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(Two Column)
- Glasswing overwhelms maintainers with underwhelming findings (VulnCheck)
Patrick Garrity of VulnCheck has written a blogpost that looks at vulnerabilities found by Anthropic's Project Glasswing since itlaunched on April 7, and finds it wanting:
Of the 37,966 findings Anthropic reports, only 7,349 (19.4%) have been madepublic. Just 217 of those have been marked fixed. The more glaring number isthat 4.4% (1,654) of the project's findings have already been marked asduplicates, 7.5x more duplicates than fixes. On top of that, 419 findings havebeen withdrawn. It seems odd that the ledger now claims a 94.2% true positiverate, up from 90.8% at launch, when more findings have been withdrawn or markedas duplicates than fixed, likely a feedback loop missing to the triage rateslisted as "True Positives".
[...] AI is a valuable tool for finding vulnerabilities, and I'm notdiscounting that. But seven months in, the evidence still doesn't match thelaunch narrative. The CVEs are a sliver of this year's total, almost none arebeing exploited, fixes have stalled while duplicates and withdrawals pile up,and the triage burden is shifting onto the open source maintainers Glasswingpromised to help. The receipts keep coming in. They still don't reconcile.
- Introducing Polo: a Wayland MATE compositor
Kerem Söke has announcedthe 1.0release of Polo, aWayland compositor for the MATE DesktopEnvironment:
The idea is to keep MATE behaving as closely as possible to how it does onX11, rather than changing the desktop to fit a different compositor. [...]
Window management, metacity, workspaces, tiling, XWayland, clipboard andclipman support, multiple monitors, display scaling, hotplugging, screenshots,screen sharing, and session management are all working.
I've also added desktop effects: fade, zoom, zap, spin, squeemize, magiclamp, desktop cube, expo, and wobbly windows.
Söke is looking for people to test Polo, particularly on multi-monitorsetups, and report back with problems.
- [$] C++26 contract confusion
TheInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) has blessed seven C++language revisions since 1998.The language is mostly developed by ISO'sWorking Group 21, whichconsiders proposed additions and amendments, integrates them into a document,and then presents that document to the main ISO body to be voted on as astandard. On October 23, for the first time ever, ISO declined to ratify a documentpresented by Working Group 21, leaving the future of the C++26 standard indoubt. The decision was driven by controversy around a proposed new "contracts"feature that would add pre- and post-conditions to function signatures.
- Stenberg: 30 years of Internet transfers with curl
Daniel Stenberg reflectson the 30th anniversary of the curl project.
libcurl runs in an estimated thirty billion installations today. It is a rough estimate since the majority of all libcurl users never tell us they use it, but we need to find it mentioned in their credit screens, open source license windows or their manuals. A super popular app might use libcurl today and not tomorrow, or vice versa, which can make the numbers shift by several billions overnight. In reality of course, once the pulse raise has calmed down and your ego is content, these numbers do not matter. In our corner of the world, things don't change notably when we go from a thousand installs to billions. We still work with similar people, in similar ways, with similar challenges.
- Security updates for Thursday
Security updates have been issued by Debian (aodh, apache2, dnspython, firefox-esr, mutt, octavia, spip, thunderbird, and watcher), Fedora (epiphany, firefox, freerdp, java-25-openjdk, java-latest-openjdk, libsoup3, perl-HTTP-Parser-XS, perl-libnet, php-getid3, pipx, python-crate-ingredients, python-pillow, python-robotframework, python3.9, rsync, rubygem-nokogiri, tpm2-tss, udns, and xorg-x11-server-Xwayland), Gentoo (curl, ImageMagick, libheif, and PCRE2), Mageia (nginx and python-django), Oracle (go-toolset:rhel8, libimobiledevice, nodejs:22, util-linux, and vim), Red Hat (.NET 10.0, .NET 8.0, .NET 9.0, cockpit, freerdp, gdb, go-fdo-client, grafana-pcp, ignition, kernel, kernel-rt, krb5, openssh, openssl, osbuild-composer, rpm, rsync, and webkit2gtk3), Slackware (git, httpd, and tigervnc), SUSE (aliyun-cli, alloy, apache-parent, aqute-bnd, google-gson, logback, maven, maven-artifact-transfer, maven-parent, maven-resolver, methanol, osgi-service- subsystem, slf4j, xmvn, bcel, benchdnn, containerd, distribution, dpdk, efivar, elemental, elemental-register, elemental-system-agent, elemental-toolkit, firefox, kernel, liblldpctl4, libonnxruntime1, openssl-1_0_0, openssl-1_1, openvpn, pcre2, perl-Net-DNS, perl-Plack, perl-Starman, psqlODBC, python-M2Crypto, python-Pillow, python-Twisted, python-urllib3_1, python313-djangorestframework, python313-fpdf2, python313-langgraph-sdk, python313-nltk, rust-keylime, skopeo, traefik, zchunk, and zvbi), and Ubuntu (asyncpg, awl, btrbk, davical, dotnet8, dotnet10, dotnet11, libfcgi, linux-raspi, logback, mysql-8.0, mysql-8.4, mysql-9.7, network-manager-ssh, node-babel, php-pecl-http, prosody-modules, rkhunter, ruby-actionpack-page-caching, ruby-jwt, ruby-kramdown, shiro, snmptt, and yodl).
- [$] LWN.net Weekly Edition for November 12, 2026
Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition:
Front: Synaptics patent claims; Git LLM policy; Hibernation and lockdown; User namespaces; glibc tunables. Briefs: *sshole; Amutable foundations; Asahi Linux 7.3; OpenIndiana 2026.10; Firefox 160; Quotes; ... Announcements: Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.
- Zellij 0.46 released
Version0.46 of the Zellij terminal workspace hasbeen released.
This release includes a major addition in Zellij: Zellij is now also adesktop terminal. To run it: zellij terminal. It works on linux, mac andwindows.
Nothing changes for the normal multiplexer - Zellij can still run insideanother terminal. Both sessions are the same and can be shared.
Additional features in this release include aGUI settings screen, session previews, and right-click menu. See this walkthroughfor more on the 0.46 release.
- In Memoriam: Tim Peters 1952–2026
Guido van Rossum conveysthe sad (and somewhat delayed) news of the passing of Tim Peters.
It's hard to overestimate Tim's influence on Python. He's probably best known for writing the Zen of Python (PEP 20), but to me he was a mentor and language co-designer long before that.
Tim found Python not long after its initial release. His first deed was to convince me that Python should support mixed arithmetic between int and float, because most users would expect them to work that way. And he never stopped contributing.
