News
News
In the news: Zorin OS 16 Educational Spin Now Available; System76 Releases AMD-Powered Kudu Laptop; Ubuntu Budgie Sets Its Sights on Gamers: Linux Mint Edge Is Ready for the Newest Hardware; Linux Kernel 5.17 Code Merge Window Is Closed; and Another Serious Flaw Found in All Major Linux Distributions.
Zorin OS 16 Educational Spin Now Available
Zorin OS 16 Education is a Linux distribution aimed at preschools as well as primary and secondary schools. Building on their already fantastic desktop experience, the developers have added a few tools to help educational institutions prepare students with the skills they need to navigate the waters of an ever-growing and complicated world.
One of the key pieces of software added is Kolibri, which aims to bridge the educational divide by providing access to an enormous library of educational content. Even better, an Internet connection isn't required to use the tool. With Kolibri, school administrators can either create their own curriculum or download materials from educational leaders such as Khan Academy, Open Stax, MIT, TED-Ed, and Sikana. Once downloaded, the content can be shared, peer-to-peer, over a local network.
Other educational apps include Minder (mind mapping), OpenBoard (whiteboard), Minuet (music knowledge), KTouch (typing), KTurtle (educational programming environment), KBrunch (practice exercises with fractions), KWordQuiz (flashcards), and Step (physics experiment simulation). Beyond educational apps, Zorin OS Education includes the likes of Firefox, LibreOffice, and Gimp.
Download a copy of Zorin OS 16 Education at https://zorin.com/os/education/, and read about what's new in the general Zorin OS 16 release at https://blog.zorin.com/2021/08/17/2021-08-17-zorin-os-16-is-released/.
System76 Releases AMD-Powered Kudu Laptop
System76 has finally brought back the popular Kudu laptop workstation powerhouse. This time around the laptop is equipped with a 3rd-gen AMD (Zen 3) Ryzen 9 5900HX H-class processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. The CPU runs at 3.3 GHz but can be boosted up to 4.6 GHz.
The Kudu is paired with NVidia RTX 3060 graphics and up to 64GB of Dual Channel DDR4 memory.
According to Ben Shpurker, Product Manager at System76, "This combination makes it the perfect machine for creating on the go."
The Kudu laptop has a 15-inch FHD matte display and a thin bezel, but for creators of all kinds, the laptop can manage up to three external displays with one HDMI port, one Mini DisplayPort, and one DisplayPort over USB-C.
Looking at ports, you'll find one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4, one USB 2.0 Type-A port, one Mini DisplayPort 1.4 port, and one HDMI port with HDCP, as well as a headphone/microphone combo jack and a dedicated microphone jack.
Other features include a multitouch click pad, multi-color backlit US QWERTY keyboard, 2.5Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5, 1.0M 720p HD webcam, 48.96 Wh Li-Ion battery, and 2 x M.2 SSD (PCIe NVMe only) for up to 4TB total storage.
The Kudu is now available to the general public and has a base price of $1,799.
Ubuntu Budgie Sets Its Sights on Gamers
Ubuntu Budgie is already a well-designed Linux desktop distribution with a pleasant UI that makes interacting with Linux incredibly simple. And with the upcoming release of 22.04, the developers are adding a new layer of goodness to the platform.
First and foremost, the new release will include tools to vastly improve the gaming experience. Gamers will find tools such as MangoHUD (a Vulkan and OpenGL overlay for monitoring FPS, temperatures, CPU/GPU load, and more), CoreCtrl (allows you to control computer hardware with application profiles), Polychromatic and OpenRGB (RGP lighting management).
Next up comes the easy installation of apps such as Steam, Lutris, RetroARch, Discord, and OBS Studio. The developers are also mulling over adding GreenWithEnvy, the GTK system utility that is designed to provide information, control fans, and overclock NVidia video cards and GPUs.
Finally, the Budgie Welcome App will suggest the installation of gaming-specific libraries, based on any applicable hardware it detects.
All of the gaming features are currently in alpha but hopefully will be ready for the masses once the final release of Ubuntu Budgie 22.04 is made available this April. For those interested in testing the early release, you can download an ISO of the daily build for now (https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/daily-live/current/).
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.