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Do a presentation at NTLUG.
What is the Linux Installation Project?
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(Two Column)
- Servo 0.4.0 released
The Servo web-browser engineproject has published an updateabout all of the changes that landed in June 2026, along with version0.4.0 of the Servo Tech Demo. This release includes a record 558commits, betterlayout correctness for web sites, improved WebGPU support, enhancementsfor users who are using the servoshelltest browser, and many performanceand stability fixes.
- [$] The future of libraries in BPF
Song Liu believes that the way that programmers assemble complex BPF programswill be changing rapidly in the future. At a session of the 2026Linux Storage,Filesystem, Memory-Management, and BPF Summit, he shared his thoughts on whatthat change could look like, though he did not have any concrete proposals forwhat, if anything, the BPF maintainers should do. He anticipates anecosystem of Rust BPF packages developing, which is significant because BPFdoes not really have a package manager at the moment.
- Arch Linux disables AUR package adoption
The Arch Linux DevOps team has announcedthat adoption of orphaned packages in the Arch User Repository (AUR)has been disabled due to "the current influx of malicious packageadoptions and follow-up commits made via the AUR". Michael Taggarthas posted a brief analysis of the malware being added to a longlist of packages in this round of attacks. The payload appearsto be an remote-access trojan (RAT) that takes commands over theTor network and attempts to upload a wide range of user data.
The project had suspendednew account registration in June. That followed a campaign in which anattacker or attackers created new accounts to adopt orphaned packagesand push malicious updates to them that would install malware on usersystems. AUR registration was reopenedon July 13 after the DevOps team added some minor, and apparentlyineffective, restrictions on creating new accounts.
- Security updates for Friday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (kernel, nodejs-nodemon, nodejs22, nodejs24, openssh, and vim), Debian (gsasl and ruby-rack), Fedora (dokuwiki, lego, libnbd, nasm, pack, unbound, and valkey), Mageia (389-ds-base, libxfont2, nghttp2, and perl-DBI), SUSE (apptainer, bind, ffmpeg-7, freerdp, google-osconfig-agent, graphicsmagick, helm, ImageMagick, java-17-openjdk, java-25-openjdk, keybase-client, kubernetes1.34-apiserver, kubernetes1.35-apiserver, kubernetes1.36-apiserver, kubevirt1.8-container-disk, libarchive, logcli, net-tools, openssl-3, PackageKit, perl-Net-DNS, prometheus-ha_cluster_exporter, python-dulwich, python-sqlparse, python-urwid, python3-pyOpenSSL, python313, python3, runc, s2n, tomcat, tomcat10, tomcat11, and valkey), and Ubuntu (libinput, linux-intel-iot-realtime, linux-intel-iotg-5.15, openssl, python2.7, python3.5, and ruby-sinatra).
- [$] Reconsidering O_CREAT|O_DIRECTORY
Linux provides a system call (mkdir())to create a directory, and a few variants ofopen() that can open a directory. There is, however, nosystem call in Linux that can create and open a directory in a single,race-free call. Jori Koolstra has been working on remedying thatsituation, most recently by repurposing a set of open() flags that currentlyreturn an error. There are, however, concerns that show just how hard itcan be to create user-space interfaces that do not present traps forapplication developers.
- Another batch of single-fix stable kernels
Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced the release of the 6.18.41, 6.12.100, 6.6.147, 6.1.180, 5.15.213, and 5.10.262 stable kernels.
Each of these kernels contains a single fix for a use-after-freevulnerability (CVE-2026-64560). Usersof these kernels are advised to upgrade.
- Security updates for Thursday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free, libtiff, libXfont2, nodejs:22, nodejs:24, and rest), Debian (expat and nss), Fedora (libssh, nginx, nginx-mod-brotli, nginx-mod-fancyindex, nginx-mod-headers-more, nginx-mod-modsecurity, nginx-mod-naxsi, nginx-mod-vts, nodejs24, perl-HTTP-Date, proftpd, squid, unbound, and wordpress), Oracle (c-ares, edk2, freerdp, go-fdo-server, libreswan, mariadb-connector-c, and nginx), SUSE (alloy, apache-commons-lang3, google-guice, maven, maven-resolver, xmvn, apache-sshd, apptainer, avahi, distribution, glib2, go1.26-openssl, go1.25-openssl, go1.24-openssl, go1.23-openssl, go1.22-openssl, go1.26, go1.25, go1.24, go1.23, go1.22, go1.21, gstreamer-plugins-bad, helm, ImageMagick, java-17-openjdk, java-25-openjdk, liboqs, oqs-provider, libssh, nginx, nm-configurator, nmap, openssl-3, openvpn, PackageKit, perl, perl-DBI, perl-HTTP-Date, perl-XML-Bare, python-msgpack-python, python-sh, python-ujson, python-urllib3, runc, samba, sssd, wget, wpa_supplicant, and xen), and Ubuntu (linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-7.0 and linux-nvidia-6.17).
- [$] LWN.net Weekly Edition for July 30, 2026
Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition:
Front: Hazard pointers; DFSG team; Swap devices; Netkit and BPF; BPF inlined functions; Fedora GRUB; gccrs. Briefs: RIP Dan Williams; Debian LLM resolution; Fedora 45 process; Codeberg LLM policy; GCC LLM policy; GNU Binutils 2.47; GNU C Library 2.44; Wayfire 0.11; Quotes; ... Announcements: Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.
- [$] Fedora approves a smaller GRUB
Leo Sandoval and Marta Lewandowska have put forward a changeproposal for Fedora 45, which is expected in October, toprovide a separate, slimmed-down version of GRUB for a niche usecase. The new package would be in addition to the main GRUB packageand would not replace it for the majority of Fedora users. The ideamet with some resistance from Fedora contributors who thought that itwould be better to use systemd-boot,or another modern bootloader, rather than trying to wrangle GRUB intoa suitable state for the use case. The Fedora Engineering SteeringCouncil (FESCo), however, votedto accept the change on July 7.
- GCC steering committee announces AI policy
The GCC steering committee has announcedthat it has accepted anAI contributions policy recommended by the GCC AI policy workinggroup.
The policy, in part, states that the project will decline any"legally significant contributions which include LLM-generatedcontent or are derived from LLM-generated content". It uses the definitionof "legally significant" from the GNU Project maintainer guidelines,which holds that the threshold is "around 15 lines of code and/ortext" to qualify as significant for copyright purposes. GCCmaintainers may, however, choose to accept legally significant testcases that are generated by an LLM.
The policy does not forbid use of LLMs for research, analysis, bugdiscovery and reporting, patch review, etc. as long as the output isnot included in contributions. The committee says that it expects thepolicy will evolve and will be revisited periodically.
- Security updates for Wednesday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (dovecot, go-fdo-client, go-fdo-server, kernel, kernel-rt, and sssd), Debian (calibre, hplip, libraw, and samba), Fedora (btrbk, chromium, gpsd, kronosnet, and restic), Mageia (gstreamer1.0-libav and libslirp), Slackware (libarchive, samba, and seamonkey), SUSE (agama-web-ui, chromium, gimp, glib2, GraphicsMagick, ignition, ImageMagick, java-21-openjdk, libssh, libssh-config, nginx, nmap, nsd, python-urllib3, python313-CherryPy, rsyslog, samba, sssd, valkey, webkit2gtk3, and yq), and Ubuntu (freerdp3, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-5.4, linux-aws-fips, linux-azure, linux-azure-5.4, linux-azure-fips, linux-bluefield, linux-fips, linux-gcp, linux-gcp-5.4, linux-gcp-fips, linux-hwe-5.4, linux-iot, linux-oracle, linux-oracle-5.4, linux-xilinx-zynqmp, linux-azure-fips, linux-ibm, linux-ibm-5.4, linux-kvm, and linux-raspi, linux-raspi-5.4).
- AMD Begins Posting Display Core Next 6 "DCN6" Linux Patches For RDNA5 GPUs
AMD closed out the month of July by posting some new AMDGPU Display Core "DC" patches. Most notable with this weekly patch ritual is several patches beginning to establish the foundation for Display Core Next 6 "DCN6" as their next-generation display IP. The patches tie DCN6 to the AMD GFX13 graphics engine, which is anticipated to be for the next-generation RDNA5 graphics processors...
