All the News that Matters

• [$] 25 years of Buildroot
  Buildroot maintainer Peter Korsgaardgave a presentation about the long history of the build tool for embeddedLinux systems at the 2026 EmbeddedLinux Conference Europe. In it, he covered more than just the past 25years, looking at the current status of the project as well as what toexpect in Buildroot's future. It was an interesting view inside this long-running project thathas been a mainstay of the embedded-Linux world throughout almost all ofthis century.

• Announcing XRAID: declustered parity RAID for zoned XFS
  Christoph Hellwig has announced theinitial public release of XRAID—declustered parity RAID that is integratedinto XFS.
  
  The two primary aims of XRAID are to support parity RAID on zoned deviceslike SMR hard drives, and to provide a fast RAID implementation withoutinherent data integrity problems. XRAID, just like zoned XFS also workson conventional hard drives and SSDs. Optimizing for SSD performance hasnot been a focus, but even without that, writes are up to 20 times fasterthan mdraid. [...]
  
  Work on XRAID has been ongoing for a year and a half, and while we aren'tanywhere near ready for an upstream submission, we are interested infeedback and testing from a wider audience now. The currentimplementation supports zero to 2 parities. We did experiments with theSnapRAID parity library to support 3 and more parities, and while thatis not included in the current version, support for more parities isplanned and the code is prepared for it.
  
  The xfsprogs branch includes mkfs support and a new "xraid" utility formanaging devices and inspecting an XRAID file-systems. We have alsoextended Zonar (The zoned file-system visualisation tool) to show howeach logical zone maps onto physical zones on devices.
  
  Hellwig gave a presentation atFOSSY in August on this topic; video of the talk does not seem to be availableyet, but his slides areavailable.
  

• Security updates for Friday
  Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (.NET 10.0, .NET 8.0, .NET 9.0, firefox, gcc, grafana, grafana-pcp, gstreamer1, gstreamer1-plugins-base, java-1.8.0-openjdk, kernel, kernel-rt, libimobiledevice, mingw-libpng, nginx:1.24, nodejs:22, nodejs:24, perl-CGI, perl-DBI, qt5-qtbase, tigervnc, vim, and xorg-x11-server), Debian (apache2, c-ares, linux-6.12, node-shell-quote, nova, parted, postgresql-17, python-django, sympa, and tomcat10), Fedora (cockpit, erlang-ssl_verify_fun, httpd, ignition, jackson-bom, jackson-core, jackson-databind, jackson-modules-base, libvirt, mod_http2, mongo-c-driver, poppler, prometheus, pylint, python-discovery, python-loguru, python-PyMuPDF, rabbitmq-server, rust-crypto-bigint, rust-ctutils, rust-elliptic-curve, rust-num-bigint, rust-num-bigint0.4, rust-num-modular, rust-num-modular0.6, rust-num-prime, rust-routinator, rust-zmij, strongswan, xen, xorg-x11-server, and zvbi), Mageia (amule, peazip, and python-pytest), Red Hat (buildah, fence-agents, go-fdo-server, grafana, grafana-pcp, oci-seccomp-bpf-hook, osbuild-composer, podman, and rhc), SUSE (ansible-core, apr-util, aspell, brotli, cadvisor, civetweb, distribution-registry, elemental, elemental-register,, elemental-operator, elemental-system-agent, elemental- toolkit, ffmpeg, firefox, gimp, git-annex, go1.26, go1.27, golang-github-prometheus-prometheus, google-cloud-sap-agent, google-guest-agent, google-osconfig-agent, goose, gosec, graphicsmagick, haproxy, hauler, hawk-apiserver, hawk2, hcloud-cli, jhead, jsoup, kernel, librsvg, libXtst, libxtst, nodejs24, nvidia-open-driver-G07-signed, nvidia-open-driver-g07-signed, open-iscsi, perl-XS-Parse-Keyword, perl-xs-parse-keyword, python-asyncssh, python-Brotli, python-django, python-joserfc, python-M2Crypto, python-Pillow, python-pillow, python313-setuptools, rsyslog, speex, tiff, trivy, udisks2, vsftpd, xen, and xorg-x11-server), and Ubuntu (apache2, charybdis, debian-lan-config, glibc, golang-github-seccomp-libseccomp-golang, hiredis, httpie, imapfilter, lhasa, libjgraphx-java, libjwt, libsolv, linux-fips, linux-hwe-6.8, linux-hwe-7.0, linux-nvidia-tegra, minissdpd, ncmpc, nfdump, node-tough-cookie, openconnect, pillow, pngquant, python-gevent, radicale, ruby-openid, sa-exim, signing-party, sudo, tigervnc, and x11vnc).

• Rust 1.100.0 released
  Version1.100.0 of the Rust language has been released. Notable changes include thestabilization of the never type,core parts of the Allocator API, reporting of unused dependencies inCargo, and more.
  
  
  

• Glasswing overwhelms maintainers with underwhelming findings (VulnCheck)
  Patrick Garrity of VulnCheck has written a blogpost that looks at vulnerabilities found by Anthropic's Project Glasswing since itlaunched on April 7, and finds it wanting:
  
  Of the 37,966 findings Anthropic reports, only 7,349 (19.4%) have been madepublic. Just 217 of those have been marked fixed. The more glaring number isthat 4.4% (1,654) of the project's findings have already been marked asduplicates, 7.5x more duplicates than fixes. On top of that, 419 findings havebeen withdrawn. It seems odd that the ledger now claims a 94.2% true positiverate, up from 90.8% at launch, when more findings have been withdrawn or markedas duplicates than fixed, likely a feedback loop missing to the triage rateslisted as "True Positives".
  
  [...] AI is a valuable tool for finding vulnerabilities, and I'm notdiscounting that. But seven months in, the evidence still doesn't match thelaunch narrative. The CVEs are a sliver of this year's total, almost none arebeing exploited, fixes have stalled while duplicates and withdrawals pile up,and the triage burden is shifting onto the open source maintainers Glasswingpromised to help. The receipts keep coming in. They still don't reconcile.
  

• Introducing Polo: a Wayland MATE compositor
  Kerem Söke has announcedthe 1.0release of Polo, aWayland compositor for the MATE DesktopEnvironment:
  
  The idea is to keep MATE behaving as closely as possible to how it does onX11, rather than changing the desktop to fit a different compositor. [...]
  
  Window management, metacity, workspaces, tiling, XWayland, clipboard andclipman support, multiple monitors, display scaling, hotplugging, screenshots,screen sharing, and session management are all working.
  
  I've also added desktop effects: fade, zoom, zap, spin, squeemize, magiclamp, desktop cube, expo, and wobbly windows.
  
  Söke is looking for people to test Polo, particularly on multi-monitorsetups, and report back with problems.
  
  
  

• [$] C++26 contract confusion
  TheInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) has blessed seven C++language revisions since 1998.The language is mostly developed by ISO'sWorking Group 21, whichconsiders proposed additions and amendments, integrates them into a document,and then presents that document to the main ISO body to be voted on as astandard. On October 23, for the first time ever, ISO declined to ratify a documentpresented by Working Group 21, leaving the future of the C++26 standard indoubt. The decision was driven by controversy around a proposed new "contracts"feature that would add pre- and post-conditions to function signatures.
  

• Stenberg: 30 years of Internet transfers with curl
  Daniel Stenberg reflectson the 30th anniversary of the curl project.
  libcurl runs in an estimated thirty billion installations today. It is a rough estimate since the majority of all libcurl users never tell us they use it, but we need to find it mentioned in their credit screens, open source license windows or their manuals. A super popular app might use libcurl today and not tomorrow, or vice versa, which can make the numbers shift by several billions overnight. In reality of course, once the pulse raise has calmed down and your ego is content, these numbers do not matter. In our corner of the world, things don't change notably when we go from a thousand installs to billions. We still work with similar people, in similar ways, with similar challenges.