- Google Summer of Code mentor summit 2026
Every year, the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) Mentor Summit brings together open source maintainers, community leads, and mentors from across the globe. It is an energizing unconference where the diversity of open source can be touched. This is a unique occasion to share what works (and what doesnt) across0
- Running Android apps on Ubuntu is surprisingly easy
Ubuntu doesnt run Android apps and games natively, but Waydroid is an open-source effort that lets you use them and its now really easy to setup on Ubuntu. Earlier this year, Waydroid was packaged in Debian. That put it a simple apt install away on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and later. No need to add a PPA, find a third-party package or run scripts from Reddit threads. Waydroid runs a containerised0
- AMD EPYC 9686F Linux Benchmarks: 96 Zen 6 Cores At Up To 5.3GHz
In addition to the AMD EPYC 9996 256-core CPU benchmarks out today in that dual socket configuration for a combined 512 cores / 1024 threads flagship Zen 6C server configuration, also tested recently at Phoronix was the EPYC 9686F part. The AMD EPYC 9686F is their new high-frequency Zen 6 part that features 96 cores / 192 threads at a boost clock of 5.3GHz! When the AMD EPYC 9686F they originally0
- Euclid Mission Data Release Spans More Than 900 Million Galaxies
The European Space Agency has released the largest dataset yet from its Euclid space telescope, containing 1.7 petabytes of observations covering more than 900 million galaxies. "The data unveiled on Thursday covered a survey of the sky equal to about 9,500 times the size of the moon as viewed from Earth," reports Reuters. "The mission's goal is to complete the "largest-ever three-dimensional atlas of the cosmos, spanning more than a third of the sky, in 2031." From the report: "It marks a major milestone for ESA's Euclid mission and for everyone involved," said astrophysicist Valeria Pettorino, ESA's Euclid project scientist. Euclid, launched from Florida in 2023, is gathering data on how the universe has expanded and how its structure has formed over time while amassing information about the nature of dark energy and dark matter and the role of gravity on large scales. "Euclid will not just take images of galaxies in the sky, in two dimensions, but will also measure their distance, the third dimension. This will tell us where galaxies are in space and time, across 10 billion years, and in all directions beyond our galactic plane," Pettorino said. "Galaxies cluster along filaments, surrounded by empty space, and form a network that we call the cosmic web. Euclid will reconstruct the cosmic web and how it has grown over time. This is important because the exact configuration of the cosmic web, how many clusters or voids are there, how fast it changed, depend on the properties of dark energy and dark matter," Pettorino said. [...] Previous Euclid data releases covered only a few days of observations. The newly released dataset includes more than a year of data and still spans only 14% of the total sky area Euclid is due to survey in visible and near-infrared light over six years. This data release will be completed next year with the first results on dark energy and dark matter.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- SpaceX To Invest $74 Billion Into Data Center Construction Projects In Texas, Arizona
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Hill: Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to invest more than $74 billion into building two data centers in Texas and Arizona, the company announced Thursday, marketing them as projects that will boost local communities amid backlash surrounding such facilities. "These investments will expand local tax bases, generate substantial new revenue for schools and public services, and create economic opportunities that extend far beyond the facilities themselves," the company said in a release. SpaceX said it will put more than $24 billion into a new project in Texas's Rio Grande Valley, expanding the company's headquarters in Starbase -- a coastal town the tech giant established in 2025 in a previously unincorporated area of Cameron County. In Arizona, SpaceX will invest around $50 billion in Cochise County, a rural area east of Tucson bordering Mexico and New Mexico. SpaceX pledged the new projects will be created cooperatively with the surrounding communities and will be environmentally conscious. The company said the project in Texas would generate its own power and invest $220 million to expand the water supply in nearby Brownsville. While in Arizona, it vowed to work with local electric cooperatives and "potentially" reduce electric bills, saying the site would use dry cooling without water consumption. "They require strong partnerships with local communities, responsible environmental stewardship, and stable, competitive policies that give companies the confidence to make long-term investments," the company said in a release. Both sites promise hundreds of permanent jobs even once construction is complete.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Whoop Launches a Social Network Where Every User Has a 'Verified Heartbeat'
Whoop has launched Humans, a social network built into its fitness app where every account is a real person with a "verified heartbeat." The wearable company claims its platform is "entirely human," unlike other social media platforms that are "saturated with artificial intelligence, automated accounts and bots, and manufactured content." The Verge reports: Starting Thursday, Whoop members can share their data from its wearables on the app's new Whoop Humans social network. Users can make their metrics, activities, and achievements visible to other Whoop wearers, post Story-like "Moments" with photos and captions, and add comments and reactions on other members' posts. [...] In the Community tab in Whoop's app, users can scroll through Moments from people they're following, like tapping through your Stories feed on Instagram but with your friends' fitness tracker data. In one of Whoop's examples, swiping up on a user's Moments post with a photo from their run shows a map with their route and details like their pace and distance. The Community tab also shows cards for people in your "community" with their sleep, recovery, and strain scores. Whoop says users choose which activities, achievements, and metrics they want to share on Humans, including Recovery, Strain, Sleep, HRV, and resting heart rate. Any activities marked as sensitive aren't shared by default. There's also an option to keep Moments posts private and a "Stealth Mode" for temporarily hiding health and performance data without changing your sharing settings.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Nintendo Takes Down Switch Emulators, Mod Chip Firmware in Massive GitHub DMCA Sweep
Nintendo has issued four DMCA takedown notices targeting two Nintendo Switch emulators, Yuzu and Citron Neo, along with mod chip firmware such as Picofly, SX Core and HWFLY. As a result, 144 repositories containing firmware used to circumvent the console's copy protections have been removed by GitHub and replaced by a DMCA takedown notice. IGN reports: GitHub has posted Nintendo's November 6 DMCA notice, which says, "The Nintendo Switch console and video games contain technological protection measures ('TPMs') that permit the Nintendo Switch console to interact only with legitimate Nintendo video game files. This process protects Nintendo's copyright-protected video games, (...) by preventing users from playing pirated copies of Nintendo's video games on the Nintendo Switch console and by preventing users from unlawfully copying and playing Nintendo's video games on unauthorized devices." However, while this takedown has effectively wiped out a ton of repositories with mod chip firmware, it seems like it's still being hosted elsewhere on the site, according to TorrentFreak. It's possible, though, that Nintendo isn't finished yet; back in 2024, Nintendo effectively took down 8,500 copies of Yuzu by issuing a takedown that targeted 12 different mirrors of the emulator. This particular takedown also comes a few days after emulators were able to run the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on PC, so this could be a sign that Nintendo is winding up its lawyers to crack down on emulation once again.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Had a Relationship With a Second Employee
Reuters reports that former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an intimate relationship with a third woman (source paywalled; alternative source ), an unnamed Nvidia employee. The revelation follows reports of two other extramarital affairs: one with Nvidia VP Kimberly Powell and another with Alice Huang, whom U.S. intelligence reportedly suspects of being a Chinese spy. The latter relationship has also prompted a shareholder lawsuit alleging Nvidia misled investors about its ties to a company suspected of circumventing U.S. chip export restrictions. Jensen Huang has since resigned as Nvidia's CEO and stepped down from its board on Thursday. CFO Colette Kress has been appointed interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent successor.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Singapore Says US Not Helpful On Investigation Into Suspected Spy's Company
