An update to the Mutter display manager is primed to start rolling out to users of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (and 24.10) with a couple of much-needed touchscreen fixes in tow. Now, I don’t know how many of you use Ubuntu desktop on a touch-enabled device—not many, I’d wager. I do; I have a touchscreen laptop that runs Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. I often prod, poke, and push the screen a bit whilst using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS to do simple things like select menu items, close windows, scroll, etc – nothing I can’t do using the touchpad, it’s just easier to lift […]

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Desktop email client Thunderbird announced a move to monthly releases by default earlier this year, allowing new users to benefit from new features, sooner – as the new Thunderbird 136.0 release makes evident! Thunderbird 136.0 sees messages auto-adapt to dark mode (and adds a quick toggle to control this in the header) — no more searing-white e-mail shocks in dark rooms! Also added is a new Appearance setting to control message threading and sorting order globally. This is great if you always want, say, new messages at the bottom in all your configured folders. Some notable fixes include ensuring that addresses […]

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Is Huawei planning to ship Linux on its upcoming MateBook laptops instead of HarmonyOS NEXT? A fresh leak out of China this week suggests so. Huawei is no stranger to selling laptops with Linux. Various models in its MateBook 13, 14, 15, and MateBook X Pro lines have been sold in both Windows and Linux configurations, with the latter typically exclusive to China and reloaded with Debian-based Deepin. The—somewhat contentious—company has previously said all PCs released in 2025 would run the newer home-grown, closed-source HarmonyOS NEXT (viewed as an effort to wean reliance off of western-led tech companies, solidify control, […]

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by George Whittaker Introduction

For decades, Linux and BSD have stood as two dominant yet fundamentally different branches of the Unix-like operating system world. While Linux distributions, such as Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora, have grown to dominate the open-source ecosystem, BSD-based systems like FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD have remained the preferred choice for those seeking security, performance, and licensing flexibility. But what if you could combine the best of both worlds—Debian’s vast package ecosystem with FreeBSD’s robust and efficient kernel?

Enter Debian GNU/kFreeBSD, a unique experiment that merges Debian’s familiar userland with the FreeBSD kernel, offering a hybrid system that takes advantage of FreeBSD’s technical prowess while maintaining the ease of use associated with Debian. This article dives into the world of Debian GNU/kFreeBSD, exploring its architecture, installation, benefits, challenges, and real-world applications.

Understanding Debian and FreeBSD What is Debian?

Debian is one of the most well-known and widely used Linux distributions, founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock. It serves as the foundation for many popular distributions, including Ubuntu and Linux Mint. Known for its stability, security, and large software repositories, Debian provides a robust package management system using APT (Advanced Packaging Tool), allowing users to install and update software easily.

What is FreeBSD?

FreeBSD is a Unix-like operating system derived from the original Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). Unlike Linux, which is just a kernel with various distributions built on top of it, FreeBSD is a complete operating system, including the kernel, system utilities, and a package manager (pkg).

Key advantages of FreeBSD include:

• Performance – FreeBSD is optimized for speed and scalability, often outperforming Linux in networking and high-load server environments.
• Advanced Filesystems – It has first-class support for ZFS, a highly resilient filesystem with powerful data integrity features.
• Security – FreeBSD has robust security features, such as jails (an advanced containerization system) and a permissive BSD license.

Introducing Debian GNU/kFreeBSD: The Hybrid System What is Debian GNU/kFreeBSD?

Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is a Debian operating system variant that runs on the FreeBSD kernel instead of the Linux kernel. Unlike typical BSD distributions, it does not include the FreeBSD userland tools but instead retains Debian’s userland environment, package manager, and libraries.

Key Characteristics:

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Earlier this year Ubuntu announced plans to replace document viewer app Evince with Papers, a modern GTK4/libadwaita fork1 of the former, in Ubuntu 25.04—today, the swap was made official. Papers is a fork of Evince that is actively maintained and makes use of newer technologies (GTK4, THIS), that are already present in Ubuntu. Upstream, GNOME 48 (out in March) opts to keep Evince as a core app but GNOME 49 is expected to switch to Papers. Ubuntu feels no reason to wait. Dabbled with daily builds of the Plucky Puffin prior to now? You might have noticed Papers isn’t present […]

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by George Whittaker Introduction

Linux is a powerful and flexible operating system, widely used in servers, embedded systems, and even personal computers. However, even the best-configured systems can face performance bottlenecks over time. Performance tuning is essential for ensuring that a Linux system runs efficiently, utilizing available resources optimally while avoiding unnecessary slowdowns.

