Compiled by Larry Cafiero
Bobby Borisov at Linuxiac reported on Wednesday that The Amnesic Incognito Live System – otherwise known in the Linuxsphere as Tails – has made several updates focused on further privacy.
Tails 7.14 updates the Tor browser to version 15.0.24, the Tor client has been upgraded to 0.4.9.13 and the Linux kernel has been bumped up to 6.12.111 in its latest iteration.
“Beyond the component updates, Tails 7.14 fixes an issue with the default keyboard input method when starting a session in Korean,” the article says.
The article continues, stating “[u]sers running Tails 7.0 or later can upgrade automatically to version 7.14 while keeping their Persistent Storage. A manual upgrade is available if the automatic process fails or if Tails does not start afterward.”
But how about new installations? “Tails 7.14 is available as a USB image and an ISO image for DVDs and virtual machines,” the article says. “Installing Tails again instead of upgrading an existing USB stick will erase its Persistent Storage.”
Debian-based antiX 26.1 released
Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reported on Wednesday that the Debian-based and systemd-free antiX Linux 26.1 has been released with updated Linux kernels, with both Core and Full editions shipping with the Linux 5.10.256 LTS an 6.6.139 LTS kernels in both editions.
Still based on Debian 13 “Trixie,” antiX Linux 26.1 “ships with updated packages from the upstream Debian Stable repositories and updated kernels across all supported architectures, namely the customised Linux 5.10.256 LTS kernel for the core edition and the Linux 6.6.139 LTS kernel for the 64-bit full edition,” according to the article.
“Beyond that, the antiX Linux team notes that various bugs have been squashed, though one known issue persists as Bluetooth mice may not be picked up in some configurations,” the article says. “Everything else remains unchanged from the antiX Linux 26 release, which continues to be without systemd, libsystemd0, elogind, or libelogind0, and ships eudev in place of udev.”
The article continues with “antiX Linux 26.1 release supports five init systems, namely runit (default), sysVinit, dinit, s6-rc, and s6-66, and includes IceWM as the default window manager alongside the Fluxbox window manager, JWM (Joe’s Window Manager), and the herbstluftwm tiling window manager.”
Debian fixes over 1,300 CVEs
Speaking of Debian, Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reported on Friday that the latest Debian 13 “Trixie” kernel security update patched more than 1,300 CVEs and urges users to update their installations to Linux kernel 6.12.111-1 as soon as possible.
“Yes, you’re reading it right, the new Debian 13 Linux kernel security update is a massive one, probably the biggest kernel security release ever, and it patches no less than 1,313 security vulnerabilities in the Linux 6.12 LTS kernel series that powers Debian Trixie,” the article states.
Why so many? “Well, because of several reasons, one of them being the recent policy change in CVE assignment for the kernel project, where essentially any commit identified as fixing a potential security issue gets a CVE assigned, even if it’s a minor one or has no known exploit path,” the article explained.
“Another reason is that Debian Stable releases don’t ship every upstream stable point release as a separate DSA (Debian Security Advisory),” the article continued. “They accumulate fixes across multiple upstream kernel versions and package them in larger periodic updates. The longer the gap, the bigger the batch.”
But . . . “Seeing over 1,300 vulnerabiliies in a single Debian kernel update is overwhelming, but the vast majority of these CVEs are low-severity, highly conditional, or affect subsystems irrelevant to any given machine,” the article says. “However, the update is still worth applying, but it’s not 1,313 independently critical issues.”
Debian users are urged to update their installations, use a terminal emulator and run the sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade commands. And, of course, “don’t forget to reboot your computer after installing the new kernel version.”
Budgie desktop set for aerynOS?
Bobby Borisov at Linuxiac reported on Friday that aerynOS could be the next distro to offer the Budgie desktop environment, as Joshua Strobl had recently opened a pull request to bring Budgie Desktop 10.10.3, along with related apps and required dependencies, into aerynOS.
Strobl is a software engineer, open source advocate, and the founder of Buddies of Budgie, known for developing Budgie Desktop and contributing to projects like Fedora and Solus.
“The pull request, opened in the aerynOS recipes repository, adds Budgie Desktop 10.10.3 along with related applications, dependencies, branding, and integration pieces for a complete setup,” the article says. “The work is still under review, so Budgie is not yet an official aerynOS desktop option.”
The article continues: “According to Strobl, the submission includes the main Budgie Desktop package, a package set with recommended applications, aerynOS-specific branding based on his generic Budgie defaults template, and a patched Budgie Control Center with support for the distribution’s branding.”
If merged, Budgie would join aerynOS’ existing desktop lineup, which includes Gnome, KDE Plasma, and Cosmic. Recent aerynOS updates have continued moving all three stacks forward, including KDE Plasma 6.7.5, Cosmic Desktop 1.9, and Gnome 51 in the distro’s September package refresh.
And that’s all for today. Don’t forget: Distro of the Week appears Wednesday – and it’s always a good one on hand – and Bits and Bobs will return with news over the week next Saturday.