Debian 12.4 has been released, superseding Debian 12.3 which had a bug that could potentially cause data corruption. The bug, which was reported under the bug advisory #1057843, concerned issues with kernel-image-6.1.0-14 (6.1.64-1). The latest release, Debian 12.4, includes fixes for this bug, along with other important bug fixes.

Debian 12.4 is an update to the stable distribution Debian 12, codenamed “bookworm”. This point release focuses on correcting security issues and addressing other serious problems. It is important to note that Debian 12.4 does not represent a new version of Debian 12, but rather updates certain packages included in the distribution. Users do not need to discard their old Debian 12 media, as they can simply upgrade their packages to the current versions using an up-to-date Debian mirror.

For users who regularly install updates from security.debian.org, there will be minimal package updates with this point release, as most of the updates have already been included. New installation images will be made available soon at the usual locations.

The update includes a comprehensive list of bug fixes for various packages. The complete list of bug fixes can be found in the Debian 12.4 Changelog. In addition to bug fixes, Debian 12.4 also includes security updates. The Security Team has released advisories for each of these updates, addressing vulnerabilities in packages such as Chromium, Firefox ESR, Exim4, Thunderbird, and more. The installer has also been updated to include the fixes incorporated into the stable release by the point release.

For more information about Debian 12.4, including the complete list of packages that have changed, the current stable distribution, proposed updates, and security announcements, visit the Debian website.

Alpine Linux has officially released version 3.19.0, marking the introduction of the v3.19 stable series. This release encompasses various updates and improvements across the system.

Core Component Upgrades

• Linux Kernel (6.6): The update includes a transition to Linux kernel version 6.6, focusing on stability and compatibility enhancements.

• Compiler (GCC 13.2): Alpine Linux now incorporates GCC version 13.2, providing developers with the latest compiler features and optimizations for software development.

• Scripting Language (Perl 5.38): The release adopts Perl version 5.38, introducing bug fixes and improvements for users working with the scripting language.

Virtualization and Database Updates

• Xen Hypervisor (4.18): Alpine Linux 3.19.0 brings an upgrade to Xen version 4.18, incorporating security, performance, and architectural enhancements.

• PostgreSQL (16): The PostgreSQL database is updated to version 16, offering users the latest features and improvements in the open-source relational database system.

• Node.js (LTS 20.10): The LTS version of Node.js is now at 20.10, providing a stable platform for server-side JavaScript applications.

• Ceph Storage (18.2): Alpine Linux includes Ceph version 18.2, enhancing distributed storage capabilities.

Notable Changes and Upgrade Notes

• Raspberry Pi 5 Support: Alpine Linux 3.19.0 introduces support for Raspberry Pi 5.

• Kernel Consolidation: The linux-rpi4 and linux-rpi2 kernels have been replaced by a unified linux-rpi.

• Routing Scheme Update (Yggdrasil): Yggdrasil, the networking software, has been upgraded to version 0.5, featuring a new routing scheme that may require adjustments for compatibility.

• Package Management (Python): Python’s package directory is now marked as externally managed, impacting pip installations to system directories managed by apk. Users are advised to consider alternatives such as pipx.

For a comprehensive list of changes, users can refer to the release notes, git log, and bug tracker.

As always, users are recommended to use apk upgrade --available when transitioning between major versions.

NixOS has released version 23.11 of its Linux distribution, named “Tapir”. This release will receive bugfixes and security updates for seven months.

The release saw 9147 new packages and 18700 updated packages in Nixpkgs, while also removing 4015 packages to maintain the package set. The release brought 113 new modules and removed 18, adding 1565 options and removing 362 in the process. Some of the highlights of this release include FoundationDB and PostgreSQL now defaulting to major versions 7 and 15 respectively, GNOME being updated to version 45, support for WiFi6 and WPA3-SAE-PK in the hostapd package, LXD now supporting virtual machine instances, and updates to systemd, sudo-rs, glibc, and more. Additionally, new services have been added, such as MCHPRS, acme-dns, frp, river, wayfire, mautrix-whatsapp, hddfancontrol, GoToSocial, Castopod, Typesense, NS-USBLoader, Mobilizon, Anuko Time Tracker, Prometheus MySQL exporter, LibreNMS, Livebook, sitespeed-io, stalwart-mail, tang, Jool, Home Assistant Satellite, Apache Guacamole, pgBouncer, Goss, trust-dns, osquery, ebusd, systemd-sysupdate, eris-server, forgejo, infiniband, zwave-js, Honk, ferretdb, MicroBin, NNCP, FastNetMon Advanced, tuxedo-rs, certspotter, audiobookshelf, ZITADEL, exportarr, netclient, trunk-ng, virt-manager, Soft Serve, Rosenpass, c2FmZQ, preload, and more.

