Firefox 148 Is Now Available for Download with AI Kill Switch and Other Changes - 9to5Linux Firefox 148 open-source web browser is now available for download with AI kill switch, improved support for screen readers, and more.

The #AI kill switch is here!

" #Firefox 148 Is Now Available for Download with AI Kill Switch and Other Changes - This release also improves support for screen readers accessing mathematical formulas embedded in PDF documents." from @9to5linux.bsky.social

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KDE Says Plasma Desktop Will Never Force Users to Use systemd - 9to5Linux The KDE project is addressing recent concerns that they are forcing systemd on current or future versions of its Plasma desktop environment.

"Only the #Plasma Login Manager will be dependent on #systemd, but future Plasma releases aren’t dependent on Plasma Login Manager, nor systemd." from @9to5linux.bsky.social

9to5linux.com/kde-says-pla...

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9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: February 8th, 2026 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup for February 8th, 2026, brings news about Linux kernel 6.19, LibreOffice 26.2, Firefox AI kill switch in Nightly and Beta, KDE ...

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9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: February 8th, 2026 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup for February 8th, 2026, brings news about Linux kernel 6.19, LibreOffice 26.2, Firefox AI kill switch in Nightly and Beta, KDE ...

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Today, the KDE Project released KDE Gear 25.12.2 as the second maintenance update to the latest **KDE Gear 25.12** series of this collection of open-source applications for the KDE ecosystem and other platforms. Coming about a month after **KDE Gear 25.12.1** , the KDE Gear 25.12.2 release updates the Dolphin file manager to reload context menu plugins when changing the configuration, avoid using the dynamic view if any items in the view are expanded, and ensure the font dialog retains the last custom selection. The KDE Intinerary travel assistant app is now a little bit less strict on manually entering flight numbers, clears the previously created trip name when creating a new trip group, and the global menu drawer has been restored in mobile mode. Also, the Kitinerary library received support for SNCF TER pass barcodes. The **Kdenlive** video editor received fixes for a crash that occurred when opening and quickly closing the settings, pasting of effects always enabling the built-in effects, a double free in audio thumbs, the sequence clips audio thumbnails, the monitor rotoscoping overlay, as well as the remaining issues in the clip monitor. Moreover, Kdenlive’s monitor dragging was refactored to fix audio/video only drag and disappearing audio waveform in the clip monitor. The video editor now also immediately applies changes to the clip monitor audio thumbnail and allows copying from the effects list description. The **NeoChat** chat client received some improvements as well to more reliably restore the last space and room, better handle notifications, decrypt when downloading single events from the server, make clicking room list section headers more reliable, and no longer show the “Share” action for non-file messages. Among other noteworthy changes, KDE Gear 25.12.2 improves the handling of the `-D` command line parameter in the kjournald daemon, fixes the decoding of multi-part uuencoded emails in the KMime library, and restores the generation of history documentation in the Konqueror web browser. Other apps like Akonadi, Akregator, Calligra, Elisa, Kalk, KAtomic, KDE Connect, Kontact, Kontrast, KWave, KWordQuiz, Okular, Tokodon, and Umbrello received smaller fixes as well, so check out the _full changelog_ for more details about the improvements and bug fixes included in KDE Gear 25.12.2. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the stable software repositories of your favorite GNU/Linux distribution for the KDE Gear 25.12.2 packages and update your installations as soon as possible for the best KDE apps experience, especially if you’re using the KDE Plasma desktop environment. ### _You might also like_

KDE Gear 25.12.2 Brings Improvements to Dolphin, NeoChat, Kate, and Other Apps 9to5linux.com/kde-gear-25-12-2-brings-... #9to5linux #linux

The Krita Foundation released today the first beta version of the upcoming Krita 6 series of this open-source, free, and cross-platform digital painting application for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows systems. Ported to the latest Qt 6 open-source application framework for a modern UI/UX experience, the Krita 6 release promises major new features like Wayland color management support when Krita runs in native Wayland mode. However, for now, Krita 6 will only support KDE’s **KWin** window and composite manager. Krita 6 also promises a new knife tool for vector objects to let you merge and split vector objects, which can be extremely helpful when creating comic page layouts, new propagate colors and color overlay mask filters, and support for the recorder docker to capture in real time. There’s support for new file formats, including Radiance RGB. Additionally, JPEG-XL support has been improved, and text objects in **Photoshop** files can now be loaded as text in the upcoming Krita 6 release. Furthermore, Krita 6 promises to let you save text to PSD as well, but only in a limited way. Among other changes, the Freehand drawing tool has been updated in Krita 6 with a pixel-art stabilizer, the Liquify transform tool was made much faster, the pattern option has been extended with a soft texturing mode, and all blending modes have been checked for correctness when working in HDR. On top of that, the Python plugin API has been extended with an API for generating brush strokes, new user interface objects, and new methods for existing classes. The upcoming Krita 6 release also ships with new Python plugins and a new curve-linear perspective assistant. If you want to give Krita 6 a try, you can download the beta version from the _official website_. However, please keep in mind that this is a pre-release version, so don’t use it for production work. Check out the _release notes_ for more details about the changes included in Krita 6. ### _You might also like_

Krita 6 Beta Digital Painting App Released with Wayland Color Management Support 9to5linux.com/krita-6-beta-digital-pai... #9to5linux #linux

