This Week in TUXEDO OS #49-2025 - TUXEDO Computers

Hello TUXEDO Fans and Open-Source Enthusiasts!

This week, our developer penguins gathered around the screen for something truly special: Linus meets Linus. The long-awaited collaboration has finally arrived, bringing together the „fake“ Linus from Linus Tech Tips and the „real“ Linus Torvalds for an interview during a PC build, packed with candid insights and relaxed, often delightfully chaotic conversation. At times, it seemed the real Linus would have gladly crawled under the table – especially when the „other“ Linus was in full energy mode.

One detail during the build wasn’t covered in the video: Torvalds ended up with an Intel Arc B580 GPU – no Nvidia card (for obvious reasons) and no AMD either. In a pinned comment, Elijah from LTT explained that Torvalds runs two 6K displays and needed something quiet, efficient, and more capable than integrated graphics, without the noise or power draw of a gaming card. A B50 was originally planned but wasn’t available at the time of filming – Torvalds was completely fine with the alternative. Some details simply got lost because everyone was having too much fun.

Enjoy reading,
The TUXEDO OS Team

Updates in TUXEDO OS

Upstream Support for TUXEDO NB02 Devices

Upstream support for TUXEDO NB02 devices has begun: currently, only the function keys (FN keys) are supported, with additional features to follow gradually. The NB02 designation covers devices such as the InfinityBook Pro from Generation 6, Stellaris, Polaris, Pulse Generations 1 and 2, various IBM models, and the XMG Fusion, implemented in cooperation. More details can be found on the Kernel Mailing List.

tuxedo-board-nh5xax (XA15 Gen10)

• Implementation of tuxedo-fix-xa15-core completed.

Explanation of Board Packages

We are currently preparing a future transition to board packages. These are intended to make our device-specific adjustments clearer, more portable, and easier to maintain in the long term. A board package is a meta-package for a specific device/board. It recommends the required tuxedo-fix-XXX packages, e.g., for GRUB parameters, initramfs adjustments, services, or configuration files.

Why Board Packages?

• Portability: Fixes are modularized and easier to transfer to other distributions.
• Fewer Side Effects: Only the fixes relevant to the respective device are recommended and later installed.

Board packages are not yet preinstalled. Currently, they mainly serve as preparation for a future transition, where all devices that require specific fixes will receive their adjustments exclusively through their corresponding board package.

tuxedo-tomte 2.59.0

• Old Nvidia drivers are no longer removed by Tomte. The Nvidia package now handles this task itself.

Security Updates in TUXEDO OS

kdeconnect 25.08.2–1ubuntu1_tux1

• Security update including patch for CVE-2025–66270
• More information: KDE Project Security Advisory

KDE App of the Week: RSS Feed Reader Alligator

After we already covered the RSS feed reader Akregator in TWIX KW42–2025, this week we’re taking a look at the modern alternative Alligator. The KDE application Alligator is a convergent, cross-platform news viewer that supports RSS and Atom feeds. It is built with Kirigami, which makes it work well both on the desktop and on mobile devices. Alligator lets you subscribe to and read RSS feeds and forwards URL links to your default web browser.

Modern alternative

While Akregator is a classic KDE desktop app based on Qt Widgets with extensive functionality, Alligator focuses on a modern user interface and offers features such as automatic feed updates, article log rotation, and notifications for new content. The application is open source and available under the GNU General Public License. Alligator is not preinstalled in TUXEDO OS, but it can be installed within seconds as a native package or Flatpak via the Discover software center or on the command line.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install alligator

New import and export feature

The current version 25.08.3 offers support for OPML import and export for the first time, making it easier to migrate from other RSS applications. To import feeds, click the hamburger menu in the top right, select Import news sources, and choose a file with the .opml or .xml extension.

The interface is divided into three sections. On the left are all subscribed feeds, in the middle the feeds of the selected group, with a switch at the bottom to choose between all feeds in the group, unread ones, or favorites. On the right, the introduction of the selected feed is displayed. Above it is a toggle that opens the feed in the browser.

If you want to use the same application for your RSS feeds on both desktop and mobile, and you don’t miss any features, Alligator is definitely worth a look.

TUXEDO OS Tips & Tricks: Wayscriber – Annotate Directly on Your Screen

Since the home office phase during the pandemic, video conferences have become a fixed part of daily work. Even in our team, hardly a day goes by without an online meeting – whether because colleagues are working remotely or because certain topics are simply quicker to resolve in a call.

As a solution, we rely on the open-source system BigBlueButton. It reliably meets our requirements and works well for larger meetings. What’s missing, however, is the ability to draw directly on the desktop during screen sharing. This is exactly where Wayscriber comes in, regardless of which conferencing software you use. It’s also a handy tool for screencasts.

Installation

Wayscriber was designed specifically for systems already running Wayland. On TUXEDO OS, the program works flawlessly with KDE Plasma. The only important point is to explicitly select Wayland at login.

Wayscriber is not yet available in the official package repositories. However, the project provides ready-made packages for common distributions. On TUXEDO OS, simply download the DEB package and install it via the package manager.