• Security updates for Thursday
  Security updates have been issued by Debian (aodh, apache2, dnspython, firefox-esr, mutt, octavia, spip, thunderbird, and watcher), Fedora (epiphany, firefox, freerdp, java-25-openjdk, java-latest-openjdk, libsoup3, perl-HTTP-Parser-XS, perl-libnet, php-getid3, pipx, python-crate-ingredients, python-pillow, python-robotframework, python3.9, rsync, rubygem-nokogiri, tpm2-tss, udns, and xorg-x11-server-Xwayland), Gentoo (curl, ImageMagick, libheif, and PCRE2), Mageia (nginx and python-django), Oracle (go-toolset:rhel8, libimobiledevice, nodejs:22, util-linux, and vim), Red Hat (.NET 10.0, .NET 8.0, .NET 9.0, cockpit, freerdp, gdb, go-fdo-client, grafana-pcp, ignition, kernel, kernel-rt, krb5, openssh, openssl, osbuild-composer, rpm, rsync, and webkit2gtk3), Slackware (git, httpd, and tigervnc), SUSE (aliyun-cli, alloy, apache-parent, aqute-bnd, google-gson, logback, maven, maven-artifact-transfer, maven-parent, maven-resolver, methanol, osgi-service- subsystem, slf4j, xmvn, bcel, benchdnn, containerd, distribution, dpdk, efivar, elemental, elemental-register, elemental-system-agent, elemental-toolkit, firefox, kernel, liblldpctl4, libonnxruntime1, openssl-1_0_0, openssl-1_1, openvpn, pcre2, perl-Net-DNS, perl-Plack, perl-Starman, psqlODBC, python-M2Crypto, python-Pillow, python-Twisted, python-urllib3_1, python313-djangorestframework, python313-fpdf2, python313-langgraph-sdk, python313-nltk, rust-keylime, skopeo, traefik, zchunk, and zvbi), and Ubuntu (asyncpg, awl, btrbk, davical, dotnet8, dotnet10, dotnet11, libfcgi, linux-raspi, logback, mysql-8.0, mysql-8.4, mysql-9.7, network-manager-ssh, node-babel, php-pecl-http, prosody-modules, rkhunter, ruby-actionpack-page-caching, ruby-jwt, ruby-kramdown, shiro, snmptt, and yodl).

• [$] LWN.net Weekly Edition for November 12, 2026
  Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition:
  Front: Synaptics patent claims; Git LLM policy; Hibernation and lockdown; User namespaces; glibc tunables. Briefs: *sshole; Amutable foundations; Asahi Linux 7.3; OpenIndiana 2026.10; Firefox 160; Quotes; ... Announcements: Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.

• IBM Talks Up Their New Ability For Handling ARM64 Guest VMs on s390 Hardware
  One of the biggest surprises this year was IBM collaborating with Arm for "dual architecture" hardware. In addition to the IBM s390 hardware side, this "dual architecture" support for running ARM64 instructions on s390 also requires Linux KVM virtualization support with patches we've seen the past number of months and initial code merged for Linux 7.40

• Developer's $300 Embroidery Machine Required a Subscription, So They Built This Open Source Tool
  ZigZag turns SVG art into stitches, exports five file formats, and can send designs over Bluetooth to an app-controlled Brother embroidery machine.

• Basic Support For The Apple M5 Expected To Land For Linux 7.5
  Very basic support for the Apple M5 SoC base model is expected to be merged for the Linux 7.5 kernel now that it's been queued into the "apple-soc/dt-7.5" Git branch0

• Nextcloud Releases Free Desktop Office Suite Built on Euro-Office
  Nextcloud launches its Euro-Office-powered desktop app, offering offline editing, Microsoft Office format support, and cloud collaboration.

• Ubuntu Pro users get early access to AI-written security fixes
  Canonical is giving Ubuntu Pro subscribers early access to AI-generated patches for known security flaws, available through a new opt-in archive called Edge. To get fixes out faster to customers and users, the company has built a multi-agent system called Surge to backport fixes for vulnerabilities in software package. Surge is not being used to patch kernel vulnerabilities  those see faster0

• Automating openSUSE Tumbleweed Bare-Metal Installs with Agama and Wayland TTY1 V.2
  When deploying openSUSE Tumbleweed on bare-metal hardware using the Agama installer, certain GPU and HDMI monitor combinations can stall at the SDDM login screen after the first reboot. Below is one practical method which brings you to text login with screen resolution 1920x1080 and automatically starts KDE Plasma 6.8.2 upon login into system.

• Norways Dropbox Rival Jottacloud is making a Linux app
  Norwegian Dropbox rival Jottacloud is finally working on a desktop app for Linux. Jottacloud, run by Jotta Group AS, has been around since 2008, offering file and photo backup, syncing and sharing via official Windows, Apple and Android apps. What it hasnt had, until now, is a proper desktop app on Linux (it does offer a CLI to create automatic backups of folders, but the terminal-based tool0

• Cloudflare Open-Sources Kitesurf, Its Lightweight Browser Engine for AI Agents
  Cloudflare releases Kitesurf under Apache 2.0, offering a lightweight, Rust-based browser engine designed for AI agents and automation.

• Shelly 3.3 GUI Package Manager for Arch Linux Brings New Built-in Theme
  Shelly 3.3 has been released today for this modern, open-source, and free pacman alternative for Arch Linux and derivatives, bringing various improvements.

• Red Hat Working To Improve Memory Tiering For QEMU VMs To Save RAM
  Red Hat engineers are working through a few possible approaches to enhance memory tiering for QEMU-based virtual machines to help in conserving memory. Ultimately they are after leveraging NVMe SSDs in more scenarios for QEMU VMs to save on RAM usage given today's sky high memory pricing0

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• GTA 6's Upcoming Launch Celebrated by Wendy's, YouTube, the City of Miami, and 20% of America's Workforce
  Fast food restaurant Wendy's drew an image of their redheaded mascot in the style of GTA, posting it on social media with the message "Our ride-or-dies are gonna love what we have in the works," and the date 11/19/26. That's how widespread the hype has become for Thursday's release of Grand Theft Auto VI.The BBC reports that fictional brands from the game are now actually appearing on billboards across Miami, the city that inspired the game's "Vice City" setting. And GamingBible.com reports Rockstar Games has announced Grand Theft Auto VI: The Festival, "a real-life music festival to be held in Miami, Florida... on November 21, 2026. Featuring two stages, the festival will be headlined by some incredible artists that, to state the obvious, feature on the game's soundtrack...." YouTube said pre-launch videos about the game have already racked up a whopping 40 billion views (with 900 billion views for videos about all GTA games). And now YouTube is partnering with Rockstar Games to offer several special features on launch day:Fans can drop themselves directly into Vice City using the GTAVI: Visit Vice City Shorts Effect. The feature includes multiple iconic backgrounds, making it easy for creators and fans to build their own launch-week videos... Listeners can find the official GTAVI soundtrack (featuring Morgan Wallen's "Last Thing You Need") and the complete GTA series anthology playlist directly on the YouTube Music homepage throughout launch week... Starting November 19 at 12 AM ET, fans worldwide can tune in to youtube.com/youtube for a 24 hour stream packed with live gameplay, creator podcasts, and original content featuring top creators... [On launch day] fans can jump straight into the global broadcast by clicking the custom GTAVI-themed YouTube logo (Yoodle) on the YouTube homepage At one one study suggests nearly one in a five U.S. workers plan to skip work on Thursday, writesthe New York Post:Roughly 18% of workers plan to take Thursday off to park themselves on the couch and wreak havoc across the revamped Vice City, according to data from BambooHR, which analyzed information from 3.4 million US-based employees... Half of the joystick jockeys planning to take off will simply call in sick instead of requesting time off, BambooHR reported. The hordes of workers playing hooky could cost the US economy $1 billion in lost productivity, International Business News reported. Forbes reports the game has $1.18 billion in pre-orders from 12 million buyers, according to market research firm Sensor Tower, puting it ahead of Grand Theft Auto V, which had 7 million pre-orders. The BBC points out that "Already, both PlayStation and Xbox, the two platforms the game is initially releasing on, have said the game has become the most pre-ordered title in their digital stores' history. This may be partly down to its huge size (212GB), meaning many are pre-ordering to "pre-load" the game, ready to play it immediately at launch rather than waiting to download it. But that's a problem for other games, reports GamingBible.com:With most current-gen consoles having somewhere between 512 GB and 1 TB of free storage before expansion upgrades, it means if you're a gamer with lots of games installed, you're going to have to make some sacrifices and delete any older games you're not currently playing. As reported by Push Square, it seems that Electronic Arts is also getting the message, as it allegedly is showing messages inside games asking players not to uninstall in anticipation of the GTA VI launch. GamingBible.com notes one final concern for hardcore gamers. "Rockstar Games recently confirmed the game targets 30fps, even on high-end consoles like the PlayStation Pro. While it probably won't affect the game's total sales, many gamers are appalled."
  
