OMG! Ubuntu!

Vivaldi 8.0 released with ‘biggest design overhaul, ever’

Joey Sneddon — Thu, 21 May 2026 15:42:39 +0000

A bold new look arrives in Vivaldi 8.0, the latest update to the Chromium-based web browser. The browser’s main UI elements (the bits that make a browser looks like a browser, so tabs, toolbars, panels, and content) drop their boundaries to form a continuous look. Hence the named Unified. Similar to Zen Browser, the canvas for web content is now ‘framed’ with rounded corners, rather than web pages flowing fully from edge-to-edge. “Unified is not a visual refresh. It is a rethinking of how the Vivaldi interface works as a system” the company says in a press release (invoking a […]

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Ubuntu Core 26 cuts OTA update size, enables ARM64 Livepatch

Joey Sneddon — Wed, 20 May 2026 20:04:45 +0000

Canonical has released Ubuntu Core 26, a new long-term support (LTS) version of its immutable, snap-based OS. Among the changes Ubuntu Core 26 brings is smaller over-the-air updates, with download sizes reduced by up to 90% for most snaps thanks to a new snap-delta format. Updates to the Core base snaps specifically drop from 16 MB to 1.5 MB. Installation times are faster as the initramfs-based installer skips redundant reboots during provisioning. Core 26 also enables live kernel patching on ARM64 devices so that critical and high vulnerability kernel security fixes are applied without the need for a device reboot. […]

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Firefox 151: New Tab design changes, PDF merging + more

Joey Sneddon — Mon, 18 May 2026 23:43:48 +0000

The new tab page has a (ever-so-slightly) new look and a new name in Firefox 151, the newest version of Mozilla’s famous open-source web browser that begins roll out today, May 19, 2026. Now called Firefox Home, the new tab page has a “new look and feel”, to quote Mozilla. It’s not quite that dramatic, though the rounded search bar draws from the upcoming Nova redesign with its rounded pill shape (it is also no longer sticky on scroll): Stories stay put, but the ‘follow’ topic button is now an plus-sign icon left of the section header. You can continue […]

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Canonical share Ubuntu 26.04 concept build for CIX P1 devices

Joey Sneddon — Mon, 18 May 2026 02:17:00 +0000

New Ubuntu Concept image for CIX P1 lets you run Ubuntu on Armv9 single-board computers, including the Radxa Orion O6 and Orange Pi 6 Plus.

You're reading Canonical share Ubuntu 26.04 concept build for CIX P1 devices, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

Ubuntu 26.04 support added to VMware Workstation Pro

Joey Sneddon — Sun, 17 May 2026 11:25:00 +0000

VMware Workstation Pro 26H1 supports Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, letting you install Broadcom's free virtual machine software on the distro and run it in a VM.

You're reading Ubuntu 26.04 support added to VMware Workstation Pro, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS upgrade now open for Ubuntu 25.10 users

Joey Sneddon — Thu, 14 May 2026 22:53:05 +0000

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS upgrades from 25.10 are officially live – and with Ubuntu 25.10 support ending in July, you’ll want to move soon. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS released on 23 April with GNOME 50, Linux 7.0 and new default apps. Snap store and web searching features were added to the GNOME Shell Overview and you can now enable Ubuntu Pro in the Security Center. Other changes in the ‘Resolute Raccoon’ include a fresh set of folder icons, visual password feedback for sudo commands and fuss-free access to NVIDIA CUDA and AMD ROCm for developer, as both now live in the archives, […]

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BleachBit’s new TUI makes it perfect for headless servers

Joey Sneddon — Thu, 14 May 2026 21:52:17 +0000

Open-source cleaning tool BleachBit has gained a text-based user interface (TUI) as an optional alternative to its standard graphical frontend. Unlike BleachBit’s existing CLI, which is intended for non-interactive use in scripts, the TUI is fully interactive, you navigate the interface with your keyboard (there’s limited mouse support) to select, preview and clean out cruft. The BleachBit TUI caters to use cases the GUI doesn’t, be that headless Linux servers managed remotely or being available on lightweight desktop systems where adding the overheard of GTK dependencies isn’t wanted. Currently in alpha, the new TUI runs on the same backend as […]

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KDE gets €1.2m funding from the Sovereign Tech Fund

Joey Sneddon — Wed, 13 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

KDE has announced it’s getting a €1.28 million grant from the Sovereign Tech Fund (STF) to help improve the Plasma desktop, KDE Linux and the communication frameworks used by both. The German government-backed fund, which sees its work as “strategic investments in the digital infrastructure of our economy and society”, will disburse €1,285,200 ($1,512,680) to KDE across 2026 and 2027. Like all grants the fund provides, the money is earmarked for a specific set of pre-approved projects. KDE developers can’t redirect cash toward the latest feature request gathering upvotes on r/KDE. Work the money will fund includes improving the Plasma […]

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Malware found in Linux builds of Cemu (Wii U emulator)

Joey Sneddon — Tue, 12 May 2026 21:34:05 +0000

If you’ve downloaded the Cemu Wii U emulator for Linux from the project’s official GitHub in the past few weeks, bad news: it added malware to your system when you ran it. An announcement made by the team developing the open-source app say they recently discovered the Linux AppImage and ZIP of the Cemu 2.6 release available from their Github had been “compromised” with malware between 6 May and 12 May, 2026. The Cemu Flatpak, as well as installers for other operating systems, were not affected. Linux users who directly downloaded the Cemu 2.6 AppImage or Ubuntu ZIP assets from the […]

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Fix HEIC images not loading in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

