All posts by jzb

Armbian 26.8 released

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1090741/

Version 26.8 of
the Armbian distribution for Arm hardware has
been released.

Most releases are a long list of small improvements. This one had three
larger pieces landing at roughly the same time, and all three touch parts of
Armbian that people use directly rather than parts they only read about in
changelogs.

The installer was rewritten. Armbian Imager reached 2.0. And our CI moved out
of the repository it had outgrown into one built for the job. None of these were
planned to coincide; they simply reached the point where postponing them again
would have cost more than doing them.

The installer rewrite is the one I expect people to notice first. It now
ships as an armbian-config module, which means it is unit-tested, the same way
the rest of armbian-config is tested, rather than living as a script that
everyone was slightly afraid to touch. It can target SPI and MTD, treats eMMC
and NVMe as separate flows instead of pretending they are the same thing, can
flash a bootloader on its own, and — this one is overdue — reports when a
bootloader write fails instead of printing “Done.” and leaving you to find out
at the next boot.

See the release notes
for a full list of changes.

Security updates for Wednesday

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1090732/

Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (firefox, gstreamer1-plugins-base, kernel, kernel-rt, and sqlite), Debian (freecad, kernel, libvncserver, and openssl), Fedora (apr-util, chromium, nnn, perl-DBI, python-tablib, python3.10, python3.11, python3.12, and sympa), Gentoo (DTrace, GNU screen, UnrealIRCd, and Vinyl Cache), Oracle (389-ds-base, attr, firefox, gegl04, grafana, gstreamer1-plugins-base, gstreamer1-plugins-good, httpd, mod_http2, nginx, pam, python-pyasn1, python-urwid, python3.12, python3.14, sqlite, and xorg-x11-server), SUSE (amazon-ecs-init, containerd, curl, distribution, dracut, ffmpeg-7, fuse-overlayfs, gd, git-lfs, go1.25-openssl, go1.26-openssl, govulncheck-vulndb, hauler, himmelblau, kernel, librest, libssh2_org, open-iscsi, openssh, patch, perl-Date-Manip, podman, postgresql14, postgresql16, python-cryptography, python-Pillow, python311, rmt-server, rootlesskit, rpm, rsync, runc, snpguest, sssd, suseconnect-ng, unbound, and util-linux), and Ubuntu (curl, ffmpeg, linux-aws-6.8, linux-azure-fde, linux-azure-fde-6.8, linux-azure-fips,
linux-nvidia-tegra, linux-azure, linux-azure-fde, linux-azure, linux-azure-fde, linux-nvidia-tegra-igx, linux-azure-5.4, linux-azure-fips, linux-oracle, linux-raspi, linux-raspi-realtime, openjdk-17, openjdk-21, openjdk-25, openjdk-8, openjdk-lts, openssl, perl, and vim).

LibreOffice 26.8 released

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1090606/

Version
26.8
of the LibreOffice suite has been released.

LibreOffice 26.8 concentrates on three areas: the typographic quality of what
the suite produces, the range of writing systems it handles correctly, and the
fidelity with which documents survive exchange with other office suites.

The largest single body of work in this release addresses bidirectional and
complex text. Writer now detects paragraph direction automatically when
documents or plain text are opened or pasted. Line wrapping places end-of-line
spaces according to the direction of the paragraph rather than that of the
adjacent characters. Object resize handles behave correctly in right-to-left and
vertical CJK documents. Bidirectional control characters are now visible
alongside other formatting marks. In Calc, typing right-to-left text into an
empty cell sets the direction of that cell automatically.

See the release notes
for a full list of changes.

[$] Old-school calendaring at the command line with Remind

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1090376/

Remind is a
command-line calendar and alarm program, with an optional Tk-based graphical
interface, for Linux and Unix-like operating systems. It has its own scripting
language that allows users to create reminders that are difficult (if not
impossible) to specify in other calendaring programs. It is wholly unsuitable for use in
corporate environments that require calendar sharing and exchanging meeting
invitations; however, it may be precisely the calendaring tool for users who
prefer the command line and fast, flexible tools that can help keep track of
messy schedules.

