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(Two Column)
- [$] LWN.net Weekly Edition for October 29, 2026
Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition:
Front: Python JIT; Kernel clean up; Rust panics; Future Rust features; Northstar browser; 7.4 merge window; Smaller kernel stacks. Briefs: KeePassXC 2.8.0; Redox ring buffers; Rust in systemd; Quotes; ... Announcements: Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.
- A report from the LPC sched_ext microconference
The Linux Plumbers Conference blog has areport from the sched_ext microconference held in Prague.
Three main topics dominated the discussions Priority inversion and how to handle it in sched_ext: lock holder and lock waiter preemption, time slice extension, and making proxy execution work together with BPF schedulers. Paravirtualized scheduling: letting the host and guest schedulers cooperate across the VM boundary, with sched_ext as the policy engine on the host. Device and topology-aware scheduling: using hardware feedback (Intel HFI), device/accelerator locality and cache topology to drive task placement.
- [$] The campaign to push Northstar into Linux distributions
There is not a broad selection of mature, open-source web-browser enginesfor Linux users. Most of the browsers available for Linux are based on one ofjust three projects: Chromium's Blink, Firefox'sGecko, or WebKit. A new entrant wouldgenerally be seen as a welcome alternative, but the recent campaign to push oneof the LLM-written Nordstjernen browsersinto Debian and Arch Linux has raised some questions aboutthe project's development and security processes.
- Redox OS ring buffers project summary
The Redox OS project, which is aUnix-like microkernel-based operating system written in Rust, has published a report on the workthat it has done in the last year to implement io_uring-likeI/O.
Last year, the Redox team received a grant to develop io_uring-like RingBuffer support at the system task level, as a first step towards ring buffercommunications between the application and the majority of system services. Thisphase of the work finished up in September, as the last pieces were put inplace.
[...] In addition to implementing the Ring Buffer machinery for our systemservices and drivers that can support it, an io_uring andliburing-like API for applications was completed anddemonstrated. There was also substantial work done on support crates, includingan async executor for drivers.
And there was some very exciting work on various performance improvements, toallow much faster switching between applications and their system services. ButI will let the team tell you all the technical details.
- Security updates for Wednesday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (emacs, thunderbird, and xdg-dbus-proxy), Debian (bind9, openjdk-21, pdns, php-mongodb, and thunderbird), Fedora (brotli, chromium, clevis, eog, flatpak, ghostscript, kernel, libinstpatch, libreswan, mingw-freetype, mingw-gstreamer1, mingw-gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free, mingw-gstreamer1-plugins-base, mingw-gstreamer1-plugins-good, openssh, perl-Alien-Brotli, perl-DBI, python3.12, rust-onefetch, stargz-snapshotter, util-linux, and webkitgtk), Mageia (cifs-utils, libxml2, packages, perl-Cpanel-JSON-XS, perl-Text-CSV_XS, sogo, util-linux, and weechat), Oracle (brotli, firefox, flatpak, gcc-toolset-15-gcc, kernel, libreswan, nodejs:22, nodejs:24, python-urllib3, skopeo, and xdg-dbus-proxy), Slackware (proftpd), SUSE (azure-storage-azcopy, containerd, corepack24, grok-build, ImageMagick, libsoup-2_4-1, matrix-synapse, podman, psqlODBC, python, python-M2Crypto-doc, python-Twisted-doc, and xen), and Ubuntu (authd).
- Robinson: Raspberry Pi 5 on Fedora
Peter Robinson has written a blog post aboutthe current state of Fedora support for Raspberry Pi 5devices. According to Robinson, the upcoming Fedora 45 release willwork—with caveats—onall variants of the Raspberry Pi Model 5B; theCompute Module 5 and Pi 500+ are still works in progress.For Fedora 44 release you need to have a temporary workaround when booting. Ifyou update to the latest kernel/firmware straight away this isn't then neededbeyond the first boot. The workaround isn't needed for Fedora 45 so if you'regoing to try this out I suggest you go and grab your favourite flavour of Fedorafrom the Fedora 45 release candidates and jump straight in there! You will getan accelerated desktop with storage/network/USB. There's not currently anysupport for sound and a number of other things.
See Robinson's post for instructions on creating an Fedora image to use witha Raspberry Pi 5.
