Ubuntu 24.04 splits firmware packages for faster updates
Firmware updates on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS have got smaller, as Canonical has backported the split Linux firmware packages it introduced in 26.04. To make the change in noble, the linux-firmware package is now a meta-package that pulls in all of the individual…
Ubuntu 26.10 Snapshot 3 is now available for testing
The third, and potentially final, monthly snapshot of Ubuntu 26.10 is available for download. There were no monthly snapshots of the ‘Stonking Stingray’ in August or July – no reason has been given – and the Ubuntu 26.10 beta release is scheduled for…
Vivaldi 8.2 is out with a calculator in the address bar
Vivaldi 8.2 rolled out today (3 September 2026) and lets you do quick and private math calculations directly in the address bar. This may prove useful when you don’t want to open to a new tab or a calculator app. I’ve often narrowed my eyes at an online…
Audacity 4.0 released with brand-new look, clip editing features
Audacity 4.0 has been released with a new Qt user interface, a new clip editing model and project file format – as well as a swathe of smaller improvements. The Qt port of Audacity is more than a superficial – some would say much-needed – facelift, as…
Canonical joins the Open Secure AI Alliance
Canonical recently joined the Linux Foundation’s Open Secure AI Alliance to help make open-source security tools for AI systems and autonomous agents. The alliance formed in July 2026 in response to the security breach at Hugging Face, when OpenAI models…
Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS is now available to download
Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS is now available to download, the first of 5 point releases scheduled for the ‘Resolute Raccoon’ in the 3 years. The release doesn’t add new features, but brings a refreshed installation image (.iso) that includes all of the bug fixes,…
Chrome moves a step closer to an official Flatpak
If you’ve installed Chromium or Google Chrome as a Flatpak, you’ve installed an unofficial, community-maintained package done independently of the search giant – that could be about to change. Chromium’s build system is now able to generate Flatpak…
Hands-on with Ubuntu’s new AI voice typing feature
AI-powered voice typing is coming to Ubuntu in Myna, a speech-to-text feature that lets you talk into any valid text field. It’s still a work in progress, but I grabbed an early build to see how it’s shaping up. With Ubuntu 26.10 now entering its freeze,…
LibreOffice 26.8 released with paragraph layout changes, draft view + more
The Document Foundation has released LibreOffice 26.8, a major new version of the open-source office suite for Windows, macOS and Linux. Among the changes is a new Paragraph Composer. This improves the way Writer handles justified text. In many word…
A hidden Ubuntu feature I use to tidy up my desktop
Ubuntu’s Desktop Icons NG (DING) extension has a little-known way to bring order to a chaotic desktop: stacks. Stacks groups multiple files of the same type in a collapsible icon, e.g. images in one stack, PDFs in another and so on. Folders don’t get…