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BPF programs use BPF type format (BTF) debugging information in order to determine how to interact with functions in the kernel. Specifically, tracing a kernel function involves finding its address in the kernel's BTF section — but that doesn't work for functions that have been inlined, and therefore don't have a single, specific address. Alan Maguire wants to add information about inlined functions to BTF in order to allow them to be traced, and led a session on that topic at the 2026 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-Management, and BPF Summit.

Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced the release of the 6.12.99, 6.6.146, and 6.1.179 stable kernels. This batch of stable kernels includes a single fix for a regression caused by this commit. Users of those kernels should upgrade.

Version:6.12.99 (longterm) Released:2026-07-29 Source:linux-6.12.99.tar.xz PGP Signature:linux-6.12.99.tar.sign Patch:full (incremental) ChangeLog:ChangeLog-6.12.99

Version:6.6.146 (longterm) Released:2026-07-29 Source:linux-6.6.146.tar.xz PGP Signature:linux-6.6.146.tar.sign Patch:full (incremental) ChangeLog:ChangeLog-6.6.146

Version:6.1.179 (longterm) Released:2026-07-29 Source:linux-6.1.179.tar.xz PGP Signature:linux-6.1.179.tar.sign Patch:full (incremental) ChangeLog:ChangeLog-6.1.179

Leo Sandoval and Marta Lewandowska have put forward a change proposal for Fedora 45, which is expected in October, to provide a separate, slimmed-down version of GRUB for a niche use case. The new package would be in addition to the main GRUB package and would not replace it for the majority of Fedora users. The idea met with some resistance from Fedora contributors who thought that it would be better to use systemd-boot, or another modern bootloader, rather than trying to wrangle GRUB into a suitable state for the use case. The Fedora Engineering Steering Council (FESCo), however, voted to accept the change on July 7.

Version:next-20260729 (linux-next) Released:2026-07-29

The GCC steering committee has announced that it has accepted an AI contributions policy recommended by the GCC AI policy working group.

The policy, in part, states that the project will decline any "legally significant contributions which include LLM-generated content or are derived from LLM-generated content". It uses the definition of "legally significant" from the GNU Project maintainer guidelines, which holds that the threshold is "around 15 lines of code and/or text" to qualify as significant for copyright purposes. GCC maintainers may, however, choose to accept legally significant test cases that are generated by an LLM.

The policy does not forbid use of LLMs for research, analysis, bug discovery and reporting, patch review, etc. as long as the output is not included in contributions. The committee says that it expects the policy will evolve and will be revisited periodically.

Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (dovecot, go-fdo-client, go-fdo-server, kernel, kernel-rt, and sssd), Debian (calibre, hplip, libraw, and samba), Fedora (btrbk, chromium, gpsd, kronosnet, and restic), Mageia (gstreamer1.0-libav and libslirp), Slackware (libarchive, samba, and seamonkey), SUSE (agama-web-ui, chromium, gimp, glib2, GraphicsMagick, ignition, ImageMagick, java-21-openjdk, libssh, libssh-config, nginx, nmap, nsd, python-urllib3, python313-CherryPy, rsyslog, samba, sssd, valkey, webkit2gtk3, and yq), and Ubuntu (freerdp3, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-5.4, linux-aws-fips, linux-azure, linux-azure-5.4, linux-azure-fips, linux-bluefield, linux-fips, linux-gcp, linux-gcp-5.4, linux-gcp-fips, linux-hwe-5.4, linux-iot, linux-oracle, linux-oracle-5.4, linux-xilinx-zynqmp, linux-azure-fips, linux-ibm, linux-ibm-5.4, linux-kvm, and linux-raspi, linux-raspi-5.4).

Slimbook OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution customised for the Slimbook line of Linux computers assembled in Spain. It offers a choice of GNOME or KDE Plasma desktops on a single ISO image which also includes some custom extensions and utilities. The distribution provides its own repositories for some software, prioritising DEB and Flatpak packages over Ubuntu's snap options. Some of the other interesting features of Slimbook OS include touchpad gestures (enabled by default), Slimbook service notifications, window tiling, the Terminator terminal emulator, a Ulauncher application for fast searching, and a day/night mode switcher.