  
  Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  

• Huawei Set To Challenge Tesla Powerwall with New, 20 kW Home Battery
  "Huawei believes its new Luterra S2 is more than just a home backup battery," reports Electrek:This high-tech Huawei home battery pack hopes to hold back Tesla's latest Powerwall with silicon carbide technology, AI-powered energy management baked in, and enough modular storage to keep even large homes bright and warm when the rest of the block goes dark... The Chinese tech firm is calling it an "all-in-one residential energy system" that combines a hybrid inverter, modular battery storage, and AI-powered energy management in a single, simple, and stackable package that's available in single-phase versions that put out between 3 and 10 kW and three-phase versions that can push up to 20 kW. The Luterra S2 is the first system of its kind to use Huawei's proprietary full-silicon carbide (SiC) architecture, which promises improved efficiency, power density, and ease of use. It's so easy, in fact, that Huawei claims it can be installed and commissioned in just minutes. Huawei's basic Luterra S2 configuration starts with "just" 5 kWh of battery energy storage and 3 kW of output. That's enough to keep essential household appliances, lighting, and electronics running during a power outage, but you'll want to keep going if you're preparing for more than a day or two without power. If that sounds like you, Luterra's got you covered. The modular system can be expanded with modular 7 kWh LFP battery packs and can keep scaling up to a massive 336 kWh of total storage across interconnected systems, with inverter output peaking at an impressive 60 kW using three 20 kW units in parallel. Keeping all that power cool and quiet is a Huawei-developed passive cooling system that does without external fans, keeping operating noise levels below a claimed 29 dB (about the same as my Mac mini).
  
  
  Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  

• Bill Gates Has Earned Billions Investing in Climate-Polluting Landfills, Reports ProPublica
  Environmental activist Bill Gates has "quietly accumulated a $29 billion stake in America's No. 2 landfill operator, Republic Services," reports ProPublica, in a new 5,000-word investigation. But inspectors from America's Environmental Protection Agency "have repeatedly found methane — a highly potent greenhouse gas — escaping from Republic landfills at levels above federal limits. Republic has lobbied against regulations that could make the waste industry cleaner, including by keeping organic garbage out of landfills in the first place." While Gates has invested at least $2 billion in green companies, he's "put more than double that amount into a very dirty, old-school industry," their article argues. And Gates has increased his stake in Republic "to 38% of the company, a position worth $29 billion."While fossil fuels get most of the attention, scientists increasingly see landfills as a crucial climate issue. They're responsible for as much as a fifth of the country's emissions of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, studies show. Republic alone generates as much climate pollution as 3 million gasoline-burning cars each year, according to its own reports.... [Gates] has failed to make Republic live up to his own climate principles, a ProPublica investigation has found. Federal inspectors have repeatedly found methane escaping from Republic landfills at levels above federal limits. The company has refrained from adopting the ambitious emissions-reduction goal embraced by its main competitor... "It seems very likely that Bill Gates has the power to influence Republic's behavior to make it more climate-friendly, even if that costs the company profits," said Ann Lipton, a legal scholar who studies corporate governance at the University of Colorado, Boulder... Gates didn't respond to repeated requests to discuss his landfill investments, and ProPublica couldn't find any public comments he's made about them. But the bet has proven wildly lucrative. Since November 1999, when he emerged as the owner of 5% of Republic's shares — "It's 'Garbage In' for Gates," the New York Post headline read — the company's stock price has soared thirtyfold. And Gates has personally received $2.6 billion in dividends, a ProPublica analysis of securities filings shows... A rare clue to why Gates made his foray into landfills can be found in an interview he gave to Fortune [in 1999]... To fund his plan to give away virtually his entire fortune, he said he'd given his personal money manager, Michael Larson, a simple remit: Sell Microsoft shares, buy safe, boring assets... After that initial investment, Larson progressively increased Gates' stake in Republic over the years that followed. [On behalf of the Gates Foundation] Larson would also acquire a small chunk of Republic's main competitor, Waste Management. Methane emissions weren't a major focus of climate activism until years laterThe gas can trap 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide in the near term, and it's responsible for one-third of the global warming we experience today, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. But it also breaks down much more quickly, turning into CO2 and water vapor in about a decade — which means that cutting methane emissions now would reduce that warming within our lifetimes. This is especially urgent, scientists say, as the climate approaches tipping points that could doom rainforests, coral reefs and ice sheets.
  
  
  Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  

• Rust Leaves Top 10 in TIOBE Index, Making Room for Go
  "In November's edition of the TIOBE Index, Rust has dropped out of Top 10," writes I-Programmer, noting that Rust ceded the #10 position to Go. "At the same time, another Google-originated language, Dart, has entered the top 20 ousting Julia after only one month."TIOBE explains Dart's popularity is mainly being driven by Flutter, Google's framework for building cross-platform mobile applications. In fact, Flutter has become one of the major technologies for cross-platform mobile app development. The Dart language itself is not particularly unique, although it incorporates many modern programming language features. Its success is largely driven by the strength of the Flutter ecosystem and the convenience of developing applications for multiple platforms using a single codebase... [In November's ranking] Visual Basic has also lost two places, making room for R and SQL in the Top 10. Further down the ranking, Assembly has re-entered the Top 20. So TIOBE ranks the top 10 languages in November as Python, C, Java, C++, C#, JavaScript, R, SQL, Visual Basic, and Go. But I-Programmer points out that "At the top of the table, Java is back in the top 3, after over three years in 4th position," pushing C++ down to #4. Are some changes more significant than others?If you think of the ratings as shares of a pie divided into 100 pieces, there is one huge slice — Python, accounting for a over a fifth of the pie, then comes C with a slice slightly less than half of Python's. Java and C++ then have smaller slices... and C#'s share is around half of their average size. Over half the pie has now been shared between just five languages... — Next 5 (#6-10): 10.17% (JavaScript, R, SQL, Visual Basic, Go) — Next 10 (#11-20): 11.12% (Rust, PHP, Fortran, Scratch, Perl, MATLAB, Assembly, Swift, Delphi, Dart) — Next 30 (#21-50): 12.81% — Final 50 (#51-100): 12.93% [So in this month's chart...] Java has overtaken C++, but as you can see from this month's Top 10 chart they are in lock step and the difference between them is insignificant. More obvious is that Python is way ahead of all the competition and that C has an edge over Java and C++. For more discussion of this see TIOBE — Two To Rule Them All in which Mike James argued that this: confirms the standard model of programming - code is written in Python and C and everything else is just noise. Back in July we reported Rust Enters TIOBE Top 10. After four months in #10 Rust is now back at #11, which is still three places above its position, 14, a year ago. Given the way these rankings operate it only takes a very small month-on-month change for a language to lose its position and even, as has happened here it can gain in terms of its percentage ranking while still moving down. So Rust with 1.63% in November is now in #11 when it had been in #10 with 1.44%.
  
