u/fdelux6

Thunderbird 157.0 was released on September 29.

Main fixes:

• Status bar could stay active and cause 100% CPU usage
• Sent messages could silently fail to save to the IMAP Sent folder
• Pending moves within the same IMAP account could make messages disappear
• Valid RSA OpenPGP keys could be rejected, which blocked encryption
• Gmail OAuth2 could fail intermittently on Windows

Other changes:

• New enterprise policies: DisableChat and DisableFileLink
• IMAP/POP manual config port field is now optional
• Remote content can now be viewed in OpenPGP messages with integrity protection

Release notes: https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/157.0/releasenotes/

Linuxiac summary: https://linuxiac.com/mozilla-thunderbird-157-fixes-100-cpu-usage-openpgp-and-imap-issues/

Git 2.56 is out. Here are the changes I found most useful.

Workflow

• git add --resolved stages only the files you fixed after a merge conflict. It skips unrelated changes in your working tree. Git also checks for leftover conflict markers before staging.
• git branch --delete-merged cleans up local branches that are already merged upstream.
• git bisect run now resets itself after it finds the bad commit.
• Git gives better suggestions for common git push mistakes.

New and experimental

• git refs can now create, update, delete, and rename references.
• git history gets a drop operation. It removes a commit and replays the later commits on top of its parent.
• git replay gets a --linearize option.

Large repos

• GitHub reports big gains in merge-base calculations and other operations on very large repositories.
• Path-walk repacking supports more optimization features, which can cut storage a lot in some cases.
• Partial clones get better ways to discard large locally cached objects that can be downloaded again later.
• git log --follow and graph rendering also improved.

Sources

Highlights from Git 2.56 (GitHub Blog): https://github.blog/open-source/git/highlights-from-git-2-56/

Linuxiac: https://linuxiac.com/git-2-56-released-with-safer-conflict-resolution-and-performance-gains/

Clonezilla Live 3.3.3-37 is out. It's based on Debian Sid from September 13, 2026, with kernel 7.1.13-1.

Main changes:

• HTTP Boot support in Clonezilla Lite Server, alongside the existing PXE Boot option. Secure Boot works over HTTP boot too.
• LUKS2 repository support, for encrypted storage.
• Partclone bumped to 0.3.50, fixing a Btrfs-related issue.
• Older networking tools cleaned up. Deprecated net-tools commands replaced with iproute2, dhclient replaced with dhcpcd.
• GRUB now defaults to 1920x1080 or 1024x768 resolutions, with an auto option and a 1024x768 fallback, for HiDPI displays.
• Restore is faster when the target disk or partition layout matches the source. It skips unnecessary partition-image conversion.
• cnvt-ocsiso-qcow2 reworked with separate VHD and ISO packaging modes, plus a fix for kernel panics when booting converted VHD images.

Bug fixes include an LVM system.devices locking issue on RHEL 10 and AlmaLinux 10+, a filesystem/size detection issue on bare disks, and a missing post-clone action menu (power off, reboot, or run a command).

Source: https://linuxiac.com/clonezilla-live-3-3-3-37-adds-http-boot-and-luks2-support/

Announcement: https://sourceforge.net/p/clonezilla/news/2026/09/stable-clonezilla-live-333-37-released/

Download: https://sourceforge.net/projects/clonezilla/files/clonezilla_live_stable/3.3.3-37/

Not a KDE project, but worth a mention here. Audacity 4.0 is out, and the headline change is a full rewrite of the UI on Qt, moving off wxWidgets.

Along with the toolkit switch:

• Native HiDPI rendering
• Dockable/floatable panels with saveable Workspaces
• Light, dark, and high-contrast themes with configurable accent colors
• A reworked clip-editing model built around the new interface

Some older features (Time Tracks, MIDI tracks, Macro Manager, VAMP/LADSPA plugins) aren't ported over yet.

Official change log: https://github.com/audacity/audacity/releases/tag/Audacity-4.0.0

Source: https://linuxiac.com/audacity-4-0-audio-editor-released-with-redesigned-qt-interface-new-editing-model/

Raspberry Pi Imager 2.0.11 just came out. It's mostly a reliability and safety update.

Key changes:

• Imager now takes an exclusive lock on drives when writing on Linux and Windows. This should prevent accidental writes from other processes.
• Support added for the rpi-preseed first-boot customization format.
• Accounts created through rpi-preseed are now always added to the sudo group.
• Multi-frame .img.zst images are now supported.
• Compute Module users get a new Erase command for Fastboot, plus better device identity checks.
• Several fixes, including UASP storage detection and DiskArbitration handling.

