Dixit Ram·13wMouse Unlock!—no password, just a secret click pattern
A developer built a mouse-click pattern unlock system for a Linux laptop without biometric sensors. Using Python and the evdev library, a ~150-line daemon reads raw mouse events from /dev/input/, checks lock state via loginctl, and unlocks the screen when a secret click sequence is entered. It runs as a systemd service and works on Wayland. The project was built with Claude Code on Fedora + KDE Plasma.
XDA Developers·16wWindows still dominates these 3 major arenas, and Linux won't catch up anytime soon
Despite Linux's growing popularity and improved usability, Windows maintains decisive advantages in three key areas: competitive gaming (due to kernel-level anti-cheat software incompatibility with open-source kernels), peripheral software support (manufacturers lack incentive to develop Linux companion apps given ~3-4% desktop market share), and professional software ecosystems (Adobe, AutoCAD, and industry-specific tools remain Windows/macOS-only). The underlying cause in all three cases is Linux's small market share and open-source kernel architecture, structural problems that distro-hopping cannot solve.
XDA Developers·15wLinux has quietly become more forward-thinking than Windows, and these 6 features prove it
A comparison of six Linux features that Windows still lacks or handles poorly in 2026: swappable desktop environments (KDE, GNOME, etc.), cohesive package managers, live USB sessions, snapshot rollback systems, headless/remote operation, and immutable distros like Fedora Silverblue and Bazzite. While acknowledging Windows' dominance in software compatibility and gaming, the author argues Linux has become more forward-thinking and user-respecting in these specific areas.
It's Foss·14wI Gave Desktop Email Clients Another Shot and This New App Delivered
Aerion is a new open source desktop email client for Linux (and other platforms) built with Wails and Svelte instead of Electron. It supports multiple accounts, conversation threading, a WYSIWYG composer, contact sync via CardDAV/Google/Microsoft, and works with Gmail, Outlook, Proton Mail, iCloud, and generic IMAP/SMTP. The app holds a CASA Tier 2 security certification and collects no telemetry. A hands-on first look reveals smooth Gmail OAuth setup, blocked remote images by default, and vim-style keyboard shortcuts, but notes issues with no desktop notifications, no configurable sync interval, and a dismissible account-setup dialog with no warning. It is available on Flathub and GitHub as pre-release software.
Go Developers·16wNo-Configuration Golang Heap Profiling
Coroot's node-agent now supports zero-configuration Go heap profiling by reading Go's built-in memory profiler data directly from process memory via /proc/<pid>/mem, without requiring any changes to the target application. The approach locates the runtime.mbuckets symbol in the ELF symbol table using a streaming scan to avoid loading the full symbol table, then walks the linked list of allocation buckets to reconstruct heap profiles in pprof format. Key engineering challenges covered include: streaming ELF symbol lookup to minimize memory overhead, correctly parsing the variable-sized bucket struct (including a zero-byte NotInHeap field trap), computing allocation deltas between collection cycles, reducing syscall overhead with a read-ahead cache, and handling Go binaries where the linker disabled memory profiling. An optional --go-heap-profiler=force flag can re-enable profiling on such binaries by writing the default MemProfileRate value directly into the process's memory segment. Allocation rate metrics are also exposed as Prometheus counters.
ExplainingComputers·15wFedora 44: Leading-Edge Linux?
Fedora 44 has been released with KDE Plasma 6.6.4 and GNOME 50 as its two main desktop options. The KDE Plasma edition is recommended for general users migrating from Windows due to its familiar layout. Fedora's role as the upstream community distro for Red Hat Enterprise Linux means it ships cutting-edge technology but lacks long-term support, with new releases every 6 months. A notable limitation is Fedora's strict FOSS policy, which means proprietary Nvidia drivers and multimedia codecs are not installed automatically and require terminal commands — a significant drawback compared to Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Zorin OS. GNOME 50 brings improved fractional scaling and a text size slider. Fedora also offers atomic editions with read-only root filesystems for enhanced stability, and specialized Labs spins for gaming, Python, science, and more.
