GNU/Linux and Other Leftovers

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 25, 2025

• GNU/Linux

  • HowTo Geek ☛ 4 Free Games That Star Tux, the Linux Mascot

    Tux isn’t just the face of Linux. He’s a symbol of freedom, creativity, and open-source spirit. Over the years, our favorite penguin has waddled his way into all kinds of games, from platformers to puzzlers to kart racers. And the best part? They’re all free to play.

    Why Tux Is So Loved: The Charm of Gaming With Tux

    Ever since I got into Linux, I’ve had a soft spot for Tux. He isn’t just a cute penguin, but he’s the face of Linux itself. For developers, sysadmins, and everyday open-source fans like me, spotting Tux feels like a little celebration of the community. And when Tux shows up in a game? That’s when all that love for tinkering, freedom, and collaboration suddenly comes to life on the screen.

    Another reason people love Tux is that he naturally symbolizes freedom. Just like Linux, he doesn’t belong to any company. Playing as Tux feels authentic, as you’re not just controlling a character; you’re carrying a symbol of independence.

  • HowTo Geek ☛ I Tried Using a Linux VM as My Desktop Computer, Here's What Went Wrong

    Before buying a Mac and switching full-time to Apple’s platform, I had already deserted Windows for Linux. To this day, I’ve always got at least one Linux distro ready to go on my Mac in a virtual machine, for work and to satisfy my curiosity.

    So what happens if you try to use a VM as your primary work machine? I gave it a shot.

    My Linux VM Setup

    I pay for a Parallels Desktop subscription so that I can run Windows on my Mac with all the bells and whistles, so naturally I also use this for my Linux virtualization needs too. There are lots of free options I could have used instead (and I’ve dabbled with most in the past). User-friendly QEMU implementation called UTM and longstanding freebie VirtualBox—which now supports Apple silicon—are the two standout options. I already use the latter to run a Home Assistant instance on a Mac mini server.

  • PR Newswire ☛ Microelectronics UK demonstration of new Avocado OS Linux distro shows how to smooth path from prototype to production

    Peridio, the platform for building and maintaining advanced embedded products, today unveiled a demonstration of its free, open-source Avocado OS's ability to accelerate the development path for Linux® platform-based edge AI products from prototype to volume production.

  • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Hackaday ☛ FLOSS Weekly Episode 848: Open The Podbay Doors, Siri

      This week Jonathan and Rob chat with Paulus Schoutsen about Home Assistant, ESPHome, and Music Assistant, all under the umbrella of the Open Home Foundation. Watch to see Paulus convince Rob and Jonathan that they need to step up their home automation games!

    • OpenSSF (Linux Foundation) ☛ What’s in the SOSS? Podcast #40 – S2E17 From Manager to Open Source Security Pioneer: Kate Stewart’s Journey Through SBOM, Safety, and the Zephyr Project

  • Games

    • Ghacks ☛ Baldur's Gate 3 gets a native build for the Steam Deck

      Larian Studios has announced a native version of Baldur's Gate 3 for Steam Deck. You don't need to run it using Proton anymore.

      Baldur's Gate 3 was the undisputed game of the year for many people. But, a Linux native version isn't available, though a macOS version does exist. That said, according ProtonDB the game has a Gold rating, which means the Windows version of Baldur's Gate 3 is fully playable on Linux using Valve's Wine compatibility layer, aka Proton. You may have to tinker with some settings to run the game, just read the comments on ProtonDB, it may help you.

      But, you don't need to use Proton on Steam Deck. You can play a native version of the CRPG on your handheld, thanks to the latest update, which is Hotfix #34. It offers a stable framerate, lower loading times, and smoother gameplay on Steam Deck. Larian says that the patch isn't just about the Steam Deck, it also improves the frame rate on other platforms, and reduces framerate spikes in Act 3. You can learn more about the Steam Deck version of Baldur's Gate 3 by reading the official FAQ page on Larian's website.

  • Desktop Environments (DE)/Window Managers (WM)

    • GNOME Desktop/GTK

      • Arun Raghavan ☛ Arun Raghavan: Asymptotic on hiatus

        Asymptotic was started 6 years ago, when I wanted to build something that would be larger than just myself.

        We’ve worked with some incredible clients in this time, on a wide range of projects. I would be remiss to not thank all the teams that put their trust in us.

        In addition to working on interesting challenges, our goal was to make sure we were making a positive impact on the open source projects that we are part of. I think we truly punched above our weight class (pardon the boxing metaphor), on this front – all the upstream work we have done stands testament to that.

        Of course, the biggest single contributor to what we were able to achieve is our team. My partner, Deepa, was instrumental in shaping how the company was formed and run. Sanchayan (who took a leap of faith in joining us first), and Taruntej were stellar colleagues and friends on this journey.

        It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience, but the time has come to move on to other things, and we have now paused operations. I’ll soon write about some recent work and what’s next.

• Distributions and Operating Systems

  • Open Hardware/Modding

    • Hackaday ☛ 3D Printed “Book” Demonstrates Mechanical Actions

      A book of mechanical actions is a wondrous thing — mechanically inclined children have lost collective decades pouring over them over the generations. What could possibly be better? Why, if the mechanisms in the book were present, and moved! That’s exactly what [AxelMadeIt] produced for a recent video.

    • CNX Software ☛ BIOSTAR MU-N150 – A Twin Lake fanless Industrial PC with 2.5GbE, triple 4K video output

      BIOSTAR has launched the EdgeComp MU-N150, a compact 0.6L fanless industrial PC built around the defective chip maker Intel Processor N150 ” Twin Lake” SoC for edge computing, automation, HMI, POS/kiosk, and more. Some other N150 systems, like the HUNSN RJ42/RJ43 and Protectli VP2430, are for networking with four 2.5GbE ports, while the MU-N150 uses dual LAN but adds industrial-grade durability. The PC supports up to 16GB DDR5 4800MHz memory, triple 4K video output, and dual 2.5GbE. Expansion option includes M.2 Key-M slot for NVMe storage and an M.2 Key-E slot for Wi-Fi/BT modules.

  • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

    • Hackaday ☛ Who Wants A Rusty Old Smartphone?

      If we’re talking about oxidized iron… probably nobody. If we’re talking about Rust the programming language, well, that might be a different story. Google agrees, and is working on bringing the language into Android. That’s not enough for [Paul Sanja], who has the first Redox OS smartphone.

      [...]

      On smartphones, it… boots. Some smartphones, anyway. It’s actually a big first step. That booting is possible is actually thanks to the great work put in by the Postmarket OS team to get Uboot working on select android devices. That uboot loader doesn’t need to load the Linux-based Postmarket OS. It can be used for anything compatible. Like, say, Redox OS, as [Paul] shows us.