Canonical has pushed today new updates to **Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)** users, including the Linux 6.17 kernel and Mesa 25.2 graphics stacks from Ubuntu 25.10 (Questing Quokka). Released in April 2024, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is a long-term supported series that will receive software updates and security patches for at least 5 years, until June 2029, as well as regular point releases every six months. The next expected Noble Numbat point release will be Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS, which should see the light of day next week on February 12th, 2026. The big news is that Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS will ship with newer kernel and graphics stacks for top-notch hardware support. For Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS, Canonical plans to include the Linux 6.17 kernel and Mesa 25.2 graphics stacks from its latest interim release, **Ubuntu 25.10 (Questing Quokka)**. But, as expected, existing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS users are already receiving the new kernel and Mesa updates. The previous Noble Numbat point release, **Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS** , shipped with Linux kernel 6.14 and Mesa 25.0 graphics stack from the Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) release, which **reached the end of its supported life** last month on January 15th, 2026. Therefore, if you’re using Noble Numbat and want newer kernel and graphics stacks, make sure you update your installations today. Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS is designed as an updated Noble Numbat media for those who want to deploy Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on new machines. If you’re not seeing the Linux 6.17 kernel and Mesa 25.2.8 updates, make sure you are using the main servers for the repositories, which you can set in the Software & Updates utility. As an alternative, you can manually install the `linux-generic-hwe-24.04` kernel package. Of course, after updating to the new kernel version, make sure that you rebuild any third-party kernel modules you might have installed, such as a **sound driver for your MacBook Pro** , to fix that dummy output issue. In fact, updating to Linux kernel 6.17 fixed the dummy sound output problem on my MacBook Pro! ### _You might also like_

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Users Get Linux 6.17 and Mesa 25.2 Ahead of Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS 9to5linux.com/ubuntu-24-04-lts-users-g... #9to5linux #linux

The Document Foundation released **LibreOffice** 26.2 today as a major update for this open-source, free, and cross-platform office suite software for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows systems. Highlights of LibreOffice 26.2 include a new option to use horizontal tabs instead of vertical in dialogs, the ability to insert hyperlinks from the context menu when text is selected, the ability to copy dialog screenshots to the clipboard, and expanded support for open standards to reinforce long-term access to documents. LibreOffice 26.2 also promises to improve performance and responsiveness across the entire office suite, helping large documents open, edit, and save more smoothly, as well as to enhance compatibility with documents created in proprietary and open source office software, reducing formatting issues and surprises. A couple of new experimental (opt-in) features have been added as well in LibreOffice 26.2, such as a new password-based ODF encryption mode called “ODF Wholesome Encryption” using AES‑GCM authenticated encryption and Argon2id key derivation, as well as a new consolidated Macro Manager dialog and basic IDE code completion. “LibreOffice 26.2 shows what happens when software is built around users, not business models, and how open-source software can deliver a modern, polished productivity suite without compromising user freedom,” said Florian Effenberger, Executive Director of The Document Foundation. “This release is about speed, reliability, and giving people control over their documents.” **LibreOffice Writer** word processor received new “Start” and “End” paragraph alignment support to align paragraphs relative to text direction when reusing styles, automatic RTL (Right-to-Left) direction detection while typing, and improved DOCX interoperability for floating tables, including the ability to split floating tables, and experimental provisional support for font-relative indentation units like ’em’ and ‘ic’. Writer also features better floating tables and pagination behavior, especially when combined with “keep with next” / “don’t split” paragraph attributes, as well as several tracking improvements like preserving old direct formatting for “format redlines” and better handling of interdependent changes when accepting changes. On top of that, anchored objects in Writer are no longer auto-selected after pasting, partly-deleted paragraphs will no longer clutter numbering lists, pasting a single image will automatically insert a caption if the AutoCaption Images setting is enabled, and the Spell-check dialog has a saner behavior for the “Correct All” list. **LibreOffice Calc** spreadsheet editor received diagram/flow‑style connector support, support for the BIFF12 (Excel 2007+) clipboard format, “Excel 2010–365 Spreadsheet” as default XLSX save target, support for saving natural-sort enablement and sort locale with the file, and the ability to treat decimal separators as characters. LibreOffice Calc also promises faster scrolling in sheets with lots of hidden columns, faster removal of duplicates, faster rejection of tracked changes, better performance for spreadsheets with lots of shapes on a sheet, and a new Matrix formulas shortcut (`Shift+Ctrl+Enter`) for switching to matrix mode. **LibreOffice Impress** presentation editor received support for inserting hyperlinks from the right-click menu when text is selected, support for copying dialog screenshots to the clipboard, explicit handling for embedded fonts that disallow editing, and better video/audio playback for common codecs on Windows systems. Moreover, the Layouts panel in the Impress sidebar, border presets, and shadow style position pickers now use a native IconView widget, the Theme dialog now uses a native IconView widget, sidebar palette entries now show a live preview when hovering, and 3D chart performance was significantly improved. LibreOffice 26.2 also makes the Base database editor truly multi-user, adds a progress bar to EPUB export, which is now much faster, improves line-height handling for DOC/DOCX documents written in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and improves markdown import and export to allow importing via clipboard and the use of ODT/DOCX templates. LibreOffice now prompts whether to open editable or read-only embedded fonts with restrictive licenses, automatically maps linkable tabular ranges to sheets when opened in Calc, improves Google Drive authentication, and promises faster SVG pattern-fill rendering on Linux systems. Under the hood, Skia rendering is now mandatory on macOS and Windows systems, the ScriptForge libraries gained notable additions like a `sharedmemory` service for persistent memory storage across scripts, and the internal Python was updated to Python 3.12 with additional standard modules shipped. You can download LibreOffice 26.2 right now from the _official website_ as ready-to-install binaries for 64-bit DEB and RPM-based distributions, such as Fedora Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu, and others. Of course, the source tarballs are also available for download for other GNU/Linux distributions. Worth noting is that the Linux builds provided by The Document Foundation were moved to an AlmaLinux 9 baseline and require the x86‑64‑v2 microarchitecture feature. Check out the _release notes_ for more details. LibreOffice 26.2 will be supported with a total of seven maintenance updates until November 30th, 2026. The first maintenance release, LibreOffice 26.2.1, is planned for the end of February with additional bug fixes. Until then, keep an eye on the stable software repositories of your Linux distros for the new LibreOffice version. _Image credits: The Document Foundation_ ### _You might also like_