- [$] Guidelines for panics in kernel code
Alexandre Courbot spends most of his time working on the kernel doing codereviews. Recently, he's been wondering about what the standards should be forwhen Rust code is allowed to panic, and how it should do error handling moregenerally. Unlike many of the other talks at Kangrejos 2026, his talk was notpresenting some existing work, but rather hoping to solicit opinions on thetopic from the assembled Rust for Linux developers. He brought along a collection of trickycases that he had run into recently to prompt discussion.
- Security updates for Tuesday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (bind, bind9.18, brotli, buildah, container-tools:4.0, container-tools:rhel8, firefox, flatpak, freeipmi, gcc, golang, grafana, httpd, kernel, kernel-rt, libreswan, libX11, lrzsz, nodejs:14, nodejs:18, oci-seccomp-bpf-hook, podman, python-urllib3, python3.9, python38:3.8 and python38-devel:3.8, skopeo, thunderbird, xorg-x11-server, and xz), Debian (inkscape, swupdate, thunderbird, and valkey), Fedora (brotli, dolphin, helix, kernel, libical, mingw-python3, nsd, perl-Alien-Brotli, perl-Plack, perl-Plack-Middleware-ReverseProxy, rust-dua-cli, rust-gengo-bin, rust-gitui, stgit, unshield, and webkitgtk), Mageia (evolution, freetype2, ghostscript, kronosnet, libde265, libical, libjxl, packages, perl-DBI, perl-ExtUtils-Typemaps-Default, perl-Imager, vim, and webkit2), Oracle (bind, bind9.18, brotli, buildah, ca-certificates, firefox, flatpak, freeipmi, grafana, httpd, kernel, libreswan, libX11, lrzsz, nodejs22, nodejs24, nodejs:22, oci-seccomp-bpf-hook, perl-DBI:1.641, perl:5.32, postfix, postgresql16-pgvector, postgresql18-pgvector, python3.9, skopeo, unbound, xorg-x11-server, and xz), Red Hat (grafana, grafana-pcp, python3.12-urllib3, and python3.14-urllib3), SUSE (ca-certificates-mozilla, chromium, gn, cifs-utils, containerd, cpupower, cyrus-sasl, gcc13, gcc7, go1.26, go1.27, google-osconfig-agent, kernel, kubernetes-old, libsoup, libX11, libXi, openssh, podman, python-nltk, python-PyJWT, python-social-auth-core, rekor, runc, suseconnect-ng, and unbound), and Ubuntu (brotli and nginx).
- [$] Python's experimental JIT to be removed
Python's experimentaljust-in-time (JIT) compiler, which was added to CPython in 2024 for the 3.13 release,is on its way out. In June, the Python steering council announcedthat it was pausing work on the JIT in CPython's main branch until there was anaccepted Python EnhancementProposal (PEP) that addressed concerns about maintenance, compatibility, andset clear success metrics as well as a timeline for completion. After creatingPEP 836 ("JIT Go Brrr: ThePath to a Supported JIT Compiler for CPython")to try to meet the council's request, and after months of discussion, theJIT maintainers have withdrawn the PEP. For now, it appears that development onthe once-promising project has come to an end.
- Two stable kernels for Monday
Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced the release of the 7.2.13 and 6.18.59 stable kernels. Each contains a number offixes throughout the tree. Users are advised to upgrade.
- Ubuntu Core Desktop accelerating development ahead of 27.04
Canonical has announced its accelerating development of Ubuntu Core Desktop, its immutable, snap-based version of its desktop OS. Ubuntu Core Desktop was announced in 2023 and made available in preview for enthusiasts to try. But a lack of of obvious progress and direction (not to mention up-to-date builds) had left many wondering if Canonical was running cool on the idea. Now, things are0
- RefreshOS 3.1 Strengthens Its Debian Foundation With Independent Package Management
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 how0
- CachyOS vs. Fedora 45 vs. Ubuntu 26.10 Performance On AMD Ryzen 9
With the recently released Ubuntu 26.10 and the nearly-released Fedora Workstation 45, Phoronix readers have begun inquiring about fresh benchmarks looking at how they stack up against the performance-optimized, Arch Linux based CachyOS. Up today are our first CachyOS vs. Fedora 45 vs. Ubuntu 26.10 benchmarks on an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D2 desktop system.
