FOSS Weekly #25.14: Fedora 42 COSMIC, OnePackage, AppImage Tools and More Linux Stuff

Linux distributions agreeing to a single universal packaging system? That sounds like a joke, right? That's because it is.

It's been a tradition of sort to prank readers on 1st of April with a humorous article. Since we are already past the 1st April in all time zones, let me share this year's April Fool article with you. I hope you find it as amusing as I did while writing it 😄

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

Vivaldi offering free built-in VPN.
Tools to enhance AppImage experience.
Serpent OS going through a rebranding.
And other Linux news, tips, and, of course, memes!
This edition of FOSS Weekly is supported by Typesense.

❇️ Typesense: Open Source Search Engine

Typesense is the free, open-source search engine for forward-looking devs. Make it easy on people: Tpyos? Typesense knows we mean typos, and they happen. With ML-powered typo tolerance and semantic search, Typesense helps your customers find what they’re looking for—fast.

Check them out on GitHub.

📰 Linux and Open Source News

Vivaldi has teamed up with Proton VPN to provide an in-browser VPN.
Serpent OS is now called AerynOS, and the first release is already here.
GoboLinux has had a change in leadership, with a new release coming after a five-year gap.
Proton now offers more features in its Drive and Docs app.

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

Thank goodness Linux saves us from this 🤷

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

Move away from Google Photos and self-host a privacy-focused solution instead.
Window managers on Linux allow you to organize your windows and make use of screen space efficiently.
Fed up with Netflix streaming in SD quality? You can make it play Full-HD content on Firefox by using a neat trick.

Love AppImage? These tools will help you improve your AppImage experience.

👷 Homelab and Maker's Corner

Don't lose knowledge! Self-host your own Wikipedia or Arch Wiki:

✨ Apps Highlight

Find yourself often forgetting things? Then you might need a reminder app like Tasks.org.

📽️ Videos I am Creating for You

I tested COSMIC alpha on Fedora 42 beta in the latest video. And I have taken some of the feedback to improve the audio quality in this one.

Subscribe to It's FOSS YouTube Channel

🧩 Quiz Time

Can you solve this riddle?

After you are done with that, you can try your hand at matching Linux apps with their roles.

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In KDE Plasma, you can edit copied texts in the Clipboard. First, launch the clipboard using the shortcut CTRL+V. Now, click on the Edit button, which looks like a pencil.

Then, edit the contents and click on Save to store it as a new clipboard item.

🤣 Meme of the Week

Such a nice vanity plate. 😮

🗓️ Tech Trivia

On March 31, 1939, Harvard and IBM signed an agreement to build the Mark I, also known as the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC).

This pioneering electromechanical computer, conceived by Howard Aiken, interpreted instructions from paper tape and data from punch cards, playing a significant role in World War II calculations.