  
  Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  

• How Will AI Affect Open Source Development?
  This week the Linux Foundation's Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) announced it would broaden its AI security resources, including a new guide to finding and fixing vulnerabilities using AI, "from preparing and sandboxing AI to validating, fixing, and preventing issues." The guide "stresses that AI-generated patches should never be trusted without automated tests and human review. An online course (LFD126) is planned for the coming months." OpenSSF also released the State of AI Impact on Software Security and Cybersecurity 2026 report (supported by OpenSSF, ActiveState and the Linux Foundation AI & Data Foundation). And it turns out the 2026 report "found a growing gap between the pace of AI-driven software development and organizations' ability to secure the code being produced." 58% of surveyed teams ship code faster than security reviews can keep up, while 60% say AI coding assistants have increased the number of external packages in their codebases. This data underscores the importance of trusted, reliable guidance as AI deployment continues to grow. Meanwhile the Linux Foundation announced at this week's Web Summit that it was releasing a new study on "how commercial open source companies generate revenue, convert users into customers and build their businesses," emphasizing the question's new relevance in the age of AI. "AI now writes code almost for free, and that raises a hard question for the whole software industry: if code costs next to nothing, where does the value of software lie?"Commercial open source [COSS] companies have been answering that question for more than 30 years. They have built large businesses on code they give away, which makes them a good guide to how software will make money in the age of AI... Seventy-two percent of respondents report a net positive impact from AI, against 8% negative. So far, the gains show up mostly inside companies. Internal productivity is the most cited benefit (73%), ahead of market expansion (46%) and new monetization opportunities (39%). AI roles are the only hiring category growing on net. COSS strategy is mostly unchanged by AI. But when companies do adapt, they are nearly twice as likely to open more of their core product rather than become more closed. When asked what sets them apart, 57% of companies name brand recognition and trust, well ahead of enterprise features, integrations and community size. They turn that trust into revenue through support and services (63%), managed cloud (49%) and open core (43%). Most combine these: 65% run two or more revenue models. Companies stack models as they grow, rather than switching between them: managed cloud rises from 35% of companies below $5 million ARR to 66% above $20 million. Venture-backed companies lean toward open core (53% vs. 38% for others). The report draws on a survey of 225 commercial open source founders and enterprise leaders (published by Linux Foundation Research in partnership with Serena, and with sponsorship from AWS, Red Hat, Futurewei and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. And when it comes to open source, "over half of founders point to brand recognition and community trust as their greatest asset," said Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. So"The findings from this year's report prove that AI isn't a threat to commercial open source software — it's an accelerating tailwind. With 72% of companies viewing AI as a net positive primarily driving internal productivity, the ecosystem is leaning further into collaboration." The Linux Foundation's announcement includes an interesting perspective from Matthieu Lavergne, partner at the venture capital company Serena. "Open source won the developer. Next, it will win the agent. The 225 founders we surveyed mostly see AI as a productivity gain today, but that's only the start: agents are set to become open source's largest users, and they choose what is open, proven and trusted. The founders who build and price for these new users will define the infrastructure of the AI era."
  
  
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• Italy Fines Meta €805m Over Accessing Android Users' Photos with Facebook App
  The Associated Press reports:Italy announced an €805 million ($887 million) fine against Meta on Saturday for using photos and videos from Android users' galleries on Facebook without specific consent or adequate disclosure...Investigators found that the feature was enabled by default and that Facebook requested gallery access through a single permission covering multiple app functions with different purposes. The authority gave Meta 60 days to disable the feature and seek separate consent for its use. Italy has about 20 million Android users, notes the BBC, and this fine "is among the largest an Italian authority has ever imposed on a tech giant."The charge is related to a feature which suggests photos and videos from a user's phone gallery as ideas for posts... According to the Italian regulator, a preceding [authorization] notice did not make clear that this would also allow Facebook to generate suggestions based on photos in their gallery. The regulator said it took into account "the high number of people affected" and the fact it is "still ongoing for those who have not updated the app and for those who have already given their consent to the system". It also cited "Meta's lack of co-operation". "A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that it planned to appeal..."
  
  
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• Did Alice Huang's Megaspeed Bypass America's Controls on Exporting Nvidia Chip to China?
  In three years "Megaspeed International" went from from inactive Chinese gaming subsidiary "to one of Asia's biggest buyers of cutting-edge semiconductors from the US," reports CNN. "It is incredibly hard to look at this and not see a Chinese state-sponsored network for bypassing US export control networks," trade data investigator William George told CNN. As Nvidia's Jensen Huang had an affair with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, "Megaspeed quietly instilled billions of dollars of Nvidia chips in data centers across Southeast Asia," CNN writes, noting scrutiny of the company from the Singapore government and US officials "concerned that the company was passing those chips on to unauthorized Chinese buyers..."In 2022, the US began restricting sales of semiconductors to China, including Nvidia's most advanced. While the controls were meant to curb China's tech industry, they also spawned opportunities for intermediaries willing to help circumvent them. US officials believe Megaspeed may be one of those... [T]rade records show Megaspeed has purchased more than $4 billion in chips and equipment from Nvidia... Based on indictments and investigative reports, research institute Epoch AI estimates that anywhere between 290,000 to 1.6 million advanced US semiconductors were sent to China in violation of export controls last year... Singapore also initiated investigations into Megaspeed and its controllers, including Alice Huang, for potential false declarations relating to the company's server purchases and their final destinations. In a statement, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said there was insufficient evidence that Huang had committed any related offenses, but she had been barred from re-entering the country after providing inaccurate information "to downplay her role" at Megaspeed. The other investigations are ongoing. The exact scale of Chinese chip smuggling is impossible to quantify. However, its existence has become something of an open secret in the industry, as well as an indication that US efforts to keep adversaries from securing high-stakes technology still have fundamental flaws. A May report from the short seller Culper Research claimed that despite tightening trade restrictions, Chinese end-users still account for about 20% of Nvidia chip sales via illegal diversion and intermediaries in Southeast Asia. CNN reminds readers that Jensen Huang accompanied US President Trump to events with Chinese leader Xi Jinping twice this year, and also lobbied for the US to relax controls on Chinese chip imports. "The US government ultimately approved several buyers for less-advanced Nvidia chips, known as H200, while collecting a quarter of the revenue." "However, blacklisted companies have continued to obtain sensitive semiconductors as well," they add. And the Taiwanese government is even seeking to criminalize unauthorized exports of advanced AI chips to China, "as prosecutors there charged nine people in a scheme to sneak Nvidia chips into China through Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong."
  
  
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• 50th Anniversary of 'Star Wars' Celebrated with iMax 70mm Re-Release, Special Events, New Movie
  "Lucasfilm and Disney have restored the original Star Wars (1977) and will release the film in multiple formats, including Imax 70mm [starting February 19], as part of the franchise's 50th anniversary celebrations," reports Deadline. The original film will also be displayed in its original 16:9 format on the center of Cosm's 12K+ LED Dome, in a special presentation developed with Disney, Lucasfilm, ILM, and MakeMake. They're calling it a "Shared Reality production" where "the surrounding visual environments dynamically evolve to immerse the audience in iconic Star Wars locations and moments." Deadline reports more 50th anniversary celebrationsIn addition to the Imax 70mm screenings, the film will also be presented in Digital Imax, Digital Cinema, 70mm, 35mm, and 4DX. On May 4th, 2027, Lucasfilm will release a new behind-the-scenes documentary, The Hero Awakens, from filmmaker R.J. Cutler on Disney+. Star Wars events already on the calendar for 2027 include Shawn Levy's [movie] Star Wars: Starfighter, which will be released May 28. There's also a new poster paying homage to the original 1977 film, reports the Disney news site Mickey Visit, plus a newly orchestrated score by John Williams that they assume "will be used on all the projects that debut this year."On April 2-3, [Disney] will debut the new "Star Wars in Concert: The Skywalker Saga" at the Hollywood Bowl. The show will be hosted by Anthony Daniels, known for his role as C-3PO. Special performances of John Williams' iconic film scores will feature scenes and music from all nine Skywalker Saga films. The concert is a sweeping celebration of the stories, themes, and music that have inspired audiences around the world for five decades... They also teased that new and legacy licensees — including Hasbro, the LEGO Group, adidas, Mars, Aston Martin, Steinway, Hajime Sorayama presented by Complex, and more — will introduce 50th-anniversary collections... In the opening of the press release, Disney mentioned that as part of the announcements there will be "reimagined Disney Parks and Cruise Line offerings." The article adds that the April's Star Wars Celebration at the Los Angeles Convention Center has already sold out. There's more Star Wars news, writes long-time Slashdot reader schwit1A light saber used by Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi sold Thursday for nearly $5 million in an auction. The light saber, which was used in the climactic duel in Cloud City in which Vader tells Luke Skywalker "I am your father" sold for $4.875 million at the Ultimate Star Wars Auction held by Heritage Auctions. The sale marks a world auction record for any "Star Wars" collectible, according to the auction house. The previous record was Heritage's $3,750,000 sale of Luke Skywalker's lightsaber and severed hand effects rig on July 15, 2026. And they're still auctioning more Star Wars memorabilia...
  