- Bank of America Kindly Asks That You Don't Share Your Password With Your AI Assistant
Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from TechCrunch: In an email blast to customers titled "Protecting your finances in the Al World," Bank of America urged customers to never share their username and password with another person or an outside service, "including an Al-enabled tool or agent that offers to act on your behalf." [...] A spokesperson for Bank of America confirmed the authenticity of the bank's email that was posted to social media. But heed the bank's warning, for if things go wrong, it's on you. Account agreements at most banks hold customers responsible for anyone they give their log-in to. "If you do share your credentials," its email reads, "keep in mind that you're responsible for activity resulting from that access."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Anthropic Engineer Declares the Coding Interview Dead
An Anthropic engineering manager says he has stopped using traditional coding interviews because AI can now outperform candidates on the kinds of programming challenges they typically contain. "There's no more point in giving you a little React challenge than there is in quizzing people about assembly; Claude is now better at both," said Felix Rieseberg in a blog post. "Our most impactful builders are successful regardless of how good they are at these tests." The Register reports: "I don't think the coding interview is going to come back," said Rieseberg. "It's easy to get sentimental given how many copies of 'Algorithms and Data Structures' were bought in hopes of unlocking good jobs and a better future -- or how the death of the coding interview is another milestone in software engineering reaching a new level of abstraction." At the same time, he's not certain what will replace it. "I'm probably not the only manager trying to figure out how to interview for people who build well with AI," Rieseberg wrote. "I haven't quite gotten there yet -- but I'm scanning resumes and portfolios for little prototypes that exhibit taste, empathy, and principled thinking. If you have figured out something better, I'd love to hear how." In a response posted to social media, Jaana Dogan, principal engineer at Google, said: "I'm not doing a ton of coding interviews nowadays but I'd be interested to interview how people use coding agents," she wrote. "That itself gives me more signals about candidates' coding skills." "We are not seeing tech companies abandon skills assessments widely across the industry -- at least not yet," added Nicole Bachaud, labor economist at ZipRecruiter. "In fact, based on our October 2026 Employer Survey of 1,500 employers, we see the tech industry (Information sector specifically) is actually the most likely to test for skills, with 62.5 percent of employers requiring formal skill tests on initial applications." "The change at Anthropic might be reflecting a shift away from technical skills towards more human, soft skills," said Bachaud. "As AI becomes fully capable of writing code, tech employers may be pivoting away from rote technical testing and heavily toward human-centric soft skills." She argues that while AI may be able to code well, it can't replace critical thinking. "A staggering 61.5 percent of Information employers now report that 'critical thinking' is a primary skill lacking in today's candidate pool," she said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Massive Leak Exposes 41,000 Homeland Security Workers
A massive leak has exposed records tied to more than 41,000 DHS employees and contractors, including roughly 10,000 ICE personnel. The data, reportedly taken from DHS's Okta login system, reveals phone numbers, email and office addresses, reporting relationships, and permission groups associated with undercover operations, wiretapping and surveillance tools. Wired reports: In all, the leak provides a map of how DHS is organized and how it operates. The records, which span DHS itself as well as seven component agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection, were last updated on August 19, 2026. The transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets and cybersecurity researcher and journalist maia arson crimew previewed the data to WIRED, which they say they obtained from a group calling itself the Department of Peace. DDoSecrets published the archive, which it calls "Icepick," on Wednesday. In a press release, DDoSecrets says the data is from DHS's Okta login system. In a note with the files, the hackers wrote, "They have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs." An Okta spokesperson tells WIRED that it is unaware of any breach of its systems. "We are aware of this report. Okta is secure, and we have no evidence our data or systems were compromised," the spokesperson says.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Amazon Puts a Camera In Its Echo Studio So Alexa Can See
Amazon has added a camera to its Echo Studio speaker, allowing Alexa to visually identify objects, help with tasks and remotely monitor a room. For those concerned about privacy, Amazon is keeping a camera-free version available. The Next Web reports: The camera speaker ships today for $249.99. Hold up a board game box and Alexa can explain the rules, or show it a box of cereal and it can help you reorder it, according to Amazon. Owners can also check in on the room from the Alexa app while they are away. The Echo Studio without a camera stays on sale at $219.99. A dedicated button turns off the microphones and any camera, and a visual indicator shows when a camera streams images or video to the cloud, Amazon said. Certain features require Alexa+, which is included with a Prime membership. Other devices Amazon unveiled today include an Echo Time alarm clock, an Alexa Photo Frame and the Echo Show 16.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Are AI Execs Too Out of Touch To Build For the General Public?
