malfisya

This summary is generated by ChatGPT with edits from me

Heya folks! It's time for another roundup of the news! Let's dive in.

Driver Updates:

• NVIDIA Beta Driver:
  • Updated to 555.42.02.
  • Adds support for the linux-drm-syncobj-v1 protocol for Wayland explicit sync in EGL.
  • Issue: Rebooting directly into a Wayland session with Vulkan using the Beta driver causes Vulkan not to work. Workaround: Log into an XOrg session first, then into a Wayland session.

Software Updates:

• Neovim:

  • Updated to 0.10.0.
  • Major release with numerous changes and breaking changes for plugins and configurations. Make sure to update plugins and check configs.

• MimeType Handling:

  • Branding packages that ship a mimeapps.list file are now co-installable again.
  • Files added to the MATE and XFCE desktop branding packages.

• Desktop Environment Updates:

  • KDE Plasma:
    • Updated to 6.0.5.
    • Contains many bugfixes.
    • KDE Frameworks 5 updated to 5.116.0 for applications not yet on Frameworks 6.
  • Qt:
    • Updated to 6.7.1.
    • Brings new features and bugfixes.

Performance Improvements:

• Bash Optimization:
  • Significant speed improvement achieved by building Bash with Profile-guided optimizations (PGO).
  • Startup speed for running a script improved by approximately 60%.
  • Example script startup speed reduced from 1.409 seconds to 1.366 seconds.
  • Shellbench benchmarking tool confirms the performance increase.
  • Trade-off: Binary size increased from 9.68 MB to 9.82 MB, and build times are longer due to multiple compilations required for PGO.

Security Updates:

• gnome-remote-desktop: Updated to 46.2-15. Includes fixes for CVE-2024-5148.
• podman: Updated to 5.0.3-42. Includes fixes for CVE-2024-3727.
• postgresql: Updated to 16.3-49. Includes fixes for CVE-2024-4317.
• qt5-networkauth: Updated to 5.15.13-24. Includes fixes for CVE-2024-36048.
• skopeo: Updated to 1.15.1-29. Includes fixes for CVE-2024-3727.
• wireshark: Updated to 4.2.5-87. Includes fixes for CVE-2024-4853, CVE-2024-4854, and CVE-2024-4855.

Browser Updates:

• Opera and Vivaldi: Updated to include the latest Chromium security updates.

That’s all for this week, folks! Check in next week for another Solus news roundup.

This summary is generated with ChatGPT and edited by me

Here's the latest update for this week:

System Update Measures:

• We've implemented safety measures to ensure system updates won't break your system, regardless of the last update. An in-depth breakdown of last week's issues will be provided later. We're working on further steps to ensure everyone transitions to a fully /usr Merged system safely. Thanks for your patience.

Kernel Updates:

• The Current branch kernel has been updated to 6.8.10.
• The LTS branch kernel has been updated to 6.6.31.
• The build time for these kernels now derives from the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH.

KDE Frameworks Update:

• KDE Frameworks have been updated to 6.2.0. These are 72 addon libraries to Qt providing commonly needed functionalities.

LibreOffice Icon Theme:

• Previously, LibreOffice on Budgie used the Sifr Dark icon theme by default, causing unreadable icons with a light theme. Now, LibreOffice defaults to the colored Elementary icons, ensuring readability across all editions of Solus.

Boot Loader Management Tool:

• Over at Serpent, Ikey has been developing blsforme, a replacement for clr-boot-manager. blsforme is a tool and library for the Boot Loader Specification, progressing swiftly towards Solus 5. This change addresses several issues associated with clr-boot-manager.

GLib CVE Fix and Application Crashes:

• The recent GLib CVE fix revealed other bugs causing crashes in Inkscape, gedit, HandBrake, and possibly other programs when vala-panel-appmenu is installed. We've backported a patch to GLib to fix these issues.

Security Updates:

• git: Updated to 2.45.1-128, including fixes for CVE-2024-32002, CVE-2024-32004, CVE-2024-32020, CVE-2024-32021, and CVE-2024-32465.
• libxml2: Updated to 2.12.7-48, addressing CVE-2024-34459.
• Chromium-based browsers: Updated to address zero-day flaws CVE-2024-4761 and CVE-2024-4947. If you're using Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, or any Chromium-based browser, ensure these updates are applied due to known exploits.

