This Week in Linux

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video: https://youtu.be/CIZYWaEuvQA

This episode is going to be so packed full of great stuff that it’s kind of ridiculous!

KDE is celebrating 30 years of the project, with Plasma 6.8, bringing some exciting improvements and a major change to the Linux desktop.

Meanwhile, Fortnite is finally coming to Linux, and some distributions are already making preparations to get it working.

Linux 7.3 is here with improvements for gaming, hardware, and performance, plus a few unexpected additions.

And Ubuntu 26.10 has arrived, but Canonical has even bigger plans that could change the future of Ubuntu Desktop.

All of that and more! So let's jump into Your Source for Linux GNews and see what's happened This Week in Linux.

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Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:30 KDE Plasma 6.8 Released and 30 Years of KDE

05:34 Fortnite is Coming to Linux!? Kernel Level Anti Cheat for Linux!?

10:50 Linux 7.3 Released

13:23 Bitwarden Password Manager [ad]

15:10 Ubuntu 26.10 Released and Ubuntu Core Desktop

19:51 Linux Mint 27 News

23:43 Compressed RAM for Linux from Meta

26:27 Enlightenment 0.28 Released

29:35 Flathub Revokes Their Ban on AI-Generated Apps

32:43 Toolpak, Flatpak for Developer Tools

33:26 GNOME OS Preview Moves Toward an Everyday OS

34:23 Support the show

35:11 Outro

Links:

KDE Plasma 6.8 Released and 30 Years of KDE

https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.8.0/

https://discuss.kde.org/t/plasma-6-8-is-out-its-kdes-30th-birthday-and-were-kicking-off-our-fundraiser/50936

https://youtu.be/1Vyzla9mx4g (documentary)

https://youtu.be/qBAsX0SRhqI (my interview)

Fortnite is Coming to Linux!? Kernel Level Anti Cheat for Linux!?

https://store.epicgames.com/news/epic-games-launcher-preview

https://onlineservices.epicgames.com/news/introducing-easy-anti-cheat-linux-v2

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/10/epic-games-launcher-preview-is-slowly-becoming-actually-usable-on-linux/

Linux 7.3 Released

https://lwn.net/Articles/1101170/

https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_7.3

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.3-Released

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/10/linux-7-3-features

Bitwarden Password Manager [ad]

https://bitwarden.com/tux

Ubuntu 26.10 Released and Ubuntu Core Desktop

https://canonical.com/blog/canonical-releases-ubuntu-26-10-stonking-stingray

https://documentation.ubuntu.com/release-notes/26.10/

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/10/ubuntu-2610-new-features

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/accelerating-ubuntu-core-desktop/90547

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/10/ubuntu-core-desktop-2704

Linux Mint 27 News

https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=5093

https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=5086

https://itsfoss.com/news/linux-mint-27-announced/

Compressed RAM for Linux from Meta

https://lpc.events/event/20/contributions/2424/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r6PNOopV44

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-CRAM-Compressed-RAM

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/new-linux-tech-compresses-memory-in-ram-as-ram-for-452x-speedup-new-cram-method-offers-giant-boost-to-compressed-memory-reads

Enlightenment 0.28 Released

https://www.enlightenment.org/news/2026-10-31-enlightenment-0.28.0

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Enlightenment-0.28

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/11/enlightenment-0-28-features

Flathub Revokes Their Ban on AI-Generated Apps

https://docs.flathub.org/docs/for-app-authors/requirements

https://discourse.flathub.org/t/concerns-around-vibe-coding-on-flathub-and-free-software/12923

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/10/flathub-walked-back-their-generative-ai-ban-replaced-with-a-disclosure-policy/

Toolpak, Flatpak for Developer Tools

https://blogs.gnome.org/alatiera/2026/09/26/introducing-toolpak/

https://thisweek.gnome.org/posts/2026/10/twig-268/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Toolpak

GNOME OS Preview Moves Toward an Everyday OS

https://blogs.gnome.org/adrianvovk/2026/10/16/gnome-os-preview/

https://os.gnome.org/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNOME-OS-Preview

https://lwn.net/Articles/1101057/

Support the show

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video: https://youtu.be/8bNh2cciDOE

This week in Linux, the Dutch government is building its own Linux desktop using NixOS, and it could have some major implications for digital independence! NVIDIA has revealed ambitious plans for its new open-source Rust driver, while Qualcomm is making a serious push to bring Linux to Snapdragon laptops! And one developer has used AI to build a bunch of open-source alternatives to Adobe's biggest applications, and they're exploding in popularity! Plus, Valve is making Windows gaming on Linux even easier! All of this and more so let's jump into Your Source for Linux GNews and see what's happened This Week in Linux.

