It's finally here. After months and months of looking at alpha releases, beta releases, and waiting, KDE has finally blessed us with the latest release of KDE Plasma with KDE Plasma 6. And it isn't just any release, it's a massive mega release, as they call it, and I agree with. We also got some news from distro releases with the privacy-focused distro Tails, Tiny Core Linux, and apparently one project that is trying to see just how accessible coconuts can be. Also, CIQ is in the news this week by making some controversial moves related to Rocky Linux. All of this and more on this episode of This Week in Linux, Your Source for Linux GNews. This episode of TWIL is sponsored by Kasm. More on them later. KDE has announced the official release of the latest major update to their desktop environment with KDE Plasma 6 making the landing this week. Now, first of all, KDE Plasma is my daily driver because it is so powerful and customizable, yet at the same time, it's still surprisingly lightweight. I have a lot to say on this release, like a lot. But this show has way too many topics this week, and there is just so much to cover in what's new with this release that it's not really possible to do all of that here. Luckily, I have a podcast where I can share my opinions on stuff. So if you've never heard of it, check out Destination Linux podcast. And this is a great one to get started and jump on that DL train because the next episode that comes out tomorrow, if you want to know my full opinion on the latest version of KDE Plasma, that is going to be in that episode. So go subscribe to destinationlinux.net. There's the audio version and also of course the video version You can subscribe on YouTube and all of that. So go check it out, DestinationLinux.net, if you want to know my full opinion. But let's talk about the highlights about this release because there are a ton of them. So the major upgrades is the transition to the latest major series of the Qt Toolkit or the Qt Toolkit, which is Qt 6. And they also switched to Wayland by default. And there's a lot of improvements on security, efficiency, and hardware support, and just so much more. And these are the core things. switching to Weyland is a big deal because it's been X11 for always and there's also the switch to Qt and the Qt 6 doesn't seem like a big jump but Qt 5 to Qt 6 for context Plasma 5 was named 5 because of being based on Qt 5 and Plasma 5 came out in 2014 and. As you can tell, it's been 10 years, so that five to six is a huge jump. Also, let's talk about some new changes that they made as far as features go, because there is a lot of new features to enjoy. First of all, the new OverEffect of Vue is a slick combination of OverView and the desktop grid. It has KRunner built into it. It looks so good. You get access to your Windows, your workspaces, virtual desktops, your KRunner. It's so nice. I'm a big fan of this new feature. feature. And also something that I'm super excited to play with is they have now added support for HDR or high dynamic range. And they've also made some color blindness correction filters in this latest version of KDE Plasma, which is just very cool. Also, there's a new floating panel design where the panel used to be always at the very bottom. Now it's still at the bottom, but it now has a little bit of a padding between the screen and the actual edges of the panel. So So I think this looks really nice. I didn't know how I was going to feel about it, but I like it. And if you want to know more details, check out Destination Linux, where I go into a lot of details on this and everything else in this topic. Continuing, they've also reorganized settings for a more user-friendly experience. Very much, it's a big overhaul there. They've also made some changes to the breeze theme with the making it more modern and like look and feel more modern. They've also made a lot of changes to Plasma Search. They've made updates to the application stuff, the settings pages. You can also control the kind of results that you get. It's just, it's very nice. They've also made it possible to use fingerprint unlock from the lock screen, supporting both password and fingerprint authentication, which is pretty cool. Also, there's some new defaults that are in this version of KDE Plasma 6. There's quite a few of those. First of all, touchpad tap to click is enabled by default on Wayland, which is very cool because I typically expect that. And when I tried to use Plasma 6, the first thing I did on my laptop was to do a tap to click. For those that don't know, tap to click is where you just touch the touchpad. You don't actually push it down and click it. It's just you're just kind of tapping the touch. And that by default wasn't there. and now it is. So I'm happy to see that. Also, the files and folders are now selected with a single click and open with a double click. This is important because it's consistent with the way that Mac and Windows works. So people who are transitioning over would be an easier transition with interacting with the environment itself. So that's very cool. Also, like I said, Wayland, we talk about