Wayland Found To Be “Intrinsically Faster Than X11, But Not Necessarily More Efficient”
The PorteuX Linux distribution focused on being a high performance, modular, and minimalist distro took to forking Xfce’s xfwm4 window manager into “xfwm4-gl” for OpenGL compositing support. As part of that they developed a window manager / compositor benchmark for evaluating the performance and efficiency of typical operations. Their results are fascinating… ⌘ Read more
Benchmarking Some Incredible Performance Gains With Btrfs On Linux 7.3
With the Btrfs pull request for Linux 7.3 having delivered more performance optimizations with some ~3x and ~5x gains mentioned in specific areas, I was eager to test out the new Btrfs performance on the in-development kernel. In today’s article are some benchmarks of Btrfs on Linux 7.2 stable compared to Linux 7.3 Git with some very enticing performance gains confirmed in various workloads. ⌘ Read more
The Modern NTFS Linux Driver Adds Read Support For Windows System Compression (WOF)
The pull requests for the existing Paragon NTFS3 kernel driver as well as the new modern “NTFS” drivers have been submitted for the ongoing Linux 7.3 kernel cycle. Besides bug fixes, most notable among these NTFS file-system drivers are Windows System Compression “WOF” read support for the modern NTFS driver… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Device Mapper Sees Many Fixes, Including Code Cleanups By Claude Opus
The Linux Device Mapper “DKM” framework for mapping block devices to higher-level virtual block devices doesn’t see any major new features for Linux 7.3 but there are many bug fixes, including code clean-ups carried out by AI… ⌘ Read more
DisplayPort 2.1 ALPM Still Being Worked On For Intel Xe3P / Nova Lake
The in-development Linux 7.3 kernel is marking Nova Lake Xe3P graphics as stable in being enabled by default and no longer hidden behind the “force probe” flag. While on-by-default, there still are some features that have yet to land like the DisplayPort 2.1 ALPM functionality… ⌘ Read more
Lots Of New Audio Hardware Support In Linux 7.3
Linux sound subsystem maintainer Takashi Iwai of SUSE submitted all of the sound feature updates last week for the Linux 7.3 kernel. Besides the continued AI/LLM-generated patch churn, the sound code for Linux 7.3 sees a lot of new hardware support… ⌘ Read more
Bazzite 44 getting a hotfix for various issues after the recent big release
The Bazzite Deck 44 release for handhelds and TV PCs was a huge change for the popular gaming focused version of Linux, which sadly came with lots of issues.
Read the full article on [GamingOnLinux](https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/08/bazzite-44-getting-a-hotfix-for-various-issues-after-the-recent-big-rele … ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Merges Initial Kernel Driver Support For The 2026 Steam Controller
The HID subsystem updates were recently merged for the ongoing Linux 7.3 kernel merge window. Among other hardware additions, the 2026 Valve Steam Controller is seeing initial kernel driver support… ⌘ Read more
Linux ath11k Driver Improvements For Qualcomm WiFi 6 Hardware Yields 7x Lower Latency
A patch series being worked on for the ath11k mainline wireless networking driver for Qualcomm WiFi 6 / 802.11ax chipsets is yielding 7x lower latency or 2.2x throughput at identical latency… ⌘ Read more
New AF_ALG Restrictions With Linux 7.3 Due To The Security & Maintenance Nightmare
The past few Linux kernel cycles have chipped away at AF_ALG functionality for that interface for user-space programs to access the kernel’s internal cryptography API. Linux has been dropping AF_ALG features like zero-copy support and offloading. AF_ALG was quickly deprecated in Linux 7.2 while now for Linux 7.3 it’s being further restricted… ⌘ Read more
Early Linux 7.3 Kernel Benchmarks Show Some Performance Improvements, Some Regressions
Being halfway through the Linux 7.3 kernel merge window and prior to wrapping up and sending back the HP Z4 G6i workstation powered by the Xeon 678X Granite Rapids WS processor, I decided to run some benchmarks to see how Linux 7.3 Git is performing relative to the prior stable kernel series. Here are the first benchmarks of this early state of Linux 7.3 with some performance improvements as well as some regressions. ⌘ Read more
dwproton-11.0-12 released to fix Wuthering Waves on SteamOS / Linux
Wuthering Waves is another of those problematic Anime gacha games that likes to break, but dwproton-11.0-12 has released to keep it going on Linux / SteamOS.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux. ⌘ Read more
volt-gui is an AMD Adrenaline / NVIDIA Settings alternative for Linux
Coming from the developer of DXVK-Sarek that recently got updated is volt-gui, an alternative to AMD Adrenaline / NVIDIA Settings for Linux.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux. ⌘ Read more
DXVK-Sarek 1.13.0 is a big release for older GPUs to play modern games on Linux
DXVK-Sarek 1.13.0 has been released to bring more enhancements for gamers with older GPUs that don’t support later Vulkan versions to keep on gaming on Linux.
