Category: Foss Arabia

Microsoft has officially open-sourced its Windows Subsystem for Linux , marking a significant milestone in the company's ongoing engagement with the open-source community. Announced at the Build 2025 developer conference in Seattle, this move allows developers worldwide to access, modify, and contribute to the WSL codebase directly via GitHub.WSL, introduced in 2016, enables users to run a Linux environment natively on Windows without the need for a virtual machine or dual-boot setup. Over the years, it has evolved from a

Ubuntu 25.10 will introduce a significant update to its core user experience by replacing the default terminal and image viewer applications with modern alternatives. This development marks a shift towards more streamlined and feature-rich tools, reflecting the broader trend of enhancing Linux desktop usability without sacrificing performance or stability.The new default terminal, known as “Console,” is set to replace GNOME Terminal, which has been a longstanding staple in the Ubuntu environment. Console offers a sleek and minimalist interface designed to

Open source software has received a significant injection of support from leading companies such as Canonical, Zerodha, and other major industry players, marking a pivotal moment for the global development community. This wave of generous contributions comes as open source projects continue to underpin vast segments of the digital infrastructure powering everything from cloud computing to fintech applications. Canonical, known globally as the company behind the Ubuntu operating system, has renewed its commitment to open source by substantially increasing its financial

Oregon State University's Open Source Lab , a cornerstone of the global open-source ecosystem, has averted closure after securing critical funding. The lab is now poised to embark on a comprehensive infrastructure overhaul aimed at long-term sustainability.Facing a $250,000 funding shortfall that threatened its operations, OSUOSL launched an urgent appeal to the open-source community. The response was swift and substantial, with contributions from individual donors, corporate sponsors, and organisations like the Drupal Association, which highlighted the lab's pivotal role in

OpenSearch 3.0 has launched, marking a major milestone with its latest upgrades aimed at improving both performance and scalability. This release introduces several key enhancements, including new features that will better serve the growing needs of developers and businesses seeking efficient, open-source search and analytics solutions.The update builds upon OpenSearch’s commitment to providing a robust, open-source alternative to Elasticsearch. With a focus on security, flexibility, and usability, OpenSearch 3.0 promises to address both performance bottlenecks and the evolving demands of

The openSUSE project has officially removed the Deepin Desktop Environment from its Tumbleweed rolling release and the upcoming Leap 16.0, citing unresolved security vulnerabilities and a lack of effective cooperation from Deepin's upstream developers.The decision follows the discovery of a critical privilege escalation flaw in the `dde-api-proxy` component, which acts as a D-Bus proxy between Deepin applications and system services. This vulnerability, assigned CVE-2025-23222, allows unprivileged local users to execute administrative operations without proper authentication. The flaw stems from

Grafana Labs unveiled significant advancements at GrafanaCON 2025 in Seattle, introducing Grafana 12 and the AI-driven Grafana Assistant. These developments aim to enhance observability workflows and streamline dashboard management for developers and enterprises.Grafana 12 introduces key features such as 'dashboards as code,' enabling users to define dashboards in configuration files for improved version control and scalability. The integration of Git repositories allows for seamless deployment and rollback of dashboards. Dynamic dashboards now support real-time updates, and the alerting system has

AdGuard has officially launched version 1.0 of its ad-blocking software tailored for Linux, marking the company's first stable release for the open-source operating system. This development introduces a system-wide, command-line-based ad-blocking solution, expanding AdGuard's reach beyond its existing platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and browser extensions.The Linux version distinguishes itself by operating entirely through the command line, lacking a graphical user interface. This design choice aligns with the preferences of many Linux users who favour terminal-based applications for their

The maintainers of the widely used command-line tool curl have implemented stricter measures to filter out low-quality bug reports generated by artificial intelligence, citing a surge in submissions that lack clarity, relevance, or actionable detail.Daniel Stenberg, the founder and lead developer of curl, expressed concern over the growing number of AI-generated reports that consume valuable time and resources. He noted that many of these reports are vague, inaccurate, or fail to provide the necessary information for effective debugging.To address this

KDE has officially ceased the long-term support releases of its Plasma desktop environment, marking a significant shift in its development strategy. The decision, confirmed during a developer sprint in Graz, Austria, reflects a move towards more frequent and uniformly supported releases, aligning with the project's evolving priorities and resource allocation.The discontinuation of LTS versions stems from multiple factors. Developers cited inconsistent expectations from users, challenges in maintaining older codebases, and the complexities of backporting fixes without introducing new issues.

Redis, the widely used in-memory data store, has reinstated its open source status by adopting the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 for its core software. This move, effective with the release of Redis 8.0, marks a significant shift from its previous dual-license model and aims to mend strained relations with the developer community.The decision to revert to an open source license follows a period of contention that began in March 2024 when Redis transitioned from the permissive

The United Nations has officially transitioned from using Google Forms to adopting an open-source alternative for its internal and external data collection needs. This strategic shift underscores the organisation's commitment to enhancing data sovereignty, privacy, and operational flexibility.The decision to move away from Google Forms was influenced by several factors, including concerns over data privacy, the need for greater customisation, and the desire to avoid vendor lock-in. By embracing open-source solutions, the UN aims to have more control over its