Wayland is default. That's a big default change. And also there's a new thumbnail grid selection as the default task switcher style, which I think is a good idea. The other used to be like this sidebar, sort of like a desktop thumbnail grid, but it was more like on a sidebar and it still worked, but I think it looks much better in the way they do it now with the thumbnail grid. And there's just a ton, ton more of stuff in this, but let's move on to the other stuff that they did in this latest release because it's not just the KDE Plasma. KDE also released a new version of their applications with KDE Gear 24.02. So this includes many applications, including the contact suite, which is the KMail, KOrganizer, and things like that, which also they have KDE Education apps were updated to Q6 with redesigned interfaces. And speaking of redesigned interfaces, many applications have adapted a more frameless look for their interface, which I think looks pretty nice. And also the KDE community has made a lot of improvements on their collection of apps like Kate Text Editor, Kate and Live Video Editor, Dolphin File Manager, Spectacle Screenshot Tool, NeoChat, Matrix Client, Tokadon, Mastodon Client, and so many more. You have no idea how many times I wanted to stop through this topic and start sharing my opinion on every single thing. I did a little bit like a sentence or two occasionally, but imagine how long this topic would have been if I had done that. But anyway, I mean, if you wish that I had done that, then be sure to join us tomorrow for Destination Linux episode 362 because I will be sharing it all there, destinationlinux.net to subscribe. And if you'd like to learn more about the latest release of Plasma 6, you'll find links in the show notes. There's a new major release of the Debian-based security-focused Linux distribution, Tails with Tails 6.0. This is based on Debian 12 Bookworm series. It ships with GNOME 43 as a desktop environment by default. And for those who are familiar with this show and the times we've covered GNOME, you'll know that GNOME 45 is the current and that GNOME 46 is coming very soon. Well, why did they use GNOME 43? Well, that's because that's what ships with Debian and Debian is not known for quickly updating things of that nature. So there you go. That's why. Plus, also, they're focused more on the security stuff rather than updating the desktop environment, because that makes sense, because that's what its purpose is. So, let's talk about the new features and updated components they have for this version of Tails with Tails 6.0. They have added error detection on the persistent storage. They've made automatic mounting of external devices possible. And they also made a new protection against malicious USB devices feature, which ignores any device plugged into your computer while the screen is locked, which is a very important thing. So if someone just comes up and plugs it in, they won't do anything. I like that. Also introduces support for a dark mode and a light mode where there's warmer colors and less brightness and that sort of thing. They've also made it easier to do screenshots and screencasting. They've also made it easier to do setup with Gmail inside of Thunderbird. And also persistent storage patch phase now support generating in five new languages, which are Catalan, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. They've also updated some software, including a Tor browser, the KeePassXC, Metadata Cleaner, Inkscape, Audacity, and many, many more. Now, it is worth noting that if you are going to be using Tails from this and you already currently have Tails, you will need to probably do a manual upgrade because automatic upgrades are only available for Tails 6.0 RC1 to 6.0. So if you're using a release candidate, then you can do an upgrade. But if you're using a previous version, you will need to do a manual upgrade instead. So just keep that in mind. If you'd like to learn more about the latest release of Tails, with Tail 6.0. You'll find links in the show notes. CIQ has recently announced some controversial plans for their services around Rocky Linux that brings into question their messaging and their commitment to open source. CIQ is a services partner of Rocky Linux that was founded in 2020 and is owned by Greg Kurtzer. Greg Kurtzer is also the founder and owner of the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, or RESF, which develops Rocky Linux. Now, Rocky Linux has cultivated a reputation of championing open source with shots at Red Hat for decisions that they have made over the years. And however, the news this week from CIQ, the sponsor behind Rocky Linux, throws up some red flags and people are criticizing them for creating services that seem to be a clone of what they were so adamantly against Red Hat doing. Now, for those who are not in the loop, on December 8th, 2020, Red Hat announced that they would discontinue development of CentOS, which had been a production-ready downstream version of RHEL for many years. Red Hat switched to making CentOS Stream as a newer upstream development variant. This decision was not