Meta and IBM Assemble Open-Source AI Super Team
Development of open-source AI models just got a major boost with the launch of the AI Alliance, a super-team made up of companies, developers, scientists, academics, and spearheaded by Meta and IBM, owners of Red Hat. While governments around the world wrestle with ways to regulate AI to ensure development is safe, responsible, and not in going to lead to any sci-fi-esque doomsday scenarios, the newly-announced AI Alliance is aiming to offer an industry-led answer. The Ai Alliance says it is “focused on fostering an open community and enabling developers and researchers to accelerate responsible innovation in AI while ensuring 
#News #Ai #Chatgpt #RedHat
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/meta-ibm-assemble-open-source-ai-alliance
Zorin OS 17 Beta is Now Available to Download
Ahead of the Zorin OS 17 release (due later this month), a beta version is available for download and testing. Zorin OS 17 rebases on top of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and the Linux 6.2 kernel but, interestingly, ships with GNOME 43 and not GNOME 42, which is the default in Ubuntu 22.04. Given the substantial leap from GNOME 3.38 used in previous Zorin OS releases, this version offers much improved performance and several major user experience changes, such as a horizontal workspace switcher, interactive screenshot tool, and button-based Quick Settings menu. Zorin OS 17 builds out from those solid foundations
#News #Distros #ZorinOs
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/zorin-os-17-beta-released
Use Reco to Record System Audio & Microphone Input in Ubuntu
Looking to record system sounds and your microphone at the same time on Ubuntu, and save it to a single audio file? Reco is a free, open-source audio recording app for Linux, written in Vala and GTK. Although it’s designed for elementary OS it works well on Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, and doesn’t look too conspicuous on the modern GNOME desktop, either. Better still, Reco is available to install from Flathub. Being able to capture your voice and your system’s audio output (be it game audio, software, music, someone talking in a broadcast) simultaneously is useful for content creation,
#Apps #AudioApps #Reco #Sound
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/reco-record-system-audio-microphone-same-time-ubuntu
Mozilla Firefox Beta & Developer Edition Now Available as Debs via APT Repo
Mozilla now provides Deb builds of Firefox Beta and Firefox Developer Edition for Debian-based Linux distributions (y’know, like Ubuntu) Just like the Firefox Nightly Debs Mozilla announced back in October, Debian packages of Firefox beta and Developer Edition are available to install from a dedicated APT repository that is maintained by Mozilla developers. Mozilla says its Deb packages offer better performance and security compared to other Firefox builds available in distro repos and on other app stores. This is due to custom compiler optimisations, hardened binaries with all security flags enabled, and the fact Mozilla can issue updates to users
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/mozilla-firefox-beta-developer-edition-debs
Switch Workspaces in Ubuntu 22.04 Using Buttons with This Extension
Looking for a quick way to switch workspaces in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS using your mouse? You’ll already known you can click on the Activities button in the top bar. That opens the overview screen which shows all active workspaces. You click on a workspace to go straight to it. Not a hardship, granted, but a bit more effort than just switching instantly. So can hold the super key and scroll on your mouse scroll wheel to cycle between workspaces too. But that assumes you’re using a mouse with a scroll wheel (and still involves keyboard shortcuts; you can press super
#News #GnomeExtensions
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/workspace-switch-buttons-gnome-extension
Ayaneo Retro Mini PC
Outside of single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi, small form-factor desktop PCs aren’t super common — a market gap gaming hardware company Ayaneo hopes to fill. They’ve unveiled the Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM01, an AMD-powered desktop computer housed inside a 5-inch box designed to look as much like a beige Macintosh from the 1980s as it can, without being sued by Apple. The front is brazenly embellished with a six-colour rainbow logo (magnetic, and removable), and the faux display bears a phoney Finder face on it. Ayaneo is a profiling maker of handheld gaming PCs, so it’s not surprise
#Hardware #News #Amd #Ayaneo
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/ayaneo-retro-mini-pc-supports-ubuntu
Varia is a Brand New Download Manager for Linux
Varia is a new, open-source download manager for Linux based on Aria2, a powerful command-line download utility. As the user interface is built with GTK 4 and libadwaita, Varia looks perfectly in-keeping with other modern GTK apps Ubuntu offers: Of course, it’s 2023 and we all (apparently) live in a world of blazing fast internet connections, where giant files download in seconds, and everything else gets streamed or accessed on-demand. Are dedicated desktop download managers still useful? If you need to download a large file over an unreliable internet connection (or if your computer dies mid-way through said transfer) most