Angel Santiago·15wWhy I left Hyprland for Niri
A personal account of switching from Hyprland to Niri after Hyprland 0.55 broke existing configs by migrating from Hyprlang to Lua. The author spent days debugging the breakage before discovering the migration was intentional, then switched to Niri in under 2 hours. Key reasons for choosing Niri include its scrolling tiling workflow, easier config migration, and faster setup time. The tradeoff is less community support due to Niri being newer, but the author prioritizes a working setup over feature richness.
KubeSquad·16wProfiling Java apps: breaking things to prove it works
Coroot extended its eBPF-based Java profiling with async-profiler support to capture memory allocation and lock contention profiles. The integration works by detecting HotSpot JVMs, deploying libasyncProfiler.so into the container filesystem, and loading it via the JVM Attach API — requiring zero code changes or JVM restarts. Every 60 seconds, the agent stops the profiler, reads the JFR file via /proc, and restarts recording. The post demonstrates the feature with two chaos scenarios on a Spring Boot app: injected lock contention causing 100ms+ latency spikes, and a GC pressure scenario allocating 256MB arrays at ~3GB/s. In both cases, flamegraphs pinpoint the exact code responsible, going from 'something is slow' to 'this specific method is the culprit' in one click.
omg! ubuntu!·16wgThumb is barely recognisable in its GTK4/libadwaita port
gThumb 4.0 alpha has been rewritten in Vala and ported to GTK4/libadwaita, resulting in a significantly redesigned UI. The update brings better spacing, clearer hierarchy, and new features including WEBP/PNG animation support, JXL export, and a censor filter. Some existing features like web albums, contact sheets, and the find-duplicates tool were dropped in this alpha. The app remains a viable alternative to cloud photo services for privacy-conscious users or DSLR shooters.
Phoronix·16wOmarchy 3.7 Linux Distribution Overhauls Gaming Support, Adds Unified CLI
Omarchy 3.7, the Arch Linux-based desktop distribution using the Hyprland compositor and led by DHH, has been released with major updates. Gaming support has been overhauled to include a streamlined Steam installer, pre-configured RetroArch, improved controller handling, and better integration with Lutris, Heroic, and Moonlight GameStream. An Xbox Cloud Gaming web app option is also added. A new unified 'omarchy' CLI command replaces the previous fragmented 'omarchy-*' commands, offering tab completion and helpers for issue analysis, software installation, and screenshots. Other additions include built-in OCR-based text extraction via Tesseract, the cliamp text-based music player shipped by default, Intel FRED support for Panther Lake systems, and improved ASUS ExpertBook Panther Lake laptop support.
XDA Developers·13wSomeone turned a $50 smartphone into a Linux laptop, and it works better than you'd think
A developer purchased a carrier-locked Moto G Power 2024 for $50, bypassing its phone use entirely to run Linux via Termux and XFCE with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The setup runs full Linux apps like GIMP and Shotcut at reasonable speeds, offering a surprisingly capable low-cost computing alternative amid rising PC component prices. A step-by-step guide and code are available on the author's blog.
SavvyNik·15wLinux Age Laws, Valve Wins, Linux Root Exploits, 10GbE USB & Framework Shocks Microsoft
A wide-ranging Linux and open source news roundup covering: Debian 14 mandating reproducible builds to combat supply chain attacks; a Linux kernel Kconfig cleanup tool (KConfirm) written in Rust; 10GbE USB support via Realtek RTL8159 drivers in Linux 7.2; a ~60% per-core IO performance improvement patch from the io_uring lead; KDE Plasma 6.7 GPU memory copy optimizations cutting CPU usage from 80-90% to ~20%; the 'dirty frag' local privilege escalation CVE affecting most Linux distros; OpenCL 3.1 release with AI/HPC improvements; CUDA Oxide letting developers write NVIDIA GPU kernels in Rust; Framework Laptop 13 Pro Ubuntu configs outselling Windows ones; Dell and Lenovo becoming premier LVFS sponsors; Valve's new Steam Controller selling out; and a coalition of privacy organizations pushing back against UK online age verification and VPN ban proposals.
