FFmpeg 8.1 Preparing For Release With Vulkan Improvements, JPEG-XS & More
([Multimedia] 8 March 08:42 AM EDT
FFmpeg 8.1)
FFmpeg developers are preparing to soon release FFmpeg 8.1 with some great new features and other improvements.
Linux 7.0 Fixes Battery Reporting For The Apple Magic Trackpad 2
([Apple] 8 March 06:58 AM EDT
Apple Magic Trackpad 2)
Merged back in 2018 for Linux 5.0 was support for the Apple Magic Trackpad 2. Merged this week for the in-development Linux 7.0 kernel is fixing battery reporting for those using the Magic Trackpad 2 under Linux.
Experimental Intel Nova Lake P Device Bits Merged For Mesa 26.1
([Intel] 8 March 07:53 AM EDT
Disabled By Default)
Merged this week for Mesa 26.1 are the initial Nova Lake P "NVL-P" device bits for Intel's ANV Vulkan and Iris Gallium3D drivers. But this support isn't yet exposed by default and not yet ready for end-users with more driver changes still to be published.
Notable Intel & AMD CPU Changes Merged For Linux 7.0-rc3
([Linux Kernel] 8 March 07:38 AM EDT
Intel + AMD CPU Changes)
This week's batch of "x86/urgent" patches that were merged overnight for Linux 7.0 contain some fixes and other adjustments worth highlighting for both AMD and Intel.
LLM-Driven Large Code Rewrites With Relicensing Are The Latest AI Concern
([AI] 8 March 07:29 AM EDT
Chardet)
The newest open-source concern around AI that is seeing a lot of interest this weekend is when large language models / AI code generators may rewrite large parts of a codebase and then the "developers" claiming an alternative license incompatible with the original source license. This became a real concern this week with a popular Python project experiencing an AI-driven code rewrite and now published under an alternative license that its original author does not agree with and incompatible with the original code.
digiKam 9.0 Leading Open-Source Digital Photo Manager Software Released
([KDE] 8 March 07:05 AM EDT
digiKam 9.0)
The KDE/Qt-aligned digiKam software for managing RAW digital photos is out today with the big digiKam 9.0 release.
Linux 7.0 Adds A New Minor Performance Optimization Shown With AMD Zen 2 CPUs
([Linux Kernel] 7 March 08:23 PM EST
Linux 7.0 epoll)
The Linux event poll "epoll" code for efficient I/O multiplexing and monitoring of file descriptors for seeing when I/O is possible has a new optimization merged today for Linux 7.0.
Budgie 10.10.2 Brings Improved Labwc Wayland Compositor Integration
([Desktop] 7 March 12:46 PM EST
Budgie 10.10.2)
Out today is Budgie 10.10.2 as the latest minor update to this open-source desktop environment that began as part of the Solus Linux project.
AMD GAIA 0.16 Introduces C++17 Agent Framework For Building AI PC Agents In Pure C++
([AMD] 7 March 10:07 AM EST
AMD GAIA 0.16)
AMD's GAIA open-source framework for building AI agents that run locally on Ryzen AI hardware via the Radeon iGPUs and/or NPUs is up to version 0.16. With this new GAIA release is support for developing AI agents purely in C++ with no longer needing to depend upon Python.
FreeBSD 15.1 On Track With Better Realtek WiFi & KDE Desktop Install Option
([BSD] 7 March 07:13 AM EST
FreeBSD On Laptops)
The effort around improving FreeBSD on laptops continues full speed ahead in 2026. The upcoming FreeBSD 15.1 remains on track with not only having a KDE desktop option from FreeBSD's text-based installer UI but also improved Realtek WiFi adapter support is on the way, updating of the graphics drivers from Linux, and more.
New Maui.Gtk Project Provides A GTK4 Backend For Microsoft's .NET MAUI
([GNOME] 7 March 06:54 AM EST
Maui.Gtk)
Maui.Gtk is a new open-source project providing a GTK4 Linux back-end for Microsoft's .NET MAUI.
3mdeb Making Progress On AMD Ryzen AM5 Motherboard Port With Coreboot + openSIL
([Coreboot] 7 March 06:44 AM EST
3mdeb Ryzen Port)
In addition to the 3mdeb firmware consulting firm porting Coreboot with AMD openSIL to an EPYC 9005 "Turin" Gigabyte motherboard, their developers have also been working on a similar Coreboot + openSIL port to an AM5 Ryzen consumer motherboard.
Resources For GNOME Adds Intel Xe GPU Power Usage & Intel NPU Frequency Reporting
([GNOME] 7 March 06:30 AM EST
Resources 1.10.2)
Resources, the modern GNOME GTK4/libadwaita-based GUI application for system resource monitoring and an alternative to GNOME System Monitor, is out with a new update. Resources 1.10.2 brings some nice improvements for those running GNOME on modern Intel hardware.
KDE Plasma Saw A Lot Of Bug/Crash Fixing & UI Polishing This Week
([KDE] 6 March 08:24 PM EST
KDE Plasma Fixes)
Nate Graham and John Veness are out today with the newest issue of This Week in Plasma. Notable for KDE Plasma 6.6.x~6.7 development this week were a lot of bug fixing -- including multiple crash fixes -- and some UI polishing too.
Wine 11.4 Released With More Improvements
([WINE] 6 March 05:47 PM EST
Wine 11.4)
Wine 11.4 is out today as the latest bi-weekly development release of this open-source software that powers Valve's Steam Play (Proton) and allows for Windows games and applications to run on Linux and macOS.
GTK 4.22 Released With Improved SVG Support, Reduced Motion Option
([Free Software] 6 March 02:55 PM EST
GTK 4.22)
Ahead of the GNOME 50 desktop release coming up in less than two weeks, GTK 4.22 is out today as the newest stable version of the GTK4 toolkit.
New ASUS, Dell & OneXPlayer Hardware Support In Linux 7.0-rc3
([Hardware] 6 March 02:15 PM EST
x86 Platform Drivers)
A pull request sent out today and already merged to Linux Git ahead of Sunday's Linux 7.0-rc3 has some new hardware driver support additions for the likes of ASUS, HP, Dell, and OneXPlayer.
ZimaBoard 2: An Interesting Intel-Powered Linux Home Mini Server
([Computers] 6 March 11:11 AM EST
12 Comments)
For those looking for a low-power, well-built small office / home office Linux server with interesting connectivity options, the ZimaBoard 2 is an interesting option that has been available for some months now and powered by the Intel N150 processor. Besides the interesting single board hardware and well built aluminum chassis, the offering is rounded out by being preloaded with ZimaOS as a Linux-based "personal cloud OS" to easily get hosting for your own SOHO server needs.
Linux 7.0 Slab Fix On The Way For A "Severe Performance Regression"
([Linux Kernel] 6 March 09:23 AM EST
Linux 7.0 Slab Allocator)
Sent out today was this week's batch of Slab allocator fixes for the Linux 7.0 development kernel. Making this pull notable is fixing a "severe performance regression" with a ~64% performance drop having been noted in late February.
AMD CPPC Performance Priority Being Prepared For Linux - New Zen 6 Feature
([AMD] 6 March 08:28 AM EST
AMD CPPC Performance Priority)
Patches were posted today to the Linux kernel mailing list for enabling a new feature called AMD CPPC Performance Priority as a new hardware feature being found with "future AMD processors".... Which given the timing of these patches, almost certainly means the upcoming Zen 6 processors.