Ars Technica covers a recent update that is causing problems for users with systems that dual-boot Windows and Linux.

"Note that Windows says this update won't apply to systems that dual-boot Windows and Linux," one frustrated person wrote. "This obviously isn't true, and likely depends on your system configuration and the distribution being run. It appears to have made some linux efi shim bootloaders incompatible with microcrap efi bootloaders (that's why shifting from MS efi to 'other OS' in efi setup works). It appears that Mint has a shim version that MS SBAT doesn't recognize."

The reports indicate that multiple distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, and Puppy Linux, are all affected. Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the error publicly, explain how it wasn't detected during testing, or provide technical guidance to those affected. Company representatives didn't respond to an email seeking answers.

Gentoo developer Michał Górny has written a lengthy blog post that explains how Gentoo approaches releases:

Gentoo is something of a hybrid, as it combines the best of both worlds. It is a rolling release distribution with a single shared repository that is available to all users. However, within this repository we use a keywording system to provide a choice between stable and testing packages, to facilitate both production and development systems (with some extra flexibility), and versioned profiles to tackle major lock-step upgrades.

Linux installers receive a disproportionate amount of attention compared to the amount of time that most users spend with them. Ideally, a user spends only a few minutes using the installer, versus years using the distribution after it is installed. Yet, the installer sets the first impression, and if it fails to do its job, little else matters. Installers also have to continually evolve to keep pace with new hardware, changes in distribution packaging (such as image-based Linux distributions), and so forth. Along those lines, the SUSE team that maintains the venerable YaST installer has decided it's time to start (almost) fresh with a new Linux installer project, called Agama, for new projects. YaST is not going away as an administration tool, but it is likely to be relieved of installer duties at some point.

Version 0.3.0 of the uv Python package and project manager has been released. Introduced in February, uv is written in Rust and aims to be "Cargo for Python". Notable changes in this release include the addition of interfaces for managing projects, installing Python, and running scripts, along with adding new documentation. See the accompanying blog post for more information.

The FreeBSD Project is, for the second time this year, engaging in a long-running discussion about the possibility of including Rust in its base system. The sequel to the first discussion included some work by Alan Somers to show what it might look like to use Rust code in the base tree. Support for Rust code does not appear much closer to being included in FreeBSD's base system, but the conversation has been enlightening.

The Gentoo Linux project has announced that it is dropping support for Itanium:

Following the removal of IA-64 (Itanium) support in the Linux kernel and glibc, and subsequent discussions on our mailing list, as well as a vote by the Gentoo Council, Gentoo will discontinue all ia64 profiles and keywords. The primary reason for this decision is the inability of the Gentoo IA-64 team to support this architecture without kernel support, glibc support, and a functional development box (or even a well-established emulator). In addition, there have been only very few users interested in this type of hardware.

Markdown editors are a dime a dozen. Cheaper than that, actually, since many of them are open‑source software. Despite the sheer number of options, finding an editor that has all of the features that one might want can be tricky. For some users, Zettlr might be the right tool. It is a What You See is What You Mean (WYSIWYM) editor that stores its work locally as plain Markdown files. The project is billed as a "one-stop publication workbench", and is suitable for writing anything from blog posts to academic papers, maintaining a personal journal, or keeping notes in a Zettlekasten. It is simple to get started with, but rewards deeper exploration and customization.

Linux hardware vendor System76 started promoting its work on a Rust-based, Wayland desktop environment for its Pop!_OS Ubuntu-derivative distribution almost two years ago. On August 8, the company released an alpha version of the COSMIC desktop environment for users to test out. While it has rough edges and missing features, it is stable enough to get a good feel for what the finished product has in store—and the initial results are promising.

Version 4.0 of the Magit text-based Git user interface for Emacs has been released. Changes since the 3.3.0 release include the addition of context menus, a makeover for the menu-bar menu, new menu commands, and many other new features and bug fixes. See the release notes for full details.

The Business Source License (BUSL) is a source-available license that "converts" to an open-source license after a period of time. In theory, this means that a few years after a version of a product is released under the BUSL, it becomes open source and is fair game for Linux distributions to package along with regular open-source projects. In practice, the license throws a few curveballs that require special consideration and caution, as the Fedora Project recently discussed.

The 6.10.3, 6.6.44, and 6.1.103 stable kernel updates have all been released. As usual, they contain important fixes throughout the tree. Users of those kernels should upgrade.

The Sovereign Tech Fund (STF) has announced a fellowship program to support "the dedicated individuals who keep our digital infrastructure running":

Over the past two years, STF has successfully contracted over 40 FOSS projects, enhancing their technical sustainability through targeted milestones. However, the activities of maintainers, who often work on multiple FOSS projects, are hard to quantify for funding applications, as the demands and challenges vary and can change quickly. This is where the fellowship for maintainers comes into play.

According to the fellowship page the STF plans to fund five fellowships, beginning in the fourth quarter of this year, for a period of 12 months.

We have received the sad news that Dr. Mel Chua has passed away. Mel was probably best known in the free-software community as a contributor to the Fedora Project in its early days. The Fedora Community blog honored Mel recently after she had moved to hospice care with tributes from several Fedorans. Stephen Jacobs wrote:

I can't find the words to express how much of a positive impact Mel has had on my work, our shared work, my family, the experiences of my students, and the world of FOSS writ large. Nor can I find the words to convey just how much I will miss her.

Mel will be greatly missed.

A few years ago, PyGObject—the Python package that provides bindings for GTK and GNOME applications—was not faring particularly well. Several maintainers had left the project and its development was not keeping pace with changes in GTK. At this year's GUADEC, Dan Yeaw presented a talk about the project's decline, improvements in the last year, and his experience getting involved in an undermaintained project.

Version 8.0 of the Forgejo software-development platform has been released. Notable changes include the removal of non-free software found in the codebase, improved stability, and a reduction in "seemingly random User Interface changes":

A gentle way of describing Forgejo User eXperience is that it is an acquired taste: it grew over the years, driven by the inspiration of the person with the keyboard in their hand. Once implemented it almost never changed. A user who started with Forgejo in 2022 can only see minor changes in 2024 and not all of them make intuitive sense. The solution to this problem is simple and was identified early on: User Research. But only in the making of Forgejo v8.0 did it get some momentum.

See the release notes for a full list of changes.