- AMD Posts Linux Patches For HDMI 2.1 Auto Low-Latency Mode "ALLM" & VRR
Following AMD posting AMDGPU patches for HDMI 2.1 FRL support after the HDMI 2.1 open-source support was long blocked by the HDMI Forum, as part of working toward a complete HDMI 2.1 implementation in this AMD Linux driver it was followed by HDMI 2.1 Display Stream Compression (DSC) support. Now the latest on the AMDGPU HDMI 2.1 enabling path is enabling Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM) as well as HDMI Variable Rate Refresh!..
- x86_64 Shadow Stack By Default Retargeted For Fedora 46
In recent weeks there was a proposal to enable x86_64 Shadow Stack support by default with the upcoming Fedora Linux 45 release. That change has been approved now by the Fedora Engineering and Steering Committee (FESCo) but with the feature being punted off to Fedora 46 next year...
- Sound Fixes For Linux 7.2-rc6: "Far Larger Than Wished"
Linux sound subsystem maintainer Takashi Iwai of SUSE previously warned of many sound driver fixes due to AI/LLMs and a "new normal" of patch activity as a result. While we are approaching the end of the Linux 7.2 merge window with the stable release coming up in August, the sound patches continue trending higher and this week were "far larger than wished" ahead of Linux 7.2-rc6 due out on Sunday...
- DFRobot seeMote Cube tracks motion and sends haptic feedback in visionOS
The DFRobot seeMote Cube is a handheld spatial input device for Apple Vision Pro application development. The 56mm cube combines six-degree-of-freedom tracking, six programmable buttons, Bluetooth connectivity, and app-controlled haptic feedback for interacting with virtual objects and tools in visionOS. According to the DFRobot, the seeMote Cube provides a tangible controller that can be moved, […]
- There's Finally A New Game Powered By The Unigine 2 Engine
It's been about a decade since seeing any new games released on the visually-impressive, Linux-friendly Unigine Engine. Unigine Corp has mostly been focusing on Unigine Engine usage for simulations and other professional applications, but coming as a surprise today is a new game being developed on their latest Unigine 2 engine technology...
- Linux 7.3 Will Treat Intel Nova Lake S Graphics As Stable
Ahead of the next-generation Intel Nova Lake processors expected to begin rolling out around the start of 2027, the upcoming Linux 7.3 kernel cycle is going to begin treating Nova Lake S processors with their integrated graphics as stable...
- Five Proposals Now Being Weighed For Debian AI/LLM Usage
Last week Debian developers began considering a general resolution over AI large language model (LLM) usage within the Debian project. They are now up to weighing five different proposals for how to permit or block AI/LLM usage in the Debian space...
- OpenAI Finds Evidence Other AI Agents Escaped Containment
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: OpenAI has discovered other instances in which autonomous agents have escaped containment as the company expands its investigation of the hacking incident at tech firm Hugging Face that drew global attention this month, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday. The new breakouts were uncovered during the company's publicly announced investigation into how one of its agents escaped what was meant to be a contained testing environment this month, the two people said, and OpenAI is now looking into those instances as well. One of the sources said that the escapes were limited in nature and that none of the agents were thought to have left OpenAI's network. An OpenAI spokesperson referred to a statement issued by the company on Tuesday that said it was reviewing "broader activity from our models" in addition to the Hugging Face intrusion. The discovery of additional rogue behavior at OpenAI, even if limited in nature, could feed growing appetite for regulation coming out of the White House and elsewhere. The expanded investigation by OpenAI was launched shortly before its primary rival, Anthropic, disclosed that its models were also responsible for a series of break-ins that led to breaches at three other companies dating back to April, according to the two sources and a third source familiar with the matter. The recent discovery of other past breakouts at OpenAI has not previously been reported. AI safety experts said the new disclosures paint a portrait of a group of cutting-edge labs whose ability to develop dangerous autonomous hacking agents outstrips their ability to keep them under control. "We have a whole industry where the people designing, developing and putting out these tools aren't keeping up themselves to responsibly develop these things and keep them safe," said Maurice Chiodo, a mathematician who works at Cambridge University's Center for the Study of Existential Risk. Reuters could not establish exactly how many incidents OpenAI investigators found or the timings or circumstances under which they occurred. The three sources said OpenAI and outside experts were examining log data from earlier in the year in a bid to understand what took place.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- The Major Labels Propose Rules to Keep AI Slop Off the Charts
Major record labels including Universal, Sony, and Warner have proposed excluding AI-generated songs from official charts unless they are "substantially human made," properly labeled, legally produced, and free from manipulation concerns. The Verge reports: The proposal goes quite a bit further than a labeling proposal put forth by the RIAA, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), SAG-AFTRA, and others. That would create a set of standardized labels for AI-generated and AI-assisted music. The labels' proposal would require songs be clearly labeled, but it would also keep them off international charts unless they met specific criteria, including being "substantially human made." To be eligible, the songs would also have to respect the terms of service of whatever AI service was used, the model would have to have the rights to any data it was trained on, and "not raise stream or chart manipulation concerns." What sort of concerns and what constitutes "substantially human made" are currently vague. Sony Music, UMG, and Mom+Pop Music did not immediately respond to a request for clarification. The IFPI has thrown its weight behind the labels' proposal, though no charting organization has signaled any immediate plan to adopt the rules [...].
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Most Australian Teens Still On Social Media Three Months After Ban
More than 81% of Australian children ages 10 to 15 were still using social media three months after the country's under-16 ban took effect, with roughly half saying platforms never checked their age. Reuters reports: In a study published on Friday, eSafety also found most children aged between 10 and 15 were using social media just as frequently in March as they had before the ban came into force on December 10 last year, while parental awareness of their habits decreased. Children's continued social media use took place even as account ownership declined to 42% from 52%, with "statistically significant" reductions across YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok in particular, the report said. "Most under-16s who had social media accounts before commencement were able to either retain them or create new ones at the three-month mark, with social media platforms' failure to implement effective age assurance measures cited as the main reason," eSafety said in a statement [...] Before the ban, nearly 86% of children surveyed reported using at least one age-restricted platform. Three months later, that figure remained above 81%, the report said. About 58% of teenagers reported using social media daily or more often, barely down from roughly 60% before the ban, it found. The report showed minimal change in "sports and physical activity, arts and music, spending time with friends and family, and attendance at community events." Around half the children who retained their accounts said platforms had not checked their age, the most common reason they were able to stay on the services. Others said their accounts listed them as aged 16 or older or that age-checking systems had incorrectly determined they were older. The findings broadly matched snapshot data eSafety published in late March.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Sony Heard Backlash Over Dropping PlayStation Discs, Plans to Press Ahead
Sony says it will proceed with ending PlayStation disc sales in January 2028 despite petitions, boycott threats, and concerns about digital ownership and the disappearance of the secondhand market. PCMag reports: After Sony's recent earnings call, an investor Q&A session saw analysts ask about its controversial decision to end disc production across all of its consoles. The company hadn't publicly commented since its announcement and had reduced activity on social accounts and other marketing channels. Sony's chief financial officer, Lin Tao, broke that silence during the Q&A. "There are various reasons we made this decision," she said through an interpreter. "The biggest being that the digitalization of content overall has been progressing. That's the big factor. It's not just for PlayStation, but for all kinds of content, digitalization is progressing. "And so when we think about the future, and we put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this, and we came to this conclusion, and we're going to cautiously move this forward," Tao said. "We have received various opinions, and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us," said Tao. [...] Tao says Sony wants to "consider" the emotions of disgruntled customers, especially as titles are "connected to people's fond memories in many cases." Tao also alluded to the possibility of future measures to lessen the blow for anyone unhappy with the decision, but it appears Sony hasn't yet finalized what those may be. "In the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore," she said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Hackers Targeted Municipal Water Systems In 7 States This Week, FBI Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: Cyberattacks targeting municipal water systems have been reported in at least seven states this week, prompting the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency to warn utilities nationwide that hackers are trying to disrupt critical water infrastructure. In a public service announcement Thursday, the agencies said water and wastewater utilities have reported incidents to the FBI, with some malicious activity degrading water operations. The announcement does not name the states. The warning comes after hackers targeted more than 30 municipal water facilities in Minnesota in an attack that had hallmarks of Iranian meddling, according to a law enforcement official. It is still under investigation. A spokesperson for Minnesota's information technology services agency said Thursday there was no indication the breaches contaminated any municipal water supplies. The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a separate alert that some larger attacks on water infrastructure had "resulted in boil water notices and sustained manual operations," though it did not say where. [...] The federal advisory said the malicious cyber actors, or MCAs, targeted specific brands of control systems used by municipal water utilities, though the FBI and the EPA urged operators of all systems to take precautions. [...] The agencies said the hackers remotely accessed internet-facing devices, changed IP addresses and passwords, and caused utilities to lose monitoring and control capabilities. The federal advisory calls on system operators to remove programmable logical controllers, or PLCs, from direct internet exposure by putting them behind secure gateways and firewalls; use strong passwords; and limit communications between authorized control system devices through access control lists.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- New Google Earth AI Tool Could Fuel Misinformation, Experts Say
