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- VS Code, Microsoft’s IDE, dropped support for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, causing issues for users still running this version as they can no longer remotely access servers using the latest version of VS Code.
- Microsoft Edge was found to be using Chrome’s browsing history without user consent, even when users never imported data into Edge or used the browser.
- Fedora 40’s decision to drop X11 entirely from the KD spin might not be final, with new review requests to reintroduce Kwin and Plasma packages to support X11 in a COPR repo.
- Thunderbird is implementing Rust in the app, allowing for native support for Exchange and improved handling of threaded conversations.
- Wine support is improving, with display mode change emulation and planned features for 2024, including better OpenGL support, clipboard handling, and drag and drop.
- Red Hat’s recent moves to limit who can access their source code have caused issues for special interest groups, such as KODS and HypScale, which focus on building additional packages for hardware support and big infrastructures.
- HoloISO, the non-official Steam OS rebuild, has been archived and replaced with an immutable distribution, with no direct upgrade path yet.
- Mesa drivers received a new major release (version 24), bringing improvements for AMD, Intel, and Nvidia GPUs, as well as an open-source Vulkan driver for PowerVR graphics.
- Linux market share on Steam has plateaued, with a slight drop to 19.5% in January 2023, while Windows remains above 95%.
- AMD represents 70% of the CPUs used to game on Linux, compared to 35% on Windows, indicating that Linux’s gaming progress is tied to the Steam Deck.
- The buddies of Budgie have released a new version of the Budgie desktop (v10.9) and shared their goals for 2024.
- Initial Wayland support through porting several components and applets to the libxfce4windowing library.
- Aims for full Wayland support in Budgie 11 and working on an in-house Wayland compositor called Magpie.
- Introduced a redesigned Bluetooth applet with direct connect/disconnect functionality, battery life indicators, and file-sending capability.
- Plans to improve X11 and Wayland support in 2024, with a Budgie 10 that is Wayland-only by the second half of 2024.
- Working on the support for the next generation of Budgie (Budgie 11) using the efl stuff (Enlightenment Foundation Libraries).
- Ubuntu has announced ambitious plans for their next LTS release (24.04) in April 2024:
- Shipping with Linux 6.8 kernel, which is expected to be released in March 2024.
- Considering applying low latency optimizations to their kernel.
- Flathub, the Flatpak store, has reached a major milestone with over 1 million active users, serving over 16 billion downloads, 24 thousand apps (850 of which are verified).
- System Rescue Project has released a new version (v11) with an updated kernel (Linux 6.6 LTS), SSH known hosts configuration, updated Xfce desktop, and added packages.
- Redcore Linux has announced a new version (v2401) based on Gentoo, featuring updated packages, the LTS kernel (6.6), Pipewire as the default audio system, and OpenSSL 3.
- EndeavourOS has released a new version (Galileo Neo) with updated packages, Linux 67 kernel, and improvements to the Calamares installer.
- Purism has announced a first public offering of Purism stock on the Startengine platform, aiming to raise money at a $75 million USD valuation.
- Ubuntu Touch mobile operating system has received its fourth OTA (Over-the-Air) update with security updates, new features, and bug fixes.
- Shotcut video editor has released a new version (v2401) with clip grouping, multiple selections, undo/redo support for filters, and auto backups for projects.
- The FTC has found Intuit in violation of U.S. law for deceptive advertising of TurboTax’s free service. The FTC ordered Intuit to be clearer about the limitations of their free service.
