news
Free and Open Source Software, and Benchmark
-
Minisforum MS-02 Ultra 285HX running Linux - Benchmarking - LinuxLinks
This is a new series looking at the Minisforum MS-02 Ultra 285HX Mini Workstation running Linux. In this series, I’ll put this machine through its paces from a Linux perspective, comparing it with other systems, including desktops, to show how it really stacks up.
The Minisforum MS-02 Ultra 285HX is a compact workstation powered by Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285HX, a 24-core processor. It targets AI, media, development, and workstation workloads in a small 4.8L chassis. Key strengths include PCIe 5.0 expansion, USB4 V2, dual 25GbE networking, and support for up to 256GB DDR5 memory. Its upgrade-friendly design makes it a flexible mini workstation for creators, engineers, and homelab users.
For this article in the series, I’ve benchmarked the Minisforum MS-02 Ultra using a range of tests, most of them run with the Phoronix Test Suite. I’ve compared its results against nine other systems, comprising mini PCs and two Intel desktop systems powered by Core i5-10400 and Core i5-12400 processors.
The Intel N100 machine is included as a useful low-cost baseline. It shows what an inexpensive mini PC can deliver, making it easier to judge how much extra performance the higher-specification systems provide and whether that additional speed, responsiveness, and headroom justify their higher price for your workloads.
Daily You - privacy-focused diary and journaling application - LinuxLinks
Daily You is a privacy-focused diary and journaling application that helps you record daily thoughts, reflections, and meaningful moments in a personal space that stays under your control.
The project is built around local ownership of your data, with no accounts, no advertising, no tracking, and no subscription model. It’s designed for people who want a straightforward way to keep a journal, reflect on their days, and build a lasting record of memories.
This is free and open source software.
Issued - personal comic library server - LinuxLinks
Issued is a personal comic library server that lets you host a digital comic collection on a home server, NAS, or desktop computer.
It scans CBZ and CBR files, keeps your existing folder structure, builds a browsable library, and makes comics available through its built-in web reader or any compatible OPDS client.
This is free and open source software.
BFG Repo-Cleaner - clean unwanted data from Git repository history - LinuxLinks
BFG Repo-Cleaner is a command-line tool for cleaning unwanted data from Git repository history.
It’s designed for common but painful maintenance jobs such as removing huge blobs, purging leaked credentials, and stripping private files from previous commits. The tool offers a focused alternative to git-filter-branch, with a simpler workflow and strong performance from processing Git objects efficiently and using multi-core JVM execution.
This is free and open source software.
ZXC - lossless compression library and command-line tool - LinuxLinks
ZXC is a high-performance lossless compression library and command-line tool written primarily in C.
It’s designed for asymmetric workloads where data is compressed once but decompressed many times, making it suited to game assets, firmware updates, app bundles, content delivery pipelines, and other read-heavy use cases. The project focuses on very fast decompression, configurable compression levels, seekable archives, and integration from C, Rust, Python, Node.js, Go, and WebAssembly.
This is free and open source software.
crash - Linux kernel crash analysis utility - LinuxLinks
crash is a Linux kernel crash analysis utility for examining live systems and kernel dump files.
It gives administrators and kernel developers an interactive environment for inspecting the state of a running or crashed kernel, helping trace failures, inspect task state, and understand low-level kernel behaviour across a wide range of Linux platforms.
This is free and open source software.
Gammastep - adjust the color temperature of your screen - LinuxLinks
Gammastep is a utility that adjusts the color temperature of your display according to the time of day, your location, or a manually defined schedule.
It’s intended to make the screen warmer at night and cooler during the day, which can help reduce eye strain when you’re working in front of a monitor for long periods. The software offers flexible configuration through command-line options and an optional configuration file, making it suitable for both simple setups and more customised desktop environments.
This is free and open source software.