Security updates for Tuesday

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1090524/

Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (cups-filters, gstreamer1-plugins-base, gstreamer1-plugins-good, kernel, mrtg, NetworkManager, nginx, nginx:1.24, nodejs24, perl-Date-Manip, python-pyasn1, python-urwid, python3.12, python3.14, and qemu-kvm), Debian (erlang, thunderbird, webkit2gtk, and zfs-linux), Fedora (calibre, chromium, freeipa, java-21-openjdk, java-21-openjdk-portable, java-25-openjdk, java-latest-openjdk, jfrog-cli, kernel, libxls, nextcloud, perl-URI, and samba), Gentoo (Incus), Mageia (kernel and kernel-linus), Oracle (ansible-core, cups-filters, curl, firefox, kernel, libcupsfilters, libreoffice, mrtg, NetworkManager, perl-Date-Manip, php:8.2, php:8.3, python-urwid, python3.14, qemu-kvm, and sqlite), Red Hat (assertj-core, httpd, and osbuild-composer), SUSE (buildah, comfyui, dracut, erlang, erlang27, grafana, kernel, libssh2_org, openvswitch, perl-Dancer2-Plugin-Auth-Extensible, postgresql17, python-cryptography, python-sqlparse, python311, python313-hpack, rpm, suseconnect-ng, thunderbird, and vim), and Ubuntu (async-http-client, curl, and ffmpeg).

Emacs 31.1 released

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1090308/

Version 31.1 of the Emacs editor has been released. There is a long list of
changes including the removal of the Emacs dumper, a new user Lisp
directory feature, a “Send to…” menu item in context-menu-mode, and
many other changes; see the NEWS file for
more information. Mickey Petersen, author of Mastering Emacs, also has
a rundown
of some of the quality-of-life features appearing in this release.

Security updates for Monday

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1090304/

Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (ansible-core, cups-filters, curl, java-1.8.0-openjdk, java-17-openjdk, java-21-openjdk, java-25-openjdk, kbd, kernel, perl-Date-Manip, php:8.2, and php:8.3), Debian (designate, firefox-esr, gst-plugins-bad1.0, libnet-dns-perl, nvidia-graphics-drivers, openjdk-21, openjdk-25, spip, and thunderbird), Fedora (AusweisApp2, bluez, calibre, ceph, chromium, GitPython, kernel, pack, perl-URI, rsync, and tcpreplay), Gentoo (GNU Emacs and needrestart), Oracle (ansible-core, java-1.8.0-openjdk, java-17-openjdk, java-21-openjdk, java-25-openjdk, kbd, kernel, mysql:8.4, perl-Date-Manip, perl:5.32, and sssd), Red Hat (curl, dnsmasq, kbd, kernel, libcap, libreswan, openssh, rsync, samba, unbound, and vim), SUSE (389-ds, apptainer, avahi, bugwarden, chromium, ffmpeg-9-libavcodec-devel, firefox, firefox-esr, gimp, go1.27, helm, ignition, libarchive, libjxl-devel, libssh, multipath-tools, openssl-3, pcp, perl-Net-CIDR-Set, perl-Net-OAuth, postgresql14, postgresql15, python-msgpack, python-pyasn1, python-urllib3, python313, python313-pytest-html, redis, runc, sccache, sssd, util-linux, vim, weechat, and wget), and Ubuntu (linux-fips, linux-gcp-5.15, linux-hwe-7.0, linux-ibm, linux-kvm, linux-lowlatency, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-6.8, linux-nvidia-lowlatency, and linux-nvidia-6.17).

Security updates for Friday

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1089999/

Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (ansible-core and pcp), Debian (chromium, libgit2, python-httplib2, and sabnzbdplus), Fedora (dokuwiki, domoticz, dotnet10.0, dotnet8.0, dotnet9.0, firefox, i2c-display, libgit2, lyx, ntpsec, openssh, perl-DBI, php-phpseclib3, python-alembic, python-asyncmy, python-sqlalchemy, python3.13, roundcubemail, trafficserver, wireshark, and wordpress), Red Hat (compat-openssl10, compat-openssl11, fence-agents, gnutls, kernel, kernel-rt, libarchive, libreswan, multiple packages, openssl, python-idna, python-pillow, qemu-kvm, resource-agents, rh-podman-desktop, ruby, unbound, and vim), SUSE (buildah, chromium, container-suseconnect, containerd, cosign, ctop, docker, firefox, forgejo-cli, gitea-tea, go1.25, go1.26, helm, kubernetes, kubernetes-old, kubevirt1.8, podman, python-pytest-html, python-unearth, python311, python313, rootlesskit, and rsync), and Ubuntu (linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-5.4, linux-azure, linux-bluefield, linux-fips,
linux-gcp, linux-gcp-5.4, linux-hwe-5.4, linux-ibm, linux-ibm-5.4,
linux-iot, linux-oracle, linux-raspi, linux-raspi-5.4, linux-xilinx-zynqmp, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-7.0, linux-ibm, linux-oem-7.0, linux-raspi,
linux-realtime, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-fips, linux-azure-fips, linux-gkeop,
linux-ibm-5.15, linux-intel-iot-realtime, linux-intel-iotg,
linux-intel-iotg-5.15, linux-kvm, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-tegra,
linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15, linux-oracle, linux-oracle-5.15, linux-realtime,
linux-xilinx-zynqmp, linux, linux-aws, linux-kvm, linux-lts-xenial, linux-aws-6.8, linux-azure-5.15, linux-gcp, linux-gcp-fips, linux-hwe-5.15,
linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15, linux-gcp, linux-gcp-4.15, linux-gcp-fips, linux-gcp, linux-gke, linux-gke, linux-lowlatency, linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8, linux-hwe-6.8, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-7.0, linux-nvidia-bos, linux-raspi, linux-raspi-realtime, netty, postgresql-14, postgresql-16, postgresql-18, vim, and wget).