Google has integrated its Nano Banana 2 image generator into Google Earth, allowing users to place AI-generated events and objects onto real satellite imagery. The company says its AI-generated images contain invisible watermarks detectable through Gemini or Lens, but the BBC found those safeguards and some third-party detection tools can be fooled into labeling manipulated Google Earth images as real. From the report: A collapsed Eiffel Tower, a sinkhole swallowing the Great Pyramid of Giza and Russian tanks in Ukraine's capital were among the images BBC Verify was able to create when testing the feature, which was rolled out on Thursday. Google has not yet responded to questions based on BBC Verify's tests, but in a social media post the company said they "take misinformation seriously" and that "we prevent image creation on harmful topics and are continually updating our protections." AI and misinformation expert Henk van Ess has highlighted the risks this feature poses, creating fake images of a non-existent nuclear power plant in Iran, a refugee camp on the US-Mexico border and a fake hospital in Gaza with a bomb crater next to it. He said Google was allowing "invented" imagery to be "welded to genuine coordinates, drawn on genuine imagery." "The forgery does not have to look convincing on its own. It inherits the credibility of the map it was born on," van Ess added. UPDATE 7/31/26 10:54 AM: Google is rolling back the image generation inside of Google Earth: "We know that people uniquely trust Google Earth for a reliable view of the world. We've seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes, however we've also seen people sharing screenshots of generated imagery that appear to violate our policies. So we're rolling back this feature in Google Earth while we work on implementing stronger guardrails. It's important to note that generated images didn't appear in the main Google Earth experience for others to see and were watermarked as AI generated."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Publishers Are Losing Google Traffic As AI Answers Replace Links
alternative_right shares a report from Axios: Google has basically stopped sending people to websites (including our site) for answers and information. Instead, it's using AI to answer them on its platform, in its words. Chartbeat data shared with Axios shows Google Search traffic to publishers fell 34% over the past year. That pain is regressive. Over the past two years, small publishers lost 60% of referrals from search overall, medium publishers 47%, large publishers 22%.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- New York Sues Kalshi For Running 'Illegal Gambling Operation'
New York has sued prediction-market platform Kalshi, alleging it operates an "illegal gambling operation" without state authorization. "No matter what they call themselves, prediction markets like Kalshi are gambling platforms, plain and simple," said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a press release announcing the lawsuit. "By ignoring our laws, Kalshi is running an illegal operation and harming New Yorkers in the process." CNBC reports: In a case filed in a Manhattan state court (PDF), the lawsuit claims that Kalshi accepts wagers as a gambling business in disregard for the state's constitution and laws by not being registered with the New York State Gaming Commission. Governor Kathy Hochul in the press release said the state is taking the action to stop what it views as illegal behavior and bring the company into compliance with New York law. The lawsuit is seeking a permanent injunction against Kalshi. The suit by the state is also seeking a total restitution to users who have placed trades on the platform, a $100,000 penalty for each attempt to offer sports wagering, and another penalty three times the amount the company has gained while allegedly operating in violation of New York law. The state estimates that could total $36 billion.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Chrome Is Using AI To Fix Hundreds of Bugs, Eliminate Full Browser Restarts
Google says AI-assisted workflows helped Chrome fix 1,072 security bugs across versions 149 and 150, more than the previous 23 releases combined. The company is also testing twice-weekly security updates and "dynamic patching," which could apply most fixes without requiring users to restart the entire browser. "By leveraging Chrome's multi-process architecture, dynamic patching sequentially replaces background child processes (like the Renderer and GPU) with updated binaries on the fly," says Google in a blog post. PiunikaWeb reports: Alongside dynamic patching, Google is rolling out smarter background updates during periods of minimal user disruption. Starting with Chrome 150 on macOS, the browser takes advantage of the operating system's windowless state. If all Chrome windows are closed but the app remains running in the background, the browser will quietly auto-restart to apply pending updates. For enterprise environments, IT admins can continue to manage fleet-wide deployments through Chrome Enterprise Core or enforce update prompts using the RelaunchNotification policy. Google's long-term vision is a browser that remains continuously protected in the background without interrupting your daily browsing session. In the meantime, you can manually trigger pending updates by clicking the update prompt in the top-right corner of Chrome.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- LinkedIn Introduces a 'Seems Like AI Slop' Button
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: LinkedIn, a social network awash with long AI-generated posts from executives and other corporate workers, has introduced a new button that users can click to flag if a post "seems like AI slop," according to 404 Media's own tests. If you have been anywhere near LinkedIn in the past couple of years, you have undoubtedly seen users posting blatantly AI-generated missives. Often these posts take some sort of news event, and opine on how this relates to thought leadership, or some other LinkedIn brainrot term. It's also pretty wild the button specifically uses the term "AI slop" and not, say, "It seems this was generated with AI." [...] After publication of this piece, Hari Srinivasan, chief product officer at LinkedIn, wrote their own post about the button. "AI slop is a top priority for all of us. We really care about this. People come to LinkedIn to connect with real people and share their real perspectives, ideas and expertise. Here are a few more changes to keep it that way," he wrote. The button in part will help LinkedIn tune its own models for identifying AI slop. "We are ramping up a series of new and improved classifiers that identify if a post is AI-slop or generally low-quality content. This will reduce the amount of AI slop you might see in suggested content and content from outside your network," the post said. "We are ramping the ability for members to tell us if they believe a post or comment seems like AI slop. Slop is hard to define and the definition changes; this lets us tune our models and make better feeds." Srinivasan also said LinkedIn is removing the AI-powered "enhance your post" feature with another that "proofreads your words, but does not change your voice."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Netflix Sued For Losing 'Master Copy' of Unreleased Nicolas Cage Movie
A production company and filmmaker are suing Netflix for $105 million, alleging the streamer lost a stolen drive containing an unencrypted master copy of the unreleased Nicolas Cage film Fortitude, which they claim damage its exclusivity and market value. Netflix denied responsibility for the lost film but said it takes content security seriously and has offered to monitor piracy sites for unauthorized copies. CBS News reports: The complaint filed on Wednesday in California district court alleges that the film's associate producer, Daniel Haido, hand-delivered an unencrypted master copy of the film to Netflix so the company could screen it as a potential buyer. Haido verbally instructed the employee to delete the files after the screening, according to the suit. A little over a week after the screening, Netflix emailed the filmmakers to say the drive had been stolen, the plaintiffs allege. "Someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week," a Netflix executive wrote in the email, according to the suit. The complaint notes the movie, entitled "Fortitude," took over seven years to make and cost $45 million. It tells the story of a secret mission called Operation Fortitude during World War II that was orchestrated to mislead the Nazis about the Allied invasion of Europe. The film stars Nicolas Cage as Dusko Popov, a real-life spy during World War II, as well as Sir Ben Kingsley and Ron Perlman. The plaintiffs said studios will now be dissuaded from buying the rights to the movie, knowing that a version of it could be released by a third party for free. "The film's value depended in significant part on its exclusivity as an unreleased, first-to-market work," the complaint states. "By losing control of the film, Netflix destroyed that exclusivity and materially, if not completely, impaired the film's marketability."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Anthropic Says Its AI Systems Broke Into Computers at 3 Organizations