Download as MP3

Support the Show

Become a Patron = tuxdigital.com/membership

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Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:49 Dutch Government Is Building Its Own NixOS-Based Distro

04:05 NVIDIA Wants to Push The Open-Source Rust Nova Driver to Replace Upstream Driver

06:56 Qualcomm Wants First-Class Linux Support for Snapdragon X2

11:01 ArtCraft is Coming After the Entire Adobe Suite with AI

18:29 Steam Now Defaults Non-Steam Windows Games to Proton on Linux

20:46 Firefox 157 Gets Its Biggest Visual Refresh in Years

24:07 KDE Announces Its 3 Big Goals for the Next 2 Years

25:48 F-Droid 2.0 Is Its Biggest App Update in a Decade

26:57 postmarketOS Becomes Nura

28:20 Ubuntu Is Moving to Weekly Kernel Releases Because the CVE Flood

29:29 Support the show

30:26 Outro

Links:

Dutch Government Is Building Its Own NixOS-Based Distro

https://code.overheid.nl/MinBZK/DAWO

https://www.theregister.com/os-platforms/2026/09/28/dutch-government-turns-to-nixos-for-a-sovereign-desktop/5299501

https://thenextweb.com/news/dutch-government-dawo-nixos-linux-desktop

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/the-netherlands-is-rolling-alternative-nixos-based-software-ecosystem-after-u-s-sanctions-on-icc-took-microsoft-off-the-table-trial-programs-running-now-first-release-expected-at-end-of-2027

NVIDIA Wants to Push The Open-Source Rust Nova Driver to Replace Upstream Driver

https://lpc.events/event/20/contributions/2346/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Nova-Driver-LPC-2026

Qualcomm Wants First-Class Linux Support for Snapdragon X2

https://www.qualcomm.com/developer/blog/2026/09/announcing-linux-on-snapdragon-x2-series-early-developer-preview

https://canonical.com/blog/ubuntu-coming-soon-to-qualcomm-snapdragon-x2-series-platforms

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2026/09/snapdragon-summit-agentic-ai-pcs-linux

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Qualcomm-Talks-Up-X2-Linux

https://itsfoss.com/news/snapdragon-x2-linux-developer-preview/

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/09/ubuntu-2610-snapdragon-x2

ArtCraft is Coming After the Entire Adobe Suite with AI

https://github.com/storytold

https://github.com/storytold/photocraft

https://github.com/storytold/filmcraft

https://github.com/storytold/vectorcraft

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/video-editing-graphic-design/solo-developer-rebuilds-adobe-creative-suite-in-rust-using-claude-releases-it-free-to-all-targets-100-percent-parity-in-one-month-despite-piracy-claims-and-safety-warnings

https://www.techradar.com/pro/one-dev-is-recreating-7-adobe-apps-in-rust-for-free-so-i-tested-it-out

Steam Now Defaults Non-Steam Windows Games to Proton on Linux

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/announcements/detail/719044258722480809

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/10/windows-apps-and-games-added-to-steam-on-steamos-linux-now-use-proton-by-default/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-Beta-Use-Proton-Default

Firefox 157 Gets Its Biggest Visual Refresh in Years

https://www.firefox.com/en-US/firefox/157.0/releasenotes/

https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2026/09/29/nova-is-here-what-changes-for-your-firefox-theme/

https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/09/30/firefox-157-could-bold-new-look-be-just-what-mozilla-needs/5300059