This summary is generated using ChatGPT and edited by me

Here's the latest from this week's roundup:

1. Package Updates:

   • Steam and xfce4-panel-profiles: Missing dependencies for these packages have been addressed. Update your system to ensure these packages can work properly again.

2. "/usr Merge" Progress:

   • The "/usr Merge" initiative continues, with /bin and /sbin directories fully moved into the /usr directory. Compatibility symlinks have been added. This transition is crucial as the next version of systemd will drop support for unmerged-usr setups.

3. Extended Attributes (xattrs) Support:

   • ypkg and eopkg got new feature to export extended attributes (xattrs) info to files in packages and apply them during installation. This enables setting file capabilities for binaries, such as KWin being able to raise its process priority for improved responsiveness under load. Note that you may not see these benefits until the next package update. You can reinstall KWin to ensure it has capabilities with sudo eopkg it kwin --reinstall. To check which binaries have file capabilities, run getcap -r /usr/bin/.

4. Security Updates:

   • Important security fixes were made to several packages:
     • buildah: Updated to 1.35.3-44, addressing CVE-2024-1753 and CVE-2024-24786.
     • glib2: Updated to 2.80.2-106, fixing CVE-2024-34397.
     • strongswan: Updated to 5.9.14-10, resolving CVE-2023-41913.

Make sure to apply these updates promptly to stay protected!

That's all for this week's roundup! Keep an eye out for more updates next week!

This summary is generated by ChatGPT 3.5 and edited by me

This week's highlights from Solus:

1. CUPS Update: CUPS packages have been updated, switching to the actively maintained OpenPrinting version of CUPS. cups-filters was also updated to 2.0.0 and split into separate packages, addressing printing issues. Users may see file conflict warnings during updates, but these are harmless.

2. Workrave Package Update: Workrave package has been split to remove unnecessary files and dependencies, ensuring that only relevant components are installed based on the desktop environment.

3. Zynaddsubfx Fix: Zynaddsubfx now works again after breaking due to missing dependencies when switching to Pipewire by default. The package now depends on pipewire-jack.

4. Nano 8 Update: Nano text editor has been updated to version 8, featuring modernization efforts such as default key bindings for search, improved command-line options, and mousewheel scrolling.

5. Element Matrix Client: The Element Matrix client now uses Wayland by default, enhancing its compatibility with modern desktop environments.

6. Font Rendering Improvement: Fonts now use slight hinting by default, resolving font rendering issues with certain websites.

7. Solus MATE Transition Tool (SMTT): SMTT has been added to the repository, but it's not yet recommended for general use. Users can help debug potential issues by testing it.

8. New Additions to Repository:

   • diffoscope: A tool for in-depth file, archive, and directory comparisons.
   • helvum: A graphical patchbay for PipeWire, enabling audio, video, and MIDI data routing.
   • gnome-online-accounts-gtk: A standalone application for configuring online accounts on GTK desktops.

9. Security Updates: Security updates include patches for python-idna, qt6-base, and tpm2-tools. Make sure to apply all updates for the latest protections.

This summary is generated using ChatGPT and edited by me

This week's highlights from Solus:

1. GNOME 46.1: The latest GNOME Desktop version brings new features like global search in Files, improved GNOME Online Accounts with Microsoft OneDrive support, and remote login with RDP. Check out the release post for more details.

2. Default Program Definitions: Solus is addressing issues with files opening in the wrong programs by providing a file defining default programs for MIME types. GNOME users will benefit from this improvement, ensuring that files open in the appropriate applications.

3. Samba 4.19.6: The update includes performance improvements, migration of smbget to use a common command line parser, removal of in-tree cryptography in favor of GnuTLS, and more.

4. nftables Update: Solus now uses nftables by default instead of legacy xtables. Users of Docker, lxd, libvirtd, and firewalld shouldn't need to take action, but manual users should note the change. Rebooting after updating is recommended for users of containers or VMs.

5. Docker 26.0: Docker has been updated to version 26.0, with docker-buildx updated to 0.14.0. docker-machine has been removed from the repository as it is no longer maintained upstream.