Besgnulinux is a lightweight, desktop Linux distribution based on Debian's "stable" branch. Using the JWM window manager, it is designed to be fast, lightweight and easy to use, suitable for older and low-specification computers. Besgnulinux comes with the Calamares system installer, the Brave web browser, and over 40 custom-built tools to control the systems settings as well as the desktop's look-and-feel.

MakuluLinux is a rolling-release, desktop distribution based either on Ubuntu's LTS (long-term support) release or Debian's "Testing" branch. It includes pre-installed multimedia codecs, device drivers and software for everyday use. MakuluLinux comes in four editions: "LinDoz" - featuring the Cinnamon desktop with the user interface customised to resemble that of Microsoft Windows, "Core" - presenting a highly customised Xfce desktop environment, "Flash" - providing a standard Xfce desktop, and finally "Shift" - delivering a pre-configured GNOME desktop environment.

ZimaOS is an independently-developed, Linux-based operating system for personal servers and network-attached storage (NAS) devices. It features system-level support for remote access, RAID configuration, over-the-air (OTA) updates, and a browser-based user interface for managing the server. It is developed in China by IceWhale Technology Limited, which also produces and sells specialist storage hardware devices called "ZimaCube". Besides ZimaOS which is a complete, standalone operating system, the company also produces CasaOS, a lightweight software layer that can be installed on top of an existing Linux installation in order to turn it into a personal server or a NAS.

Evernight Vista is Fedora-based desktop Linux distribution featuring the KDE Plasma desktop. The project's goal is to develop a user-friendly operating system accessible even to non-technical users. Some of the distribution's features include complete support for Chinese (the simplified variant), inclusion of CJK input method for Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages, support for Linyaps and Spark App stores for easy installation of popular Chinese software, and inclusion of a performance-enhanced Linux kernel from the CachyOS project.

Version:next-20260728 (linux-next) Released:2026-07-28

The gccrs project, which is creating a Rust frontend for the GCC compiler, has spent the first half of 2026 focusing on compiling the Linux kernel. By testing the compiler against the kernel crates, the development team has made significant progress toward generating correct code for other Rust programs. As detailed in the project's weekly and monthly reports, this effort has uncovered and resolved problems in areas such as attribute handling (described in the report for February), name resolution, and resource management (both detailed in the May report). Currently, the compiler can only handle simple standalone programs, but that situation could change rapidly in the coming months.

LazyLinux is a Void-based desktop Linux distribution with Xfce as the preferred desktop and a vast collection of pre-installed software. It intends to be user-friendly and usable right after installation. The distribution ships with many popular productivity and multimedia applications, such as Brave browser, Thunderbird email client, OnlyOffice office suite, GIMP image manipulation program, Inkscape vector graphics editor, VLC media player and many others. LazyLinux also provides out-of-the-box support for Flatpak packages.

Univention Corporate Server is an enterprise-class distribution based on Debian. It features an integrated management system for central administration of servers, Microsoft Active Directory-compatible domain services, and functions for parallel operation of virtualised server and desktop operating systems. UCS offers such features as a single sign-on portal and an app centre. One key component of UCS is the Identity and Access Management (IAM) utility which acts as a central solution for managing identities, roles, and groups. The integrated portal with Single Sign-On and self-service functions provides access to all IT services and applications and can work across blended Linux, Windows, and macOS networks.

Version 0.11 of the wlroots-based Wayfire Wayland compositor has been released. Notable changes include better fractional scaling, per-output ICC profiles, support for additional Wayland protocols, and more.

The DFSG, Licensing & New Packages Team (usually shortened to "DFSG team") was created in October 2025 as part of the ftpmaster team split. Its job is to review packages in the new queue for compliance with the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG), among other things, before the packages are allowed to enter the Debian archive. The change was long in coming, and some questions remained after the split whether it was the right move. Andrew McMillan provided an overview of the team's activities and its current status during DebConf26. While it may be too early to say with certainty, his report suggests that the new division of duties is working out well.