It's Foss·16wUbuntu’s Official Flavour List Is Shrinking, And That’s Not a Bad Thing
Ubuntu's official flavour count is shrinking with the 26.04 LTS release, and the author argues this is a healthy correction rather than a loss. The piece examines why maintaining official flavour status requires real engineering resources, QA participation, and sustained maintainership — not just community enthusiasm. Examples like Ubuntu MATE's leadership crisis, Lubuntu's reduced manpower, and Ubuntu Unity missing key milestones illustrate the strain. The argument is that a leaner, well-supported official flavour list better serves users and maintainers alike, while the broader Linux ecosystem still offers unlimited community remixes and spins.
Hacker News·14wGitHub - Helvesec/rmux: Universal Rust multiplexer with a typed SDK — drive any CLI or TUI app from code. Native on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
RMUX is a universal terminal multiplexer written in Rust, designed as a tmux-compatible alternative with a typed SDK, daemon-backed architecture, and native support for Linux, macOS, and Windows (including Windows Named Pipes, no WSL required). It exposes three surfaces: a `rmux` CLI, a `rmux-sdk` Rust crate, and a `ratatui-rmux` widget, all sharing a single local IPC protocol. Key features include detachable sessions, structured pane snapshots, scriptable automation, and native Ratatui integration for building TUI apps. The project targets agentic workflows — running long-lived AI agents over SSH, orchestrating multi-agent terminals, and driving CLI/TUI apps programmatically from code. Currently at v0.2.0 (public preview), all 90 tmux-compatible commands are implemented.
Confessions of a Code Addict·15wVirtual Memory: A Deep Dive into Page Tables, TLBs, and Linux Internals
A comprehensive ~25,000-word deep dive into virtual memory covering the full stack from first principles to Linux internals. Uses a narrative dialogue format between a process (Alloca) and the Kernel to explain: why virtual memory exists, virtual address space layout (text/data/BSS/heap/stack segments), hierarchical 4-level page tables (PGD/PUD/PMD/PTE) on x86-64, MMU and TLB mechanics, demand paging and page faults, VMAs vs page table entries, memory protection via permission bits (W^X), anonymous vs file-backed memory, memory overcommit and the OOM killer, copy-on-write, mmap, NUMA topology, and performance implications for data-intensive workloads. Includes observability commands for inspecting RSS/PSS, TLB behavior, and NUMA placement on Linux.
XDA Developers·13wI replaced 6 paid subscriptions with a homelab on an old laptop — here's the full stack
A developer replaced six paid subscriptions (Plex Pass, UptimeRobot Pro, NextDNS, and others) totaling ~$400/year by running self-hosted alternatives on an old business laptop using Debian and Docker. The stack includes Jellyfin for media, Uptime Kuma for monitoring, Pi-hole with dnscrypt-proxy for network-wide DNS blocking, and more. The post covers both the practical benefits — built-in UPS via laptop battery, low power draw, portability — and honest trade-offs like initial setup time, occasional maintenance, and polish gaps in some open-source mobile apps compared to paid services.
XDA Developers·16wDual-booting Windows and Linux stopped making sense once my hardware got good enough
Dual-booting Windows and Linux made sense when hardware was weak, but modern machines with 16GB RAM and NVMe SSDs make virtualization a better alternative. Type 2 hypervisors like VMware and WSL offer strong isolation, security, and near-native performance without the risks of Windows updates breaking Linux boot entries or Secure Boot/BitLocker complications. The main exception is when full GPU power is needed for gaming or GPU-intensive workloads, where dual-booting still has an edge.
XDA Developers·15wWinpodx is like a Linux Subsystem for Windows, and it's just as exciting (and useful) as it sounds
Winpodx is an open-source tool that lets Linux users run Windows applications inside a Podman container, functioning as a Linux-side counterpart to WSL. It auto-configures FreeRDP for remote desktop access, supports audio, multiple RDP sessions, and bi-directional clipboard. Installation is a single curl command. Windows apps appear as icons in the Linux desktop UI. The main limitation is the lack of built-in GPU passthrough, requiring manual VFIO configuration for GPU-accelerated workloads.