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/09/firefox-157-released-nova-theme

https://itsfoss.com/firefox-nova-redesign/

KDE Announces Its 3 Big Goals for the Next 2 Years

https://discuss.kde.org/t/the-new-kde-goals-for-the-2026-2028-cycle-have-been-announced-at-akademy/50305

https://blogs.kde.org/2026/08/07/kde-goals-last-call-for-submissions/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/KDE-Goals-To-2028

F-Droid 2.0 Is Its Biggest App Update in a Decade

https://f-droid.org/2026/09/24/f-droid-2.0-a-new-chapter-for-android-freedom.html

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/f-droid-gets-its-biggest-update-in-a-decade-with-new-ui-and-smoother-app-installs/

https://www.androidauthority.com/f-droid-app-store-massive-update-3715335/

postmarketOS Becomes Nura

https://nura.eco/blog/2026/09/27/nura-rename/

https://nura.eco/

https://itsfoss.com/news/postmarketos-nura-rebranding/

https://linuxiac.com/postmarketos-is-now-nura-after-major-project-rebrand/

Ubuntu Is Moving to Weekly Kernel Releases Because the CVE Flood

https://canonical.com/blog/accelerating-delivery-of-cve-fixes-with-a-new-kernel-release-strategy

https://www.theregister.com/os-platforms/2026/09/24/cve-flood-pushes-ubuntu-onto-weekly-kernel-release-cycle/5298912

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/09/ubuntu-kernel-security-updates-faster

Support the show

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video: https://youtu.be/V4r7fCFLP6A

This week in Linux, GNOME 51 is here with a faster, more polished desktop and a long list of upgrades across the environment. Asahi Linux pulled off another major Apple Silicon milestone with M3 Macs. Valve is building one of the wildest compatibility stacks we've seen yet for the Steam Frame. And Open Source projects are now setting traps for AI coding agents that can make lazy submissions snitch on themselves. Plus, Jellyfin 12 is a huge upgrade for self-hosted media. All of this and more on this week's episode, so let's jump into Your Source for Linux GNews and see what's happened This Week in Linux.

Download as MP3

Support the Show

Become a Patron = tuxdigital.com/membership

Store = tuxdigital.com/store

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:47 GNOME 51 Released

04:34 Asahi Linux for M3 Macs

10:52 Valve's Steam Frame Compatibility Stack for Linux Gaming

13:45 Microsoft 365 might come to Linux (unofficially)

17:21 Jellyfin 12 Released

20:55 Open Source Projects Setting Traps for Lazy Ai Submissions

24:20 Raspberry Pi OS Desktop Refresh

26:07 Ubuntu 26.10 completes migration to Rust-based coreutils

27:08 Google is Replacing C-based Android Binder with Rust

28:13 RustFS 1.0 Released

29:04 Support the show

29:58 Outro

Links:

GNOME 51 Released

https://release.gnome.org/51/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNOME-51-Released

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/09/gnome-51-released

Asahi Linux for M3 Macs

https://asahilinux.org/2026/09/m2-episode-1/

https://asahilinux.org/docs/platform/feature-support/m3/

https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora_asahi_remix_45_beta/

https://fedora-asahi-remix.org/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Asahi-Linux-Official-M3

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/09/asahi-linux-now-officially-supports-macs-with-the-m3-series-soc/

Valve's Steam Frame Compatibility Stack for Linux Gaming

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamhardware/steamframe/compatibility

https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/frame-public/lepton/

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/09/lepton-from-valve-to-run-android-games-on-linux-is-now-open-source/

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/08/lepton-and-fex-get-prepared-for-the-steam-frame-release/

Microsoft 365 might come to Linux (unofficially)

https://itsfoss.com/news/bottles-microsoft-365-early-look/

https://mprove.de/blogs/rss/index.php?rss=mastodon.bsd.cafe%2Ftags%2FMicrosoft.rss

https://github.com/bottlesdevs/Bottles/releases

https://usebottles.com/

Jellyfin 12 Released

https://jellyfin.org/posts/jellyfin-release-12.0/

https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/releases

https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-web/releases

Open Source Projects Setting Traps for Lazy Ai Submissions

https://github.com/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/blob/main/AGENTS.md

https://www.phoronix.com/news/NetworkManager-AI-Canary

https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/AGENTS.md

https://www.phoronix.com/news/systemd-262-rc2

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/-/merge_requests/2536

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/-/blob/main/AGENTS.md

https://hwbusters.com/news/networkmanager-ai-policy-gets-a-trap-word-and-ci-now-scans-every-commit-for-it/