popular. And if you would like a video where I break down the full story of the CentOS saga, then let me know in the comments. But for now, let's just say that a significant portion of the community was not happy with this decision. Various discussions started with potentially making more forks of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Because at the time, Red Hat didn't offer a path forward other than switching to RHEL, resulting in the company CloudLinux starting up a fork called AlmaLinux and a company, CIQ, starting up the fork called RockyLinux. Both of these shared a similar goal, providing an alternative for those who wanted to continue using something like CentOS Linux. Though it is worth noting that Red Hat later on did provide a path forward for some people with RHEL itself, but this came much later. So now that you're caught up, CIQ has recently announced a new support program for Rocky Linux, offering subscription-based long-term support. In the CIQ announcement blog post, it states, LTS support for each image lasts for 18 months after the release is retired from the open-source Rocky Linux project. This makes a CIQ LTS for Rocky Linux subscription ideal for organizations who want to remain on their version of Rocky Linux, even when it is no longer supported by the public project. However, there has been some criticism regarding CIQ's new support program. Critics argue that CIQ's LTS program deviates from the initial vision of RockyLinux, as it is not strictly a one-to-one build of RHEL sources and will not be published freely to the public, nor to the RockyLinux users, nor to the other members of the Open ELA and their users. Plus, the source and binaries provided under CIQ's LTS program will be paywalled, raising questions about CIQ's commitment to the open-source ethos. Gordon Messmer, senior CRE at Google, recently published a Medium article about this, saying that CIQ has argued from their very beginning that Red Hat's LTS update channels are not truly open source because they are not published to the public. And Gordon also points out that at the same time, CIQ's own LTS update channels will not be published to the public and available only to paying customers. This announcement for a new subscription-based support model brings up some very interesting questions related to Rocky Linux and CIQ. First, what is the relationship between Rocky Linux and CIQ? Now, CIQ is a for-profit company that acts as a service partner of Rocky Linux. CIQ's about page states that CIQ funded and played a key role in establishing Rocky Linux. On the RockyLinux.org website, they described the project as saying that Rocky Linux is an open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. And on the About page of RockyLinux.org, it states that the Rocky Linux project is hosted by the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, or RESF. Now let's dig into this a bit. What does it mean to be hosted by the RESF? So the RESF is a for-profit company established as a public benefits corporation in Delaware that acts as a legal entity for the Rocky Linux project. The RESF is credited as being the developers of Rocky Linux on Wikipedia. And in addition to development, the RESF holds the trademark and branding rights for the Rocky Linux project. On the surface, CIQ does not act as the controlling interest in Rocky Linux, Linux, but rather as a third-party services provider. But the more deeper you go, the connections become a bit more muddy because people would say that CIQ doing this is not necessarily a problem because it's not Rocky Linux doing it, but there's some deep connections here. The RASF has a board of directors that are governed by a set of bylaws. There are 12 people listed on the board of the RASF about page. Of these 12 people, four of them are listed as independent, which is kind of complicated and I don't fully understand what it means other than not having involvement on a day-to-day basis. So they might come into play, but they also might not. So let's address the other eight members who are listed as members. Of these eight members, four of them work for CIQ. Two of the three executive board members work for CIQ, and the individual who is both the president and chair of the RESF is Greg Kurtzer. That name might sound familiar because at the beginning of this topic, I mentioned that he is the owner of CIQ, and he is also the owner of the RESF. Remember when I mentioned that the RESF is a company? Well, it's a for-profit public benefits corporation that Greg is the owner of. This means that the owner of CIQ is also the owner of RESF and the president and the chair of the RESF. So to answer the question, what is the relationship between RocketLinux and CIQ? Well, they are technically not the same, but they also... Well, they're pretty much the same. How does this relationship affect Rocky Linux? Gordon Messmer points out on his Medium post that CIQ representatives insist that the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation is entirely independent. Gordon also states that Rocky Linux maintainers have mentioned in the past that the project