Anthropic found that Claude models breached three outside organizations during cybersecurity tests because misconfigured environments accidentally gave them access to the internet. The company notified those affected and urged other AI labs to audit their own testing systems. The BBC reports: Anthropic said in a statement that it reviewed more than 140,000 tests to find evidence that Claude - its family of AI models - could access the internet from testing environments that were designed to be sealed off. The tests include so-called "capture-the-flag" evaluations in which Claude was tasked with obtaining information by breaching other systems - a common way that experts assess a model's hacking capabilities. A "misconfiguration" on systems run by Anthropic and its testing partner left the models with live internet access, allowing them to breach other systems, the San Francisco-based firm said. Anthropic said the earliest incidents date back to April and that it is "approaching the fixes as if the responsibility were ours alone." Neither Anthropic nor the organizations that were breached had noticed the intrusions at the time. Anthropic said it could have reviewed its records more thoroughly and added that the findings gave the firm "cautious optimism" that such risks can be overcome with more investment and tighter measures. "The broader lesson is not necessarily that AI has developed a fundamentally new attack capability," cyber security expert David Allott told the BBC. "Instead, it is that AI agents can combine capabilities, obtain credentials and system access to take actions autonomously, while adapting scope and scale at machine speed," he added. The announcement comes just days after OpenAI said that its models had breached the systems of other companies, including AI tools platform Hugging Face.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Flock Cameras Are Being Destroyed Across the US
An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: Surveillance cameras owned by Flock Safety have been cut down with electric saws in New York State, vandalized with paint in Oakland, California, and rammed with a truck in Idaho. Flock claims its services fight crime, but law enforcement agencies also use their services to track vehicles based on license plate numbers and reconstruct the their movements, even when the drivers and owners of these vehicles have never been accused or convicted of any crime. (Flock states it has 120,000 automated cameras that record license plate data, as well as pan-tilt-zoom cameras, across the United States.) A guerilla mindset among average citizens have seen these cameras forcibly disabled within recent weeks with sympathy directed toward the vigilantes. In June, a West Virginia man accused of destroying several Flock cameras was arrested. Under a Facebook post from the local NBC affiliate announcing his arrest are dozens of people volunteering to provide alibis. "He was out fishing with me that day, you got the wrong guy," one man wrote.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- New MCP Specification Addresses the Main Barrier To Enterprise Adoption
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: This week, the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open source standard for how AI systems interact with external tools and data sources, saw its largest update since its introduction. Most notably, MCP's protocol core is now stateless, so requests are no longer dependent on a session tied to an individual server instance. This change has the potential to address long-standing barriers to scalability. The blog post announcing the specification, written by lead maintainers David Soria Parra and Den Delimarsky (who both work at Anthropic), says: "The highlight of this release is a stateless protocol core -- MCP is transforming from a bidirectional stateful protocol into a request/response stateless protocol. It was one of the most highly-requested features from developers who were eager to get better reliability and scalability for their MCP servers." [...] There is also a new deprecation policy that ensures at least 12 months between when a feature's formal deprecation is enacted and when the feature may actually be removed -- with a narrow exception for critical security updates. This is again in keeping with the general "let's make this work better at enterprise scale" theme of the new specification. This update is "MCP's most important since remote MCP first launched over a year ago," Soria Parra wrote. Other additions include "Multi Round-Trip Requests, header-based routing, cacheable list results, authorization hardening, a formal extensions framework, and updated Tier 1 SDKs." A full list of changes can be found here.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- A Fundamental Flaw Leaves LLMs Strikingly Vulnerable To Attack
joshuark quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: It is impossible to make large language models fully secure against hacks because of a fundamental flaw in how they work, a team of researchers argue in a paper presented at the International Conference on Machine Learning, a top AI conference, this month. The claim has huge implications for the safety of this technology. By taking advantage of this flaw, which concerns how LLMs identify who or what is giving them instructions, the researchers were able to make popular LLMs spit out information they had been trained not to provide, such as how to synthesize cocaine and how to sabotage a commercial aircraft's navigation system. "There's a real probability that this is going to be a problem that's fundamentally unsolvable," says Charles Ye, an independent researcher and coauthor of the ICML paper. [...] The ICML paper describes attacks against several of OpenAI's models, but Cui and Ye say that they have since seen similar results with models made by Anthropic, Alibaba, and DeepSeek. Cui and her colleagues wanted to find out why an attack like chain-of-thought forgery was so effective. They suspected it had something to do with the mechanism that LLMs use to keep track of where their instructions are coming from. But what Cui and her colleagues discovered is that LLMs are in fact very bad at keeping track of different roles. In a series of experiments that looked at what was going on inside a handful of different models, the researchers found that LLMs seem to identify the role of a specific chunk of text not by the tags around it but by the style of that text and the words it contains. The upshot, the researchers claim, is that all an attacker needs to do to hack an LLM is write text that spoofs a certain role. And because roles are a fundamental part of how LLMs work, no amount of training will fully solve the problem. "There's going to be a huge economic incentive for people to do jailbreaks and prompt injections," says Cui. The best defense could be to expect the worst. Organizations shouldn't trust LLMs, and they should expect that anything done by agents could be unsafe, he says: "That's not a great solution, but it just might be what we have to do." "It's really incredible that these things are being deployed everywhere to control super-critical systems. There's been no study of the fundamental science here. We're all doing it ad hoc."
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- From individual achievement to partner impact
PARTNER CONTENT: Databricks survey data suggests certified professionals lift partner delivery capacity, customer credibility, and AI readiness well beyond the individuals who earn the credential
- 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]
- Develop cross-platform CLI and GUI tools with Tcl/Tk
Tcl, or the Tool Command Language , created and released by John Ousterhout in 1990, deserves a place among the greatest products of the human mind. Especially when combined with its better known graphical user interface Toolkit — Tk. In 1997 Ousterhout was awarded the ACM Software System Award for Tcl/Tk, an award given to institutions or individuals recognized for developing software systems with a lasting influence, reflected in contributions to concepts, in commercial acceptance, or both. ↫ Armen Barsegyan Everything you could ever possibly want to know about Tcl/Tk. Theres nothing to add here; if this is up your alley and you know if it is just go ahead and read it, and stop wasting time here.
- LLVM toolchain coming to OpenBSD/sparc64 and SPARC Solaris (snv_151a)
Speaking of OpenBSD: Yes, you read that right. Modern development tools in the form of the LLVM compiler infrastructure is well on its way to supporting OpenBSD/sparc64 along with other more conventional architectures. The support is now ready for testing, via a patch set presented by Kirill A. Korinsky in a message to the tech@ mailing list, with the subject LLVM toolchain for sparc64. ↫ Peter N. M. Hansteen On a related note, the the entire LLVM stack (version 19.1.7, including llvms binutils, clang, ldd) has also been ported to the SPARC version of Solaris 11 Express (snv_151a). This should make it possible to also port things like Rust and Zig to this same version of Solaris on SPARC, which is good news, because this release supports SPARC hardware long dropped by the current Solaris builds from Oracle.
- Dead software walking: the ongoing evolution of relayd(8) and httpd(8)
As I mentioned in my OpenBSD 7.8 highlights post, development of relayd(8) and httpd(8) had stalled. Many diffs appeared on the tech@ mailing list from different contributors, but few were committed into the repository. The main reason was simple: Established OpenBSD developers weren’t interested in these daemons anymore. Call it momentum, or timing. Around the same time, kirill@ and I started working on these daemons more actively. We both use them regularly and have real-world use cases. I support customers with OpenBSD setups that often involve complex httpd(8) and relayd(8) configurations. This practical need motivated me on many levels. ↫ Rafael Sadowski Theyve managed to do a ton of work on these two daemons, fixing many long-standing issues and reviewing tons of stalled patch submissions, while also modernising the code and adding new features. Its great to see people contribute significant time and energy to fixing up the tools they use for everyone elses benefit.
