Version 2026.08 of the Buildroot embedded Linux system builder has been released. Buildroot 2026.08 includes nearly 1,000 changes from 100 contributors; some of the notable changes include support for Linux 7.1.x, Binutils 2.46.1, GCC 16.2.0, glibc 2.44, as well as adding the M68K and IBM Power 10/11 architectures.

The Asahi Linux project has announced that support for Apple's M3-series chips has been added to the Asahi installer.

Linux support for M3 series SoCs and the machines powered by them is now in a state where almost everything supported on the M1 and M2 series machines just works. This includes the webcam, internal microphones, USB (up to the hardware limit of USB 3 10 Gb/s), hardware accelerated video decoding including support for AV1, WiFi, Bluetooth, and much more! The only major exceptions remain full DCP support and the GPU, which we will have more news on in the coming months. Do not expect performant or power-efficient 3D acceleration right now.

See the blog post for other current limitations of M3 support.

This didn't *feel* like a particularly busy rc2, but it clearly was. rc2 is usually the quietest time when people take a breather after the merge window and it takes a while to start finding bugs. But not this time - this is a "full fat" rc release. [...]

Nothing looks particularly odd, even if the rc2 timing is a bit unusual. It might be just random, but we'll obviously all blame it on AI, because whether that's really the cause or not, it's an easy thing to blame ;)

Version 2026.09, code-named "Hättiwaritätti", of the Debian-based Grml live Linux distribution for system administrators has been released. It is based on packages from the upcoming Debian 14 ("forky") release. Notable changes include an update to the Linux 7.1.8 kernel, support for booting from exfat-formatted USB devices, and an update to GNU Screen 5.0.1.

Version 4.0 of the Audacity audio editor has been released. Notable changes in this release include a rewritten interface using Qt, ability to save user-interface layouts as "Workspaces", improvements in working with audio clips, and a new .aup4 project format.

The release is not fully feature-compatible with the Audacity 3.x series; see the compatibility notes for a list of missing features.

• Front: Python JIT; rnull block driver; steal time; GNOME governance; 7.3 merge window; LUKS.
• Briefs: Kernel infrastructure; Debian AI; Dolphin 26.08; Firefox 155; Incus 7.4; OpenShot 4.0; Quotes; ...
• Announcements: Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.

When a laptop is asleep, its memory is not unreadable. The right tooling can attach to the computer's memory bus and read out its contents, and cold-boot attacks can theoretically read values from memory for a short time after the computer loses power. That is really an unavoidable fact about the hardware, but some users would still like to ensure that, even if this happens, their long-term encryption keys, such as the key for full-disk encryption, remain unreadable. In June 2026, Ingo Blechschmidt discovered that Linux kernel versions after 6.9 (released in May 2024) were not erasing disk-encryption keys when a laptop was put to sleep, even when configured to do so. He quickly identified a potential fix, which has been merged, but it was not a comprehensive solution.

Emmanuele Bassi kicked off a project to improve GNOME's technical governance with a presentation about his ideas (video) at GUADEC 2025. His nudging has led the project to, slowly, work on creating more formal structures for technical governance. It is adopting a teams structure and looking toward creating a steering committee, as well as bootstrapping a Request for Comments (RFC) process. If adopted, GNOME would require RFCs for design, user experience, architectural, and other changes that carry a major impact on the project.

Version 7.4 of the Incus container and virtual-machine management system has been released. Notable changes in this release include UEFI Secure Boot key management, "near-live" migration of containers between Incus instances, as well as burst I/O limits for disk and network devices.

Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced the 7.2.3, 7.1.13, 6.18.49, 6.12.108, 6.6.156, 6.1.187, 5.15.220, and 5.10.269 stable kernels. Each contains a number of important fixes throughout the tree. Users are advised to upgrade.

Note that 7.1.13 is the last of the 7.1 updates

In 2024 the Python 3.13 release added an experimental just-in-time (JIT) compiler to optimize the way that CPython executes Python code. Since then, work has proceeded on the JIT, albeit perhaps less formally than some might like. In June, Python's steering council (SC) put out an announcement that no new development on the JIT land (with the exception of bug and security fixes) in Python's main branch, until it accepts a Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) that would make the case for the JIT as a supported part of CPython. That has led to the creation of PEP 836 ("JIT Go Brrr: The Path to a Supported JIT Compiler for CPython"), which is currently under discussion. As it stands, it seems likely that work on JIT will continue, but when that will happen is less certain.

Version 155 of the Firefox web browser has been released. Notable changes include a count in the address bar of how many ad trackers Firefox has blocked, container reordering, and ensuring that mailto: links are only opened by explicit user actions. There is also a change of the domain used for "captive portals" (such as the ones used to sign into hotel WiFI): Firefox now uses "firefox-portal-detection.com" instead of "detectportal.firefox.com", which may require a change in network allow lists.

The release also includes a number of changes that may impact web developers, as well as a number of bug fixes and security fixes.