by George Whittaker Linux kernel developers are moving forward with plans to remove the crypto_rng API layer, a long-standing component of the kernel's cryptographic subsystem. The proposed change is part of a broader effort to simplify the kernel's internal architecture by eliminating redundant code paths and encouraging developers to rely on the kernel's modern random number generation interfaces instead. (phoronix.com) Although the change happens entirely behind the scenes, it reflects the Linux kernel community's ongoing commitment to reducing technical debt, improving maintainability, and modernizing core infrastructure. What Is the crypto_rng Layer? The crypto_rng framework is an API within the Linux kernel's Crypto API that provides random number generation services for kernel components. Historically, it allowed different kernel subsystems and drivers to request random data through a generic cryptographic interface. Over time, however, the kernel's dedicated random number gener
Fan of the the Papirus icon theme will be pleased to hear there a new update – the first since May 2025. For Papirus’s first update in 2026 (the tardiness of which its maintainer, Serhii Yeremenko, apologises) brings over 80 new icons or updated icons spanning apps, games and user-interface icons, plus new file mimetypes and revised symlinks. Frequent updates are why Papirus icons are popular with Linux users, and have been for such a long time. Often, Linux icon packs debut with a big bang, the momentum fuels a few revisions but then things go quiet as people and maintainers move […]
StepSecurity is reporting the emergence of a new worm affecting NPM packages. The design of the worm is nothing new, but the rapidity with which it is exploiting captured NPM packager credentials is noteworthy. TL;DR: A self-propagating worm, which we are calling ChainDrop, is spreading rapidly through the npm ecosystem. So far 435 packages and more than 1,550 compromised versions have been flagged, starting with keyv@6.0.0. If you are using any of the packages listed below, assume your environment is compromised. We are still investigating the full scope; check back on this post for updates.
Hi, I am Konstantinos Giannakakis and the following is my journey to IT and FOSS. When I first enrolled in university, computer science was neither my field of study nor a part of my career plans. I pursued a degree ... Read more The post Konstantinos Giannakakis: From Curiosity to Mastery appeared first on Linux Professional Institute (LPI).
The recent discussion on "spawn templates" raised questions about whether it was time to provide an alternative to the classic Unix fork()/exec() pattern for process creation. One idea that was raised there was to shift the template pattern into an interface that could be used to efficiently assemble new processes from bare cloth, without duplicating the parent process. Preferably, that interface would be able to implement posix_spawn(). Li Chen, the author of the spawn-template work, has now responded with a patch series (written with significant LLM assistance) showing what a process-builder API for Linux might look like.
KDE Plasma 6.7.4 is now available as the fourth maintenance update to the KDE Plasma 6.7 desktop environment series with more improvements and bug fixes.
The universal document converter celebrates its 20th birthday with support for dozens of input and output formats, filters, templates, citations, and more.
Last week the 3mdeb firmware consulting firm released the first open-source firmware for a modern AMD Ryzen AM5 platform with their work to port AMD openSIL and Coreboot in their downstream Dasharo flavor to an MSI desktop ATX motherboard. Now that it's working out well, 3mdeb is working to upstream their AM5 platform support and Phoenix SoC support into upstream AMD openSIL as well as Coreboot...
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