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Former Yahoo CEO and early Google engineer Marissa Mayer is catching a lot of flak for how she uses AI. In an interview about her new app Dazzle, an AI assistant that learns from your camera roll, Mayer poses what she believes is an impressive flex for the product: It helped her come up with three bullet points about her 10-year-old daughter for a birthday presentation at school, describing her as "empathetic, creative, and an animal lover." It's a vague description, like a generic horoscope -- it could probably describe a lot of 10-year-olds. Some onlookers, like progressive activist Leah Greenberg, marveled that "the fact that Marissa Mayer would voluntarily disclose this to a reporter is a pretty good demonstration of how deeply the culture of Silicon Valley has diverged from the rest of humanity." [...] After publication, Mayer defended herself in a long X post. She claims she was not relying on Dazzle to explain her child to her, but rather, she was testing what her prototype could do -- it resurfaced photos of "forgotten kindergarten projects," like a "snake devenomer" or "sandcat playground," illustrating her daughter's creativity and care for animals. Fair enough. But Mayer remarks in the same interview that people could also use her AI to outsource the mental load of "figuring out the theme for your child's birthday party." She says she's used her app to plan a playdate for her daughter, book family activities on vacation, and decide what to be for Halloween. She even proposes that her AI assistant could coordinate plans with her husband's AI assistant. When the reporter asks her if it's depressing to imagine this "frictionless future planned by AI," Mayer replies, "I haven't really thought that through." The bigger question is: What should we outsource to AI? "What feels like grunt work to someone might be a meaningful part of parenthood for someone else," says Fortune's Emma Hinchliffe. Michael Tasner, Founder and CEO of No Joke Marketing, adds: "Customers are drowning in AI slop, and they can spot it. Use AI for the low-stakes work behind the scenes. Keep the moments that matter to your customers human. Human connection is becoming the new premium."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Amazon Finds 'Tokenmaxxing' Lacks Productivity Gains
Ancient Slashdot reader Gilmoure shares a report from Tom's Hardware, adding: "Huh. Looks like consuming one's own slop does not turn the wheels of industry." From the report: Amazon wants its engineers to quit chasing token counts, warning that heavy AI usage does not automatically mean better work. In updated engineering guidelines published on October 27, the company laid out how developers and managers should gauge AI's real impact -- and the takeaway is blunt: consuming more tokens is not the same as delivering more value. [...] According to the memo, metrics such as AI adoption rates, token consumption, code changes, and code reviews become "deeply flawed" when they are disconnected from actual results. Turning them into targets, Amazon says, encourages wasteful behavior that clashes with its emphasis on "frugality and simplicity" and can raise both compute bills and software complexity. The company's preferred yardstick is long-term results. "We believe that it is best to measure, and be measured by, long-term outcomes," Amazon wrote. That does not mean managers should ignore usage data altogether, as input metrics remain useful when examined "with care and judgment" alongside other indicators. Amazon suggests looking at both the teams using AI the least and those using it the most to determine whether adoption is translating into better delivery. [...] The memo also pushes back on the idea that every task needs an AI tool. If current tooling does not benefit someone's work, Amazon says, that is "a finding, not a failing." Engineers who can explain where today's tools fall short are demonstrating judgment rather than reluctance to adopt AI.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Apple Announces Its First Touchscreen MacBook Pro
Apple has unveiled its first touchscreen MacBook Pro, reversing a position the company held for more than 15 years that touchscreens were poorly suited for laptops. 9to5Mac reports: The new machine features a light-up Apple logo, tandem OLED, and touch input on the display. It runs on the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, like the existing MacBook Pro models without OLED touch displays. John Ternus, who is rocking a new profile picture with the new Mac, shared the first look at the new machine on X. Pricing for the new laptop starts at $2899 for the 14-inch model. The 16-inch version starts at $3399. Pre-orders are available starting today with deliveries starting November 6.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- EMACS Turns 50
"EMACS, the mother of all editors, turns 50!" writes Slashdot reader dr_jerry, sharing a report from MIT Technology Review: Programming used to be a very different experience from the one we know today. In fact, the first programmers didn't write code at all; the six women who worked on the ENIAC, one of the world's first computers, at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946 did it by physically configuring switches, cables, and plugboards. A few years later, MIT engineers programmed the Whirlwind by punching code onto paper tape that was then loaded into the computer's memory -- making it among the first "stored-program" machines. Later, they and others moved on to punch cards, one for each line of code. By the early 1960s, programmers with interactive computers could use a "line editor" to type their code on teletypes -- large, noisy keyboard-and-printer machines. They'd type one line of code at a time, and their work would be saved on a spinning hard disk the size of a modern washing machine. But there was still no such thing as the now-familiar full-screen text editors that allow programmers to see and modify many lines at a time on a display. One of the first such tools, EMACS, turns 50 this year, and it is still widely used. EMACS first ran on the early video terminals at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1976, but its core concepts were so powerful that it was rewritten for many operating systems in the decades that followed. Apple even distributed it with Mac OS X. Beyond that, the software-sharing community that started around EMACS helped give rise to the modern-day free software movement and the GNU/Linux operating system.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- FCC Approves Amazon Leo's $11.5 Billion Acquisition of Globalstar
