BSD, GNU/Linux Distributions and Operating Systems

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Apr 20, 2026

• Distro Watch ☛ DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

  [...] FreeBSD's laptop compatibility is improving and we link to a list of laptops which can run the operating system. Plus, we are pleased to share a summary of last week's releases and list the torrents we are seeding. [...]

• Distro Watch ☛ Distribution Release: Solus 4.9

  The Solus project has published a new version, Solus 4.9 "Serenity", which introduces a few changes to service management, the installer, and its four desktop editions (Budgie, Plasma, GNOME and Xfce). [...]

• [Repeat] Matthias ☛ Hello old new “Projects” directory!

  With the recent 0.20 release of xdg-user-dirs we enabled the “Projects” directory by default. Support for this has already existed since 2007, but was never formally enabled. This closes a more than 11 year old bug report that asked for this feature.

  The purpose of the Projects directory is to give applications a default location to place project files that do not cleanly belong into one of the existing categories (Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos). Examples of this are software engineering projects, scientific projects, 3D printing projects, CAD design or even things like video editing projects, where project files would end up in the “Projects” directory, with output video being more at home in “Videos”.

• [Old] Alchemists LLC ☛ XDG Base Directory Specification

  The XDG Base Directory Specification defines an organized folder and file structure for applications to store associated user configuration, cache, data, state, and runtime information on UNIX-like systems. This allows for consistency across different programs and desktops. Consistency is key because, without the specification, we end up with messy and disorganized dotfiles.

  The goal of this article is to explain what XDG Base Directory Specification is, why the specification is important, and how you can make use of it.

• BSD

  • DragonFly BSD Digest ☛ Lazy Reading for 2026/04/19

    I have been looking at a lot of Markdown-formatted files lately because reasons. Signboard is a kanban app that writes Markdown files.

• Fedora

  • Security

    • QSB-112: Floating Point Divider State Sampling (XSA-488)

      We have published Qubes Security Bulletin (QSB) 112: Floating Point Divider State Sampling (XSA-488). The text of this QSB and its accompanying cryptographic signatures are reproduced below, followed by a general explanation of this announcement and authentication instructions.

• Canonical/Ubuntu Family

  • Ubuntu ☛ Canonical expands Ubuntu support to next-generation MediaTek Genio 520 and 720 platforms

    Canonical is pleased to announce the early access launch of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS for MediaTek’s Genio IoT platforms. Building on the companies’ strategic partnership, this release introduces optimized Ubuntu images for the brand-new Genio 520 and 720, while continuing to provide robust support for the Genio 350, 510, 700, and 1200.