News · October 12

KDE Plasma 6.8 Beta Released

Last week, KDE released the beta version of Plasma 6.8. This marks the start of the final testing phase for the next release of the free desktop environment. We’d like to give you a sneak peek at the new features.

Teaser at TUXEDO Computers

Read the news at TUXEDO →

Related on Linux und Ich: 30 Years of KDE: Plasma 6.8 Drops X11, Plus a Birthday Documentary · KDE: The Documentary premieres on October 14, right on time for the 30th birthday

News · October 14

Plasma 6.8 drops X11 in favor of Wayland

The latest version 6.8 of the Plasma desktop, released on October 14, brings improvements in many areas. At the same time, the removal of the X11 session marks the end of an era. We’ll explain what this means for you.

Teaser at TUXEDO Computers

Read the news at TUXEDO →

News · October 30

TUXEDO OS Open Beta Approaching the Final Stretch

In November, we’ll be entering the final stretch of the TUXEDO OS Open Beta. If you’ve found any bugs or other issues, now is the time to report them.

Teaser at TUXEDO Computers

Read the news at TUXEDO →

Related on Linux und Ich: Pulsgeber 0.5.3: Ready for TUXEDO Control Center 3.1 · Pulsgeber: TUXEDO Control Center Profiles in the GNOME Quick Settings

This Week in TUXEDO OS

KDE Apps of the Month

KDE Photos – A New Image Manager for the Plasma Desktop

If you open an image under Plasma, chances are you have been using Gwenview for many years.

This Week in TUXEDO OS #40

Full introduction in issue #40 →

Minuet – Ear Training with KDE

Recognizing intervals, picking out chords, clapping back rhythms: people who learn an instrument usually train their ear with textbooks and listening examples. Minuet from the KDE project takes over this task on your computer.

This Week in TUXEDO OS #41

Full introduction in issue #41 →

Drawy – A Canvas for Your Ideas

Some ideas are easier to draw than to put into words. Whether it is a flowchart, a quick sketch, or a branching train of thought: on a digital whiteboard, you can organize your thoughts and make connections visible.

This Week in TUXEDO OS #42

Full introduction in issue #42 →

Audex – Digitizing Audio CDs on Linux

Even in the age of streaming, many households still have numerous music CDs sitting on their shelves. Anyone looking to digitize their collection and play their music on a computer, smartphone, or other devices will find Audex a useful tool for the job.

This Week in TUXEDO OS #43

Full introduction in issue #43 →

KGeoTag – Adding Location Data to Photos After the Fact

Anyone who takes photos with a digital camera on vacation or while hiking knows the problem: weeks later, you often no longer know exactly where a picture was taken. Smartphones save the location automatically, but many digital cameras lack a GPS receiver.

This Week in TUXEDO OS #44

Full introduction in issue #44 →

This Week in TUXEDO OS

Tips of the Month

Searching and Monitoring in the Terminal with fzf and btop

If you work in the terminal often, you know the problem: the command you are looking for is somewhere in the history, the file is buried in a deeply nested folder, and the process that spins up the fan is hidden in a long list.

This Week in TUXEDO OS #41

What the tip covers:

• Installation
• fzf: Fuzzy Search Any List
• btop: A System Monitor in the Terminal
• Limitations

Read the tip in issue #41 →

Reading the APT Package History and Undoing Changes

After an update, a program no longer starts, or a package that was there yesterday is missing. At the latest, the question arises: what has actually changed on the system in the last few days?

This Week in TUXEDO OS #42

What the tip covers:

• Reading the History on TUXEDO OS
• Undoing Changes with APT 3
• Limitations

Read the tip in issue #42 →

Automatic Light and Dark Mode with Night Light

In Europe, daylight saving time ends on Sunday, October 25, and it gets dark an hour earlier in the evening. If you are still working on your notebook by then, a bright desktop can quickly feel glaring.

This Week in TUXEDO OS #43

What the tip covers:

• The Day-Night Cycle Sets the Pace
• Night Light: Warmer Colors in the Evening
• The Theme Changes with the Time of Day

Read the tip in issue #43 →

Automatically Lower the Refresh Rate on Battery

Many notebooks, gaming models in particular, come with displays running at 120, 165, or 240 Hz. Motion looks smoother, but every extra frame costs power because the GPU and the display have to work harder. At your desk with the power adapter plugged in, that does not matter, but on the go it does.

This Week in TUXEDO OS #44

What the tip covers:

• Find Suitable Modes
• Create the Script
• Add It to Power Management

Read the tip in issue #44 →

This Week in TUXEDO OS

Updates and Security

TUXEDO’s own packages and important security updates from this month’s issues, each with the latest version. In addition, there were 97 Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) that flow into TUXEDO OS.

TUXEDO · October 2026

All Issues in October 2026

• #40 from October 2: This week brought some genuinely good news from our western neighbors. Both the Netherlands and France are developing workplace environments for public authorities that combine a Linux operating system with the Plasma desktop and an office suite.
• #41 from October 9: Plasma 6.8 is about to be released: the KDE developers have brought the beta into its final phase, and the release is planned for October 14. What matters most is what is missing: for the first time, Plasma no longer ships an X11 session, and Wayland is the only option at login.
• #42 from October 16: Happy birthday, KDE! On October 14, 1996, Matthias Ettrich, then a student in Tübingen, announced a new project in a Usenet group: the “Kool Desktop Environment”. The cool K has long since become a trademark, and the desktop has grown into a community that maintains hundreds of programs.
• #43 from October 23: This week, a security flaw hit like a thunderclap: On Wednesday, October 21, the PHP team released emergency updates for two critical vulnerabilities in versions 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36, and 8.2.35.
• #44 from October 30: Last weekend, the moderators of r/opensource, the largest open-source community on Reddit, shut out AI-assisted projects with new rules. r/fossdroid followed shortly afterwards. The backlash is fierce: whether software is free depends on its license, not on the tool.

Quotes and teasers: TUXEDO Computers, “This Week in TUXEDO OS” and blog. The full texts are available at tuxedocomputers.com.

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