Table of contents for July 2025 in Linux Format

GAMING Recent updates to SteamOS have introduced both certain promising upgrades as well as some concerning support challenges for Linux gaming fans. At the time of writing, the most recent SteamOS preview is version 3.7.5. This includes trackpad support for the Legion Go S, signalling Valve’s commitment to support its OS on devices besides the Steam Deck itself. There were clues to this in late 2024, as noted by outlets like Linux Format, when Valve revised its branding guidelines to include a dedicated section for third-party devices. So far, there are no official plans for a desktop version of SteamOS. The gaming- focused distro Bazzite Linux, which can also be deployed on a variety of handhelds, is compatible with desktop machines. This is probably just as well, given that Valve…

Dear readers, it’s not easy to say goodbye, but as we write our final column, we’re filled with pride and gratitude for the journey we’ve shared. We’re especially thankful to everyone who helped make this outstanding publication possible, especially Neil, whose tireless dedication as editor has been nothing short of remarkable. Collectively, these efforts helped shape the legacy of a magazine that has been an unwavering beacon for the open source community. For years, Linux Format has informed, inspired and connected Linux enthusiasts with expert insights, practical tutorials and thought-provoking commentary. This magazine didn’t just document the evolution of free software, it helped shape it, champion it and drive its adoption forward. While this final issue marks the end of an era, its influence will continue to echo in every…

Among continuing speculation by open source enthusiasts as to whether this will be the year of the Linux desktop, the OS’s market share is 4% globally. It’s also hit all-time highs in regions like South America and Africa. This isn’t the first time Linux has crossed the 4% threshold but the recent surge is likely down to dissatisfaction with Windows 11, as well as the Steam Deck’s popularity. With the Windows 10 sunset due in October, multiple outlets have predicted that Linux may finally break the 5% adoption barrier and sustain it.…

25 years of Linux Format We’ve dug out our classic distro reviews from LXF001, May 2000, so we can remeber just how far the Linux desktop has come! When Corel announced it would move into the Linux market, the news was greeted with both hope and apprehension by the community. While it was clear the organisation could help to improve Linux’s position on the desktop, many thought it was in danger of dumbing down the operating system. The software company, responsible for WordPerfect and CorelDRAW, has based its package on the respected Debian distribution, and aimed it at new users who have switched from Windows. Corel’s graphical installer is a welcome feature for new Linux users and those who have switched from Windows, featuring mouse and dialog-driven configuration. As well…

25 years of Linux Format This review originally appeared in LXF068, so only 20 years ago! The Ubuntu team only launched its first release (4.10, aka The Warty Warthog) in October 2004. Since then, Ubuntu has become one of the most downloaded distros available today. What’s its secret? The slogan says it all: Linux for human beings. This is a distro that you shouldn’t have to be a geek to use. Version 5.04 – The Hoary Hedgehog – comes on a single CD and doesn’t even use its full capacity. It doesn’t baffle the new user with a puzzle of software choices. In fact, you don’t even select individual packages for installation; you’re given a predetermined set of software recommended by Ubuntu. First, we upgraded our test laptop from Warty…

Windows user distros If you’re trying to get grandma off her old Windows laptop, Mayank Sharma might not be as old but he’s certainly as cranky. HOW WE TESTED… We analysed various aspects of different Linux distros to find the best for Windows users. We looked at how resource-intensive the distros were, what kind of hardware they’d run on smoothly, the documentation and out-of-box experience. We considered installation time and the apps that came with the distro. We evaluated the desktop environment based on the functionality, customisability and visuals. We also checked out the forums to see if there was an active community that could help with doubts. With the best distro for Windows users, you’ll enjoy a smooth transition to Linux. But you’ll have to look at many factors…

