Best of Linux — March 2026

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bigboxSWE·6w
The programming habit I wish I started sooner
Reading open-source code is one of the most underrated ways to grow as a developer. Rather than rushing to contribute, spending time exploring codebases of tools you already use teaches scaling patterns, performance techniques, and real-world best practices that courses and books rarely cover. Practical advice includes cloning repos of projects you care about, exploring specific features that interest you, and even compiling projects from source to understand build systems. Recommended projects to explore include the Linux kernel, FFmpeg, GitLab, React, and open-source AI models like DeepSeek. The post also promotes PostHog as a developer analytics platform.
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omg! ubuntu!·6w
Ghostty 1.3 terminal brings big new features
Ghostty 1.3.0 has been released after 6 months of development, bringing over 2,800 commits from 180 contributors. Key new features include scrollback search (with a dedicated concurrent search thread), native scrollbar support on macOS and Linux, click-events for cursor positioning in shells like Fish, Zsh, Bash, and Nushell, and command completion notifications. Linux-specific additions include two-finger swipe to switch tabs, new CLI window options, and improved GNOME middle-click paste support. macOS gains drag-and-drop terminal split reordering and in-app updating for official binaries. An effort is also underway to get Ghostty into the official Ubuntu repositories.
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It's Foss·4w
Someone Forked Systemd to Strip Out Its Age Verification Support
A developer named Jeffrey Seathrún Sardina has forked systemd into 'Liberated systemd', removing the recently added birthDate field tied to age verification laws in California, Colorado, and Brazil. The fork strips out all related code including homectl options, man page entries, and tests. While the birthDate field in mainline systemd is optional, admin-only, and not acted upon by systemd itself, the developer views it as surveillance-enabling code. The fork is currently a one-person project with no releases and is already 37 commits behind upstream, making it unsuitable for production use. The author suggests such forks serve more as protest and conversation starters than serious long-term alternatives.
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Hacker News·5w
Wayland set the Linux Desktop back by 10 years
A critical retrospective on Wayland after 17 years of development, arguing it has been a misallocation of resources that set the Linux desktop back. Key criticisms include: security restrictions that break common workflows (screen recording, copy-paste), unproven performance gains, fragmented protocol implementations leaving basic features like drag-and-drop in beta, and premature forced adoption by KDE and Red Hat before the ecosystem is ready. The author contrasts Wayland's slow 40-50% adoption over 17 years with PipeWire's near-complete audio replacement in ~8 years. Predictions include projects reverting to X11 and a new display protocol eventually displacing both.
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Netflix TechBlog·8w
Mount Mayhem at Netflix: Scaling Containers on Modern CPUs
Netflix engineers diagnosed a severe container launch bottleneck when migrating from a virtual kubelet+Docker runtime to kubelet+containerd with per-container user namespaces. The new runtime uses kernel idmap mounts, generating O(n) mount operations per container layer, all competing for global VFS mount locks. On r5.metal instances (dual-socket, multi-NUMA), this caused 30-second health check timeouts and system lockups. Deep profiling with perf and Intel TMA revealed 95.5% of pipeline slots stalled on contested accesses, with NUMA remote memory latency and hyperthreading amplifying the contention. Benchmarks across instance types showed AMD's distributed chiplet cache architecture (m7a) scaled far better than Intel's centralized mesh (m7i), and disabling hyperthreading improved latency 20-30%. The software fix, contributed upstream to containerd, maps the common parent directory of all layers instead of each layer individually, reducing mount operations from O(n) to O(1) per container and eliminating the global lock as a bottleneck entirely.
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It's Foss·5w
Systemd’s New Feature Brings Age Verification Option to Linux
Systemd has merged a pull request adding an optional `birthDate` field to its userdb JSON user records, responding to age verification laws in California, Colorado, and Brazil. The field, stored in YYYY-MM-DD format, can only be set by administrators and is not mandatory. Lennart Poettering clarified that systemd itself does nothing with the data — it simply standardizes the field so other projects like xdg-desktop-portal can build age verification compliance on top of it. A request to repeal the change was rejected, with Poettering noting widespread misunderstanding of the intent.
