MEET THE TEAM

We’re trying out the new features of Ubuntu 25.04. If you could have any feature implemented on Ubuntu, what would your dream be?

Spring ahead

It’s that time of year when the flowers

AI operations are hurting open source projects

AI crawlers are overwhelming open source platforms, escalating costs, and forcing drastic measures like country-wide blocks.

Blender wins the Oscars

Blender 4.4 debuts, with a focus on stability, better codec support and Oscar-winning acclaim.

PWA support for Firefox?

Taskbar Tabs arrive as an experimental feature.

UNIQUELY LINGUISTIC

Italo Vignoli is one of the founders of

EMBEDDED IN NICE

Mark Filion is senior marketing manager at Collabora.

Linus hates “turd” code

Linus Torvalds slams messy “turd” files and demands cleaner Linux builds.

The Nope Deck

HP dismisses handheld plans after an interview with its gaming SVP.

Open source funding fight

The OTF is suing the USAGM for jeopardising open source projects.

Distro watch

What’s behind the free software sofa?

VALKEY TURNS ONE

Lori Lorusso is head of community at Percona.

MAN VS MACHINE

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

Thunderbird

Version: 136 Web: www.thunderbird.net Thunderbird is Mozilla’s

Clapper Media Player

Besides offline media, Clapper can also stream online

Bottles

Version: 51.20 Web: https://usebottles.com B ottles offers

Exercise Timer

Version: 1.8.1 Web: https://github.com/mfep/exercise-timer E xercise Timer

KPhotoAlbum

Version: 6.0.1 Web: www.kphotoalbum.org B illed as

ProtonVPN

Version: 4.9.4 Web: https://protonvpn.com P rotonVPN is

Fastfetch

Version: 2.38.0 Web: https://github.com/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch F astfetch is

Blinken

Version: 24.12.3 Web: https://apps.kde.org/blinken/ B linken is

KsirK

Version: 24.12.3 Web: A nother digital version of

Refine

Version: 0.5.2 Web: https://tesk.page/refine/ R efine is

Qpdf Tools

Version: 3.1.2 Web: https://github.com/silash35/qpdftools Qpdf Tools

25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

It feels a lot longer than that… Send us on our merry way with a celebration of all things open source.

Ryzen 9 9950X3D

Paul Alcorn loves the new 16-core monster from AMD!

Debian 12.10

Nate Drake explores the latest stable point release for Bookworm. Does the OS still live up to its reputation for stability?

Garuda Linux 250308

Nate Drake dives into this Arch-based distro, named after a divine bird. Is it a soaring eagle or just a lame duck?

Ubuntu 25.04

Huffing and puffing, Nate Drake takes a look at the interim 25.04 release and wonders how things could get much better.

Two Point Museum

Management is thrilled to hear it can get money for old content it has lying around. Mollie Taylor thinks that is too late even for LXF.

Secure browsers

Always the cautious type, Michael Reed goes on the hunt for a browser that offers enhanced security without compromising on fun and features.

Installation and setup

The first stage is obtaining a copy of the software and installing it.

Settings and customisation

The first port of call: making sure the software works how you want.

User interface

Nice environments are productive.

Extensions

Add features and make things work the way you want them to.

Security and privacy

Keeping yourself anonymous and safe online.

Tracking and fingerprinting

Make sure only entities you approve of can see what you’re doing.

As a daily driver

How well does it work as a normal browser for day-to-day use?

The verdict Secure browsers

W e’ve made Brave our top pick as

UBUNTU BLASTS OFF

The new 25.04 version of Ubuntu is here, and it’s geared towards dual-boot setups. Nick Peers explains how to run it alongside Windows.

Get the install media

Find out more about Ubuntu, plus discover how to create your bootable Ubuntu install disk to help blast you off!

Super quick-start guide

You don’t even need to install Ubuntu to try its delights!

Preparing Windows PCs

Before diving in and installing Ubuntu alongside Windows, take the time to make sure your PC is ready to accommodate a dual-boot system.

Dual boot with Windows

Your system is backed up, prepped and ready to go. Let’s get Ubuntu installed alongside Windows.

Take the desktop tour

Familiarise yourself with Ubuntu 25.04 and discover how to regain control over the boot menu.

Custom OS build system debuts

One size does not fit all, especially for embedded systems in industrial situations.

Twister OS 3.0.2

Les Pounder hasn’t seen Twister, or the sequel, Twisters, but he has played Half-Life, live on air using a Raspberry Pi and Twister OS.

Modulo 5 Basic

Is it a Pi? Is it a Pine? No, it’s Les Pounder waving the latest Pineboards expansion around. Stop it Les, put it down!

Frost-free fruit with a Pi Pico

Les Pounder grows strawberries in his garden, but now he has planted a Raspberry Pi Pico, hoping for a fresh crop of raspberries.

Inside the DNA of AMD

A new generation of AMD GPUs is here. Amateur genealogist Jarred Walton picks apart the family heritage of RDNA 4.

Eddy encryption tool

Keeping files safe from prying eyes doesn’t need to be a Herculean trial. Shashank Sharma knows of a utility that makes it a breeze.

Write and publish your own music scores

Nick Peers shows you how to use the latest version of MuseScore to transform your musical ideas into full-blown compositions.

Generate ODF slides and spreadsheets

Marco Fioretti explains how to create the same office files you can make with LibreOffice – but without LibreOffice.

Create custom health tracking graphs

Everyone loves making custom graphs from their weird health glitches – Michael Reed explains how he does it!

The hardware that made Linux great

After the 8-bit computing boom of the ’80s, enthusiasts moved to more capable 16-bit systems, able to run Linux. Mike Bedford investigates.

Upgrade it: Get more from your mouse

Look after your digits and treat them with a hand-picked mouse selected by Saeed Wazir and Neil Mohr.

Logitech MX Master 3S

Best wireless mouse for most.

Logitech Lift

Best wireless ergonomic mouse

Lenovo Go Wireless Vertical Mouse

Best budget vertical mouse.

Razer Pro Click Mini

Best premium productivity mouse.

Microsoft Modern Mobile Mouse

The best small mouse.

Microsoft Arc Mouse

Best travel-sized ergonomic mouse.

Logitech Ergo M575 Mouse

The best trackball mouse option around.

SteelSeries Rival 3

The best budget gaming mouse.

NOT-SO-FREE PUBLIC WI-FI

Nate Drake is a technology journalist specialising in

Ubuntu suffers namespace breach

Unprivileged escalation with user namespaces now patched.

Kernel update enhances IPv6 and key security

The key security and networking improvements are vital for sysadmins.

GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) Wi-Fi 6 Travel Router

Our resident nomad Nate Drake hooks up one of GL.iNet’s tinier offerings to stay connected in uncharted territory.

Evil twins & honeypots

Nate Drake demonstrates how easy it is to set up rogue wireless networks to trick users into connecting. Penetration testers beware!

Create a web-based reward system

Matt Holder wonders how difficult it would be to replace a card-andstamp-based reward system with something a little more modern.

Create a Simple DirectMedia Layer app

David Bolton shows how to set up SDL2 with Rust and demonstrates it with a fun 400-line program to pick a person at random.