In brief: IoT startup Particle looks geared to shake up the single-board computer market with their latest creation – the Tachyon. This credit card-sized Linux computer packs the kind of serious hardware normally found in mid-range smartphones. You get an 8-core Qualcomm chip, 5G cellular connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E, and dedicated AI acceleration.
Linux Kernel 6.10 introduces Rust language support for the RISC-V architecture, as well as initial support for AMD Zen 5 processors and Intel's Battlemage GPUs.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Tiberian Sun also now playable
The big picture: Proton is essential to the Steam Deck's ability to run thousands of PC games exclusively developed for Windows, and Valve hasn't stopped working to expand the range of its Linux compatibility layer. A major new update enables support for some important titles with the improvements permeating across all Linux systems.
The biggest Linux distro release of the year, Ubuntu 24.04 brings a new app center and firmware updater based on Flutter, an updated toolchain, and experimental support for TPM-backed full disk encryption.
Fedora Linux 40 just got released with numerous under the hood improvements that include updates to Linux 6.8, GNOME 46, and for the first time a PyTorch package with tools for AI development.
Why it matters: By happenstance Microsoft researcher Andres Freund found malicious code that could break sshd authentication. If it hadn't been discovered it could have posed a grave threat to Linux. The open source community has reacted to the incident, acknowledging the fortuitous nature of the discovery and how it was fortunately caught early before it could pose a significant risk to the broader Linux community.
Tails 6.0 is the first release to be based on Debian 12 and Gnome 43. It includes enhanced protection against malicious USB devices, a new night mode and improved screenshot tool.
FurMark 2 adds Windows and Linux cross-platform support, along with OpenGL 3.2 and Vulkan 1.1 3D APIs. OpenGL 2.1/3.0, Raspberry Pi, and macOS support are options for future versions.
Wine 9.0 comes with a new WoW64 architecture that enables running Windows 32-bit applications on a 64-bit Unix installation. The Wayland graphics driver adds supports for multiple monitors and improved window management.