was independent of the foundation and it could leave the RASF if there were a significant conflict. Gordon's responses to both of these is that both claims are preposterous. And I tend to agree, because if CIQ is owned by the same person who owns the RESF, and that person is also the president and the chair of the board of the RESF, how can anyone say that they are entirely independent? You could say that they're separate entities, but they're not entirely independent. As for Rocky Linux, leaving the RESF, that's true. And not the entire truth. Because let's say that everyone in the project wanted to leave the RESF. Well, they could leave, but they have to leave without the name Rocky Linux unless granted permission to do with it. As the Rocky Linux branding and trademark is owned by the RASF, so it would require the RASF to allow them to leave with the name, so the control is with the RASF, not the community. Now, like I said before, there are bylaws for the board of directors of the RASF, but on the Frequently Asked Questions page of the RASF website, they answer a very interesting question. The question that they have on this list is, but if Gregory Kurtzer owns the RESF, doesn't he still have control over it? You can read the full answer if you want to, but one part jumped out at me, and it says, and I quote. This is a bit unsettling to me. I appreciate that they aren't trying to hide this information and they are addressing it directly on the website, site, but still it feels a bit off to have that as a part of the structure. Just, that's just how I feel. Is this relationship between Rocky Linux and CIQ a problem? I'm not saying that there is any direct problem from this structure. I'm simply saying that the messaging around Rocky Linux as being a community control project and CIQ being an entirely separate business from the RESF is a bit misleading. And also, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with CIQ having these support programs. I feel that an open source project being funded by a company that makes money off of the project is not only okay, but it's also a good thing because open source projects need funding and offering commercial services or products on top of a project to provide funding to that project is a great way to do it. However, I do think it's disappointing for company A to claim company B is doing something wrong when company A later decides to essentially do the same thing they claimed was wrong. So there's not anything technically wrong with what they're doing. There's not anything legally wrong with what they're doing. It's just the messaging around what they've said in the past and the claim that they are separate entities and how that's okay for CIQ to do whatever they want. It feels a bit off to me here. So that's why I'm addressing it. And also, just so you know, I'm not an infrastructure expert, so don't ask me which one to pick related to what enterprise operating system you should use, because I'm not someone who does that. I'm a reporter who is giving you news that I find very interesting. So there you go. But now I know there is another question that is probably the most commonly asked question around this topic of rail-based distributions. What's the difference between AlmaLinux and RockyLinux? Well, that is a very interesting question and there are quite a few differences. But that's also a topic for another day. Let me know in the comments if you'd like a video for that. And if you'd like to learn more about this news and read some blog posts related to it, you'll find links in the show notes. Are you looking for a secure open source solution for remote access and app streaming? Check out Kasm, proud sponsors of This Week in Linux. With Kasm, self-hosting is a breeze using Docker. You can enjoy privacy and non-attributable browsing from any browser, no VPN needed or client install required. You can host it on your Raspberry Pi, digital ocean droplet, Linode, or home server. You can access your apps hassle-free anytime, anywhere. Visit thisweekinlinux.com/kasm to empower your digital workspace. Kasm unleashes the possibilities of secure, accessible computing. And if you're a business and need to stream apps to clients or provide virtual workspaces to your employees. Kasm offers hosting services with persistent profiles, file shares, single sign-on support, SSH key management, custom images, and so much more. So go to thisweekinlinux.com/kasm to get started and to check them out. And you can also get 80% off your first month with the Tux Digital Kasm coupon code. You can find out more details about that specifically, as well as Kasm itself, when you go to thisweekinlinux.com/kasm and check it out. You can also check out the links in the show notes because I made a video related to Kasm showing you really cool stuff about it and some use cases that you use Kasm for and all that sort of thing. I'll have that linked in the show notes below as well. And if you'd like to learn more, go to thisweekinlinux.com/kasm. That's K-A-S-M. Tiny Core Linux is a super lightweight and flexible Linux distribution with a size of less than 200 megabytes. And there's a new version of Tiny Core Linux with Tiny Core Linux 15. 