This guide provides an approach to Linux performance tuning, focusing on three key areas: CPU, memory, and disk optimization. Whether you're a system administrator, DevOps engineer, or just a Linux enthusiast, understanding and implementing these optimizations will help you enhance system responsiveness, reduce resource wastage, and ensure smooth operation.

Understanding System Performance Metrics

Before diving into optimization, it's crucial to understand system performance metrics. Monitoring these metrics allows us to diagnose performance issues and make informed tuning decisions.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• CPU Usage: Percentage of CPU time spent on processes.
• Load Average: Number of processes waiting for CPU time.
• Memory Usage: Amount of used and free RAM.
• Disk I/O Wait: Time processes spend waiting for disk access.
• Swap Usage: How much virtual memory is in use.
• Context Switches: Number of process switches per second.
• Disk Throughput: Read/write speeds and latency.

Tools for Monitoring Performance

Linux provides a variety of tools to measure these metrics:

• CPU & Memory Monitoring: top, htop, mpstat
• Disk Performance Analysis: iostat, iotop, dstat
• System-Wide Monitoring: vmstat, sar
• Profiling and Tracing: perf, strace
• Process and Resource Management: nice, ulimit, cgroups

CPU Performance Tuning

CPU bottlenecks can occur due to high process loads, inefficient scheduling, or contention for CPU resources. Here's how to optimize CPU performance.

Identifying CPU Bottlenecks

Use the following commands to diagnose CPU issues:

top htop mpstat -P ALL 1 sar -u 5

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The new Mozilla Firefox 136 release delivers a number of notable new features—features Mozilla may be hoping help it re-earn some goodwill from users following last week’s privacy palaver. Last month’s Firefox 135 release rolled out a refreshed tab page to more users, added in-page translations from Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, enforced certificate transparency, and ditched the ‘Do Not Track’ setting. This month sees a long-anticipated features make their stable release debut: vertical tabs! Right-click an empty space in the tab bar, select Turn on Vertical Tabs from the context menu and—bam!—they appear instantly as a a vertical strip of icons on the left-hand […]

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The Cinnamon desktop app menu is being redesigned with a cleaner layout, modern look , and usability improvements ahead of the next Linux Mint release.

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by George Whittaker

As a software vendor, getting your product in front of the right audience is crucial. One of the best ways to reach business buyers is by leveraging B2B software comparison and review platforms. These websites attract millions of in-market software buyers who rely on peer reviews and ratings to make purchasing decisions. In fact, 88% of buyers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations [1]. By listing your software on these platforms, you can gather authentic user feedback, build credibility, and dramatically improve your visibility to potential customers. Below we rank the top five B2B software comparison websites – and highlight what makes each one valuable for vendors looking to boost exposure and win more business.

1. SourceForge

SourceForge tops our list as a powerhouse platform for software vendors. Why SourceForge? For starters, it boasts enormous traffic – nearly 20 million monthly visitors actively searching for software solutions [2]. In fact, SourceForge drives more traffic than any other B2B software directory (often more than all other major sites combined!) [2]. Semrush even estimates SourceForge's February 2025 traffic at 32.88 million visitors[3]. This means listing your product here can put you in front of a vast pool of potential business buyers. SourceForge offers a complete business software and services comparison platform where buyers can find, compare, and review software. As the site itself says: “Selling software? You’re in the right place. We’ll help you reach millions of intent-driven software and IT buyers and influencers every day.” For a vendor, this translates into incredible visibility and lead generation opportunities.

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Skype, one of the best-known video chat/calling apps, is shutting down forever on May 5, Microsoft has announced today. Nothing gold can stay, and neither can VoIP services shorn their cultural zeitgeist it seems. Replacing Skype will be a free version of Microsoft Teams. Active Skype users can log in to the Microsoft Teams app and instantly see their Skype message history, group chats, and contacts without needing to create a(nother) account. Teams will no support ‘telephony’, i.e., Skype’s one remaining USP, after the transition period, meaning you won’t be able to make domestic or international calls to real numbers […]

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February proved a bumper month for Linux software updates, seeing big release of productivity suites LibreOffice and ONLYOFFICE and, plus a crop of smaller app updates which didn’t merit a full-length article on this blog. Rather than skip over those updates entirely, I thought I’d resurrect my Linux Release Roundup thread1 to curate a monthly (perhaps twice-monthly, if there’s a lot) run-through of smaller software updates I think would still be of most interest to regular readers. For those of us on fixed-release Linux distribution like Ubuntu, such updates may fix a finicky flaw, improve integration, or add a niche […]

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by George Whittaker Introduction

In the ever-evolving digital world, Linux servers form the backbone of enterprises, web applications, and cloud infrastructure. Whether hosting websites, databases, or critical applications, ensuring the smooth operation of Linux servers is crucial. Effective monitoring and alerting help system administrators maintain performance, security, and uptime while proactively identifying potential issues before they escalate into major outages.