Singapore says U.S. authorities provided limited assistance in its investigation of Megaspeed, the company run by Alice Huang, the Chinese businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence suspects is a Chinese spy and whose relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has drawn scrutiny. According to Singapore, authorities held Alice Huang's passport from June 2025 until February while investigating "potential false declarations," but ultimately released her with a "stern warning" and barred her from re-entering the country. The New York Times reports: The statement raises new questions about the response of the Trump administration to the case and why the U.S. government did not more forcefully intervene. According to the timeline in the statement, Singaporean authorities had been holding Ms. Huang's passport well after President Trump was briefed last fall about her relationship with Nvidia's chief executive and the belief that she was a Chinese intelligence asset. The New York Times has reported that Taiwan began monitoring Ms. Huang in 2024 at the guidance of the U.S. government. In its statement, Singapore said that it had sought information from an American server maker and close Nvidia business partner, Supermicro, but that the company had provided "limited cooperation." Supermicro, a firm that packages Nvidia's A.I. chips onto servers that can be used in data centers, has been at the center of a number of chip smuggling investigations across the globe. Supermicro was a supplier to Megaspeed, a company incorporated in Singapore and run by Ms. Huang, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Singapore said in the statement its authorities raised Supermicro's "limited cooperation" with the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation in July 2025 and "requested their assistance in securing the company's cooperation." "Despite these repeated requests, Singapore has to date received limited information or assistance in respect of the company," the statement said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Microsoft Outlook Goes Down Nationwide [UPDATE]
Microsoft is suffering a major Microsoft 365 outage that's disrupting Outlook, Teams, Copilot and SharePoint for users across the Americas, with more than 129,000 problem reports logged on Downdetector shortly after the disruption began. Microsoft blames the connectivity problems on an unexpectedly large number of unavailable servers that overloaded the remaining infrastructure. The company says it's redistributing traffic and restarting affected systems. From a report: Microsoft was not providing an estimated time by which it expects service to return. Both individual Outlook users and those on enterprise accounts experienced problems logging in to the service. The outage also affected other Microsoft services, including Microsoft Teams, the Copilot 365 AI service and SharePoint Online. "Users may be unable to connect to multiple Microsoft 365 services," the company said on its Service Health Status page. UPDATE 11/12/26, 19:50 UTC: From Microsoft 365 Status: "We're testing a configuration change to address a problem that's causing servers to fail automated health checks and become unavailable. In parallel, we've initiated a restart of all affected servers and are monitoring health as they return to service. More info under EX1550543 and MO1550821 in the Microsoft 365 admin center, as well as http://status.cloud.microsoft if the admin center is not available to you." UPDATE 11/12/26, 20:19 UTC: From Microsoft 365 Status: "We've not identified any recent change correlated with the start of impact; however, our investigation indicates the failed health checks may originate from a specific component that's responsible for processing server health. We've taken steps to prevent additional servers from being impacted while we work to return the affected servers to service. More info under EX1550543 and MO1550821 in the Microsoft 365 admin center, as well as http://status.cloud.microsoft if the admin center is not available to you. UPDATE 11/12/26, 20:29 UTC: "According to https://downdetector.com/, much of the major services are down," writes Slashdot reader xocmot2. "AWS, Microsoft, Meta, on and on. Clearly not a Microsoft thing." UPDATE 11/12/26, 6:17 UTC: Microsoft is still struggling to resolve the outage, which is confirmed to be global with disruptions reported across 74 countries and territories. The outage has disrupted businesses and government services in countries including Japan, Singapore, India, and Australia, while OpenAI and Anthropic have also reported related problems. Microsoft says its recovery efforts have produced some improvements, but the fixes are not delivering "sustained recovery." Microsoft has ruled out a cybersecurity incident, and experts warn that the prolonged disruption could result in significant economic losses. Developing...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Google Pushes Privacy Angle As Gemini-Powered Smartglasses Debut
Google is launching its first Gemini-powered smart glasses, with Samsung supplying the computing hardware. Given their built-in 12-megapixel camera, Google is emphasizing privacy protections, including a tamper-resistant recording light, automatic face redaction, and restrictions on real-time facial recognition and livestreaming. The company also promises not to use captured photos or videos for AI training or targeted advertising. Ars Technica reports: Google says the frames all weigh about 41 grams, which is not terrible but is definitely near the top for glasses generally. They will, naturally, weigh much more when you account for lenses. That will also determine the final pricing. So far, we only have the starting prices for these devices, including non-prescription lenses. The setup here is similar to the Ray-Ban Meta glasses we've seen for a few years. There are no screens in the lenses, but you can interact with the AI system via voice or by activating the integrated camera. The experience should be similar to using Gemini Live on your phone, but it will be a lot easier to fire up the AI. You can say "Hey Gemini" or tap a touch-sensitive area of the frame to start interacting with the robot. Since this is the same chatbot that operates across the Google ecosystem, it has access to your data and preferences. You can ask questions and get personalized answers, have Google Maps guide you by voice, or just talk with the AI to kill time. The glasses use custom open-ear speakers to limit distractions for those around you. Google notes the directional microphones should not pick up speech from other people, either. Adding the camera feed is where things get interesting. When the AI can see what you see, it has the potential to do more work on your behalf. Google suggests asking Gemini for recommendations when looking at a bookshelf or glancing at an event poster to have the AI add it to your calendar. The glasses will also support Gemini Guided Vision, which provides conversational audio descriptions for people who are visually impaired. The new frames are available for preorder today starting at $395.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Iconic First Image of Black Hole Holds Up To Scrutiny
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Conversation: On April 10 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration revealed the first picture of a black hole. The object is at the centre of a galaxy known as M87, about 55 million light-years away. The iconic ring structure instantly became one of the most recognized scientific images of the modern era. It showed a black hole "shadow" outlined by light from swirling hot gas -- just as predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity. The result supported the long-standing idea that the centers of galaxies house supermassive black holes. However, scientists have since had some disagreements on whether the details and structure of the ring in the original publication were accurate. Our new research, published today in Nature, used new techniques to investigate the original datasets. Not only do our results validate the original work, but they also provide a fresh perspective on the ring structure. Our independent results enhance confidence in one of the most significant modern scientific results. And we bring the image of a black hole millions of light-years away back into focus. [...] When compared directly to images from the EHT collaboration, our result is consistent in diameter and overall orientation. Naturally, there are some differences in the fine details of ring width and surface brightness along the circumference, but the overall structure matches. This provides a fresh perspective on the iconic black hole ring while also resolving previous discrepancies. To prove this success didn't depend solely on advanced machine learning, we also developed a complementary imaging method based on traditional statistical techniques. This entirely different method also validated our structure using the new closure invariant data we produced. Overall, our work delivers a strong independent validation of the supermassive black hole structure at the centre of galaxy M87. And it could do more in the future. Our technique could also be useful in other situations where data from multiple sensors are combined to map unknown structures -- such as medical imaging or mapping earthquakes.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Critical Apache HTTP/2 Flaw Could Let Unauthenticated Attackers Execute Code Remotely