The great thing about Linux is that it is inexpensive and you can get the skills from books such as those by Sander Van Vugt. These books cover what would be in the Linux administrator exam. RHEL certification is still the hot ticket. Oracle offers a certification that is very similar to RHEL and covers Oracle Enterprise Linux. RHEL and OEL are extremely similar. The interesting thing is that the OEL exam is less than half the price of the RHEL one. Unfortunately, very few Debian exams exist. There is the LPIC series of certifications but we have not known one person who held the LPIC certification. We would recommend this direction only if there is some explicit reason that RHEL certification isn’t enough. As companies prioritise automation, containerisation and…

Credit: https://github.com/electerm/electerm It’s difficult to say exactly when the internet was born as it evolved from an earlier set of networks and protocols. However, other networks evolved in parallel. Before most people had heard of the internet, some hobbyists used a modem to connect to a computer running a bulletin board system (BBS). Let’s have some fun and see how you can still play around with these systems and how they worked. By the mid-’80s, if you had a home computer and modem, you’d be spoiled for choice, as nearly every town had BBS systems that you could dial up and connect to. Typically, they offered an interactive text-mode interface, and later they featured colourful block graphics using a system called ANSI. What could you do on such a system?…

Credit: www.debian.org Dare we suggest that everyone needs their own home server? In these febrile times when privacy is under threat and the rentier economy keeps finding excuses to ramp up the cost of online subscriptions, taking back control of your data and services is a no-brainer. And what better way to do so than set up your own basic home server? There’s a free open-source equivalent for just about any online service you can think of, and you don’t need fancy hardware to get started – you can press an old PC or laptop into service if you wish. However, servers are designed to be run 24-7, so unless you want to run up a huge electricity bill, you might want to explore a dedicated low-power option, such as…

The IT-Planungsrat (IT Planning Council) of Germany has committed to making the Open Document Format (ODF) a country-wide standard for public administration by 2027. This move follows the UK, which formally adopted the ODF in 2014. Such initiatives haven’t always gone smoothly. In 2004, the city of Munich launched the LiMux project in a bid to move away from Windows-based software. Despite migrating over 80% of desktop systems, Munich council reversed its decision in 2017. The city council continued using LibreOffice and in 2020 voted to continue favouring open source software. This move echoes wider developments in the EU to promote open standards and digital independence. This is best shown by the EU OS initiative to develop a Linux-based OS for public sector organisations, based on Fedora. However, according to…

Unlike commercial distributions, Debian is produced by a non-profit organisation called Software in the Public Interest. Volunteers all over the world help to maintain the system, and the distribution has acquired considerable respect from experienced users in the community. The text-mode installer is available in mono or colour, so Debian can be installed on very old systems that don’t have colour displays. This is a good idea and a refreshing change from the new, jazzy installers we’re seeing everywhere else. Are you experienced? From the very start, it’s clear that new users would find this heavy-going. The Cfdisk partitioner assumes plenty of knowledge and there’s little of the hand-holding you get with others. Conversely, you’re constantly prompted and alerted as to what the installer is doing, which is a world…

25 years of Linux Format The concept behind Linux-Mandrake was originally born out of Red Hat’s refusal to include KDE in its distribution. This was due to licensing concerns, so Mandrakesoft decided to create a variant of Red Hat with KDE included and ready to go. This meant new users wouldn’t have to find and download the desktop suite from the web. Since then, Mandrake has evolved into a solid distribution in its own right. The new graphical installer is a fantastic, easy-to-use tool, and we had absolutely no problems getting underway with it. A lot of thought has clearly been put in here: a column of lights down the side acts as a progress meter, while a bar of help text at the bottom provides tips for choices in…

Ubuntu 25.04, code-named Plucky Puffin, is the latest interim release of the popular Linux distro and we’re taking a look at the most recent beta, ahead of its April launch. Powered by Linux Kernel 6.14, a kernel that improves hardware support, Ubuntu 25.04 for all 64-bit Raspberry Pis (3, 4, 400, 5 and 500) brings a stable distro for those who want to use their Raspberry Pi as a computer. Sure, makers can make using Ubuntu, but you’ll need to adapt your workflow to accommodate a few quirks. For our installation, we chose to use a Pi 5 16GB at stock CPU and GPU speeds, with an NVMe drive, as it offers a significant speed boost over microSD. You could also run from USB 3, a good compromise between microSD…