- Microsoft claims its going to improve Windows 11s context menus
When I had to use Windows 11 for a month because you people paid me to do so, the one seemingly small thing that really ground my gears were Windows 11s terrible right-click (context) menus. They were full of stuff I didnt put there, slow to open, and in some places, a modern Windows 11 context menu would have its own old Win32 context menu with even more stuff. It seems Microsoft is finally going to fix all of this. This new compact menu will be much faster and more reliable, as it foregoes needing to load in all the third-party actions that slow it down currently. Additionally, at the Windows Insider Meetup in London, Microsoft showed me a new context menu customization feature coming soon that will let users configure what apps and actions appear in the right-click menu. ↫ Zac Bowden at Windows Central Look, I know to us non-Windows users this seem like an incredibly small and dumb thing to focus on, but when your operating system is as much of a trashfire as Windows has become, improved context menus are massive improvements that make a meaningful difference. Of course, Microsoft makes these types of promises all the time, so Ill believe it when I see it.
- Chrome gets live patching!
We may all have a disdain for Chrome OSNews users probably use Chrome a lot less than the average public but that doesnt mean the browser doesnt sometimes do interesting things other browsers should copy. Chrome is in the the process of increasing its release cadence, but getting users to restart their browser more often than they already do to apply these higher number of updates is going to be a problem. As such, Google is working on something that seems quite obvious now that theyve talking about it: Investing in dynamic patching! that will eliminate the need for a full browser restart in most cases. By leveraging Chrome’s multi-process architecture, dynamic patching sequentially replaces background child processes (like the Renderer and GPU) with updated binaries on the fly. Stay tuned to learn more as we research and develop this feature. ↫ Chrome Security Team Chrome was the first browser to use multiple processes, isolating tabs from one another so that if one website or tab went haywire, your other tabs would be unaffected. It makes perfect sense to have the browser use new, updated binaries for new tabs you open as soon as they become available, in a sort of ship-of-Theseus kind of approach to updating. Of course, you cant postpone the inevitable forever, but this should provide real-world benefits to users. Neat. The linked blog post goes into much more detail about other things too, like various low-level mitigations to prevent bugs and security issues from causing too much harm.
- Windows 11 is quietly installing OneDrive Photos on your machine
Its that time of the week again, I guess. The year is 2026, and I’m still amazed when I find a new entry in my Start menu’s All apps list for an app I don’t remember installing. This time, it’s Microsoft again, and the product is OneDrive Photos, which appears to be yet another photo viewer and editor for Windows 11 that nobody asked to have installed automatically. While searching for Microsoft Photos, a new app called “OneDrive Photos” showed up in my results out of nowhere. It appears to have arrived either via Windows Update or an update for the OneDrive sync client on Windows. ↫ Mayank Parmar at Windows Latest Just dont use Windows. You people paid me to use it and it was not a fun experience.
- Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0 and 24.04-1.4 released
Ubuntu Touch, the mobile Linux operating system originally started by, you guessed it, Ubuntu, but now managed by UBports, released versions 24.04-2.0 and 24.04-1.4. The latter is a maintenance release with some bug fixes and minor changes, while the former is a bigger release with quite a few improvements, so lets focus on that one. Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0 updates the Chromium engine for the Morph browser from 87 to 134, which is massive leap forward, while still lagging behind the most recent version quite a bit. This release also adds a Widevine installer for people who want to view DRM-encumbered content on the web. This release also adds support for notches and rounded corners in smartphone displays, so that content in the UI can dodge these. Theres also a screenshot editor for making basic edits to screenshots, as well as the ability to print straight from your device. Of course, theres the usual list of bugfixes and smaller improvements, and, most importantly of all, support for over 2000 new emoji. Existing users can use the regular update tools, but do note that youll need to upgrade to 24.04-1.4 first, since it contains some provisions to enable the 24.04-2.0 update. If I had any of the listed supported devices, I would definitely want to do a proper review of Ubuntu Touch. It seems like it has made so much progress in recent years.
- State of multi-player Wayland
I’ve been fascinated by the idea of attaching multiple mice to one computer, and then having multiple mouse cursors inside of one desktop environment! I just spent three weeks investigating how well that’s currently supported on Linux 8 Wayland. Let me tell you what I found! The results are surprisingly cool. ↫ blinry It shouldnt come as a surprise, though, that a lot of graphical user interfaces dont really have any affordances for multiple mouse pointers manipulating the same object (e.g. one cursor drags the window, another tries to close it), but the possibilities are really endless here. Its not quite there yet to be considered fully-featured and plug-and-play, but its a lot more capable than I thought it would be. The first thing that came to my mind is sitting down behind my computer with my kids to teach them the basics of using a GUI. Instead of having to pass the mouse back and forth, one of my kids (or both!) could have his own cursor, which is a lot more fun and collaborative. Games are obviously another great application for this sort of thing, especially things like classic board games. I hope this gets some more attention.
- Windows NT got its name from one of Intels failed x86 replacements
Dave Farquhar published an article today about Windows NT 3.1s place in the market when it was originally released, and while the article is interesting and a fun read, it does mention this: Microsoft took its nascent code that it intended to form the base of OS/2 3.0, renamed it Windows New Technology, and eventually released it as Windows NT 3.1. ↫ Dave Farquhar While Microsoft did, in fact, use the New Technology! branding as a marketing trick, this is not what NT! originally stood for. Two developers from the original Windows NT development team, Mark Lucovsky and David Thompson, explained all the way back in 2003 that NT! came from the codename for Intels then-new RISC platform, the Intel i860 (Raymond Chen confirmed the veracity of their story). The i860 was the first target platform for Windows NT, and it was codenamed N-10! NT. Finally, it was time to start writing some code. We checked the first code pieces in around mid-December 1988,! Lucovsky said, and had a very basic system kind of booting on a simulator of the Intel i860 (which was codenamed N-Ten!) by January.! In fact, this is where NT actually got its name, Lucovsky revealed, adding that the new technology! moniker was added after the fact in a rare spurt of product marketing by the original NT team members. Originally, we were targeting NT to the Intel i860, a RISC processor that was horribly behind schedule. Because we didnt have any i860 machines in-house to test on, we used an i860 simulator. Thats why we called it NT, because it worked on the N-Ten.'! ↫ Paul Thurrott The i860 was one of Intels many attempts over the years to replace x86 with something more modern, but as would become tradition with Intel and attempting to replace its x86 architecture it suffered from endless delays, missed targets, and lacklustre performance. It saw only sporadic use in the market, and ended up on the chopping block after only a few years. Intel tried to replace x86 again soon after with Itanium, which suffered an identical fate. Still, the engineers working on the i860 platform in the late 80s and early 90s at Intel can at least take some pride in that to this day, the most popular desktop operating system in the world got its name from the product they developed. Intels i860 might barely even be worthy of a footnote today, but billions of PC users log into their Windows N-10! machines every day, unwittingly carrying a torch for the failed x86 replacement.
- The Fedora 45 sausage factory
This is a walkthrough of how Fedora turns source code and packages into the artifacts you download and install. It follows the a package from a packager’s git push to a composed release: ISOs, cloud images, container images, and OSTree deployments. ↫ Simon de Vlieger Linux distributions good ones like Fedora, at least are really complex operations, with a ton of checks and balances to ensure no git push eventually ends up causing problems on individual users machines way down the line. The fact so many people involved in this complex web of processes also happen to be volunteers doing all of this out of the goodness of their hearts is amazing. Of course, this doesnt just apply to Fedora, but also the countless other distributions out there, especially those not owned by some giant corporation like IBM. If youre just a casual Fedora user, theres really no reason you have to know or be aware of any of this, but its still fun and interesting to understand the inner workings of your distribution of choice.
- Comanche: Maximum Overkill from 1992 does weird things on Intel processors
Lets do another article about weird code in video games. The original 1992 Comanche release is extremely picky about memory managers. The game refuses to work with EMM emulators and crashes when EMM386 is active. The game may also hang or reboot the system when HIMEM.SYS is not loaded (the problem seems to be system configuration dependent). These issues are clearly noted in the Comanche documentations, but at the same time they’re also all signs of a substandard DOS extender. On top of that, the game authors accomplished a remarkable feat: By only loosely following Intel’s instructions on how to enter protected mode, NovaLogic managed to write a game which worked on the then-existing 386 and 486 processors, but under some circumstances failed to run on Pentium and later processors. ↫ Michal Necasek at OS/2 Museum As usual, a great read from Michal Nacesek.