Raspberry Pi OS Desktop Refresh

https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/an-updated-look-for-the-raspberry-pi-desktop/

https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/category/os/raspberry-pi-os/

Ubuntu 26.10 completes migration to Rust-based coreutils

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/09/ubuntu-2610-rust-coreutils-complete

https://documentation.ubuntu.com/release-notes/26.10/

https://uutils.org/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-Completes-Rust-Coreutils

Google is Replacing C-based Android Binder with Rust

https://lkml.iu.edu/2609.1/12916.html

https://lists.openwall.net/linux-kernel/2026/09/12/891

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Google-Binder-C-Goodbye

RustFS 1.0 Released

https://www.rustfs.com/blog/announcing-rustfs-1-0-0-ga/

https://github.com/RustFS/RustFS

https://linuxiac.com/rustfs-1-0-s3-compatible-object-storage-reaches-ga/

Support the show

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https://store.tuxdigital.com/

video: https://youtu.be/A_1UeqFux-Q

This week in Linux, CERN makes some Linux news revolving around Debian, lawmakers are giving open source a way out of OS-level age verification ... well in California, and Ubisoft found away to make Linux gaming news frustrating right at the same time as we hit a huge milestone for Linux gaming.

Plus, Audacity gets one of its biggest updates in years, OpenShot levels up in a big way, and Linux From Scratch has a brand new release for everyone who thinks installing Linux should require just a little more suffering.

All of this and more on This Week in Linux, the weekly news show that keeps you up to date with what’s going on in the Linux and Open Source world. Now let's jump right into Your Source for Linux GNews!

Download as MP3

Support the Show

Become a Patron = tuxdigital.com/membership

Store = tuxdigital.com/store

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:55 CERN is moving some systems to Debian

05:26 California Legislature Passes Open-Source Exemption From OS Age Verification

09:56 30,000 Games Playable on Linux but Ubisoft Is Intentionally Blocking For Honor

16:46 Audacity 4.0 Released With a Completely Rebuilt Interface

20:31 OpenShot 4.0 Brings Major Upgrades

22:47 The Ur Project - A Clear Linux Architect Is Building a New Linux Distro

26:20 Linux From Scratch 13.1 Released

29:57 Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS Released

32:16 Update: NVIDIA confirmed they are buying Hugging Face

34:24 Support the show

35:39 Outro

Links:

CERN is moving some systems to Debian

https://ch2026.mini.debconf.org/talks/6-controlling-cerns-accelerators-with-debian/

https://micronews.debian.org/2026/1788286274.html

https://linux.web.cern.ch/debian/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/CERN-Goes-Debian-Leaving-RHEL

https://itsfoss.com/news/cern-debian-push/

California Legislature Passes Open-Source Exemption From OS Age Verification

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1856

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1856

https://agelesslinux.org/

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/08/california-bill-ab-1856-passes-exempting-open-source-from-age-verification/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/California-AB-1856-Passes

https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/Linux-Exempt-from-California-s-Age-Verification-Law

30,000 Games Playable on Linux but Ubisoft Is Intentionally Blocking For Honor

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/08/steam-deck-steamos-hit-over-30-000-verified-playable-games/

https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/for-honor/news-updates/4WKJhG6v6C9sbCOZkFZ6wG/ranked-faq

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/09/ubisofts-for-honor-will-block-steamos-linux-on-september-10/

Audacity 4.0 Released With a Completely Rebuilt Interface

https://www.audacityteam.org/audacity-4/

https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/audacity-4-is-out-now/153852

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Audacity-4.0-Released

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/09/audacity-4-released

OpenShot 4.0 Brings Major Upgrades

https://www.openshot.org/blog/2026/08/30/openshot-40-record-edit-color-like-never-before/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/OpenShot-4.0