GNOME's latest document viewer, Papers, has officially replaced Evince as the default PDF reader in the GNOME desktop environment. This shift marks a significant evolution in GNOME's approach to document viewing, offering users a more modern and streamlined experience.Papers is built upon the foundation of Evince but has been reimagined with contemporary design principles. It leverages GTK4 and Libadwaita, ensuring a consistent and adaptive user interface that aligns with GNOME's aesthetic standards. The application maintains the core functionalities of Evince,

QEMU 10.0, the latest iteration of the open-source virtualisation platform, introduces substantial improvements across multiple instruction set architectures , notably RISC-V, x86, and ARM64. This release is poised to benefit developers and system architects by enhancing emulation capabilities and performance.A significant development in this version is the expanded support for RISC-V, an open-source ISA gaining traction in various computing domains. QEMU 10.0 adds emulation support for the Tenstorrent Ascalon CPU and the RV64 Xiangshan Nanhu CPU, both designed for

Xubuntu 25.04, codenamed "Plucky Puffin," introduces significant updates to the lightweight Linux distribution, focusing on performance, usability, and modernisation. Released on April 17, 2025, this interim version will receive support until January 2026. Beta released, What's New in Xubuntu 25.04? All the Highlights You Need to Know!)At the forefront of this release is the integration of Xfce 4.20, which brings experimental Wayland support, configurable panel border widths, and multiple power profiles. The Thunar file manager has been enhanced with

AMD has released its GPU-IOV Module as open-source software, aiming to enhance virtualisation capabilities for its Instinct accelerators and potentially extend support to Radeon discrete GPUs. This move is designed to facilitate Single Root I/O Virtualisation on Linux systems, enabling multiple virtual machines to share a single GPU efficiently.The GPU-IOV Module, also known as GIM, is a Linux kernel module that supports SR-IOV-based hardware virtualisation. It is compatible with hypervisors like KVM and Xen, providing functionalities such as virtual

IceWhale Technology has introduced the ZimaBoard 2, a compact, fanless single-board server designed to enhance home labs and self-hosted environments. The device is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter, targeting tech enthusiasts and professionals seeking a versatile, low-power computing solution.The ZimaBoard 2 is powered by Intel's N150 quad-core processor, part of the "Twin Lake" series, offering a base frequency of 3.6 GHz and integrated Intel UHD graphics with 24 execution units. This configuration delivers a performance boost of up to

Ubuntu 25.04 users can now install the Ghostty terminal emulator via DEB packages, thanks to a community-led packaging initiative spearheaded by software engineer Mike Kasberg. This development simplifies access to Ghostty, a cross-platform terminal application that has garnered attention for its native user interface and GPU-accelerated performance.Ghostty, developed by Mitchell Hashimoto, co-founder of HashiCorp, aims to provide a fast, feature-rich, and native experience across macOS, Linux, and Windows platforms. Unlike many cross-platform terminals that rely on non-native or web-based user

Kubuntu 25.04, codenamed "Plucky Puffin," has been officially released, introducing a suite of enhancements aimed at improving user experience and developer productivity. This latest iteration features the KDE Plasma 6.3 desktop environment, Linux kernel 6.14, and updated development toolchains, marking a significant step forward for the Ubuntu-based distribution.The integration of KDE Plasma 6.3 brings a refreshed user interface, offering improved performance and a more cohesive design. Users can expect smoother animations, enhanced system settings, and better support for high-resolution displays.

Google has unveiled Project IDX, a browser-based, AI-powered integrated development environment designed to streamline full-stack, multiplatform app development. Built on Google Cloud and powered by Codey, an AI model trained on code and built on PaLM 2, Project IDX aims to provide developers with a seamless, cloud-hosted workspace that mirrors the capabilities of local development environments.Project IDX offers developers the ability to import existing projects from GitHub or start new ones using pre-configured templates for popular frameworks such as

Manjaro 25.0 'Zetar' marks a significant milestone for the popular Arch-based Linux distribution, introducing a refreshed set of features designed to elevate the user experience. The new release not only updates the desktop environments but also incorporates a newer Linux kernel, further refining performance and stability for users across diverse systems.Manjaro, known for its user-friendly approach to Arch Linux, has long been celebrated for its ability to combine the power of Arch with an easy-to-use interface. The release of Manjaro

Fedora 42 was officially released on April 15, 2025, introducing a suite of enhancements aimed at improving user experience, system performance, and accessibility. This latest iteration of the Fedora Linux distribution integrates GNOME 48, the Linux 6.14 kernel, and a redesigned installer interface, marking significant progress in the project's development.The inclusion of GNOME 48 brings several user-centric features to Fedora Workstation 42. Notably, a new well-being feature has been added, offering screen time tracking and break reminders to promote healthier

The world of Linux has witnessed a shift with the announcement of Systemd’s plans to launch its own Linux distribution, dubbed ParticleOS. This move has piqued the interest of many in the open-source community, given Systemd’s significant influence within the Linux ecosystem. Known for its role in managing system processes, services, and init systems, Systemd has become a core component in many popular Linux distributions. The launch of ParticleOS has sparked speculation about what this move means for the future

Mozilla has introduced an experimental feature in its Firefox browser, enabling users to access popular AI chatbots directly from the browser's sidebar. This integration aims to enhance user productivity by providing seamless access to AI assistance without the need to switch between tabs or applications.The feature, initially available in the Firefox Nightly build, allows users to choose from a selection of AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, HuggingChat, and Le Chat Mistral. Users can opt-in by navigating to the settings,