LibreOffice 26.2 Open-Source Office Suite Officially Released, This Is What’s New 9to5linux.com/libreoffice-26-2-open-so... #9to5linux #linux

Linux hardware vendor System76 released COSMIC 1.0.5 today as the latest stable update to this Rust-based desktop environment for **Pop!_OS Linux** and other GNU/Linux distributions. COSMIC Epoch 1.0.5 looks like a hefty update, adding a new option to show the battery percentage on laptops in the system tray applet, a Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut to copy to the clipboard and a Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut to copy to the Pictures folder, and the ability to drag and drop tabs in the COSMIC Files file manager. This release also updates COSMIC Settings to improve network authentication reliability, support user-defined XKB layouts, fix the rotation frequency of wallpaper slideshow resetting, and display a descriptive label instead of an empty drop-down if no default apps are available. Among other changes, COSMIC 1.0.5 fixes ligature support in the COSMIC Edit text editor and COSMIC Term terminal emulator, adds support for SVG app icons to COSMIC Launcher, and adds a Ctrl+Q keyboard shortcut to exit the app and improves the display of system and Flatpak runtime updates in COSMIC Store. Some performance improvements and other minor bug fixes are present as well in this new COSMIC release, so check out the release notes on the _project’s GitHub page_ for more details, from where you can download the source tarball if you fancy compiling COSMIC from sources on your Linux distro. Of course, compiling a desktop environment from sources is mostly for system integrators, so most users will have to wait for COSMIC 1.0.5 to land in their distro’s stable repositories to enjoy the new features and improvements. The COSMIC desktop environment can be installed on a wide range of GNU/Linux distributions, including Arch Linux, **CachyOS**, Fedora Linux, **PorteuX**, openSUSE Tumbleweed, **OpenMandriva Lx**, NixOS, **Garuda Linux** , Ubuntu (via PPA), **AerynOS**, System76’s Pop!_OS Linux, and many others, including their derivatives. ### _You might also like_

System76 Releases COSMIC 1.0.5 with New Option to Show Battery Percentage 9to5linux.com/system76-releases-cosmic... #9to5linux #linux

Mozilla finally landed today the long-anticipated **AI Kill Switch** controls for Firefox, which let users strip the open-source web browser of any AI-powered features, and you can test it right now in Firefox Nightly. In December 2025, when Mozilla appointed its new CEO, the company developing the popular Firefox web browser _revealed_ that it was working on an AI kill switch that would let users completely disable all the AI features that had been included in the past few releases, estranging more and more loyal users. Now, the AI kill switch is finally a reality as it landed today with the latest Firefox Nightly update. The implementation is called “AI Controls” and can be found in Firefox’s settings as a standalone section. From there, users can toggle a setting called “Block AI Enhancements” to remove any AI features. “ _Blocking means you won’t see new or current AI enhancements in Firefox, or pop-ups about them_ ,” reads the AI kill switch toggle, which also points users to a page where they can learn more about what’s included and how to control traditional machine learning features. When clicking the toggle, you’ll see a pop-up that informs you about which AI features have been disabled in Firefox, including translations, image alt text in the PDF viewer, tab group suggestions, key points in link previews, and chatbot providers in the sidebar. Add-ons that use Firefox’s AI feature will also be blocked. After blocking the AI features, you will be able to enable them selectively from the On-Device AI controls in the same section. You can also block them partially without enabling the “Block AI Enhancements” toggle. Additionally, you can choose which AI chatbot to use in the sidebar, if any. To test the AI Controls in Firefox Nightly, you must first enable them from about:config by setting the `browser.preferences.aiControls` option from `false` to `true`. Mozilla plans to ship the AI kill switch for everyone with the next major release of the web browser, **Firefox 148** , which is expected on February 24th, 2026. The Firefox 148 release also promises to improve support for screen readers, add WebGPU support to service workers, add support for the Sanitizer API, which provides new methods for HTML manipulation, and add support for the Trusted Types API, which prevents cross-site scripting attacks. ### _You might also like_

Firefox’s AI Kill Switch Lands in Firefox Nightly, Slated for Firefox 148 9to5linux.com/firefoxs-ai-kill-switch-... #9to5linux #linux

Git 2.53 Released with New Features and Performance Improvements 9to5linux.com/git-2-53-released-with-n... #9to5linux #linux

