OMG! Ubuntu!

If you plan on trying the new Linux Mint 22 release in a virtual machine, why not double-up the fun by taking it for a spin in the VirtualBox 7.1 beta, which slipped out last night. Don’t tune out—most VirtualBox updates are fairly modest, I know. But the…

And we’re go – Linux Mint 22 ‘Wilma’ has been officially released and made available to download. This major update is the first to be based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS This major update is built on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and sees Linux Mint 22 inherit big updates…

Love the idea of tinkering around with a small, single-board computer (SBC) but need something more powerful than most ARM-based offerings provide? If so, the new Radxa X4 from Radxa may be of interest. Powered by an Intel N100 CPU with Intel UHD graphics, the…

Course set: the first alpha of Pop_OS 24.04 is scheduled for release on August 8th. So if you’ve been counting the days until you can try the new COSMIC desktop environment first hand… Well, keep counting until then! 😅 Pop!_OS 24.04 will based on Ubuntu…

FBReader 2.1 has been released for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with the team behind the eBook reading app calling it “a major update for desktop platforms”. If you’re not familiar with FBReader it’s a Qt-based ebook reader with customisation options, an…

If you’ve tried the Tiling Shell GNOME extension you’ll know how easy it makes it to tile application windows in GNOME Shell, from simple to more complex. The latest update, which began rolling out through the GNOME Extensions website this weekend, adds…

I recently rediscovered my Amazon Kindle (a geriatric model from 2012, nothing fancy) and figured, as it still works, I’ll use it, and set about downloading freely available1 EPUBs of classic (and not-so-classic – I’m a pulpy-kinda guy) literature. They…

Were you excited by news GNOME plans to replace the Totem media player in its core software set with a new, modern, and actively maintained app called Showtime? If so, you may be just as excited to hear that it’s now available to install from Flathub. This…

OBS Studio, the open-source leader in cross-platform screen-casting and streaming software, put out a new release this week. OBS Studio 30.2 adds Linux support to the native NVENC encoder, plus Linux shared texture support to the NVENC, QuickSync, and VA-API…

A new version of the open-source, cross-platform audio editor Audacity is available to download, kitted out with some major new features. Audacity 3.6 introduces support for master effects. These adjust the sound of project as a whole (the ‘master mix’…

Blender 4.2 LTS has landed, delivering a slew of new features and improvements that open-source 3D artists are sure to love.…

The recent update to AppArmor to remedy issues with 3rd-party apps being unable to run on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (due to its security hardening) inadvertently prevents a fleet of popular Flatpak apps from running either. The Telegram Desktop, KeePassXC, and Steam…

When Scott suggested I cover a new open-source app for Linux on the basis “it’s like Microsoft PowerToys for developers”, I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d be writing about — or why. But after reading the website for DevToys (the app in question)…

Linux kernel 6.10 has been officially released. The latest version of the Linux kernel adds an array of improvements, including a new memory sealing system call, a speed boost for AES-XTS encryption on Intel and AMD CPUs, and expanded Rust language support…

This weekend Apple officially approved the first PC emulator on the App Store, an open-source app called UTM SE, based on QEMU, and free to download (no IAP). UTM SE can emulate a variety of desktop operating systems and system architectures, including MS-DOS,…

A major update to the open-source e-mail client Thunderbird is now available to download. Thunderbird 128 ‘Nebula’ builds on last year’s stellar Thunderbird 115 release, adding in a flurry of new features, code improvements, and assorted bug fixes. Like…

Ubuntu’s Flutter-based App Center can now open and install 3rd-party DEB installers. An App Center update that adds support for ‘side-loading’ DEB packages began rolling out to users on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS in the past few weeks (but as snaps update in the…

A major overhaul of the GNOME extensions website is in the works. As the recent revamp of Flathub proved, engaging store fronts for software and extensions are not the preserve of big-time tech companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Good design is good…