Full changelog here: https://github.com/raspberrypi/rpi-imager/releases/tag/v2.0.11

GNOME's design team posted a rundown of ideas they're exploring for the future of GNOME Shell. Not all of these are locked in, some are close to implementation, others are early concepts. Highlights:

Search overlay: instead of replacing the whole Overview, search results would appear in an overlay above it, keeping the spatial layout intact. This one's already in progress and expected in GNOME 51 this fall. Editable Quick Settings: users would be able to add or remove toggles instead of every control being permanently shown.

Simplified calendar popover: notifications move next to Quick Settings, letting the calendar menu focus on events, world clocks, and weather. Mosaic tiling: the most ambitious idea. Windows would auto-resize as new ones open, instead of manual tiling.

Design team says they're in touch with the developer of the MosaicWM extension to refine this further.

Alt+Tab / Super+Tab rework: a hybrid approach showing recent windows separately while grouping older ones by app.

Smaller items: a visual login screen grid, a wider battery indicator with clearer percentage, and a transparent top panel.

None of this is committed. Implementation speed depends on developer resources, and some ideas need prototyping and user testing first.

Source: https://linuxiac.com/gnome-shares-its-vision-for-the-future-of-gnome-shell/

original post: https://blogs.gnome.org/shell-dev/2026/08/11/gnome-shell-design-dreams/

NVIDIA released the 610.57 New Feature Branch driver for Linux on Aug. 03.

Gaming fixes include:

• STALKER 2 crash with VK_DEVICE_LOST errors under VKD3D_CONFIG=descriptor_heap
• Rendering corruption in Assetto Corsa EVO
• Crash in Monster Hunter Wilds
• GPU hang in Forza Horizon 6
• Hangs or black screens in Elden Ring, Elden Ring Nightreign, Crimson Desert, Grounded 2, and others
• Black screen regression in Total War: Warhammer III from the 595 series

Other fixes:

• Black screens on kernel 7.0+ when switching virtual consoles with DRM fbdev disabled
• DKMS module build failure after nvidia-installer install
• Suspend/resume failures on laptops using runtime D3 power management
• Vulkan display enumeration bug with __VK_ENABLE_DEVICE_GROUPS=1 Delayed wakeups causing stutter with multi-thread semaphore waits

As usual, most users should wait for their distro's repos rather than using the standalone .run installer.

Source: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/details/274513/

Also on: https://linuxiac.com/nvidia-610-57-linux-driver-lands-with-dozens-of-vulkan-gaming-and-kernel-fixes/

Source: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/changelog/#id1

Kitty 0.48 is out. Highlights:

Vertical tabs. The tab bar can now sit along the left or right edge of the window via tab_bar_edge, useful on wide/ultrawide displays where horizontal space is more available than vertical.

Clicking inside an unfocused kitty window now both focuses it and sends the click through to the target element, brings Linux behavior in line with the existing macOS default.

Graphics protocol gained a transient usage hint, letting apps mark an image as short-lived so kitty can handle it more efficiently. remote-control get-text kitten can now pull text from the alternate screen buffer and its scrollback.

Wayland: fixes for initial window sizing under fractional scaling, and a fix for tab-creation issues specifically on GNOME.

Several regression fixes carried over from recent point releases (layout neighbor-navigation direction, GIF disposal rendering in icat, doubled key repeats on some Wayland compositors).

Mozilla is experimenting with moving Firefox to a two-week release cadence starting in September, down from the current four-week cycle.

Article from linuxiac.com summarizing the original Mozilla developer mailing list discussion. Original source linked within the article.

Source: https://linuxiac.com/firefox-to-test-a-two-week-release-cycle-starting-in-september/

Original: https://groups.google.com/a/mozilla.org/g/dev-platform/c/qlaQ1YSlOP8

fastfetch 2.66.0 is now in the Fedora 44 stable repositories.Got it updated today.

Notable changes:

Fixed accurate AMD GPU names not being queried in driverSpecific mode Fixed compatibility with WSL 2.9.3 CPU package count no longer shown in default output (still available via custom formats with {packages}) Added Astra Linux and Proxmox Backup Server detection New logos: Flatcar, Azure Linux, Chimera, Parabola, PostmarketOS, Qubes

Full changelog: https://github.com/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch/releases/tag/2.66.0

Got Mutter 50.3 today in Fedora updates. Key fixes are:

Several crash fixes Fix for incorrect accumulated damage in screencasts (relevant if you record or stream on Wayland) Fix for erroneous stack order changes on workspace switches Fix for preferred scale events not being sent to clients (HiDPI related) Fix for OSK not triggering for certain Wayland text input clients

Full release notes: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/mutter/-/releases/50.3

KDE Plasma 6.8, scheduled for mid-October, is already taking shape with a notable KWin performance change for NVIDIA users.

https://linuxiac.com/kde-plasma-6-8-to-enable-triple-buffering-by-default-for-nvidia-gpus/