All the News that Matters

• Linux Mint 22.3 Gets New HWE ISOs Powered by Linux Kernel 7.0
  Linux Mint 22.3 introduces new HWE installation images with Linux kernel 7.0, alongside a preview of upcoming system and Cinnamon improvements.

• Fedora CoreOS To Enable systemd-oomd & zRAM Swap By Default
  Fedora's CoreOS as their container-optimized operating system will be moving to enable systemd-oomd by default with Fedora CoreOS 45. Additionally, swap on zRAM will be enabled by default too...

• ‘Asobi: Remote Play’ Begins Playtesting PlayStation Remote Play on Steam Devices, Linux
  If you’ve ever wanted to play PlayStation games without buying an increasingly expensive PlayStation console, Inside Internet has you covered.

• Linux Mint 22.3 HWE ISOs Now Available for Download with Linux Kernel 7.0
  Today, the Linux Mint project released a new set of ISO images for the latest Linux Mint 22.3 release to offer users the latest Linux 7.0 HWE (Hardware Enablement) kernel from the upstream Ubuntu repositories.

• BlueFerry Brings iMessage and SMS from iPhone to Linux Over Bluetooth
  BlueFerry is a new open-source Linux app that lets users send and receive iMessage and SMS from an iPhone directly over Bluetooth.

• SparkyLinux 8.4 Brings Back 32-Bit Support for Older PCs
  SparkyLinux 8.4 is out based on Debian 13 “Trixie,” restoring 32-bit i686 images alongside updated packages and Linux kernel 6.12 LTS.

• Open-Source NVIDIA "Nova" Driver Sees More Functionality For Linux 7.3
  Sent to DRM-Next this week was the DRM Rust core and driver changes targeting the upcoming Linux 7.3 merge window. There continues to be a lot of DRM core infrastructure work happening for Rust integration plus two leading Rust DRM drivers of Nova for open-source NVIDIA GPU support as the successor to Nouveau and then Tyr as the in-development Arm Mali driver...

• Radxa Broadens rCore Series with Snapdragon and Dragonwing AI SoMs
  Radxa has revealed two Qualcomm-based system-on-modules aimed at edge AI, multimedia, robotics, and industrial applications. The new rCore-Q8280 uses the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 with 29+ TOPS of AI performance, while the smaller rCore-Q6490 is based on the Dragonwing QCS6490 and provides up to 12 Dense TOPS. The higher-performance rCore-Q8280 is built around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon […]

• Meta Publishes Muse Glimmer As 30B Open Agentic Model
  The Meta Superintelligence Labs announced this morning they have released Muse Glimmer as their next large language model featuring 30 billion parameters for always-on local agent workflows. Muse Glimmer features open-source model weights under an Apache 2.0 license...

• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Users Get Linux 7.0 HWE Kernel Ahead of Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS
  Good news for Ubuntu users as Canonical has started pushing the Linux 7.0 HWE (Hardware Enablement) kernel updates from Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat).

• Qt Toolkit To Introduce Edge AI Submodule, Initially For Vision AI With Qt
  The Qt Group has been working on various AI integrations for the Qt toolkit in recent times like a QML profiler skill for agentic development to help with performance profiling. They have also worked on Qt AI coding assistants and AI agents in the Qt Creator integrated development environment. Their latest AI use is now preparing to introduce a new module in the Qt toolkit itself for edge AI inferencing...

• Debian Testing “Forky” Users Can Now Enjoy KDE Plasma 6.7
  KDE Plasma 6.7 is now available in Debian Testing “Forky,” giving users access to the latest desktop improvements ahead of Debian 14.

• Challenger+ RP2350 NB-IoT Enables LTE Cat NB2 and GNSS for Embedded IoT
  ILABS is offering the Challenger+ RP2350 NB-IoT, a compact development board combining Raspberry Pi’s RP2350 microcontroller with STMicroelectronics’ ST87M01-1301 cellular module. The board targets low-power IoT applications requiring LTE Cat NB2 connectivity, GNSS positioning, and long battery life. The RP2350 provides dual Arm Cortex-M33 and dual Hazard3 RISC-V cores, with two cores active simultaneously at […]

• Monitor Your Drive Health with Performance Co-Pilot on Fedora
  You wake up one morning to find your home server unresponsive, after some investigation you discover a failed NVMe drive taking your self-hosted services and data with it. Perhaps you’re a system administrator and a workstation’s SSD has been silently accumulating errors for months, and now a user is reporting corrupted files. Drive failures are […]

• Illinois Just Passed a Law That Puts Linux on the Hook for Age Verification
  Illinois signed HB5511 on July 31. Past the TikTok and Instagram headlines is a mandate for operating systems, with no exemption for open source.

• 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: August 9th, 2026
  The 304th installment of the 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup is here for the week ending August 9th, 2026, keeping you updated on the most important developments in the Linux world.

• 77 Counterfeit Open VSX Extensions Collected Developer and CI/CD Data
  Security researchers found 150 lookalike Open VSX extensions published under trusted names, highlighting how extension marketplaces can expose developer credentials, source code, and CI/CD systems to supply-chain risk.

• DietPi 10.6 Adds Support for Orange Pi 4 Pro, Zero 3W, and New Odroid Boards
  DietPi 10.6 expands its SBC support with new images for Orange Pi 4 Pro, Zero 3W, and Odroid M1, M1S, and M2 devices.

• DebConf27 Debian Developers Conference to Be Held in Asahikawa, Japan
  DebConf27, the Debian Project’s annual developer conference for 2027, has been announced and will be held in the city of Asahikawa in Hokkaido, Japan, taking place from September 5th to September 11th.

• Linuxiac Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 32, 2026 (August 3 – 9)
  Catch up on the latest Linux news: CachyOS August 2026, DietPi 10.6, KDE Plasma 6.7.4, IceWM 4.1, Wine 11.15, Mesa 26.2, KDE Linux nears Beta, and more.