The FCC has approved (PDF) Amazon Leo's $11.5 billion acquisition of satellite operator Globalstar, giving the Starlink rival additional infrastructure and spectrum to expand into direct-to-device satellite connectivity. Engadget reports: You may not know Globalstar but have possibly used its services, as the company provides Apple's emergency satellite connectivity for compatible iPhones and Watches. Interestingly, Apple also held a 20 percent stake in Globalstar prior to its takeover. As part of the deal, Leo will power satellite services for supported iPhone and Apple Watch models. Leo, a rival to SpaceX's Starlink, has been active of late. The company recently announced that it has 400 satellites in orbit and revealed last month that it had launched high-quality satellite internet service in Uzbekistan. It's teaming up with Delta to eventually bring satellite internet to flights, as well. Amazon recently added six new Arianespace launches and aims to have more than 3,000 low-earth orbit satellites up in the near future, still well short of SpaceX's 11,000 satellites.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Google Begins Certifying Registered App Stores For Android
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Running an app ecosystem has gotten a lot more complex for Google after its loss in the Epic Games antitrust case. While U.S. users can access app stores in Google Play by court order, international users will use Google's voluntary Registered App Stores program. Google has announced that stores wishing to be part of that program are now free to apply, and support will roll out to some Android devices later this year. App stores accepted into the program will enjoy preferential treatment on the Android platform. Users of approved stores will be able to install apps with a single click, similar to the experience in the Play Store. These stores will also be allowed to update apps silently in the background like Google's store does. [...] Registered App Stores are still happening on Android, but they won't be supported in the U.S. -- you can go to Google Play for alternative stores stateside, but so far, Aptoide remains the only one listed. Those operating Android app storefronts who want to be included in the international program can now review the program and begin the enrollment process. Any store hoping to get approval will have to adhere to a number of requirements, including protecting intellectual property, removing illegal content, and publishing a privacy policy for both users and developers. Google also requires several ongoing security measures to ensure the stores do not give malware easier access to Android devices. As part of the application process, store operators must provide documentation for all these points (in English) and upload copies of all their apps. It costs $10,000 per year to participate in the Android Registered App Stores program, and that fee must be paid before Google will review the application. Google says this fee covers the additional support necessary to run the program. There may also be additional review fees if Google detects a store has a problem with malware. Google plans to roll out support in dozens of nations, which includes most of the world outside of the U.S. and Europe. The program goes live on December 1, but it will only work on Android devices running the latest builds of Android 17. Google says support will start with Android 17 QPR2, which is expected to arrive on Pixel phones in the coming weeks.
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]
- NetBSD adds nano-like text editor to base system
Flag LinuxNetBSD made a seemingly small, but very welcome announcement today: theyre adding a more user-friendly, easier to use command-line text editor to the base install. To ease the transition for new users, NetBSD -current now includes an alternative editor to vi(1) and xedit(1) in its base system, atto(1). It is a modeless screen-based editor similar to nano, pico, xedit, or emacs. It is only 48 kilobytes, making it suitable for inclusion in the rescue system. ↫ NetBSD Foundation on Fedi Most guides and how-to article for operating systems like NetBSD assume the use of vi, and while I dont want to ignite a flamewar, vi isnt exactly the most approachable or friendly piece of software out there. My occassional text editing in the command line is all done through nano, but now Im definitely curious to give atto a go. While other tech news websites are plastered with articles about a PC maker adding a touch screen to one of their laptops, were talking about a new CLI text editor in NetBSDs base system. Priorities, folks.
- Windows CLAT is now generally available
Windows 11 25H2, starting with build 26200.9550, now comes with something called CLAT. As organizations move toward IPv6-only and IPv6-mostly networks, some applications still depend on IPv4-only applications or services. Windows CLAT helps those applications continue to work when a network does not provide native IPv4 connectivity. CLAT is the client-side component of`464XLAT. It statelessly translates IPv4 traffic from the Windows client into IPv6 for transport across the network to a provider-side translator (PLAT), which provides stateful NAT64 translation to IPv4. ↫ Jim Alumbaugh at Microsofts Networking Blog Yet another important component of the long, neverending transition to IPv6. Like endlessly cutting a cucumber in half, youll never quite run out of cucumber to cut.