  
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• Bitcoin Plummets 24% in 46 Days as Crypto Falls on Rising Inflation
  October 3: $84,680Today: $64,108 Bitcoin dropped 24.2% in 46 days. And it "fell more than 4% on Friday to $68,500," reports Fortune, "wiping out gains built over the past three months and casting doubt on whether its bear market was ever really over."The asset also faces weaker investor appetite, according to crypto analytics provider CryptoQuant. The firm's demand indicator recorded its weakest reading since December 2023, while Bitcoin exchange-traded funds became net sellers again. The recent downturn has also extended to other parts of the crypto market. That includes Tether's USDT, the largest cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar, whose total value shrank by $7.7 billion over the past two months, according to CryptoQuant, a sign that less cash is available in crypto markets. This time around, inflation has been the main culprit. Tuesday's Consumer Price Index report showed prices rose 0.4% in October, more than economists expected. Even stripping out food and energy, inflation ran hotter than forecast. Traders now overwhelmingly expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point in December, with some betting on an even bigger increase. "Because these are non-yielding assets, and we expect inflation to rise... people are chucking stuff like gold and Bitcoin to find... government bonds that are going up, providing you [with] income," Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at financial technology company IG Group, told Fortune... Heavy borrowing and spending on AI have created what 21Shares calls an "AI black hole," drawing money toward the sector and away from assets like Bitcoin and gold. But Bitcoin remains "joined at the hip" with tech stocks, according to Beauchamp. That leaves it in an awkward position: It faces competition for investment dollars when enthusiasm for AI runs high, yet can get dragged down when that enthusiasm fades. Fast Company points out Bitcoin "remains down more than 20% since the beginning of 2026."[Nvidia] has seen its shares lose more than 27% of their value over the past month. The tech sell-off seems to have dragged down the crypto markets, too, as the two sectors are, on some levels, intermingled... On top of that, outflows from Bitcoin funds may also be contributing to the slide. More than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were closed in recent days, which may have added to declining demand, affecting BTC prices.
  
  
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• America Officially Loses Its Measles-elimination Status After Continued Spread of the Disease
  Reuters reports:The Pan American Health Organization has revoked the United States' measles-elimination status, ending a 26-year run after determining the country failed to halt continuous transmission of the highly contagious virus for more than a year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday... The reported decision by the Americas branch of the World Health Organization comes as the US battles the highest number of measles cases it has seen in more than three decades. Some 7,500 people in the US have been infected with measles and 13 have died since 2025. That period coincides with falling immunization rates and rising vaccine hesitancy under US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has for years spread doubts, without scientific evidence, about the safety of measles vaccines...Canada, Spain and the UK recently lost measles-elimination status after review by WHO experts.... "It is a fully preventable disease. It is unconscionable that we have this amount of measles," said Noel Brewer, a public health professor at the University of North Carolina... William Moss, an epidemiology professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said loss of measles elimination was a hit to the United States' reputation as a public health powerhouse... For the average American, he added, it means that the United States will continue to have large outbreaks, putting people at risk of disease, hospitalization and death.
  
  
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• 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]

• MenuetOS keeps steadily improving
  MenuetOS, the operating system written in x86-64 assembly, has seen a few new releases since we last looked at it, delivering some welcome improvements. Secure network connections are now faster, theres a TrueType font demo, and, of course, the usual bugfixes and smaller improvements. The game Wizord EXL100 has been ported, and a few drivers have been improved as well. You can get the latest releases from the downloads page.

• ReactOS makes strides in SMP, 64bit, and more
  The ReactOS project organised two hackfests this year, and the work done during those in-person sessions, combined with the ongoing regular progress, has led to some pretty significant breakthroughs and progress. More NT6+ syscalls have been added, ReactOS supports floppy disks now, NTFS support has been vastly improved, and much more. Theres also a new USB3/4 stack, which is now merged and offers basic support for these versions of USB. One of the biggest additions is a new kernel shim engine which gives ReactOS the ability to work around buggy drivers and implement quirks, moreso than even Windows itself can. For instance, thanks to this new shim, XP-era NVIDIA drivers can run on NT6 ReactOS. The ongoing efforts to implement SMP are yielding results too: ReactOS can now run with SMP for days on end while doing tasks in the background, which is quite promising. The team is showing off Steam and the game Among Us running on ReactOS, which is definitely impressive.

• Polo: a new Wayland compositor for MATE
  MATE is probably the last X11-only holdout among the major desktop environments, but thats about to change if Kerem Söke has anything to say about it. Polo is a port of Marcos behavior and window management policies to Wayland, built on libweston and written in Vala and C. Its a window manager, compositor, and session authority for the MATE Wayland desktop. It takes over, step by step, what Marco, mate-session-manager and the compositor-facing parts of mate-settings-daemon do on X11. ↫ Polos GitHub page Söke is looking for testers with this very first Polo 1.0.0 release  cute name, too  which is available on its GitHub page.

• IBM to offer access to a dual-processor quantum system in 2027
  Ars Technica published a short write-up about changes to IBMs quantum computing plans. The changes greatly expand the scope of its next-generation Nighthawk general-use processors by adding a version with over 500 programmable qubits. At the same time, it’s stepping back a bit on its plan to link multiple Nighthawk processors together, dropping the intended number of linked systems from nine to two. The total number of qubits planned for next year will remain the same; how the company is getting there, however, will be different. Meanwhile, the company is touting the performance boost achieved via a major change that was made in the generation of Nighthawk processors released in September: hardware-based qubit resets. ↫ John Timmer at Ars Technica Im convinced quantum computing will eventually have a big impact in the areas its characteristics are presumed to be well-suited for. Also, it just looks and sounds incredibly cool, even if as the technology currently stands its not particularly useful yet.

• Im not descending into madness because mount and unmount icons make no sense
  There are many problems in this world  some big, some small, some so minute nobody ought to put them to paper at all. The problem Im going to highlight here is even smaller than that. This literally  the actual literally  does not matter and absolutely nobody should care about it, let alone put any work into changing it or addressing it some other way. I want to talk about the iconography GNOMEs Disks utility uses to symbolise mount! and unmount!. No, Im not descending into madness. GNOMEs Disks utility uses the play! symbol on the mount button, and the stop! symbol on the unmount button. Inexplicably, considering the state of the world in general and the rapidly deteriorating quality of software specifically, this bothers me. Out in the real world, built on decades of consistent use, these symbols have gained clearly defined meanings, and mounting and unmounting disks definitely isnt one of them. In fact, the meaning of these symbols isnt mere convention; theyre defined in a variety of international standards for symbols for use in software and on equipment, such as ISO/IEC 18035 (which you need to buy to read; my copy fell of a truck): ISO/IEC 18035:2002 defines a consistent set of icons and related functions that are represented by multimedia applications on a computer screen and that users interact with to control such applications. It describes controls applying to such functions as: Play, Pause, Stop, Rewind, Scan forward, Scan backward, Replay backward, Loop, Go to beginning, Go to previous, Go to next, Go to end, Set volume and Mute. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Theyre also part of ISO 7000/IEC 60417, a much larger, more encompassing standard that also contains things like the various symbols used on laundry machines, tumble dryers, in cars, and so on. The symbols themselves are much older than the standards, of course, with many of them dating back to the 1960s and possibly even 1950s. The point remains, though: the play and stop symbols have clearly defined meanings, and I dont think they are at all a good fit for mount and unmount. The function of the play! symbol according to ISO/IEC 18035: To enable the user to start the presentation of dynamic media, except where the task requires automatic playing of that media. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 And of the stop! symbol: To enable the user to stop the presentation of dynamic media. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Neither of these descriptions match what mounting and unmounting mean or do. Mounting a drive or partition doesnt present any media at all; it merely makes the drive or partition in question accessible. Unmounting also doesnt eject anything; it merely makes the drive or partition inaccessible. I would argue that play and pause act upon contents of a drive or volume, and not upon the drive or volume itself. As it stands right now, you play! a drive! to play! a video stored on said drive. Madness. I already know what youre thinking, and yes, I agree that the Disks utility is a tool aimed at more advanced use cases and users, and most normal, average users will never even know it exists, let alone open it at all. Very few people get to see these symbols, and those that do already know full well what mounting and unmounting mean, reducing the importance of said symbols considerably. But now its time for the big surprise, the twist in the story that turns this entire thing on its head. Files, GNOMEs file manager, uses an entirely different symbol for unmounting! Instead of the stop! symbol, Files uses the eject! symbol. You may think this is a more accurate visual representation of what unmounting means, but I strongly disagree. Lets turn to ISO/IEC 18035:2003 once again: To enable the user to eject the current physical media from the appropriate drive. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Unmounting doesnt eject anything! If you unmount a USB stick, the stick doesnt get fired out of the USB port. If you unmount a volume, it doesnt get removed from the SSD. Hell, if you unmount a CD-ROM, it doesnt even eject it! Ejecting a CD-ROM  opening the drives tray or spitting the CD-ROM out of a slot-loader  is an entirely different act! Are we really ejecting! a CD-ROM twice? Are we mounting! a CD-ROM when we merely close the tray? No! Madness! The real underlying problem here is, of course, that mounting and unmounting are deeply weird and confusing concepts, bordering on the esoteric, that simply do not have physical equivalents to fall back on. Using symbols and iconography designed in the 1960s explicitly for playing music or stopping a video or ejecting a cassette tape are not a good fit for something as difficult to explain to most people as mounting and unmounting. Its like putting an eject symbol on a cars door handle or a play symbol on a soap dispenser. Should GNOME developers waste any time or resources to address this? No, of course not, that would be stupid. Nobody should care about this but me. I should suffer in silence, every time I need to mount or unmount something, forced to look for an eject or stop symbol in whatever user interface I happen to be using. Every time, I should die a little inside. Please, dont be like me and waste precious resources thinking about this. Im not descending into madness. I just want mount and unmount symbols that make sense. Im not descending into madness.

