PorteuX 2.7 has been released with Linux kernel 7.1.1, GNOME 50.2, KDE Plasma 6.7.0, a switch to the new NTFS-Plus driver, and a number of performance-focused optimizations. The developer is also claiming the distro now outperforms CachyOS in Geekbench 6. Do you think benchmark results like these are meaningful when comparing Linux distributions

Fair Warning: Long Linux nerd rambling ahead.

I actually was responding to another post where someone revealed to another that Linux is not free of corporate influence. I started to write out this spiraling drawl and realized it had nothing to do with the OP, but thought maybe someone else might find it interesting here.

Feel free to correct me should I have some details wrong, I wrote this off the cuff.

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The history of Linux is inreresting, but just remember, Linux "won" in some senses just like how Windows, Apple, Intel, etc. "won" their respective domains. Microsoft "won" corporate desktop and office tooling ecosystems. Apple "won" the consumer computing and personal devices (tablet/phone) ecosystems. Linux "won" the servers ecosystem. And the history of how that happened is just as interesting as the fabled stories as to how Microsoft or Apple came to prominence today.

The only reason new Linux users are sometimes caught off guard by the fact that Linux is highly influenced by corporate entities is because they haven't looked into the tumultuous and messy, but very interesting, history of UNIX, Linux, GNU, BSD, and others.

What follows is not entirely related, but take this example of how Linux ended up, perhaps by sheer luck, to have ended up as one of the dominant surviving UNIX-like OSes today:

Take the 1992 lawsuit by UNIX System Laboratories vs BSD. One might say, okay, but what does this have to do with Linux? Well Linus Torvalds created Linux in 1991. BSD had been around since 1978, and had been gaining considerable popularity during the 1980s. BSD has its own messy history, but the short of the long of it is that Bell Labs allowed UNIX to be utilized, researched, and modified by Universities, which resulted in an explosion of UNIX derivative OSes (distributions), including one Berkeley School Distribution, or BSD. During this time period, the attempts to standardize UNIX by vendors resulted in what came to be known as The UNIX wars. It was in the culmination of these "wars" that aforementioned lawsuit occurred, during which BSD development was ground to a halt (eventually forks of BSD like the ones you see today are the sole inheritors of the BSD family of OSes). This was during the same time the Linux Kernel and the GNU OS would come onto the scene and essentially eat BSD's cake.

In essence, were it not for the timing of this lawsuit (which you can view as unfortunate or serendipitous depending on your views of BSD vs Linux), we might all be talking about BSD the way we talk about Linux today. Maybe, even then that's highly speculative.

OC by @z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml

It's been a while!

Konform Browser version 140.12.0-100 was recently released and if you aren't aware it's time to upgrade! ^1^

Konform Browser is a free/libre and open-source (FLOSS) fork of Firefox ESR with the primary goals of security, privacy, and user freedom. Shows by example how these three goals don’t have to be at odds but support each other and work in harmony. Runs lean and light with lights off out of the box, while making it convenient to toggle on the features you want. All telemetry removed, none added. Fingerprinting and tracking extras with base defaults on par with (or exceeding) Tor Browser, still keeping common-sense tweaks like dark mode and installation of self-built addons available without making a fuss about it. Graceful degradation for private networks and more granular control for those who want a browser that really conforms.

"ESR" means there's a major upgrade coming up soon with the expected jump from Firefox ESR version 140 to 153 next month. Work has already been ongoing for a while to prepare Konform Browser v153 to be the most secure Firefox build at release. Early alpha builds based on FF153beta are available for anyone who wants to do early testing or help out with any other contribution.

Current Konform Browser 140.x is production-ready and expected to keep receiving security updates and bugfixes for at least a couple of release cycles after initial v153 release so users can upgrade at their leisure.

If you try it, would love to hear your feedback on the browser - and if you like it, tell your friends!

FAQ

Installation instructions provided for most Linux distros

New: Artix Linux package, Gentoo ebuild

Releases

Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@konform

^1^ or install 😘

(No provocation)

I see these reasons:

• newbie
• lazy (don't wanna edit config files etc.)
• unique features (like assistant/toolbox, some optimizations like in cachyos)
• wanna check how different systems are set up (that's rather distrohopping)

Personally, I used manjaro i3 when I was beigginer and wanted to see how tiling WM should be configured (check out ranger config, for example). But after some time, I don't see reasons why not to just customize pure arch (same with debian and debian-based distros).

Linux-based phone still ‘runs 99% of Android apps’ so you can do more with it, if you wish

Years ago it was really hard to run digital signage on Linux. No real free drivers, old kernels, tons of reverse engineering.

That's largely over now.

RK3588 is the go-to platform, Mali finally has open drivers (Panfrost/Panthor), and hardware video decode landed in mainline in early 2026.

I'm the dev behind the GarlicSignage stack and dug into the current state:

https://garlic-signage.com/resources/technology/linux-digital-signage/

#DigitalSignage #Linux #FOSS #opensource @linux