Welcome to the 3rd week of Linuxiac’s 2026 Weekly Roundup, your go-to source for everything Linux and open source. Here are the top Linux and FOSS highlights from January 12 to 18.
Linux Distributions
This week brought four important updates in the Linux world, and I’ve covered each one in the articles below.
- EndeavourOS Releases Ganymede Neo With NVIDIA Driver Changes
- Garuda Linux Publishes First ISO Refresh of 2026 With NVIDIA 590 Drivers
- Tails 7.4 Released With Persistent Language and Keyboard Settings
- DietPi 10.0 Enters Open Beta With Major Platform and Software Changes
Software Updates
Apart from the distro releases, here’s a quick summary of the latest open-source software updates that made the news.
- KDE Plasma 6.6 Beta Is Out as a Feature Preview Ahead of February Stable Launch
- KDE Ships Plasma 6.5.5 as January Bugfix Update for Plasma 6
- GNOME 48.8 Released With Bug Fixes and Security Updates
- GNOME 49.3 Released With Security Fixes and Broad Bugfix Updates
- Wine 11.0 Brings Fully Supported WoW64 Mode and Linux Kernel NTSync Support
- Kdenlive 25.12.1 Brings Welcome Screen Polishing and Audio Fixes
- PipeWire 1.4.10 Brings Fixes for Volume Restore and Pulse Server Streams
- Firefox 147 Now Available for Download, Here’s What’s New
- Mozilla Thunderbird 147 Released With New Folder Path View
- jQuery 4.0 Released After a Decade With Modernization Changes
- Amarok 3.3.2 Music Player Released With Usability Improvements
- Raspberry Pi Imager 2.0.4 Improves Write Reliability and Large Drive Support
- Nginx Proxy Manager 2.13.6 Released With Built-In Two-Factor Authentication
- Fastfetch 2.57 System Information Tool Brings COSMIC and Niri Support
- Forgejo 14.0 Arrives With New Web Editor, Smarter Search
Must-Reads You Can’t Miss
There was also some notable news from the Linux and FOSS community this week. Here are the highlights.
- Debian Plans to Remove GTK2 Before Debian 14
- Zorin OS 18 Hits 2 Million Downloads as Windows Users Drive Growth
- Let’s Encrypt Launches IP Address Certificates With 6-Day Lifetimes
- Developer Claims Photoshop Installers Now Work on Linux Using Wine
- COSMIC Desktop Adds Rounded Corners and Window Shadows
- Opera GX Gaming Browser Confirms Native Linux Version
- Plasma 6.6 Improves System Monitor, HDR Calibration, and Desktop Stability
- KDE Plasma 6.7 Will Offer Instant Light and Dark Mode Switching
- Canonical Launches Minimal Ubuntu Pro for Secure Cloud Deployments
- Parrot 7.1 Through 7.3 Planned for 2026 as Focus Moves to AI Security
- Python Software Foundation Receives $1.5 Million From Anthropic
- Unraid Plans Internal Boot Support and Multiple Arrays for 2026
- Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server Remain the World’s Most Popular Databases
That’s all for this week. If you missed our previous wrap-up from Week 2 of 2026 (Jan 5 – 11), you can catch up here, where you’ll find Linux Mint 22.3 “Zena”, Debian 13.3, Nitrux 5.1, Mageia 10 Alpha, Budgie Desktop 10.10, Dozzle 9.0, Seafile 13.0, Torvalds Shares AudioNoise, Debian Urgently Seeks Volunteers After Data Protection Team Resigns, Gentoo’s 2025 Report, Steam Is Coming to ARM64, How to Install COSMIC Desktop on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and more.
Be sure to keep an eye on Linuxiac for the latest updates from the Linux and open-source world.
Have a great week ahead!
