Highlights of Linux 6.15 include Rust support for hrtimer and ARMv7, a new setcpuid= boot parameter for x86 CPUs, support for sched_ext to count and report internal events, x86 Intel and AMD PMU enhancements, nested virtualization support for VGICv3 on ARM, and support for emulating FEAT_PMUv3 on Apple Silicon.
Also new in Linux kernel 6.15 is a new API to receive information about mount and unmount events of filesystems, support for hardware-wrapped encryption keys in the block layer, support for 48-bit block addressing in the EROFS file system, and a new security hook for the io_uring subsystem giving security modules more control over what’s allowed.
The FUSE file system can now handle file names longer than 1,024 characters, the perf subsystem can now perform latency profiling using scheduler information, the BPF subsystem gained improved verification of programs with loops, and the OverlayFS file system received a new override_creds mount option that changes the credentials used for accessing the lower layers.
On top of that, Linux kernel 6.15 also brings support for new extensions for the RISC-V architecture, including the BFloat16 floating-point extension, the Zaamo and Zalrsc extensions, and the ZBKB extension, support for zoned devices for the XFS file system, and support for zero-copy reception of network data for the io_uring subsystem.
Some new networking features are available as well in Linux 6.15, including a new TCP socket option (TCP_RTO_MAX_MS) that can be used to set the maximum time between retransmit attempts on IPv4 and a new set of BPF callbacks to fetch timestamps from various places in the networking stack.
Hardware support has been enhanced as expected through new and updated drivers, which bring support for Apple Touch Bar, Google Pixel Pro 6 smartphone, MYIR Remi Pi development board, Huawei Matebook E Go embedded controller, Milk-V Jupiter RISC-V board, and HP laptops using CS35L41 HDA audio chips.
Linux 6.15 also updates the ACPI fan driver to handle fans with fine-grained state checking supported, but without fine-grained control, as well as the ACPI button driver to subscribe to system event notifications in addition to device notifications, which on some systems is required for waking up the system from sleep.
Among other noteworthy changes, Linux 6.15 removes support for 32-bit (x86) systems with more than eight CPUs and/or more than 4GB of RAM, and the Landlock security module received a new auditing mechanism designed to make it easier to understand access denials.
There’s also a new fwctl subsystem that allows user space to securely construct and execute RPCs inside device firmware, and the kernel gained a new hardening feature that allows it to seal several memory mappings against changes, but it’s disabled by default as it may break some applications.
You can download Linux kernel 6.15 right now from Linus Torvalds’ git tree or the kernel.org website if you fancy compiling it on your GNU/Linux distribution. However, I recommend waiting for the new Linux release to arrive in your distro’s stable software repositories before updating your kernel.
Now that Linux kernel 6.15 is out the door, the merge window opens for the next major kernel branch, Linux 6.16, which is expected at the end of July or early August 2025. Until then, a first Release Candidate (RC) development version will be available for public testing in two weeks, on June 8th.
A new version of the KDE Plasma desktop environment is out and, as you’d expect, the update is packed with new features, UI tweaks, and performance boosts.
KDE Plasma 6.3 is the fourth major update in the KDE Plasma 6.x series and it also marks the one-year anniversary of the KDE Plasma 6.0 debut – something KDE notes in its announcement:
One year on, with the teething problems a major new release inevitably brings firmly behind us, Plasma’s developers have worked on fine-tuning, squashing bugs and adding features to Plasma 6 — turning it into the best desktop environment for everyone!”KDE
How time flies!
Read on for a breezy overview of the key changes in the latest update!
KDE Plasma 6.3: What’s New?
Fractional Scaling Overhaul
KWin zoom will reveal the new pixel-perfect grid alignment
Anyone KDE Plasma on a high-resolution display and making use of fractional scaling may find themselves noticing how much sharper UI elements look in this release compared to earlier ones – pin sharp Plasma desktop, ahoy!
KDE says it ‘overhauled’ how fractional scaling works in this release, with KWin making “a stronger effort to snap things to the screen’s pixel grid, greatly reducing blurriness and visual gaps everywhere and producing sharper and crisper images.”
And anyone eager to see just how tight the pixel-perfect alignment get can make use of the Zoom effect in Kwin, which now shows overlays grid on top of the screen at (very) high zoom levels.