A critical flaw in Apache HTTP Server's HTTP/2 module could allow unauthenticated attackers to remotely execute code and potentially take control of affected server processes. Tracked as CVE-2026-119618, the vulnerability affects Apache HTTP Server 2.4.55 through 2.4.70 when HTTP/2 is enabled and is fixed in version 2.4.71. The Hacker News reports: The vendor's assessment, published yesterday, also says "public research has demonstrated a reliable exploit" against a server in its default configuration with mod_http2 enabled. It does not name or link that research. Security company Wiz said later that day that no exploit was available and that no exploitation in the wild had been reported. HTTP/2 runs only where the Protocols directive turns it on, as the module documentation explains. The directive uses h2 for HTTP/2 over TLS and h2c for HTTP/2 over plain TCP. It can be set for the whole server or for a single virtual host, so admins should check the server-wide setting and every virtual host. Standalone builds of the module, released on GitHub as mod_h2, are affected from version 2.0.8 through 2.0.42. Admins who run the Apache HTTP Server project's own releases should move to version 2.4.71, the fixed release named in its security advisory. That release also fixes a crash in mod_md, rated important, and a one-byte overwrite of stack memory in mod_vhost_alias, rated low.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- 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]
- ReactOS makes strides in SMP, 64bit, and more
The ReactOS project organised two hackfests this year, and the work done during those in-person sessions, combined with the ongoing regular progress, has led to some pretty significant breakthroughs and progress. More NT6+ syscalls have been added, ReactOS supports floppy disks now, NTFS support has been vastly improved, and much more. Theres also a new USB3/4 stack, which is now merged and offers basic support for these versions of USB. One of the biggest additions is a new kernel shim engine which gives ReactOS the ability to work around buggy drivers and implement quirks, moreso than even Windows itself can. For instance, thanks to this new shim, XP-era NVIDIA drivers can run on NT6 ReactOS. The ongoing efforts to implement SMP are yielding results too: ReactOS can now run with SMP for days on end while doing tasks in the background, which is quite promising. The team is showing off Steam and the game Among Us running on ReactOS, which is definitely impressive.
- Polo: a new Wayland compositor for MATE
MATE is probably the last X11-only holdout among the major desktop environments, but thats about to change if Kerem Söke has anything to say about it. Polo is a port of Marcos behavior and window management policies to Wayland, built on libweston and written in Vala and C. Its a window manager, compositor, and session authority for the MATE Wayland desktop. It takes over, step by step, what Marco, mate-session-manager and the compositor-facing parts of mate-settings-daemon do on X11. ↫ Polos GitHub page Söke is looking for testers with this very first Polo 1.0.0 release cute name, too which is available on its GitHub page.
- IBM to offer access to a dual-processor quantum system in 2027
Ars Technica published a short write-up about changes to IBMs quantum computing plans. The changes greatly expand the scope of its next-generation Nighthawk general-use processors by adding a version with over 500 programmable qubits. At the same time, it’s stepping back a bit on its plan to link multiple Nighthawk processors together, dropping the intended number of linked systems from nine to two. The total number of qubits planned for next year will remain the same; how the company is getting there, however, will be different. Meanwhile, the company is touting the performance boost achieved via a major change that was made in the generation of Nighthawk processors released in September: hardware-based qubit resets. ↫ John Timmer at Ars Technica Im convinced quantum computing will eventually have a big impact in the areas its characteristics are presumed to be well-suited for. Also, it just looks and sounds incredibly cool, even if as the technology currently stands its not particularly useful yet.
- Im not descending into madness because mount and unmount icons make no sense
There are many problems in this world some big, some small, some so minute nobody ought to put them to paper at all. The problem Im going to highlight here is even smaller than that. This literally the actual literally does not matter and absolutely nobody should care about it, let alone put any work into changing it or addressing it some other way. I want to talk about the iconography GNOMEs Disks utility uses to symbolise mount! and unmount!. No, Im not descending into madness. GNOMEs Disks utility uses the play! symbol on the mount button, and the stop! symbol on the unmount button. Inexplicably, considering the state of the world in general and the rapidly deteriorating quality of software specifically, this bothers me. Out in the real world, built on decades of consistent use, these symbols have gained clearly defined meanings, and mounting and unmounting disks definitely isnt one of them. In fact, the meaning of these symbols isnt mere convention; theyre defined in a variety of international standards for symbols for use in software and on equipment, such as ISO/IEC 18035 (which you need to buy to read; my copy fell of a truck): ISO/IEC 18035:2002 defines a consistent set of icons and related functions that are represented by multimedia applications on a computer screen and that users interact with to control such applications. It describes controls applying to such functions as: Play, Pause, Stop, Rewind, Scan forward, Scan backward, Replay backward, Loop, Go to beginning, Go to previous, Go to next, Go to end, Set volume and Mute. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Theyre also part of ISO 7000/IEC 60417, a much larger, more encompassing standard that also contains things like the various symbols used on laundry machines, tumble dryers, in cars, and so on. The symbols themselves are much older than the standards, of course, with many of them dating back to the 1960s and possibly even 1950s. The point remains, though: the play and stop symbols have clearly defined meanings, and I dont think they are at all a good fit for mount and unmount. The function of the play! symbol according to ISO/IEC 18035: To enable the user to start the presentation of dynamic media, except where the task requires automatic playing of that media. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 And of the stop! symbol: To enable the user to stop the presentation of dynamic media. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Neither of these descriptions match what mounting and unmounting mean or do. Mounting a drive or partition doesnt present any media at all; it merely makes the drive or partition in question accessible. Unmounting also doesnt eject anything; it merely makes the drive or partition inaccessible. I would argue that play and pause act upon contents of a drive or volume, and not upon the drive or volume itself. As it stands right now, you play! a drive! to play! a video stored on said drive. Madness. I already know what youre thinking, and yes, I agree that the Disks utility is a tool aimed at more advanced use cases and users, and most normal, average users will never even know it exists, let alone open it at all. Very few people get to see these symbols, and those that do already know full well what mounting and unmounting mean, reducing the importance of said symbols considerably. But now its time for the big surprise, the twist in the story that turns this entire thing on its head. Files, GNOMEs file manager, uses an entirely different symbol for unmounting! Instead of the stop! symbol, Files uses the eject! symbol. You may think this is a more accurate visual representation of what unmounting means, but I strongly disagree. Lets turn to ISO/IEC 18035:2003 once again: To enable the user to eject the current physical media from the appropriate drive. ↫ ISO/IEC 18035:2003 Unmounting doesnt eject anything! If you unmount a USB stick, the stick doesnt get fired out of the USB port. If you unmount a volume, it doesnt get removed from the SSD. Hell, if you unmount a CD-ROM, it doesnt even eject it! Ejecting a CD-ROM opening the drives tray or spitting the CD-ROM out of a slot-loader is an entirely different act! Are we really ejecting! a CD-ROM twice? Are we mounting! a CD-ROM when we merely close the tray? No! Madness! The real underlying problem here is, of course, that mounting and unmounting are deeply weird and confusing concepts, bordering on the esoteric, that simply do not have physical equivalents to fall back on. Using symbols and iconography designed in the 1960s explicitly for playing music or stopping a video or ejecting a cassette tape are not a good fit for something as difficult to explain to most people as mounting and unmounting. Its like putting an eject symbol on a cars door handle or a play symbol on a soap dispenser. Should GNOME developers waste any time or resources to address this? No, of course not, that would be stupid. Nobody should care about this but me. I should suffer in silence, every time I need to mount or unmount something, forced to look for an eject or stop symbol in whatever user interface I happen to be using. Every time, I should die a little inside. Please, dont be like me and waste precious resources thinking about this. Im not descending into madness. I just want mount and unmount symbols that make sense. Im not descending into madness.