Mainframes and similar large systems command a premium price. Since time immemorial, PC enthusiasts have been looking for a way to combine a large number of inexpensive computers. The arrival of high-performance SoCs such as the RK3588 made single-board computers a viable alternative for cluster applications. Credit: https://github.com/exo-explore/exo Exo is a cluster system with a wide array of promises. The developers pledge to support both Mac OS and Linux, and promise good performance even when running on extremely slow individual systems. What’s more, the system promises a comfortable web interface, thereby ensuring that model management does not become a chore. We are taking the developer team at its word. To find out more, we are putting together a cluster consisting of various machines, from process computers to a machine with…

Credit: https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term Alot can happen over a quarter of a century. In 2000, The Matrix was still on everyone’s mind, more so than the Y2K bug even. Harry Potter was merely a book series, with the best yet to come, the LoTR films hadn’t been released, a smartphone was still a PDA, and looked at with disdain, and we were inching ever so closer to the year of the Linux desktop, which was all the more reason for the launch of one of the most popular magazines dedicated to Linux and open source software. Now, in 2025, the Harry Potter series is on the verge of a reboot, the smartphone is everywhere and PDA is merely a display of affection, and the year of the Linux desktop is still awaited.…

Having recently entered the world of 3D printing, this writer has found that the last few weeks have been a researching gold mine. After only three weeks since buying her first beginner 3D printer (after being tempted by a deal on TechRadar), it feels like we’re getting to grips with how these machines work. However, there are a few things that we’d wish we’d known sooner! So, we’ve put a few of our hard-earned top tips here, for anyone looking to buy a 3D printer some time this year. We do have a small confession, though. While we did initially consider an Anycubic, we changed our mind the next day and placed one from the Creality range plumping for the Ender-3 V3 SE instead. After scouring reviews, we felt that…

In March 2025, Microsoft issued a warning about the StilachiRAT virus, which focuses on stealing stored credentials in the Chrome browser to compromise crypto wallets. As you’ll see in this month’s tutorial, this has become a growing trend. It’s relatively easy for bad actors to access data like Bitcoin software wallets. This is where Trezor steps in with its line of hardware cryptocurrency wallets. These devices essentially operate as a small, single-purpose computer to store the private wallet keys. Users deploy a cable and specialist software to access the device and approve transactions. As the computer never has direct access to the private keys, in theory it’s much harder for hackers to exfiltrate them. In reality, hardware wallets can be compromised with time and effort. In 2020, cryptosecurity firm Unciphered…

KERNEL Linus’s GCC 15 mistake Torvalds’s fix for GCC 15 reignites debate over his communication style and the kernel’s future under his benevolent dictatorship. L inus Torvalds’s discussions surrounding a compatibility issue with GCC 15 has reignited long-standing online debates. The most recent controversy surrounds the 6.15-rc3 kernel release and implementation of -Wunterminated-string-initialization in GCC 15. Instead of deferring to existing fixes in the next branch by the likes of kernel developer Kees Cook, Torvalds took it upon himself to patch the code. In doing so, he inadvertently caused some compatibility issues with versions of the GCC compiler system before v15. Cook criticised the move, particularly as there were existing patches, so Torvalds had created merge conflicts. He also pointed out that in the past Linus has berated maintainers for making…

25 years of Linux Format As an experienced distributor, German company SUSE has been around for many years and is very popular in European markets. One of the reasons for this is undoubtedly due to the large amount of software found on its CDs. It has also recently converted its distribution to run on the Alpha processor, and it has put money into several of the key areas of Linux development. SUSE’s installer is based on YaST, a long-running setup utility that has finally been updated from text mode to a full graphical installation. Sadly, when we started our installation, it told us our 2GB partition was too small for the minimum installation. Wisely, though, SUSE has also included the original tried-and-tested YaST, and this worked properly. Installation is reasonably…

