Those still making use of Ubuntu 23.10 ‘Mantic Minotaur’ should be aware that official support for this version of Ubuntu ends on July 11, 2024. Which, to orient the blissfully slow who, like me, remain convinced 2024 has only just started, is this week: July 11 is on Thursday. As an interim/short-term support release, Ubuntu 23.10 gets … [Read more...]

Proton, once famed for a VPN, now provides a suite of secure online services, including e-mail, cloud storage, and password manager (Proton Pass Linux app launched last month). Now, it’s adding another string to its privacy-focused bow, and takes aim at Google Docs in the process. This week Proton announced Docs in Proton Drive, a … [Read more...]

A new version of the Audacious music player popped out a few weeks back, but I totally missed hearing about until today (when sifting through my GitHub stars to make sure no other apps I like have joined the FOSS graveyard). Audacious 4.4 is a sizeable update which existing fans of this feature-packed, lightweight audio app are sure to appreciate, … [Read more...]

If you’re yet to try Miracle-WM, a new tiling window manager made for the Mir Wayland compositor, the latest version, released today, would be a stellar place to start. Made by Canonical engineer Matthew Kosarek (in his free time; it’s not an official Canonical project), miracle-wm aims to pair the efficiency that tiling window managers … [Read more...]

And we’re off – the Linux Mint 22 beta release is now available to download. The beta of Linux Mint 22 ‘Wilma’ arrives ahead of an expected stable release in late July or possible early August, depending on how many bugs, issues, and quirks are found and fixed during the formal beta testing period. Linux Mint 22 is a sizeable … [Read more...]

Sad news for fans of Gradience, the 3rd-party tool to customise the look of GTK4/libadwaita apps, as this weekend (June 29, 2024) the Github project page was made read-only and archived. News is sure to drain the colour from those who avidly use this tool, as it has proven popular with those seeing to personalise the libadwaita stylesheet to better … [Read more...]

If you’ve been experiencing issues getting some apps to run or work properly in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS it may be down to the distro using AppArmor to restrict the creation of user namespaces. This change (which I touched on in my article look at what’s new in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS) is there to bolster security. After all, no-one wants icky apps … [Read more...]

Does it seem like I’m a bit obsessed with Tiling Shell, the super-charged window snapping extension for GNOME Shell, which works beautifully on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and above? It might do since this is my 3rd article about the extension in less than a fortnight! But the updates and new features are coming thick and fast; I can’t not cover … [Read more...]

A new version of FreeOffice has been released. FreeOffice 2024 is a free (as in beer) version based on SoftMaker Office 2024, a commercial, cross-platform office suite. Any users of SoftMaker Office reading this needn’t feel short-changed: the free version comes with fewer features. The 3 core components in FreeOffice (TextMaker, PlanMaker, … [Read more...]

System76’s COSMIC desktop environment (ecosystem?) is shaping up to be something truly out of this world, combining modern design with intuitive navigation, embracing customisation, and taking full advantage of the benefits that being built in Rust brings. But every project needs branding. Fluff to a few, but an important signpost to most. … [Read more...]

A new version of open-source video editorOpenShotis available to download. OpenShot 3.2 is the first update to the app since early last year, and the editor’s chief developer, Jonathan Thomas, describes this release as a “game-changer with new themes, improved features, and enhanced performance”. Among the change and new features … [Read more...]