- Sylphide OS: an operating system for computers based on microcontrollers
Do you want a hobby operating system with a desktop for a microcontroller-based computer? Sylphide OS is a new project aiming to build just that. For the last few weeks, I’ve worked on a new pet project: an operating system for computers based on microcontrollers. There aren’t many yet, but I expect them to be more and more common. Why MCU computers ? You get a relatively very simple platform, booting straight to your code (or almost), and you can understand the whole architecture. Exactly as it was with home computers long ago. And not at all what you get with modern computers. Even booting involves lot of very different systems, black magic, and even blog/proprietary software. ↫ Thomas Capricelli Its very early in development, but by building it atop FreeRTOS, Capricelli had a head-start. Its got a basic desktop, one that might need some changes to avoid the lawyers. The codes open source, of course.
- Oldest GUI application that still runs on Windows 11
Whats the oldest Windows GUI application you can still run on Windows 11 today, without any modifications? For now, the best answer Boris Popik can come up with is an innocuous application from build 347 of Windows NT 3.1, an early prerelease: CDPLAYER.EXE. You cant go any older than that, because earlier prerelease builds had not yet finalised its PE format and calling convention. Neat find. Popik also mentions a few other contenders, but I wont spoil those here.
- Another month of Redox improvements
Another month has crumbled to dust under the oppressive boots of time, so its time for another month of Redox improvements. This past month, Redox build system gained support for Clang, SDL2 saw performance improvements, and WebKitGTK3s HTML layout rendering was fixed. Users of Intel Tiger Lake processors can now enjoy external display hot-plugging, and overall system performance has been improved in a variety of ways. And as always, theres the long lists of kernel, relibc, and driver improvements and fixes as well. Redox keeps making big strides every month, and its definitely one of the few alternative operating systems that actually feels like it might, one day, be an actual contender for general purpose use.
- Microsoft.UI.Reactor: a C#-first way to build WinUI apps
Thew day ends in a Y, so Microsoft is launching a new way to build Windows applications. Get excited, Windows application developers! If you caught our session at Microsoft Build 2026 or you’ve been watching the repo, you’ve seen this one taking shape in public for a while now, and a lot has changed since Build. Here’s the longer tour: Microsoft.UI.Reactor, an experimental C# framework that brings the MVU (Model-View-Update) pattern to WinUI desktop apps. No XAML files, no code-behind, no ViewModels. Two things before the fun part. Reactor is experimental: no support policy, no API guarantees, published this early on purpose because we’d rather hear we got the design wrong now than once people have shipped on it. And it is not a replacement for XAML or MVVM, which we’ll come back to. ↫ Alexandre Zollinger Chohfi at Microsofts Dev Blogs At multiple points in the linked blog post, Microsoft underlines that no, Reactor is not going to replace XAML. Im sure Windows developers who learned Win32, Silverlight, WinRT XAML, WPF, UWP, WinUI 2 and 3, and all the others, over the past two decades will feel deeply comforted by Microsofts insistence that Reactor will not replace XAML. Microsoft repeats: this wont replace XAML. They swear.
- MacOS Extensions pack for the Apple Network Server v1.0
Weve been following along with Carmen Kaisers Apple Network Server exploits, and by now things are really starting to come together for owners of this machine. When we last left off, the ROM to allow Mac OS to run on the machine which normally runs IBMs AIX, but there were still a number of bugs, limitations, and issues to be worked out. A lot of progress on that front has been made. The good news is, many of the issues with the preproduction ROM in Mac OS can be fixed or worked around in software. So Ive fixed or worked around many of them in software: the MACE Ethernet is fixed, the on-board video is now supported, and the ANS can restart properly back into Mac OS. Plus, because its the preproduction ROM, you can still boot AIX, thus preserving the entire historical reason for Shiners existence. Heres the first cut of that software and how it was developed. ↫ Cameron Kaiser Theres still two issues Kaiser wishes to address the internal SCSI bays dont work, and the ROM doesnt properly register parity RAM but the progress here is amazing.