• A Zoom Screen-Sharing Bug Let Anyone Take Over Other Devices On a Call
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: As AI models gain advanced capabilities to find vulnerabilities in software, develop ways to exploit them, and even carry out autonomous hacking sprees, researchers offered a sobering new example on Tuesday, disclosing vulnerabilities in the video conferencing platform Zoom that could have been exploited to take over targets' devices. Anyone on a call that involved screen sharing, whether participants or the host, would have been vulnerable to a silent attack that could be carried out with no indication and no interaction from the victim. Researchers from the digital defense firm A Security say thebugwas discovered in early June using publicly available AI models, and that it took fewer than 20 prompts to uncover the vulnerabilities and create a working attack. Zoom issued a security advisory on Tuesday, including details about fixes the company has already begun rolling out to address the flaws, which affected devices running all operating systems that Zoom supports -- Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The vulnerabilities were specifically in the protocol used to facilitate real-time annotation during screen sharing. The researchers say that their AI bug hunting systems specifically delved into this component because, like human bug hunters, they have been trained that convoluted and obscure functions often contain overlooked vulnerabilities. This is particularly true with proprietary, closed-source software. An established company like Zoom presumably does extensive code review and vetting on all components and functions, but without the benefit of public, open review, esoteric yet complex features like annotation are more likely to contain mistakes. The bugs are now patched, with Zoom issuing both server and client-side fixes—or patches for both Zoom's own servers and the applications that run on customer devices. But the researchers emphasize that it was alarming to contemplate bugs that could have been exploited to take over a target device simply by getting someone onto a Zoom call. "What is interesting for us and what we believe is dangerous is the democratization of these capabilities -- the barrier to entry is dropping rapidly," A Security cofounder Omer Gull told WIRED ahead of the disclosure. "Before it would have taken a team of five people maybe six months with a lot of refining and iteration to find this. Now people can reach the same results with under 20 prompts. And Zoom is an important type of target because people assume trust when using it. They don't see it as a threat."
  
  
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• Spotify Will Label 'AI Persona' Profiles, Exclude Their Music From Recommendations
  Spotify will begin labeling AI-generated artist identities with "AI Persona" badges and exclude their music from editorial, algorithmic, and personalized recommendations unless users explicitly follow them. The company says the designation applies to whether an artist profile represents a real person, not whether AI was used to make the music, and will allow appeals for mislabeling. TechCrunch reports: While Spotify will allow artists to identify themselves as AI Personas, the company says it won't rely on self-disclosure alone. It will also review artist profiles and identify those where the artist's name and imagery appear to represent photorealistic AI-generated identities. Spotify said it will begin its review with profiles that have met pre-defined audience thresholds to ensure the more listened-to artists are covered first. Once labeled, the AI Persona badges will appear on the artist's profile in the banner and the About section, in Search, and on track rows across playlists. By default, Spotify won't include AI Personas in its editorial or algorithmic recommendations, nor will it add AI Personas' music to users' personalized recommendations -- unless they happen to follow an AI Persona. Only users can choose to follow an artist, so it's an explicit signal that the user wants to hear more music from that person or group. Spotify wrote in its announcement that, "while we believe all artists have creative choice in determining how they present themselves, Spotify's programming is focused on elevating music from authentic artists building careers in music." "Although there's a broad spectrum in how artists use AI as a creative tool, the question of whether a profile represents an actual human is one where Spotify can help make a clear determination. This badge is about the artist's public identity, not about how the music was made," the company said.
  
  
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• Paramount Considers Leaving California Amid Antitrust Suit
  Paramount CEO David Ellison is threatening to begin moving the studio out of California on October 1 if state Attorney General Rob Bonta refuses to enter settlement talks over the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The company would reportedly move its Los Angeles headquarters first and shift most studio jobs out of the state over five years, with Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee under consideration. Variety reports: Ellison's threat to relocate Paramount in retaliation for California's Bonta leading the charge to kill the WBD deal -- a move that would include much of its studio operations, over time -- was first reported by industry newsletter Puck. In response, Bonta called Ellison's planned exit from the state an "attempt to blackmail the state into letting an illegal deal through." "Paramount has lost the plot as it continues to lose in court," the attorney general wrote in a post on X. "It didn't work the first time -- on the eve of our July lawsuit -- and it won't work this time." Bonta has not publicly said what concessions from Paramount-WBD he would consider acceptable enough to take the lawsuit off the table. But the Democratic attorney general has said any remedies would need to be "structural" (i.e., divestments) rather than "behavioral" (e.g., imposing certain production quotas). Oct. 1 is when Paramount will begin accruing a "ticking fee" payable to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders of $7 million per day. The trial in the state AGs' lawsuit is scheduled to start March 2, 2027, roughly five months after that, so Paramount would be on the hook to pay around $1.2 billion to WBD shareholders by the time the trial is scheduled to conclude. (Paramount's ticking-fee payments to WBD are not due until the deal closes.) At the Aug. 5 meeting on Paramount's lot, Ellison told his 12-member senior executive team he expects Paramount to prevail in the antitrust case against the states. However, he also said that if Bonta balks at talks, Paramount will start packing up and moving out of the Golden State in less than two months.
  
  
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• France Bans Unsolicited Telemarking Calls
  Starting today, unsolicited telemarking calls are banned in France unless consumers explicitly consent to them. Companies that violate the law can face fines of up to 375,000 euros per call, though existing customers can still be contacted with related offers. Le Monde reports: The government says the law is a response to years of consumer complaints. Authorities estimate that about three-quarters of people in France receive at least one unsolicited sales call every week, and many receive more. In 2024, 11 consumer organizations issued a joint call for a ban, denouncing "relentless harassment of consumers through countless unwanted telemarketing calls to both landlines and mobile phones -- an intrusion that has become a regular part of their daily lives." Now, "businesses are prohibited from contacting consumers without their prior consent," said Alice Vilcot, chief of staff at the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Prevention of Fraud. "That consent can be withdrawn at any time." [...] Previously in France, people who wanted to avoid marketing calls had to register their number with a government-run service, but consumer groups said some call centers ignored the list. Vilcot noted that an Ireland-based company was fined 6 million euros ($6.9 million) last year for violating France's previous telemarketing rules by calling people on the no-call list.
  