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It's Foss·3w
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Requires More RAM Than Windows 11?
Canonical has raised the minimum RAM requirement for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 'Resolute Raccoon' desktop to 6 GB, up from 4 GB in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. While this appears higher than Windows 11's listed 4 GB minimum, the comparison is misleading — Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0, meaning most compatible hardware already ships with 8 GB RAM, and 4 GB performs poorly in practice. The 6 GB figure reflects real-world GNOME desktop usage more honestly. Users with 4 GB machines can still run Ubuntu 26.04 but may prefer lighter alternatives like Lubuntu (LXQt) or Xubuntu, or even minimal window managers like i3 or bspwm.
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Collections·5w
Age verification laws are putting Linux distros and Valve in a tough spot
Several US states are passing age verification laws that require operating systems and app stores to verify user ages, creating compliance challenges for Linux distributions and platforms like Valve's Steam. Linux distros lack the centralized account systems these laws assume, leading to varied responses: Ubuntu and Fedora are exploring privacy-conscious local solutions, System76 is lobbying for open-source exemptions in Colorado, while some distros like MidnightBSD have taken extreme steps like license changes. Valve is fighting a New York AG demand for expanded age verification and data collection, arguing payment processors already handle this and additional data collection creates privacy risks. The core tension is that these child safety laws are designed for large commercial platforms and impose centralized data collection mandates that fit poorly with open-source software architecture and privacy-focused platforms.
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Mental Outlaw·7w
Online Age Checks Are Going Too Far
California's AB 1043 and Colorado's SB26-051 would require operating system providers to implement age-bracket detection during setup, exposing user age data via a real-time API to installed apps. The laws apply retroactively to existing OS installations and carry fines up to $7,500 per affected child. While major OS vendors like Microsoft, Apple, and Google could absorb compliance costs, the Linux ecosystem faces unique challenges — especially hobbyist distros like Arch and Gentoo. Ubuntu has already raised questions about ambiguous scope (servers, VMs, adult users). The author argues this is a slippery slope toward full ID verification at the OS level, threatening online anonymity and the privacy advantages that drew users to Linux in the first place.
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The New Stack·7w
AerynOS is a Linux distribution geared toward performance and bulletproof updates
AerynOS is an independent Linux distribution (not based on any existing distro) focused on performance and atomic upgrades. It uses a next-generation package manager called Moss and a rapid build system called Boulder for YAML-based packaging. Installation is text-based with GParted for partitioning, and the distro supports GNOME, KDE Plasma, and COSMIC desktops. Atomic upgrades ensure that failed updates are abandoned rather than breaking the system. Still in early development and not recommended as a daily driver, AerynOS shows strong performance even in a VM environment. Apps are installed via Flatpak through the COSMIC Store.
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Electron·5w
Electron 41.0
Electron 41 is released with Chromium 146.0.7680.65, V8 14.6, and Node v24.14.0. Notable additions include ASAR Integrity digest support for macOS (tamper detection at app launch), improved Wayland support with drop shadows and extended resize boundaries for frameless windows, and MSIX auto-updater support. New APIs include WebSocket authentication via the login event, a reason property for dismissed Windows notifications, extended Windows notification actions (buttons, dropdowns, replies), and a disclaim option for TCC disclaiming on macOS. Breaking changes include PDFs now rendering within the same WebContents using OOPIFs instead of a separate guest WebContents, and updated cookie change cause values in the cookie 'changed' event. Electron 38.x.y has reached end-of-support.
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The Linux Cast·5w
This Isn't Fun Anymore
A long-time Linux user and content creator reflects on growing toxicity within the Linux community, coming from both veteran users and newcomers alike. The catalyst was a blog post by a new Linux user who publicly complained about someone kindly offering help on Mastodon, then wrote thousands of words criticizing the community for it. The core message is a call for mutual kindness: new users shouldn't take out frustrations on the community when Linux doesn't meet expectations, and veterans shouldn't be gatekeeping or condescending. The author admits the irony of ranting about someone else's rant, but expresses genuine concern that the two-way hostility is making community participation feel exhausting and not worth the effort.
