Welcome to Week 42 of Linuxiac’s 2026 Weekly Roundup, your source for Linux and open-source news. Below are the key Linux and FOSS highlights from October 12 to 18.
Linux Distributions
This week brought four updates in the Linux world, and I’ve covered each one in the articles below.
- Ubuntu 26.10 Released with GNOME 51, Linux Kernel 7.3, and Rust Coreutils
- GNOME OS Moves Closer to Everyday Desktop Use With Preview Release
- Omarchy 4.0.5 Released with Linux Kernel 7.2.8, Better Hardware Support
- Tails 7.15 Privacy-Focused Linux Distro Released with Tor Updates
Software Updates
Here’s a summary of this week’s latest open-source software updates.
- KDE Plasma 6.8 Released, Drops X11 Sessions After 30 Years of KDE
- KDE Plasma 6.6.7 Arrives as the First Update in the New LTS Series
- GNOME 51.1 Released with Shell, Mutter, and Security Fixes
- ONLYOFFICE Docs 10.0 Released with 50+ New Features and AI Integration
- Wine 11.20 Fixes 24 Bugs, Improves ARM64EC Support
- Noctalia 5.3 Wayland Shell Released with Redesigned App Launcher
- Firefox 158 Adds JPEG XL Support, Improves PDF Handling on Linux
- Mozilla Thunderbird 158 Released with Faster Email Filtering and Numerous Fixes
- Libreboot 26.10 Adds UEFI Support, Expands Hardware Compatibility
- OpenRGB 1.1 Released with CLI Fixes, Improved Device Hotplug Support
- Steam Client Update Improves Proton Support, Fixes Vulkan Issues on Linux
- Kdenlive 26.08.2 Video Editor Released with Proxy, Audio, and Project Fixes
- Gitea 28.2 Fixes Nine Security Vulnerabilities
- PeaZip 11.4 File Archiver Released with Security Improvements
- Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.1 Released with More Devices, Updated Morph Browser
- Strata 1.0 Released, a New Linux File Manager Built for Omarchy
- Shelly 3.1.7 Arch Linux Package Manager Adds New Zig-Based Engine
- GNOME 50.6 Released with Shell, Mutter, and Nautilus Fixes
- Forgejo 17.0 Dev Platform Released with Improved Actions, Git LFS Support
- IPFire 2.29 Core Update 204 Fixes VPN DNS Issues, Updates Linux Kernel
- DavMail 7.1 Exchange Gateway Improves Microsoft 365 and IMAP Support
- Fastfetch 2.70 System Information Tool Released with Linux and Android Improvements
Must-Reads You Can’t Miss
The Linux and FOSS community also saw several notable developments. Key highlights include:
- Linus Torvalds Rejects AI Coding Bans as Linux Rethinks Disclosure Rules
- Linux Mint 27 “Adrien” Coming This Christmas, Ends Point Releases
- Fedora Linux 45 Delayed, New Release Date Set for October 27
- Gentoo Plans to Drop Chromium, Google Chrome Remains Available
- Peppermint OS Expands Beyond Debian with Void Linux-Based PepVoid
- Linus Torvalds Experiments with AI-Generated Kernel Code, Sees 3x Speedup
- LumineCapture Is a New Screenshot Tool Built for Speed on Linux
- Microsoft Wants to Protect Your Linux Desktop with Defender
- Mozilla Launches Firefox Enterprise for Business and Government Users
- Epic Games Confirms Fortnite Is Coming to Linux with New Easy Anti-Cheat
- ZimaOS Is a Linux-Based NAS OS That Makes Self-Hosting Easier
That’s all for this week. If you missed our previous wrap-up from Week 41 of 2026 (October 5 to 11), you can catch up here, where you’ll find Raspberry Pi OS, Python 3.15, COSMIC Desktop 1.10, KDE Gear 26.08.2, OpenSSH 10.6, Tmux 3.8, NVIDIA 615.78.08, ProtonUp-Qt 2.16, Immich 3.3, LineageOS 24.0, Auto-cpufreq 3.2, Flathub Reverses AI-Generated App Ban, Let’s Encrypt to Cut SSL Certificate Lifetimes to 64 Days, and many more.
That’s all from me for this week! As always, keep an eye on Linuxiac for the latest news from the Linux and open-source world.
Thanks for reading, and have a great week ahead!