Read the full article on [GamingOnLinux](https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/08/dxvk-sarek-1-13-0-is-a-big-release-for-older- … ⌘ Read more
Intel Engineers Propose DRM Fabric For Linux
Coincidentally just days after AMD posted their big UALink patch series for Linux, Intel engineers today announced a proposal called DRM Fabric… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Adds Support For Several Newer RISC-V Extensions
With the in-development Linux 7.3 is support for discovering and enumerating support for several newer RISC-V ISA extensions. Plus there are improvements to its control flow integrity Shadow Stack handling, CPU context switch support for QoS tagging, using UEFI runtime services for restart and powering off, and other improvements… ⌘ Read more
AMD k10temp Driver Adds EPYC Zen 5 Per-CCD Temperature Monitoring With Linux 7.3
Merged last week for the Linux 7.3 kernel were all the hardware monitoring (HWMON) driver updates for Linux 7.3, which included supporting several more ASUS desktop motherboards, a few AIO liquid cooling products, more Lenovo system support, and per-CCD temperature monitoring on AMD EPYC 9005 server processors… ⌘ Read more
SCO Successor Xinuos Asks Court to Rehear Its Claims Against IBM/Red Hat Over Project Monterey
The long legal battle over ownership of Linux “is closer than ever to ending,” reports the Register, “after a panel of three judges ruled a claim against IBM and Red Hat isn’t valid, and that time has expired for further action.”
In 2021, an heir to SCO settled with IBM for $14.25 millio … ⌘ Read more
Could Mecha Comet’s Linux PC-Phone Hybrid Be the Future of Linux Smartphones?
3,346 backers pledged $1,198,844 on Kickstarter to build the (modular) handheld Linux computer, the Mecha Comet. It’s slightly bigger and heavier than your smartphone, with a 4-inch AMOLED display and loaded up with things like microphones, speakers, a SIM tray, two USB ports and a mini HDMI port. There’s three separate k … ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Improving RAID 5/6 Benchmark-Based Algorithm Selection
Following the main set of memory management “MM” changes submitted for Linux 7.3, Andrew Morton sent in his “non-MM” pull request of the other patches he’s been collecting from various developers for this next Linux kernel release. Standing out there were some improvements to the RAID 5/6 benchmark-based algorithm selection… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Better Protects Against Buggy EFI Firmware Taking Down The Rest Of User-Space
The EFI updates were merged today for the in-development Linux 7.3 kernel. Most notable with the EFI updates is now enforcing a timeout foe EFI runtime service completions rather than potentially hanging indefinitely… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Delivers Graphics Driver Improvements From Old GPUs To Next-Gen Hardware
The Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) subsystem updates have been merged for the ongoing Linux 7.3 merge window. There is a lot of exciting GPU kernel driver improvements this cycle ranging from some notable enhancements to old AMD Radeon graphics hardware up through enabling support for some next-generation AMD graphics IP blocks to over on the Intel side where Nova Lake S graphics are being enabled by default… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Makes Preparations Toward Upstreaming FAMFS File-System
The NVDIMM and direct access (DAX) patches have been merged for the Linux 7.3 cycle. Most of the DAX/NVDIMM activity this cycle is on making preparations for the upcoming submission of Micron’s FAMFS file-system… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Introduces New AES Encryption APIs - Will Open Up More Performance
Eric Biggers of Google continues carrying out great work on the Linux kernel crypto code. For Linux 7.3 he’s landed work on new library APIs for most of the AES encryption modes used within the kernel. Moving forward this will open the door to more performance optimizations, reducing code duplication, and other enhancements… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Input Subsystem Updates Merged With Security Fixes, Other Improvements
The big set of input subsystem updates were merged earlier this week for the Linux 7.3 cycle. It’s a random assortment of different improvements as well as bug/security fixes driven in part by the flow of AI/LLM generated discoveries… ⌘ Read more
Debian is Voting on Whether to Allow AI-Assisted Contributions
Debian developers are voting on whether to ban AI-assisted contributions, reports the blog Linuxiac, with a ballot listing eight proposals and a “None of the above” option.