- CoW, which (sort-of) brings FVWM to Wayland, reaches version 0.4
Thomas Adam, one of the core developers of FVWM, has been working on CoW for a while now. CoW can best be described as FVWM for Wayland!, which uniquely uses the River compositor. River, in turn, is unique in that it does not combine the compositor and window manager into a single program, allowing for a more traditional X11-like approach. Adam released version 0.4 today, which comes with a load of fixes, changes, and minor improvements, as well as one bigger-ticket item: container windows. This PR introduces the concept of a top-level container window. This means a window can be subdivided into columns and rows (called panes) and can be resized independently of one another. The idea for this has been unashamedly stolen from shod. ↫ Thomas Adam Ive been keeping an eye on CoW ever since I learned about it when it was first released, and at some point soon I want to build a desktop around it for myself.
- The many many missed opportunities of Sonic 06
Speaking of games, if youve ever heard anything about or even played Sonic 06, you know this wasnt the most polished entry in the hedgehogs franchise. In fact, its probably one of the worst, and considering the average quality of Sonic games, thats quite an achievement. The team thats working on decompiling the game to make it run on the PC obviously had to dive deep into the games inner workings, and the process learned a lot about why, exactly, the game is so notoriously bad. It really makes you wonder what exactly went wrong? If you look at what limited footage we have of beta content, we can see many effects that aren’t present in the final game. Kingdom Valley had full bump maps, Castle Town had more complex geometry and plants, and New City’s collision implies a very different building layout at some point in development. It turns out, much of the cut content is actually still in the game, but is simply not enabled for performance reasons in vanilla. Even with the cut-back visuals, the game struggles to reach target FPS on real hardware. It’s not surprising that given the crunch Sonic Team were under to get the game out the door, these features were among the first to go. ↫ Isaac Marovitz The article details what, exactly, was turned off for the final release, and its quite an interesting read. Of course, the team intends to try and address many of these issues, and they think they can push the game and its engine to much greater heights.
- How to run a city builder on 16 MHz
When thinking about impressive technical achievements in retro games, most people will first point to graphical milestones set by action games like Doom or Quake. Rightfully so, but at least I am personally far more impressed by the early examples of the city builder genre. Simulating whole economies on a large scale with a fraction of today’s power seems impossible if modern builder games even struggle on modern machines. Of course this didn’t stop developers in the past to develop and run city builder games on significantly weaker hardware. The original SimCity for example lists Intel’s 386SX as the CPU in it’s system requirements. A CPU which at the time of it’s launch ran at magnificent 16 MHz. ↫ Lars Thießen Whats even more impressive are some of the other systems the origin al SimCity was ported to, which had even more limited hardware than a 386SX. The Super Nintendo got a SimCity port, which even included fun extras like a Mario statue and Bowser taking up the mantle of the Godzilla disaster, and additional systems the PC version didnt have. Hell, they even worked on a port to the NES, but it was cancelled and thought lost, until a relatively complete and working copy was discovered in 2017. Even this NES version contained features not available in the PC version. Hardware limitations really did breed a lot of innovation back in those days, and sometimes I wonder if programmers and developers could benefit from tasking themselves with working within such limitations today, if only to become a bit more prudent with resources.
- 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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- Speech Synthesis on Linux: Adding a Voice to Scripts and Systems
by George Whittaker
Linux users have long had a pragmatic relationship with text-to-speech. The classic open-source engines have been available for years, wired into accessibility tools and the occasional script, dependable but unmistakably robotic. They do the job where the job is simply to convert text to some kind of speech, but the mechanical output has kept them out of anything where the voice actually matters. The arrival of high-quality speech synthesis delivered over an API changes what is possible, letting Linux users add genuinely natural voices to scripts, services, and applications without hosting a heavyweight model themselves.
The Familiar Trade-Off
Anyone who has used the traditional Linux speech engines knows the trade-off. They are free, local, and scriptable, which fits the Linux ethos perfectly, but the voices are clearly synthetic. For accessibility and for utilitarian tasks where intelligibility is all that counts, that has been acceptable. For anything user-facing where the quality of the voice shapes the experience, it has not.
The alternative of running a modern, high-quality speech model locally is possible but comes with real costs: significant computational requirements, model management, and the ongoing maintenance of a demanding piece of infrastructure. For many use cases, particularly on servers, embedded systems, or ordinary workstations, that overhead is disproportionate to the need. This is the gap that an API-based approach fills, offering the quality of a large modern model without the burden of hosting one.
