A new version of Ghostty emerged this week and in this post I run-through the key changes. For those unfamiliar with it, Ghostty is an open-source terminal emulator written in Zig. It offers a “fast, feature-rich, and native” experience — doesn’t claim to be faster, more featured, or go deeper than other native terminals, just offer a competitive combo of the three. Given it does pretty much everything other terminal emulators do, fans faithful to more established terminal emulators won’t find Ghostty‘s presence spooks ’em into switching. It’s a passion project there to be used (or not) depending on need, taste, […]

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by George Whittaker Introduction

In the realm of Linux, efficiency and productivity are not just goals but necessities. One of the most powerful tools in a power user's arsenal are terminal multiplexers, specifically tmux and Screen. These tools enhance the command line interface experience by allowing users to run multiple terminal sessions within a single window, detach them and continue working in the background, and reattach them at will. This guide delves into the world of tmux and Screen, showing you how to harness their capabilities to streamline your workflow and boost your productivity.

Understanding Terminal Multiplexers What is a Terminal Multiplexer?

A terminal multiplexer is a software application that allows multiple terminal sessions to be accessed and controlled from a single screen. Users can switch between these sessions seamlessly, without the need to open multiple terminal windows. This capability is particularly useful in remote session management, where sessions need to remain active even when the user is disconnected.

Key Features and Benefits

• Session Management: Keep processes running even after disconnecting.
• Window Splitting: Divide your screen into multiple windows.
• Persistent Sessions: Reconnect to sessions after disconnection without losing state.
• Multiple Views: View different sessions side-by-side.

Getting Started with Screen Brief History and Development

Screen, developed by GNU, has been a staple among system administrators and power users for decades. It provides the basic functionality needed to manage multiple windows in a single session.

Installing Screen

To install Screen on Ubuntu or Debian:

sudo apt-get install screen

On Red Hat or CentOS:

sudo yum install screen

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install screen

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LibreOffice 25.2 has been released, this year’s first major update to the leading open-source office software for Windows, macOS, and Linux. As you’d expect, the update delivers a sizeable set of changes spread throughout the productivity suite, including notable UI changes, accessibility improvements, and more important interoperability buffs to support cross-suite workflows. It’s important to remember that open-source software like LibreOffice doesn’t appear out of thin air; it’s made by humans, many unpaid, others paid to work on specific parts only. We all have personal wish-lists of features and changes we want our favourite open-source apps to add, but we […]

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Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) user? If so, you will be pleased to hear that Ubuntu is now available in Microsoft’s new tar-based distro format — no need to use the sluggish Microsoft Store. Canonical announced the news today, noting that “the new tar-based WSL distro format allows developers and system administrators to distribute, install, and manage Ubuntu WSL instances from tar files without relying on the Microsoft Store.” In not relying on the Microsoft Store for distribution, it’s less hassle for enterprises to roll out (and customise) Ubuntu on WSL at scale as images packaged in using the new […]

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by George Whittaker Introduction

Linux, a powerhouse in the world of operating systems, is renowned for its robustness, security, and scalability. Central to these strengths is the effective management of users and groups, which ensures secure and efficient access to system resources. This guide delves into the intricacies of user and group management, providing a foundation for both newcomers and seasoned administrators to enhance their Linux system administration skills.

Understanding Users in Linux

In Linux, a user is anyone who interacts with the operating system, be it a human or a software agent. Users can be categorized into three types:

1. Root User: Also known as the superuser, the root user has unfettered access to the system. This account can modify any file, run privileged commands, and has administrative rights over other user accounts.

2. System Users: These accounts are created to run specific services such as web servers or database systems. Typically, these users do not have login capabilities and are used to segregate duties for security purposes.

3. Regular Users: These are the typical accounts created for actual people using the system. They have more limited privileges compared to the root user, which can be adjusted through group memberships or permission changes.

Each user is uniquely identified by a User ID (UID). The UID for the root user is always 0, while UIDs for other users usually start from 1000 upwards by default.

Understanding Groups in Linux

A group in Linux is a collection of users who share certain privileges and access rights. Groups make it easier to manage permissions for a collection of users, rather than having to assign permissions individually.

• Primary Group: When a user is created, they are automatically assigned a primary group. This group is typically named after the username and is used for setting the default permissions when the user creates new files or directories.
• Secondary Groups: Users can be added to additional groups, allowing them more granular access to resources.

Groups are identified by a Group ID (GID), similar to how users are identified by UIDs.