- Mozilla gives Haiku permission to use the Firefox name
Haiku has a Firefox port, but due to Mozillas trademark policies, its actually called Iceweasel. After some back-and-forth with Mozilla, the browser maker has no given Haiku permission to officially use the Firefox name for the port. But don’t worry, Iceweasel isn’t going anywhere. I plan to maintain both. The idea is to keep Iceweasel as the privacy-friendly, telemetry-free build, while Firefox will be the fully official, Mozilla-compliant build (with telemetry enabled, once I manage to fix the Glean rust issues). ↫ 3dEyes on the Haiku forums This seems like a nice solution, and happens to make sure Haiku users can actually choose between standard Firefox and what is essentially a more private fork!. A great outcome.
- Java deprecates support for macOS x86
Apple has transitioned its hardware products to the AArch64 processor architecture and is phasing out support for x64. Oracle engineers will thus stop maintaining the macOS/x64 port as of JDK 27. Maintaining the port is a significant burden. ↫ JEP 541: Deprecate the macOS/x64 Port for Removal The port wont yet be removed, but will be in a future release. Considering the number of Intel Macs that must surely still be in use today, this does seem a little premature to me.
- 10 REM!_(C2SLFF4
That is the first line of the 80s microcomputer BASIC game The Wizards Castle initially written for the Exidy Sorcerer platform. Its a REMark statement, a comment in that particular language. 10 is the line number, if youre unfamiliar with languages that had such things. But the interesting part was this "_(C2SLFF4 mess. A typo or garbage? No. It appears verbatim in the source code as originally published in the July, 1980 issue of Recreational Computing. What the heck is it? ↫ Brian Beej! Hall A fun investigation to brighten up your Monday.
- The Hurd gets 9pfs, OpenNTPD, dynamic /dev/ entries, and more
The hottest and most promising operating system kernel in development, the GNU Hurd, has published another summary of its most recent quarter of development. Hurd has experimental support for 9pfs now, a work-inprogress port of OpenNTPD, the NTP daemon from OpenBSD, a port of Neovim, and a few more ports here and there. Diving deeper into the actual kernel itself, theres a major improvement to how the Hurd handles entries in /dev/: Mikhail Karpov added some checks for mmap in several places. He also worked on adding storeio to the bootstrap chain. This is actually quite interesting. Currently the Hurd sets device entries in /dev/ statically. For example, I am writing this qoth on a Hurd machine that is using two /dev/ entries for my filesystem: /dev/wd0s1 for swap and /dev/wd0s5 for my root filesystem. However, /dev/wd0s1 through /dev/wd0s16 exist on my computer! Once Mikhails project is done, then the Hurd will dynamically populate SATA devices at boot time! No more need for static translators! ↫ The Hurds quartely report The dhcpcd port we talked about earlier this year keeps improving too, which is quite important for future IPv6 support. Of course, theres way more to dive into, and reading about a bunch of people developing their own thing without any regard for or interest in the mainstream always feels a little bit like a cold glass of tonic the best soft drink in the depths of hell. Keep at it.
- Google Play Services drops support for Android 6.0
Given that Android phones have been around for nearly two decades now, there comes a time when Google has to end support for one of its older software versions. For a couple of years now, Google Play services has been supported on devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or newer. That has changed over the past few weeks, with Google deciding to retire this software version after a nearly 11-year run. ↫ Chethan Rao at Android Authority At some point, an operating system version needs to be left behind and I dont think its entirely unreasonable to no longer support Google Play Services on an operating system version thats 11 years old. However, this is Android were talking about, and devices running Android 6.0 were probably sold much more recently than 11 years ago, when the operating system version was new. Hell, I wouldnt be surprised if devices running Android 6.0 are still being sold today. I doubt this is something that will affect many people who read OSNews, but theres bound to be edge cases Android 6.0 devices silently doing their job that are now just a little less useful. Im thinking of really cheap tablets that can still play video just fine, retro gaming handhelds that dont magically lose the ability to emulate SNES games, that sort of stuff. The numbers will be small, but if you happen to be among them, this can be a really annoying deprecation.
- GNU Binutils 2.47 Released with New RISC-V Features, Linker Improvements, and Reproducible Builds
by George Whittaker
The GNU Project has officially released GNU Binutils 2.47, the latest version of its essential collection of binary development tools for Linux and other Unix-like systems. The release delivers numerous bug fixes alongside new assembler, linker, and disassembler capabilities, expanded RISC-V support, reproducible source archives, and continued modernization of the GNU toolchain.
Used by developers worldwide, GNU Binutils forms a core part of the software development ecosystem, providing the low-level tools needed to assemble, link, inspect, and manipulate executable programs and object files.
What Is GNU Binutils?
GNU Binutils is a collection of command-line utilities that work closely with compilers such as GCC and Clang. While a compiler translates source code into object files, Binutils provides the tools needed to transform those object files into executable programs and libraries.
The package includes well-known utilities such as:
ld (GNU Linker) as (GNU Assembler) objdump objcopy readelf nm strip ar strings
Together, these tools are used daily by Linux distributions, embedded developers, operating system projects, and software engineers building applications in C, C++, Rust, Go, and many other languages.
Expanded Support for RISC-V
One of the biggest improvements in Binutils 2.47 is expanded support for the rapidly growing RISC-V architecture.
The release adds support for several additional standard RISC-V extensions, allowing developers targeting modern RISC-V processors to work with newer instruction sets and hardware capabilities. These additions continue the GNU toolchain's strong commitment to one of the fastest-growing open processor architectures.
As more Linux distributions, development boards, and enterprise hardware adopt RISC-V, keeping development tools current is becoming increasingly important.
New Assembler Options
GNU Assembler (gas) gains several useful enhancements in version 2.47.
Among the most notable is a new command-line option:
--reloc-section-sym=[all|internal|none]
This option gives developers finer control over how relocations referencing locally bound symbols are converted to section symbols, improving flexibility for certain assembly and linking workflows.
The release also introduces numerous assembler improvements across multiple CPU architectures.
Better Disassembly for AArch64
Developers working with Arm-based systems also benefit from new functionality.
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- GOG Officially Expands Linux Support with Native Galaxy Client in Development
by George Whittaker
After years of requests from the Linux gaming community, GOG has officially confirmed that it is developing native Linux support for the GOG Galaxy launcher. The announcement marks one of the biggest shifts in the company's history and signals a stronger commitment to Linux as a first-class gaming platform. While GOG has offered DRM-free Linux game downloads since 2014, its Galaxy launcher has remained exclusive to Windows and macOS—until now.
Although the company has not announced a release date, GOG says Linux has become a major area of investment, with development already underway.
A Long-Requested Feature Finally Becomes Reality
Native GOG Galaxy support has consistently ranked among the most requested features from Linux users. Until now, players who wanted to use Galaxy's library management, cloud saves, achievements, and automatic updates had to rely on compatibility layers or community-developed launchers.
In a statement to GamingOnLinux, GOG joint CEO Krzysztof Papliński said the company has hired a dedicated specialist and is actively exploring the best approach for bringing Galaxy to Linux. He described Linux as "one of the topics we hear the most about from our community," emphasizing that the project is now an active development priority.
Why GOG Galaxy Matters
Unlike the web-based game downloads that Linux users already have access to, GOG Galaxy serves as a full-featured game management application.
The launcher currently offers features including:
Automatic game installation and updates Cloud save synchronization Achievement tracking Playtime statistics Game library organization Integrated storefront browsing Friends lists and social features Cross-platform launcher integration
Today, Linux users typically access these capabilities through community projects such as Heroic Games Launcher, Lutris, or Bottles. A native Galaxy client would provide an officially supported alternative with direct integration into GOG's ecosystem.
Linux Is No Longer an Afterthought
GOG's announcement reflects the growing importance of Linux gaming over the past several years.
The rapid adoption of Valve's Steam Deck, continuous improvements to Proton, and increasing hardware compatibility have significantly expanded Linux's role in PC gaming. As Linux's share of Steam users has grown, more developers and publishers have begun treating the platform as a viable target rather than a niche operating system.
For GOG, supporting Linux more fully aligns with its philosophy of giving users greater control over their purchased games.