15. Tiny Core Linux is designed to be run on older or low-power hardware, or you can use it to build your own customized Linux system if you'd like to. The modular design allows users to add optional modules and create a system tailored to your needs. Now, Tiny Core Linux 15 has been released, like I said, and it includes updates to the kernel, libraries, and core applications. The kernel has been updated to version 6.6.8, bringing performance improvements and bug fixes. The GNU C library has been updated to version 2.38, improving the C library and related tools. The GNU compiler collection has been updated to version GCC 13.2.0, improving the C, C++, and Fortran compilers. Other updates include BenUtils, E2FS Progs, Util Linux, and Zlib. Tiny Core Linux can be run from a USB drive, CD, or within another operating system using a virtual machine, or pretty much anywhere because it's less than 200 megabytes to run it. So you can pretty much put it wherever you want to. And it also comes with two main variants for 64-bit systems, but it also has 32-bit option for those who still need that. If you'd like to learn more about TriniCore Linux, you'll find links in the show notes. There's a new release of the Sway project with Sway 1.9. And Sway is an i3-inspired Wayland compositor. The rendering code of Sway 1.9 has been adapted to use the new WLRoots rendering API, API, which should result in better performance. Sway 1.9 includes support for new Wayland extensions of WL roots 0.17, such as content type V1, X Wayland shell V1, WP fractional scale V1, security context V1, and others. Sway's XDG activation V1 protocol support now works with workspace tracking and multi-seat use. And some additional changes with Sway 1.9 includes IPC output event support, on-demand keyboard interactivity for layer shale, tablet tool buttons can now be used for floating mode resize, new input commands for setting lib inputs rotation angle, and scroll button lock, as well as many more things. If you'd like to learn more about Sway's latest version of 1.9 or just Sway in general, you'll find links in the show notes. The Zendalona team, which develops free and open source accessibility software for visually impaired users, has released an updated version of their Ubuntu-based Linux distribution with integrated accessibility features. First of all, this is really awesome that someone is making a distribution like this. It is very much needed. We've talked about accessibility in Linux on Destination Linux podcast on many occasions, because for those who don't know, my co-host Jill is half blind. So it's a very important topic to us specifically, as well as just overall in In general, it's very critical that we have really good accessibility in this ecosystem. So it's really cool to see this being done. And this particular distribution has an interesting name. It's called Accessible Coconut with Accessible Dash Coconut to be specific. The highlights of this release with Accessible Coconut 22.04.3 is that it has massive system upgrades with the latest version of the Ubuntu LTS with 22.04. This is the current LTS. Yes, there's a new one coming out very soon, but this is the current LTS. There's also the new games that they've added, which is Math Tutor and Snakes and Ladders. They've also enhanced support for Pigeon Telegram. They have made updates to Cocoa Patcher and made some fixes for ebook speaker, as well as some refreshed files within the user guide, which is always good to see. Now, Zendalona, the organization built behind Accessible Coconut, has been selected for Google Summer of Code or GSOC for this year, allowing for more opportunities to empower students and drive open source development in accessibility, which is fantastic. So good job on Google. And I can't wait to see what Zendalona is doing with both Accessible Coconut and this new project or the new work that they're doing in the Google Summer of Code. If you'd like to learn more about Zendalona or the Accessible Coconut distribution, which I just learned of this week, you'll find links in the show notes. There is a new version of HexChat and also the final version of HexChat. 2.16.2 has been released of this open source IRC client. The app maintainer Ting Ping has announced that this will be the last release of HexChat as the project has largely been unmaintained for years and nobody has stepped up to continue development. HexChat started out as a fork of HexChat and has become a fairly popular client. So I'm curious what people think. If you're using HexChat, let me know in the comments below. and also if you're going to continue using IRC, where you're going to switch to. There's also some changes in HexJet 2.16.2. It's not just a basic update. There's quite a few changes. There's support for extended monitor, support for SCRAM SASL mechanisms, an option to hide nickname from window title, increased max server password length, updated Python to 3.3, and like many, many more, including server now using TLS by default, as well as others. Now, what's funny is that the