Antonio Cuni, who
is a longtime Python performance engineer and
PyPy developer, gave a presentation at
EuroPython
2025 about "Myths and fairy tales around Python performance" on
the first day of the conference in Prague. As might be guessed from the
title, he thinks that much of the conventional wisdom about Python
performance is misleading at best. With lots of examples, he showed where
the real problems that he sees lie. He has come to the conclusion that memory
management will ultimately limit what can be done about Python performance,
but he has an
early-stage project called
SPy that
might be a way toward a super-fast Python.
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (python-requests), Fedora (mingw-libxslt), Red Hat (gdk-pixbuf2, jq, kernel, mod_security, ncurses, nodejs:22, opentelemetry-collector, python-setuptools, python3-setuptools, python3.12-setuptools, qt5-qt3d, redis, redis:6, redis:7, sqlite, and unbound), SUSE (apache2, cairo, chromium, djvulibre, govulncheck-vulndb, grub2, java-11-openjdk, java-17-openjdk, liblua5_5-5, nvidia-open-driver-G06-signed, python, python310, python314, python39, redis, sqlite3, and systemd), and Ubuntu (apport, linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-hwe, linux-azure, linux-azure-4.15, linux-gcp, linux-gcp-4.15, linux-hwe, linux-kvm, linux-aws-fips, linux-azure-fips, linux-fips, linux-gcp-fips, linux-azure, and linux-oracle).
A pair of packages containing fortune "cookies" that were
deemed offensive have been removed from the upcoming Debian 13
("trixie") release. This has, of course, led to a lengthy discussion
and debate about what does, or does not, belong in the
distribution. It may also lead to a general resolution (GR) to decide
whether Debian's code
of conduct (CoC) applies to the contents of packages.
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (java-21-openjdk, kernel, libxml2, and lz4), Debian (exempi, ruby-graphql, and sope), Fedora (binutils, chromium, gdk-pixbuf2, libsoup3, poppler, and reposurgeon), Mageia (glib2.0 and wxgtk), Oracle (jackson-annotations, jackson-core, jackson-databind, jackson-jaxrs-providers, and jackson-modules-base and libxml2), Red Hat (kernel, pandoc, pcs, qemu-kvm, redis, and rsync), SUSE (chromedriver, coreutils, cosign, docker, gdk-pixbuf-devel, glib2, gnutls, grub2, gstreamer-plugins-base, helm, ignition, java-21-openjdk, jbigkit, jq, kernel, kubernetes1.28, kwctl, libxml2, nvidia-open-driver-G06-signed, opensc, pam-config, protobuf, python310, tgt, and valkey), and Ubuntu (linux-iot).
Running a modern mail server is a
complicated business. In part, this
complication is caused by the series of incrementally developed practices
designed to combat the huge flood of spam that dominates modern email
communication. An unfortunate side effect is that it prevents people from
running their own mail servers, concentrating people on a few big providers.
NNCPNET is a suite of software written by John Goerzen based on the
node-to-node copy (NNCP)
protocol that aims to make running one's own mail servers as easy as it once
was. While the default configurations communicates only with other
NNCPNET servers, there is a public relay that connects the system to the broader
internet mail ecosystem.
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (firefox, icu, kernel-rt, libtpms, redis:6, redis:7, and sqlite), Fedora (chromium and cloud-init), Oracle (icu, java-1.8.0-openjdk, java-21-openjdk, kernel, nodejs:22, perl, and sqlite), SUSE (docker, java-1_8_0-openj9, libxml2, python-starlette, and thunderbird), and Ubuntu (cloud-init, linux-azure, linux-azure-5.4, linux-azure-fips, linux-raspi,
linux-raspi-5.4, and perl).
The HeliumOS project has announced
the release of HeliumOS 10. It is relatively new image-based ("atomic")
desktop distribution based on packages from CentOS Stream and
AlmaLinux, with a goal of providing 10 years of
support. HeliumOS 10 uses the KDE Plasma Desktop, Zsh as its
default shell, and Btrfs as its default filesystem.
Priority inversion comes about when a low-priority task holds a resource
that is also needed by a high-priority task, preventing the latter from
running. This problem is made much worse if the low-priority task is
unable to gain access to the CPU and, as a result, cannot complete its work
and free the resources it holds. Proxy execution is a potential solution
to this problem, but it is a complex solution that has been under
development for several years; LWN first
looked
at it in 2020. The 6.17 kernel is likely to contain an important step
forward for this long-running project.
Version 2.42 of the GNU
C Library has been released. Changes include the addition of a number of
new math functions, support for arbitrary baud rates in the
termios.h interface, support for SFrame-based stack tracing
(described in
this article), support for
memory guard pages, and a handful of
security fixes.
Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (freerdp, git-lfs, golang-github-openprinting-ipp-usb, grafana, grafana-pcp, icu, ipa, iputils, krb5, libvpx, nodejs:22, osbuild-composer, perl, python-tornado, qt6-qtbase, sqlite, unbound, valkey, wireshark, and yggdrasil), Debian (libfastjson and php8.2), Fedora (glibc), Oracle (firefox, icu, perl, and unbound), Red Hat (389-ds-base, glib2, icu, libtpms, redis:6, redis:7, and yelp), SUSE (boost, forgejo-longterm, java-11-openj9, java-17-openj9, java-1_8_0-openj9, kernel, nginx, and salt), and Ubuntu (linux-xilinx-zynqmp, openjdk-8, openjdk-lts, poppler, and sqlite3).