  
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• England Set To Eliminate Hepatitis C
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: England is on track to become one of the first countries in the world to eliminate hepatitis C, a dangerous virus that attacks the liver, figures show. The target of treating 80% of all known cases has already been met, and deaths from the virus have fallen by 36% in the last decade, just short of what is needed by 2030. Taking antiviral tablets for 8 to 12 weeks can cure more than 95% of cases. Initiatives including A&E blood tests, GP registration testing and free at-home tests have helped to find people who were previously undiagnosed, says NHS England. NHS England says that since 2015, more than 100,000 people have been diagnosed and treated for hepatitis C, meaning the country is already meeting that target. Another goal -- a 65% reduction in hepatitis C-related mortality compared with 2015 levels -- has yet to be met, but might be before the 2030 target date. Around 50,200 adults are living with hepatitis C, figures for England in 2024 suggest. Estimates indicate 84.6% of those living with hepatitis C have been diagnosed -- just short of the 90% target. The Hepatitis C Trust says England is "on the cusp" of one of the most significant public health achievements in our country's history.
  
  
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• Zuckerberg's Superyacht Reportedly Declined To Help Stranded Boat
  Ancient Slashdot reader Alain Williams shares a report from The Guardian: Mark Zuckerberg has faced questions over why a small cruise ship in south-east Alaska rescued a stranded skiff and its crew when his 387ft superyacht had been closer. The Silicon Valley billionaire's yacht, worth a reported $300 million, is said to have "repeatedly" declined to assist when a nearby boat called for help last week. Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms, was not on board at the time, a spokesperson told Forbes. When a nearby 21ft skiff ran out of fuel between Petersburg and Juneau, the Alaska Beacon reported operators of a cruise ship that was further away than Zuckerberg's yacht came to the rescue. "I'm on a small-ship Alaska cruise with my son," a passenger on the UnCruise Adventures ship Wilderness Legacy posted on Bluesky. "Our boat rescued a stranded vessel last night and apparently we did that after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg's yacht -- which was closer -- and they repeatedly refused to respond. (There was near unanimous booing when the captain announced this)." A spokesperson for Zuckerberg told Forbes that the yacht crew had been operating on a different radio channel and "the assist was already under way" by the time they discovered the broadcast.
  
  
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• Reddit Bans 11-Year Account for GPL Game Post, Testing the EU's DSA
  Longtime Slashdot reader DF5JT writes: On July 26, I posted a single announcement in r/backgammon: GNU Backgammon for Android, GPLv3, the first standalone backgammon engine on F-Droid. Reddit's spam filter removed the post and permanently banned my 11-year, 30,000-karma account -- the result is publicly visible at reddit.com/user/OE1FEU. To this day, Reddit has given no reason whatsoever, although Article 17 of the EU's Digital Services Act makes a statement of reasons mandatory. The only appeal channel is a 250-character web form that sends no confirmation and has never been answered; Reddit's own help text admits: "you may not have received a message to your inbox." A GDPR export of 11 years of data came to 7.2 MB; every post was truncated after a few lines, with zero data about the ban decision. So I spent one day escalating through every mechanism the EU provides: certified out-of-court dispute settlement at Austria's RTR, complaints with the Austrian and Dutch Digital Services Coordinators, the data protection authority (citing the ECJ's SCHUFA ruling on automated decisions), noyb, and Austria's consumer association. Bonus finding: the European Commission's DSA Transparency Database contains 14,067 Reddit statements of reasons for that week -- none for my ban -- and the Commission's own feedback form limits reports to 500 characters and crashed with a 500 Server Error. Is the DSA enforceable for ordinary users, or just paperwork?
  
  
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• The Roboguard Revolution Is Short-Circuiting
  alternative_right shares a report from 404 Media: Robotics companies promise that video-camera-toting security robots can deter and detect crime. But many companies are rethinking the approach after a trail of canceled contracts and questions about whether the artificial intelligence-powered bots are meeting the needs of businesses and local governments. Proof News found evidence of at least 21 security robot deployments since 2015. We contacted contract holders and combed news articles and determined that at least 13 of those programs have ended. Silicon Valley-based Knightscope secured the most security robot contracts, according to Proof's analysis, and also suffered the bulk of cancellations. For example, New York City's then-Mayor Eric Adams installed a Knightscope robot on the overnight shift at the Times Square subway station, but the program was scrapped when the pilot expired in 2024. City leaders did not respond to Proof News' questions about why the robot wasn't renewed. By the end of its assignment, it was reportedly gathering dust in an empty storefront. Outside Columbus, Ohio, the city of Dublin pulled the plug on a Knightscope robot in May, ending its two-year pilot program after less than 10 months. The city enlisted the robot, dubbed DubBot, to patrol a downtown park, but city spokeswoman Robyn Gray said it "did not fully meet our operational needs," and failed to identify any criminal incidents or lead to any tickets or arrests. [...] Seeking a new path forward in the security industry, Knightscope CEO William Santana Li said the company is forging a new model, combining its robots and AI-powered software with another key ingredient: human security guards. Knightscope announced it purchased Event Risk LLC, a national security guard firm, earlier this year. Knightscope has incurred net losses since inception in 2013, according to its most recent quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and is $273 million in debt. Knightscope hopes its pivot to incorporate people will give it a greater share of the physical security market -- which the company believes is worth an estimated $230 billion annually. Li declined to answer questions about the disbanded programs, but said in an email, "Technology cannot do everything -- and neither can people -- but the combination can be very powerful."
  
  
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• Taxi Drivers Rarely Die of Alzheimer's
  An anonymous reader shares a report from The Conversation, written by Hatim Sharif, a civil and environmental engineer who has "spent more than two decades staring at maps" and spatial data. Sharif finds one connection especially fascinating: the link between spatial reasoning and why taxi drivers seem to have lower rates of Alzheimer's. From the report: Taxi and ambulance drivers are less likely than workers in almost any other job to die of Alzheimer's disease. That was the surprising result of a 2024 study examining the death certificates of nearly 9 million people in the U.S. [...] Of the 9 million death certificates from January 2020 to December 2022 that researchers examined, taxi and ambulance drivers had the lowest risk of dying from Alzheimer's disease out of 443 occupations. After adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity and education, roughly 1 in 100 taxi and ambulance drivers died of Alzheimer's, compared with 1 in 60 people overall. This pattern did not extend to other driving jobs. The researchers concluded that the key to reducing the risk of Alzheimer's was not driving itself but continuous real-time navigation: the constant work of locating yourself in space, tracking a destination and updating a mental map as conditions change. Drivers whose jobs relied on fixed or predetermined routes, like bus drivers and aircraft pilots, didn't seem to experience a similar advantage. Researchers believe the association between navigation-heavy work and lower Alzheimer's risk centers on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that governs memory and spatial navigation. It's one of the first brain regions that Alzheimer's damages: Problems with spatial navigation and orientation are among the earliest signs of the disease, sometimes surfacing before obvious memory loss. In one landmark 2000 study, neuroscientists compared the brains of licensed London taxi drivers with those of people who did not drive cabs. Their findings provided the first evidence via structural imaging that regions of the adult brain can measurably change under sustained navigational demand. To earn a license, London cabbies must memorize more than 25,000 streets within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross, a challenge known as "The Knowledge" that takes three to four years. The researchers found that London taxi drivers had measurably more gray matter in the posterior hippocampus, a brain area tied to storing large-scale spatial maps. That volume tracked with experience: The longer someone had driven, the larger that part of the brain. The change was built through practice, not inherited. While people who are good at navigation might gravitate to this kind of job, the job itself does have an impact on the brain. Together, these two studies make a coherent case: Work that intensively exercises the hippocampus may reshape it, and that reshaping may protect against one of the most feared diseases of aging.
  
