Linux News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

An artist has drawn the characters of Stardew Valley in the world of Fallout, providing a glimpse of how Pelican Town's citizens would fare in the post-apocalyptic Wasteland. Both franchises are incredibly popular among gamers.

Google Chrome users can breathe a sigh of relief as the search giant has rolled out a crucial update to address a zero-day vulnerability that was actively exploited by attackers. This security flaw, categorised as 'High' severity, posed a significant risk to users across all desktop platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Valve has released its Proton 9.0 software update which adds improved support for NVIDIA GPUs and high core count CPUs.

NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction support has been added today to the RTX Remix open beta, allowing developers to increase the quality of ray tracing.

Developer Iron Gate Studio has just released update 0.218.11 for the Public Test Build of its popular open-world survival game, Valheim. The build, which is less stable as it is used to check upcoming updates for the game, recently received a major content drop that introduced a new biome, equipment, and enemies, among other things.

As a Linux user, finding games that run natively on your desktop can be challenging. Many popular games are developed primarily for Windows, leaving Linux users to rely on emulators or compatibility layers like Wine.

AMD has made huge strides on Linux with its latest patch release, bringing in the fundamental firmware files for its anticipated RDNA 3+ GPUs.

A recently debuted SimCity 4 mod adds a fully functional 3D camera to the game, thus giving it a whole new look. This add-on is yet another example illustrating how SimCity 4 continues to attract both player and modder interest more than 21 years following its launch.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issued a high-security risk warning due to several vulnerabilities reported in Google Chrome for desktop versions such as Windows, Mac, and Linux. This is yet another case reported in 10 days which led Google to release an urgent update. Now, again a similar issue has come forward which requires quick solutions. Know what the warning says and advise the user to take appropriate action during this crucial time. 

Grand Theft Auto 5 has enjoyed a long-lasting life on multiple platforms since its release in 2013. Fuelled by the popularity of GTA Online, GTA 5 continues to attract players on PlayStation and Xbox consoles and PC. Ahead of the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6 next year, however, GTA 5 could be available to more players on mobile and Nintendo Switch platforms, but not officially. Third party developers are reportedly working on Android, Linux and Nintendo Switch ports of the game.

A team of modders is on the brink of making GTA 5 playable on Nintendo Switch, Linux, and Android devices, following a leak of the game's source code in December 2023. This breakthrough has unleashed a wave of possibilities in the modding community, with fans eagerly anticipating the prospect of enjoying the iconic title on new platforms.

Longtime vehicular sports game Rocket League could be crossing over with a legendary Marvel franchise: The X-Men. New leaks suggest an upcoming crossover pack for the game, which could add new Rocket League cosmetic options for players and fans.

The Suyu Nintendo Switch Emulator is about to reach an important milestone, as its build is launching online very soon.

PlayStation has shined in the spotlight for a while, especially as many people’s favorite console out of the so-called “console wars.” However, Sony has admitted that the PS3 was not one of their best moments, even though many will not agree and say it was a great console in their childhood or even adulthood.

A Valheim player has created an impressive riverside base upon discovering tar in the Plains. There are six fully realized biomes in Valheim, each containing its own helpful materials, but Tar may be among the most useful for base building.

VKD3D-Proton, a translation layer used for Steam Play on Linux, has seen the inclusion of NVIDIA's Reflex technology in the latest update.

Stardew Valley is about to make it easier to get pets to move out of the way. This quality-of-life improvement will be part of the 1.6 update that is scheduled to reach Stardew Valley in a few days' time.

A Stardew Valley player turned their farm shed into a cozy, little coffee shop after they saw other creative building layouts for the game and became inspired. The critically acclaimed farm life simulator that was released in 2016 is set to receive a major update soon that will add plenty of new content for players to enjoy.

The world of Nintendo Switch emulation is in flux. Yuzu, once the preeminent open-source emulator, faces an uncertain future. However, a new project, Suyu, has emerged as a potential successor. Suyu Emulator is a fork of Yuzu, meaning it takes the original codebase as a foundation but carves its path forward.

The famous open-source platform MESA on Linux has pushed out CPU-based ray tracing for its Vulkan driver, opening new performance possibilities on the OS.

I’ve been playing a lot of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which, as a self-proclaimed PC gaming snob, would have presented a problem for me in the past. After all, a console exclusive like Rebirth just doesn’t fit into my typical pattern of gaming, which oscillates between desktop at home and Steam Deck on the go.

Nintendo of America has filed a lawsuit against Tropic Haze, the creator of popular Switch emulator Yuzu.

Arc A-Series GPUs are now supported within the Intel Extension for PyTorch (IPEX), offering faster AI capabilities in deep learning & LLMs.

World of Goo 2 will be released on May 23, 2024, it’s been announced.

World of Goo 2 is set to debut as a Nintendo Switch console exclusive on May 23. Its release date and Switch console exclusivity have both been revealed during the latest Nintendo Direct, which also featured new gameplay footage from the sequel to one of the highest-rated Wii games ever made.

Sony's PlayStation Portal has been hacked to allow running the PPSSPP emulator, as revealed on Twitter by Andy Nguyen. PPSSPP, as some of you may be aware, is a free and open source PlayStation Portable (PSP) emulator available on most platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows PC, macOS, Linux, Nintendo WiiU and Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S and X, and more.

