• Oracle Releases VirtualBox 5.1.30 to Patch Glibc 2.26 Compile Bug on Linux Hosts

  Oracle released VirtualBox 5.1.30, a minor maintenance update to the open-source and cross-platform virtualization software that addresses a few important issues reported by users from previous versions.

  Coming one month after the VirtualBox 5.1.28 release, which probably most of you out there use right now on your personal computers, VirtualBox 5.1.30 contains a fix for a Glibc 2.26 compilation bug for Linux hosts and a 3D-related crash for Windows guest that use the Windows Additions package.

• Cockpit 153

  Cockpit is the modern Linux admin interface. We release regularly. Here are the release notes from version 153.

• GNOME Mutter 3.27.1 Brings Hybrid GPU Support

  Mutter 3.27.1 has just been released as the first development release for the GNOME 3.28 cycle of this compositor / window manager.

  The change most interesting to us about Mutter 3.27.1 is support for hybrid GPU systems. The context for the hybrid GPU system support is explained via this bug report, "supporting systems with multiple GPUs connected to their own connectors. A common configuration is laptops with an integrated Intel GPU connected to the panel, and a dedicated Nvidia/AMD GPU connected to the HDMI ports."

• #KDE #KDENEON Release bonanaza! Frameworks, Plasma, KmyMoney and Digikam

• Release of KDE Frameworks 5.39.0

  KDE Frameworks are 70 addon libraries to Qt which provide a wide variety of commonly needed functionality in mature, peer reviewed and well tested libraries with friendly licensing terms. For an introduction see the Frameworks 5.0 release announcement.

• KDE Frameworks 5.39 Brings KWayland, Kirigami Updates

  KDE Frameworks 5.39.0 was released this weekend as the latest complementary add-ons/libraries to Qt.

• Updated Kubuntu 17.10 RC ISOs now available

  Following on from yesterday’s 1st spin of the 17.10 RC images by the ubuntu release team, today the RC images (marked Artful Final on the QA tracker) have been re-spun and updated.

  Please update your ISOs if you downloaded previous images, and test as before.

  Please help us by testing as much as you have time for. Remember, in particular we need i386 testers, on “bare metal” rather than VMs if possible.

• Interview with Cillian Clifford

  I consider digital painting to be one of my weakest areas of art skills, so I spend a lot of time trying to improve it. Other areas of digital art I’m interested in include CAD, 3d modeling, digital sculpting, vector animation, and pixel art.

• Replacing Audacity with KWave

  KWave has been developed since 1998, yet few have heard of it. I only recently heard of it myself from writer and podcaster Marcel Gagné while I was setting up to do how-to-videos. Part of the reason for its obscurity might be that, despite its name, it only recently become an official KDE project in the last release. However, the major reason for its obscurity is probably that it has been overshadowed by the better-known Audacity — which is a pity, because in most ways, KWave is every bit as useful as an audio editor.

  Why would anyone want an Audacity substitute? For one thing, while Audacity is cross-platform, it is not well-integrated into Linux. Audacity handles its own resources, as you can tell by its lengthy load time. Often, Audacity frequently gives confusing options for input and playback sources, giving several names to the same device and offering irrelevant front and back options for mono devices, so that users can only find the one they need through trial and error. Sometimes, the necessary option for a particular source can change for no apparent each time Audacity starts.

• October updates for the Slackware Plasma5 desktop

  There’s been updates to all the major components of the KDE Software Collection (I know they stopped using that name but I think it is still fitting). So I tasked my build box to compile hundreds of new packages and today I have for you the October ’17 set of Plasma 5 packages for Slackware 14.2 and -current. KDE 5_17.10 contains: KDE Frameworks 5.39.0, Plasma 5.11.0 and Applications 17.08.2. All based on Qt 5.9.2 for Slackware-current and Qt 5.7.1 for Slackware 14.2.

Today marks twenty-one years since the KDE project was founded.

It was on 14 October 1996 that the "Kool Desktop Environment" was founded by Matthias Ettrich. At the time he wanted KDE to be a "consistent, nice looking free desktop-environment."