There have been a number of backward incompatibilities, as well as additions and improvements to the Nixpkgs library. Overall, this release brings a number of updates, new features, and improvements to the NixOS Linux distribution.

The openSUSE community has announced a logo competition for a new openSUSE logo, as well as four openSUSE distributions: Tumbleweed, Leap, Slowroll, and Kalpa. The aim of the competition is to strengthen the visual identity of the openSUSE brand and create a cohesive brand identity for its distributions.

The new logo designs should visualize a unified brand and integrate well with newer project logos like Aeon, MicroOS, and Leap Micro. The logos for the openSUSE distributions are designed with simple shapes and lines, typically as empty outlines. The logos use a 16u square canvas with a 1u stroke width.

The competition is open to the openSUSE community and the deadline for submissions is November 22. The winners will receive a “Geeko Mystery Box” as a reward for their creative designs.

The rules of the contest state that the logo should be licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 and allow everyone to use it without attribution if it is used as the logo for the openSUSE Project. The design must be original and not include any third party materials. Both monochrome and color formats are required for submission, and the design should reflect the openSUSE communities.

To submit a design, participants must email their vector file in SVG format to [email protected], along with a PNG of the design posted on the openSUSE website. The file size should be less than 512 KB. Participants should also include their name, mail address, and a description of the design’s philosophy.

The submitted designs will be added to a survey where the community can vote on them. The final decision will be made at an openSUSE Community meeting.

OpenWrt 23.05, the open-source Linux operating system for routers and resource-constrained headless embedded systems, has just been released with significant updates and improvements. This release comes with over 4300 commits since the previous release of OpenWrt 22.03, which was launched a little over a year ago.

One of the notable features of OpenWrt 23.05 is its expanded device support. It now supports over 1790 devices, which is an increase of about 200 devices compared to the previous release. Some of the new targets include the Qualcomm IPQ807x target for WiFi 6 SoCs, the Mediatek Filogic 830 and 630 subtarget for WiFi 6/6e chips, and the HiFive Unleashed and Unmatched targets for RISC-V development boards.

In terms of security, OpenWrt 23.05 has switched from using wolfSSL to MbedTLS as the default. This change was made because MbedTLS has a smaller footprint and offers a more stable ABI and LTS releases. However, it’s worth noting that MbedTLS lacks support for TLS 1.3. Therefore, users who require TLS 1.3 can still switch to using wolfSSL.

Another significant addition in this release is support for packages written with the Rust programming language. Some examples of these packages include bottom, maturin, aardvark-dns, and ripgrep. This expansion of supported programming languages provides developers with more flexibility and options when creating applications for OpenWrt.

OpenWrt 23.05 also brings updates to its core components. It now utilizes Linux 5.15 as the foundation for all targets, as well as updated versions of busybox, musl libc, glibc, gcc, and inutils. Additionally, the networking components have seen upgrades, including the use of the hostapd master snapshot from September 2023, dnsmasq 2.89, dropbear 2022.82, and cfg80211/mac80211 from kernel 6.1.24.

For users looking to upgrade from OpenWrt 22.03, the migration from swconfig to DSA configuration that was introduced in the previous releases is no longer an issue. Most people should be able to upgrade smoothly using the sysupgrade utility, which will preserve the configuration. However, it is still recommended to back up the configuration before proceeding with the upgrade.

OpenWrt 23.05 is now available for download, and users can find binary images for their specific targets on the OpenWrt website.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

openSUSE has announced the availability of Leap Micro 5.5, the latest version of its modern lightweight host operating system. Leap Micro 5.5 is essentially a rebranded version of SLE Micro, so all the documents and release notes from SLE Micro 5.5 are applicable to Leap Micro as well.

It’s important to note that with the release of Leap Micro 5.5, Leap Micro 5.3 has reached its End of Life (EOL). Users of Leap Micro 5.3 are strongly advised to upgrade to either the Leap Micro 5.4 or 5.5 release to ensure access to the latest features, security enhancements, and ongoing support.

One of the standout features of Leap Micro 5.5 is its enhanced support for SELinux. Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) now includes podman-docker and hyper-v support for AArch64, providing users with a more robust and secure computing experience. Leap Micro 5.5 also includes podman 4.4, which introduces podman quadlets. Users can check out the Nextcloud deployment using quadlets to explore this feature. Additionally, Leap Micro ships with podman-docker, a podman wrapper that can be used together with docker-compose.

The container management interface Cockpit has also received notable improvements in version 298. Users can now use Cockpit to manage all of their home workloads, providing a more convenient management solution.

For users new to the immutable OS space, which consists of systems with read-only /root, there is a transactional update guide available to help navigate the update process. Additionally, users can use the Toolbox tool to install additional software without the need for a reboot, making it particularly useful for debugging scenarios where a reboot is not feasible.