  
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• Cyber Vulnerability Sweep Picks Up Royal Navy Drones Sending Data To China
  A routine security assessment found that cameras aboard Royal Navy Kraken unmanned surface vessels were sending "heartbeat" signals to an IP address in China. "A thorough investigation found no evidence of MoD data or systems being accessed, compromised or transmitted externally," said a Ministry of Defense spokesperson. "Our assurance and testing processes are designed to identify and address potential vulnerabilities early, and we continue to undertake routine security activity across our systems and equipment." The Register reports: According to reports, the talkative components were cameras sourced by Kraken from a third-party supplier. The incident raises questions about supply chains, audits, and cybersecurity in the British armed forces. The spokesperson said: "The first duty of government is national security, and we take the security of our equipment, networks, and data extremely seriously."
  
  
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• A Data Breach At Shipping Giant Ceva Logistics Is Rippling Across Banks, Retailers, Steam Gamers, and Beyond
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Ceva Logistics, one of the world's largest shipping and logistics giants, has been hacked. Several companies that rely on Ceva for shipping their products to their customers say that their personal information was also stolen in the breach. The cyberattack on Ceva is affecting at least eight warehouses across Europe used for shipping goods across the continent, the company told TechCrunch. Industry news site FreightWaves reports that the hack began on July 29 and is causing shipping delays for many of the goods in affected warehouses. Ceva is a France-headquartered shipping and logistics giant that companies around the world rely on to deliver their goods from their assembly lines to customer homes. The company, which brought in $18.3 billion in revenue in 2025, has over a thousand warehouses across the world. [...] The hack at Ceva also resulted in a data breach, affecting a large amount of personal information belonging to retail customers that Ceva relies on for delivering goods to people's home addresses. Several companies reported that hackers took their customers' names, home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses used to place their orders from Ceva's systems. Dutch online retail giant Bol said on its website that hackers gained access to systems of its warehousing partner, Ceva, and warned that their customers' data may have been taken. Bol also said that it expects delays and some customer orders to be canceled as a result of the incident. De Bijenkorf, another Dutch luxury retailer, similarly confirmed order delays following the theft of its customers' data, per local media. Football club Ajax, banking giant ING, and eyeglass maker Ace & Tate also reported that customers' shipping information was affected. Video game giant Valve told customers that it learned on August 7 that data was taken from Ceva's systems, and alerted customers who recently bought its Steam hardware that they had personal information taken in the incident. Valve said in its note to customers, posted to Reddit, that Ceva stores their shipping and delivery information for 90 days following their order. So far, Ceva says the agency has received data breach reports from 10 organizations in relation to the incident.
  
  
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• Valve Slowly Expands SteamOS Support On Non-Valve Hardware
  Valve is continuing to broaden SteamOS support beyond its own hardware, with the latest beta adding "initial gamepad support" for a few recent gaming handhelds and improving compatibility for a few others. Ars Technica reports: Those newly supported handhelds include MSI's Claw 8 EX AI+, the extremely expensive, extremely powerful handheld built around Intel's Arc G3 processor that launched this summer. While SteamOS has long included beta support for "other AMD powered handhelds," Valve has only recently been working on offering compatibility with Intel-based handhelds like the MSI Claw line. This weekend's update suggests the company hasn't abandoned those efforts and that Intel chips aren't being left out of the SteamOS conversation. SteamOS 3.8.25 also newly supports the controllers built into Ayaneo's Android-focused Pocket S2 and the more recently released Windows-based Konkr Fit. Valve also says the new OS offers "improved support" for older MSI Claw devices and the OneXPlayer line of portable gaming PCs. This weekend's update follows June's SteamOS 3.8 update, which stressed "improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms." That update specifically called out improved controller support on handhelds from the likes of GPD Win, Anbernic, and OrangePi, as well as improvements for various Lenovo Legion Go, MSI Claw, and OneXPlayer devices. The report notes that the new SteamOS update also updates the Linux driver powering the new Steam Controller, "allowing it to work with 'native controller applications' even when Steam is not running."
  
  
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• First Rival Android App Store Arrives In the US Play Store
  Aptoide has become the first third-party Android app store available directly through Google Play in the U.S. "The change is a direct result of Google's litigation with Epic, which saw a judge rule in 2024 that the Play Store would have to open up to third-party stores," notes The Verge. The change makes rival storefronts far easier to discover and install, potentially opening the door for Epic, Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft and others to distribute their own app stores through Google's store. From the report: Third-party app stores have always been available on Android, which is a more open platform than iOS in that respect. However, until now they've only been available if pre-installed on a device -- as with the Amazon Appstore on Fire tablets or Samsung's Galaxy Store -- or installed via sideloading. Listing rival storefronts within the Play Store makes them much easier for users to find and access.[...] Aptoide itself is relatively little known, but it's likely to be the first of many alternative app stores. It's presumably only a matter of time before the Epic Store makes its own appearance, and the likes of Amazon, Samsung, and other phone manufacturers may also want to put their stores in front of potential customers.
  
