Articles about Linux

Canonical is making a huge change in Ubuntu that longtime Linux users might not expect (or like). You see, beginning with the upcoming Ubuntu 25.10, the popular Linux distribution will begin the process of ditching the classic sudo tool in favor of a modern reimagining called sudo-rs. This change is more than a simple code swap -- it’s a sea change in how privilege escalation is handled on Linux, with a clear focus on security and long-term sustainability.

So what exactly is sudo-rs? Well, as the name implies, it’s a new implementation of the familiar sudo command, but this version is written entirely in Rust -- a programming language known for its strict memory safety and reliability. If you’re worried about compatibility, don’t panic; sudo-rs is designed as a drop-in replacement for the original. For most users, it will just work.

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Well, it has finally happened. Fedora Linux is now officially available as a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distribution! That’s right, folks, following prior testing, you can now run Fedora 42 natively inside Windows using WSL. As someone who considers Fedora to be my favorite Linux distribution, this is a pretty exciting development.

Installing it is simple enough. Just open up a terminal and type wsl --install FedoraLinux-42 to get started. After that, launch it with wsl -d FedoraLinux-42 and set your username. No password is required by default, and you’ll automatically be part of the wheel group, meaning you can use sudo right out of the gate.

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With Windows 10’s end of life looming, users are beginning to consider their next steps. In the past, upgrading to the latest Windows release might have been the obvious path, but Windows 11 -- with its tighter hardware requirements, bloat, problematic updates, insistence on a Microsoft account, and an increasing focus on unwanted AI features -- may no longer be the first choice for many.

Thankfully, Windows 11 isn’t the only game in town. Several Linux operating systems have been developed to appeal to Windows users looking to jump ship. AnduinOS is one such distribution, combining the familiarity of Windows 11 with the power of Ubuntu, and it's just been updated to version 1.3.0.

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When it comes to checking your internet connection, many people still turn to old-fashioned speed tests. You get rated with a number or grade, maybe feel good about it, and move on. But the truth is, those numbers don’t tell the whole story. That’s where Orb comes in -- a brand-new app that promises a real look at how your internet actually performs day to day.

Orb was built by some familiar names. Doug Suttles and Jamie Stevens, who helped create Speedtest and Downdetector, are leading the project, along with a group of former Ookla and Fastly veterans. It’s safe to say they know a thing or two about internet performance.

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Showing that it is not just Windows 11 that has issues with updates, Offensive Security has issued a warning that Kali Linux updates are likely to fail “in the coming days”.

The Linux distro has proved an important tool in penetration testing, acting as a valuable security tool for many users. The team behind Kali Linux says that “pretty much every Kali system out there will fail to update”, and it bears full responsibility: “This is not only you, this is for everyone, and this is entirely our fault”. But there is a solution.

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Let’s be honest, y’all -- it is pretty easy to feel overwhelmed by everything going on these days. Bad news seems to hit from every direction, leaving many people feeling helpless or anxious. But believe it or not, there is a simple, satisfying way to take back a little bit of control -- by breathing new life into an old computer with a refreshing Linux distribution such as 4MLinux.

You see, the new 4MLinux 48.0 series has officially been declared stable (download here), and it brings a whole lot to the table for such a lightweight operating system. Whether you want to write documents in LibreOffice 25.2 or GNOME Office (featuring AbiWord 3.0.5, GIMP 2.10.38, and Gnumeric 1.12.59), this little distro has you covered. Browsing the web is easy too, with both Firefox 137.0 and Chrome 135.0 ready to roll. Thunderbird 128.9 is there if you still prefer handling email the old-fashioned way.

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Brave just made a move that should make privacy enthusiasts pretty happy. The company has officially open sourced Cookiecrumbler, a tool designed to automatically detect and help block those obnoxious cookie consent banners you see across the Web. These pop-ups are not only annoying but, according to research, often track users even when they click reject. Cookiecrumbler aims to stop that nonsense while avoiding the headaches that can come with sloppy blocking rules.

Lately, Brave has been my go-to web browser. It’s open source, cross-platform, and runs beautifully on Linux, which I appreciate as a Linux fan. Even better, it handles ad-blocking on iOS -- something many other browsers don’t offer. And perhaps most importantly, it does all of this without relying on Google.

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We regularly suggest operating systems to consider if you’re feeling disillusioned by Windows 11, and judging by their popularity, Microsoft should be concerned by just how many people are looking to jump ship.