This guide explores essential Linux server monitoring tools, key performance metrics, and alerting techniques to keep your systems running optimally.

Understanding Linux Server Monitoring Why is Monitoring Important?

Monitoring Linux servers is not just about tracking resource usage; it plays a crucial role in:

• Performance Optimization: Identifying bottlenecks in CPU, memory, disk, or network usage.

• Security Enhancement: Detecting unauthorized access attempts, abnormal activities, or potential vulnerabilities.

• Resource Management: Ensuring efficient use of hardware and system resources.

• Preventing Downtime: Alerting administrators before issues become critical failures.

• Compliance & Auditing: Maintaining logs and metrics for regulatory or internal auditing.

Key Metrics to Monitor

1. System Performance Metrics:

   • CPU Usage: Load percentage, idle time, and context switching.

   • Memory Usage: RAM consumption, swap utilization, and buffer/cache metrics.

   • Disk I/O: Read/write speeds, latency, and disk queue length.

2. Network Metrics:

   • Bandwidth Usage: Incoming and outgoing traffic statistics.

   • Latency & Packet Loss: Connectivity health and round-trip time.

   • Open Ports & Connections: Identifying unauthorized or excessive connections.

3. System Health Metrics:

   • Load Average: A measure of CPU demand over time.

   • Disk Space Usage: Preventing full partitions that could disrupt services.

   • System Temperature: Avoiding hardware failures due to overheating.

4. Security Metrics:

   • Failed Login Attempts: Signs of brute-force attacks.

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Hot off the back of its recent leadership rejig, Mozilla has announced users of Firefox will soon be subject to a ‘Terms of Use’ policy — a first for the iconic open source web browser. “Although we’ve historically relied on our open source license for Firefox and public commitments to you, we are building in a much different technology landscape today. We want to make these commitments abundantly clear and accessible,” say Mozilla. This official Terms of Use will, Mozilla argues, offer users ‘more transparency’ over their ‘rights and permissions’ as they use Firefox to browse the information superhighway1 — […]

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by George Whittaker Introduction

Linux has long been the backbone of modern computing, serving as the foundation for servers, cloud infrastructures, embedded systems, and supercomputers. As artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) continue to advance, Linux has established itself as the preferred environment for AI development. Its open source nature, security, stability, and vast support for AI frameworks make it an ideal choice for researchers, developers, and enterprises working on cutting-edge machine learning applications.

This article explores why Linux is the go-to platform for AI and ML, delves into key frameworks available, and highlights real-world applications where AI-powered Linux systems are making a significant impact.

Why Use Linux for AI and Machine Learning? Open Source and Customization

One of Linux's biggest advantages is its open source nature, allowing developers to modify, customize, and optimize their systems according to their specific needs. Unlike proprietary operating systems, Linux gives AI researchers full control over their environment, from kernel modifications to fine-tuned system resource management.

Compatibility with AI/ML Tools and Libraries

Most AI and ML frameworks, including TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Scikit-Learn, are designed with Linux compatibility in mind. Many popular AI research tools, such as Jupyter Notebook, Anaconda, and Docker, have optimized support for Linux environments, making development, experimentation, and deployment seamless.

Efficient Resource Management and Performance

Linux is known for its superior resource management, which is critical for AI/ML workloads that require high computational power. It efficiently utilizes CPU and GPU resources, making it suitable for deep learning applications requiring parallel processing. Additionally, Linux distributions provide robust support for NVIDIA CUDA and AMD ROCm, which enhance AI model training by leveraging GPUs.

Security and Stability

Security is a crucial concern when working with AI, particularly when handling sensitive data. Linux offers built-in security features such as strict user privilege controls, firewalls, and regular updates. Moreover, its stability ensures that AI models run consistently without crashes or performance degradation.

Strong Community Support

Linux has a vast, active community of developers, researchers, and enthusiasts. Open source contributions ensure that Linux remains at the forefront of AI innovation, with continuous improvements and updates being made available to developers worldwide.