#Apps #News #DownloadManager #GtkApps #Varia
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/varia-new-download-manager-for-linux
Notepad++ Marks 20th Anniversary with New Release
The open-source text editor Notepad++ is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a new release filled with some neat new features. In Notepad++ 8.6 (the 238th release since 2003, for those keeping count) the Windows-based code tool adds to its extensive feature set with an improved multi-edit feature. Now, I’m not a developer. I dip into a bit of basic PHP for the omg! sites on occasion, but it doesn’t require a bespoke coding environment. I don’t know how this feature adds to or adjust what was (apparently) available in earlier versions of the app. A few 3rd-party plugins for Notepad++
#News #AppUpdates #Notepad++ #Texteditor
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/notepad-plus-plus-20th-anniversary-update
Blue Recorder, Linux Screencast App, Ported to GTK4
GNOME Shell’s built-in screen recording feature is perfect at capturing short clips but when you need to record longer sessions you should use a dedicated screen recording app. Such tools give you greater control over video quality, output format, sound capture, frame rate, and so on — all vitally important if you’re looking to create high-quality screencast content for videos, social media, or really helpful bug reports. Amongst the surfeit of Linux screen recording software that’s readily available is Blue Recorder. Blue Recorder is an improved, Rust-based rewrite of Green Recorder, which was an open-source screen recording tool popular circa
#News #AppUpdates #ScreenRecorders
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/blue-recorder-linux-app-ported-to-gtk4
Musique Music Player Ported to Qt 6, Refreshes UI
It’s been a long time since I last wrote about Musique, a desktop music player for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Amazingly, the app is still going as it just got its first major update in nearly 3 years. “This Musique update is the first Qt 6-based release I do. The main effort has been modernizing the look of the app: a more flat and clean style, with rounded artist pics and a nicer toolbar,” writes its developer, Flavio Tordini, on the project website. Musique is a music player in the traditional mould: you point it at a folder full of
#News #AppUpdates #Musicplayers #Musique #QtApps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/musique-music-player-ported-to-qt6
GNOME Shell 45.1 Now Rolling Out to Ubuntu 23.10
The recent GNOME Shell 45.1 update is now rolling out to users of Ubuntu 23.10. As the first point release to GNOME Shell since the GNOME 45 release in September, plenty of miscellaneous bug fixes, code cleanups, and crash solution are included. Among specific fixes mentioned in the official upstream changelog: The latter fix for the calendar pop up addresses a quirk where clicking on a date in the bottom row makes the entire applet shrink. Chances are you never noticed this bug as it does not occur if a date in any row above the final one is clicked
#News #Ubuntu23_10
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/gnome-shell-45-1-now-rolling-out-to-ubuntu-23-10
Pano Clipboard Manager Now Works in Ubuntu 23.10
In the world of Linux clipboard managers few can match the panache of Pano, a GNOME Shell extension I first wrote about last year. Pano offers an interactive, visually-rich dashboard from which to store, search, and organise your clipboard history. It’s similar to the popular macOS app Paste but arguably better since it’s free, open-source software and works on Linux. Well, I’m pleased to report that this flashy productivity aid (which can be navigated entirely from the keyboard, if you want) now supports GNOME 45 and Ubuntu 23.10. Better yet, the add-on now lets you choose where on screen it
#News #ClipboardManager #GnomeExtensions #Pano
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/pano-linux-clipboard-extension-gnome-45
Firefox 120 Released with Enhanced Privacy, PIP Snapping, and More
Mozilla Firefox 120 has landed, bringing with it a flurry of new features and improvements. Firefox 120 now supports corner snapping for Picture-in-Picture (PIP) mode on Windows and Linux. This will put a PIP window back in a corner after it’s been moved elsewhere. To try it, hold the ctrl key and move a PIP window in the direction of any corner, and bam—it’ll snap. Firefox also adds a ‘Copy Link Without Site Tracking’ open to the context menu when right-clicking on links. This option ensures links copied to your clipboard do not contain any tracking information, source tags, or
#News #AppUpdates #Firefox
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/firefox-120-released-tracking-protection
Inkscape 1.3.1 Released as ‘Biggest Bug Fix’ Update Ever