User and Group Management Tools

Linux offers a suite of command-line tools for managing users and groups:

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Right on schedule, a new update to the Mozilla Firefox web browser is available for download. Last month’s Firefox 134 release saw the New Tab page layout refreshed for users in the United States, let Linux go hands-on with touch-hold gestures, seeded Ecosia search engine, and fine-tuned the performance of the built-in pop-up blocker. Firefox 135, as is probably intuit, brings an equally sizeable set of changes to the fore including a wider rollout of its new New Tab page layout to all locales where Stories are available: It’s not a massive makeover, granted. But the new layout adjusts the […]

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Do you use the official Spotify DEB on Ubuntu (or an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution like Linux Mint)? If so, you’ll be used to receiving updates to the Spotify Linux client direct from the official Spotify APT repo, right alongside all your other DEB-based software. Thing is: if you haven’t checked for updates from the command line recently you might not be aware the that security key used to ‘sign’ packages from the Spotify APT repo stopped working at the end of last year. Annoying, but not catastrophic as it—thankfully—doesn’t stop the Spotify Linux app from working just pollutes terminal output […]

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Fans of the Papirus icon theme for Linux desktops will be happy hear a new version is now available to download. Paprius‘s first update in 2025 improves support for KDE Plasma 6 by adding Konversation, KTorrent and RedShift tray icons, KDE and Plasma logo glyphs for use in ‘start menu’ analogues, as well as an assortment of symbolic icons. Retro gaming fans will appreciate an expansion in mime type support in this update. Papirus now includes file icons for ROMs used for emulating ZX Spectrum, SEGA Dreamcast, SEGA Saturn, MSX, and Neo Geo Pocket consoles; and Papirus now uses different […]

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GNOME has announced a change to its default UI and monospace fonts ahead of the upcoming GNOME 48 release — a typographic turnabout that won’t impact Ubuntu users directly, though. Should you feel a sense of deja vu here it’s because GNOME trialled a font switch last year, during development of GNOME 47. Back then, it replaced its home-grown Cantarell font with the popular open-source sans Inter font (trivia: used by Zorin OS). The change was reverted prior to the GNOME 47 due to various UI quirks, coverage issues, and compatibility (thus underlying the importance of testing things out prior […]

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Want to find out if the text you’re reading online was written by an real human or spat out by a large language model (LLM) trying to sound like one? Mozilla’s Fakespot Deepfake Detector Firefox add-on may can help give you an indication. Similar to online AI detector tools, the add-on can analyse text (of 32 words or more) to identify patterns, traits, and tells common in AI generated or manipulated text. It uses Mozilla’s proprietary ApolloDFT engine and a set of open-source detection models. But unlike some tools, Mozilla’s Fakespot Deepfake Detector browser extension is free to use, does […]

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Linux users hunting for a native client to stream music from TIDAL will want to keep an eye on a promising new open-source app called High Tide. High Tide is an unofficial but native Linux client for the TIDAL music streaming service. It’s written in Python, uses GTK4/libadwaita UI, and leverages official TIDAL APIs for playback. TIDAL, often positioned as the ‘pro-artist music streaming platform’, isn’t as popular as industry titan Spotify (likely because it doesn’t offer a ‘free’ ad-supported tier) but is nonetheless a solid rival to it in terms of features and catalogue breadth. Windows, macOS, Android and […]

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by George Whittaker Introduction

Debian-based Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Debian itself, rely on robust package management systems to install, update, and remove software efficiently. One of the most critical aspects of package management is handling dependencies—ensuring that all required libraries and packages are present for an application to function correctly.

Dependency management is crucial for maintaining system stability, avoiding broken packages, and ensuring software compatibility. This article explores how Debian handles package dependencies, how to manage them effectively, and how to troubleshoot common dependency-related issues.

Understanding Debian Package Management

Debian uses the .deb package format, which contains precompiled binaries, configuration files, and metadata describing the package, including its dependencies. The primary tools for handling Debian packages are:

• dpkg: A low-level package manager used for installing, removing, and querying .deb packages.

• APT (Advanced Package Tool): A high-level package management system that resolves dependencies automatically and fetches required packages from repositories.

Without proper dependency handling, installing a single package could become a nightmare of manually finding and installing supporting files. APT streamlines this process by automating dependency resolution.

How Dependencies Work in Debian

Dependencies ensure that an application has all the necessary libraries and components to function correctly. In Debian, dependencies are defined in the package’s control file. These dependencies are categorized as follows:

• Depends: Mandatory dependencies required for the package to work.

• Recommends: Strongly suggested dependencies that enhance functionality but are not mandatory.

• Suggests: Optional packages that provide additional features.

• Breaks: Indicates that a package is incompatible with certain versions of another package.

• Conflicts: Prevents the installation of two incompatible packages.

• Provides: Allows one package to act as a substitute for another (useful for virtual packages).

For example, if you attempt to install a software package using APT, it will automatically fetch and install all required dependencies based on the Depends field.