- Haiku gets multifinger touchpad taps
Were almost halfway through November, but we hadnt seen Haikus monthly activity report for October yet. Its here now, and theres quite a few good things in here, like support for two and three-finger tap gestures on touchpads for right and middle-click, a new driver that adds Universal Flash Storage support, and even some build fixes for Haikus SPARC port as well as some fixes on the RISC-V side. Of course, thats just a selection, as theres the usual long list of smaller changes, bugfixes, and improvements as well.
- Microsoft releases .NET 11
Today, we’re excited to announce the release of .NET 11! This year’s release makes building modern applications faster, more productive, and has improvements across C# 15, ASP.NET Core, .NET MAUI, and Windows development. With hundreds of runtime optimizations, more responsive SDK tooling, and less overhead in everyday commands, you can spend less time waiting and more time creating. Build richer web and cross-platform applications, take advantage of new C# language features, and explore AI-powered development with improved tools and agentic capabilities. ↫ .NET Team Im not going to pretend to care about .NET, but I know many of you have to care on a professional level, because .NET is remarkably popular in places where the spotlights dont often shine.
- What if any process could handle SIGKILL?
An interesting question, and a detailed technical rundown of how to make this happen, which involved building a custom Linux kernel, of course. I really, really enjoy the conclusion. And you know? It turned out fine. Nothing exploded on my system. As I could predict, because this was otherwise impossible, nobody did it. The signal system was setup in such a way that you would most likely realize something you were doing was wrong, and not try it. To pull back further, it is interesting to notice how the rules we all take for granted are just set somewhere in code. They were written by someone, at some point. If there is code restricting you from doing something, someone wrote it. Either they did not think anyone would want to do that thing, or they specifically prevented you from doing it. Those rules are written somewhere, and you can take it in your paws to go sniff around the code, pull out the relevant parts, and hack around the things that bother you. For fun, learning, or convenience. Snoop around. Sniff code. Put your paws in it. Hack shit. ↫ lux at VulpineCitrus Even if theres no real reason to do, even if its just to satiate an odd and possibly slightly morbid sense of curiosity, fuck with code.
- OpenIndiana Hipster 2026.10 released
OpenIndiana is a rolling-release illumos distribution, but they do release snapshots twice a year to serve as a base for installations, which they call Hipster. The projects just released OpenIndiana Hipster 2026.10, and it brings a number of welcome changes. First, theres UEFI framebuffer support on the live image, which is automatically configured when loading up the image. Second, Firefox and Thunderbird versions have been bumped to 159.0, and a whole slew of development tools have been updated to newer versions as well. This snapshot also brings QEMU 11.1.2 and VirtualBox 7.2.22, and a number of new applications have been added as well. In addition, SPARC build support has been improved to enable new and updated packages for Suns dead ISA as well. You can download a fresh image, or update an existing installation through IPS.
- Making musl and proprietary NVIDIA drivers work together
Creator and lead developer of Chimera Linux, Nina q66!, write about their efforts to get NVIDIA drivers to work properly on musl-based distributions. As you may be aware, one of the limitations of musl-based distributions is that they will not function to their proper extent when used in computers with various NVIDIA graphics cards. This is due to the proprietary nature of the driver, being built for glibc. I have been experimenting with trying to make this work, and this post is the summary of that effort. ↫ Nina q66! on the Chimera blog What follows is a deeply technical exploration of the problem, and the steps Nina q66 and the Chimera team are taking to try and fix it. With how popular and widespread NVIDIA hardware still is, this is a hugely important issue to try and address, and Im grateful theyre trying to address it.
- MorphOS 3.21 released with new office suite
About five months after the previous release, the MorphOS team has released MorphOS 3.21. It brings the usual list of big fixes and smaller improvements, but theres a few big ticket items in here as well. MorphOS 3.21 introduces BasicWorks, an office suite made up of CellBasics and PageBasics. It offers document and spreadsheet authoring and loads and saves Microsoft Office and OpenOffice documents. Also new are NVMEMount, an auto-mounter for booting from and mounting NVMe partitions, and the Marbles and Cyber 3D blankers. Graphics performance has been improved, with a faster Radeon driver on cards with little video memory thanks to GART backed bitmap transfers, quicker TinyGL texture copies, hardware accelerated antialiased text in TTEngine and much faster color SVG glyph rendering in Cairo. The Bcm43xx wireless driver has been substantially reworked, with automatic transmit rate selection, updated firmware and numerous connection fixes. PowerBook and iMac hotkeys are now fully configurable. ↫ MorphOS 3.21 release announcement The BasicWorks office suite has been in the works for a while now, and more information on it can be found in a thread on the MorphZone forums and on the website for the spreadsheet component of the suite, CellBasics. The formula loaders and xlsx loaders are ports of open source projects, but the rest of the application is new code based on ObjectiveC++ and Cairo/Harfbuzz. It uses its own file format, but can import csv and xslsx files, so Im assuming the same more or else applies to the word processor (but with docx, of course). Alongside MorphOS 3.21 also comes a new release for Wayfarer, the web browser the Amiga-inspired operating system uses. Wayfarer 12.0 moves to WebKitGTK 2.52.5 (which was released in July of 2026, so its quite up to date), and now uses the Skia graphics library. R300-R500 Radeons will render websites with Skia-GL for some massive performance improvements, helped further along by a slew of additional performance optimisations. Adblocking has been improved as well, YouTube should work a lot better now, and much more. The full release notes for MorphOS 3.21 give you all the details.
