Hello TUXEDO Fans and Open-Source Enthusiasts!
Google is now finally pulling the plug on Chrome: with the removal of the last Manifest V2 flags in the code, the classic full version of uBlock Origin is now definitively gone . It doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to notice that the advertising giant is making ad blocking increasingly difficult. All the better that TUXEDO OS ships with Firefox as its default browser.
Staying on the topic of performance, this week’s App of the Week features KDiskMark. This smart benchmarking tool brings the proven CrystalDiskMark concept natively to your Linux desktop. It lets you quickly and easily test the read and write performance of your SSDs and HDDs.
Rounding off this edition is our Tip of the Week: Konsave. This handy CLI tool allows you to back up and export your carefully configured KDE Plasma customizations with a single command. Perfect for preserving your setup or sharing your configuration with friends and the community.
Enjoy reading,The TUXEDO OS Team
Note: We would like to keep you updated on the latest developments in TUXEDO OS with the TWIX series and introduce you to exciting applications as well as practical tips related to the KDE desktop and TUXEDO OS. However, this section should not be a one-way street: your feedback, ideas, and suggestions for improvement are very welcome! For this purpose, we have created a thread on Reddit, where you can reach us directly.
Updates IN TUXEDO OS
Firefox 151.0.4
Pipewire 1.6.6
Mesa 26.1.1
displaylink-driver 6.2–1~tux2
Compatibility with evdi-dkms(>=1.12.0) and libevdi1(>=1.12.0) community debian packages (PS-4882)
Support for kernel up to 6.16
Added preliminary support for kernel 6.17
Weston-DisplayLink session now appears in GDM on Ubuntu when Weston is installed. (PS-4882)
DL-7xxx: Some monitors emits noise when changing resolution or frequency (VIFR-6027)
DL-7xxx: Resolved an issue where certain monitors could intermittently blink during normal operation (VIFR-6380)
DL-7xxx: Addressed an issue preventing some monitors from being activated (VIFR-6412)
DL-7xxx: Monitors interoperability issues (VIFR-6199, VIFR-6200, VIFR-6278)
DL-7xxx: Fixed driver stability issues that could lead to unexpected splash screen apperance during cold boot (VIFR-5828)
KDE App of the Week: KDiskMark
If you install a new HDD or SSD in your TUXEDO, you probably want to know: Is the drive really as fast as advertised? On Windows, CrystalDiskMark is the de-facto standard for this kind of measurement. For Linux, KDiskMark is a reliable alternative that does the same job and is available in the package repositories of almost all common Linux distributions.
KDiskMark is a benchmark tool for HDDs and SSDs with a clear graphical interface. In the background, it calls the Flexible I/O Tester (fio), the standard tool on Linux for storage benchmarking and stress testing. It enables precise simulation of read and write operations to reliably measure the performance and latency of hard drives and SSDs.
The KDiskMark interface closely resembles CrystalDiskMark and clearly displays read and write values for different test types in a clean and structured layout.
KDiskMark’s interface closely mirrors CrystalDiskMark: sequential and random read and write speeds are displayed side by side in a clear layout. Block size, queue depth, and thread count can be configured individually for each test, and the results can be saved as a text file at the end. Anyone who just wants to run a quick standard test can use one of the built-in presets.
Via the menu entry File » Save, results can be saved as a text file and further processed or archived for later comparisons and analysis.
The technical foundation is C++ and Qt, with no KDE dependencies whatsoever. The application therefore runs without issues under GNOME, XFCE, or any other desktop environment. Installation is straightforward, as KDiskMark is available in the official repositories of many distributions, including TUXEDO OS. If you prefer a distribution-independent option, the Flatpak is the way to go. Both variants can be installed conveniently via the KDE software centre Discover.
KDiskMark is free software under the GPLv3 and is developed on GitHub . Whether you want to check whether your NVMe is still performing at its best or whether an older SATA drive is still holding up reliably, then KDiskMark delivers solid results in just a few minutes.
Info: Are you interested in Plasma development and want to know what new features are planned and which programs have been recently updated? You can find a detailed overview in the weekly column This week in Plasma by KDE developer Nate Graham.
TUXEDO OS Tips & Tricks: Backing up your KDE profile with Konsave
GNOME, KDE, Xfce and others: Linux offers a wide range of desktop environments and window managers, each with its own strengths and different concepts of the „perfect“ desktop. For developers and users alike, this provides a great deal of creative freedom, but also the challenge of choice.