• Haiku gets multifinger touchpad taps
  Were almost halfway through November, but we hadnt seen Haikus monthly activity report for October yet. Its here now, and theres quite a few good things in here, like support for two and three-finger tap gestures on touchpads for right and middle-click, a new driver that adds Universal Flash Storage support, and even some build fixes for Haikus SPARC port as well as some fixes on the RISC-V side. Of course, thats just a selection, as theres the usual long list of smaller changes, bugfixes, and improvements as well.

• Microsoft releases .NET 11
  Today, we’re excited to announce the release of .NET 11! This year’s release makes building modern applications faster, more productive, and has improvements across C# 15, ASP.NET Core, .NET MAUI, and Windows development. With hundreds of runtime optimizations, more responsive SDK tooling, and less overhead in everyday commands, you can spend less time waiting and more time creating. Build richer web and cross-platform applications, take advantage of new C# language features, and explore AI-powered development with improved tools and agentic capabilities. ↫ .NET Team Im not going to pretend to care about .NET, but I know many of you have to care on a professional level, because .NET is remarkably popular in places where the spotlights dont often shine.

• What if any process could handle SIGKILL?
  An interesting question, and a detailed technical rundown of how to make this happen, which involved building a custom Linux kernel, of course. I really, really enjoy the conclusion. And you know? It turned out fine. Nothing exploded on my system. As I could predict, because this was otherwise impossible, nobody did it. The signal system was setup in such a way that you would most likely realize something you were doing was wrong, and not try it. To pull back further, it is interesting to notice how the rules we all take for granted are just set somewhere in code. They were written by someone, at some point. If there is code restricting you from doing something, someone wrote it. Either they did not think anyone would want to do that thing, or they specifically prevented you from doing it. Those rules are written somewhere, and you can take it in your paws to go sniff around the code, pull out the relevant parts, and hack around the things that bother you. For fun, learning, or convenience. Snoop around. Sniff code. Put your paws in it. Hack shit. ↫ lux at VulpineCitrus Even if theres no real reason to do, even if its just to satiate an odd and possibly slightly morbid sense of curiosity, fuck with code.

• OpenIndiana Hipster 2026.10 released
  OpenIndiana is a rolling-release illumos distribution, but they do release snapshots twice a year to serve as a base for installations, which they call Hipster. The projects just released OpenIndiana Hipster 2026.10, and it brings a number of welcome changes. First, theres UEFI framebuffer support on the live image, which is automatically configured when loading up the image. Second, Firefox and Thunderbird versions have been bumped to 159.0, and a whole slew of development tools have been updated to newer versions as well. This snapshot also brings QEMU 11.1.2 and VirtualBox 7.2.22, and a number of new applications have been added as well. In addition, SPARC build support has been improved to enable new and updated packages for Suns dead ISA as well. You can download a fresh image, or update an existing installation through IPS.

• Making musl and proprietary NVIDIA drivers work together
  Creator and lead developer of Chimera Linux, Nina q66!, write about their efforts to get NVIDIA drivers to work properly on musl-based distributions. As you may be aware, one of the limitations of musl-based distributions is that they will not function to their proper extent when used in computers with various NVIDIA graphics cards. This is due to the proprietary nature of the driver, being built for glibc. I have been experimenting with trying to make this work, and this post is the summary of that effort. ↫ Nina q66! on the Chimera blog What follows is a deeply technical exploration of the problem, and the steps Nina q66 and the Chimera team are taking to try and fix it. With how popular and widespread NVIDIA hardware still is, this is a hugely important issue to try and address, and Im grateful theyre trying to address it.

• Omarchy 4.5 Brings Floating Workspaces, Native Apple Silicon Installation, and a More Flexible Linux Desktop
  by George Whittaker
  The Omarchy project has released Omarchy 4.5, a major update to its Arch Linux-based operating system that introduces traditional floating desktop workspaces, native Apple Silicon installation, expanded ARM hardware support, and extensive customization improvements. Released on November 5, 2026, the update marks one of the distribution's most significant developments since the introduction of Omarchy 4.0.
  
  Known internally as Quattro RS, the release incorporates more than 740 merged pull requests from over 180 contributors during a twelve-week development period. Its most visible addition is a floating desktop mode that allows users to work with overlapping windows and a conventional application dock without abandoning Omarchy's existing tiling and scrolling layouts. The change makes the distribution more accessible to users familiar with Windows and macOS while preserving its keyboard-driven workflow.
  
  Omarchy 4.5 also expands beyond traditional x86-64 computers with native installation support for selected Apple Silicon Macs and preliminary compatibility with NVIDIA ARM-based systems. Additional improvements include localization for 50 languages, new productivity applications, expanded AI agent integration, video wallpapers, updated desktop themes, and numerous fixes affecting graphics, displays, networking, and hardware compatibility.
  Floating Workspaces Introduce a Traditional Desktop Experience
  Omarchy has traditionally emphasized tiling window management through the Hyprland Wayland compositor. In a tiling environment, application windows are arranged automatically within the available screen space, reducing the need to drag, resize, and manually position each window.
  
  This approach can be highly efficient for developers and experienced Linux users who prefer keyboard navigation. However, it can also feel unfamiliar to people accustomed to conventional desktops, where windows overlap freely and applications are launched or minimized through a dock or taskbar.
  
  Omarchy 4.5 addresses this difference by introducing floating workspaces with an integrated application dock. Users can now switch individual workspaces between tiling, scrolling, and floating layouts without changing the entire desktop configuration.
  
  The Super + L keyboard shortcut cycles through these three layout modes. When floating mode is active, application windows receive themed title bars and can be positioned independently, creating an experience closer to a conventional desktop.
  
  The dock displays pinned applications, running programs, and an application grid. Users can rearrange applications through dragging, pin frequently used programs, and access additional actions through context menus. Pressing Super + M minimizes the active window to the dock.
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• openSUSE Leap 16.1 Unifies Traditional and Immutable Linux With Transactional Updates
  by George Whittaker
  The openSUSE Project has officially released openSUSE Leap 16.1, introducing a major change to how the distribution can be installed, maintained, and deployed. Released on November 3, 2026, the update brings an integrated Immutable Mode that allows users to install a transactionally updated operating system with a read-only root filesystem, while continuing to offer the traditional Linux installation model.
  
  The new approach also marks the beginning of the end for openSUSE Leap Micro as a separate distribution. Its functionality is now incorporated into Leap 16.1, giving administrators a unified platform for desktops, conventional servers, container hosts, virtual machines, and edge computing environments. Users can select the installation model that best fits their workloads without switching to an entirely different openSUSE product.
  
  Beyond the new installation architecture, Leap 16.1 updates KDE Plasma to version 6.6, retains GNOME 48 with additional maintenance fixes, introduces LXQt 2.4, and continues using the Linux 6.12 long-term support kernel series. The release also expands container tooling, improves system monitoring, updates security components, and introduces changes designed to make enterprise-oriented Linux deployments more predictable.
  Immutable Mode Becomes the Defining Feature of Leap 16.1
  The most important addition to openSUSE Leap 16.1 is its new Immutable Mode, which allows the operating system to use a read-only root filesystem and transactional updates. Instead of modifying the active operating system directly whenever packages are installed or updated, the immutable configuration prepares changes in a separate filesystem snapshot.
  
