FFmpeg 8.1 Released With Experimental xHE-AAC MPS212, More Vulkan Acceleration
([Multimedia] 16 March 03:43 PM EDT
FFmpeg 8.1)
FFmpeg 8.1 is out today as the newest stable release of this widely-used, open-source multimedia library.
Linux 7.1 sched_ext To Add "SCX_ENQ_IMMED" For Tighter Control When Tasks Land On A CPU
([Linux Kernel] 16 March 02:41 PM EDT
sched_ext)
The Linux kernel's extensible scheduler class "sched_ext" to allow for custom CPU scheduling policies as BPF programs continues enabling new functionality. Queued up in the sched_ext development code ahead of next month's Linux 7.1 cycle is the new SCX_ENQ_IMMED capability for enabling tighter control over when tasks land on a CPU.
Fedora Workstation 44 Beta Benchmarks On The AMD Ryzen AI Max Framework Desktop
([Operating Systems] 16 March 12:20 PM EDT
13 Comments)
Since last week's Fedora 44 Beta release I have been testing out this upcoming Fedora Linux version on a few systems in the lab, most notably with the Framework Desktop powered by the powerful AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo". Fedora Workstation 44 Beta has been looking nice and running stable albeit in some instances seeing lower performance at this point than Fedora Workstation 43 but overall in good shape.
Imagination's Open-Source PowerVR Vulkan Driver Now Plays Nicely With Zink OpenGL
([Mesa] 16 March 11:23 AM EDT
PowerVR Vulkan + Zink)
The past several years Imagination Tech has been investing in an upstream and open-source DRM kernel graphics driver as well as a PowerVR Vulkan driver in Mesa. Their Mesa focus has exclusively been on the PowerVR Vulkan driver with the plans all along to use the Zink generic OpenGL-on-Vulkan implementation. With next quarter's Mesa 26.1 release, that goal is being realized with Zink now working nicely atop the PowerVR Vulkan driver for in turn achieving open-source OpenGL support on PowerVR.
Intel Graphics Driver Preps For UHBR DP Tunnels With Linux 7.1
([Intel] 16 March 11:13 AM EDT
Linux 7.1)
A round of Intel graphics driver updates were sent today to DRM-Next in staging ahead of April's Linux 7.1 merge window. The changes in this pull aren't too particularly exciting with a lot of code refactoring and other work, but there are preparations made for supporting UHBR DP tunnels.
Lenovo Legion Go HID Drivers Queued Ahead Of Linux 7.1
([Hardware] 16 March 09:12 AM EDT
Lenovo Legion Go S Series HID Driver)
The work by Derek Clark on enhancing the Lenovo Legion Go gaming handheld support for Linux continues panning out nicely. The latest driver effort, the creation of the Lenovo Legion Go and Go S Series HID Drivers to help with controller configuration, is set to be introduced in Linux 7.1.
Linux 7.1 To Retire UDP-Lite - Allows For Better Performance With Cleansed Code
([Linux Networking] 16 March 06:31 AM EDT
Linux Dropping UDP-Lite)
The upcoming Linux 7.1 kernel cycle is set to retire UDP-Lite support. The UDP-Lite protocol allowed for partial checksums where potentially damaged/corrupted packets are still delivered to the application. Since the Linux 2.6.20 days there has been UDP-Lite support but the kernel is now set to retire it given breakage that has persisted for years and cleaning up the networking code can yield a performance advantage for non-UDP-Lite users.
RADV Driver Lands Another Optimization: "Missing In RADV For A Very Long Time"
([Mesa] 16 March 06:22 AM EDT
RADV)
A four year old optimization idea for the RADV driver was scratched off the TODO list last week for next quarter's Mesa 26.1 release.
AMD Preps More Graphics Driver Code For Linux 7.1
([Radeon] 16 March 06:05 AM EDT
AMDGPU Updates)
Last week yet more AMDGPU kernel graphics driver updates were submitted to DRM-Next ahead of the Linux 7.1 merge window happening in April.
