LINUX FORMAT

The #1 open source mag Future Publishing Limited,

MEET THE TEAM

This issue we’re looking at more open AI and machine-learning concepts, so what’s the most interesting thing you’ve found yourself using AI for?

Inside AI

Of all the questions surrounding AI, we do

Is Valve starting an OS war with Microsoft?

Valve branding hints at SteamOS expansion, while Microsoft’s TPM requirements frustrate users. Could this spark a shift towards Linux?

ChromeOS upgrades

Rumours of Google’s plans to merge ChromeOS into Android mean Apple’s tablet dominance could be challenged. But what about existing Chromebooks?

Intel announces Arc B series

Battlemage is accompanied by open source drivers.

MAKE A DATE!

Italo Vignoli is one of the founders

Linus hates CPU feature levels

Linux creator slams “completely broken” x86_64 feature levels.

Paid software on Flathub?

Gnome seeks a program manager to set up payments.

Mozilla pixel brand refresh

Non-profit hopes to “reclaim the internet” with a new logo.

Distro watch

What’s behind the free software sofa?

MEDIA UPDATE

Mark Filion is a senior marketing manager

ELECTRIC THEMES

Jon Masters is a kernel hacker who’s

Kernel Watch

Jon Masters summarises the latest happenings in the Linux kernel, so that you don’t have to.

Answers

Got a burning question about open source or the kernel? Whatever your level, email it to answers@linuxformat.com

Mailserver

WRITE TO US Do you have a burning

YOUR DIGITAL ISSUE ACCESS

Linux Format print subscribers can now access digital back issues two ways! * Who’s a lucky bunch of readers?!

HotPicks

Sweet Home 3D Duplicati VeraCrypt ImageMagick WhatSie Topgrade-rs Ark KTuberling PortProton MuseScore LosslessCut

FIREWALL YOUR HOME!

CREDIT: Magictorch LXF325 will be on sale Tuesday

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

AMD forges the unquestioned gaming champ, Paul Alcorn finds.

GhostBSD 24.10.1

Nate Drake determines whether this is the Casper of the BSD world or whether your system will be haunted by bugs.

Tucana Linux 3.1

Nate Drake is left scratching his head over this latest distribution for building your own OS (almost) from scratch.

Br OS 24.10

Nate Drake delves into this colourful Latin American distro, which couples KDE Plasma 6 with its very own dock.

BackBox 9

After two years, Nate Drake finally gets to review this Ubuntu-based pentesting distro. Can it contend with greats like Kali?

Roundup

ChatGPT Claude HuggingChat Microsoft Copilot Google Gemini

The verdict

AI chatbots

GET INSIDE OPEN AI!

Long-suspected chatbot Jonni Bidwell invokes all his neural networks to harness the power of open source AI.

Multiple Pi 5 releases in time for 2025

It seems there are Pis flying at us faster than we can dodge them all!

Emteria OS

Les Pounder has installed Android on countless Raspberry Pis (and even an O2 Joggler) but Emteria has to be the easiest way ever.

Pi Pico 2 W

Feeling rather full after Christmas, it seems Les Pounder can still manage another wafer-thin Pi.

Raspberry Pi 500

The keyboard is the computer again! Les Pounder takes the updated homage to retro home computers for a spin.

Capture images and video with Picamzero

CAMERA

BUILD A STEAM DECK

John Knight tries one of several SteamOS imitations and is overwhelmed by the future possibilities for Linux PC gaming.

Hide vital information

Shashank Sharma is a man of many hidden talents. Too bad he’s forgotten the passphrase to unlock them all.

Take back control of your desktop email

Nick Peers takes a fresh look at the venerable email app Thunderbird as it celebrates its twentieth birthday in style, by sending it an ecard.

Boost and bolster your Firefox browsing

Firefox is a powerful web browser, but it lags behind on some of the latest features. Michael Reed explores how to add them.

Edit OpenStreetMap like a pro contributor!

JOSM

The rise and fall of pen plotters

RETRO DEVICES

Enhance your keyboard with full RGB lighting!

OPENRGB

Top New Year’s sysadmin resolutions

Rather than try any silly new diet fads, this year Stuart Burns has decided to learn some new classic terminal tricks.

INTEL’S LAKES, COVES & SKIES

Strapping on his hiking boots, Jarred Walton walks us through Intel’s new outdoor-inspired architectures.

CODING ACADEMY Space Invaders

Nate Drake invites you to stave off the alien menace by coding your very own Space Invaders clone in classic BBC Basic.

Code an in-app search engine with Xapian

David Bolton shows how to add a search engine to your Python applications using the Xapian open source code library.