LINUX FORMAT

The #1 open source mag Future Publishing Limited,

MEET THE TEAM

This issue, we’re introducing readers to Linux Mint 22 and its Cinnamon desktop; in the name of open source choice, what other desktop should people try and why?

Lightning strikes

Linux isn’t a magic bullet. It still has

CrowdStrike issues hit Microsoft and Linux

Microsoft wasn’t the only victim of faulty CrowdStrike updates. Weeks before the worldwide outage, Debian and RHEL were also hit.

Nvidia officially goes open source

The R560 driver marks Nvidia’s full transition to open source GPU kernel modules.

Google backs down on cookies

Chrome will allow users to make “informed choices”.

SUITE PRIVACY

Italo Vignoli is one of the founders of

EARLY ADOPTER

David Stokes is a technology evangelist at Percona.

Jellyfish devs say help others

Lead developer Joshua Boniface has asked users to support clients instead.

Switzerland is open source

New law requires all government apps to be open source.

Ext4 gets faster

The latest Linux 6.11 comes with performance optimisation for ext4.

Distro watch

What’s behind the free software sofa?

ATOMIC STEAM

Ludovico de Nittis is a software engineer at

FILTER TIPS

Jon Masters is a kernel hacker who’s been

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

HotPicks

THE BEST NEW OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ON THE PLANET

THE LINUX SMART HOME

We aim to keep the lights on the smarter way with Home Assistant, Zigbee and low-cost IKEA kit.

HighPoint Rocket 1608A

For when Shane Downing really needs 56GB/s of storage speed.

Q4OS 5.5

Nate Drake is on cue to explore the latest Q4OS and comes away amazed at its speed and simple setup.

Pardus 23.2

Nate Drake offers readers a chunk of Turkish Delight as he tours this Debian-based distro, coded with full government approval.

Nobara Project 40

Nate Drake delves into this modified Fedora distro. Is this the ultimate in Linux gaming or should you say “no Nobara”?

Mabox Linux 24.07

A spin of Manjaro, which is a spin of Arch, is leaving the normally centred Nate Drake in a right tizzy.

Men of War 2

Often found wondering what war is good for, Jake Tucker is reminded by The Management that it looks after his pay cheque and pension fund.

Remote desktops

Ever wish you had the desktop of another computer right in front of you? Michael Reed checks out five applications that can do this and more.

The verdict Remote desktops

We’ve ended up with five options that can

Fresh Mint 22!

Linux Mint is in season and Jonni Bidwell has been sniffing it voraciously. Join him on a fragrant voyage of discovery.

Mint is for its users

Discover why Linux Mint is your new favourite Linux flavour.

How to install Mint

Get Mint booted, explore the live environment, then get this herbaceous powerhouse installed forthwith.

Getting to know Mint

Explore the freshest of fresh installs and tweak it to perfection.

X marks the apps

Perfect your install and discover the new apps on the block.

Pi Foundation releases AI teaching guidance

Worry no more about how to teach about ethical generative AI – the Pi Foundation has you covered.

Fritzing 1.0.3

Les Pounder spends most of his work hours looking at circuit diagrams, then carries on doing the same thing after work.

Sovol SV08

Big, super-fast and open source, it looks as though Denise Bertacchi has found her perfect printer!

Simulate your Pi Pico projects with Wokwi

Claiming he’s saving resources, Les Pounder simulates an electronics project because he is too lazy to get up and build it for real.

PIPEWIRE

Matt Holder delves into the depths of our audio stack to learn about PipeWire and what came before it.

Try a tiny text editor

Shashank Sharma lives by the try-it-before-you-dismiss-it code. That’s how he finds new tools. It’s also how he discovered a fondness for kimchi.

Navigate your way around the filesystem

LINUX BASICS

Geek out with NixOS

Mats Tage Axelsson shows you how easy it is to use NixOS and the challenges of installing new applications. All 100,000 packages.

Expand your storage with high-speed SSDs

RAID

Upgrade it: Solid-state drives

RAID

Take local control of multiple AI models

OLL AMA

Record your games on the Steam Deck

STEAM DECK

Get to grips with crontabs on Linux

Ever the busy boy, Stuart Burns needs things to run on time, so he’s here to show you how to set up schedules.

AngelVPN

Always a good boy, Sam Dawson thinks he’s rather smitten with this devilishly good service.

PureDome VPN

A VPN service that’s aimed at business types like Mike Williams, who prefers to do his private business in private.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SYMBIAN?

The Symbian operating system had a lot going for it, and even dabbled with open source, so why did it fail? Mike Bedford investigates.

Code your own Wordle-like game

PYTHON

How to build a 6502 assembler

6502