**The 277th installment of the 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup is here for the week ending February 1st, 2026, keeping you updated on the most important developments in the Linux world. If you missed last week’s 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup, catch up with everything GNU/Linux/Open Sourcehere.** ## Thank you! I would like to thank everyone who sent us donations; your generosity is greatly appreciated. I also want to thank all of you for your continued support by commenting, liking, sharing, and boosting the articles, following us on social media, and, last but not least, sending us feedback. The end of January brought us new software releases, including GParted 1.8, Calibre 9.0, Transmission 4.1, GStreamer 1.28, OpenSSL 3.6.1, VirtualBox 7.2.6, Shotcut 26.1, TigerVNC 1.16, and Proton 10.0-4, as well as several distro releases, including Tails 7.4.1, AerynOS 2026.01, Linux Lite 7.8, GParted Live 1.8, and Emmabuntüs DE 5 1.05. On top of that, I tell you all about Xfce’s upcoming Wayland compositor written in Rust and the new Linux laptop from TUXEDO Computers. Below, you can check out this week’s hottest news and access all the distro and package downloads released this past week in the 9to5Linux roundup for February 1st, 2026. ## Website changes I’ve been working on a new dark mode implementation for the website that should be cleaner and faster. It’s not 100% finished, so if you experience any issues with the dark theme or have suggestions, please let me know through the usual channels. Thank you, and I hope you’ll enjoy it! ## Hot news of the week * GParted 1.8 open-source partition editor brings many fixes and enhancements * Emmabuntüs Debian Edition 5 gets new accessibility features, Debian 12.13 base * Proton 10.0-4 is out with support for Drop Dead: The Cabin and Quantum Threshold * OpenSSL 3.6.1 is now available with important security patches and bug fixes * Xfce desktop environment is getting a Rust-based Wayland compositor * TigerVNC 1.16 is now available with support for sharing Wayland desktops * GStreamer 1.28 open-source multimedia framework is here as a major update * Transmission 4.1 open-source BitTorrent client arrives as a massive update * TUXEDO Computers unveils Intel-powered InfinityBook Max 15 Gen10 Linux laptop * Debian-based GParted Live 1.8 is out with Linux kernel 6.18 LTS, GParted 1.8 * VirtualBox 7.2.6 adds initial support for Linux kernel 6.19 and improvements * Calibre 9.0 open-source ebook manager now available with new Bookshelf view * Tails 7.4.1 is out as an emergency release patching critical OpenSSL vulnerabilities * AerynOS 2026.01 arrives with Linux kernel 6.18 LTS, GNOME 49.3, and more * Linux Lite 7.8 is here based on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS and many apps ported to GTK4 * Shotcut 26.1 open-source video editor arrives with hardware video decoding ## Other GNU/Linux news of interest * Budgie 10.10.1 desktop lands minor improvements as work continues on Budgie 11 ## Linux distributions released this week * Arch Linux 2026.02.01 * Parrot OS 7.1 Security * Parrot OS 7.1 Home * Linux Lite 7.8 * AerynOS 2026.01 GNOME * Tails 7.4.1 * AUSTRUMI 5.1.8 * KDE neon 20260129 * Bluestar Linux 6.18.7 * GParted Live 1.8.0 * Alpine Linux 3.23.3 * CentOS Stream 10-20260126 ## Linux apps, drivers, desktops, and kernels released this week * DBeaver 25.3.4 * Shotcut 26.1 * Calibre 9.1 * Linux kernel 6.18.8 LTS * Linux kernel 6.12.68 LTS * Linux kernel 6.6.122 LTS * Tor Browser 15.0.5 * AppArmor 4.1.4 * OpenLDAP 2.6.12 * MAME 0.285 * GNU gettext 1.0 * Qt 6.10.2 * Tor 0.4.8.22 * Mozilla Thunderbird 147.0.1 * VirtualBox 7.2.6 * Chromium 144.0.7559.109 * Transmission 4.1 * GStreamer 1.28 * CMake 4.2.3 * TigerVNC 1.16 * OpenSSL 3.6.1 * Mozilla Firefox 147.0.2 * Docker 29.2.0 * GParted 1.8 * Krita 5.2.15 ## Coming up next week * LibreOffice 26.2 * GNOME 50 Beta * GNOME 49.4 * KDE Gear 25.12.2 * Linux kernel 6.19 * …and hopefully many other exciting Linux news and releases! ### _You might also like_

9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: February 1st, 2026 9to5linux.com/9to5linux-weekly-roundup... #9to5linux #linux

9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: February 1st, 2026 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup for February 1st, 2026, brings news about GParted 1.8, Transmission 4.1, GStreamer 1.28, OpenSSL 3.6.1, Proton 10.0-4, GParted ...

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9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: February 1st, 2026 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup for February 1st, 2026, brings news about GParted 1.8, Transmission 4.1, GStreamer 1.28, OpenSSL 3.6.1, Proton 10.0-4, GParted ...

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Shotcut 26.1 has been released today as a major update to this open-source, free, and cross-platform video editing software written in Qt for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows systems. The biggest change in the Shotcut 26.1 release is support for hardware video decoding, a highly anticipated feature that is enabled by default on all supported platforms, except on Linux systems with **NVIDIA** GPUs. Hardware video decoding can be enabled or disabled from Settings > Preview Scaling > Use Hardware Decoder. On Linux, hardware video decoding uses the Video Acceleration API (VA-API), while on Windows it uses Media Foundation, and on macOS it uses Video Toolbox. As expected, hardware video decoding only supports codecs your hardware can decode and will automatically fall back to software decoding if needed. While hardware video decoding reduces CPU usage, which can help lower battery drain and keep your system cooler, it doesn’t provide a dramatic speed boost unless you use Linear 10-bit CPU processing mode or have a low-powered CPU. Also, it has a limited impact on seeking and scrubbing. “”What took so long?” you might ask. A good way to manage it across all operating systems and GPU vendor APIs,” said the devs. “Management comes in the forms of operating system abstraction APIs, hardware scaling, and a threshold limiter.” Along with hardware decoding, there’s an Export > Codec > Use hardware decoder option, which can reduce CPU usage during export and has no resolution or frame rate limits. However, this feature is disabled by default as it can sometimes increase export times, and it’s persistent, so it will be remembered between sessions. Among other changes, Shotcut 26.1 adds the ability to convert a project between GPU and CPU processing modes, adds a Blend Mode filter and track option for the Linear 10-bit GPU/CPU processing mode, and increases the maximum resolution in Video Mode and Export to 8640 for 8K VR180 videos. It also improves the appearance of outline in the Text: Simple, Typewriter, GPS Text, Subtitle Burn In, and Timer text filters, changes bulk proxy generation to update clips, changes Timeline > Add Generator and New Generator > Add To Timeline to not seek, and changes simple keyframe defaults in the Mask: From File filter to be more convenient for multi-track transitions. Of course, various bugs were fixed as well, so check out the _release notes_ for more details. Meanwhile, you can download Shotcut 26.1 from the _official website_ as a universal AppImage bundle that you can run on virtually any GNU/Linux distribution without installing anything. ### _You might also like_