Wine is the compatibility layer for running Windows applications and games on non-Windows platforms, including Linux, Mac, and Android. Wine 9.0 has now been released after a year of development, improving compatibility and adding some great new features.

Mini PC manufacturer, AOOSTAR, has unveiled its brand new GEM10 Mini PC which offers AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS APUs with OCULINK in a compact shape.

AMD's upcoming RDNA 4 GPUs have witnessed rapid developments at Linux as Team Red pushes out new IP blocks targeted toward bringing enhanced support.

The “bullet heaven” genre was not something I seriously encountered until I started playing Vampire Survivors. It’s got that dopamine hit that comes when you’re the one the enemies have to watch out for. But if you want something that’s less about castles and spells and more about basic shapes in space, Geometry Survivor is where it’s at.

AMD has just posted new Zen 5 "goodies" at Linux, this time bringing the architecture's support for the upcoming GCC 14 compiler, mentioning the capabilities of the lineup as well.

The development studios behind hit roguelike Dead Cellshave announced that they will be stepping back from further post-launch updates for the game. In the years since its release, Dead Cells received multiple updates and add-ons, keeping the game in players' minds on their playlists long after they had exhausted the original game's content.

In the first of a regular series of columns, Failbetter's marketing chief Haley Uyrus tells us about how developers can brand their projects using words alone

Long gone are the days when Windows was the only option for PC gamers. With options like Wine and Proton, or even running native titles, Linux users can join the fun. But which distro is the best for gaming?

AMD has pushed out new Linux patches to proceed towards "Zen 5" enablement on the platform, validating the lineup's codename.

The next-generation AMD Zen 5 CPUs continue to receive support within Linux drivers as we get closer to their 2024 launch.

Phoronix has published their review of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H "Meteor Lake" CPU against the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U in Linux which gets utterly demolished across 370 tests in both performance and efficiency.

AMD has enabled further support for its next-gen RDNA 4 "GFX12" GPUs in Linux, as Team Red adds new patches for their AMDGPU LLVM shader compiler.

A powerful piece of malware has been disguising itself as a trivial cryptocurrency miner to help it evade detection for more than five years, according to antivirus provider Kaspersky. 

Valve has announced that it will be discontinuing Counter-Strike 2support on older hardware and Mac so it can focus on 64-bit Windows and Linux.

Intel's 2nd Gen Core Ultra family codenamed Arrow Lake already has initial NPU (Neural Processing Unit) support added to Linux.

The Steam version of legendary simulation game Dwarf Fortress has a vital new patch out updating the graphical edition to work on ye olde Linux, a most dorky operation system for that most dorky of games. It was a delayed release, mostly because primary developer Tarn Adams just got over a bout with covid.

Programming hobbyists love a challenge. Getting Linux to run on, well, anything is a challenge many find irresistible. The latest example involves getting it to run on the legendary Commodore 64. Getting it to run on a Mac is one thing, but doing the same on a 40 year old computer with 64KB of memory is quite another.

Wi-Fi 7 will mark the next generation of wireless connectivity but it looks like you'll need to run the latest Windows OS to get full support.

AMD is continuously working on bringing new features to Linux 6.6 as it introduces FreeSync Panel Replay support & begins enablement of its next-gen RDNA 4 GPUs.

As AMD's next-gen Zen 5 CPUs come close to launch, it seems like Linux 6.6 has started to receive new patches based on the upcoming "Family 1Ah" architecture.

Windows will almost certainly be the default operating system for more PC users and gamers. However, Linux seems to be slowly climbing the ranks, and it’s now the second most popular OS on Steam, which could be owing to Valve’s handheld device, the Steam Deck.

Linux is now the second biggest operating system for Steam owing to the popularity of Valve's Steam Deck handheld PC, overtaking Mac OS. 

Linux has surpassed macOS as the second-most used operating system on Steam according to the latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey from July. While Linux remains a distant second place to top dog Windows, it's still seen a rapid increase in adoption among Steam users almost entirely attributable to the Linux-based Steam Deck.

It’s easy to forget that the Steam Deck is not just a PC gaming handheld, capable of playing the best Steam Deck games, but also a powerful desktop PC. And like with any desktop computer, the Steam Deck runs on its own operating system, which according to Valve, has overtaken macOS as the more popular choice.

AMD's fTPM issues are well-known in the industry, often causing system crashes and freezing. Linux's creator Linus Torvalds has expressed his disappointment towards the feature, labeling it a "plague" for the kernel.

AMD has begun releasing driver patches for next-gen GPUs through its recently adopted approach of utilizing individual IP blocks for future driver releases.

Intel Arc GPUs and their respective drivers are truly the fine wine of this generation as they continue to receive performance optimizations across the board.

The Steam Deck has something of a stranglehold on the handheld scene, with its more affordable price putting competing options to shame. However, a new challenger approaches, after modders have worked their magic in transforming the Nintendo Switch into a portable PC of sorts.

Intel plans to release optimizations within its Linux Vulkan driver, offering performance improvement across multiple games for Arc GPUs.