This week in our forums…
Key Stats
In the past week, our Linux forums had the following activity and key statistics:
Total New Posts: 196
Total New Topics: 14
Top Contributors
@Brian_Masinick: 22 posts, 67 likes received
@DenalB: 23 posts, 64 likes received
@andreas: 14 posts, 45 likes received
@ericmarceau: 13 posts, 39 likes received
@Jymm: 8 posts, 28 likes received
@Norm24: 3 posts, 20 likes received
@Bombilla: 17 posts, 18 likes received
@pavlos: 3 posts, 18 likes received
@rogerp: 7 posts, 16 likes received
@toadie: 4 posts, 14 likes received
Interesting Topics
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In General Discussions, @Jymm shared a timely link and sparked a wide-ranging conversation in Microsoft brings native Linux command tools to Windows 11 with Coreutils. Members weighed in on Microsoft’s developer strategy, with @DenalB reaffirming life after Windows, @Halano questioning how “native” the tools really are, and @Brian_Masinick recalling years of juggling UNIX, Linux, and Windows at work. @shybry747 joked about the timeline for a Linux-based Windows, while @ericmarceau put Azure Linux on his permanent blacklist.
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@J_J_Sloan started a discussion in General Discussions about sharpening programming skills with Coding practice, highlighting Exercism’s language tracks and self-paced flow. @andreas appreciated that it is run by a non-profit, while @mrcn suggested Codecrafters for deeper, project-based builds.
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In mate, @pavlos posted a concise how-to in High precision timestamp in syslog, showing how to switch Ubuntu MATE’s rsyslog from microsecond-precision to traditional hh:mm:ss timestamps with a single directive and a quick service restart. @ericmarceau compared defaults across releases to understand when the behavior changed.
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@ericmarceau flagged performance guidance in Ubuntu with Gaming on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. @NothingConspicous mentioned BORE kernels for better responsiveness and later clarified a link mix-up, while @andreas cautioned against casually running scripts from the internet without explanation.
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In #help, @ugnvs reported regressions after an Ubuntu 24.04.4 kernel jump in Ubuntu kernel update caused WiFi problems. The Atheros AR9565 card exhibited disconnects and wild signal swings on 6.8.0-134, while @tkn validated that similar setups stayed stable on other hardware and noted local boot options in case they help.
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@Norm24 surfaced a small but useful upstream call-to-test in mate with Mate-menus testing. If you’re on MATE, it is a quick way to pitch in and help improve the menu experience.
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In General Discussions, @Watford noted a quality-of-life improvement in WhatsApp web on Linux: voice and video calls now work in the browser on Linux. @andreas confirmed seeing the same capability in recent months.
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@hydn asked the community about lineage and preferences in General Discussions with Poll: Are you running a Debian or Debian-based distro?. Replies spanned @toadie’s Arch and NixOS leanings, @andreas happily settling into Debian, @DenalB championing Fedora for fresher packages, and @benowe1717 splitting duties between Debian servers and a growing fondness for Arch-based desktops.
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In #security, @Jymm shared research on a long-lived kernel issue in IonStack part II: GhostLock, a stack-UAF that has existed in ALL Linux distributions for 15 years. The thread touches on privilege escalation risk in multi-user or networked contexts, and @ericmarceau asked the pointed follow-up many were thinking: why has this not been closed yet.
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New member @jery asked for help gauging safety of a new repo in General Discussions with Help with repo verification. @ericmarceau advised directly reviewing scripts and not outsourcing trust, and @andreas suggested using a large language model as a secondary check to flag potentially risky operations when you cannot read code deeply yourself.
Activity by the @staff Group
- @hydn acknowledged feedback on the Distro Fighter project and shipped fixes, closing the loop with an update here: Distro Fighter: Find your Linux distro & desktop.
- In @Sanjana_Rathnayake’s home-server write-up, @hydn added Cockpit to the community Wiki resources and encouraged further exploration: Transforming My Debian 13 Home Server: GNOME to Cockpit.
- @andreas contributed privacy-first guidance in the ongoing VPN discussion, outlining why Mullvad’s model and flat pricing work well for intermittent use: Which VPN do you use?.
- @system published a digest of the week’s upstream news and advisories with kernel, distro, and security highlights: Linux Weekly News: Key Stories Ahead of This Week.
Best Reply or Topic of the Week
- A practical, reproducible fix path from @benowe1717 in the Zorin support thread stood out. They documented purging Nvidia packages and reverting to Nouveau to stop intermittent system hangs, with exact commands and cleanup steps that others can try or adapt: HP Omen with Zorin 18.1 frequently hangs requiring a hard power off.
Clear steps, results, and caveats make this a great reference for similar hybrid-GPU troubleshooting.
Top Contributor
Congratulations to @Brian_Masinick on earning this week’s Top Contributor badge! 
Thanks for reading. See you again next week! 
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