  
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• Wall Street Giants Partner With Nvidia On $500 Billion AI Financing Deal
  Nvidia is working with Wall Street heavyweights on a potential $500 billion financing package for AI infrastructure (source paywalled; alternative source). The consortium includes BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs and KKR. The Financial Times reports: The partnership underscores Nvidia's growing efforts to raise capital for itself and its clients to continue assembling the chips, power production and data centres at the heart of the AI boom. The $5.25 trillion company has positioned itself at the centre of the AI boom, providing chips, infrastructure and software to a wide array of partners developing the technology. Nvidia's graphics processing units, or GPUs, underpin most of the leading US AI models available today. [...] The biggest cloud-computing companies, including Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, have dramatically increased their spending on AI infrastructure as they look to win the race to dominate the emerging technology. Morgan Stanley projects so-called hyperscalers will spend $3.5 trillion between 2026 and 2028. That need for capital has forced technology groups to tap every source of cash they can find, including public equity, investment-grade and high-yield bonds, securitized debt, private credit and project finance markets. "[The] sheer size of the AI infrastructure build-out is unprecedented," Jim Zelter, president of Apollo, said on an earnings call earlier this month. "More than $8 trillion of capital is expected to be invested, a staggering sum. We see an enormous opportunity for private capital to finance a portion of this along with public capital."
  
  
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• Meta's 'Open' Muse Glimmer Model Can Run On a Single Computer
  Meta has released Muse Glimmer, a slimmed-down open-weight AI model designed to run locally on a single GPU for agent tasks such as scheduling, file management, coding, and tool use. The release is based on Meta's closed Muse Spark 1.2 model and appears to be aimed at attracting developers who want capable AI agents without relying entirely on cloud-hosted services. Engadget reports: Facebook said that it's making the "weights" that AI systems use to choose responses available to everyone on Hugging Face along with developer documentation. The download is available for free, and users can run the model on their own PCs. The company noted that optimized integrations will land on llama.cpp and other sites, "so you can go from download to working agent in minutes." The model is powerful for its size, according to Meta, with the "strong success rates" on benchmarks like DeepSearch QA, MCP-Atlas and SWE-Bench (which evaluates its ability write and debug code). It also supports reliable tool use, multi-step reasoning, failure recovery, multimodal input and scaffold compatibility for work with OpenClaw and other agent orchestrators. It was trained on data from over 100 languages, the company added. "Rather than centralizing superintelligence, we should distribute it widely and give every person the ability to direct it," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an essay accompanying Muse Glimmer's release. "This has the potential to begin a new era of personal empowerment where individuals can use this powerful new capability to reach their full potential, pursue their interests, and improve their lives and the world more than ever before."
  
  
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• Building Autonomous ML Experimentation with Tangle and Tangent
  Tangent is an autonomous agent that automates the ML experimentation loop on top of Tangle, building pipelines, running them, and analyzing results with minimal hand-holding.
  
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• Built By A Community that never stops learning
  Save 35% Sitewide with Code: TUX35 SAVE NOW
  
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• Implementing Secure Zero-Touch Provisioning in AI and Edge Infrastructure
  By Juha Holkkola, FusionLayer Group How DHCP Changed Connectivity In the late 1990s, the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) quietly catalyzed a revolution in digital connectivity. Before DHCP was introduced, connecting devices to a network involved manual entry of IP addresses, DNS servers, subnet masks, and gateways. Networks were fragile, prone to errors, and severely [0]
  
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• From DHCP to SZTP – The Trust Revolution
  By Juha Holkkola, FusionLayer Group The Dawn of Effortless Connectivity In the transformative years of the late 1990s, a quiet revolution took place, fundamentally altering how we connect to networks. The introduction of DHCP answered a crucial question, Where are you on the network?!, by automating IP address assignment. This innovation eradicated the manual configuration [0]
  
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• Celebrating the Second Year of Linux Man-Pages Maintenance Sponsorship
  Sustaining a Core Part of the Linux Ecosystem The Linux Foundation has announced a second year of sponsorship for the ongoing maintenance of the Linux manual pages (man-pages) project, led by Alejandro (Alex) Colomar. This critical initiative is made possible through the continued support of Google, Hudson River Trading, and Meta, who have renewed their [0]
  
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• Disaggregated Routing with SONiC and VPP: Lab Demo and Performance Insights  Part Two
  In Part One of this series, we examined how the SONiC control plane and the VPP data plane form a cohesive, software-defined routing stack through the Switch Abstraction Interface.` We outlined how SONiC’s Redis-based orchestration and VPP’s user-space packet engine come together to create a high-performance, open router architecture. In this second part, we’ll turn [0]
  
  The post Disaggregated Routing with SONiC and VPP: Lab Demo and Performance Insights  Part Two appeared first on Linux.com.
  

• Disaggregated Routing with SONiC and VPP: Architecture and Integration  Part One
  The networking industry is undergoing a fundamental architectural transformation, driven by the relentless demands of cloud-scale data centers and the rise of software-defined infrastructure. At the heart of this evolution is the principle of disaggregation: the systematic unbundling of components that were once tightly integrated within proprietary, monolithic systems.` This movement began with the separation [0]
  
  The post Disaggregated Routing with SONiC and VPP: Architecture and Integration  Part One appeared first on Linux.com.
  

• Kubernetes on Bare Metal for Maximum Performance
  When teams consider deploying Kubernetes, one of the first questions that arises is: where should it run? The default answer is often the public cloud, thanks to its flexibility and ease of use. However, a growing number of organizations are revisiting the advantages of running Kubernetes directly on bare metal servers. For workloads that demand [0]
  
  The post Kubernetes on Bare Metal for Maximum Performance appeared first on Linux.com.
  

• How to Deploy Lightweight Language Models on Embedded Linux with LiteLLM
  This article was contributed by Vedrana Vidulin, Head of Responsible AI Unit at Intellias (LinkedIn). As AI becomes central to smart devices, embedded systems, and edge computing, the ability to run language models locally — without relying on the cloud — is essential. Whether its for reducing latency, improving data privacy, or enabling offline functionality, local AI [0]
  
  The post How to Deploy Lightweight Language Models on Embedded Linux with LiteLLM appeared first on Linux.com.
  

• Automating Compliance Management with UTMStacks Open Source SIEM 8 XDR
  Achieving and maintaining compliance with regulatory frameworks can be challenging for many organizations. Managing security controls manually often leads to excessive use of time and resources, leaving less available for strategic initiatives and business growth. Standards such as CMMC, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC2 and GDPR demand ongoing monitoring, detailed documentation, and rigorous evidence collection. Solutions [0]
  
  The post Automating Compliance Management with UTMStacks Open Source SIEM & XDR appeared first on Linux.com.
  