Shotcut 26.1 Open-Source Video Editor Released with Hardware Video Decoding 9to5linux.com/shotcut-26-1-open-source... #9to5linux #linux

Linux Lite 7.8 has been released today as the latest stable update to this Ubuntu-based distribution using the lightweight Xfce desktop environment and based on the latest Ubuntu LTS series. Derived from **Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS** (Noble Numbat) and powered by Linux kernel 6.8, Linux Lite 7.8 introduces rewrites to no less than twelve of the in-house applications using Python and GTK4, including Lite Welcome, Lite Software, Lite Sources, Lite Updates, Lite Auto Login, Lite User Manager, Lite Desktop, Lite Sounds, Lite System Report, Lite Firewall, Lite Network Shares, and Lite DPI. Apart from being ported to Python/GTK4, the Lite Software app has been updated with support for more than 20 apps that users can now install in their brand-new Linux Lite system, including Darktable, BleachBit, Kdenlive, and others. Also updated was the System Monitoring Center app to show more system info in the System tab. “We’re most excited about the new Lite Software. We’ve added more than 20 popular applications, BleachBit, Darktable, KDE Connect, Kdenlive, and Stacer, to name a few,” said developer Jerry Bezencon. “We’ve updated the System tab in System Monitoring Center to include more system information.” Linux Lite 7.8 also adds support for newer Linux kernels, including the latest **Linux 6.18 LTS** , which can be installed from the Linux Lite repository if you need support for newer hardware devices. Currently, Linux Lite supports kernels from Linux 3.13 to Linux 6.18 LTS. Several default applications have been updated as well, and this release ships with the Google Chrome 144.0 web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird 140.7.0 ESR email client, **LibreOffice 25.8.4** office suite, **VLC 3.0.20** media player, GIMP 2.10.36 image editor, and others. Check out the _release announcement page_ for more details, from where you can download Linux Lite 7.8 as a live ISO image for 64-bit systems. This release uses the latest Xfce 4.18 desktop environment by default, highly customized using the Materia desktop theme, Papirus icon theme, and Roboto Regular fonts. ### _You might also like_

Linux Lite 7.8 Is Out Based on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS, Ports Many Apps to GTK4 9to5linux.com/linux-lite-7-8-is-out-ba... #9to5linux #linux

AerynOS 2026.01 Released with Linux Kernel 6.18 LTS, GNOME 49.3, and More AerynOS 2026.01 Linux distribution is now available for download with the GNOME 49.3 desktop environment, Linux kernel 6.18 LTS, and more. Here’s what’s new! The post AerynOS 2026.01 Released with Linux Kernel 6.18 LTS, GNOME 49.3, and More appeared first on 9to5Linux - do not reproduce this article without permission. This RSS feed is intended for readers, not scrapers.

AerynOS 2026.01 Released with Linux Kernel 6.18 LTS, GNOME 49.3, and More 9to5linux.com/aerynos-2026-01-released... #9to5linux #linux

Tails 7.4.1 has been released today as an emergency update to the latest **Tails 7.4** series of this Debian-based distribution designed to protect you against surveillance and censorship. Tails 7.4.1 is a small update that updates the OpenSSL library to version 3.5.4, a security release **addressing multiple vulnerabilities** that could be critical. According to the devs, these vulnerabilities could be used by a malicious Tor relay to deanonymize a Tails user, so updating your system is very important. Among other changes, Tails 7.4.1 also updates the Tor client to version 0.4.8.22, updates the Mozilla Thunderbird email client to version 140.7.0 ESR, along with a fix for Gmail authentication, and adds a spinner when opening the Wi-Fi settings from the Tor Connection assistant. Tails 7.4 was released earlier this month with a new feature that lets you save your language, keyboard layout, and formats from the Welcome Screen to the USB stick, so they are applied automatically when restarting Tails. The Tails 7.4 series also ships with the latest Tor Browser 15.0.4 anonymous web browser as a major update based on **Mozilla Firefox 140 ESR** that introduces exciting features like support for vertical tabs and tab groups, as well as a new unified search button in the address bar. Under the hood, Tails 7.4 is based on the latest and greatest **Debian 13 “Trixie”** operating system series and it’s powered by the long-term supported **Linux 6.12 LTS** kernel series. For more details, check out the _original announcement_. Check out the _release notes_ for more details about the changes included in Tails 7.4.1, which is available for download right now from the _official website_ as ISO and USB images for 64-bit systems. Automatic upgrades are available from Tails 7.0, Tails 7.1, Tails 7.2, Tails 7.3.1, or Tails 7.4, but you can also perform a _manual upgrade_. ### _You might also like_