Managing Dependencies with APT

APT simplifies dependency management by automatically resolving and installing required packages. Some essential APT commands include:

• Updating package lists: sudo apt update

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The Thunderbird email client is making its monthly ‘release channel’ builds the default download starting in March. “We’re excited to announce that starting with the 135.0 release in March 2025, the Thunderbird Release channel will be the default download,” Corey Bryant, manager of Thunderbird Release Operations, shares in an update on the project’s discussion hub. Right now, users who visit the Thunderbird website and hit the giant download get the latest Extended Support Release (ESR) build by default. It gets one major feature update a year plus smaller bug fix and security updates issued in-between. The version of Thunderbird Ubuntu […]

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Ubuntu’s key developers have agreed to switch to Matrix as the primary platform for real-time development communications involving the distro. From March, Matrix will replace IRC as the place where critical Ubuntu development conversations, requests, meetings, and other vital chatter must take place. Developers asked to ensure they have a presence on the platform so they are reachable. Only the current #ubuntu-devel and #ubuntu-release Libera IRC channels are moving to Matrix, but other Ubuntu development-related channels can choose to move –officially, given some projects were using Matrix over IRC already. As a result, any major requests to/of the key Ubuntu […]

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A new beta release of open source graphics editing app Pinta is available for testing. Pinta 3.0 (beta) gives fans of this cross-platform raster image editor, which is directly inspired by the iconic Paint.NET Windows app, an early opportunity to try out the changes it brings — and there’s a fair few! The most impactful change in Pinta 3.0 is the most obvious one: it’s revamped UI. Newly ported to GTK4 and libadwaita, Pinta 3.0 swaps a traditional window frame and text-based menu bar for a button-based header bar. Long-time users may might themselves taking a bit of time to […]

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by George Whittaker

Linux, renowned for its robustness and security, is a powerful multi-user operating system that allows multiple people to interact with the same system resources without interfering with each other. Proper management of user accounts and permissions is crucial to maintaining the security and efficiency of a Linux system. This article provides an exploration of how to effectively manage user accounts and permissions in Linux.

Understanding User Accounts in Linux

User accounts are essential for individual users to access and operate Linux systems. They help in resource allocation, setting privileges, and securing the system from unauthorized access. There are mainly two types of user accounts:

• Root account: This is the superuser account with full access to all commands and files on a Linux system. The root account has the power to do anything, including tasks that can potentially harm the system, hence it should be used sparingly.
• Regular user accounts: These accounts have more limited permissions, generally confined to the user's home directory. Permissions for these accounts are set in a way that protects the core functionalities of the system from unintended disruptions.

Additionally, Linux systems also include various system accounts that are used to run services such as web servers, databases, and more.

Creating and Managing User Accounts

Creating a user account in Linux can be accomplished with the useradd or adduser commands. The adduser command is more interactive and user-friendly than useradd.

Creating a new user

sudo adduser newusername

This command creates a new user account and its home directory with default configuration files.

Setting user attributes

• Password: Set or change passwords using the passwd command.
• Home directory: Specify a home directory at creation with useradd -d /home/newusername newusername.
• Login shell: Define the default shell with useradd -s /bin/bash newusername.

Modifying and deleting user accounts

• To modify an existing user, use usermod. For example, sudo usermod -s /bin/zsh username changes the user's default shell to zsh.
• To delete a user, along with their home directory, use userdel -r username.

Understanding Linux Permissions

In Linux, every file and directory has associated access permissions which determine who can read, write, or execute them.

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Did you ever own (or covet) one of those e-ink Pebble smartwatches of yore? Well, good news if you did: Google today open-sourced the PebbleOS operating system it used (minus proprietary bits) having acquired Pebble’s assets when buying Fitbit in 2021 (and Fitbit bought Pebble in 2016, but more on that in a mo’.) More open source code in the world is good news, and it means anyone can reuse PebbleOS to build their own smartwatches, or learn from perusing the code how the former Pebble team tackled building a solid real-time OS on such limited hardware. What made Google […]

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A new version of the Varia download manager was released at the weekend – an update described by its developers as probably the “biggest since the first release”. I’ve written about Varia before and, as I said then, I appreciate that the idea of using a dedicated download manager app on the desktop isn’t as obvious today as it was a decade ago. Most people have fast internet connections, meaning even large downloads complete in seconds, and the built-in download tools in web-browsers are sufficient. Plus, we all tend to use streaming media services these days thus negating the need […]

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Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS is scheduled for release on February 13th – in time for Valentines Day, aww. Canonical’s Florent Jacquet shares the date on the Ubuntu Developer mailing list today along with a note to developers to be mindful of their package uploads to noble in the coming weeks. As a result, if you’re using the latest long-term support release you may notice a slightly drop-off in the number of non-essential updates Software Updater bugs you to install between now and February 13. This allow devs to create a snapshot and test it properly. Ubuntu point releases rarely deliver new […]

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Vivaldi web browser has just released its first major update of the year – a corker it is, too! Fans of the Chromium-based browser—though Vivaldi Technologies doesn’t appear to be part of the new Linux Foundation-led Supporters of Chromium Browsers project—will discover a bunch of improvements to the Dashboard feature Vivaldi 7.0 delivered. A new weather widget can be added to see current conditions and hourly and weekly weather forecasts for custom locations, plus the ability to set a preferred temperate, precipitation and wind speed unit (celsius, mm, and mph ftw). Keeping things scandi-cool, the Norway-based browser makes use of […]

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