Sticking with displays, screen colours are said to be more accurate when Night Light is active, whether using ICC profiles or not. Plus, KWin now offers the option to choose screen colour accuracy (albeit in some cases at the cost of increased resource usage).
Customisation
Want to clone a panel? It’s now click-button easy
KDE Plasma 6.3 buffs its customisation potential by making it easier to clone panels in Edit mode (just click the ‘Clone panel’ button), and support scripting to adjust panel opacity levels and which screen in a multi-monitor setup a panel appears on.
Widget Explorer makes it easy to remove a widget, even if it’s not visible on screen/located on a display since unplugged, whilst widgets themselves are said to have a (slightly) translucent look to them.
Symbolic icons were added to the category sidebar in the Kickoff menu a few releases ago but those who aren’t a fan will be pleased to hear it’s now possible to change category icons to something else via the Menu Editor app.
Launcher category icons can be changed using Menu Editor
Finally, no release of KDE Plasma is complete without a distinctive desktop background. I dare say some of those reading this post would be able to identify KDE Plasma releases based solely by the wallpaper each shipped with.
After several releases sporting digital illustrations, KDE Plasma 6.3 sees a return of KDE’s iconic abstract-y geometric background designs – a fine return to form!
Creativity
Tweaks to graphics tablet tuning are on offer in Plasma 6.3
An array of digital art-focused features were carried in KDE Plasma 6.2 last October, and this area benefits from further refinement here in KDE Plasma 6.3 with new options to customise, fine-tune, and adjust graphics tablet behaviour.
The Drawing Tablet page in System Settings is reworked and reorganised, with tabs splitting out settings into logical groupings and new configuration options added, including:
Map the tablet canvas to the entire screen
Tablet calibration is now more accurate
Stylus testing feature shows detail on tilt and pressure
Adjust stylus pressure curve and range
Re-map/swap stylus’ button functions
After adjusting graphics tablet settings it may be desirable to know what was changed, so the System Settings app’s nifty ‘Highlight changed settings’ toggle now works on the Drawing Tablet page too.
In all, another solid set of updates for KDE creatives to take advantage of.
CPU Monitoring
A big complaint with most GUI system monitor tools (not just KDE’s) is how they tend to use a lot of resources whilst monitoring resources – a bit catch 22, to a degree.
Perhaps aware of that, KDE devs saw scope for improvement in KDE Plasma’s native System Monitor app, with CPU monitoring said to be more accurate than before and using ‘vastly fewer CPU resources’ whilst doing its job.
Welcome, for sure.
Discover
As the default software/app management tool in KDE Plasma, Discover sees some appreciable implements in this update, including several that help flesh out its support for Flatpak.
Discover now highlights pending permissions changes in sandboxed app updates, supports the flatpak:// URL scheme, and makes it clear when if a Flatpak app is ‘verified’ through a trusted sources, such as Flathub.
Snap also sees some buffs, including better refresh support (‘refresh’ is the Snap term for updating) by allowing individual apps to be refreshed (rather than all). It also now sets a proper percentage and download speed during install, keeping users aware.
Informational Uptick
Info Center offers more details, including battery charge cycles
Plasma 6.3 introduces a new background service able to detect and report when the kernel terminates an app due to a lack of system monitor. A notification appears to say which app was affected and offers tips on how to avoid it happening again.
On the subject of notifications, if notifications arrive when Do Not Disturb mode is active Plasma will now only show the number of missed notifications when turning it offer, rather than sending an endless stream of them!
Elsewhere, the Info Center tool fleshes out its statistics to show more detail on system GPUs and relay detail on battery charge cycles (nixing the need to resort to other ways to find that info out).
Beyond
KRunner (and searches made using it, as it does more than simply return a list of matching apps) now supports Page Up and Page Down keys and ctrl + arrow keyboard shortcuts to hop between categories, which is handy.
