Tech News Digest – April 15, 2025
Dallas SpohnTech News Digest - 2025-04-15
📢 Closed-captioned for the ESP-impaired
Pinta 3.0 released
Category: Linux
Tags: General
Published: Mon, 14 Apr 2025 15:16:05 +0000
TL;DR: Here is a 2-sentence summary:
Pinta version 3.0 has been released, marking the image editor's port to GTK 4.0 and libadwaita. This release also includes several improvements, new effects, and bug fixes.
Version 3.0 of the Pinta image editor has been released. The most notable change in this release is that Pinta has been ported to GTK 4.0 and libadwaita. It also includes a number of improvements, new effects, and bug fixes.
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[$] In search of a stable BPF verifier
Category: Linux
Tags: Linux
Published: Mon, 14 Apr 2025 14:47:53 +0000
TL;DR: Here is a summary of the text in 2 sentences:
BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) programs are not guaranteed to be compatible with new kernel versions, which can lead to instability and unintended breakages. In response, two researchers presented different approaches at the 2025 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-Management, and BPF Summit to address this issue and improve the stability of deploying BPF programs across multiple kernel versions.
BPF is, famously, not part of the kernel's promises of user-space stability. New kernels can and do break existing BPF programs; the BPF developers try to fix unintentional regressions as they happen, but the whole thing can be something of a bumpy ride for users trying to deploy BPF programs across multiple kernel versions. Shung-Hsi Yu and Daniel Xu had two different approaches to fixing the problem that they presented at the 2025 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-Management, and BPF Summit.
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[$] The state of the memory-management development process, 2025 edition
Category: Linux
Tags: Linux
Published: Mon, 14 Apr 2025 14:42:29 +0000
TL;DR: Here is a summary of the text in 2 sentences:
Andrew Morton, the lead maintainer for the kernel's memory-management subsystem, typically keeps a low profile during the Linux Summit, letting developers work independently. However, when he leads the traditional development-process session in the memory-management track, he actively engages with developers to discuss ways to improve the process, but no significant problems were identified at the 2025 gathering.
Andrew Morton, the lead maintainer for the kernel's memory-management
subsystem, tends to be quiet during the Linux Storage, Filesystem,
Memory-Management, and BPF Summit, preferring to let the developers work
things out on their own. That changes, though, when he leads the
traditional development-process session in the memory-management track. At
the 2025 gathering, this discussion covered a number of ways in which the
process could be improved, but did not unearth any significant problems.
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Security updates for Monday
Category: Linux
Tags: Linux
Published: Mon, 14 Apr 2025 13:35:33 +0000
TL;DR: Here is a summary of the security updates in 2 sentences:
Multiple Linux distributions have issued security updates to fix vulnerabilities in various packages, including glib2.0, jinja2, kernel, perl, subversion, and more. The affected distributions include Debian, Fedora, Mageia, Oracle, Red Hat, SUSE, and Ubuntu, with updates ranging from fixes for individual packages to complete kernel updates.
Security updates have been issued by Debian (glib2.0, jinja2, kernel, mediawiki, perl, subversion, twitter-bootstrap3, twitter-bootstrap4, and wpa), Fedora (c-ares, chromium, condor, corosync, cri-tools1.29, exim, firefox, matrix-synapse, nextcloud, openvpn, perl-Data-Entropy, suricata, upx, varnish, webkitgtk, yarnpkg, and zabbix), Mageia (giflib, gnupg2, graphicsmagick, and poppler), Oracle (delve and golang, go-toolset:ol8, grub2, and webkit2gtk3), Red Hat (kernel and kernel-rt), SUSE (chromium, fontforge-20230101, govulncheck-vulndb, kernel, liblzma5-32bit, pgadmin4, python311-Django, and python311-PyJWT), and Ubuntu (graphicsmagick).
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Kernel prepatch 6.15-rc2
Category: Linux
Tags: General
Published: Sun, 13 Apr 2025 22:04:47 +0000
TL;DR: Here is a 2-sentence summary:
Linus has released Linux kernel version 6.15-rc2 for testing. He notes that nothing particularly significant stands out at this early stage of the release, but wants to monitor its progress before making any further comments.
Linus has released 6.15-rc2 for testing.
"Nothing particularly stands out to me, but it's early in the release
yet, so let's see how it goes.
"
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Written by
Dallas Spohn
Dallas Spohn
Dallas, a seasoned professional with a diverse background, transitions seamlessly between roles as a systems admin turned developer, technical writer, and curriculum developer at Red Hat. With a knack for unraveling complex concepts, he crafts engaging materials primarily in DocBook, guiding enthusiasts through the intricacies of Red Hat's certification courses. In his earlier days, Dallas's passion for Anime led him to contribute to Anime News Network, channeling his creativity and expertise into captivating content. His contributions extended beyond writing as he interviewed prominent figures in the Anime industry, offering insights into their creative processes and visions. Beyond his professional pursuits, he's a devoted husband and father, cherishing moments with his loved ones. Dallas's journey in the tech industry spans various roles, from a security developer at NTT Security to an operations architect overseeing Linux servers for commercial transcoding. His tenure at esteemed institutions like Goldman Sachs and Lockheed Martin has honed his skills as a systems engineer, instilling in him a deep-rooted understanding of complex systems. An avid FPV pilot, Dallas finds exhilaration in soaring through the skies with his drones, often contemplating the lessons learned from his aerial adventures. His diverse experiences, including serving as a naval submariner aboard the USS Alexandria and pursuing higher education in England, enrich his perspective and fuel his thirst for knowledge.