project code has been moved to GitHub as well as many other things. And the reason why the developer said that they were moving to GitHub made me laugh. It says, I'm going to move all the data that I can to be hosted on GitHub. So all documentation, installers, and dependencies will be there until the end of Microsoft. It's just the way that he said it made me laugh, the end of Microsoft. Because yeah, Microsoft owns GitHub. Anyway, moving on. There are some other IRC clients you can switch to if you want to, like Polari, Smuxy, or Konversation, Konversation with a K. That's the one I use when I use IRC, but personally, I don't really use IRC anymore. And it's been a while anyway. I am curious, how many people out there in the Twiliverse are still rocking some IRC? And if you are, let me know in the comments below what your favorite IRC client is. If you'd like to learn more about HexChat in general or the latest version, you'll find links in the show notes. There is a new maintenance update for the open source cross-platform and free digital audio workstation Ardour with Ardour 8.4. Ardour 8.4 introduces experimental support for importing AAF or Advanced Authoring Format, and with developers asking users to send feedback and report bugs related to the AAF support. The update includes a change in the GTK toolkit to ensure the application is supported on current and future versions of popular Linux distributions. Ardour 8.4 moves the source code of its GUI GTK v2 into the Ardour source tree, allowing for potential modifications and strip downs of unused aspects. The release features a new Adwaita color theme based on Gnome's Adwaita theme and improves the support for the newer Linux distributions. Ardour 8.4 updates support for several controllers, including Akei, Midimix, Lexicon, MPX100, Yamaha SY85, Donner DMK25, Arturia Minilab 3, and Faderport 8. I don't know what any of those are, but I assume it's for making stuff and music because that's what Ardour is for. The update sets default MIDI CC values to be more in line with MIDI specs and Ardour 8.4 includes various other changes such as updated region groups, tooltips for piano roll header, metadata for session property editor and support for capturing MIDI notes that were already on slash down when recording starts. There are so many more things in this latest version of Ardour. If you'd like to learn more, you can, first, you could download Ardour directly from their official website, but you can also get a flat pack version from the Flat Hub. And if you'd like to learn more, you can find links in the show notes for more details on the latest release of Ardour 8.4. While we're on the topic of music with Ardour, let's talk about Giada, or Giada, or Giada, or Giada. I'm not, I'm not sure. It's an open source, minimalistic, and hardcore music production tool. That's how they describe it on their website. site. It's designed for DJs, live performers, and electronic musicians. So it's a loop machine, so you can build your performance in real time by layering audio tracks or MIDI events driven by the main sequencer. It's also a sample player, so you can load samples from your crates and play them with a computer keyboard or a MIDI controller. It's also a song editor. You can write songs from scratch or edit existing live recordings with the powerful action editor. There's also a live recorder so you can record sounds from the real world and MIDI events coming from external devices or other apps and it's also a sound effects processor so you can process samples of audio or MIDI input signals with VST instruments from your plugins collection and all sorts of stuff as well as it's a MIDI controller you can control other software or synchronize physical MIDI devices by using. Giada as a MIDI Macro Master Sequencer So this is really interesting. I have no idea what most of that stuff is, but I thought it was pretty cool and I wanted to tell you about it. So check it out. You can download it as an AppImage or as a flat pack from the FlatHub. And if you'd like to learn more about the project itself, you'll find links in the show notes. Thanks for watching this episode of This Week in Linux. If you like what I do here on this show and want to be kept up to date with what's going on in the Linux world, then be sure to subscribe. And of course, remember to like that smash button. If you'd like to support the show and the TuxDigital Network, then consider becoming a patron by going to tuxdigital.com/membership where you get a bunch of cool perks like access to patron-only sections of our Discord server and much, much more. You can also support the show by ordering the Linux Saver t-shirt or the This Week in Linux shirt that I'm wearing right now at tuxdigital.com/store Plus, while you're there, check out all the other cool stuff we have like hats, mugs, hoodies, stickers, and so much more at tuxdigital.com/store I'll see you next time for another episode of Your Source for Linux GNews. Thanks again for watching. I'm Michael Tunnell. I hope you're doing swell. Be sure to ring that notification bell. And until next time, I bid you farewell.