Other notable changes and new features in KDE Plasma 6.3 include:
Option to auto-disable laptop touchpad when mouse connected
Bluetooth “Pair Device” is now always visible
Plasma can generate random passwords for network hotspots
Digital Clock widget displays all events on days with more than five
Show Target menu entry when right-clicking a symlink
SDL Game Controller API replaced with Joystick API
Disks & Devices applet can now eject non-mounted optical media
Windows below others no longer jump to the top when dragging a file out
Volume OSD only shows if using keyboard shortcuts or scrolling over applet
New Help category in launcher, and Settings category removed
Spectacle screenshot/screen recording tool is now included in KDE Plasma
Screen-recordings can be saved as animated WebP or GIF
Plasma Browser Integration support for Mozilla Firefox Flatpak
Kickoff now changes categories on click (switch-on-hover option available)
Naturally, there’s plenty more to Plasma 6.3 than the cherry-picked highlights above. There are countless bug fixes, accessibility improvements, smaller tweaks, requisite package, framework, library, and tooling uplifts and more.
Refer to the raw changelog should you wish to pore over a list of every fix, tweak, and commit made between KDE Plasma 6.2.5 point release and this new KDE Plasma 6.3.0 stable release.
Get KDE Plasma 6.3
KDE Plasma 6.3 is rolling out to KDE neon (stable edition) users from today, rolling-release Linux distributions should be pushing the update out in the near future.
Users of fixed-release distros (like Ubuntu) won’t receive this update automatically but it may become available by way of third-party repos/PPAs in due course.
Plasma 6 hits its stride with version 6.1. While Plasma 6.0 was all about getting the migration to the underlying Qt 6 frameworks correct (and what a massive job that was), 6.1 is where developers start implementing the features that will take your desktop to a new level.
In this release, you will find features that go far beyond subtle changes to themes and tweaks to animations (although there is plenty of those too), as you delve into interacting with desktops on remote machines, become more productive with usability and accessibility enhancements galore, and discover customizations that will even affect the hardware of your computer.
These features and more are being built directly into Plasma’s Wayland version natively, avoiding the need for third party software and hacky extensions required by similar solutions implemented in X.
Things will only get more interesting from here. But meanwhile enjoy what will land on your desktop with your next update.
After 6 frenzied months of development the final stable Ubuntu 24.04 LTS release has arrived and is available for download.
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (codenamed ‘Noble Numbat’) includes a rich array of new features ranging from an enhanced desktop installer and a the latest GNOME desktop to gaming improvements and a new Linux kernel.
As a long-term support release Ubuntu 24.04 LTS gets 5 years of select apps updates, security fixes, kernel upgrades, and other buffs, and a further 5 years of extended security coverage via Ubuntu Pro.
De KDE gemeenschap presenteert met trots Plasma 6, Frameworks 6 en Gear 24.02
Uitgegeven woensdag, 28 februari 2024
Plasma 6
KDE Plasma is een moderne, rijk aan functies bureaubladomgeving voor op Linux gebaseerde besturingssystemen. Bekend om zijn slanke ontwerp, aanpasbaar interface en uitgebreide set toepassingen, het is ook open-source, verstoken van advertenties en maakt bescherming van uw privacy en persoonlijke gegevens een prioriteit.
Installeer Plasma op uw huidige laptop en geniet van alle voordelen van de nieuwste van het nieuwste computer ervaring, zelfs als uw hardware niet wordt ondersteund door Windows 11. U kunt ook kiezen voor enige erg elegante machines, voorgeïnstalleerd met Plasma zoals de Steam Deck en vele laptops en ultrabooks.
Twee Leaps (sprongen) in de toekomst
Met Plasma 6 heeft onze technologie stapel twee belangrijke opwaarderingen ondergaan: een transitie naar de laatste versie van ons framework, Qt, voor toepassingen en een migratie naar het moderne Linux grafische platform, Wayland. We hebben ons best gedaan om te verzekeren dat deze wijzigingen zo gladjes en onopgemerkt zijn voor de gebruikers als mogelijk, dus wanneer u deze opwaardering installeert, u dezelfde familiaire bureaubladomgeving zult zien die u kent en waar u van houdt. Maar deze onder-de-motorkap opwaardering profiteer van de beveiliging, efficiency en prestaties van Plasma, ondersteuning voor moderne hardware. Dus Plasma levert een over het geheel een betrouwbaarder gebruikerservaring, terwijl het pad geplaveid worden voor veel meer verbeteringen in de toekomst.
We zullen doorgaan met het leveren van ondersteuning voor de erfenis van X11 sessies voor gebruikers die de voorkeur geven daar te blijven.
Je moet ingelogd zijn om een reactie te plaatsen.