Engadget"Engadget - Technology News & Expert Reviews"

• A flight tracking service is suing Kalshi for using its data without authorization
  A flight tracking service is suing Kalshi for using its data without authorization.

• Zoom screen-sharing bug let people fully take over other devices on a call
  Zoom screen-sharing bug let people fully take over other devices on a call.

• Abbott partners with Google Health for AI-powered glucose monitoring
  Abbott partners with Google Health for AI-powered glucose monitoring.

• Can a MacBook run multiple external monitors? It depends
  Most current models support at least two.

• Authors face backlash for participation in 2022 Google AI study
  Thirteen authors joined a little-known Google AI study in 2022. Now they9re facing backlash.

• How the iPhone has changed in the last five years
  Modern iPhones reflect years of gradual evolution, blending new capabilities with familiar elements that keep users adapting along the way.

• Disney+ will be the new global streaming home of Formula E racing
  Disney+ will be the new global streaming home of Formula E racing.

• How to fix stick drift on PS5 and Xbox controllers
  Giving your controllers a good clean can help with stick drift.

• Supermassive Games will lay off up to 75 workers
  The maker of Until Dawn and Directive 8020 says it9s cutting jobs to ensure it remains sustainable.

• England and Wales ban Meta Glasses from courtrooms
  Cameras are typically banned in courtrooms, and Meta Glasses are no exception in England and Wales.

• Can you wear your headphones while driving? It depends on the state
  State laws around driving with headphones vary, so make sure you know what9s legal.

• How to connect Bluetooth headphones to your PS5
  The PS5 may not support Bluetooth audio directly, but there are workarounds.

• Samsung says a hearing aid feature is coming to Galaxy Buds later this year
  The FDA approved Samsung9s Galaxy Buds hearing aid feature, which will soon be available alongside a hearing test.

• Garmin Cirqa versus Fitbit Air: How these two fitness trackers compare
  Is Garmin9s new option worth $100 more than the Fitbit Air?

• Motorola Moto Watch (2026) review: Looks can be deceiving
  Motorola's Moto Watch looks like a capable and affordable timepiece, but looks are deceiving.

• Bumble now lets either person send the first message after matching
  The company previously teased it would change messaging in May.

• Spotify AI Persona labels will alert listeners if an artist isn't real
  The streaming service has faced an onslaught of AI-generated music.

• NASA updates Voyager 2 to extend the 1977 probe's lifespan yet again
  NASA successfully executed a plan to extend the life of Voyager 29s scientific instruments.

• OpenAI gives Daybreak partners access to a more powerful cybersecurity model
  OpenAI's Daybreak program now has two tiers, with the higher one giving partners access to a more advanced cybersecurity model.

• Apple may introduce a photo authentication tool in iOS 27
  Reference Image could be a new way to prove provenance in the wake of generative AI.

• EU OS: A Bold Step Toward Digital Sovereignty for Europe
  Image
  A new initiative, called "EU OS," has been launched to develop a Linux-based operating system tailored specifically for the public sector organizations of the European Union (EU). This community-driven project aims to address the EU's unique needs and challenges, focusing on fostering digital sovereignty, reducing dependency on external vendors, and building a secure, self-sufficient digital ecosystem.
  What Is EU OS?
  EU OS is not an entirely novel operating system. Instead, it builds upon a Linux foundation derived from Fedora, with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. It draws inspiration from previous efforts such as France's GendBuntu and Munich's LiMux, which aimed to provide Linux-based systems for public sector use. The goal remains the same: to create a standardized Linux distribution that can be adapted to different regional, national, and sector-specific needs within the EU.
  
  Rather than reinventing the wheel, EU OS focuses on standardization, offering a solid Linux foundation that can be customized according to the unique requirements of various organizations. This approach makes EU OS a practical choice for the public sector, ensuring broad compatibility and ease of implementation across diverse environments.
  The Vision Behind EU OS
  The guiding principle of EU OS is the concept of "public money – public code," ensuring that taxpayer money is used transparently and effectively. By adopting an open-source model, EU OS eliminates licensing fees, which not only lowers costs but also reduces the dependency on a select group of software vendors. This provides the EU’s public sector organizations with greater flexibility and control over their IT infrastructure, free from the constraints of vendor lock-in.
  
  Additionally, EU OS offers flexibility in terms of software migration and hardware upgrades. Organizations can adapt to new technologies and manage their IT evolution at a manageable cost, both in terms of finances and time.
  
  However, there are some concerns about the choice of Fedora as the base for EU OS. While Fedora is a solid and reliable distribution, it is backed by the United States-based Red Hat. Some argue that using European-backed projects such as openSUSE or KDE's upcoming distribution might have aligned better with the EU's goal of strengthening digital sovereignty.
  Conclusion
  EU OS marks a significant step towards Europe's digital independence by providing a robust, standardized Linux distribution for the public sector. By reducing reliance on proprietary software and vendors, it paves the way for a more flexible, cost-effective, and secure digital ecosystem. While the choice of Fedora as the base for the project has raised some questions, the overall vision of EU OS offers a promising future for Europe's public sector in the digital age.
  
  Source: It's FOSS
  European Union

• Linus Torvalds Acknowledges Missed Release of Linux 6.14 Due to Oversight
  
  Linus Torvalds Acknowledges Missed Release of Linux 6.14 Due to Oversight
  
  Linux kernel lead developer Linus Torvalds has admitted to forgetting to release version 6.14, attributing the oversight to his own lapse in memory. Torvalds is known for releasing new Linux kernel candidates and final versions on Sunday afternoons, typically accompanied by a post detailing the release. If he is unavailable due to travel or other commitments, he usually informs the community ahead of time, so users don’t worry if there’s a delay.
  
  In his post on March 16, Torvalds gave no indication that the release might be delayed, instead stating, “I expect to release the final 6.14 next weekend unless something very surprising happens.” However, Sunday, March 23rd passed without any announcement.
  
  On March 24th, Torvalds wrote in a follow-up message, “I’d love to have some good excuse for why I didn’t do the 6.14 release yesterday on my regular Sunday afternoon schedule,” adding, “But no. It’s just pure incompetence.” He further explained that while he had been clearing up unrelated tasks, he simply forgot to finalize the release. “D'oh,” he joked.
  