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- Linux Kernel 7.1.4 Released with Bug Fixes, Security Updates, and Hardware Improvements
by George Whittaker
Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced the release of Linux Kernel 7.1.4, the latest stable maintenance update for the Linux 7.1 series. As with other stable kernel releases, version 7.1.4 focuses on fixing bugs, improving hardware compatibility, and addressing security and reliability issues without introducing new features. The update became available on July 18, 2026, and users of the Linux 7.1 branch are encouraged to upgrade as soon as possible.
Rather than changing the kernel's feature set, Linux 7.1.4 delivers dozens of targeted fixes collected from developers across multiple kernel subsystems, helping ensure a more stable experience for desktops, servers, embedded devices, and cloud deployments.
Another Important Stable Maintenance Release
The Linux stable branch exists to provide safe updates between major kernel versions. Every stable release undergoes review before being published and contains fixes that have already been tested in the mainline kernel.
Linux 7.1.4 continues this process by incorporating patches that resolve regressions, improve system stability, and fix issues reported by users since the release of Linux 7.1.3.
For most users, these maintenance updates are recommended because they improve reliability without altering existing functionality.
Bug Fixes Across Multiple Kernel Subsystems
Like previous stable releases, Linux 7.1.4 includes fixes spanning many areas of the kernel.
The update addresses issues affecting:
Memory management File systems Networking Device drivers Architecture-specific code Core kernel infrastructure USB and storage subsystems
These targeted patches help eliminate crashes, improve compatibility with newer hardware, and resolve edge cases that may only appear under specific workloads.
Improved Hardware Compatibility
One of the ongoing goals of Linux stable releases is expanding support for existing and newly released hardware.
Linux 7.1.4 includes updated drivers and compatibility fixes for various devices, helping improve support for:
Graphics hardware Storage controllers Networking devices USB peripherals Laptop components ARM development boards
Although no major driver additions are expected in a maintenance release, incremental improvements like these often resolve hardware-specific bugs reported by users after earlier releases.
Security and Reliability Updates
Stable kernel releases also include security-related fixes that have been accepted into the maintenance branch.
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- Firefox 153 Released with HDR Video, Smarter PDF Tools, Better Privacy, and New Linux Improvements
by George Whittaker
Mozilla has officially released Firefox 153, bringing another round of improvements to its open-source web browser. The latest version introduces new multimedia capabilities, enhanced PDF editing tools, stronger privacy protections, better support for modern web technologies, and several features aimed at improving the browsing experience across Linux, Windows, and macOS. Firefox 153 became available on the stable release channel on July 21, 2026.
While this isn't a major redesign, Firefox 153 delivers a collection of practical updates that benefit both everyday users and web developers.
HDR Video Playback Comes to Windows
One of the headline features in Firefox 153 is support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) video playback on compatible Windows systems.
Users with HDR-capable displays and Windows HDR enabled can now enjoy richer colors, improved contrast, and brighter highlights when watching supported online video content. Mozilla notes that certain laptop displays offering only "HDR video streaming" are not currently supported, and some HDR videos recorded on mobile phones may still have limitations.
Although this feature is Windows-specific, it represents another step toward bringing Firefox in line with modern multimedia standards.
PDF Editing Becomes Even More Powerful
Mozilla continues expanding Firefox's built-in PDF editor, eliminating the need for third-party applications in many situations.
Firefox 153 introduces the ability to:
Merge multiple PDF documents Insert images as new PDF pages Continue using existing editing tools such as annotations, page organization, and text editing
These additions make Firefox an even more capable document viewer and editor, especially for users who frequently work with PDF files.
Stronger Privacy and Permission Controls
Privacy remains one of Firefox's biggest selling points, and version 153 introduces several enhancements designed to give users more visibility and control over website permissions.
New improvements include:
A visual indicator when a website is actively accessing your location More restrictive default permissions for browser extensions accessing local files Local Area Network (LAN) restrictions enabled by default for all users
These changes reduce unnecessary exposure of local resources while making it easier to understand what websites and extensions can access.
Experimental JPEG XL Support
Firefox 153 also adds experimental support for the JPEG XL image format, which many developers consider a promising successor to older image standards.
JPEG XL offers several advantages, including:
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- NanoKVM-Go Brings AI-Powered Hardware Control to Linux with a Compact USB-C KVM
by George Whittaker
Sipeed has introduced NanoKVM-Go, a compact USB-C KVM-over-IP device that combines remote hardware management with AI integration. Designed for Linux, Windows, macOS, and other USB-C devices, NanoKVM-Go allows users to remotely view and control a system through a web browser while exposing its keyboard, mouse, and display functions to AI agents via the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Unlike traditional KVM-over-IP solutions that require multiple cables and dedicated networking hardware, NanoKVM-Go simplifies the setup into a single USB-C connection, making remote administration and AI-assisted automation more accessible for developers, system administrators, and homelab enthusiasts.
A Portable USB-C KVM
NanoKVM-Go is roughly the size of a smartwatch, measuring about 45 × 40 × 15 mm, yet it combines several functions into a single device.
Key hardware features include:
USB-C connection for video, audio, keyboard, mouse, and power Wi-Fi 6 connectivity Browser-based remote management Support for virtual USB storage Built-in Tailscale integration for secure remote access Fanless aluminum enclosure with low power consumption
Because it connects over USB-C using DisplayPort Alt Mode, the device can manage a wide variety of hardware without requiring software installation on the target system.
Designed for Linux and Beyond
NanoKVM-Go supports numerous USB-C devices, including:
Linux desktops and laptops Windows PCs macOS systems Mini PCs Steam Deck Android devices with DisplayPort Alt Mode iPhone 15 and newer models Tablets supporting USB-C video output
For Linux users, this provides an easy way to perform BIOS configuration, operating system installation, kernel debugging, or remote troubleshooting—even when the operating system is unavailable.
AI Integration Through MCP
One of NanoKVM-Go's defining features is its AI-native design.
Rather than simply streaming a desktop remotely, the device exposes its KVM functions as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, allowing compatible AI agents to interact with the connected computer using hardware-level keyboard and mouse input.
This enables AI systems to:
View the screen Move the mouse Type on the keyboard Launch applications Navigate user interfaces Complete repetitive desktop workflows
Because control happens at the hardware level, AI agents can interact with systems regardless of the operating system installed.
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- AI Uncovers a 15-Year-Old Linux Kernel Root Vulnerability Hidden Since 2011
by George Whittaker
Artificial intelligence has helped uncover one of the most significant Linux kernel security flaws in recent years. Security researchers at Nebula Security announced the discovery of GhostLock (CVE-2026-43499), a critical local privilege escalation vulnerability that remained hidden in the Linux kernel for approximately 15 years before being identified by the company's AI-powered vulnerability research platform, VEGA.
The vulnerability affects Linux kernels dating back to version 2.6.39 (2011) and allows an unprivileged local user to obtain full root privileges on vulnerable systems. Its discovery not only highlights the importance of timely kernel updates but also demonstrates how AI is beginning to transform vulnerability research.
What Is GhostLock?
GhostLock is a use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability located in the Linux kernel's futex (fast userspace mutex) implementation.
Futexes are synchronization primitives that allow user-space applications to efficiently coordinate access to shared resources while minimizing expensive kernel interactions. Because they are widely used throughout Linux, any flaw within this subsystem can have broad security implications.
According to Nebula Security, incorrect handling of the remove_waiter() function can leave behind a dangling kernel pointer that an attacker can manipulate to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
A Reliable Path to Root Access
One of the reasons GhostLock has attracted so much attention is the reported reliability of the exploit.
Researchers demonstrated that an attacker with nothing more than a standard local user account can escalate privileges to root in roughly five seconds, with a reported success rate of 97% on vulnerable systems.
Unlike many kernel exploits that are unstable or require highly specific system configurations, GhostLock appears to be both practical and repeatable, making it particularly concerning for administrators.
Container Escapes Are Also Possible
The implications extend beyond traditional Linux desktops and servers.
Researchers report that GhostLock can also be used to escape containers and compromise the underlying host operating system. Because containers share the host kernel, a successful privilege escalation inside a container can potentially grant root access to the host itself.