XDA Developers·12wFlathub bans LLM-generated code because its submitters were rude about it
Flathub, the Linux app distribution platform, has banned LLM-generated code from new submissions. The maintainer's decision was driven not by technical concerns but by a surge of rude, entitled submitters who acted dismissive when their AI-generated apps were rejected. Existing apps with AI-generated code are grandfathered in, but new submissions using LLM-generated code will be rejected. The move mirrors similar crackdowns at GNOME and frustrations in the Linux kernel community over AI-generated bug reports.
Phoronix·14wGNOME 51 Could End Up Replacing System Tools With "Resources" App
GNOME Resources, a feature-rich system monitor app with NPU/GPU monitoring and broader device support, is on track to replace the stagnant GNOME System Monitor as a core GNOME component. The project has moved into the GNOME Incubator on GitLab, and a merge request has been opened to swap out the default app in GNOME Shell. If the process completes on schedule, GNOME 51 (September) will ship Resources as the default; otherwise GNOME 52 is the fallback. Ubuntu has already made this switch.
Hacker News·15wTechrights — Over 97% of the 'Linux' Foundation's Budget Goes Not to Linux
According to the Linux Foundation's own 2025 annual report, only 2.95% of its budget is actually spent on Linux. The rest goes to unrelated initiatives, prompting criticism of mission creep and 'openwashing.' Linus Torvalds is reportedly no longer among the top 10 highest-paid people at the organization, and critics question whether the LF's use of the Linux trademark is still justified given its spending priorities.
It's Foss·14wRust Could Eliminate 80% of Linux Kernel CVEs!
Greg Kroah-Hartman, Linux stable maintainer, presented at RustWeek 2026 a proposal that could eliminate roughly 80% of Linux kernel CVEs. The core idea is a new Rust type called `Untrusted<T>`, developed with Benno Lossin, which attaches a compile-time marker to data arriving from user space or hardware. This forces explicit validation before the data can be used, with no runtime overhead. Rust already addresses around 60% of kernel bugs by catching unchecked error returns and forgotten lock releases at compile time. The `Untrusted<T>` type is not yet merged — it requires changes to the Rust compiler and depends on related work on field projections. Greg called for more Rust kernel developers to help move the effort forward.
Ruby Flow·14wThe Perfect Zsh Setup: Oh My Zsh on CachyOS/Arch
A step-by-step guide to setting up Zsh with Oh My Zsh on CachyOS/Arch Linux. Covers installing core plugins (zsh-syntax-highlighting, zsh-autosuggestions), the Agnoster theme with JetBrains Mono Nerd Font, rbenv integration for Ruby, and a ready-to-use .zshrc configuration. Includes a CachyOS-specific tip for config file placement.
cilium·16wUnderstanding Kubernetes Networking
A comprehensive guide to Kubernetes networking fundamentals, covering the IP-per-Pod model, flat network structure, CNI plugins, and how packets move between pods on the same and different nodes. The guide explains Kubernetes service types (ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer, ExternalName, Headless), service discovery via cluster DNS, and virtual IPs. A significant portion focuses on Cilium as a CNI, detailing how it uses eBPF to replace iptables/kube-proxy for higher performance, identity-based security, transparent encryption, and observability via Hubble. Native routing vs. overlay/encapsulation modes are compared with trade-offs discussed.
The New Stack·12wWhy Linux creator Linus Torvalds gets angry hearing “99% of code is AI”
At the Open Source Summit North America keynote, Linus Torvalds pushed back on claims that AI writes most code, comparing AI to compilers as a productivity tool rather than a replacement for human understanding. He argued that developers must still deeply understand systems to use AI effectively, and that those who don't will produce failing code. Torvalds also raised concerns about AI-generated pull requests and 'drive-by' bug reports flooding open-source maintainers — especially smaller projects — causing burnout. He noted a ~20% increase in Linux kernel submissions tied to AI use, and criticized companies that use AI to find bugs publicly without providing patches.