Tails 7.4.1 Is Out as an Emergency Release Patching Critical OpenSSL Vulnerabilities 9to5linux.com/tails-7-4-1-is-out-as-an... #9to5linux #linux

Calibre developer Kovid Goyal released Calibre 9.0 today as the latest stable version of this popular ebook management software, a major update that introduces new features and enhancements. Highlights of Calibre 9.0 include a new Bookshelf view that arranges your ebooks on shelves, showing their spines, an “Edit book” button in the viewer controls to let you edit the current book when it’s in an editable format like EPUB, AZW3, or KEPUB, and support for following the system style (dark or light). This release also introduces an option to replace images with their alt attribute text in the TXT Output, adds support for reading cover images from the “Open Manga Format” non-conformant EPUB files created by some Japanese publishers, and adds a tweak to change the font size of the AI chat widget. Also new in Calibre 9.0 is the ability to type in a page number in the E-book viewer to go to, rather than forcing you to scroll through existing page numbers, as well as momentum-based scrolling on Linux systems for the ebook list when using high-resolution scroll devices like touchpads. This release also speeds up **Calibre** ‘s shutdown time by a couple of seconds, adds support for the latest Kobo firmware, improves EPUB3 metadata support to handle identifiers that use HTTP URLs without the `url:` prefix, improves the rendering of tate-chu-yoko text on Kobo devices, and improves the export of SVG images in the E-book viewer. Starting with this release, Calibre now only shows the Sort button on the search bar if the Sort By action has not been added to the search bar by the user, and disables GPU acceleration for the Qt WebEngine by default to prevent crashes on some older systems. The Edit Book feature has been improved as well in Calibre 9.0, which fixes spurious unreferenced warnings for SMIL media overlay audio files when checking books and allows pressing Enter to do the same action as double-clicking the current entry in reports. Last but not least, Calibre 9.0 improves support for some news sources, including Times Literary Supplement, Private Eye, and New Yorker. Check out the _release notes_ for more details and download Calibre 9.0 from the _official website_ as binaries for 64-bit and AArch64 (ARM64) Linux systems, macOS, and Windows. ### _You might also like_

Calibre 9.0 Open-Source Ebook Manager Released with New Bookshelf View 9to5linux.com/calibre-9-0-open-source-... #9to5linux #linux

VirtualBox 7.2.6 Released with Initial Support for Linux Kernel 6.19 VirtualBox 7.2.6 open-source virtualization software is now available for download with initial support for the Linux 6.19 kernel and many other improvements. Here's what's new! The post VirtualBox 7.2.6 Released with Initial Support for Linux Kernel 6.19 appeared first on 9to5Linux - do not reproduce this article without permission. This RSS feed is intended for readers, not scrapers.

VirtualBox 7.2.6 Released with Initial Support for Linux Kernel 6.19 9to5linux.com/virtualbox-7-2-6-release... #9to5linux #linux

TUXEDO Computers Unveils Intel-Powered InfinityBook Max 15 Gen10 Linux Laptop TUXEDO Computers unveils an Intel-powered InfinityBook Max 15 Linux notebook with Intel Core Ultra 7 255H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics, and up to 128 GB RAM. The post TUXEDO Computers Unveils Intel-Powered InfinityBook Max 15 Gen10 Linux Laptop appeared first on 9to5Linux - do not reproduce this article without permission. This RSS feed is intended for readers, not scrapers.

TUXEDO Computers Unveils Intel-Powered InfinityBook Max 15 Gen10 Linux Laptop 9to5linux.com/tuxedo-computers-unveils... #9to5linux #linux

GStreamer 1.28 Open-Source Multimedia Framework Released, Here’s What’s New GStreamer 1.28 open-source multimedia framework is now available for download with numerous new features and enhancements. The post GStreamer 1.28 Open-Source Multimedia Framework Released, Here’s What’s New appeared first on 9to5Linux - do not reproduce this article without permission. This RSS feed is intended for readers, not scrapers.

GStreamer 1.28 Open-Source Multimedia Framework Released, Here’s What’s New 9to5linux.com/gstreamer-1-28-open-sour... #9to5linux #linux

Transmission 4.1 Open-Source BitTorrent Client Released as a Massive Update Transmission 4.1 open-source BitTorrent client is now available for download with support for IPv6 and dual-stack UDP trackers, optional sequential downloading, and more. Here's what's new! The post Transmission 4.1 Open-Source BitTorrent Client Released as a Massive Update appeared first on 9to5Linux - do not reproduce this article without permission. This RSS feed is intended for readers, not scrapers.

Transmission 4.1 Open-Source BitTorrent Client Released as a Massive Update 9to5linux.com/transmission-4-1-open-so... #9to5linux #linux

Following the release of **GParted 1.8** as a major update to the popular open-source partition editor, Curtis Gedak released GParted Live 1.8 today as the latest version of this Debian-based live system to graphically manage disk partitions. Based on the Debian Sid (Unstable) repositories as of January 27th, 2026, the GParted Live 1.8 release is powered by the latest and greatest **Linux 6.18 LTS** kernel series, namely Linux 6.18.5-1, and, as expected, it includes the recently released GParted 1.8 partition editor. This release also includes a mechanism to avoid blank screen issues on some systems, as well as all the latest package updates, bug fixes, and security patches from the upstream Debian repositories. Check out the _release notes_ for more details, from where you can download GParted Live 1.8 as a live ISO for 64-bit systems. GParted and GParted Live let you manipulate a wide range of filesystems, including EXT2/3/4, Btrfs, Bcachefs, FAT16/32, exFAT, F2FS, HFS/HFS+, Swap, LUKS, LVM2 PV, MINIX, NILFS2, NTFS, Reiserfs/4, UDF, UFS, and XFS. It can also create partition tables like MSDOS and GPT. Users can also use GParted and GParted Live to create, delete, copy, resize, move, check, set a new UUID, or label partitions, enable and disable partition flags like boot or hidden, as well as to align partitions to mebibyte (MiB) or cylinder boundaries. Based on the libparted library, GParted supports hardware RAID, motherboard BIOS RAID, and Linux software RAID, and it also supports all sector sizes, including 512, 1024, 2048, and 4096-byte sectors. For details and to download the latest versions, don’t hesitate to visit the _official website_. ### _You might also like_