  Despite this minor delay, Torvalds’ track record of successfully managing the Linux kernel’s development process over the years remains strong. A single day’s delay is not critical, especially since most Linux users don't urgently need the very latest version.
  
  The new 6.14 release introduces several important features, including enhanced support for writing drivers in Rust—an ongoing topic of discussion among developers—support for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile chip, a fix for the GhostWrite vulnerability in certain RISC-V processors from Alibaba’s T-Head Semiconductor, and a completed NTSYNC driver update that improves the WINE emulator’s ability to run Windows applications, particularly games, on Linux.
  
  Although the 6.14 release went smoothly aside from the delay, Torvalds expressed that version 6.15 may present more challenges due to the volume of pending pull requests. “Judging by my pending pile of pull requests, 6.15 will be much busier,” he noted.
  
  You can download the latest kernel here.
  Linus Torvalds kernel

• AerynOS 2025.03 Alpha Released with GNOME 48, Mesa 25, and Linux Kernel 6.13.8
  Image
  AerynOS 2025.03 has officially been released, introducing a variety of exciting features for Linux users. The release includes the highly anticipated GNOME 48 desktop environment, which comes with significant improvements like HDR support, dynamic triple buffering, and a Wayland color management protocol. Other updates include a battery charge limiting feature and a Wellbeing option aimed at improving user experience.
  
  This release, while still in alpha, incorporates Linux kernel 6.13.8 and the updated Mesa 25.0.2 graphics stack, alongside tools like LLVM 19.1.7 and Vulkan SDK 1.4.309.0. Additionally, the Moss package manager now integrates os-info to generate more detailed OS metadata via a JSON file.
  
  Future plans for AerynOS include automated package updates, easier rollback management, improved disk handling with Rust, and fractional scaling enabled by default. The installer has also been revamped to support full disk wipes and dynamic partitioning.
  
  Although still considered an alpha release, AerynOS 2025.03 can be downloaded and tested right now from its official website.
  
  Source: 9to5Linux
  AerynOS

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

• New 'Mirrored' Network Mode Introduced in Windows Subsystem for Linux
  
  Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) continues to evolve with the release of WSL 2 version 0.0.2. This update introduces a set of opt-in preview features designed to enhance performance and compatibility.
  
  Key additions include "Automatic memory reclaim" which dynamically optimizes WSL's memory footprint, and "Sparse VHD" to shrink the size of the virtual hard disk file. These improvements aim to streamline resource usage.
  
  Additionally, a new "mirrored networking mode" brings expanded networking capabilities like IPv6 and multicast support. Microsoft claims this will improve VPN and LAN connectivity from both the Windows host and Linux guest. 
  
  Complementing this is a new "DNS Tunneling" feature that changes how DNS queries are resolved to avoid compatibility issues with certain network setups. According to Microsoft, this should reduce problems connecting to the internet or local network resources within WSL.
  
  Advanced firewall configuration options are also now available through Hyper-V integration. The new "autoProxy" feature ensures WSL seamlessly utilizes the Windows system proxy configuration.
  
  Microsoft states these features are currently rolling out to Windows Insiders running Windows 11 22H2 Build 22621.2359 or later. They remain opt-in previews to allow testing before final integration into WSL.
  
  By expanding WSL 2 with compelling new capabilities in areas like resource efficiency, networking, and security, Microsoft aims to make Linux on Windows more performant and compatible. This evolutionary approach based on user feedback highlights Microsoft's commitment to WSL as a key part of the Windows ecosystem.
  Windows

• Linux Threat Report: Earth Lusca Deploys Novel SprySOCKS Backdoor in Attacks on Government Entities
  
  The threat actor Earth Lusca, linked to Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups, has been observed utilizing a new Linux backdoor dubbed SprySOCKS to target government organizations globally. 
  
  As initially reported in January 2022 by Trend Micro, Earth Lusca has been active since at least 2021 conducting cyber espionage campaigns against public and private sector targets in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Their tactics include spear-phishing and watering hole attacks to gain initial access. Some of Earth Lusca's activities overlap with another Chinese threat cluster known as RedHotel.
  
  In new research, Trend Micro reveals Earth Lusca remains highly active, even expanding operations in the first half of 2023. Primary victims are government departments focused on foreign affairs, technology, and telecommunications. Attacks concentrate in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Balkans regions. 
  
  After breaching internet-facing systems by exploiting flaws in Fortinet, GitLab, Microsoft Exchange, Telerik UI, and Zimbra software, Earth Lusca uses web shells and Cobalt Strike to move laterally. Their goal is exfiltrating documents and credentials, while also installing additional backdoors like ShadowPad and Winnti for long-term spying.
  
  The Command and Control server delivering Cobalt Strike was also found hosting SprySOCKS - an advanced backdoor not previously publicly reported. With roots in the Windows malware Trochilus, SprySOCKS contains reconnaissance, remote shell, proxy, and file operation capabilities. It communicates over TCP mimicking patterns used by a Windows trojan called RedLeaves, itself built on Trochilus.
  
  At least two SprySOCKS versions have been identified, indicating ongoing development. This novel Linux backdoor deployed by Earth Lusca highlights the increasing sophistication of Chinese state-sponsored threats. Robust patching, access controls, monitoring for unusual activities, and other proactive defenses remain essential to counter this advanced malware.
  
  The Trend Micro researchers emphasize that organizations must minimize attack surfaces, regularly update systems, and ensure robust security hygiene to interrupt the tactics, techniques, and procedures of relentless threat groups like Earth Lusca.
  Security

• Linux Kernel Faces Reduction in Long-Term Support Due to Maintenance Challenges
  
  The Linux kernel is undergoing major changes that will shape its future development and adoption, according to Jonathan Corbet, Linux kernel developer and executive editor of Linux Weekly News. Speaking at the Open Source Summit Europe, Corbet provided an update on the latest Linux kernel developments and a glimpse of what's to come.
  
  A major change on the horizon is a reduction in long-term support (LTS) for kernel versions from six years to just two years. Corbet explained that maintaining old kernel branches indefinitely is unsustainable and most users have migrated to newer versions, so there's little point in continuing six years of support. While some may grumble about shortened support lifecycles, the reality is that constantly backporting fixes to ancient kernels strains maintainers.
  