Linux 7.0-rc4 Released With Hang Fixes, Resolves At Least One Performance Regression
([Linux Kernel] 15 March 05:18 PM EDT
Linux 7.0)
We are down to about one month to go until the Linux 7.0 stable release and out today is Linux 7.0-rc4.
Bcachefs 1.37 Released With Linux 7.0 Support, Erasure Coding Stable & New Sub-Commands
([Linux Storage] 15 March 02:50 PM EDT
Bcachefs 1.37)
Kent Overstreet today released Bcachefs 1.37 as the newest feature release to this out-of-tree file-system driver and user-space tooling for this next-gen, copy-on-write file-system.
Linux 7.0 Lands Improvements To Deal With Upcoming Rust Changes, Build Reproducibility
([Programming] 15 March 07:02 AM EDT
Linux 7.0 Rust)
Merged to mainline yesterday for Linux 7.0 were yet more Rust changes in preparing for upcoming Rust releases as well as enhancing the kernel build reproducibility when engaging the Rust code.
Hangs & Performance Regression On Large Systems Fixed For Linux 7.0-rc4
([Linux Kernel] 15 March 06:52 AM EDT
Linux 7.0 scheduler)
This week's "sched/urgent" pull request was sent out today of scheduler updates for the ongoing Linux 7.0 cycle. Notable this week are fixing some hangs as well as a possible performance regression on large systems.
KDE Linux Adds Apple APFS File-System Support, Workaround For Frustrating AMDGPU Issue
([KDE] 15 March 06:39 AM EDT
KDE Linux)
In addition to GNOME OS seeing recent improvements, KDE Linux continues seeing more enhancements too for this leading reference platform for showcasing the KDE Plasma desktop.
SuperTux 0.7 Released With Enhanced Graphics, Level Redesign
([Linux Gaming] 15 March 06:19 AM EDT
SuperTux 0.7)
SuperTux 0.7 officially released overnight for this nostalgic open-source game now seeing its first new release since December 2021. SuperTux 0.7 brings many significant improvements for this open-source game inspired by Super Mario.
Open-Source "GreenBoost" Driver Aims To Augment NVIDIA GPUs vRAM With System RAM & NVMe To Handle Larger LLMs
([NVIDIA] 14 March 08:17 PM EDT
GreenBoost)
An open-source, independently developed Linux kernel module called GreenBoost aims to augment the dedicated video memory on NVIDIA discrete GPUs with system memory and NVMe storage. The intent here with GreenBoost is a CUDA caching layer to more easily run larger AI models for LLMs that otherwise won't fit solely in your graphics card's dedicated vRAM.
GIMP 3.2 Released With Many Improvements
([Free Software] 14 March 02:38 PM EDT
GIMP 3.2)
Just under one year since the long-awaited GIMP 3.0 release, GIMP 3.2 is out today as the first feature release building off the GIMP 3.0 foundation.
Debian 13.4 Released With Dozens Of Fixes
([Debian] 14 March 11:58 AM EDT
Debian 13.4)
Debian 13.4 rolled out today with dozens of security fixes and other general bug fixes with the updated install media for Debian 13 Trixie.
OpenRazer 3.12 Released With Support For Newer Razer Products On Linux
([Hardware] 14 March 09:54 AM EDT
OpenRazer 3.12)
OpenRazer 3.12 was just released today as the newest update to these independently-maintained, open-source drivers for Razer devices on Linux. Paired with the likes of the Polychromatic GUI, OpenRazer allows for a pleasant experience for the Razer gaming peripherals under Linux.
Trying Out Snapdragon X Elite With The Acer Swift 14 AI Laptop On Ubuntu 26.04
([Ubuntu] 14 March 10:24 AM EDT
Snapdragon X Elite + Ubuntu 26.04)
This week I tried out the current Ubuntu 26.04 development state on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite with the Acer Swift 14 AI laptop I have been using for my X Elite benchmarks over the past year. Unfortunately, it wasn't a smooth experience with new issues encountered for this Windows On ARM laptop.