The first one is still the original proposal to ban LLM-assisted contributions by changing the Debian Social Contract. This would stop generative AI from being used for direct D … ⌘ Read more
Longtime Linux CIFS/SMB3 Maintainer Passes Away
There is a changing of the guard with Linux 7.3 as the maintainer of the Common Internet File System (CIFS) / SMB3 code within the Linux kernel. Longtime maintainer, principal Linux CIFS author, and current Microsoft employee Steve French has stepped down due to health reasons… ⌘ Read more
eCryptfs Sees Fixes For Potential Malicious Intent, Some Dating Back To Its 2006 Debut
The eCryptfs stacked cryptographic filesystem implementation for the Linux kernel to transparently encrypt files saw a number of bug fixes for the Linux 7.3 kernel. A number of these bug fixes deal with potential maliciously-crafted data and vulnerable going back to the 2006 introduction of eCryptfs as this option known for its use on Ubuntu home directory encryption and Chrome OS… ⌘ Read more
Apple HFS / HFS+ File-System Support Continues Seeing Fixes With Linux 7.3
In early 2025 it was being discussed to potentially drop the HFS and HFS+ file-system support with the code having been orphaned over a decade and becoming a maintenance burden. But that dismal outlook quickly turned around with some developers stepping up to maintain the old Apple file-system support. Over a year later, fortunately, it’s turned out to be a success story with more HFS/HFS+ file-system fixes continuing to work their way into the … ⌘ Read more
Longtime Linux CIFS/SMB3 Maintainer Steps Down
There is a changing of the guard with Linux 7.3 as the maintainer of the Common Internet File System (CIFS) / SMB3 code within the Linux kernel. Longtime maintainer, principal Linux CIFS author, and current Microsoft employee Steve French has stepped down due to health reasons… ⌘ Read more
Specially Crafted NTFS File-System Image Allows Root Access On Linux With NTFS3 Driver
A reported security vulnerability for the NTFS3 driver has gone unaddressed since being reported earlier this summer. The vulnerability allows a pre-crafted NTFS image on a USB flash drive or similar to allow the user to gain root access to the running Linux system… ⌘ Read more
AMD RDNA 4m Firmware Published For Linux Ahead Of Launch
In addition to AMD’s Friday afternoon big code drop of all the UALink enablement patches for the Linux kernel and the AMDGPU driver, there was another big drop from AMD to end out the week… Upstreamed to the linux-firmware.git repository is all the firmware binaries needed by the open-source driver stack for initializing their forthcoming RDNA 4m “GFX 11.7” graphics… ⌘ Read more
Sched_ext’s Sub-Scheduler Support Now “Feature Complete” With Linux 7.3
The extensible scheduler framework “sched_ext” that allows for custom schedulers as BPF programs has been working on sub-scheduler support in recent kernel cycles. With Linux 7.3, sub-scheduler support is now deemed feature complete… ⌘ Read more
Red Hat’s Tuned 2.28 To Improve Out-Of-The-Box WiFi Power Savings On Fedora
Tuned 2.28 released this Saturday as the newest version of Red Hat’s tuning profile delivery mechanism for Linux. Tuned is used notably out-of-the-box on Fedora Linux for monitoring and adaptively tuning systems… ⌘ Read more
Wine 11.16 brings more ARM64 support improvements
The Wine 11.16 development release is officially out now bringing further enhancements to running Windows games / apps on Linux.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux. ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 x86/mm Lands Patches To Greatly Improve Latency-Sensitive Workloads
The highlight of this week’s x86/mm pull request of changes for the Linux 7.3 kernel are fixes that reduce the time that the TLB flushing code has interrupts disabled. This helps significantly with latency-sensitive workloads but Intel engineer Dave Hansen noted in the pull request that “it’s certainly something to keep an eye on” in looking out for any regressions… ⌘ Read more
China Joins Europe In Scrapping Windows For Linux
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: According to a Bloomberg report, attributed to China’s Ministry of State Security, the country has ordered some government agencies to drop Windows 10 China Government Edition for Chinese-made Linux distributions. Why not Windows 11? Because China, like many other non-US governments, no longer trusts American companies with the … ⌘ Read more
OpenZFS 2.4.4 Released With Linux 7.2 Support, Dozens Of Fixes
OpenZFS 2.4.4 is out today as the newest stable point release for this ZFS file-system implementation for Linux and FreeBSD systems… ⌘ Read more
Wine 11.16 Released With VA-API Hardware Decoding, Better ARM64 Support
Wine 11.16 is out today as the newest bi-weekly development release for this software enabling Windows games and applications to run on Linux and other platforms… ⌘ Read more
Proton 11.0-2 Enables More Titles With Steam Play / Linux Gaming
Just in time for those that enjoy their Linux / Steam Play gaming on weekends, Valve and CodeWeavers today released Proton 11.0-2 as the newest stable release of this Wine 11.0 downstream that powers Steam Play for running Windows games gracefully on Linux… ⌘ Read more
Proton 11.0-2 is out with lots of gaming fixes for Linux / SteamOS, Steam Deck, Steam Machine
Valve just rolled out the red carpet for the latest mainline stable update to their compatibility layer with Proton 11.0-2 now available.