At TUXEDO OS, we deliberately use KDE as the default desktop. In its basic configuration, KDE Plasma relies on familiar and widely used interface elements, making it easy to get started. At the same time, the interface can be customized very extensively. This makes KDE suitable for both beginners and experienced Linux users.
However, this high level of flexibility comes with a drawback: saving or transferring an existing configuration is cumbersome without additional tools. Anyone who reinstalls their system or frequently experiments with the desktop has to manually recreate many settings in order to restore a familiar state.
This is where Konsave comes in. This command-line tool stores KDE Plasma configurations (and those of other desktop environments) in profiles that can be saved, exported, shared, and imported again. This allows you to archive different desktop states or easily share your preferred KDE configuration.
Installation
Installation is done via the Python package manager Pipx. First, install it on your TUXEDO system and then install Konsave:
sudo apt install pipx
pipx install konsave
Usage
Saving a configuration
After installation, use the konsave command on the command line. With the -s profilename option, you can save the current configuration. The -l option lists all existing profiles.
konsave -s mytuxedo
konsave -l
(out)Konsave profiles:
(out)ID NAME
(out)1 experimental
(out)2 mytuxedo
To save a profile under the same name again, you must use the –force option. Without this option, Konsave prevents overwriting existing profiles.
konsave -s experimental
(out)Konsave: Profile with this name already exists
konsave -s experimental --force
(out)Konsave: saving profile...
(out)Konsave: Profile saved successfully!
Deleting a configuration
Konsave stores profiles and related settings in the directory ~/.config/konsave/ in the user home directory. If you no longer need a profile, you can remove it using the -r profilename option. Alternatively, -w or –wipe can be used to delete all profiles at once.
konsave -r profilename
Activating a configuration
If you want to return to a previous desktop state, use the -a option together with the profile name. After activation, you usually need to log out and log back in.
konsave -a profilename
Exporting a configuration
To transfer a profile to another computer, use the -e or –export option together with the profile name. This will generate a .knsv file containing all relevant configurations as well as items from fonts, icon, or wallpaper directories.
konsave -e mytuxedo
(out)Konsave: Exporting profile. It might take a minute or two...
(out)Konsave: Exporting "configs"...
(out)Konsave: Exporting "app_layouts"...
(out)...
(out)Konsave: Exporting ".icons"...
(out)Konsave: Creating archive
(out)Konsave: Successfully exported to /home/tuxedo/mytuxedo.knsv
Importing a configuration
You can then transfer the .knsv file to another computer or share it with friends or acquaintances. After importing it with -i , the available profiles can be listed again with -l and then activated with -a . Here too, logging out and back in is usually required.
konsave -i mytuxedo.knsv
If needed, you can add additional folders and files to the Konsave configuration that should be included in profiles. Details can be found on the project’s GitHub page .
Ubuntu Security Updates
The Ubuntu security updates listed here are generally incorporated directly into TUXEDO OS. Some updates are only available from Ubuntu for a fee and are therefore not made available to the community until a later date. Unfortunately, we have no control over this:
USN-8423–1: lwIP vulnerabilities
USN-8422–1: Mistral vulnerability
USN-8421–1: Ironic vulnerabilities
USN-8420–1: .NET vulnerabilities
USN-8419–1: HTTP-Daemon vulnerability
USN-8418–1: Crypt-SaltedHash vulnerability
USN-8417–1: Tomcat vulnerabilities
USN-8415–1: Vim vulnerabilities
USN-8414–1: OpenSSL vulnerabilities
USN-8411–1: Lodash vulnerabilities
USN-8410–1: shell-quote vulnerability
USN-8409–1: uriparser vulnerability
USN-8407–1: strongSwan vulnerability
USN-8406–1: Net::CIDR::Lite vulnerabilities
USN-8405–1: CUPS vulnerabilities
USN-8404–1: Transmission vulnerability
USN-8403–1: Kea DHCP vulnerability
USN-8402–1: systemd vulnerabilities
USN-8401–1: Netty vulnerabilities
USN-8400–1: poppler vulnerability
USN-8399–1: Pillow vulnerabilities
USN-8398–2: nginx regression
USN-8398–1: nginx vulnerability
USN-8395–1: Netatalk vulnerabilities
USN-8349–2: rsync regression
