(Linux news in previous posts of thread)

FOSS NEWS

Firefox 141 will include WebGPU support, Windows-only for now, with plans to extend it to Linux and macOS:
https://news.itsfoss.com/firefox-webgpu-support/
(Mozilla treating Linux as a second-class citizen? Another reason for distros to ditch it lol)

Servo monthly status update: work towards supporting incremental layout handling, support for viewport meta tags, scroll events in the DOM, barebones IndexedDB support, and more:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Servo-June-2025-Highlights

Blender 4.5 LTS released with stable Vulkan backend, pen tablet tilt support, horizontal scrolling support in the UI, region resize highlighting, support for dropping a tree view item after the last element, a new operator to take a screenshot within Blender for an asset preview, a new shader node to control volume coefficients, etc.:
https://9to5linux.com/blender-4-5-lts-open-source-3d-graphics-app-makes-the-vulkan-backend-stable

VirtualBox 7.1.12 released with improved support for Linux kernel 6.16, bug fixes:
https://9to5linux.com/virtualbox-7-1-12-improves-support-for-linux-kernel-6-16-on-linux-hosts-and-guests

Organic Map July update released with updated OpenStreetMap data, better Arabic search, map display now highlights campsites, resort areas, and industrial zones, etc.:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/7/organic-maps-july-update-brings-improved-location-highlight-better-arabic-search-and-more/

LibreOffice merged built-in support for Bitcoin, will probably by available in 26.2 next year:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/LibreOffice-Bitcoin-BTC-Format

Wireshark 4.4.8 released with updated protocol support, bug fixes:
https://9to5linux.com/wireshark-4-4-8-open-source-network-protocol-analyzer-updates-protocol-support

Calibre 8.7 released with support for generating page number files (APNX) on 2024 and newer MTP-based Kindle devices, ability to ignore “et al.” suffix on author names when finding similar e-books by author, bug fixes and improvements:
https://9to5linux.com/calibre-8-7-adds-support-for-generating-page-number-files-on-mtp-based-kindles

Haiku monthly recap: Wifi driver replaced, work on HiDPI scaling, more robust error handling for the FAT file system driver, etc.:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Haiku-OS-June-2025

"#JamieZawinski has #repeatedly said:

Now hear me out, but What If…? #browser #development was in the hands of some kind of #nonprofit #organization?

In my #humble but #correct #opinion, #Mozilla should be doing two things and two things only:

#Building THE #reference #implementation #WebBrowser and
Being a jugular-#snapping #attack #dog on #standards #committees.
There is no 3."
"Perhaps this is the only #viable #resolution."

"#Mozilla, for all its many #failings, has #invented a lot of #amazing #tech, from #Rust to #Servo to the #leading #budget #phone #OS. It shouldn't be trying to #capitalize on this #stuff. Maybe 3encourage it to have semi-independent #spinoffs, such as #Thunderbird, and as #KaiOS ought to be, and as #Rust could have been."
"But #JamieZawinski has the only #clear #vision and #solution we've seen yet. Perhaps he's #right, and #Mozilla #should be a #nonprofit, #working to #fund the one #independent, non-#vendor-driven, #standardscompliant #browserEngine."

"#Mozilla can press on with independent subprojects such as #Thunderbird owners #MZLA #Technologies #Corporation. The popular #Electron #framework is based on #Chromium. It's too late to change that, even if maybe #Servo may one day offer an #alternative. But if #Thunderbird sucked in #Libpurple, it wouldn't matter if #Slack and #Teams and so on used #Electron, as Thunderbird could talk to the servers directly."
"But pointing at what we'd like to see is attempting to #treat the #symptoms and not the #disease. Is there a way to #encourage Mozilla to be an #organized, #focused, #professional #business, with #eyes keenly set on a clearly defined #goal? Perhaps that's the wrong #question. Perhaps that shouldn't be the goal at all. For all that the #Linux business is #huge, no #company #develops the #kernel. They all #cooperate on it. The #Linux #Foundation #funds it, but doesn't really #guide it."
"One #observer has been #spectating and #commentating on Mozilla since before it was a foundation – one of its original co-#developers, #JamieZawinksi. He has been accurately #cataloging Mozilla's #failings for #years."

(Linux news in previous posts)

FOSS NEWS

Servo browser engine can now render more complex websites like Gmail and Google Chat, supports single-valued "select" elements, shadow DOM is enabled by default, "servoshell" example browser now supports iframes etc.:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Servo-Gmail-Now-Works

Firefox gets experimental custom new tab image feature (can be enabled in Mozilla Labs):
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/05/firefox-now-lets-you-set-a-custom-new-tab-background-image

Shotcut 25.05 released with Alpha Strobe video filter, Freeze Frame tool, option to adjust track header width, “Add Generator” button in the timeline toolbar, 1080p preview scaling, DeckLink Gamma modes for SDR and HLG HDR etc.:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/5/shotcut-25-05-adds-alpha-strobe-video-filter-freeze-frame-tool-integration-and-more/

Inkscape 1.4.2 released with new splash screen, initial support for importing Vectornator / Linearity Curve files, improved importing of Affinity Designer (.afdesign) files, improved DXF12 export, improved PDF importing, other improvements and bug fixes:
https://9to5linux.com/inkscape-1-4-2-adds-initial-support-for-importing-vectornator-linearity-curve-files

FFmpeg developers aren't satisfied with the new Rust-based rav1d decoder, say that "Rust is so good you can get paid $20k to make it as fast as C":
https://news.itsfoss.com/ffmpeg-swipe-at-rust/
(This beef sounds like the ones Linus Torvalds says. Maybe he's also an FFmpeg dev? lol)

Canonical, Zerodha, Posit, Sanity, Tideways and other companies join the Open Source Pledge to fund FOSS projects:
https://news.itsfoss.com/major-boost-open-source-2025/
(Canonical and a random Indian financial company funding FOSS projects? Is it just me who has some bad feelings about this? ️)
(Why would a bunch of for profit corporations support FOSS projects, if not because they want something out of them?)

@servo Please don't. I see #servo as the single most important #FLOSS project currently. We have to handle it super carefully to get it over the finishing lines. Utilizing #AI is not careful or thoughtful. It's clubbing the contestant to finish faster. Please don't.

@servo wow such a shitstorm, so much agressivity, insults, threatening when they ask openly and transparently the opinion of the community. You could just say "no" with reasoning in a respectful way. Imagine the person taking that in the face. That's really sad.

Are we, even here, in a world of violence where sane debate is not possible anymore?