6. Prism Launcher Update: Prism launcher has been updated to version 8.3, now using Java 21 instead of Java 17, ensuring compatibility with the latest Minecraft versions.

7. Intel QuickSync Support: Handbrake and FFMPEG now work with Intel QuickSync on Tiger Lake and later GPUs. Users need to manually install vpl-gpu-rt.

8. iputils Ping: Solus now uses the iputils version of ping, which is more advanced and actively developed. Subpixel rendering is also enabled by default, and fontconfig snippets can now be added to override default configuration files.

9. Shim-signed Update: shim-signed was updated to the latest Fedora upstream version, fixing issues with running the Mok Management application upon a Secure Boot violation.

10. Security Updates: Important security updates include patches for glibc and libarchive. Make sure to apply these updates to stay protected against vulnerabilities.

This summary is generated by ChatGPT3.5 and edited by me

Here's the latest from Solus:

1. KDE Plasma 6.0.4: This week, KDE Plasma was updated to version 6.0.4, bringing three weeks' worth of bug fixes and translation updates. Fixes include improvements to Desktop Portal URL exporting, resizing fixes in System Monitor's overview page, and more.

2. HDR on Plasma: A guide was shared on forum on using HDR on Plasma, although it's still experimental and not officially supported by either Plasma or Solus developers.

3. Wayland Explicit Sync Support: Updates to libxcb and xcb-proto bring Solus closer to supporting explicit sync in Wayland. This feature aims to improve graphics performance, especially for NVIDIA users, by refining interaction between applications, the OS, and graphics hardware.

4. Kernel and PAM Updates: The Linux kernel branch has been updated to 6.8.7, bringing new features like the xe GPU driver and bcachefs. PAM has been updated to version 1.6, with improvements and bug fixes, including persisting faillock across reboots for enhanced security.

5. LibreOffice 24.2.2.2: LibreOffice has been updated to version 24.2.2.2, featuring the Qt6/KF6 backend for better integration with Plasma 6 and improved performance.

6. OpenJDK 21: The latest LTS release of OpenJDK, version 21, is now available in the repository, offering new features such as sequenced collections and pattern matching for switch statements.

7. Lua 5.4.6 Update: Lua has been updated to version 5.4.6, introducing new features like generational garbage collection mode and const variables.

8. GNOME 46 Update: GNOME 46.1 is being worked on Solus, with plans to land it in the Unstable branch next week for testing.

9. Security Updates: Several security fixes have been implemented this week across various packages, ensuring users have the latest protections against vulnerabilities.

10. Multimedia, Gaming, CLI Tool, System, and Programming Updates: Numerous updates have been made across these categories, including updates to multimedia software, gaming tools, CLI utilities, system components, and programming languages.

This summary is generated by ChatGPT3.5 and edited by me

Here's the latest from Solus:

1. Python 3 Ports: Solus has been focused on finalizing the Python 3 ports of eopkg and ypkg. Transitioning users during regular updates can be tricky, but a solution is being tested to ensure a robust transition.

2. Unicode Support: Work has been done to support multi-character Unicode symbols (such as emoji) in package update commits and changelogs. With the move to Python 3, this is now possible, except for the Software Center, which remains Python 2 until it's replaced by GNOME Software and KDE Discover. The Software Center will handle these characters differently to avoid breaking the code.

3. KDE Frameworks and Gear Updates: KDE Frameworks was updated to version 6.1, bringing many bug fixes post-Plasma 6 release. Similarly, KDE Gear has been updated to version 24.02.2, addressing issues like crashes and broken volume sliders.

4. ROCm 6: AMD's open-source software stack for GPU computation, ROCm, has been reintroduced as ROCm 6.0 after previous issues with Blender compatibility. With bug fixes and workarounds in place, users can expect better performance and wider device compatibility.

5. Deprecations: evopop-gtk-theme and qt5-pas have been deprecated. On the other hand, a new addition, fan2go, makes its debut as a daemon to control computer fans.

This summary is generated by ChatGPT 3.5 and edited by me

Highlights of the Weekly Solus Roundup:

1. Python 3 Porting: Solus has been porting its old Python 2 tooling and eopkg to Python 3, as Python 2 reached end of life in 2020. This transition not only ensures the use of up-to-date software but also brings a noticeable speed boost. ypkg and eopkg4-bin are now fully Python 3 compatible, with significant updates to eopkg4-bin.

