynOS aims to rethink how Linux distributions handle updates and package management. The project focuses on atomic-style updates, meaning system changes are applied as a complete transaction rather than individual package installs. This approach helps reduce the risk of partially completed updates leaving a system in a broken state.
Unlike some atomic distributions, however, AerynOS does not rely on an immutable filesystem, allowing users to retain flexibility and customization while still benefiting from safer update behavior.
Updated Desktop Environments
The 2026.02 alpha release ships with several modern desktop environment options:
GNOME 49.4 as the default desktop
COSMIC 1.0.8, System76’s emerging desktop environment
KDE Plasma 6.6.1 available as an alternative session
These updates provide users with multiple modern desktop choices while ensuring compatibility with the latest frameworks and desktop technologies.
New Core Software and Components
AerynOS 2026.02 also brings a large batch of software updates across the system stack. Some of the notable versions included in the release are:
Linux kernel 6.18.15 LTS
Firefox 148
PipeWire 1.6
Wine 11.3
Waybar 0.15
Mesa/Nesa graphics drivers 26.x
Together, these updates ensure that the development snapshot reflects a modern Linux software ecosystem while improving compatibility with newer hardware.
Improved Development Tooling
A significant portion of the February development cycle focused on improving the distribution’s internal tooling:
Moss, the package manager, has been optimized for faster performance.
Boulder, the package build system, now automates more recipe creation and version handling.
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- Armbian 26.02 Arrives with Linux 6.18 LTS and Expanded Board Support
by George Whittaker
The Armbian project has released Armbian 26.02, the latest update to the lightweight Linux distribution designed specifically for ARM and RISC-V single-board computers (SBCs). Known for its stability and hardware optimization, Armbian continues to evolve with improved hardware support, new desktop options, and updated core components in this release.
A Linux Distribution Tailored for SBCs
Armbian is built on top of Debian or Ubuntu, providing optimized system images for single-board computers such as Orange Pi, Banana Pi, and ODROID devices. The project focuses on stability, performance, and long-term maintenance for embedded and development boards.
With the 26.02 release, the developers continue that mission by refining support for modern hardware platforms and improving the overall software stack.
Powered by Linux 6.18 LTS
One of the biggest upgrades in Armbian 26.02 is the transition to Linux kernel 6.18 LTS, which brings improved driver support, performance enhancements, and better compatibility for newer SBC hardware.
The newer kernel helps ensure that Armbian remains compatible with evolving chipsets while maintaining stability across its supported devices.
New Board Support
This release expands Armbian’s hardware ecosystem with support for several new boards, including:
SpacemiT MusePi Pro
Radxa Rock 4D
Orange Pi RV2
ODROID M2
These additions reflect Armbian’s ongoing focus on supporting emerging ARM and RISC-V development boards used by hobbyists, developers, and embedded system builders.
Desktop Improvements
Armbian 26.02 also introduces expanded desktop options:
RISC-V XFCE desktop images for supported RISC-V systems
Restored KDE Neon desktop builds
Updated desktop targets based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
These changes give users more flexibility when choosing between lightweight environments or more full-featured desktop setups.
Enhancements to Armbian Tools
The Armbian ecosystem itself has also received improvements. The Armbian Imager utility, used to flash OS images to SBC storage devices, now features:
Faster image decompression
Code signing for improved security on macOS and Windows
AI-assisted translation support
A new settings panel with additional developer options
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- Linux 7.0 Is Coming: What to Expect from the Next Major Kernel Release
by George Whittaker
Excitement in the open-source world is rising as the Linux kernel project moves toward the next major release: Linux kernel 7.0. While a major version number might sound like a dramatic overhaul, the reality is a lot more steady progress, and that’s part of what makes the Linux kernel so reliable and trusted. The first release candidate (RC1) for Linux 7.0 has already been published, and developers are entering the final stretch toward a stable release expected around mid-April 2026.
An Evolution, Not a Revolution
Linus Torvalds, the creator and lead maintainer of the Linux kernel, officially confirmed that the next version after Linux 6.19 will be dubbed Linux 7.0. In the announcement, he made clear that the jump to “7.0” isn’t tied to any monumental architectural upheaval, it’s a practical naming decision made partly to keep version numbers manageable.
That tradition continues a long-standing pattern: kernel series are often numbered until they reach higher minor versions (like 6.19), and then the major number increments, even if the changes are incremental and largely additive rather than breaking.