- Omarchy 4.5 Brings Floating Workspaces, Native Apple Silicon Installation, and a More Flexible Linux Desktop
by George Whittaker
The Omarchy project has released Omarchy 4.5, a major update to its Arch Linux-based operating system that introduces traditional floating desktop workspaces, native Apple Silicon installation, expanded ARM hardware support, and extensive customization improvements. Released on November 5, 2026, the update marks one of the distribution's most significant developments since the introduction of Omarchy 4.0.
Known internally as Quattro RS, the release incorporates more than 740 merged pull requests from over 180 contributors during a twelve-week development period. Its most visible addition is a floating desktop mode that allows users to work with overlapping windows and a conventional application dock without abandoning Omarchy's existing tiling and scrolling layouts. The change makes the distribution more accessible to users familiar with Windows and macOS while preserving its keyboard-driven workflow.
Omarchy 4.5 also expands beyond traditional x86-64 computers with native installation support for selected Apple Silicon Macs and preliminary compatibility with NVIDIA ARM-based systems. Additional improvements include localization for 50 languages, new productivity applications, expanded AI agent integration, video wallpapers, updated desktop themes, and numerous fixes affecting graphics, displays, networking, and hardware compatibility.
Floating Workspaces Introduce a Traditional Desktop Experience
Omarchy has traditionally emphasized tiling window management through the Hyprland Wayland compositor. In a tiling environment, application windows are arranged automatically within the available screen space, reducing the need to drag, resize, and manually position each window.
This approach can be highly efficient for developers and experienced Linux users who prefer keyboard navigation. However, it can also feel unfamiliar to people accustomed to conventional desktops, where windows overlap freely and applications are launched or minimized through a dock or taskbar.
Omarchy 4.5 addresses this difference by introducing floating workspaces with an integrated application dock. Users can now switch individual workspaces between tiling, scrolling, and floating layouts without changing the entire desktop configuration.
The Super + L keyboard shortcut cycles through these three layout modes. When floating mode is active, application windows receive themed title bars and can be positioned independently, creating an experience closer to a conventional desktop.
The dock displays pinned applications, running programs, and an application grid. Users can rearrange applications through dragging, pin frequently used programs, and access additional actions through context menus. Pressing Super + M minimizes the active window to the dock.
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- openSUSE Leap 16.1 Unifies Traditional and Immutable Linux With Transactional Updates
by George Whittaker
The openSUSE Project has officially released openSUSE Leap 16.1, introducing a major change to how the distribution can be installed, maintained, and deployed. Released on November 3, 2026, the update brings an integrated Immutable Mode that allows users to install a transactionally updated operating system with a read-only root filesystem, while continuing to offer the traditional Linux installation model.
The new approach also marks the beginning of the end for openSUSE Leap Micro as a separate distribution. Its functionality is now incorporated into Leap 16.1, giving administrators a unified platform for desktops, conventional servers, container hosts, virtual machines, and edge computing environments. Users can select the installation model that best fits their workloads without switching to an entirely different openSUSE product.
Beyond the new installation architecture, Leap 16.1 updates KDE Plasma to version 6.6, retains GNOME 48 with additional maintenance fixes, introduces LXQt 2.4, and continues using the Linux 6.12 long-term support kernel series. The release also expands container tooling, improves system monitoring, updates security components, and introduces changes designed to make enterprise-oriented Linux deployments more predictable.
Immutable Mode Becomes the Defining Feature of Leap 16.1
The most important addition to openSUSE Leap 16.1 is its new Immutable Mode, which allows the operating system to use a read-only root filesystem and transactional updates. Instead of modifying the active operating system directly whenever packages are installed or updated, the immutable configuration prepares changes in a separate filesystem snapshot.
This approach differs from a conventional Linux installation, where package managers typically modify files in the active root filesystem. On a traditional system, an update can replace libraries, executables, and configuration components while applications continue running. Although Linux package managers handle these operations carefully, interrupted updates or incompatible package combinations can sometimes leave a system in an inconsistent state.
Immutable Mode reduces this risk by preparing operating-system changes separately from the currently running environment. Updates become active after a reboot, allowing the system to start using a consistent set of packages and configuration changes. If an update introduces problems, administrators can return to an earlier snapshot rather than manually reversing individual package modifications.
The underlying technology is not entirely new to openSUSE. Similar functionality has been available through Leap Micro, which was designed for lightweight, transactionally updated server and infrastructure deployments. What changes in Leap 16.1 is that this operating model becomes an installation choice within the main Leap distribution.
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- KDE Plasma 6.8.2 Released With More KWin and Wayland Fixes
by George Whittaker
The KDE Project has released KDE Plasma 6.8.2, delivering another round of stability improvements for its Wayland-based Linux desktop environment. Released on October 27, 2026, the update arrives one week after Plasma 6.8.1 and two weeks after the anniversary release of Plasma 6.8, which marked 30 years since the KDE project's founding.
This second maintenance release concentrates on correcting regressions discovered after the initial rollout. The largest collection of changes targets KWin, KDE's window manager and Wayland compositor, with fixes involving multi-GPU synchronization, display handling, pointer constraints, color pipelines, and window stacking. Additional improvements address disappearing desktop icons, application launcher behavior, remote desktop sessions, screen recording, accessibility, and system monitoring.
Although Plasma 6.8.2 does not introduce major new desktop features, its corrections are particularly important because Plasma 6.8 completed KDE's transition away from native X11 desktop sessions. With Wayland now serving as Plasma's display foundation, improvements to KWin and its supporting components directly affect the reliability of the entire desktop environment.
KDE Continues Stabilizing Its Anniversary Release
KDE Plasma 6.8 arrived on October 14, 2026, coinciding with the project's 30th anniversary. The release introduced significant desktop changes, including the retirement of native X11 sessions, additional HDR improvements, expanded remote desktop capabilities, NVIDIA graphics optimizations, and further development of KDE's Union theming engine.
The transition represented an important architectural milestone, but major desktop releases frequently expose problems that were not encountered during development or beta testing. Linux desktops must operate across numerous combinations of graphics hardware, display configurations, drivers, input devices, and applications. Even extensive testing cannot always reproduce every environment used by the wider community.
