Zack's Kernel News
Community Notebook: Kernel News
Chronicler Zack Brown reports on the latest news, views, dilemmas, and developments within the Linux kernel community.
Premium Real-Time Mode Support
Vernon Mauery submitted his IBM Real-Time “SMI Free” mode driver for inclusion in the official kernel. The driver would provide a SysFS interface to switch the entire system into and out of IBM Premium Real-Time Mode (PRTM) on x86 hardware that supports it. This functionality would allow user code to disable System Management Interrupts (SMIs), thus allowing the code to decouple itself from the operating system’s normal security and resource allocation controls and interact directly with the hardware in otherwise impossible ways. This feature can do lots of fun things. It can provide an environment for real-time applications to run without fear of being interrupted; it can allow debuggers to do neat stuff; and it can allow really spectacular security breaches on the system.
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News
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System76 is Skipping Pop!_OS 22.10
In a move that is sure to raise some eyebrows, System76 has chosen to concentrate on COSMIC Desktop instead of staying in step with Ubuntu releases.
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System76 Refreshes its Thelio Desktop Computer
System76 has given their already stellar Thelio desktop computer a redesign by way of the chassis accent panel.
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Ubuntu Software Store Rumored to Replace Gnome Software
An alternative to GNOME Software has been written, using Flutter, and it’s making enough noise that Canonical is rumored to be considering using it as the default.
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A New Arch-Based Linux Distribution Has Arrived
Crystal Linux is a new distribution with the goal of bringing the power of Arch Linux to the masses.
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Fedora 37 Beta Available
The Fedora development team announced the beta for version 37 of the open-source operating system would be released on time on September 13, 2022.
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Salix 15.0 Offers Updates and a Modernized Look
Salix is a Slackware-based Linux distribution with a new look and a goal of being fast, user-friendly, and highly stable.
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Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS Release Now Available
The latest point release of the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS distribution is now available and sports kernel 5.15.
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MX Linux 21.2 Offers Improvements and Bug Fixes
MX Linux 21.2, aka “Wildflower,” is now officially available and is the second refresh of the MX-21 release.
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Gnome Project Releases New Telemetry Data Collection Tool
The GNOME developers have announced the release of a new tool to collect anonymous information about your system.
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Kubuntu Focus Announces New Desktop Model
The Kubuntu Focus team has announced their newest system would be a small form factor desktop optimized for Kubuntu 22.04.