Joey Sneddon — Mon, 11 May 2026 22:00:00 +0000

If your HEIC photos show a “Could not load image” error in Ubuntu 26.04’s Image Viewer, you’re not alone – it’s an intentional breakage, albeit one that’s easy to fix. HEIC files are a variant of HEIF which use H.265/HEVC compression. If you own an iPhone or a newer Android device, the stock camera app uses this format by default. But Ubuntu 26.04 LTS no longer preinstalls a decoder library for HEIC (though more accurately, it’s tweaked dependency chains to ensure one is no longer pulled in). When you connect your smartphone to a computer running Ubuntu 26.04 LTS to […]

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Ubuntu’s app permission prompting has got a lot better

Joey Sneddon — Thu, 07 May 2026 11:52:00 +0000

If you haven’t check in with Ubuntu’s app prompting feature for a while, there’s more reason to do so in the latest release. Recent improvements to the snap-focused security feature, which Canonical’s Oliver Calder has shared an update on, aims to “empower users” by letting them grant apps system and hardware access at runtime rather than retrospectively. Android or iOS use similar prompts, showing screen modals asking if users if they want to “allow Acme App to access the camera” with options to deny or “only while using the app”. Nifty stuff on mobile, but on a desktop? Well, Canonical […]

You're reading Ubuntu’s app permission prompting has got a lot better, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

Ubuntu’s old Unity desktop remade in Wayfire and Libadwaita

Joey Sneddon — Wed, 06 May 2026 22:31:50 +0000

If Canonical hadn’t burned through cash and goodwill during its smartphone detour in the mid-2010s, Ubuntu would likely still ship with the Unity desktop today – albeit in an evolved form. What would that form actually look like? Well, you don’t have to shut your eyes and imagine, thanks to Ubuntu community member Muqtxdir, who’s experiment in “re-building ubuntu’s unity shell in a wayfire session through gtk4-layer-shell and libadwaita widgetry” (sic) gives us a sideways glimpse. Muqtxdir, who help maintain and develop Ubuntu’s Yaru theme and contributes to the immutable Vanilla OS Linux distribution, recently shared a video of his […]

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Orion for Linux adds a content blocker and download manager

Joey Sneddon — Tue, 05 May 2026 19:36:33 +0000

A new beta build of Orion for Linux is available, with the v0.3 update ready for ‘broader, real-world use and feedback’, according to Kagi, the company behind it. Orion for Linux is a native GTK4/libadwaita web browser powered by WebKitGTK, aiming for feature parity with established macOS version (platform-specific features notwithstanding). It launched an alpha in early 2026 and an initial beta in March. In the months since the last beta, Kagi say Orion for Linux has “evolved into a much more capable browser” with its core browsing features like tab management, a password manager, history tracking, focus mode and […]

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gThumb is barely recognisable in its GTK4/libadwaita port

Joey Sneddon — Sun, 03 May 2026 14:25:00 +0000

gThumb, the open-source image viewer and organiser, has been rewritten in Vala and ported to GTK4/libadwaita – and compared to the old UI, it’s barely recognisable. An alpha build of gThumb 4.0 is available for testing. Alongside the visual revamp, this brings support for WEBP and PNG animations, lets you export images in the JXL format and includes a censor filter to pixelate or blur out parts of an image. But it’s the visual changes that mark this update out. Sure, any port from GTK3 to GTK4 will add a visage of modernity, but it’s not a “automatically looks amazing” […]

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Attack knocks Ubuntu websites, services and Snap store offline

Joey Sneddon — Fri, 01 May 2026 07:54:07 +0000

If you’re having trouble accessing the Ubuntu website, the Snap store or Launchpad then you’re not alone: Canonical’s websites are currently facing a “sustained, cross-border” attack. The company says it is “working to address” the attack and will provide more details shortly. Websites and services have been affected since around 6PM (UK time) 30 April. What is and isn’t affected right now The Ubuntu APT repos are not offline, as they’re mirrored across multiple locations, countries and servers, although the main archive.ubuntu.com is offline (at the time of writing). It’s still possible to download OS ISO images too, due to […]

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Linux App Release Roundup (April 2026)

Joey Sneddon — Fri, 01 May 2026 03:18:34 +0000

April 2026 has been and gone, but not before delivering an array of Linux software updates, including new versions of popular FOSS video editor Kdenlive and Oracle’s virtualisation offering VirtualBox. We also got Firefox 150 with GTK emoji picker support and split tab improvements, and a modest bug fix update to the GIMP image editor, albeit resolving an annoying on-canvas text tool quirk. Below, I list other notable Linux app releases to arrive in April. While these didn’t merit a dedicated article (hey, it was a busy month with the release of Ubuntu 26.04 LTS), they still brought nifty new […]

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Linux Mint’s new HWE ISOs improve hardware support

Joey Sneddon — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 19:50:18 +0000

Linux Mint’s switch to a longer development cycle – the next release is coming at Christmas – has a knock on effect for people trying to install it on newer hardware that requires a newer kernel. So, a solution has been found. A new set of ISO images dubbed HWE (Hardware Enablement have been published to “address compatibility issues with brand new hardware”, says Linux Mint project lead Clement Lefebvre. The new Linux 22.3 HWE image contains the Linux 6.17 kernel. The team will, from this point on, publish new HWE ISOs each time a new HWE kernel arrives in […]

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PS5 hack runs Ubuntu, lets you play Steam games

Joey Sneddon — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 02:37:22 +0000

A newly launched project lets you boot Ubuntu on a PlayStation 5 to play Steam games, though only if your console is on old enough firmware. The hack is the work of security engineer Andy Nguyen, who this week announced a public release of his ps5-linux-boot project so more people can turn their “…PS5 Phat console on 3.xx and 4.xx [Firmware] into a fully functional Linux PC gaming device”. Obviously, this is all unofficial. The project exploits a patched hypervisor vulnerability to give Linux direct access to the PS5’s hardware – which with its eight Zen 2 CPU cores (16 threads) […]

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