KDE acknowledged this challenge during the development cycle following Plasma 6.8, noting that users had discovered regressions that were not reported during the beta period. Contributors responded with a substantial collection of fixes, many of which have now reached the stable 6.8 branch through its first two maintenance releases.
Plasma 6.8.2 continues that stabilization effort. Rather than changing the desktop's overall direction, it improves the reliability of existing functionality and addresses issues that could affect everyday workflows. The release includes corrections across KWin, Plasma Desktop, Plasma Workspace, Discover, KRDP, KPipeWire, and several other components.
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- RefreshOS 3.1 Strengthens Its Debian Foundation With Independent Package Management
by George Whittaker
The RefreshOS project has released RefreshOS 3.1, bringing an updated Debian foundation, a dedicated software repository, improved 32-bit application compatibility, and several refinements to its KDE Plasma desktop experience. Released on October 27, 2026, the update advances the distribution's 3.x "Colorful Cosmos" series while introducing infrastructure that could significantly improve how RefreshOS delivers its own packages and configuration changes.
The new release moves from Debian 13.4 to Debian 13.7 "Trixie", incorporates Linux kernel 6.12.113, and continues using KDE Plasma 6.3.6. However, the most important development is the introduction of an official RefreshOS APT repository with separate Stable, Testing, and Experimental channels. This gives the project a more structured way to distribute customized software while continuing to benefit from Debian's established package ecosystem.
RefreshOS 3.1 also enables i386 architecture support, making it easier to install compatible 32-bit software and dependencies required by applications such as Steam. Additional changes address desktop localization, KDE integration, installer configuration, package permissions, and installation image cleanup. Together, these improvements represent an effort to make RefreshOS easier to maintain while preserving its focus on a ready-to-use Linux desktop.
RefreshOS Builds on Debian's Stable Release Model
RefreshOS is a Debian-based Linux distribution developed by eXybit Technologies, designed to provide a polished desktop environment without requiring users to configure every component manually. The project combines Debian's stable package foundation with KDE Plasma, preinstalled applications, hardware support, multimedia capabilities, and custom desktop styling.
Unlike distributions that emphasize constant adoption of the newest software versions, RefreshOS prioritizes a relatively predictable desktop experience. Its Debian foundation provides access to established security maintenance, package management, and compatibility practices, while RefreshOS adds its own configuration choices to simplify everyday use.
Version 3.1 continues that philosophy by incorporating Debian 13.7, the seventh point release of Debian 13 "Trixie." Debian published this update on September 12, 2026, primarily to consolidate security corrections and fixes for significant software problems. These point releases do not represent entirely new Debian generations. Instead, they refresh installation media and package selections so newly installed systems begin with a more current collection of fixes.
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- Tails 7.15.1 Blocks Compromised HTTPS Certificates in Urgent Privacy Security Fix
by George Whittaker
The Tails project has released Tails 7.15.1, an emergency security update addressing a compromised certificate authority that could allow attackers to impersonate legitimate HTTPS websites. Released on October 23, 2026, the update focuses on protecting users against a potentially serious man-in-the-middle attack involving certificates associated with eMudhra, an authority whose intermediate certificates were compromised.
The emergency release updates Tor Browser to version 15.0.26, addressing CVE-2026-113470, and modifies the distribution's trusted certificate authorities to block all eMudhra certificates. These changes are particularly important for Tails because the operating system routes internet traffic through the Tor network, where malicious exit nodes or other network intermediaries could potentially exploit compromised certificates to impersonate secure websites.
Unlike a conventional maintenance update, Tails 7.15.1 does not introduce major desktop features, new applications, or significant interface changes. Its purpose is to close a security gap that could undermine the authenticity of HTTPS connections. The developers recommend upgrading promptly, especially for users who rely on Tails for sensitive communications, anonymous research, journalism, or other privacy-critical activities.
Why Tails 7.15.1 Was Released as an Emergency Update
Tails, short for The Amnesic Incognito Live System, is a Debian-based Linux distribution designed to help users preserve their privacy and reduce traces of their computing activity. It typically runs from a USB stick and routes internet connections through Tor, making it useful for people who need stronger privacy protections than those provided by a conventional desktop operating system.
The distribution also emphasizes minimizing persistent data. By default, Tails operates as a live environment and does not retain ordinary session activity after shutdown. Users who need to preserve selected files and settings can configure encrypted Persistent Storage on their USB device, allowing them to maintain important information across sessions without changing the operating system's general amnesic behavior.
Because Tails is built around privacy and secure communication, problems involving HTTPS certificate validation deserve particular attention. Tor helps obscure the relationship between a user's network location and the websites they visit, but it does not automatically guarantee that every website encountered through an exit node is authentic. HTTPS provides an additional layer of protection by authenticating websites and encrypting communications between the browser and the destination server.
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- Omarchy 4.0.5 Released With Better NVIDIA Laptop Support
by George Whittaker
The Omarchy project has released Omarchy 4.0.5, introducing a substantial collection of hardware compatibility improvements, desktop performance optimizations, security fixes, and package updates for the Arch Linux-based operating system. Released on October 18, 2026, the update focuses on refining the existing desktop experience while preparing the distribution for its next major feature release.
Among the most important changes are improved NVIDIA hybrid graphics support for laptops, an updated Linux 7.2.8 kernel featuring the BORE scheduler, and compatibility improvements for Qt 6.12. The release also resolves boot-related black screens, fixes audio problems affecting certain Dell and USB speaker configurations, corrects Steam graphics driver selection, and improves the reliability of several desktop utilities.
Although version 4.0.5 is primarily a maintenance release, its improvements extend across many of the components that determine how smoothly a Linux desktop operates. From faster application launches and more responsive desktop panels to stronger security defaults and more reliable hardware detection, the update demonstrates Omarchy's continued emphasis on delivering a preconfigured Linux environment that requires relatively little manual setup.
Omarchy Continues Refining Its Arch Linux Desktop Experience
Omarchy is an opinionated Arch Linux-based distribution designed to provide a ready-to-use development and desktop environment built around the Hyprland Wayland compositor. Rather than presenting users with a minimal installation that requires extensive customization, Omarchy combines a carefully selected collection of applications, themes, keyboard shortcuts, and system configurations into a cohesive desktop experience.
The distribution has attracted attention among developers and experienced Linux users who appreciate keyboard-driven workflows, tiling window management, and the flexibility of Arch Linux without necessarily wanting to configure every component manually. Its desktop environment emphasizes efficient navigation, integrated development tools, and a consistent visual design, while retaining access to Arch's extensive software repositories.
