Sparky 7.5, the fifth update of the Sparky 7 "Orion Belt" series, has been released as a point release fully compatible with Debian 12 "Bookworm." Key updates include the Linux kernel version 6.1.106 LTS for PCs and 6.6.47 LTS for ARM devices, along with updated packages such as LibreOffice 7.4.7, KDE Plasma 5.27.5, and Firefox 115.15.0esr. The release also removes the package manager nala , while introducing VirtualBox 7.1, which requires the uninstallation of version 7.0 before updating. The updated ISO images are available for various platforms, including amd64, i686, ARMHF, and ARM64.
The new release 24.04.1.2 of Starbuntu presents the new kernel 6.8.0-45. The office suite has also been updated to 4:24.2.5-0ubuntu0.24.04.2. In addition, some problems regarding the translation have been solved.
Qubes OS 4.2.3 has been released, consolidating all security patches, bug fixes, and updates since the previous stable version. This patch release provides users with an up-to-date ISO for new installations or clean reinstalls. Users already on any 4.2 version can update their system without reinstallation. The release also marks the end of support for Qubes 4.1, urging users to upgrade. Additionally, a new Release Signing Key for 4.2 has been introduced, requiring users to authenticate it. Full backup is strongly recommended before any updates or installations.
The 6.3.1 release includes several minor fixes and updates. Notable improvements include enhanced Russian menu translations, a fix for Geany’s Chinese behavior, and better handling of desktop tray icons. There’s also a fix for client app parameters containing spaces, and the Chromium browser has been updated to version 128.0.6613.119. Additionally, Chinese input methods (ibus-pinyin and ibus-libpinyin) are now offered as optional installations when a Chinese locale is selected, instead of being built-in by default.
The latest IPFire release introduces several key updates, including a refreshed kernel, enhanced Quality of Service (QoS) performance using fq_codel for reduced CPU usage, improved DHCP lease handling for DNS, and a more robust build system to prevent unintended modifications. Additionally, OpenSSL has been upgraded to version 3.3.0, addressing Intel CPU vulnerabilities, and multiple packages have been updated. The web UI and add-ons received significant refinements, improving functionality and performance across the system. The team also encourages donations to support continued development.
The FreeBSD Release Engineering Team is pleased to announce the availability of FreeBSD 13.4-RELEASE. This is the fifth release of the stable/13 branch. Since this release is occurring late in a legacy stable branch, there are few new features; rather, the focus is primarily on maintenance. As such, changes since 13.3-RELEASE consist mostly of bug fixes, driver updates, and new versions of externally-maintained software. For a complete list of new features and known problems, please see the online release notes and errata list.... FreeBSD 13.4-RELEASE is now available for the amd64, i386, powerpc, powerpc64, powerpc64le, powerpcspe, armv6, armv7, aarch64, and riscv64 architectures.
Some highlights since our 23.3 release include: Update Xfce 4.18 core packages (Xfce ISOs and Oi respin). MX PackageInstaller now shows all installed packages in Enabled, test, and backports tabs, not just those available in a configured repo. Installed and repo version numbers are shown in table, not just tooltips. The Flatpak tab has an optional filter to show only Flathub verified Flatpaks. (MX-)live-usb-maker defaults to luks2 encryption for those making encrypted live usb devices. MX-USB-unmounter has UI improvements, plus an option to only show on tray if a removable device is inserted. pipewire-setup-mx updated to make pipewire/wireplumber startup under SysV init more reliable, especially for KDE users. MX Tweak has a KDE option to disable/enable plasma-discover's autostart systray updater notifier. AHS users have updated firmware packages (backported from Debian Sid). Fluxbox ISO now includes job-scheduler, a front end for cron (already included on other ISOs). Conky and panel should be exempt from hiding with Alt+D (show desktop). New mxfb-quickshot_delay script that does a screenshot with a pre-configured delay.
From now on Starbuntu belongs to the Ubuntu family 24.04(.1) named "noble numbat" and presents a bundle of software upgrades in addition to the new kernel 6.8.0-44. This dist upgrade required a lot of adjustments, which have now been successfully completed.
bslx-6.10.10-1-2024.09.14-x86_64 has been released and is available for download. I've rebuilt as many packages that depend on libalpm.14 as I could identify - yay, yaourt, octopi, alpm_octopi_utils, package-query - since the pacman update also updated libalpm to version 15, throwing all AUR access programs out-of-date. I'm continuing to keep a watch for others.
SDesk includes a massive amount of new drivers for touchscreens, fingerprint readers, and more. It now supports fractional scaling, too. The latest version of the Swirl browser is now shipped with a gorgeous new UI and a bunch of new features, and Plymouth, the Calamares installer, and both Octopi and the GNOME Shell extensions we ship by default have all been updated to their latest versions. It's also worth noting that Calamares no longer handles user creation, locales, or keyboard layout configuration, and all of this is now done by the GNOME Initial Setup application.