  This approach differs from a conventional Linux installation, where package managers typically modify files in the active root filesystem. On a traditional system, an update can replace libraries, executables, and configuration components while applications continue running. Although Linux package managers handle these operations carefully, interrupted updates or incompatible package combinations can sometimes leave a system in an inconsistent state.
  
  Immutable Mode reduces this risk by preparing operating-system changes separately from the currently running environment. Updates become active after a reboot, allowing the system to start using a consistent set of packages and configuration changes. If an update introduces problems, administrators can return to an earlier snapshot rather than manually reversing individual package modifications.
  
  The underlying technology is not entirely new to openSUSE. Similar functionality has been available through Leap Micro, which was designed for lightweight, transactionally updated server and infrastructure deployments. What changes in Leap 16.1 is that this operating model becomes an installation choice within the main Leap distribution.
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• KDE Plasma 6.8.2 Released With More KWin and Wayland Fixes
  by George Whittaker
  The KDE Project has released KDE Plasma 6.8.2, delivering another round of stability improvements for its Wayland-based Linux desktop environment. Released on October 27, 2026, the update arrives one week after Plasma 6.8.1 and two weeks after the anniversary release of Plasma 6.8, which marked 30 years since the KDE project's founding.
  
  This second maintenance release concentrates on correcting regressions discovered after the initial rollout. The largest collection of changes targets KWin, KDE's window manager and Wayland compositor, with fixes involving multi-GPU synchronization, display handling, pointer constraints, color pipelines, and window stacking. Additional improvements address disappearing desktop icons, application launcher behavior, remote desktop sessions, screen recording, accessibility, and system monitoring.
  
  Although Plasma 6.8.2 does not introduce major new desktop features, its corrections are particularly important because Plasma 6.8 completed KDE's transition away from native X11 desktop sessions. With Wayland now serving as Plasma's display foundation, improvements to KWin and its supporting components directly affect the reliability of the entire desktop environment.
  KDE Continues Stabilizing Its Anniversary Release
  KDE Plasma 6.8 arrived on October 14, 2026, coinciding with the project's 30th anniversary. The release introduced significant desktop changes, including the retirement of native X11 sessions, additional HDR improvements, expanded remote desktop capabilities, NVIDIA graphics optimizations, and further development of KDE's Union theming engine.
  
  The transition represented an important architectural milestone, but major desktop releases frequently expose problems that were not encountered during development or beta testing. Linux desktops must operate across numerous combinations of graphics hardware, display configurations, drivers, input devices, and applications. Even extensive testing cannot always reproduce every environment used by the wider community.
  
  KDE acknowledged this challenge during the development cycle following Plasma 6.8, noting that users had discovered regressions that were not reported during the beta period. Contributors responded with a substantial collection of fixes, many of which have now reached the stable 6.8 branch through its first two maintenance releases.
  
  Plasma 6.8.2 continues that stabilization effort. Rather than changing the desktop's overall direction, it improves the reliability of existing functionality and addresses issues that could affect everyday workflows. The release includes corrections across KWin, Plasma Desktop, Plasma Workspace, Discover, KRDP, KPipeWire, and several other components.
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• RefreshOS 3.1 Strengthens Its Debian Foundation With Independent Package Management
  by George Whittaker
  The RefreshOS project has released RefreshOS 3.1, bringing an updated Debian foundation, a dedicated software repository, improved 32-bit application compatibility, and several refinements to its KDE Plasma desktop experience. Released on October 27, 2026, the update advances the distribution's 3.x "Colorful Cosmos" series while introducing infrastructure that could significantly improve how RefreshOS delivers its own packages and configuration changes.
  
  The new release moves from Debian 13.4 to Debian 13.7 "Trixie", incorporates Linux kernel 6.12.113, and continues using KDE Plasma 6.3.6. However, the most important development is the introduction of an official RefreshOS APT repository with separate Stable, Testing, and Experimental channels. This gives the project a more structured way to distribute customized software while continuing to benefit from Debian's established package ecosystem.
  
  RefreshOS 3.1 also enables i386 architecture support, making it easier to install compatible 32-bit software and dependencies required by applications such as Steam. Additional changes address desktop localization, KDE integration, installer configuration, package permissions, and installation image cleanup. Together, these improvements represent an effort to make RefreshOS easier to maintain while preserving its focus on a ready-to-use Linux desktop.
  RefreshOS Builds on Debian's Stable Release Model
  RefreshOS is a Debian-based Linux distribution developed by eXybit Technologies, designed to provide a polished desktop environment without requiring users to configure every component manually. The project combines Debian's stable package foundation with KDE Plasma, preinstalled applications, hardware support, multimedia capabilities, and custom desktop styling.
  
  Unlike distributions that emphasize constant adoption of the newest software versions, RefreshOS prioritizes a relatively predictable desktop experience. Its Debian foundation provides access to established security maintenance, package management, and compatibility practices, while RefreshOS adds its own configuration choices to simplify everyday use.
  
  Version 3.1 continues that philosophy by incorporating Debian 13.7, the seventh point release of Debian 13 "Trixie." Debian published this update on September 12, 2026, primarily to consolidate security corrections and fixes for significant software problems. These point releases do not represent entirely new Debian generations. Instead, they refresh installation media and package selections so newly installed systems begin with a more current collection of fixes.
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• Tails 7.15.1 Blocks Compromised HTTPS Certificates in Urgent Privacy Security Fix
  by George Whittaker
  The Tails project has released Tails 7.15.1, an emergency security update addressing a compromised certificate authority that could allow attackers to impersonate legitimate HTTPS websites. Released on October 23, 2026, the update focuses on protecting users against a potentially serious man-in-the-middle attack involving certificates associated with eMudhra, an authority whose intermediate certificates were compromised.
  
  The emergency release updates Tor Browser to version 15.0.26, addressing CVE-2026-113470, and modifies the distribution's trusted certificate authorities to block all eMudhra certificates. These changes are particularly important for Tails because the operating system routes internet traffic through the Tor network, where malicious exit nodes or other network intermediaries could potentially exploit compromised certificates to impersonate secure websites.
  
  Unlike a conventional maintenance update, Tails 7.15.1 does not introduce major desktop features, new applications, or significant interface changes. Its purpose is to close a security gap that could undermine the authenticity of HTTPS connections. The developers recommend upgrading promptly, especially for users who rely on Tails for sensitive communications, anonymous research, journalism, or other privacy-critical activities.
  Why Tails 7.15.1 Was Released as an Emergency Update
  Tails, short for The Amnesic Incognito Live System, is a Debian-based Linux distribution designed to help users preserve their privacy and reduce traces of their computing activity. It typically runs from a USB stick and routes internet connections through Tor, making it useful for people who need stronger privacy protections than those provided by a conventional desktop operating system.
  
  The distribution also emphasizes minimizing persistent data. By default, Tails operates as a live environment and does not retain ordinary session activity after shutdown. Users who need to preserve selected files and settings can configure encrypted Persistent Storage on their USB device, allowing them to maintain important information across sessions without changing the operating system's general amnesic behavior.
  
  Because Tails is built around privacy and secure communication, problems involving HTTPS certificate validation deserve particular attention. Tor helps obscure the relationship between a user's network location and the websites they visit, but it does not automatically guarantee that every website encountered through an exit node is authentic. HTTPS provides an additional layer of protection by authenticating websites and encrypting communications between the browser and the destination server.
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• Omarchy 4.0.5 Released With Better NVIDIA Laptop Support
  by George Whittaker
  The Omarchy project has released Omarchy 4.0.5, introducing a substantial collection of hardware compatibility improvements, desktop performance optimizations, security fixes, and package updates for the Arch Linux-based operating system. Released on October 18, 2026, the update focuses on refining the existing desktop experience while preparing the distribution for its next major feature release.
  
  Among the most important changes are improved NVIDIA hybrid graphics support for laptops, an updated Linux 7.2.8 kernel featuring the BORE scheduler, and compatibility improvements for Qt 6.12. The release also resolves boot-related black screens, fixes audio problems affecting certain Dell and USB speaker configurations, corrects Steam graphics driver selection, and improves the reliability of several desktop utilities.
  