The following commands download and install the latest version:

wget https://github.com/devmobasa/wayscriber/releases/latest/download/wayscriber-amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./wayscriber*.deb

Alternatively, you can open the package directly via your file manager with a double-click in Discover. Keep in mind that automatic updates are not provided this way, so check occasionally for new versions.

After installation, no menu entry is created. You start Wayscriber from the terminal. Either with a simple command or via a service if you want to trigger it with a keyboard shortcut.

Command

wayscriber --active

Press Escape to close Wayscriber again.

Setting Up the Service

To conveniently start Wayscriber with a shortcut, first enable the service:

systemctl --user enable --now wayscriber.service

Then activate Wayscriber with:

pkill -SIGUSR1 wayscriber

Launching via Shortcut

On TUXEDO OS with KDE Plasma, create a custom shortcut under System Settings » Keyboard » Shortcuts. Select Add New » Command/Script… and enter:

• Command: [pkill -SIGUSR1 wayscriber]
• Name: [Wayscriber]

Then select Wayscriber in the sidebar and assign a shortcut via Add. A practical choice is Ctrl+Shift+W.

Once you start a video call and share your screen, you can activate Wayscriber via the shortcut, add your annotations, and close the tool with Escape.

For screencasts, highlighting the mouse pointer is also helpful. Press Ctrl+Alt+H or use the Click Highlight icon in the toolbar to mark each click with a circle—ideal for tutorials and presentations.

Usage

Wayscriber offers three separate drawing layers: a transparent layer for drawing directly on the desktop, a whiteboard, and a blackboard. Each layer operates independently—what you draw on one does not automatically appear on the others. You can switch between boards via keyboard shortcuts (see table) or through the context menu opened with a right-click.

The top toolbar panel lets you switch between different tools, e.g., freehand, arrows, boxes, or ellipses, which can also be filled. The left panel manages the currently selected tool: here you adjust pen thickness and color. Conveniently, you can also change the color using shortcuts or adjust pen width with the mouse wheel, so you can continue working smoothly without opening menus during a presentation.

Draw	Mode	Colors	Edit
Freehand: drag with mouse	Whiteboard: Ctrl+W	Red: R	Undo: Ctrl+Z
Line: Shift+drag	Blackboard: Ctrl+B	Green: G	Redo: Ctrl+Shift+Z
Ellipse: Tab+drag	Transparent: Ctrl+Shift+T	Blue: B	Clear All: E
Arrow: Ctrl+Shift+drag		Yellow: Y	Help: F10
Text: press T, click, type		Orange: O	Configurator: F11
		Pink: P	Status Bar: F12
		White: W	Exit: Escape / Ctrl+Q
		Black: K

Configuration

Wayscriber normally provides a configuration dialog accessible via F11. In the Debian package, this tool is not included, so pressing the key does nothing. Instead, you can adjust settings directly in the file ~/.config/wayscriber/config.toml with any text editor. Clicking the Config file button opens the file automatically, or you can open it from the terminal:

kate ~/.config/wayscriber/config.toml

The Session section shows which options you can adjust. For example, changing persist_transparent from false to true ensures Wayscriber saves the transparent board when exiting with Escape. On the next start, your previous annotations are immediately available—very convenient when switching between annotations and desktop work during a presentation.

session
persist_transparent = true
persist_whiteboard = false
persist_blackboard = false

Changes are applied immediately, even if Wayscriber is running as a service.

Ubuntu Security Updates

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

• USN-7913–1: MAME vulnerabilities: Several security issues were fixed in MAME.
  IDs: CVE-2021–46143, CVE-2022–34300, CVE-2018–16981
  Affects: Ubuntu 25.10, 25.04, 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS, 20.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS

• USN-7912–1: CUPS vulnerability: CUPS could be made to stop responding if it received specially crafted network traffic.
  IDs: CVE-2025–58436
  Affects: Ubuntu 25.10, 25.04, 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS

• USN-7889–4: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  IDs: CVE-2025–38227, CVE-2025–38678, CVE-2025–21729 + 1 other
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS

• USN-7879–4: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  IDs: CVE-2025–38493, CVE-2025–38510, CVE-2025–38665 + 197 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 25.04, 24.04 LTS

• USN-7861–5: 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

• USN-7908–1: PostgreSQL vulnerabilities: Several security issues were fixed in PostgreSQL.
  IDs: CVE-2025–12817, CVE-2025–12818
  Affects: Ubuntu 25.10, 25.04, 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS

• USN-7903–1: Django vulnerabilities: Several security issues were fixed in Django.
  IDs: CVE-2025–64460, CVE-2025–13372
  Affects: Ubuntu 25.10, 25.04, 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS, 20.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS

• USN-7855–2: Unbound regression: USN-7855–1 introduced a regression in Unbound.
  IDs: CVE-2025–11411
  Affects: Ubuntu 25.10, 25.04, 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS

• USN-7899–1: GNU binutils vulnerabilities: Several security issues were fixed in GNU binutils.
  IDs: CVE-2025–3198, CVE-2025–5244, CVE-2025–8225 + 8 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 25.10, 25.04, 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS, 20.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS

• USN-7894–2: EDK II regression: USN-7894–1 introduced a regression in EDK II.
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS