Category: Budgie

Bits & Bobs: Tails 7.14 gets update

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.

Bits & Bobs: Gnome 51 ready for testing

By Larry Cafiero

Marcus Nestor on 9 to 5 Linux reported on Friday that Gnome has released the alpha version of Gnome 51 for public testing “to give the community a first taste of the new features and enhancements.”

According to the article, “highlights of Gnome 51 ‘A Coruña’ include a new API to generate QR codes, support for the input capture portal to integrate with the clipboard, improved screencasting by minimizing stage paints and buffer copies, support for elogind as libsystemd provider, and support for saving and restoring monitor brightness.”

The article continues with Gnome 51 also removes support for legacy NVIDIA graphics drivers on Wayland. The Nautilus file manager – called Files – now shows a count badge for selected items when dragging multiple files, advertises notification categories for files, as well as mount and unmount operations, enhances the view reloading performance, and shows the correct starred status in the Recents view.

In addition, the Gnome Control Center – now called Settings – “received quite the attention during this cycle with an ‘Auto Rotate’ option for devices with an accelerometer and center-aligned snapping for horizontal edges in the Display section, and the ability to disable the touchpad in the Mouse section while a mouse is plugged in.”

Hannah Montana Linux reborn

It’s a girl!

Mark Tyson at Tom’s Hardware reported on Sunday that Hannah Montana Linux – after nearly two decades – is making a comeback, complete with about 18 years of security patches.

“Say whaaaat? Hannah Montana Linux is back,” the article states. “The distro made as a tribute to the noughties Disney Channel sitcom for tweens and teens, featuring the eponymous secret pop star, was basically abandoned in 2009. Now it’s back, with a modern kernel and about 18 years of patches, with the release of the Hannah Montana Linux v26.0 remaster by developer Noah Cagle.”

Thanks, Noah!

The article continues: “Little is known about why the original Hannah Montana Linux was developed, released, and almost immediately abandoned. The version available via Archive.org. This the only known release, identified as Hannah Montana Linux x86 basic edition 202201. It is still available if you’d like to test out a frozen-in-time HM-themed version of Kubuntu. You can grab it as a 691.7MB download via the link provided. Be warned that it is now ‘basically unusable,’ though, according to Cagle, due to being insecure and for its poor software support.”

But bringing the distro up to date was no easy task for Cagle, basing the new edition on Debian from the original distro’s Kubuntu roots.

“Fast forward to the present day, and Cagle’s HML26 release solves all the issues with the old distro. Browsing the modern web is possible and safe, finding and installing software is easy, and the dev has even made the terminal look pretty,” says the article.

Want to give it a shot? Download Hannah Montana Linux 26.0 on its download page.

6 Linux desktops … we still use

Dipan Saha of Make Use Of wrote an article Saturday which was a bit confusing, but warrants mentioning anyway.

Under the headline, “Everyone forgot about these 6 Linux desktops, but they might be better than what you use now,” we understand the point he is making, but the six desktop environments he mentions are hardly forgotten, and some users – me included – go out of their way to seek them.

Like Xfce, for example. Saha describes the desktop environment as “built with modularity in mind. You can use the desktop as is or strip it out for something completely custom — without breaking it. This modular approach makes Xfce a bit of a unicorn, and also happens to make it quite lightweight.”

Interesting. As an Xfce user for years, bordering on a decade now, and looking at the army of Xfce users around the world, I am sure that this one is far from forgotten. In fact, for Distro of the Week, I lean toward using the Xfce version of the distro if it’s available.

Saha also mentions Openbox, a window manager, which he descibes as “distinct in being a very stable, finished project. It has been in maintenance mode for quite some time now. It’s a rock-solid option for folks who know exactly what they’re doing and don’t mind sacrificing a few features for stability.”

Funny, because my daily driver – BunsenLabs Carbon – is basically Debian with the Openbox window manager, and as a daily driver, it’s usually in the forefront of my mind.

In any case, what I think Saha was trying to say is that the rest of the cast of characters – including MATE, LXQt, Budgie, and Deepin Desktop Environment – are not “forgotten” so much as not used as often as the Gnome/KDE Plasma juggernaut rolls on in the Linux universe. And Saha is right when he says in the headline that they “might be better” than the desktop environment  you’re using now.

However these desktop environments – and Openbox window manager – are hardly forgotten and continue to be viable options in the Linux realm.

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 on Friday.