Inside the 7.0 Development Cycle
The Linux 7.0 cycle opened with the merge window, during which new code from contributors around the world is accepted. With the release candidate phase now underway, the focus has turned toward stabilization and testing.
The 7.0-rc1 announcement notes that this cycle saw a “smooth” merge window with relatively few major boot failures reported on the lead developer’s own test machines, a good sign for the kernel’s broad hardware support.
Expected Improvements
While the final changelog for the stable 7.0 kernel will only be known when it ships, several themes stand out from early previews and reporting:
1. Broad Hardware Enablement
Driver updates make up a significant portion of the changes so far, helping Linux support the latest CPUs and SoCs from vendors like Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. Early testing indicates enablement for new families such as Intel Nova Lake and AMD Zen 6, which will be important for next-generation laptops, desktops, and servers.
2. Performance and Responsiveness
Kernel maintainers and community reports suggest that performance improvements are part of the 7.0 trend. Although specifics are still emerging, the kernel’s scheduler and memory management subsystems tend to see ongoing optimization as workloads diversify.
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- Gentoo Charts a New Path: Moving Away from GitHub Toward Codeberg
by George Whittaker Introduction
The Gentoo Linux project has begun transitioning parts of its infrastructure away from GitHub and toward Codeberg, a Git hosting platform built on open-source principles. The move reflects growing concerns within parts of the open-source community about centralized hosting, proprietary AI integrations, and long-term platform independence.
While Gentoo has used GitHub for collaboration and code hosting in recent years, maintainers are now signaling a preference for a platform that aligns more closely with their philosophical roots.
Why the Shift?
One of the underlying motivations behind the move involves concerns around Microsoft’s expanding integration of AI tools like Copilot into GitHub’s ecosystem. While Copilot is optional and not mandatory for users, its presence has sparked debate within open-source communities about:
Code usage for AI model training
Transparency around data handling
Vendor control over open-source workflows
The long-term independence of community projects
Gentoo, a distribution known for its strong emphasis on freedom, customization, and user control, appears to be taking a cautious approach by diversifying its infrastructure.
Why Codeberg?
Codeberg is a community-driven Git hosting service powered by Forgejo, a fully open-source Git platform. Unlike GitHub, Codeberg operates as a non-profit organization and positions itself as an ethical alternative focused on transparency and sustainability.
Key characteristics include:
Open-source infrastructure
No proprietary AI tooling baked into the platform
Community governance model
Emphasis on privacy and minimal tracking
For a project like Gentoo, deeply rooted in open-source philosophy, these factors carry weight.
What This Means for Gentoo Users
For end users, the transition may not immediately change how Gentoo is installed or maintained. However, it could affect:
Where source code repositories are officially hosted
Where developers submit patches and pull requests
Contribution workflows for maintainers
Over time, the move could also reduce dependency on large corporate platforms, ensuring Gentoo retains autonomy over its infrastructure.
A Broader Trend in Open Source
Gentoo is not alone in reassessing its hosting platforms. Across the open-source world, projects have increasingly explored alternatives such as:
Codeberg
SourceHut
Self-hosted Git solutions
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- AsteroidOS 2.0 Launches: A Community-Driven Linux Revival for Smartwatches
by George Whittaker
The open-source wearable ecosystem just received a major upgrade. AsteroidOS 2.0 has officially been released, bringing new life to Linux-based smartwatches and giving aging hardware a fresh purpose. Built by a passionate community of developers, AsteroidOS continues to push the idea that wearable technology can remain open, customizable, and free from vendor lock-in.
For users who prefer control over their devices, and for those with older smartwatches gathering dust, AsteroidOS 2.0 represents a compelling alternative to proprietary smartwatch platforms.
What Is AsteroidOS?
AsteroidOS is an open-source operating system designed specifically for smartwatches. Originally developed as a replacement for discontinued or unsupported Android Wear devices, the project has grown into a full Linux-based wearable platform.
Unlike closed smartwatch systems, AsteroidOS emphasizes:
Privacy-first design
Minimal background tracking
Full user control
Community-driven development
It runs on supported legacy devices and allows users to repurpose smartwatches that manufacturers have long abandoned.
What’s New in AsteroidOS 2.0
Version 2.0 is one of the most significant updates in the project’s history. While the philosophy remains the same, this release introduces meaningful improvements across usability, performance, and compatibility.