Read the full article on [GamingOnLinux](https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/08/proton-11-0-2-is-out-with-lots-of-gaming-fi … ⌘ Read more
AMD Posts Massive Patch Series For Enabling UALink In The Linux Kernel
Whether coincidental or intentional, AMD engineers tend to drop interesting, feature patches for the open-source/Linux space on Friday afternoons. Hitting the kernel mailing list minutes ago were two patch series sent out by AMDGPU maintainer Alex Deucher for introducing UALink infrastructure… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Lands Improvements For Voodoo 3 / 4 / 5 & Vintage Atari Computers In 2026
At a time when Linux continues dropping older hardware drivers due to the influx of AI/LLM-generated bug reports and patches for hardware extremely unlikely to be used with modern versions of the mainline Linux kernel, Voodoo graphics cards and vintage Atari computers are seeing some reprieve with the upcoming Linux 7.3 kernel release… ⌘ Read more
Intel Computer Vision Sensing Driver Now Ready For Nova Lake
The main set of media subsystem updates have been merged for the ongoing Linux 7.3 merge window. Notable this round is the Intel Computer Vision Sensing “CVS” driver merged the previous cycle now supporting next-gen Nova Lake platforms… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Cleans Up Stack Randomization, Ensures It Happen As Early As Possible
Merged this week for the Linux 7.3 kernel was a big clean-up to the stack randomization code for better security on Linux systems and helping unify some of the architecture-specific code… ⌘ Read more
Intel Compute Runtime 26.31.39395.13 Continues Prepping For Crescent Island, OpenCL LEO
Intel today released the Compute Runtime 26.31.39395.13 open-source GPU compute stack update for Windows and Linux systems. Big ongoing trends for the Intel Compute Runtime continue to be preparing for upcoming Crescent Island and Nova Lake Xe3P graphics hardware as well as building out their new OpenCL LEO driver… ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.3 Ready With CXL Type-2 Driver Support For AMD Solarflare NICs
With the mainline Linux 7.2 kernel there is now the basic support in place for CXL Type-2 accelerator drivers within the CXL core subsystem code. The first in-tree Type-2 driver with the Linux kernel is for the new AMD Solarflare NIC hardware… ⌘ Read more
Linus Torvalds Endures A Debug Session From Hell, “Enormously Helped” By AI
It’s pretty rare to see Linus Torvalds author patches himself pertaining to the open-source Linux graphics drivers, but waking up this morning I was surprised to see he authored and committed an Intel Xe kernel graphics driver change himself. It ended up being after he encountered a “debug session from hell” but was ultimately helped by AI in fixing a bug that had been irking him… ⌘ Read more
Bazzite Linux 44 for handhelds finally launches with some massive upgrades
Bazzite Linux 44 has been out for desktops for a while, but the “Deck” image for handhelds and console-like TV PCs is finally here with a huge overhaul.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux. ⌘ Read more
Intel Mesa Linux Drivers Now Treating Nova Lake S / U / H / HX As Stable
Intel’s open-source Mesa drivers for Iris Gallium3D (OpenGL) and ANV (Vulkan) on Linux are no longer treating next-gen Nova Lake processors with integrated graphics as experimental and off-by-default. With today’s Mesa 26.3-devel code, the Intel driver code across Nova Lake’s S, U, H, and HX product families are considered stable and enabled by default… ⌘ Read more