Commodore OS Vision has just been updated to version 3.0, and it’s a major overhaul. The Linux-based operating system offers the modern features you’d expect, but with a retro twist. It’s also packed with classic Commodore content that will appeal to anyone who owned one of those systems in the past.

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Most Linux users assume their security tools will catch bad actors before damage is done -- but sadly, new research suggests that confidence may be misplaced. You see, ARMO, the company behind Kubescape, has uncovered what could be one of the biggest blind spots in Linux security today. The company has released a working rootkit called “Curing” that uses io_uring, a feature built into the Linux kernel, to stealthily perform malicious activities without being caught by many of the detection solutions currently on the market.

At the heart of the issue is the heavy reliance on monitoring system calls, which has become the go-to method for many cybersecurity vendors. The problem? Attackers can completely sidestep these monitored calls by leaning on io_uring instead. This clever method could let bad actors quietly make network connections or tamper with files without triggering the usual alarms.

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The ArcoLinux project is winding down after eight years because its project lead is beginning to feel his age.

Announcing the move in a blog post, Erik Dubois says the ArcoLinux community will discontinue its distribution and related projects.

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The folks behind OpenMandriva have officially released version 6.0 of their Linux distribution. This is the fixed-point “Rock” release, and not the rolling edition, so it is all about stability rather than chasing the latest experimental packages.

KDE Plasma 6 is the star of the show here, serving as the default desktop environment. Users can choose between X11 or Wayland sessions, but there’s a catch. If you plan to run OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 in VirtualBox, X11 is strongly recommended. The team warns about problems with Wayland on VirtualBox’s emulated GPU, though things work fine on real hardware or in QEMU with KVM. For VirtualBox, don’t forget to set VMSVGA to avoid boot issues.

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Earth Day is tomorrow, and it is a time to reflect on how we treat the planet we all share (until Elon Musk colonizes Mars, at least). While some people mark the day by picking up trash or planting a tree, there’s another simple yet powerful way to help the environment that you might not have considered -- install Linux on your aging computer instead of tossing it in the trash!

Old computers don’t have to die. In fact, most of them still have plenty of life left in them -- if you’re willing to ditch bloated operating systems that no longer support them. That’s where Linux comes in. Unlike Windows 11, which demands modern processors and fairly high-end specs just to boot, many Linux distributions run smoothly on older hardware. Whether it’s a decade-old laptop collecting dust or a desktop with a failed Windows installation, Linux can breathe new life into machines that would otherwise end up in landfills.

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TrueNAS 25.04, codenamed “Fangtooth,” was recently released (download here), and with it comes a full embrace of Linux as the underlying base. While previous versions of TrueNAS were confusingly split between CORE (built on FreeBSD) and SCALE (built on Linux), this release finally pushes the project further into its beautiful Linux future.

This version builds on the foundation laid by TrueNAS 24.10 “Electric Eel.” That version brought improved performance and Docker support, and Fangtooth expands on it with more than 1,000 changes, including over 150 bug fixes. The update is being offered as a release version, but iXsystems is still recommending it for early adopters only -- at least for now.

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Donald Trump may be trying to slow down Chinese imports, but his tariffs are no match for free open source software! You see, Chinese Linux distribution deepin just dropped version 23.1, and no policy can stop it from reaching American citizens. With a ton of awesome updates and refinements, this new version delivers both improved stability and better ease of use. So what that it comes from our friends in China?

The heart of this update lies in major kernel upgrades to versions 6.6.84 and 6.12.20, delivering enhanced compatibility with the latest hardware. Got NVIDIA graphics or rocking an Intel or AMD CPU? You’re in luck, as deepin has integrated updated graphics drivers and CPU microcode that promise better performance across the board. Plus, Vietnamese users will appreciate the improved language input with the latest fcitx5-unikey update.

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Nitrux, which is one of our favorite Linux-based Windows 11 alternatives, is rolling out a major upgrade to how users manage software on the system. The move, which is aimed at improving reliability and user control, replaces two aging tools -- the NX Software Center and the zap CLI -- with a new, purpose-built system called NX AppHub.

For those unfamiliar, Nitrux doesn’t use a traditional package manager like apt or rpm. Instead, it focuses on AppImages, which are self-contained applications that run independently of system libraries. Although this approach avoids dependency issues, it previously came with a rather major downside -- apps were often outdated or pulled from unreliable sources. That’s where NX AppHub comes in.

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