2. Desktop Fixes: XFCE4 and Budgie Desktop received fixes and improvements. XFCE4 now has the freedesktop sound theme set by default, with event sounds enabled. Budgie Desktop received a patch addressing an issue where closing a notification triggered the notification's default action.

3. Deprecations: Yuzu, a Nintendo Switch emulator, along with several other packages like powerlevel9k and lbreakout2, have been deprecated and removed from the repository.

4. Security Updates: Capnproto, xorg-server, xorg-xwayland, WireShark, and Golang received security updates to address various CVE issues, ensuring system security.

5. Multimedia Updates: Various multimedia packages such as blender, drawing, openimageio, and others were updated, bringing new features and improvements.

6. Gaming Updates: Gaming-related packages like cockatrice, dhewm3, openrct2, and others received updates, enhancing gaming experience on Solus.

7. CLI Tool Updates: Numerous CLI tools including ansible, btrfs-progs, cryptsetup, devilspie2, and others were updated to their latest versions, improving functionality and security.

8. System Updates: Core system packages like dbus, docker, libvirt, util-linux, xorg-server, xorg-xwayland, and others were updated to ensure system stability and performance.

9. Language and Programming Updates: Various language and programming-related packages like babashka, cython, golang, haskell-base16-bytestring, and others were updated, bringing new features and improvements for developers.

10. Other Desktop Updates: Several other desktop-related packages received updates, including browsers like Firefox and Vivaldi, productivity tools like calibre and Texstudio, system utilities like sddm and wireshark, and more.

These updates ensure that Solus continues to provide users with a stable, secure, and up-to-date operating system.

This summary is generated by ChatGPT 3.5 and edited by me

Highlights of the Weekly Solus Roundup:

1. KDE Plasma 6 Release: KDE Plasma 6 has been released and is now available in the Solus stable repository. This major release brings significant improvements, including the move to Qt 6 and enhanced Wayland support. Users are advised to ensure their systems do not sleep during updates and to reboot after applying them. Plasma 6.0.3 will be initially available, with bug fixes from the initial release.

2. Default Settings Changes: Several default settings have been adjusted in Plasma 6, such as single-click selection of files and folders, enabling touchpad tap-to-click on Wayland, and more.

3. Removal of qt5-webkit: Due to security concerns and lack of upstream maintenance, qt5-webkit has been removed from the repositories. Applications relying on it have also been removed, and users will see automatic uninstallation of affected packages.

4. Transition to Qt6: With the release of Plasma 6 and Qt6 support added to the Breeze theme, the conversion of applications from Qt5 to Qt6 has begun. Users may notice slight visual changes in applications due to this transition.

5. Offline Updates Exploration: Efforts are underway to add support for offline updates to Solus, making system updates safer by preventing core library changes while the system is running.

6. Translations for Solus MATE Transition Tool: Translators are sought to help localize the Solus MATE Transition Tool. Interested individuals proficient in languages other than English are encouraged to contribute.

7. Security Updates: A backdoor was discovered in XZ tools, potentially compromising SSH servers on affected systems. Linux distributions, including Solus, have acted swiftly to mitigate the issue.

8. Notable Package Updates:

   • GNOME updated to version 45.5, bringing bug fixes.
   • gstreamer updated to 1.24.
   • network-manager updated to 1.44.
   • WirePlumber updated to 0.5.
   • ibus updated to 1.5.29.
   • Waybar updated to 0.10.
   • freerdp 3 added in preparation for GNOME 46.

9. QtStylePlugins to QAdwaitaDecorations: GTK2-based style plugins have been replaced with QAdwaitaDecorations, addressing compatibility issues with modern Qt5 and Qt6 apps.

📌 This summary is generated by ChatGPT 3.5 and edited by me

⚠️ THERE WILL BE NO SYNC NEXT WEEK ⚠️

1. Early Sync for KDE Plasma 6 Testing:

   • This week's sync is happening early to allow ample time for testing KDE Plasma 6 in the Unstable repository. After two weeks of testing, Plasma 6.0.3 will be rolled out to stable repositories.