Debian-Based GParted Live 1.8 Released with Linux Kernel 6.18 LTS, GParted 1.8 9to5linux.com/debian-based-gparted-liv... #9to5linux #linux

TigerVNC 1.16 Released with Support for Sharing Wayland Desktops 9to5linux.com/tigervnc-1-16-released-w... #9to5linux #linux

OpenSSL 3.6.1 has been released today as the first maintenance/security update to the latest **OpenSSL 3.6** series of this widely used TLS/SSL and crypto library for providing secure communications over computer networks. OpenSSL 3.6.1 is here to address several critical security vulnerabilities, including CVE-2025-11187, causing improper validation of PBMAC1 parameters in PKCS#12 MAC verification, CVE-2025-15467, a NULL dereference in the `SSL_CIPHER_find()` function on unknown cipher ID, and CVE-2025-15469, causing `openssl dgst` one-shot codepath to silently truncate inputs bigger than 16 MB. This release also addresses CVE-2025-66199, fixing TLS 1.3 `CompressedCertificate` excessive memory allocation, CVE-2025-68160, a heap out-of-bounds write in `BIO_f_linebuffer` on short writes, CVE-2025-69418, causing unauthenticated/unencrypted trailing bytes with low-level OCB function calls, and CVE-2025-69419, an out-of-bounds write in `PKCS12_get_friendlyname()` UTF-8 conversion. On top of that, OpenSSL 3.6.1 addresses CVE-2025-69420, causing missing `ASN1_TYPE` validation in the `TS_RESP_verify_response()` function, CVE-2025-69421, a NULL Pointer Dereference in th`e PKCS12_item_decrypt_d2i_ex()` function, CVE-2026-22795, causing missing `ASN1_TYPE` validation in PKCS#12 parsing, and CVE-2026-22796, a `ASN1_TYPE` Type Confusion in the `PKCS7_digest_from_attributes()` function. Apart from these security fixes, the OpenSSL 3.6.1 release fixes a regression in the `X509_V_FLAG_CRL_CHECK_ALL` flag handling by restoring its pre-OpenSSL 3.6 behavior, as well as a regression in handling stapled OCSP responses, which caused handshake failures for OpenSSL 3.6 servers with various client implementations. Also today, the OpenSSL project released OpenSSL 3.5.5, OpenSSL 3.4.4, OpenSSL 3.3.6, and OpenSSL 3.0.19 as security/bugfix point releases to the OpenSSL 3.5, OpenSSL 3.4, OpenSSL 3.3, and OpenSSL 3.0 series for those who still use these branches. Check out the _project’s GitHub page_ for more details about the changes included in these updates. OpenSSL 3.6 is the latest version of this cryptographic library, adding significant new functionality like NIST security categories for PKEY objects, support for `EVP_SKEY` opaque symmetric key objects, support for FIPS 186-5 deterministic ECDSA signature generation, LMS signature verification support, and an `openssl configutl` utility for processing the OpenSSL configuration file. _Image credits: OpenSSL_ ### _You might also like_

OpenSSL 3.6.1 Is Now Available with Important Security Patches and Bug Fixes 9to5linux.com/openssl-3-6-1-is-now-ava... #9to5linux #linux

The Xfce project is working on a brand-new Wayland compositor for their lightweight desktop environment, which will be used as an alternative to the current window manager to support Wayland sessions. Meet Xfwl4, a brand-new **Wayland compositor** for Xfce designed to offer the same functionality and behavior as Xfwm4, but for Wayland sessions, not X11. Therefore, future Xfce releases will ship with both Xfwm4 and Xfwl4 to provide users with support for X11 and Wayland sessions and ensure a seamless transition between them. The work will be led by Xfce core developer Brian Tarricone, who plans to reuse the existing configuration dialogs and xfconf settings from the Xfwm4 window manager, which is currently used on the latest **Xfce 4.20** release. However, the dev said that Xfwl4 won’t be based on the existing Xfwm4 code. “After careful consideration, we’ve decided on a meaningful way to use the generous donations from our community: funding longtime Xfce core developer Brian Tarricone to create xfwl4, a brand-new Wayland compositor for Xfce,” said the Xfce development team in a _blog post_. Work on porting the Xfce desktop environment to Wayland kicked off a couple of years ago, and an experimental Wayland session ended up in the Xfce 4.20 release back in 2024. However, it turned out that porting Xfwm4 to Wayland was the wrong path forward, according to developer Brian Tarricone. For Xfwl4, the dev will use the _smithay_ project, which can be used to create Wayland compositors in the Rust programming language, instead of the more popular wlroots, due to its support for most/all official Wayland protocol extensions, lack of a high-level abstraction layer, and great documentation. As you can imagine, this work will require major changes to Xfce’s session-startup, since on Wayland sessions the compositor needs to be the root of the session instead of the traditional xfce4-session. Hopefully, Xfce’s brand-new Xfwl4 Wayland compositor will be ready for the next major release, Xfce 4.22, which should arrive in 2026. ### _You might also like_

Xfce Desktop Environment Is Getting a Rust-Based Wayland Compositor 9to5linux.com/xfce-desktop-environment... #9to5linux #linux

Valve released Proton 10.0-4 today as the latest stable update to the **Proton 10** series of this open-source compatibility tool for Steam Play based on **Wine** and additional components for playing Windows games on Linux. Proton 10.0-4 adds support for new games, including Surgeon Simulator: Experience Reality, Changeling VR, Summoners War: RUSH, Quantum Threshold, REACH, Fellowship, Metal Slug: Awakening, The Obsessive Shadow, Drop Dead: The Cabin, Zero Caliber 2 Remastered, and Lost Memories 3 Side Stories. Also supported by the new Proton release is Death by Scrolling, Stellar Reach, Girls’ Frontline, Modules, Distant Worlds 2, 懒人修仙传2, Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages, and Chronology. All these games are now playable on Linux, and they previously worked if you had Proton Experimental enabled. The Proton 10.0-4 release also brings improvements for games that were already supported, such as Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun, Far Cry 5, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, Transcendence, Mystery Manor: Hidden Objects, Crystal of Atlan, Adventures of Fluzz, and Marvel Rivals. The list of games that received improvements continues with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Wild Assault, Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen, Figmin XR, Avowed, Grounded 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, The Outer Worlds 2, Men of War II, Ara: History Untold, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and ARC Raiders. The same goes for the Rocket Jockey, For Honor, Mohrta, Cladun X3, Atelier Resleriana, Okayunyumu!, AQUARIUM, Black Squad, Rigid Force Alpha, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Warframe, Revolver 360 Re:Actor, Secrets of Grindea, Conquer the World, Marvin’s Mittens, Lemma, Trainatic, and Sword of the Stars: The Pit games. Among other changes, Proton 10.0-4 improves support for Sony PlayStation controllers in Tekken 8, fixes haptics support for DualSense controllers, which should now work in most games that support it, adds support for speech recognition in Phasmophobia, and addresses several Proton 10 regressions. Under the hood, the Proton 10.0-4 uses Wine Mono 10.4.1, vkd3d-proton 3.0b, and vkd3d 1.18. Check out the _release notes_ on the project’s GitHub page for more details, from where you can download the source tarball. However, Proton 10.0-4 can be enabled by right-clicking on a game in your Steam Library, selecting Preferences, and going to the Compatibility section on the left sidebar, or from Settings > Compatibility. Select version 10.0-4 from the drop-down list, and it will be automatically downloaded. ### _You might also like_

Proton 10.0-4 Released with Support for Drop Dead: The Cabin, Quantum Threshold 9to5linux.com/proton-10-0-4-released-w... #9to5linux #linux

Emmabuntüs Debian Edition 5 Gets New Accessibility Features, Debian 12.13 Base Emmabuntüs Debian Edition 5 1.05 distribution is now available for download with a Debian 12.13 base and many accessibility improvements. Here's what's new! The post Emmabuntüs Debian Edition 5 Gets New Accessibility Features, Debian 12.13 Base appeared first on 9to5Linux - do not reproduce this article without permission. This RSS feed is intended for readers, not scrapers.

Emmabuntüs Debian Edition 5 Gets New Accessibility Features, Debian 12.13 Base 9to5linux.com/emmabuntus-debian-editio... #9to5linux #linux

GParted 1.8 has been released today as the latest stable version of this open-source partition editor software, which addresses several bugs to improve support for various filesystems. Coming almost two years after **GParted 1.6**, the GParted 1.8 release is here to improve support for FAT filesystems by fixing a hang when setting FAT labels that match a root folder entry, as well as an issue where GParted displayed error messages along with the FAT label. This release also adds support for setting the LBA flag when creating FAT16/32 filesystems, adds support for showing a warning for logical EFI System Partitions (ESPs), fixes GPT partition type GUID not copied in copy/paste mode, and fixes a crash that occurred due to GParted not checking for failure to load its icon. Starting with this release, GParted now creates mount points in a private temporary working directory, no longer disables 64-bit on EXT4 filesystems smaller than 16TB, uses a fixed-width font when displaying the command output in operation details, and maintains the EFI System Partition type when copying to a new partition. On top of that, the GParted 1.8 release fixes an issue with the UI label not updating if newer jobs are queued for the same partition, adds support for erasing file system signatures before all the filesystems are copied, and updates the main window screenshot in the GParted manual and its translations. Under the hood, the developers improved the compilation against GCC 15 libstdc++, refactored DMRaid to a static class, added support for C++14 compilation as a minimum requirement, fixes the detection of C++14 without `AX_CXX_COMPILE_STDCXX_14` in the configure script, and fixes various other issues. Check out the _changelog_ for more details about the changes included in this update. Meanwhile, you can download GParted 1.8 right now from the _official website_ , where you’ll also find the **GParted Live** utility if you want to use GParted directly from a bootable flash drive. GParted can be used to resize, copy/paste, move, delete, check, and label disk partitions without any data loss, as well as to set new UUIDs. It supports a wide range of filesystems, including EXT2/3/4, Btrfs, XFS, ReiserFS/Reiser4, linux-swap, LVM2 PV, NILFS2, exFAT, FAT16/32, NTFS, HFS/HFS+, UDF, and UFS. ### _You might also like_

GParted 1.8 Open-Source Partition Editor Released with Many Enhancements 9to5linux.com/gparted-1-8-open-source-... #9to5linux #linux