This Week in TUXEDO OS #46-2025 - TUXEDO Computers

Hello TUXEDO Fans and Open-Source Enthusiasts!

On November 11 at 11:11, our developer penguins traditionally pushed their keyboards aside and greeted the start of carnival season with a loud “Alaaf!” Between cheerful Git conga lines and colorful confetty in the terminal, which you can try out yourself:

ssh -p 2222 ssh.caarlos0.dev

…and the occasional improvised costume, work on TUXEDO OS naturally continued. Some of our developer penguins even went the extra mile and dressed up as Tux, the Linux mascot! Despite carnival, this edition of TWIX brings you the latest updates, helpful tips, and exciting news from the open-source world.

Enjoy reading,
The TUXEDO OS Team

Updates in TUXEDO OS

Linux Kernel 6.14.0–115036.36~24.04.1tux1

• Fixed TurboBoost issue on Gemini Gen4

TUXEDO Drivers 4.18.0

• Added hardware support: InfinityBook Pro Gen10 (Intel)
• Added hardware support: InfinityBook Max Gen10 (AMD)

tuxedo-yt6801 1.0.30tux5

• Fixed compiler errors on Fedora 42 and 43

nvidia-prime v0.8.17.2tux2

• Prime-Select for NVIDIA now works on Wayland

KDE App of the Week: KDE’s Powerful Text Editor Kate

This week, we introduce you to Kate, one of the oldest yet most modern applications from the KDE project. The name stands for KDE Advanced Text Editor, and that’s exactly what Kate is: a powerful, extensible editor that goes far beyond simple text editing and is suitable both for everyday tasks and professional development work. First released in 2001, it is cross-platform and available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Lightweight yet Powerful

Kate features a clean, uncluttered interface. Yet under the hood, it offers a wealth of functionality: syntax highlighting for over 400 programming languages, code folding, auto-completion, integrated terminal and Git support, as well as a powerful search-and-replace function across multiple files — making Kate the ideal companion for developers, administrators, and writers alike.

Particularly handy is the flexible window concept, allowing you to open multiple documents in tabs or edit them side by side in a split view, for instance to keep multiple versions of a configuration file in sight at the same time. The editor is optimized for source code editing and provides scriptable automatic indentation, a VI input mode, rectangular block selection, intelligent handling of code comments, and much more.

Extensible via Plugins

Like many KDE applications, Kate is modular. Its functionality can be extended via plugins — for example, with a Markdown preview, LSP support for auto-completion in various languages, or a range of debugging tools. Use the integrated terminal emulator to run commands directly from Kate, execute queries with the SQL module, or debug your code with GDB.

KParts, the core of Kate, is also used in other KDE applications such as the integrated development environment KDevelop and the LaTeX front-end Kile. Even the lighter-weight text editor KWrite is based on it. The archiving program Ark also uses KParts to display previews of text files.

Kate comes preinstalled on TUXEDO OS and is ready to use immediately. The comprehensive manual makes it easy to get started with its many powerful features, making the editor an indispensable tool for efficient work with both text and source code — for beginners and professionals alike.

TUXEDO OS Tips & Tricks: Cleaning Up TUXEDO OS with Built-In Tools

Spring cleaning may still be a while away, but it’s never too early to free your computer from clutter during a free hour. We’ve put together some tips & tricks on how to clean various areas of your system using simple built-in tools, freeing up storage space and improving performance.

Hidden Storage Hogs

In everyday use, leftover package files, large log files, and temporary data accumulate, taking up space and occasionally slowing down the system. Whenever you remove an application, package dependencies, libraries, and configuration files often remain. You can remove the first two categories easily with:

sudo apt autoremove

If you remove packages with

sudo apt purge PACKAGENAME

system-wide configuration files are deleted, but personal settings in your home directory remain. These are usually located in the hidden folders .config and .local. Unfortunately, there is no fully automatic cleanup, so it’s recommended to specifically search for leftover configuration files after removing an application:

find ~/.config ~/.local -iname "*PACKAGENAME*"

This command generally lists relevant files and folders, including any systemd user units, which you can then delete manually. GUI tools like Bleachbit are less recommended here, as they can sometimes be overly aggressive.

The APT Cache

Many users are unaware that APT stores files for every installed package in a local cache, which can grow considerably over time. Get an overview with:

sudo du -sh /var/cache/apt/

On actively used machines, this can quickly add up to several gigabytes. You can clear the APT cache with:

sudo apt clean

Keeping Log Files in Check

The system log journal can also occupy significant storage. Check its current size with:

journalctl --disk-usage

To free space, you can, for example, remove the oldest entries:

sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=200M

Alternatively, you can limit retention by time:

sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

Locating Large Files

Large files often hide on the system, such as old ISO images, test distributions, videos, or bloated log files. Find the 20 largest files and folders in key paths with:

sudo du -ahx /home /var /usr 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -n 20

Depending on the size of the directories, this command may take some time as it recursively searches all subfolders. Paths and numbers can easily be adjusted to your needs.

A much faster option is the tool gdu, which you can install via APT and then use for analysis:

gdu /

Written in Go, gdu displays the disk usage of a directory or storage device interactively and clearly directly in the terminal. It is optimized for SSDs, uses parallel processing, and allows you to delete data directly from the interface. Unlike the du command, it only analyzes one directory or filesystem at a time.

With these tips & tricks, you can identify and remove storage hogs on your system. This keeps TUXEDO OS lean, fast, and reliable — happy cleaning!

Ubuntu Security Updates

The security updates listed here from Ubuntu are directly integrated into TUXEDO OS:

• USN-7861–3: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  IDs: CVE-2025–40300, CVE-2025–38118, CVE-2025–38352, +1 other
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• USN-7866–1: Intel Microcode vulnerabilities: Several security issues were fixed in Intel Microcode.
  IDs: CVE-2025–26403, CVE-2025–20109, CVE-2025–20053, +6 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 25.10, Ubuntu 25.04, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

• USN-7860–5: Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerability: The system could be made to expose sensitive information.
  IDs: CVE-2025–40300
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS