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.
Linux 7.1 Will Bring Power Estimate Reporting For AMD Ryzen AI NPUs
([AMD] 14 March 07:06 AM EDT
Power Reporting)
This week's round of drm-misc-next patches bring a few improvements to the AMDXDNA accelerator driver used for supporting the Ryzen AI NPUs. Plus some new panel additions and various other minor Direct Rendering Manager driver changes.
Google Now Using AutoFDO To Enhance Android's Linux Kernel Performance
([Google] 14 March 06:57 AM EDT
AutoFDO The Android Linux Kernel)
Google's Android LLVM toolchain team shared publicly this week that they have begun making use of AutoFDO for automatic feedback directed optimizations of their Linux kernel build used by Android.
Mesa's LLVMpipe Now Exposes Mesh Shader Support
([Mesa] 14 March 06:33 AM EDT
LLVMpipe + EXT_mesh_shader)
Mike Blumenkrantz of Valve's Linux graphics driver team has landed support for mesh shaders within Mesa's LLVMpipe software driver.
KDE Plasma 6.6.3 Fixing Direct Scan-Out When Using Fractional Scaling
([KDE] 14 March 06:38 AM EDT
Plasma This Week)
KDE developers continue being very busy working on Plasma 6.7 feature development as well as continuing to drive new fixes and refinements to the current Plasma 6.6 stable series.
GNOME OS Switches To KMSCON Enabled By Default
([GNOME] 14 March 06:20 AM EDT
GNOME OS + KMSCON)
GNOME OS as the Linux-based distribution that serves as the leading-edge, reference platform of GNOME desktop development is now using KMSCON by default.
debauit Announced As Debian Source Package Auditor
([Debian] 13 March 05:48 PM EDT
debaudit)
Announced today was debaudit, a new set of tools and services designed to verify the integrity and reproducibility of Debian source packages.
NVIDIA 595.44.03 Linux Driver Released With VK_KHR_device_address_commands
([NVIDIA] 13 March 02:42 PM EDT
NVIDIA 595.44.03)
Less than a week after their prior NVIDIA Vulkan beta driver in the R595 driver series, today NVIDIA released another new Vulkan beta driver for Linux and Windows systems.
Panther Lake Tuning For The Intel Idle Driver In Linux 7.1
([Intel] 13 March 01:25 PM EDT
C-State Tables)
While the Linux support for Intel Core Ultra Series 3 Panther Lake is largely in good shape as shown in my numerous articles over the past month and a half, there are occasional missing remnants landing in the kernel. As the latest example, or the upcoming Linux 7.1 kernel, the unified Panther Lake C-States table is being added for the Intel Idle driver.