  This maintainer burnout poses a serious threat, as Corbet highlighted. Maintaining Linux is largely a volunteer effort, with only about 200 of the 2,000+ developers paid for their contributions. The endless demands on maintainers' time from fuzz testing, fixing minor bugs, and reviewing contributions takes a toll. Prominent maintainers have warned they need help to avoid collapse. Companies relying on Linux must realize giving back financially is in their interest to sustain this vital ecosystem. 
  
  The Linux kernel is also wading into waters new with the introduction of Rust code. While Rust solves many problems, it also introduces new complexities around language integration, evolving standards, and maintainer expertise. Corbet believes Rust will pass the point of no return when core features depend on it, which may occur soon with additions like Apple M1 GPU drivers. Despite skepticism in some corners, Rust's benefits likely outweigh any transition costs.
  
  On the distro front, Red Hat's decision to restrict RHEL cloning sparked community backlash. While business considerations were at play, Corbet noted technical factors too. Using older kernels with backported fixes, as RHEL does, risks creating divergent, vendor-specific branches. The Android model of tracking mainline kernel dev more closely has shown security benefits. Ultimately, Linux works best when aligned with the broader community.
  
  In closing, Corbet recalled the saying "Linux is free like a puppy is free." Using open source seems easy at first, but sustaining it long-term requires significant care and feeding. As Linux is incorporated into more critical systems, that maintenance becomes ever more crucial. The kernel changes ahead are aimed at keeping Linux healthy and vibrant for the next generation of users, businesses, and developers.
  kernel

• Linux Celebrates 32 Years with the Release of 6.6-rc2 Version
  
  Today marks the 32nd anniversary of Linus Torvalds introducing the inaugural Linux 0.01 kernel version, and celebrating this milestone, Torvalds has launched the Linux 6.6-rc2. Among the noteworthy updates are the inclusion of a feature catering to the ASUS ROG Flow X16 tablet's mode handling and the renaming of the new GenPD subsystem to pmdomain.
  
  The Linux 6.6 edition is progressing well, brimming with exciting new features that promise to enhance user experience. Early benchmarks are indicating promising results, especially on high-core-count servers, pointing to a potentially robust and efficient update in the Linux series.
  
  Here is what Linus Torvalds had to say in today's announcement:
  Another week, another -rc.I think the most notable thing about 6.6-rc2 is simply that it'sexactly 32 years to the day since the 0.01 release. And that's a roundnumber if you are a computer person.Because other than the random date, I don't see anything that reallystands out here. We've got random fixes all over, and none of it looksparticularly strange. The genpd -> pmdomain rename shows up in thediffstat, but there's no actual code changes involved (make sure touse "git diff -M" to see them as zero-line renames).And other than that, things look very normal. Sure, the architecturefixes happen to be mostly parisc this week, which isn't exactly theusual pattern, but it's also not exactly a huge amount of changes.Most of the (small) changes here are in drivers, with some tracingfixes and just random things. The shortlog below is short enough toscroll through and get a taste of what's been going on. Linus Torvalds

• Introducing Bavarder: A User-Friendly Linux Desktop App for Quick ChatGPT Interaction
  
  Want to interact with ChatGPT from your Linux desktop without using a web browser?
  
  Bavarder, a new app, allows you to do just that.
  
  Developed with Python and GTK4/libadwaita, Bavarder offers a simple concept: pose a question to ChatGPT, receive a response, and promptly copy the answer (or your inquiry) to the clipboard for pasting elsewhere.
  
  With an incredibly user-friendly interface, you won't require AI expertise (or a novice blogger) to comprehend it. Type your question in the top box, click the blue send button, and wait for a generated response to appear at the bottom. You can edit or modify your message and repeat the process as needed.
  
  During our evaluation, Bavarder employed BAI Chat, a GPT-3.5/ChatGPT API-based chatbot that's free and doesn't require signups or API keys. Future app versions will incorporate support for alternative backends, such as ChatGPT 4 and Hugging Chat, and allow users to input an API key to utilize ChatGPT3.
  
  At present, there's no option to regenerate a response (though you can resend the same question for a potentially different answer). Due to the lack of a "conversation" view, tracking a dialogue or following up on answers can be challenging — but Bavarder excels for rapid-fire questions.
  
  As with any AI, standard disclaimers apply. Responses might seem plausible but could contain inaccurate or false information. Additionally, it's relatively easy to lead these models into irrational loops, like convincing them that 2 + 2 equals 106 — so stay alert!
  
  Overall, Bavarder is an attractive app with a well-defined purpose. If you enjoy ChatGPT and similar technologies, it's worth exploring.
  ChatGPT AI

• LibreOffice 7.5.3 Released: Third Maintenance Update Brings 119 Bug Fixes to Popular Open-Source Office Suite
  
  Today, The Document Foundation unveiled the release and widespread availability of LibreOffice 7.5.3, which serves as the third maintenance update to the current LibreOffice 7.5 open-source and complimentary office suite series.
  
  Approximately five weeks after the launch of LibreOffice 7.5.2, LibreOffice 7.5.3 arrives with a new set of bug fixes for those who have successfully updated their GNU/Linux system to the LibreOffice 7.5 series.
  
  LibreOffice 7.5.3 addresses a total of 119 bugs identified by users or uncovered by LibreOffice developers. For a more comprehensive understanding of these bug fixes, consult the RC1 and RC2 changelogs.
  
  You can download LibreOffice 7.5.3 directly from the LibreOffice website��or from SourceForge as binary installers for DEB or RPM-based GNU/Linux distributions. A source tarball is also accessible for individuals who prefer to compile the software from sources or for system integrators.
  
  All users operating the LibreOffice 7.5 office suite series should promptly update their installations to the new point release, which will soon appear in the stable software repositories of your GNU/Linux distributions.
  
  In early February 2023, LibreOffice 7.5 debuted as a substantial upgrade to the widely-used open-source office suite, introducing numerous features and improvements. These enhancements encompass major upgrades to dark mode support, new application and MIME-type icons, a refined Single Toolbar UI, enhanced PDF Export, and more.
  
  Seven maintenance updates will support LibreOffice 7.5 until November 30th, 2023. The next point release, LibreOffice 7.5.4, is scheduled for early June and will include additional bug fixes.
  
  The Document Foundation once again emphasizes that the LibreOffice office suite's "Community" edition is maintained by volunteers and members of the Open Source community. For enterprise implementations, they suggest using the LibreOffice Enterprise family of applications from ecosystem partners.
  LibreOffice