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Collections·4w
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS beta is out now, with GNOME 50, Linux 7.0, and no more X11
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) is now in beta ahead of its April 23, 2026 stable release. Key changes include the removal of X11 sessions in favor of Wayland-only (with Xwayland compatibility), GNOME 50 with stable VRR support, and Linux kernel 7.0. New default apps include Resources (system monitor), Showtime (video player), Loop (Rust-based image viewer), and Tixis (GTK4 terminal). Rust is expanding into core utilities with sudo-rs and uutils included by default. The toolchain updates bring Python 3.14, GCC 15.2, and OpenJDK 25. GPU support covers NVIDIA 590 and AMD ROCm, now available in official repos. ARM64 joins x86 as a supported architecture. Beta images are available for testing.
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Fireship·5w
This new Linux distro is breaking the law, by design…
A new California law called the Digital Age Assurance Act (AB1043), passed in October 2025, requires all general-purpose operating systems including Linux to collect user age data and expose an API for age verification by January 2027. A project called Ageless Linux responds by providing a script for Debian-based distros that installs a non-functional age verification API, effectively declaring non-compliance with the law. The post frames the law as a Trojan horse for mass surveillance, benefiting big tech companies like Meta (which lobbied for it) and Apple/Microsoft, while harming small developers and eroding internet anonymity.
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It's Foss·4w
After 6 Years, One of Wayland’s Most Annoying Problems is Finally Getting Fixed
After six years, the xdg-session-management protocol has finally been merged into Wayland protocols. This new protocol enables desktop environments and applications to save and restore window states, positions, and sizes across restarts or crashes. The pull request was originally opened in February 2020 and merged in March 2026. Key benefits include automatic session restoration after crashes and persistent desktop layouts across reboots. KDE's KWin reportedly already implemented an early version, and the hope is that all major Linux desktop environments will adopt it, closing a long-standing gap compared to the older X11 display server.
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omg! ubuntu!·7w
Memerist is a new desktop meme generator for Linux
Memerist is a new free, open-source native Linux desktop app (GTK4/libadwaita) for creating image memes. It offers built-in and custom meme templates, text layers with font/size/color controls, basic image editing features like cropping, blend modes, opacity, and global filters, and exports to PNG. Available on Flathub, it fills a gap for a dedicated, offline meme generator on Linux, avoiding the accounts, watermarks, and AI drift of online alternatives.
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Phoronix·4w
GNOME Foundation Announces Fellowship Program
The GNOME Foundation has announced the creation of the GNOME Fellowship program, which will begin funding community contributors starting in May. Fellowships last 12 months and pay $70,000–$100,000 per year depending on experience and location, with options for full-time or half-time work. The program focuses on long-term sustainability of GNOME in areas such as build systems, CI/CD infrastructure, developer tooling, documentation, accessibility, and technical debt. Unlike traditional contracts, fellowships are trust-based with flexible scopes, allowing contributors to identify and solve problems as they arise. Applicants must already be experienced GNOME contributors with a proven track record.
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The Coding Gopher·4w
99% of Developers Don't Get Docker
A deep dive into how Docker actually works under the hood, covering the evolution from hardware virtualization (VMs with hypervisors) to OS-level containerization. Explains the Linux kernel primitives that make containers possible: namespaces (PID, net, mnt, UTS) for isolation and cgroups for resource limits. Covers the union file system and copy-on-write strategy that makes images lightweight and fast. Also walks through Dockerfile optimization via layer caching, data persistence with volumes, and briefly compares Docker Swarm vs Kubernetes for orchestration and Docker vs Podman architecturally.