The API Approach on Linux
Delivering speech synthesis over an API fits naturally into how Linux users already build things. Rather than installing and maintaining a model, you make a request to a service and receive audio back, which you can then play, save, or pipe into whatever comes next. A Go to Full Article
- Archinstall 4.5 Released with AArch64 Support, Real-Time Kernels, and Major Installer Fixes
by George Whittaker
The Arch Linux project has released Archinstall 4.5, the latest version of its guided text-based installer, bringing expanded AArch64 support, new real-time Linux kernel options, additional translations, security improvements, and numerous fixes for installation workflows.
Archinstall 4.5 was released on September 29, 2026, roughly three months after Archinstall 4.4. The new version arrives just ahead of Arch Linux's October installation media refresh and has already been packaged as archinstall 4.5-1 for Arch Linux repositories.
While Archinstall remains optional, it provides users with a guided way to configure an Arch Linux installation without manually performing every step described in the Arch installation guide. Version 4.5 concentrates primarily on hardware support, installer reliability, security, and expanding the range of systems that can use the guided installation process.
AArch64 Support Gets a Major Upgrade
One of the biggest changes in Archinstall 4.5 is improved support for AArch64, the 64-bit ARM architecture.
The installer can now handle GRUB and Limine EFI installations on AArch64 systems. It also gains support for the proper AArch64 root partition type GUID.
Previously, parts of Archinstall's bootloader configuration were more heavily oriented toward x86_64 installations. The latest changes make its guided installation workflow more useful on ARM64 hardware.
AArch64 has become increasingly important throughout the Linux ecosystem. The architecture can now be found in cloud servers, development boards, laptops, workstations, and specialized computing platforms.
Supporting both GRUB and Limine EFI installations gives Archinstall more flexibility when preparing these systems.
GRUB Can Now Be Installed on AArch64
GRUB remains one of the most widely used Linux bootloaders, and Archinstall 4.5 extends its installation logic to AArch64 EFI systems.
This allows ARM64 installations to use a bootloader workflow much closer to what Archinstall already provides on conventional x86_64 UEFI computers.
The change doesn't mean every ARM device will automatically become compatible with Arch Linux. ARM hardware can still have highly platform-specific firmware and boot requirements.
It does, however, remove an important Archinstall limitation for AArch64 machines that provide conventional UEFI environments.
Limine EFI Support Expands to ARM64
The same architectural expansion applies to Limine.
Limine is a modern multiprotocol bootloader supported as one of Archinstall's bootloader choices. Archinstall 4.5 extends its EFI installation support to AArch64 as well.
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- systemd 262 Released with Static PID 1, Intel TDX, TPM Improvements, and New Container Features
by George Whittaker
The systemd project has officially released systemd 262, delivering another substantial update to the system and service manager used by most major Linux distributions. The final release was tagged on September 22, 2026, following three release candidates earlier in the month.
Systemd 262 introduces improvements across service management, containers, virtualization, encrypted storage, TPM security, networking, journal recovery, system updates, and unattended installations. Among the most interesting additions are the ability to build systemd as a single statically linked PID 1 binary, Intel TDX support in systemd-vmspawn, Live Update Orchestrator integration, improved TPM-backed encryption, and new fallback unit files embedded directly into the systemd manager.
The release also contains a rather unusual development safeguard: an AI/LLM canary intended to help identify code contributions generated by AI that haven't been properly reviewed by a human before submission.
systemd 262 Is Officially Available
The final systemd 262 source was tagged by systemd developer Luca Boccassi on September 22.
The upstream tag identifies commit 8cc40e0c5e9234bf45084751ac53b1fbfe70b492 as systemd v262, following release candidates published throughout September.
The release has already begun reaching Linux distribution development repositories.
Debian accepted systemd 262-1 into Debian Unstable on September 22, while Fedora has prepared systemd 262 packages for Fedora 45.
As usual, the speed at which systemd 262 reaches ordinary users will depend on each distribution's update policy.
systemd Can Now Become a Single Static PID 1 Binary
One of the most interesting changes in systemd 262 is support for building systemd as a single statically linked PID 1 and executor binary.
The feature is primarily intended for extremely small container environments.
Normally, systemd depends on a collection of dynamically linked libraries and supporting components. That architecture makes sense for a complete Linux distribution, but containers sometimes need a much smaller runtime environment.
The new static configuration makes it possible to create a more self-contained systemd executable suitable for minimal container images.
These builds avoid dynamically loading optional libraries and use simplified mechanisms for resolving users and groups rather than relying on the complete Name Service Switch infrastructure.
This doesn't mean normal Linux distributions will suddenly replace their standard systemd packages with a giant static executable. The capability is specifically useful for specialized container and minimal-system deployments.
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