FOSS Roundup #3 - Back at it with Xubuntu

It’s time for another Weekly (okay, almost) FOSS Roundup! Last week I was busy rolling out my new website. If you haven’t checked it out yet, head over to bluesabre.org and take a look! This week has been relatively quiet overall, but there are still some important library and application updates.

The GTK Clutter library has been retired

Clutter has been an integral component of GTK and GNOME for many years now. It enables hardware-accelerated features such as video and animated interfaces. It’s used by Mugshot for the camera feed and was at one time the preferred video display solution for Parole Media Player. As of GNOME 42, it will be archived and will receive no future updates.

OBS added official Flatpak support

OBS Studio 27.2 added official Flatpak support! OBS has been available as a Flatpak and Snap for several years now. With this release, the Flatpak version comes closer to being a standard supported way of installing and using OBS.

Release OBS Studio 27.2 · obsproject/obs-studio

Hi there, please do not use this build. Use the latest release here:https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/releasesNew Features and Additions Added AJA source for AJA devices [DDRBoxman/AJA Te...

GitHubobsproject

libinput 1.20.0 was released with various improvements

libinput, the X- and Wayland- compatible input library arrived this week with improvements to high-resolution wheel scrolling, better support for drawing tablets, and better recognition of joysticks and gamepads (which it doesn’t manage).

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/libinput/libinput/-/releases/1.20.0

Early support for GTK 4 and libhandy in Greybird

Simon popped in early this week and started adding support for GTK 4 and libhandy to Greybird. This will make numerous apps including GNOME Software look a lot better for Xubuntu 22.04. If you want to give it a spin, check out the Pull Request below!

Draft: Support for Gtk4 and libhandy by ochosi · Pull Request #311 · shimmerproject/Greybird

This is still a very early draft, but makes things look less broken already.

GitHubshimmerproject

I'm back to daily-driving Xubuntu

After nearly a year-long hiatus, I’m back to using and developing on Xubuntu 22.04! Getting up and running wasn’t without its hiccups though. Hardware support and GRUB gave me a few headaches.

Unlock Multi-Touch Gestures in Xubuntu — Sean Davis

Multi-touch gestures are one of my favorite modern desktop features. By disabling Synaptics driver and installing Touchégg, you can bring gestures to Xubuntu.

Sean DavisSean Davis

Use mainline to easily upgrade your kernel — Sean Davis

When I installed Xubuntu 22.04 I was shocked to see that Bluetooth wasn’t working. One mainline kernel install and everything worked like a dream.

Sean DavisSean Davis

OS Prober Disabled in Ubuntu 22.04, Here’s a Fix

As OS-prober is disabled in GRUB 2.06, Ubuntu 22.04 won’t add Windows or other Linux distros to your boot menu. We explain why and share a fix.

OMG! Ubuntu!Joey Sneddon

What I'm working on...

With my new site out of the way and Xubuntu development machine back up and running, I’ll be focused on Xubuntu for the next week. I’m hoping to get some traction on the LTS wallpaper contest (more info soon). I’m also planning to knock out some more Xubuntu documentation updates.

Thanks for reading!

I asked on Twitter what the most important thing you’re looking forward or or would like to be fixed in time for Xubuntu 22.04. Feel free to chime in, or if you’re really eager, start contributing! You can find details on how to get started on xubuntu.org/contribute.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, consider sending me a tip! I’ve added links to GitHub Sponsors, Ko-Fi, and Patreon to be Donate page on my website.

Donate — Sean Davis

Free software isn’t free. Support your favorite projects and developers, including me. GitHub, Patreon, or Ko-Fi accepted.

Sean Davis

See you next week with some more Linux and Open Source news!