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Electron·5w
Tech Talk: How Electron went Wayland-native, and what it means for your apps
Electron 38.2+ now defaults to Wayland on Linux, following Chromium's lead in August 2025. The post explains what this means for app developers: Wayland enforces stricter rules around window positioning, focus stealing, global shortcuts, and screen capture compared to X11. Some Electron APIs like win.setPosition() and screen.getCursorScreenPoint() are unsupported on Wayland, while others like win.setOpacity() become newly feasible. A major challenge was client-side decorations (CSD) — Wayland provides only a plain rectangle per window, requiring apps to draw their own title bars and frames. Electron 41 resolved this for all window configurations including frameless windows. Developers are encouraged to test their apps on Electron 41+ with both GNOME and KDE Plasma, and a new Wayland CI test job now helps catch regressions.
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omg! ubuntu!·5w
Ubuntu 26.04 Adds a New Boot Spinner Animation
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS introduces a new Plymouth boot spinner animation inspired by the release's Resolute Raccoon mascot, featuring a sunburst/tail design with 60 frames for a smoother animation. This replaces the spinner added in Ubuntu 25.10, which had itself replaced the Yaru theme's loading indicator after complaints about blurriness.
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Hacker News·5w
Ubuntu 26.04 Ends 46 Years of Silent sudo Passwords
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 'Resolute Raccoon' (due April 23, 2026) will display asterisks for each character typed at a sudo password prompt, ending over 46 years of silent password input. The change comes via sudo-rs, a Rust rewrite of the classic C sudo that Canonical adopted as default in Ubuntu 25.10. The upstream sudo-rs project enabled the pwfeedback option by default, and Canonical cherry-picked the patch into 26.04. Proponents argue the security trade-off is negligible since password length is already visible at graphical login screens, while critics call it a break from historical security practice. Users who prefer the classic silent prompt can restore it by adding 'Defaults !pwfeedback' to their sudoers file via visudo.
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omg! ubuntu!·5w
Opera GX is now available for Linux
Opera GX, the gaming-focused Chromium-based browser with 34 million monthly active users, is now available for Linux. It supports Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE-based distros via DEB and RPM installers. The Linux version includes Discord and Twitch integration, a gaming news hub, RAM and network limiters, a built-in VPN, AI chatbot sidebar, and content blocking tools. Notable omissions compared to other platforms include Live Wallpapers and customisable icon sets, and CPU throttling is not available. A Flatpak version is in active development. Weekly updates are planned.
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It's Foss·4w
Inside the Systemd Age Verification Debate: Developer Responds to Criticism
Dylan M. Taylor, the developer who added an optional birthDate field to systemd's user database to help Linux distributions optionally comply with US age verification laws, shares his side of the controversy in an interview. He clarifies the change is not actual age verification — no ID checks or third-party validation are involved — and defends it as a lightweight, self-attested honor system similar to date pickers from the early 2000s. He also reveals the severe personal toll: death threats, doxxing, harassment, and having his personal information posted publicly. Dylan reflects on the broader tension between FOSS principles and legal compliance, predicting a future split between corporate-backed and independent Linux distributions on such issues, while affirming his commitment to open source despite the backlash.
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Lobsters·5w
Unix philosophy is dead! Long live... something else?
A personal essay questioning the validity and practical applicability of the Unix philosophy in modern computing. The author argues that the Unix philosophy is a loosely defined myth with multiple conflicting interpretations, that real-world tools like cat and curl already violate its tenets, and that it was never designed for GUI-based or non-technical users. The piece broadens into a critique of how open-source software has become corporatized and lost its rebellious hacker spirit, how UI design has trended toward oversimplification that harms power users, and how developers wrongly seek universal solutions to inherently diverse problems. The author concludes with a personal set of pragmatic virtues encouraging nuanced thinking, variety, and challenging the status quo rather than blindly following any single philosophy.
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All Things Open·7w
Automate ls after cd on Linux with this Bash trick
A simple Bash customization that automatically runs `ls` after every `cd` command by overriding `cd` in `.bashrc` with a custom function. The function uses `builtin cd` to avoid recursion, supports a fallback to `$HOME`, and runs a colorized `ls -lh -F` listing. A bonus `extract` function is also covered, which auto-detects archive types (.tar.gz, .zip, .7z, etc.) and applies the correct extraction command automatically.
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