Version 4.0.5 continues that approach by concentrating on problems that can interrupt everyday workflows. The release improves hardware compatibility, corrects regressions introduced by newer software packages, and reduces unnecessary delays in common desktop operations. Rather than introducing a dramatic redesign, the developers have focused on making the existing environment more predictable and responsive.
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- KDE Plasma 6.8 Marks 30 Years With a Major Shift to Wayland and a More Powerful Linux Desktop
by George Whittaker
The KDE Project has officially released KDE Plasma 6.8, introducing a substantial collection of desktop improvements while celebrating three decades of open-source software development. Released on October 14, 2026, exactly 30 years after Matthias Ettrich announced the original KDE project, this anniversary edition brings significant changes to display management, accessibility, graphics performance, remote desktop functionality, system monitoring, and application theming.
Perhaps the most consequential development is KDE's decision to retire native X11 desktop sessions in Plasma 6.8, completing its transition toward Wayland as the primary display architecture. The release also introduces NVIDIA triple buffering by default, improved HDR support, a more capable remote desktop server, CPU affinity controls in System Monitor, and expanded capabilities for the experimental Union theming engine. These improvements reflect KDE's effort to modernize the Linux desktop while maintaining the customization and flexibility that have defined Plasma for years.
Plasma 6.8 is therefore more than a commemorative release. It represents an important architectural transition for one of Linux's most widely used desktop environments, with changes that affect both everyday users and developers building applications for the next generation of Linux desktops.
KDE Celebrates Three Decades of Open-Source Desktop Development
KDE's history began on October 14, 1996, when Matthias Ettrich proposed creating a consistent graphical desktop environment for Unix-like operating systems. At the time, Linux was becoming increasingly capable as a free operating system, but its graphical experience remained fragmented. Users could choose from several window managers and applications, yet there was no universally integrated desktop environment comparable to the commercial graphical systems available elsewhere.
The original KDE initiative sought to address that limitation by building a cohesive desktop around the Qt application framework. Over the following decades, the project evolved through several major generations, introducing increasingly sophisticated desktop technologies while expanding into applications, development frameworks, mobile interfaces, and other open-source projects.
Plasma 6.8 arrives as KDE marks its 30th anniversary, but its development priorities are focused primarily on the future. Rather than introducing a purely cosmetic anniversary edition, KDE has concentrated on modernizing underlying desktop infrastructure while improving accessibility, usability, and performance. The result is a release that combines immediately visible enhancements with architectural changes intended to support future development.
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- Linux Moves Closer to Retiring the x32 ABI After Years of Limited Adoption
by George Whittaker
Linux kernel developers are renewing efforts to retire the x32 application binary interface (ABI), a little-used compatibility feature that attempted to combine the advantages of 64-bit processors with the smaller memory footprint of 32-bit applications. A revised patch series submitted on October 8, 2026, proposes the first steps toward disabling the interface, potentially ending support for an architecture experiment introduced more than 14 years ago.
The latest proposal comes from Sebastian Andrzej Siewior, a Linux kernel developer at Linutronix who has been working on the removal effort throughout 2026. Rather than immediately deleting every component associated with x32, the proposed approach would first prevent the feature from being enabled through normal kernel configuration. This would give remaining users and distribution maintainers an opportunity to respond before the underlying implementation is removed.
The effort reflects a broader challenge in Linux development: maintaining compatibility with older or rarely used technologies while keeping the kernel manageable, secure, and efficient. Although x32 offered theoretical performance and memory advantages, it never achieved widespread adoption. With conventional x86_64 software dominating modern Linux systems, developers are increasingly questioning whether the additional maintenance burden remains justified.
Understanding the Linux x32 ABI
The x32 ABI was introduced with Linux kernel 3.4 in 2012 as an alternative to conventional 32-bit and 64-bit application environments. Its goal was to provide applications with access to the architectural improvements of x86_64 processors while retaining smaller data types and pointers associated with 32-bit software.
Traditional 32-bit x86 applications use the i386 ABI, which operates with a more limited register set and 32-bit execution conventions. Standard x86_64 applications, meanwhile, benefit from additional general-purpose registers, wider registers, and modern calling conventions, but they normally use 64-bit pointers. Those larger pointers can increase memory consumption in applications that maintain large numbers of pointer-heavy data structures.
The x32 ABI attempted to offer a compromise. Applications would execute using the x86_64 instruction set and its larger register file while retaining 32-bit integers, long values, and pointers. This programming model is commonly described as ILP32, meaning that integers, long integers, and pointers are all 32 bits wide.
The distinction can be illustrated by comparing the expected sizes of common C data types:
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- Google's Kage Project Rethinks Linux Kernel Security With Isolated Device Drivers
by George Whittaker
Google is exploring a new approach to Linux kernel security that could significantly change how device drivers interact with the operating system. The experimental project, known as Kage, uses compiler-based sandboxing to isolate drivers inside the kernel, potentially limiting the damage caused by memory corruption, programming errors, and exploitable vulnerabilities without requiring drivers to run as separate user-space processes.
The research was presented at the Linux Plumbers Conference 2026, held October 5–7, with Stanford University and Google researcher Zachary Yedidia discussing how LLVM's Lightweight Fault Isolation (LFI) technology can create restricted execution environments for native kernel code. Unlike conventional isolation techniques, which often depend on separate processes or virtual machines, Kage attempts to preserve the performance advantages of kernel-space execution while reducing the amount of memory individual drivers can access.
Early prototypes have already demonstrated the concept using NVMe storage, networking, and Wi-Fi drivers. However, Kage remains an experimental research project rather than a feature available in mainstream Linux distributions. Its developers are still investigating performance, hardware access, and compatibility with more complicated drivers, including graphics hardware.
Why Device Drivers Remain a Major Linux Security Challenge
Linux device drivers are responsible for connecting the operating system to hardware components, including graphics cards, network adapters, storage controllers, USB devices, and wireless chipsets. Most traditional Linux drivers execute in kernel space, giving them privileged access to system resources and the ability to interact directly with hardware. This architecture is one reason Linux can deliver high performance across such a broad range of devices, but it also creates a significant security challenge.
When an ordinary application encounters a memory error, the operating system can often terminate that process without affecting the rest of the system. Kernel drivers operate under different conditions. Because they typically share the kernel's address space and privileges, an invalid memory access or exploitable vulnerability can affect unrelated kernel components, potentially resulting in a system crash, privilege escalation, or complete compromise of the operating system.
The challenge becomes more complicated when considering the enormous number of drivers supported by Linux. Some are maintained by large organizations with extensive testing infrastructure, while others receive contributions from smaller development teams or individual maintainers. Even carefully reviewed drivers can contain bugs, particularly when they interact with complicated hardware, asynchronous operations, and memory-management mechanisms.
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