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/08/openshot-4-0-release

The Ur Project - A Clear Linux Architect Is Building a New Linux Distro

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7499950666367459328/

https://ur.foo-projects.org/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/The-Ur-Project

https://itsfoss.com/news/the-ur-project-appears/

Linux From Scratch 13.1 Released

https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/news.html

https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/downloads/stable-systemd/LFS-BOOK-13.1-NOCHUNKS.html

https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/view/13.1-systemd/chapter01/changelog.html

Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS Released

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/08/ubuntu-26041-lts-point-release-download

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-26.04.1-LTS-Released

Update: NVIDIA confirmed they are buying Hugging Face

https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-to-acquire-hugging-face/

https://www.reuters.com/business/nvidia-buy-hugging-face-nearly-13-billion-big-bet-open-ai-models-2026-09-03/

https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/nvidia-wraps-itself-129-bln-insurance-2026-09-03/

Support the show

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https://store.tuxdigital.com/

video: https://youtu.be/tksoVnYTz1c

This week in Linux, we learned that NVIDIA might be buying Hugging Face and this AI community platform reportedly rejected extra investment from NVIDIA because they didn't want one company having too much influence. Now NVIDIA may be buying the entire company. Someone dumped more than 125 bug reports into QEMU in under ten minutes, leading one maintainer to call it an effective denial-of-service attack. Debian finished their debate on what to do with AI contributions and their decision was surprising. LibreOffice has a new release where they made it very clear they aren't interested in adding Ai tools to summarize the document you just wrote. Plus Flatpak is getting more than half a million euros to improve Linux app security and sandboxing, so that's awesome. And all of this is happening while Linux celebrates 35 years of the kernel. This is Your Source for Linux GNews so let's see what happened This Week in Linux.

Download as MP3

Support the Show

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Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:09 Happy 35th Birthday Linux

03:54 NVIDIA Reportedly Agrees to Buy Hugging Face for .9 Billion

07:16 Announcing €500K Sovereign Tech Agency Investment in Flatpak

09:38 Debian's AI Decision

12:07 AI Bug Reports Become a “Denial of Service” Against Open Source Maintainers

14:45 LibreOffice 26.8 Makes “No AI” a Feature

17:25 Support the show

18:40 Outro

Links:

Happy 35th Birthday Linux

https://bsky.app/profile/tuxdigital.bsky.social/post/3mtyonwnwvk2w

https://9to5linux.com/happy-35th-birthday-linux

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/linux-was-announced-by-linus-torvalds-35-years-ago-today-humble-os-started-with-10-000-lines-of-code-but-has-now-grown-to-40-million-dominates-global-infrastructure

NVIDIA Reportedly Agrees to Buy Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/27/nvidia-has-reportedly-agreed-to-buy-ai-model-hosting-platform-hugging-face-for-13-billion/

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/nvidia-agrees-buy-open-source-model-repository-hugging-face-12-9-billion

https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidia-talks-acquire-hugging-face-13-billion-deal-business-insider-reports-2026-08-27/

https://www.businessinsider.com/hugging-face-nvidia-deal-reshape-ai-landscape-2026-8

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-know-about-hugging-face-the-open-source-ai-startup-reportedly-catching-nvidias-eye-243771f8

Announcing €500K Sovereign Tech Agency Investment in Flatpak

https://modal.cx/blog/announcing-flatpak-sta/

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/08/sovereign-tech-agency-makes-a-big-investment-into-flatpak/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Sovereign-Tech-Agency-Flatpak

Debian's AI Decision

https://www.debian.org/vote/2026/vote_002#texte

https://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2026/08/msg00360.html

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Debian-Votes-On-LLM-Usage

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Debian-Votes-Responsible-AI-Use

AI Bug Reports Become a “Denial of Service” Against Open Source Maintainers

https://www.phoronix.com/news/AI-DoS-Attack-Maintainers

https://hachyderm.io/@berrange/117155755806497654

https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/work_items?author_username=anwardawa981&first_page_size=20&sort=created_date&state=all

https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/work_items/4348

LibreOffice 26.8 Makes “No AI” a Feature

https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/08/26/libreoffice-26-8/

https://lwn.net/Articles/1090606/

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/08/libreoffice-268-released

https://itsfoss.com/news/libreoffice-26-8-release/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/LibreOffice-26.8

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