Linux NewsKDE is a treasure trove of free games—here are the 5 best ones
KDE seems to have an app for everything—including games.
Ubuntu 26.04 Provides More Performance For AMD Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo"
Last week I provided benchmarks to quantify how the AMD Strix Halo graphics performance has evolved since launch one year ago, in today's article is a look at how the Zen 5 CPU performance with the flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 has evolved under Linux in the year since these exciting APUs began making their way to high-end laptops and desktops. Complementing the nice Radeon 8060S performance gains are also some nice CPU performance benefits quantified when using Ubuntu 26.04.
Intel QAT Driver With Linux 7.1 Adding Zstd Offload Support
The Intel QuickAssist "QAT" driver for the mainline Linux 7.1 kernel is adding support for Zstd offloading across QuickAssist Gen 4 / Gen 5 / Gen 6 accelerators for Zstandard compression as well as Zstandard decompression (limited there to the latest Gen 6 hardware)...
Linux's Second-In-Command Turns To New Fuzzing Tools For Uncovering Kernel Bugs
Greg Kroah-Hartman, the main Linux stable kernel maintainer and typically viewed as the second-in-command to the Linux kernel development, has turned to new "gregkh_clanker_t1000" fuzzing tooling to help uncover new kernel bugs...
Framework Reports More Memory Cost Increases, Some Good News For Framework 16
Framework Computer on Monday issued their latest update concerning the ongoing price increases for memory and solid state drives affecting the industry. There has been some more price increases, signs of some temporary reprieve, and then a bit of good news on pricing for select Framework hardware...
AMD ISP4 Driver On Track To Be Merged For Linux 7.2
It looks like with the Linux 7.2 kernel later in the year the AMD ISP4 driver will finally be merged to mainline. This driver is needed for the web camera on the HP ZBook Ultra G1a Strix Halo laptop and other future AMD Ryzen laptops...
RISC-V XIP Linux Feature Being Removed After It Keeps Breaking For Months At A Time
Introduced in Linux 5.13 back in 2021 was eXecute In Place "XIP" support for RISC-V that allows for the kernel image to be executed from ROM. The intent is on allowing the kernel to run from non-volatile storage like NOR flash that is directly addressable by the CPU and to reduce RAM usage. But after RISC-V XIP support is broken for months at a time, the feature is now set to be retired from the mainline kernel...
Mesa Granted Permanent Updates Exception For Fedora Linux
It doesn't change too much in practice with how Mesa updates typically have been handled under Fedora Linux, but now it's officially documented: Mesa graphics drivers have a permanent updates exception so new Mesa versions can be shipped as updates in Fedora stable releases...
Lemonade 10.1 Released For Latest Improvements For Local LLMs On AMD GPUs & NPUs
Following last month's Lemonade SDK 10.0 release that finally makes AMD Ryzen AI NPUs under Linux useful for running large language models (LLMs) where as before the Linux build could only target GPUs, released on Monday was Lemonade 10.1 with more enhancements to this local LLM solution...
Even in 2026, Linux Is Still Adding Support for Sega Dreamcast’s GD-ROM from the '90s
Linux continues to surprise. Linux kernel saw a new patch that adds support for Sega Dreamcast’s GD-ROM, a ’90s-era console technology that refuses to fade away.
Firefox’s free VPN rollout finally reached me – is it any good though?
Firefox recently added a free built-in VPN to its desktop browser, but access to the feature is rolling out gradually. I got the prompt on my Ubuntu machine last night, so here’s a rundown of what it actually does, what it doesn’t, and how to set it – assuming you have it. If you’re waiting for it to roll out to you, there’s no special update or download to look out for as this is a progressive rollout feature – Mozilla enables it remotely, in stages. There was no fanfare when it arrived for me, the toolbar button just appeared. […]
Ubuntu MATE Dev Leaving After 12 years
Martin Wimpress, the maintainer of Ubuntu MATE, is now searching for his successor. Are you the next in line?
Introducing the FreeBSD laptop integration testing project
Recently, the FreeBSD Foundation has been making progress on improving the operating system's support for modern laptop hardware. The foundation is now looking to expand testing to encompass a wider range of hardware; it has announced a laptop integration testing project to allow the community to easily test FreeBSD's compatibility with laptops and submit the results. With limited access to testing systems, there's only so much we can do! We hope to work together with volunteers from the community who want FreeBSD to work well on their laptops. While we expect device hardware and software enumeration to be a fully automated process, we feel that manually-submitted comments about personal experience with FreeBSD are equally valuable. We plan to highlight this commentary on our "matrix of compatibility" webpage for each tested laptop. We are striving to make it as easy as possible to submit your results. You won't have to worry about environment setup, submission formatting, or any repo-
The Linux Kernel is Finally Letting Go of i486 CPU Support
The support remained in the Linux kernel all these years after every other major platform dropped it.
Mesa Developers Decide On Two Gen AI Policies For Development Moving Forward
Building on prior Mesa contributor guidelines and discussions among upstream Mesa developers, there are two generative AI "GenAI" policies that have now been decided upon for Mesa development moving forward...