This makes the vulnerability especially important for environments running:
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- Azure Linux 4.0 Released: Microsoft Expands Its Enterprise Linux Platform Beyond the Cloud
by George Whittaker
Microsoft has officially unveiled Azure Linux 4.0, the latest version of its open-source Linux distribution designed for cloud infrastructure, enterprise workloads, and modern data centers. Formerly known as CBL-Mariner, Azure Linux has powered Microsoft's internal cloud services for years, but version 4.0 marks its biggest evolution yet by becoming a general-purpose server operating system that organizations can deploy both inside and outside Azure.
The release introduces updated core components, expanded hardware support, a predictable long-term lifecycle, and improved compatibility for enterprise environments, reinforcing Microsoft's growing investment in the Linux ecosystem.
A New Chapter for Azure Linux
Azure Linux began as Microsoft's internal operating system for Azure services, containers, and cloud infrastructure. Over time, it evolved into the foundation for many Azure-hosted workloads.
With Azure Linux 4.0, Microsoft is positioning the distribution as a broader enterprise Linux platform rather than one limited to Azure infrastructure. The operating system is now available through Azure virtual machine images, container images, and downloadable ISO files for testing and deployment in a wider range of environments.
Built for Enterprise and Cloud Workloads
Unlike desktop-focused Linux distributions, Azure Linux is optimized for infrastructure, virtualization, containers, and cloud-native applications.
Typical deployment scenarios include:
Cloud virtual machines Kubernetes clusters Container hosts AI infrastructure Edge computing Enterprise servers
Microsoft has designed the distribution to provide a consistent operating system foundation across Azure services while remaining suitable for on-premises deployments.
Updated Core Components
Azure Linux 4.0 modernizes much of the operating system's software stack.
Highlights include:
Linux Kernel 7.0 glibc 2.42 OpenSSL 3.5 Python 3.13 OpenSSH 10 dnf5 as the default package manager
These updates improve hardware compatibility, application support, security, and overall system performance while providing developers with a more current software platform.
Security Remains a Primary Focus
Security continues to be one of Azure Linux's defining characteristics.
Version 4.0 includes:
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- KDE Plasma 6.7.1 Released with Stability Fixes, UI Improvements, and Better Wayland Reliability
by George Whittaker
The KDE Project has officially released KDE Plasma 6.7.1, the first maintenance update for the Plasma 6.7 desktop environment. Rather than introducing major new features, this point release focuses on polishing the desktop with a broad collection of bug fixes, translation updates, and performance improvements aimed at making Plasma 6.7 more reliable for everyday use.
As with previous Plasma maintenance releases, KDE developers have concentrated on resolving issues reported by the community soon after the launch of Plasma 6.7, ensuring users receive a smoother and more stable desktop experience.
A Maintenance Release Focused on Stability
KDE Plasma 6.7 introduced numerous new capabilities, including per-display virtual desktops, Wayland session restore, improvements to Plasma Bigscreen, and a refreshed theming system. Plasma 6.7.1 builds on that foundation by addressing early regressions and fine-tuning the overall desktop experience.
The update primarily delivers:
Bug fixes across core Plasma components Updated translations Performance refinements Improved desktop reliability Better overall user experienceImprovements Across the Desktop
Several of Plasma's core applications and components receive fixes in this release.
Notable improvements include:
Better reliability in the Kickoff Application Launcher Fixes for Discover, KDE's software manager Improvements to the KWin window manager Various panel and desktop behavior corrections Better handling of notifications and user interface elements
While most of these changes are relatively small on their own, together they help eliminate many of the rough edges users may have encountered after upgrading to Plasma 6.7.
Wayland Continues to Mature
Wayland remains the primary development focus for KDE Plasma, and version 6.7.1 continues refining the experience.
The update includes fixes affecting:
Window management Session stability Input handling Display behavior General compositor reliability
Over the past several Plasma releases, KDE developers have steadily shifted their attention toward making Wayland the best possible experience while continuing limited maintenance for X11.
Translation Updates for Global Users
Like most KDE maintenance releases, Plasma 6.7.1 incorporates a fresh batch of translation updates contributed by volunteers from around the world.
These updates improve:
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- PorteuX 2.6 Released with Linux 6.19, TLP Support, and Smarter Hardware Optimization
by George Whittaker
The PorteuX project has officially released PorteuX 2.6, bringing a new round of updates to the lightweight Slackware-based Linux distribution. Designed to be fast, portable, modular, and immutable, PorteuX continues to appeal to users who want a complete desktop operating system that can run efficiently from a USB drive or other removable media. The latest release introduces a newer Linux kernel, improved power management, updated desktop environments, and numerous performance and usability improvements.
Released just two months after PorteuX 2.5, version 2.6 focuses on refining the user experience while maintaining the distribution's minimalist philosophy.
Powered by Linux Kernel 6.19
At the heart of PorteuX 2.6 is the Linux 6.19 kernel series, bringing improved hardware compatibility, updated drivers, security fixes, and better support for modern processors and peripherals.
The updated kernel helps ensure smoother operation on both newer desktop hardware and laptops while continuing PorteuX's emphasis on speed and low resource usage.
Better Battery Life with TLP Support
One of the headline features in PorteuX 2.6 is support for TLP, the popular command-line utility used to optimize laptop battery life.
Available through the PorteuX AppStore, TLP automatically adjusts various power-saving settings, including CPU behavior and device power management, helping extend battery life without requiring constant manual tuning.
For laptop users, this addition makes PorteuX an even more attractive lightweight operating system.
Automatic CPU Microcode Loading
The release also introduces automatic loading of Intel and AMD CPU microcode when booting in non-fresh modes.
Microcode updates help address processor bugs, improve stability, and deliver security fixes directly from CPU manufacturers. Automating this process reduces the need for manual configuration while ensuring supported systems benefit from the latest firmware improvements.
Updated Desktop Environments
PorteuX continues to offer multiple desktop editions, each updated to recent upstream releases.
Version 2.6 includes:
GNOME 49.4 KDE Plasma 6.5.5 Xfce 4.20 Cinnamon 6.6 LXQt 2.3 MATE 1.28.2 COSMIC 1.0.8 LXDE 0.11.1
This broad selection allows users to choose between modern feature-rich desktops and extremely lightweight environments depending on their hardware and workflow.
Performance Improvements Throughout the System
Although PorteuX has always emphasized performance, version 2.6 introduces additional optimizations behind the scenes.
Developers report improvements including:
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- CachyOS June 2026 ISO Released with Hyprland Noctalia, Faster Performance, and Smarter System Tools
by George Whittaker
The CachyOS team has released the June 2026 ISO, delivering another feature-packed update for its Arch Linux-based distribution. Known for its aggressive performance optimizations and gaming-focused approach, CachyOS continues refining both the user experience and the underlying system with improvements ranging from compiler tuning to installer enhancements and new desktop options.
As the project's fourth major ISO refresh of the year, the June release emphasizes speed, usability, and modern hardware support while remaining fully compatible with Arch Linux's rolling-release ecosystem.
A New Hyprland Noctalia Desktop Experience
One of the headline additions is a new Hyprland Noctalia desktop option available directly from the installer.
Noctalia provides a polished, preconfigured Hyprland environment with a modern appearance, allowing users to enjoy a highly customizable Wayland compositor without spending hours configuring dotfiles after installation. The installer even includes a preview so users can see the desktop before selecting it.
For users interested in lightweight, keyboard-driven workflows, this new option makes Hyprland much more approachable.
Performance Optimizations Continue
Performance remains the defining characteristic of CachyOS, and the June 2026 release introduces several additional optimizations.
Notable improvements include:
Python packages now built using extended Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO) A new GCC branch prediction tuning patch designed to improve performance on modern Intel and AMD processors A fix for an OpenBLAS regression affecting high-core-count CPUs Additional package-level optimizations throughout the distribution
These updates continue CachyOS's philosophy of extracting as much performance as possible from modern hardware.
Improved Package Management and Security
The June release also includes several important changes to package management.
One notable enhancement is network isolation for Pacman scriptlets and hooks, preventing installation scripts from accessing the network by default. This improves security during package installation and reduces the risk of unexpected behavior.
Additionally:
proton-cachyos has been renamed to proton-cachyos-native The installer no longer includes the paru AUR helper Users are now encouraged to use Shelly, available with both graphical and command-line interfacesInstaller Improvements
The installation experience has received considerable attention in this release.
Updates include:
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