Modernized Interface
AsteroidOS 2.0 brings a refreshed UI that feels smoother and more intuitive. Navigation between apps and watch faces is more fluid, and animations have been optimized for improved responsiveness on older hardware.
Improved Power Management
Battery life is critical on wearables. The new release refines power-saving behaviors and background process handling, helping extend usage time between charges, especially important for devices with aging batteries.
Enhanced Bluetooth Connectivity
Connectivity improvements allow more reliable pairing with companion apps, notifications, and syncing features. Stability and compatibility with modern smartphones have been strengthened.
Updated Core Stack
Under the hood, AsteroidOS 2.0 ships with updated components from the Linux ecosystem, ensuring better hardware compatibility and security fixes.
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- LibreOffice 26.2 Arrives: Faster Performance, Sharper UI, and Better Compatibility
by George Whittaker
The Document Foundation has officially released LibreOffice 26.2, the latest major update to the widely used open-source office suite. With improvements spanning performance, user interface refinements, document compatibility, and accessibility, this version continues LibreOffice’s mission to provide a powerful, community-driven alternative to proprietary office software.
LibreOffice 26.2 is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS, offering consistent functionality across platforms while keeping full control in the hands of users.
What’s New in LibreOffice 26.2
While LibreOffice updates often focus on incremental refinement rather than radical redesign, version 26.2 introduces several meaningful enhancements that improve daily workflows.
Improved Performance and Stability
Performance remains a priority. LibreOffice 26.2 includes:
Faster document loading, especially for large spreadsheets and presentations
Reduced memory usage in complex Calc files
Improved stability when handling heavily formatted documents
These optimizations make the suite feel more responsive across both modern systems and older hardware.
Enhanced Microsoft Office Compatibility
Compatibility continues to improve with each release. LibreOffice 26.2 delivers:
More accurate rendering of DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX files
Better support for advanced formatting and tracked changes
Improved handling of embedded objects and charts
For users collaborating with Microsoft Office users, these refinements reduce formatting surprises and make document exchange smoother.
Refined User Interface
LibreOffice 26.2 builds upon its modern UI framework with:
Polished icon themes and improved scaling on high-resolution displays
Better dark mode integration across platforms
Smoother transitions in NotebookBar layouts
Improved accessibility for keyboard navigation and screen readers
The result is a cleaner, more cohesive experience without disrupting long-time users.
Writer Improvements
LibreOffice Writer gains several practical enhancements:
More reliable footnote and endnote management
Improved table formatting controls
Expanded language and grammar tool integration
These updates benefit users creating academic papers, reports, and long-form documents.
Calc Enhancements
Spreadsheet users will notice:
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- GOG Moves Toward Native Linux Support: A Major Shift for DRM-Free Gaming
by George Whittaker
In a development that has energized the Linux gaming community, GOG (Good Old Games) has officially confirmed that it is working on native Linux support. While GOG has long provided Linux installers for select titles, this announcement signals something more substantial: deeper platform integration and a renewed commitment to Linux as a first-class gaming environment.
For Linux users who value DRM-free software and ownership rights, this could be a significant turning point.
Why This Matters
GOG has built its reputation on offering DRM-free games that users truly own, free from online activation requirements and restrictive launchers. However, Linux users have historically faced a mixed experience:
Some games included native Linux builds
Others required manual setup through Wine or Proton
The GOG Galaxy client itself lacked native Linux support
While community tools like Heroic Games Launcher and Lutris filled the gap, the absence of official Linux support for the Galaxy ecosystem left many users dependent on workarounds.
Now, with GOG confirming active development of native Linux support, that gap may finally begin to close.
What Native Support Could Include
Although full details have yet to be finalized, “native support” could realistically mean several improvements:
An official GOG Galaxy client for Linux
Better integration with Proton or Wine when needed
Unified cloud saves and achievements on Linux
Streamlined game installation and updates
Official support channels for Linux users
If implemented properly, this would allow Linux gamers to enjoy the same ecosystem experience as Windows users without third-party bridges.
The Timing Makes Sense
The announcement comes at a moment when Linux gaming is stronger than ever:
The Steam Deck has normalized Linux as a gaming platform
Proton compatibility has reached impressive levels
Vulkan drivers and Mesa development continue advancing
Distros like Bazzite and Nobara are built specifically for gaming
With more gamers exploring Linux in 2026, GOG’s move may be both strategic and overdue.
