FOSS Weekly #26.11: SUSE for Sale, Firefox Redesign, New-ish Terminal, i3 Customization and More
If rumors and Reuters are to be believed, SUSE Linux us up for sale again. Again because it has changed owners several times in the past. IBM bought Red Hat Linux for $34 billion 6 years ago. It would be interesting to see who grabs SUSE. I hope it’s not Microsoft.
By the way, not seeing new articles from It’s FOSS in your feed reader? That’s because there is an ongoing issue with the RSS feed as I am migrating to FeedPress. Please bear it with me.
Here are other highlights of this edition of FOSS Weekly:
- EA slowly moving towards Linux.
- Firefox’s redesign has been leaked.
- Linux Mint keyboard shortcut video.
- MidnightBSD saying no to age verification.
- And other Linux news, tips, and, of course, memes!
📰 Linux and Open Source News
EA is hiring an anti-cheat engineer to bring Javelin to ARM64, and tucked into the job listing is a mention of exploring Linux and Proton support in the future. After ditching Linux for Apex Legends in 2024, it’s a surprising turn. But I wouldn’t hold my breath on this.
Firefox’s Proton UI has been around since 2021 and honestly looks it. Leaked internal mockups show Mozilla is working on something called “Nova,” a significant visual overhaul. Tabs, the address bar, and the toolbar are merged into a single floating strip; rounded corners are everywhere; flat grays are out in favor of gradients, and the private window gets a full dark-purple makeover.
MidnightBSD has updated its license to bar residents of Brazil and California from using the project, with Colorado, Illinois, and New York on the list if their respective pending age verification bills pass.
🧠 What We’re Thinking About
The age verification laws spreading across US states are making distro maintainers uncomfortable, and responses are all over the place. Ubuntu and Fedora are working on minimal local APIs to tick the compliance box without doing anything too invasive. MidnightBSD is outright banning people from using it (as mentioned above).
YOUR support keeps us going, keeps us resisting the established media and tech, keeps us independent. And it costs less than a McDonald’s Happy Meal.
Opt for the Plus membership to:
✅ Get 5 FREE eBooks on Linux, Docker and Bash
✅ Enjoy an ad-free reading experience
✅ Flaunt badges in the comment section and forum
✅ To support creation of educational Linux materials
Join It’s FOSS Plus
🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials, and Learnings
Wordcloud is a Python tool that turns any list of words into a visual word cloud image, right from the terminal. You can feed it a text file, tweak the resolution, swap the font, change the background color, or use a mask image to shape the output around a custom silhouette.
Some practical privacy tips that don’t require a computer science degree or a paranoia spiral. Our article covers the basics well, from securing your email and browser to picking better cloud storage and messaging apps.
Ever wanted a desktop that looks like it belongs on r/unixporn? We have an i3 customization guide that covers a lot, from basic keybindings and color schemes to transparent status bars and per-workspace app assignments.
GSConnect is the GNOME-friendly way to link your Android phone and Linux machine, built on top of KDE Connect. Once paired, you can transfer files, share the clipboard, get phone notifications on your desktop, and use your phone as a remote mouse.
👷 AI, Homelab and Hardware Corner
Prefer your local AI neatly containerized? This guide shows how to get Ollama running in Docker.
✨ Apps and Projects Highlights
FRANK OS is a full desktop operating system, complete with a Start menu, overlapping windows, Alt+Tab switching, and a ZX Spectrum emulator, running on an RP2350 microcontroller.
Foot is a minimal Wayland-native terminal emulator that focuses on speed and simplicity. A hidden gem worth exploring.
Keith Curtis spent a week building what he calls “Cursor for LibreOffice,” an AI extension that lives in a sidebar and actually edits your documents.
Building Cursor for LibreOffice: A Week-Long Journey
📽️ Videos for You
Sharing some of the essential keyboard shortcuts for Linux Mint, this time in video format.
💡 Quick Handy Tip
On GNOME, first install Tiling Shell. Then, when you right-click on the titlebar of a window, you get various tiling options. Do keep in mind that not all apps will support this.
🎋 Fun in the FOSSverse
Match Linux apps with their functions in this puzzle. And yes, fresh new puzzles are coming soon 😄
🤣 Meme of the Week: Winslop doesn’t know what consent means.
🗓️ Tech Trivia: On March 9, 1955, a program called “Director” was demonstrated on MIT’s Whirlwind computer—automatically managing system resources while user code ran. It’s considered one of the earliest rudimentary operating systems ever created.
🧑🤝🧑 From the Community: Can you help one of our regular FOSSers decide whether to keep Secure Boot enabled or not?
