8 Linux Tools IT Operations Engineers Should Master
Some are tried-and-true and others are newer, but all eight of these Linux tools should be in IT operations engineers' tool belt.
Tux Machines
Do you waddle the waddle?
Do you waddle the waddle?
It’s been a year since System76 last updated their Serval WS laptop, which can now be bought with Intel Core Ultra Series 2 CPUs, either the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor with 24 total cores and up to 5.5 GHz clock speed, or the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor with 24 total cores and up to 5.4 GHz clock speed.
Shelly 2.4 introduces a major revamp to the CLI version with Zsh completions and a modern, pacman-style shortcode interface to make Shelly’s command line more familiar for those used to pacman or yay, and further improves AppImage support by displaying updates in the UI, fixing desktop entry handling, and enhancing the eventing mechanism.
Coming almost four months after PorteuX 2.6, the PorteuX 2.7 release is powered by the latest and greatest Linux 7.1 kernel series, and features the latest KDE Plasma 6.7, GNOME 50.2, Xfce 4.20, LXQt 2.4, Cinnamon 6.6.8, COSMIC 1.0.16, MATE 1.28.2, and LXDE 0.11.1 desktop environments as standalone flavors.
According to the devs, Raspberry Pi Imager 2.0.10 includes all changes from Raspberry Pi Imager 2.0.9, but in released form. However, there are a few notable changes that are included only in this version, such as better handling of Wi-Fi SSID during OS customisation and improved reliability by removing dependency on the REST Countries API.
The biggest news with the new Raspberry Pi OS release is that the underlying operating system has finally moved from Linux kernel 6.12 LTS, which was introduced about a year ago, before Raspberry Pi OS got upgraded to the Debian 13 “Trixie” series, to the Linux 6.18 LTS kernel.
Derived from the upcoming Debian 14 “Forky” software repositories (Debian Testing), the SparkyLinux 2026.06 release is powered by the Linux 7.0 kernel series by default, but it also offers support for installing the latest and greatest Linux 7.1 kernel for those feeling adventurous.
The LCD7-PANEL-LIME2 is a ready-to-mount Linux touch panel computer from Olimex, based on the company’s A20-OLinuXino-LIME2 open hardware SBC. The unit combines a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen, a plastic panel-mount frame, mounting brackets, ribbon cable, and an assembled A20-based Linux board into a single package.
Nordic Semiconductor has introduced the nRF54L15 Tag, a compact battery-powered prototyping platform built around the company’s nRF54L15 SoC. The 33 mm dual-antenna board is designed for developing low-power wireless products such as asset tags, Bluetooth trackers, remote controls, smart wearables, and devices targeting Apple Find My and Google Find Hub networks.
NVIDIA has announced JetPack 7.2 for Jetson edge AI platforms, adding new deployment tools for agentic AI workloads, official Yocto Project support, and performance updates for Jetson Orin and Jetson Thor systems. The release is aimed at robotics, industrial automation, vision AI, and other edge applications that rely on local AI processing.
The ESP32 Bus Pirate project has been renamed ESP32 Bit Pirate as part of its continued development as an ESP32-S3-based multi-protocol firmware platform. The open-source project, developed by Geo-tp, turns supported ESP32-S3 boards into debugging and experimentation tools for wired protocols, radio interfaces, scripting, and browser-based interaction.
Solid Sands, an Amsterdam-based provider of compiler and library testing technology, develops tools and services for safety-critical software qualification. The company is preparing two webinars on robotics software infrastructure and C++ library qualification, with the first scheduled for June 24, 2026.
For Justin Lisisa Lobela, 28, arriving at Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement in Uganda four years ago was not part of a plan—it was an act of survival.
Some are tried-and-true and others are newer, but all eight of these Linux tools should be in IT operations engineers' tool belt.