GNU/Linux and Development Leftovers

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 11, 2025

• GNU/Linux

  • XDA ☛ 4 things Microsoft needs to prioritize on Windows if they want to stop bleeding users to Linux

    Windows 7 was the last Windows OS that was actually fresh when you installed it. There was very little bloat in the form of apps or features that users didn't want, and it really felt like a blank slate. With each passing Windows version, more useless bloat has been added. I do not want a preinstalled TikTok app. I do not want a preinstalled LinkedIn app. I definitely do not want Candy Crush preinstalled either, and I imagine the vast majority of Windows users share this sentiment. Even if it's a suggestion in my Start menu, that's too much for a lot of users, and it's pushing them towards cleaner operating systems.

  • Kernel Space

    • Liliputing ☛ Lilbits: Intel shifts strategy on open source contributions, Ubuntu 25.10 released, and TiVo exits the DVR business

      Intel has been a major contributor to open source projects over the years, but the thing about open source software is that anybody can use it – including the company’s competitors. Now Intel says it plans to be more strategic about how it contributes to open source projects moving forward as part of an effort to make sure that it’s benefiting more than its competitors.

    • The Stack ☛ Was this DEFCON eBPF bug talk hallucinated?

      In August, a relatively unknown security researcher named Agostino “Van1sh” Panico gave a talk at hacking conference Defcon. The 45-slide deck presenting several vulnerabilities in Linux kernel technology extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF) was initially well-received. But open source security experts soon found gaps in the analysis.

    • Electronics Weekly ☛ What caught your eye? (Semicon West, AI bubble, Linux Arduino)

      This week we’re talking about Semicon West, an AI bubble, a Linux-capable version of the Arduino Uno, and the ESA and Avio working towards a reusable upper stage for rocket launches…

  • Applications

    • ZDNet ☛ 8 free Linux apps that make tricky tasks surprisingly easy - no command line required

      Linux is becoming more and more popular around the world. Part of the reason for that is the end of Windows 10. At the same time, Linux has come a long way since its early days of only targeting developers, admins, or computer science majors.

      This evolution has made it possible to never touch the command line (which is something that I firmly believe is possible).

      For those who doubt the veracity of my claim, let me introduce you (and those new to Linux) to GUI apps that take the place of command-line tools.

      All of these apps are free to install and use.

• Distributions and Operating Systems

  • SUSE/OpenSUSE

    • OpenSUSE ☛ Planet News Roundup

      The below featured highlights listed on the community’s blog feed aggregator are from October 4 to 10.

  • Fedora Family / IBM

    • Red Hat Official ☛ The open source engine driving AI from experiment to production and why inference is everything [Ed: The LLMs hype/scam is promoted by IBM Red Hat far too often; this won't age well, it's a bubble.]

      For the last several years, the narrative around artificial intelligence (AI) has been dominated by large language models (LLMs) and the monumental effort of training them. The technology industry has been focused on the discovery phase—but that era is rapidly shifting.

    • Red Hat Official ☛ Reducing cognitive load in enterprise Kubernetes: 5 strategic tenets

      After extensive evaluation and real-world testing, a leading insurance organization has refined their approach using 5 key tenets that significantly reduce cognitive load and operational complexity while improving security, reliability, and developer experience. This blog post outlines how they transformed their platform strategy and the impact of choosing specific tools.

• Development

  • Web Browsers/Web Servers

    • Chromium

      • Google ☛ Reducing notification overload for a quieter browsing experience in Chrome

        We're constantly working to improve your browsing experience. To help you cut through the noise and reduce notification overload, we’re launching a new feature to automatically remove notification permission for sites you haven't interacted with recently. Today, Chrome’s Safety Check already does this for other permissions such as camera and location. The feature will be launched in Chrome on Android and desktop.

  • Programming

    • Dirk Eddelbuettel ☛ Dirk Eddelbuettel: RcppArmadillo 15 CRAN Transition: Offering Office Hours

      widely used by (currently) 1273 other packages on CRAN, downloaded 41.8 million / vignette) by Conrad and myself has been cited 651 times according

      Armadillo 15 brought changes. We mentioned these in the 15.0.2-1 and 15.0.2-1 release blog posts: [...]

  • Standards/Consortia

    • Document Foundation ☛ The artificial complexity of OOXML files (the PPTX case)

      This is the third and final post on the topic of the artificial complexity of the OOXML format. This complexity is the result of careful design aimed at preventing interoperability. Developers have to deal with a veritable “maze” of tags, even for the simplest content.