Welcome to Week 12 of Linuxiac’s 2026 Weekly Roundup, your source for Linux and open-source news. Below are the key Linux and FOSS highlights from March 15 to 22.
Linux Distributions
This week brought four updates in the Linux world, and I’ve covered each one in the articles below.
- Mageia 10 Beta Released with Linux Kernel 6.18 and KDE Plasma 6.5
- Fedora Asahi Remix 43 Brings Fedora Linux 43 to Apple Silicon Macs
- GParted Live 1.8.1 Released With Linux Kernel 6.19
- antiX 26 Released as Systemd-Free Debian 13 Distro with Five Init Systems
Software Updates
In addition, here is a summary of the latest open-source software updates featured this week.
- GNOME 50 Desktop Environment Released, This Is What’s New
- KDE Plasma 6.6.3 Released With Dozens of Bug Fixes Across Desktop and KWin
- Blender 5.1 Launches With Big Speed Improvements Across Animation, Rendering, and UI
- Systemd 260 Drops SysV Init Support in Major Cleanup Update
- Bcachefs 1.37 Released With Stable Erasure Coding and Linux 7 Support
- Java 26 Released With HTTP 3 Support and Performance Gains
- Wine 11.5 Improves Linux Compatibility with New Build System Changes
- SysVinit 3.16 Init System Released with Minor Fixes
- Samba 4.24 Brings Entra ID Password Reset Support and Kerberos Hardening
- River 0.4 Wayland Compositor Debuts Pluggable Window Managers
- openSUSE’s Agama Installer 19 Released with Major Architectural Overhaul
- Bottles 63.0 Introduces Proxy Support and Resolves Installation Issues
- PipeWire 1.6.2 Released with Bug Fixes for Memory Handling and Audio Filters
- PipeWire 1.4.11 Released as Bug Fix Update for Older Stable Series
- FFmpeg 8.1 Brings Vulkan Compute Codecs and New Decoder Support
- HandBrake 1.11.1 Video Transcoder Improves Stability With Audio and UI Fixes
- OpenShot 3.5 Video Editor Released With New Default Timeline and ComfyUI AI Integration
- Canonical Announces MicroCloud 3.1 with Cluster Manager Integration
- Immich 2.6 Photo and Video Management Solution Released with 350+ Commits
- Vivaldi Browser 7.9 Introduces UI Auto-Hide for Full-Screen Browsing
Must-Reads You Can’t Miss
The Linux and FOSS community also saw several notable developments this week. Key highlights include:
- Systemd Introduces Birth Date Support for Upcoming Linux Desktop Age Controls
- Linux Distributions Begin Blocking Brazil Access Over New Digital Law
- Germany Mandates ODF for Public Administration in Sovereign Digital Stack
- Free VPN and Split View Are Coming to Mozilla Firefox
- Opera GX Gaming Browser Launches on Linux With Full Feature Set
- Upcoming KDE Plasma 6.7 Adds Time Zone Offsets and Desktop Type-Ahead
- Lightpanda Promises a Faster, Lightweight Alternative to Headless Chrome
Hardware Updates
As for the hardware, I’ve introduced you to the new high-end Linux router + two truly powerful Linux stations.
- Turris Omnia NG Wired Launches as a Linux-Powered 10Gb Router
- System76 Launches New Thelio Mira Desktop with Ryzen 9000 and RTX 5090 Power
- TUXEDO Gemini 17 AMD Linux Laptop Debuts with Ryzen 9
That’s all for this week. If you missed our previous wrap-up from Week 11 of 2026 (Mar 9 – 15), you can catch up here, where you’ll find Debian 13.4, EndeavourOS Titan, Fedora Linux 44 Beta, GIMP 3.2, OBS Studio 32.1, KDE Plasma 6.5.6, Kitty 0.46, Ageless Linux, freedesktop Closes Controversial Age Verification API Proposal, AlmaLinux 9 and 10 Gain Official NVIDIA CUDA Support, and many 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!