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The application picker (aka app grid) in GNOME Shell is pretty perfect as it comes, showing launchers for installed apps plus the ability to rearrange them using drag and drop and create custom folders to group apps together. Some folks prefer a little more order. I’ve spotlighted a few Ubuntu app grid tweaks over the years, from one that puts app shortcuts in alphabetical order to ones which restores ‘missing’ shortcuts for apps pinned to the Ubuntu Dock. And now a new app grid helper has appeared – one sure to appeal to those with a preference for keeping things […]

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At one time, Linux dock apps were a plentiful species, with innovative ‘panel painters’ like GNOME Do/Docky to unashamed bling-kings AWN, DockBarX and Cairo Dock. Yet it was the modest Plank which stayed the course and outlived them. Thing is, the Plank dock hasn’t seen any major development effort in years, and though it still works, there’s scope for some modern improvement, surely? One developer thinks so, and they’ve decided to do something about it. Enter, Plank Reloaded. Plank Reloaded: Plank Fork Plank Reloaded is a new fork of the original Plank Linux dock, albeit with a twist: it’s focused […]

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The KeepassXC snap package now “just works” with web browsers like Firefox, as the latest update gains support for native messaging through secure desktop portals. KeePassXC is a cross-platform, open-source password manager billed as a ‘community-driven port of the Windows application ‘Keepass Password Safe'”. It’s available on Linux (including CLI) and a snap package has been available since 2017. Yet, until now users who installed the KeePassXC snap app to make use of browser integration (e.g., auto-fill usernames and passwords on websites they visit, or saving credentials for new accounts they create back to KeePassXC) haven’t been able to easily. […]

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A set of four cool new window opening and closing animations got added to gaudy GNOME Shell extension Burn My Windows this weekend. A veritable Linux eye-candy essential, Burn My Windows makes it easy to apply a variety of visual effects to Ubuntu when opening and/or closing app windows, dialogs, and modals. Its sole purpose is to make using Linux a bit more entertaining. Burn My Windows v45 is the latest update. It adds support for the upcoming GNOME 48 release (which will ship in Ubuntu 25.04 this April), fine-tunes effect filtering in Preferences, and improves its Incinerate effect with […]

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A new alpha release of System76’s emergent Rust-based COSMIC Desktop environment is out with a clutch of important improvements, bug fixes, and new features in tow. Although COSMIC is very much a work-in-progress (i.e., unfinished, feature incomplete, and lacking polish) some intrepid folks already use it as their daily driver —though most folks eager to sample it will get a better impression from the upcoming COSMIC beta. Still, these monthly(ish) alpha milestones provide a an easy way to peer through the portal to see how the COSMIC desktop UI, UX, and burgeoning app ecosystem is shaping up. Below, I recap […]

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by George Whittaker Introduction

Memory management is a critical aspect of modern operating systems, ensuring efficient allocation and deallocation of system memory. Linux, as a robust and widely used operating system, employs sophisticated techniques for managing memory efficiently. Understanding key concepts such as page tables, swapping, and memory allocation is crucial for system administrators, developers, and anyone working with Linux at a low level.

This article provides a look into Linux memory management, exploring the intricacies of page tables, the role of swapping, and different memory allocation mechanisms. By the end, readers will gain a deep understanding of how Linux handles memory and how to optimize it for better performance.

Understanding Linux Page Tables What is Virtual Memory?

Linux, like most modern operating systems, implements virtual memory to provide processes with an illusion of a vast contiguous memory space. Virtual memory enables efficient multitasking, isolation between processes, and access to more memory than is physically available. The core mechanism facilitating virtual memory is the page table, which maps virtual addresses to physical memory locations.

How Page Tables Work

A page table is a data structure used by the Linux kernel to translate virtual addresses into physical addresses. Since memory is managed in fixed-size blocks called pages (typically 4KB in size), each process maintains a page table that keeps track of which virtual pages correspond to which physical pages.

Multi-Level Page Tables

Due to large address spaces in modern computing (e.g., 64-bit architectures), a single-level page table would be inefficient and consume too much memory. Instead, Linux uses a hierarchical multi-level page table approach:

1. Single-Level Page Table (Used in older 32-bit systems with small memory)

2. Two-Level Page Table (Improves efficiency by breaking down page tables into smaller chunks)

3. Three-Level Page Table (Used in some architectures for better scalability)

4. Four-Level Page Table (Standard in modern 64-bit Linux systems, breaking addresses into even smaller sections)

Each level helps locate the next portion of the page table until the final entry, which contains the actual physical address.

Page Table Entries (PTEs) and Their Components

A Page Table Entry (PTE) contains essential information, such as:

• The physical page frame number.

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