  Although version 4.0.5 is primarily a maintenance release, its improvements extend across many of the components that determine how smoothly a Linux desktop operates. From faster application launches and more responsive desktop panels to stronger security defaults and more reliable hardware detection, the update demonstrates Omarchy's continued emphasis on delivering a preconfigured Linux environment that requires relatively little manual setup.
  Omarchy Continues Refining Its Arch Linux Desktop Experience
  Omarchy is an opinionated Arch Linux-based distribution designed to provide a ready-to-use development and desktop environment built around the Hyprland Wayland compositor. Rather than presenting users with a minimal installation that requires extensive customization, Omarchy combines a carefully selected collection of applications, themes, keyboard shortcuts, and system configurations into a cohesive desktop experience.
  
  The distribution has attracted attention among developers and experienced Linux users who appreciate keyboard-driven workflows, tiling window management, and the flexibility of Arch Linux without necessarily wanting to configure every component manually. Its desktop environment emphasizes efficient navigation, integrated development tools, and a consistent visual design, while retaining access to Arch's extensive software repositories.
  
  Version 4.0.5 continues that approach by concentrating on problems that can interrupt everyday workflows. The release improves hardware compatibility, corrects regressions introduced by newer software packages, and reduces unnecessary delays in common desktop operations. Rather than introducing a dramatic redesign, the developers have focused on making the existing environment more predictable and responsive.
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• KDE Plasma 6.8 Marks 30 Years With a Major Shift to Wayland and a More Powerful Linux Desktop
  by George Whittaker
  The KDE Project has officially released KDE Plasma 6.8, introducing a substantial collection of desktop improvements while celebrating three decades of open-source software development. Released on October 14, 2026, exactly 30 years after Matthias Ettrich announced the original KDE project, this anniversary edition brings significant changes to display management, accessibility, graphics performance, remote desktop functionality, system monitoring, and application theming.
  
  Perhaps the most consequential development is KDE's decision to retire native X11 desktop sessions in Plasma 6.8, completing its transition toward Wayland as the primary display architecture. The release also introduces NVIDIA triple buffering by default, improved HDR support, a more capable remote desktop server, CPU affinity controls in System Monitor, and expanded capabilities for the experimental Union theming engine. These improvements reflect KDE's effort to modernize the Linux desktop while maintaining the customization and flexibility that have defined Plasma for years.
  
  Plasma 6.8 is therefore more than a commemorative release. It represents an important architectural transition for one of Linux's most widely used desktop environments, with changes that affect both everyday users and developers building applications for the next generation of Linux desktops.
  KDE Celebrates Three Decades of Open-Source Desktop Development
  KDE's history began on October 14, 1996, when Matthias Ettrich proposed creating a consistent graphical desktop environment for Unix-like operating systems. At the time, Linux was becoming increasingly capable as a free operating system, but its graphical experience remained fragmented. Users could choose from several window managers and applications, yet there was no universally integrated desktop environment comparable to the commercial graphical systems available elsewhere.
  
  The original KDE initiative sought to address that limitation by building a cohesive desktop around the Qt application framework. Over the following decades, the project evolved through several major generations, introducing increasingly sophisticated desktop technologies while expanding into applications, development frameworks, mobile interfaces, and other open-source projects.
  
  Plasma 6.8 arrives as KDE marks its 30th anniversary, but its development priorities are focused primarily on the future. Rather than introducing a purely cosmetic anniversary edition, KDE has concentrated on modernizing underlying desktop infrastructure while improving accessibility, usability, and performance. The result is a release that combines immediately visible enhancements with architectural changes intended to support future development.
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• Building a Reliable Event-Driven Payment Service With XRP Ledger
  by Emma Clapp
  Receiving a transaction notification is only the first step. Production software still has to decide whether that event is safe to turn into application state.
  
  A WebSocket callback can arrive in milliseconds. What happens afterward is harder. The Go to Full Article

• Linux Moves Closer to Retiring the x32 ABI After Years of Limited Adoption
  by George Whittaker
  Linux kernel developers are renewing efforts to retire the x32 application binary interface (ABI), a little-used compatibility feature that attempted to combine the advantages of 64-bit processors with the smaller memory footprint of 32-bit applications. A revised patch series submitted on October 8, 2026, proposes the first steps toward disabling the interface, potentially ending support for an architecture experiment introduced more than 14 years ago.
  
  The latest proposal comes from Sebastian Andrzej Siewior, a Linux kernel developer at Linutronix who has been working on the removal effort throughout 2026. Rather than immediately deleting every component associated with x32, the proposed approach would first prevent the feature from being enabled through normal kernel configuration. This would give remaining users and distribution maintainers an opportunity to respond before the underlying implementation is removed.
  
  The effort reflects a broader challenge in Linux development: maintaining compatibility with older or rarely used technologies while keeping the kernel manageable, secure, and efficient. Although x32 offered theoretical performance and memory advantages, it never achieved widespread adoption. With conventional x86_64 software dominating modern Linux systems, developers are increasingly questioning whether the additional maintenance burden remains justified.
  Understanding the Linux x32 ABI
  The x32 ABI was introduced with Linux kernel 3.4 in 2012 as an alternative to conventional 32-bit and 64-bit application environments. Its goal was to provide applications with access to the architectural improvements of x86_64 processors while retaining smaller data types and pointers associated with 32-bit software.
  
  Traditional 32-bit x86 applications use the i386 ABI, which operates with a more limited register set and 32-bit execution conventions. Standard x86_64 applications, meanwhile, benefit from additional general-purpose registers, wider registers, and modern calling conventions, but they normally use 64-bit pointers. Those larger pointers can increase memory consumption in applications that maintain large numbers of pointer-heavy data structures.
  
  The x32 ABI attempted to offer a compromise. Applications would execute using the x86_64 instruction set and its larger register file while retaining 32-bit integers, long values, and pointers. This programming model is commonly described as ILP32, meaning that integers, long integers, and pointers are all 32 bits wide.
  
  The distinction can be illustrated by comparing the expected sizes of common C data types:
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• Google's Kage Project Rethinks Linux Kernel Security With Isolated Device Drivers
  by George Whittaker
  Google is exploring a new approach to Linux kernel security that could significantly change how device drivers interact with the operating system. The experimental project, known as Kage, uses compiler-based sandboxing to isolate drivers inside the kernel, potentially limiting the damage caused by memory corruption, programming errors, and exploitable vulnerabilities without requiring drivers to run as separate user-space processes.
  
  The research was presented at the Linux Plumbers Conference 2026, held October 5–7, with Stanford University and Google researcher Zachary Yedidia discussing how LLVM's Lightweight Fault Isolation (LFI) technology can create restricted execution environments for native kernel code. Unlike conventional isolation techniques, which often depend on separate processes or virtual machines, Kage attempts to preserve the performance advantages of kernel-space execution while reducing the amount of memory individual drivers can access.
  
  Early prototypes have already demonstrated the concept using NVMe storage, networking, and Wi-Fi drivers. However, Kage remains an experimental research project rather than a feature available in mainstream Linux distributions. Its developers are still investigating performance, hardware access, and compatibility with more complicated drivers, including graphics hardware.
  Why Device Drivers Remain a Major Linux Security Challenge
  Linux device drivers are responsible for connecting the operating system to hardware components, including graphics cards, network adapters, storage controllers, USB devices, and wireless chipsets. Most traditional Linux drivers execute in kernel space, giving them privileged access to system resources and the ability to interact directly with hardware. This architecture is one reason Linux can deliver high performance across such a broad range of devices, but it also creates a significant security challenge.
  
  When an ordinary application encounters a memory error, the operating system can often terminate that process without affecting the rest of the system. Kernel drivers operate under different conditions. Because they typically share the kernel's address space and privileges, an invalid memory access or exploitable vulnerability can affect unrelated kernel components, potentially resulting in a system crash, privilege escalation, or complete compromise of the operating system.
  
  The challenge becomes more complicated when considering the enormous number of drivers supported by Linux. Some are maintained by large organizations with extensive testing infrastructure, while others receive contributions from smaller development teams or individual maintainers. Even carefully reviewed drivers can contain bugs, particularly when they interact with complicated hardware, asynchronous operations, and memory-management mechanisms.
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