Welcome to the 51st week of Linuxiac’s 2025 Weekly Roundup, your go-to source for everything Linux and open source. Here are the top Linux and FOSS highlights from December 15 to 21.

Linux Distributions

This week brought seven important updates in the Linux world, and I’ve covered each one in the articles below.

• Linux Mint 22.3 “Zena” Enters Public Beta
• Chimera Linux Releases New Images With Kernel 6.18
• Rhino Linux 2025.4 Brings Lomiri Packages and Updated Kernels
• DietPi 9.20 Brings RustDesk Server and Broad SBC Improvements
• SparkyLinux 2025.12 Brings Kernel 6.17 and Updated Desktop ISOs
• Emmabuntüs Debian Edition 6 Released With Strong Focus on Accessibility
• Mabox Linux 25.12 Released With Panel Improvements and GTK2 Removal

Software Updates

Apart from the distro releases, here’s a quick summary of the latest open-source software updates that made the news.

• Systemd 259 Released With Major Changes Ahead of Legacy SysV Removal
• VLC 3.0.23 Media Player Released With Windows Fixes and Security Updates
• MPV 0.41 Media Player Switches to GPU-Next Renderer
• NVIDIA Releases Linux Driver 590.48 With Wayland and Vulkan Fixes
• Flatpak 1.16.2 Adds Reinstall Support for Bundle Installations
• Darktable 5.4 RAW Photo Editing Tool Released
• Incus 6.20 Container & Virtual Machine Manager Released
• Kodi 22 “Piers” Preview Shows FFmpeg 8 Upgrade and New Format Support
• OpenShot 3.4 Released With Performance Gains and New Video Effects
• Kdenlive 25.12 Released With Interface and Workflow Improvements
• OpenZFS 2.4 Extends Linux Kernel Support to 6.18 and Supports FreeBSD 14–16
• Ventoy 1.1.10 Released With Wayland Fixes and musl libc Support
• Immich 2.4 Released With Command Palette and UI Refinements
• Steam Client Now Runs Fully 64-Bit on Windows 10 and 11
• Fwupd 2.0.19 Released With New CRC Tools and udev Support
• Armbian Team Launches New Official Imager for Flashing Armbian OS
• Opus 1.6 Audio Codec Released With 96 kHz Audio and ML Improvements

Must-Reads You Can’t Miss

There was also some exciting news from the Linux and FOSS community this week. Here are the highlights.

• The Linux Foundation Spent $8.4 Million on the Linux Kernel Project in 2025
• Debian Gets Its Own PPA-Like System as Debusine Repositories Launch
• MIT and Apache 2.0 Lead Open Source Licensing in 2025
• Mozilla’s New Leadership Will Prioritize Transparent AI and User Control
• Arch Linux Makes Its WSL Image Fully Reproducible Across Builds
• Mageia Linux 10 Enters Alpha Phase With April 2026 Release Target
• Fresh Launches as a New Terminal-First Text Editor
• Global Internet Traffic Rose 19 Percent in 2025, Cloudflare Data Shows
• KDE Ni! OS Is a Playful Take on Immutable Linux Built on NixOS
• Asahi Linux Delivers Apple Silicon Gains With Kernel 6.18

That’s all for this week. If you missed our previous wrap-up from Week 50 of 2025 (Dec 8–14), you can catch up here, where you’ll find Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS Launches With COSMIC Desktop 1.0 Stable, Kali Linux 2025.4, Manjaro 25.1 Preview, Cinnamon 6.6 Desktop Environment, KDE Plasma 6.5.4, Firefox 146, PeerTube 8.0, Bcachefs 1.33, GNOME Will Reject Shell Extensions With AI-Generated Code, KDE Surpasses 2025 Fundraiser Goal With Record Community Support, and more.

Be sure to keep an eye on Linuxiac for the latest updates from the Linux and open-source world.

Have a great week ahead, and warm wishes for the coming Christmas days! May they be peaceful, joyful, and filled with time well spent with those who matter most.

Bobby Borisov

Bobby, an editor-in-chief at Linuxiac, is a Linux professional with over 20 years of experience. With a strong focus on Linux and open-source software, he has worked as a Senior Linux System Administrator, Software Developer, and DevOps Engineer for small and large multinational companies.