Linuxverse News – February 2026: News Events
Today, February 2, 2026, as usual at the beginning of each month, we offer you our brilliant, timely, and brief summary of some of the most recent and outstanding news. «news from the Linuxverse (Free Software, Open Source and GNU/Linux)» up to the present time. And in which, we always take the opportunity to bring you much more information, with the aim that you can easily keep up to date with the «news event» which now begins.
For this reason, today we will be offering you 1 featured news related to each area of the Linuxverse. And finally, we will be mentioning The most recent known releases at the Distros and Software level for these first days of the month.
Linuxverse News – January 2026: News Events
But, before starting this present publication on the «news event for February 2026», we recommend you explore the previous related post, at the end of it:
Calam (Calamares Arch Installer) is a Greek-developed, Arch-based GNU/Linux distribution that offers an operating system designed to simplify the installation of an Arch Linux system on a hard drive. It is a fully functional live Linux system with XFCE as its preferred desktop environment. The Calamares system installer offers a selection of popular desktop environments and window managers, including Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin, GNOME, i3, KDE Plasma, MATE, Openbox, and Xfce. The distribution also supports BIOS and UEFI booting, as well as hard drive encryption with LUKS. About Calam
Linuxverse News for February 2026: Free Software, Open Source and GNU/Linux + *BSD
February 2026: Linuxverse News Roundup
Free Software – Round table discussion with FSF President Ian Kelling FSF staff and Librephone developer at FOSDEM 2026:
The FSF website, in a timely manner as usual, We are officially informed regarding the activities of its president (Ian Kelling). Therefore, we now know that he recently participated in the FOSDEM 2026 event, where he had the opportunity to meet with FSF staff as the developer of Librephone. And that she participated in it by joining a panel of speakers to discuss, among other topics, the challenges faced by elected governing bodies for free software organizations. Given the complexity of democratic governance institutions, they took advantage of this event to analyze some historical examples of problems that have arisen in various democratic free software initiatives and organizations. Ultimately, Kelling and the other panelists at the event sought to analyze and clarify the following question: How can we design elected governing bodies for free software that truly represent the opinions of our community and are properly accountable to those they represent? Finally, if you would like to know the outcome of this meeting and topic, or any other topic discussed at the event, we invite you to visit and explore the event's website. FOSDEM 2026.
FOSDEM It's a free event for software developers to meet, share ideas, and collaborate. Every year, thousands of free and open-source software developers from around the world gather in Brussels. No registration is required. Just show up and participate! And this year, 2026, it's being held in Brussels from January 31st to February 1st. Read more news on the FSF Blog
Open Source – The OSI joins OpenForum Europe and the Open Knowledge Foundation to officially launch the Open Technology Research Initiative:
El OSI website He informed us promptly on January 30th through the following official announcement deFrom Brussels, and in the company of the OpenForum Europe (OFE, for its acronym in English) and the Foundation for Open Knowledge (OKFN) on the official launch of the Initiative Open Technology Research (OTR). And also, that this launch is accompanied by the presentation of a new website which details the initiative's activities and how the community can participate. It also specifies that said IOpen Technology Research Initiative It will host two flagship programs: The first, a Open Technology Research Network to identify research gaps, connect researchers and policymakers, and convene communities; and the second, a Open Technology Research Symposiumwhich will consist of an annual meeting that builds on the success of OpenForum Academy Symposium of the OFE. So, for now, all that remains is to wait and find out the location of this year's event.
The Open Technology Research Initiative It seeks to address the gap in understanding open technology (software, data, and standards) through a sustained platform for research, knowledge sharing, and policy engagement. Explore more news on the OSI Blog
GNU/Linux + BSD: iDeal OS Release 2026.01.31 (4.1)
These first days of February, we have learned of the launch of the new update of the free and open operating system project iDeal OS, under the version number 2026.01.31And according to the official launch announcement Among the known new features from its developers are the following: The introduction of a major system update, consisting of a single ISO for both the Emerald and Diamond editions. Those who support the project with a small donation will receive an activation key to unlock all the features of the Diamond Edition. Therefore, it will no longer be necessary to download or reinstall anything. Simply use the new activation tool. Another important feature is the update of all standard system packages and applications thanks to the use of MX Linux 25.1, Debian 13.3 Trixie, and KDE Plasma 6 as the operating system base, and the use of the Linux Kernel 6.12.63+deb13-amd64. Finally, among many other improvements, a Start Menu similar to Windows 11 is now included, available in both dark and light versions. a graphical user interface for MKVToolNix (a set of tools for creating, modifying, and inspecting Matroska files), and the incorporation of software such as Sweet Home 3D, Subtitle Composer, and Planner.
Download directly: iDeal OS 2026-01
iDealOS is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian/MX, and of Swiss origin, which offers a powerful operating system, ideal for modern computers with medium hardware resources available (Quad-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and SSD hard drive), and comes with the best possible privacy and security settings, enabled by default. It also includes a handy collection of free and open-source software, selected and tested to ensure optimal consistency, compatibility, and functionality. It's worth noting that, prior to this project It was previously available in two editions, "Emerald" and "Diamond," but these have been merged into a single product since 2026. Consequently, the additional features of the "Diamond" edition are now only available to users who contribute financially to the project. About iDeal OS
More breaking news
Recent releases of GNU/Linux distros and free/open source software packages
And for this beginning of the month, there are also several releases of Distros and Packages reported by the DistroWatch website, quite striking and interesting, which correspond to:
- Updated GNU/Linux distros: TobbeOS 2026.02.01, Vipnix 20260201, Puppy 260201, AgarimOS 20260201, blendOS 2026.02.01, AfagOS 20260201, Arch 2026.02.01, Dr.Parted 26.02, Calam 2026-02, Kiro 26.02.01.01, FunOS 26.04-snapshot3.
- Updated GNU Packages: apt 3.1.15, shotcut 26.1.30, budgie-desktop 10.10.1, caliber 9.1.0, linux 6.18.8, apparmor 4.1.4, openldap 2.6.12.
Summary
In summary, we hope that this new news summary on "The latest news and updates from the Linuxverse for this coming month (February, 2026)"As usual, I hope to continue helping you to be better informed and educated about everything related to the Linux universe. (Free Software, Open Source and GNU/Linux + BSD).
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