For many, Red Hat is synonymous with Linux, and the quality of its distros influences how Linux is perceived in the corporate world. Red Hat has a reputation for providing robust, well-tested distros with good support. Red Hat 7.3 continues this trend, offering dependable and compatible software, though it lacks significant innovation. While rivals like Mandrake and SUSE may provide a more integrated and comfortable desktop experience, Red Hat remains a popular choice for its reliability. Red Hat 7.3 comes in Personal and Professional editions, which share the same core distribution. The Personal edition, reviewed here, is aimed at workstation users, while the Professional edition targets the server market. Both are available on seven CDs or as downloadable ISOs. The boxed Personal edition includes extras like a 30-day Red Hat…

If you’re into practical printing and crave more build volume than the Bambu Lab X1 Carbon can provide, the QiDi Plus4 might be just what the doctor ordered. With its 305 x 305 x 280mm build area and toasty heated chamber, the Plus4 can knock out incredible prints in technical filaments like ABS, ASA or nylon, while also doing a nice job with PLA and TPU – if you don’t mind popping the lid off. The Plus4 delivers all the perks you would expect from a high-class printer: hands-free calibration and automatic levelling, lightning speed with input shaping, a high-flow hotend, a built-in camera, and lots of fans for cooling and air filtration. The heated chamber is a newer feature we love to see, and it really helps when printing…

This is Les’s final Raspberry Pi tutorial after over a decade of writing them for Linux Format! It is a sad time, but as we bid a fond farewell to you all, we look back at the issues of work that every member of the team has put in, and to celebrate, we thought it would be nice to look back at all the Linux Format covers. But because these pages are all about the Raspberry Pi, let’s make a cool project one last time! This project sees any model of Pi, connected to a small Adafruit display, randomly display a cover from the Linux Format archives. A small screen like the Adafruit 5-inch screen we used is ideal because the image files are only 318x450 resolution, so an 800x480…

Credit: www.gimp.org QUICK TIP If you installed GIMP through Ubuntu’s system repositories and want to upgrade without losing all your settings and customisations, visit https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2024/11/install-gimp-3-ubuntu/ for details of adding an unofficial PPA. Think image editing and there’s one application that stands head and shoulders above every other: GIMP. The venerable image editor continues to evolve and improve, and final version 3.0 is the best release yet. Not only do you gain support for non-destructive filters, which is a game changer for image editing and manipulation, but there are also numerous improvements to the app’s user interface and workflows, as well as native Wayland support and an updated GTK3 interface that scales beautifully on 4K screens. In this tutorial, we explore its many new features, plus reveal how to use it…

Part four! Missed an issue? Back issues page 64! This article brings our series of articles on The Hardware That Made Linux Great to a close, but it’s going out with a bang. Our subject this month encompasses several processor families, including the x86 that gave birth to Linux, but the common denominator is their application in high-performance computing. In referring to HPC, as it tends to be called among those in the know, we’re talking about supercomputers, so we’re going to be looking at the absolute top echelon of computing. In other words, we’re going to be delving into computers that are upwards of a million times faster than the PC sitting on your desk. What’s more, this is one class of computer where Linux can be considered as…

FILE MANAGER Nautilus Version: 0.5 (January 2001) Web: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus We first looked at Nautilus back in LXF010, the January 2001 issue, and things could get a little confusing because what was called Gnome Nautilus back then is now known as Gnome Files. We guess that’s so people understand what it does, though we imagine the original thinking was that it helps you plumb the depths of your filesystem, like the eponymous submarine. This particular issue would have been written around December 2000, and that’s handy to know because Nautilus version one wasn’t released until March 2001 and was then absorbed into the Gnome project. Back then, we had the following to say about it: Nautilus is a file manager (or Desktop Shell, as Eazel – the developer – likes to…