[$] A look at the Quickshell desktop-component toolkit

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1083090/

Quickshell is a toolkit for
building desktop components, such as toolbars or menus. It uses QML, which is a declarative language
for designing GUI applications. Quickshell helps developers create graphical tools
for common desktop use cases with a focus on ease of development. It offers a
convenient method for writing user interfaces and has been adopted by a number
of projects, such as caelestia-shell and DankMaterialShell, that
provide desktop environments for minimal window managers like Sway and niri.

Security updates for Thursday

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1089717/

Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (bind9.18, glib2, gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free, gstreamer1-plugins-good, kernel-rt, libcupsfilters, mysql8.4, mysql:8.4, pcp, perl-Date-Manip, php8.4, php:7.4, php:8.2, php:8.3, python3, and yggdrasil), Debian (designate, firefox-esr, and swift), Gentoo (acl, attr, Emacs, libssh2, and quickjs-ng), Oracle (.NET 10.0, .NET 9.0, attr, bind9.18, curl, glib2, gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free, gstreamer1-plugins-good, kernel, libXfont2, mysql8.4, nghttp2, nodejs:22, nodejs:24, pam, pcp, perl-Date-Manip, php8.4, python3, sg3_utils, and yggdrasil), Slackware (mozilla-firefox and mozilla-thunderbird), SUSE (open-iscsi, podman, python311, and python313), and Ubuntu (bind9, capnproto, curl, libheif, libpng, libpng1.6, libssh, nginx, and tiff).

[$] Debian weighs eight options in vote on LLM usage

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1087134/

The Debian Project is voting on the usage
of large language models
(LLMs) to make contributions to the project. The first
proposal
, sent in late July by Matthias Geiger, would expressly forbid any
contributions to Debian that are created by or with the assistance of LLMs. That
kicked off a firestorm of discussion and a flood of alternate proposals. Debian
developers are now voting on
eight proposals in total
that range from banning LLM-assisted contributions
to explicitly approving them, as well as the standard “none of the above” option
that would leave Debian with no agreed policy.

Security updates for Wednesday

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1089501/

Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (.NET 10.0, .NET 9.0, 389-ds-base, attr, curl, glib2, gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free, gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free and gstreamer1-plugins-ugly-free, gstreamer1-plugins-good, gstreamer1-plugins-ugly-free, haproxy, kernel, libssh, libXfont2, nodejs22, pam, php, php8.4, sg3_utils, and unbound), Debian (librabbitmq, ruby-grape, spip, srt, and swift), Fedora (GitPython, lemonldap-ng, libgit2, libnfs, perl-Imager, perl-List-SomeUtils-XS, python3.12, python3.14, and radsecproxy), Oracle (.NET 10.0, 389-ds-base, 389-ds:1.4, bind, curl, gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free, gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free and gstreamer1-plugins-ugly-free, gstreamer1-plugins-good, gstreamer1-plugins-ugly-free, haproxy, libssh, libXfont2, nodejs22, nodejs:22, pcp, and unbound), Red Hat (golang, grafana, grafana-pcp, osbuild-composer, and rhc), SUSE (erlang, forgejo-cli, go1.25, go1.26, htop, python-pypdf2, python313-tablib, and snphost), and Ubuntu (c3p0, dotnet8, dotnet10, kernel, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-fips, linux-aws-hwe, linux-fips, linux-hwe,
linux-kvm, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-fips, linux-azure, linux-fips, linux-gcp,
linux-gcp-6.8, linux-gcp-fips, linux-gkeop, linux-oracle, linux-realtime,
linux-realtime-6.8, linux-xilinx, linux-hwe-7.0, linux-oracle, linux-oracle-6.17, and linux-oracle-6.8).

[$] Fedora prepares for the end of AF_ALG

Post Syndicated from jzb original https://lwn.net/Articles/1088489/

The Linux kernel’s user-space interface
(AF_ALG)
to the Crypto
API
has been linked to a number of recent high-profile security problems,
including Copy Fail and successor
vulnerabilities. It was deprecated
earlier this year. Eric Biggers, and other kernel developers,
have been working to remove it
from the kernel
. With that in mind, the Fedora Project is planning to
restrict use of AF_ALG in the next Fedora release in the hopes of nudging
remaining users of the API to prepare for its eventual removal.