What It Means for the Linux Gaming Ecosystem
If GOG delivers robust native support, several ripple effects could follow:
Increased confidence from developers to release Linux builds
More competition in the Linux game storefront space
Improved DRM-free game adoption among Linux users
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- Linux Kernel Runtime Guard Reaches 1.0: A Major Milestone for Runtime Kernel Security
by George Whittaker
The Linux security landscape just reached an important milestone. Linux Kernel Runtime Guard (LKRG) has officially hit version 1.0, marking its transition from a long-running experimental project into a mature, production-ready security tool. For administrators and security-conscious users, this release reinforces LKRG’s role as a powerful additional layer of defense for Linux systems.
After years of development, testing, and real-world use, the 1.0 release signals confidence in LKRG’s stability, compatibility, and long-term direction.
What Is LKRG?
LKRG is a loadable kernel module designed to protect the Linux kernel at runtime. Instead of relying solely on compile-time hardening or static security features, LKRG actively monitors the kernel while the system is running. Its goal is to detect unauthorized changes, suspicious behavior, and exploit attempts that target kernel internals.
Because it operates at runtime, LKRG complements existing protections like SELinux, AppArmor, and kernel hardening options rather than replacing them.
Why the 1.0 Release Matters
Reaching version 1.0 is more than a symbolic version bump. It reflects years of refinement and signals that the project has reached a level of maturity suitable for broader adoption.
With this release, LKRG offers:
Stable behavior across a wide range of kernel versions
Improved reliability under real-world workloads
Cleaner internal architecture and reduced overhead
Confidence for system administrators deploying it in production environments
For security tooling, especially something operating inside the kernel, stability and predictability are critical, and the 1.0 milestone acknowledges that standard.
How LKRG Protects the Kernel
At a high level, LKRG continuously checks the integrity of critical kernel structures and execution paths. It looks for signs that something has altered kernel memory, process credentials, or execution flow in unexpected ways.
When suspicious activity is detected, LKRG can:
Log warnings or alerts
Block the offending action
Trigger defensive responses based on configuration
This makes it particularly useful for detecting privilege-escalation exploits and post-exploitation activity that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Who Should Consider Using LKRG?
LKRG is especially relevant for:
Servers and cloud hosts exposed to untrusted workloads
Enterprise systems with strict security requirements
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- A Pillar of the Linux Kernel: Greg Kroah-Hartman Honored with European Open Source Award
by George Whittaker
The open-source community is celebrating a well-deserved recognition. Greg Kroah-Hartman, one of the most influential figures in the Linux ecosystem, has been awarded the European Open Source Award, honoring decades of sustained contributions that have shaped Linux into the stable, trusted platform it is today.
For anyone who relies on Linux, whether on servers, desktops, embedded devices, or cloud infrastructure, this award highlights the quiet but essential work that keeps the ecosystem reliable.
A Steward of Stability
Greg Kroah-Hartman is best known for his role as the maintainer of the Linux kernel’s stable branches. While new kernel features often grab headlines, the stable kernels are where real-world systems live. They receive carefully vetted fixes for security issues, regressions, and bugs, without introducing disruptive changes.
That responsibility requires deep technical knowledge, discipline, and trust from the community. Kroah-Hartman has carried it for years, ensuring that Linux remains dependable across millions of systems worldwide.
Beyond the Stable Kernel
His impact extends far beyond stable releases. Over the years, Kroah-Hartman has contributed heavily to:
Driver development, helping hardware vendors integrate cleanly with Linux
Kernel infrastructure improvements, making long-term maintenance sustainable
Developer documentation, including the widely respected Linux Kernel in a Nutshell
Mentorship, guiding new contributors through the notoriously complex kernel process
These efforts help keep Linux open not just in license, but in practice, accessible to new developers and maintainable at scale.
Why This Award Matters
The European Open Source Award recognizes individuals whose work benefits society through openness, collaboration, and technical excellence. Kroah-Hartman’s work exemplifies that mission.
Linux doesn’t succeed because of flashy features alone. It succeeds because:
Bugs are fixed responsibly
Security issues are handled quietly and quickly
Compatibility is preserved across years and hardware generations
Those outcomes don’t happen by accident. They’re the result of sustained, meticulous stewardship, exactly the kind of work this award celebrates.
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