2. Desktop Environment Updates:

   • MATE Desktop updated to 1.28 series.
   • XFCE Desktop updated to 4.18 series
   • Backported patches to Budgie Desktop to fix regressions.

3. New Software Inclusions:

   • Labwc: wlroots-based Wayland compositor for window stacking.
   • Wofi: Launcher/menu program for wlroots-based Wayland compositors.
   • MelonDS: Nintendo DS emulator.
   • Shortwave: Internet radio player with access to over 30,000 stations.

4. Security Updates:

   • Visual Studio Code (vscode) update resolves CVE-2024-26165.

5. Multimedia Updates:

   • Updates to various multimedia tools including ardour, audacity, darktable, handbrake, musescore, and portmidi.

6. Gaming Updates:

   • Updates to gaming-related packages such as black-hole-solver, mame, linux-steam-integration, and steam.

7. CLI Tool Updates:

   • Updates to CLI tools like nmap, rclone, wget, yt-dlp, and more.

8. System Updates:

   • Updates to system components including linux kernels, firmware, iptables, openssh, wine, and more.

9. Programming and Language Updates:

   • Updates to programming tools and languages such as clj-kondo, nuitka, perl, pygal, and verilator.

10. Other Desktop Updates:

    • Updates to various desktop applications including Brave, Discord, GNOME Software, Opera, Vivaldi, Wireshark, and more.

Summary is generated by ChatGPT 3.5 and edited by me

1. Python 3.11 Upgrade:

• Python 3.11 rollout completed, involving the rebuilding of all Python packages. Signifies Solus's adaptation to significant language changes and robustness of the eopkg port to a statically compiled Python 3.10 binary with Nuitka.

2. KDE Plasma 6 Preparation:

• Preparation for KDE Plasma MegaRelease 6 is underway. Early testing initiated to mitigate issues before the official rollout. KDE Frameworks stack updated to version 6.0 in anticipation of Plasma 6 landing in the Unstable repo post next week's sync.

3. Graphics Driver Updates:

• Nvidia mainline driver upgraded to the 550 series, offering enhanced graphical capabilities.
• Mesa reverted to version 24.0 with patches to resolve previous Nvidia-related crashes.

4. Sway and Wayland Updates:

• Sway, an i3-compatible Wayland compositor, updated to version 1.9, introducing new features and incorporating improvements from wlroots 0.17.
• GNOME Maps reintroduced in the Solus repository alongside debut inclusions such as tv-lite for IPTV viewing, snapshot, gnome-clocks, and kio-admin.

5. Security Updates:

• Thunderbird updated to 115.8.1 to address CVE-2024-1936.

6. Multimedia and Gaming Updates:

• Updates to various multimedia and gaming packages, including cadence, cava, Darktable, EasyEffects, Kodi, Krita, musescore, sdl2, v4l-utils, endless-sky, prism-launcher, and sunshine.

7. CLI Tool Updates:

• Updates to CLI tools such as ansible, bitwarden-cli, certbot, docker-compose, fastfetch, gi-dockgen, github-cli, go-task, hugo, iotop, lynx, mu, Neovim, nvme-cli, powertop, streamlink, svtplay-dl, sympy, thefuck, thin-provisioning-tools, and xauth.

8. System Updates:

• Various system updates including BORE Scheduler, removal of AMD HDR patches from linux kernels, updates to btrfs-progs, edk2-ovmf, firewalld, fwupd, glibc, linux kernels, linux-tools, mesalib, nvidia drivers, PostgreSQL, qemu, systemd, tree-sitter, wine, xz, and yq.

9. Language Updates:

• Updates to language-related packages including gdal, gdb, git, git-cola, Golang, musl, NodeJS, Python 3, and vscode.

10. Desktop and Application Updates:

• Updates to desktop environments and applications like Brave, Calibre, dbeaver, Discord, Element, Firefox, gnome-bluetooth, kcolorpicker, kimageannotator, lemonbar, logseq, menulibre, nextcloud-client, Opera, pidgin, rapid-photo-downloader, rednotebook, Solaar, syncthing, tailscale, Vivaldi, Wireshark, wlroots, xpra, yubico-authenticator, and Zotero.