Linux NewsMaking the Case for a Modern Synaptic-Style Package Manager on Linux
The Linux desktop has evolved, and it's high time for the “advanced package manager” experience to evolve with it.
GNU Awk 5.4.0 released
Version 5.4.0 of GNU awk (gawk) has been released. This is a major release with a change in gawk's default regular-expression matcher: it now uses MinRX as the default regular-expression engine. This matcher is fully POSIX compliant, which the current GNU matchers are not. In particular it follows POSIX rules for finding the longest leftmost submatches. It is also more strict as to regular expression syntax, but primarily in a few corner cases that normal, correct, regular expression usage should not encounter. Because regular expression matching is such a fundamental part of awk/gawk, the original GNU matchers are still included in gawk. In order to use them, give a value to the GAWK_GNU_MATCHERS environment variable before invoking gawk. [...] The original GNU matchers will eventually be removed from gawk. So, please take the time to notice and report any issues in the MinRX matcher, so that they can be ironed out sooner rather than later. See the release announcement for additional
Ladybird Browser Just Replaced C++ With Rust (And AI Did It in 2 Weeks)
Turns out AI is pretty handy when you need to port C++ code.
AOMedia Begins Developing OAC Next Generation Open Audio Codec
The Alliance for Open Media has started developing OAC, a new open-source audio codec intended as the long-term successor to Opus.
Firefox 148.0 released
Version 148 of Firefox has been released. The most notable change in this release is the addition of a "Block AI enhancements" option that allows turning off "new or current AI enhancements in Firefox, or pop-ups about them" with a single toggle. With this release, Firefox now supports the Trusted Types API to help prevent cross-site scripting attacks as well as the Sanitizer API that provides new methods for HTML manipulation. See the release notes for developers for changes that may affect web developers or those who create Firefox add-ons.
[$] As ye clone(), so shall ye AUTOREAP
The facilities provided by the kernel for the management of processes have evolved considerably in the last few years, driven mostly by the advent of the pidfd API. A pidfd is a file descriptor that refers to a process; unlike a process ID, a pidfd is an unambiguous handle for a process; that makes it a safer, more deterministic way of operating on processes. Christian Brauner, who has driven much of the pidfd-related work, is proposing two new flags for the clone3() system call, one of which changes the kernel's security model in a somewhat controversial way.
6 commands to clean up your Ubuntu system from the terminal
Spring cleaning made easy with some basic commands.
Master the Essential Keyboard Shortcuts in Linux Mint to Feel Like a Pro User
I am sharing some essential shortcuts to get you started. I will also briefly share how you can set custom shortcuts for all actions.
COSMIC Epoch 1.0.8 Released With More Desktop Refinements
While System76 has been hard at work on a redesigned Thelio desktop chassis design, this hasn't slowed down their software work. Today they shipped COSMIC Epoch 1.0.8 as the newest work on their open-source, Rust-based desktop environment used by their in-house Pop!_OS Linux distribution as well as found in other Linux distributions too...
Security updates for Tuesday
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (kernel, kernel-rt, and munge), Debian (openssl), Mageia (gegl), Oracle (firefox, freerdp, gnupg2, golang-github-openprinting-ipp-usb, grafana, grafana-pcp, java-11-openjdk, kernel, libpng15, munge, nodejs:20, nodejs:22, protobuf, and uek-kernel), SUSE (libpng12, libpng16, and openQA, openQA-devel-container, os-autoinst), and Ubuntu (gimp, libssh, and linux-azure).
8 quick tweaks that make a Linux desktop harder to break
Tired of desktop breaking? Learn the simple tricks that keep Linux running smooth, no matter what life throws at it.
Why Linux still isn't ready for your laptop in 2026
From broken sleep modes to missing fingerprint drivers, here is why your laptop might not be ready for the penguin just yet.
Clonezilla Live 3.3.1 Released with Linux Kernel 6.18
Clonezilla Live 3.3.1 upgrades to Linux kernel 6.18.9, adds support for converting 4Kn and 512n disks, and improves BitLocker handling.
How ‘Sandwich Money’ Can Keep Independent FOSS Reporting Alive
For the price of a sandwich, you can help keep FOSS journalism free -- in every sense of the word. The post How ‘Sandwich Money’ Can Keep Independent FOSS Reporting Alive appeared first on FOSS Force.
KDE Ships Plasma 6.6.1 with Wide-Ranging Stability Fixes
KDE Plasma 6.6.1 released, fixes many bugs in KWin, Discover, NetworkManager, and other core workspace modules.