#linuxnews

This week's Linux and FOSS news:

LINUX NEWS

Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint Eye Age Verification Amid California Law Backlash:
https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-fedora-linux-mint-eye-age-verification-amid-california-law-backlash
(Seems like a new era has begun, even Linux isn't fully immune to the invasion of digital freedom, but we're fine for the most part, we can just lie about our age because we aren't required to provide photo ID or selfie unlike on some of the normie platforms. And even if another law comes out requiring Linux too to ask for a personal id, they can't do much to actually enforce it on the thousands of volunteers)
(Flathub and Snap Store having to comply is a much bigger deal though, since those are corporate entities (or at least it's planned to become one in case of Flathub, I wonder if they still stick to their plans after all of this), they might actually be forced, to query age brackets from the OS for now, but pretty likely to ask for photo ID or selfie in the future when the other age verification laws currently pending (Texas, New York, Brazil, Canada, etc.) will be accepted. Of course, it can also be circumvented by using the repos of a distro which doesn't comply, download app binaries from source code repo Releases page, compiling from source (at least from repos hosted on Codeberg, GitHub/Microsoft might comply), downloading from AppImageHub (which is community-maintained afaik) etc., but it still sucks to lose two of the largest software repos (even if I'm not a fan of Snap Store and Snap in general for "ideological" reasons))

Linux Mint shows off its new lock screen/screensaver:
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/03/linux-mint-cinnamon-lock-screen-screensaver

Arch Linux Releases March 2026 ISO:
https://debugpointnews.com/arch-linux-iso-refresh-march-2026/

AerynOS update boosts atomic update speed and adds WiFi-friendly installs:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2026/3/aerynos-update-boosts-atomic-update-speed-and-adds-wifi-friendly-installs/

Say goodbye to Microsoft Windows 11 and hello to Nitrux Linux 6:
https://betanews.com/article/say-goodbye-to-microsoft-windows-11-and-hello-to-nitrux-linux-6/

Bazzite gets a big update with KDE Plasma 6.6, Mesa 26.0.1 and more:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/03/bazzite-gets-a-big-update-with-kde-plasma-6-6-mesa-26-0-1-and-more/

(more Linux and FOSS news in comments)

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