Inkscape, a free and open-source vector graphics editor, has released a new version which its developers say is the ‘biggest bug fix’ update they’ve ever shared! Alongside 40 bug fixes there are over 30 crash/freeze fixes included in Inkscape 1.3.1, with remedies to address workflow-wrecking behaviour during PDF import, or while using the the Live Path effect. Other changes in Inkscape 1.3.1: Two nifty new features have also been added: In all, a decent uplift to this design essential. For an avalanche more detail on every bug fixes and feature buff this update offers I highly recommend reading the Inkscape
#News #AppUpdates #Inkscape
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/inkscape-1-3-1-biggest-bug-fix-update-ever
SystemStatsPlus GNOME Extension
We’re not short of system monitoring tools for Ubuntu, with an array of desktop apps, extensions, widgets, Conky scripts, and command-line tools readily available to us. But if you’re keen to keep an eye firmly fixed on system resource usage the newly launched SystemStatsPlus GNOME extension will appeal (though only if you use Ubuntu 23.10, as this only supports GNOME 45 atm). SystemStatsPlus provides “real-time visualization of key system resources”, and described itself as “an essential tool for anyone looking to keep a close eye on their system’s performance”. Once installed, this extension embeds live, updating resource graphs in the
#News #GnomeExtensions #Systemapps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/systemstatsplus-system-monitor-gnome-extension
Use GDM Settings to Customise Ubuntu’s Login Screen
Ubuntu, like other Linux distributions uses the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) as its, well, display manager, though most of us tend to think of or refer to it as the login screen. To customise the Ubuntu login screen, such as setting a different theme or icon set, changing the login screen background image or colour, or getting night light to apply when viewing it, you can use a 3rd-party tool called GDM Settings. The app is written in Python and uses libadwaita for its UI, so it looks great on the modern Ubuntu desktop and adapts gracefully when resizing the
#Apps #Customization #Gdm
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/gdm-settings-customise-ubuntu-login-screen
Linux Kernel 6.6 Officially Confirmed as an LTS
Last month saw the release of the Linux 6.6 kernel, a major update stuffed with new features, support for more hardware, and performance improvements. And today that kernel has been officially designated a long-term support release. This was a likely outcome as, based on how things typically work, the last kernel release of the year becomes the LTS edition. However, there was a small chance Linux 6.7 could squeak out just before the New Years clocks chimed around the world next month – but given that the next kernel is shaping up to be pretty huge, that’s less likely (should
#News #LinuxKernel
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/linux-6-6-kernel-confirms-long-term-support
HandBrake 1.7 Released with AMD VCN & NVIDIA NVENC AV1 Encoders + Linux Fixes
A big update to HandBrake, the cross-platform and open-source video transcoder, is available to download. HandBrake 1.7.0 introduces a number of new features that users on Windows and macOS will benefit from, plus a bevvy of Linux-specific buffs. Buffs. I use that word a lot of late. New features and changes in Handbrake 1.7 that everyone gets to enjoy (hardware dependant) include: Those using Handbrake on ARM and Apple Silicon will benefit from greatly improved performance, with the the latest FFmpeg offering faster HEVC decoding, and SVT-AV1 assembly optimisations delivering a 4x increase in performance. If you regularly convert videos on
#News #AppUpdates #Handbrake
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/handbrake-1-7-nvidia-nvenc-av1
Vivaldi Web Browser is Coming to Flathub
Fans of the Vivaldi web browser may be excited to hear it’s coming to Flathub officially. A crop of recent code commits indicate the Chromium-based, closed-source web browser is preparing to arrive on Flathub, becoming the next big-name software vendor to adopt Flatpak and Flathub as a primary way for Linux users to install their wares. Vivaldi vying to join the ranks of developers embracing Flatpak and Flathub is not a surprise, and comes hot on the heels of messaging platform Discord being verified (even prior to verification, the Discord racked up millions of installs through Flathub). A wide range
#News #Flathub #Vivaldi
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/vivaldi-web-browser-flathub
LXQt 1.4 Now Available in Lubuntu Backports PPA
If you use Lubuntu 22.04 LTS and want to upgrade to LXQt 1.4, the latest version of the Qt-based desktop, you can now do so using the Lubuntu Backports PPA. Like the Kubuntu Backports PPA, which brings newer versions of KDE Plasma to those using long-term support editions, the Lubuntu Backports PPA brings newer versions of the LXQt desktop. Devs say this approach provides the “perfect middle ground between stability and new features that users of all experience levels will be able to enjoy”. To add the Lubuntu Backports on Lubuntu 22.04: With the PPA added, run an update check
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/install-lxqt-1-4-lubuntu-backports-ppa
