March 2026 meted out a sizeable set of Linux device releases, together with updates to FOSS stalwarts GIMP, digiKam, Krita and Blender.
Main new releases had been lined with devoted articles, together with Firefox 149 with unfastened integrated VPN, the ‘largest ever unlock’ of OpenShot video editor, the brand new GIMP 3.2.0 unlock, a bump to terminal software Ghostty 1.3 and the Opera GX for Linux release.
A hectic month, however the ones weren’t the one app updates of observe.
Under, I run via different releases made in March. Whilst those didn’t get devoted articles on the time, they provide new options, fixes or adjustments which are value understanding about.
FreeCAD fleshed out its options
FreeCAD, the unfastened and open-source 3-D modeller, noticed its first primary replace arrive in overdue March, more or less a 12 months and a part after model 1.0.
The FreeCAD 1.1 unlock brings a “important quantity of enhancements and new options”, in line with the discharge notes, together with a brand new CAM software library gadget, clear Phase Design previews and a brand new 3 level lighting fixtures gadget.
Interactive draggers had been added to Phase Design options, letting you regulate values by way of at once dragging within the 3-D view. 3-point lighting fixtures improves how fashions glance within the viewport, with major mild, again mild and fill mild used.
In the event you’ve ever struggled to click on the fitting face on a fancy 3-D fashion, the brand new Explain Variety software will lend a hand. Turn on it by way of urgent G and G once more and FreeCAD briefly makes a fashion clear and presentations a listing of all within reach geometrical entities (object, face, edge, vertex).
FreeCAD’s Meeting workbench sees two additions: a brand new Create Simulation software can upload movement to joints and bring animations of assemblies; an advanced Become software helps actual numeric inputs and the power to align its dragger to any part within the file.
In other places, a seek bar were given added to the Personal tastes Editor (at all times to hand), a brand new Theme Editor presented to can help you customize the interface’s stylesheet (if you wish to), and Wayland enhancements to unravel clean or lacking 3-D viewports, specifically on Nvidia GPUs.
The overall unlock notes, and the respectable YouTube embed above, render (heh) the ones and different adjustments in additional element.
Set up the respectable FreeCAD Snap, grasp the Flatpak on Flathub or obtain from the mission web page.
Blender noticed a velocity spice up
A brand new model of unfastened and open-source 3-D advent suite Blender arrive in March. Blender 5.1 is extra of a refinement and varnish unlock to the foremost 5.0 replace closing November.
A lot of the stableness paintings on this replace stems from the Wintry weather of High quality initiative, a coordinated push between December and January to unravel plenty of reported problems.
Animation playback is quicker in Blender 5.1, maximum noticeably in advanced scenes with a variety of keyframed bones or high-poly meshes; whilst shading alternatives up a brand new Raycast node to permit casting rays towards scene geometry (to be had for each Cycles and EEVEE).
In other places, Grease Pencils fills were remodeled; the Graph Editor provides a non-destructive Gaussian smoothing modifier for F-curves; and the Compositor positive factors a Sequencer Strip Data node for node-based transition results.
Complete main points at the adjustments will also be discovered within the respectable Blender 5.1 unlock notes.
Blender is unfastened, open-source device for Home windows, macOS and Linux. Ubuntu customers can set up the Blender Snap or obtain an installer at the respectable web page.
Rnote advanced its PDF dealing with
Rnote is a great handwritten notes app for Linux, best when you personal a Linux pill or a 2-in-1 instrument with stylus enter and frequently like to write concepts, doodle diagrams or markup paperwork.
The Rnote 0.14.0 replace launched in March provides Xournal++ textual content uploading, atomic record saving, and a small build up in to be had command-line choices, and (lengthy asked) textual content formatting keyboard shortcuts, albeit solely to daring, italicise and underline decided on textual content at the present.
You’re additionally in a position to ‘observe’ adjustments to workspace dialogs (e.g., giving a workspace a reputation) by way of urgent the input key quite than having to manually click on ‘observe’. The app has additionally switched its PDF import rendering library from the C++ poppler to the Rust-only hayro.
You’ll set up the most recent strong unlock of Rnote on Ubuntu on Flathub.
DeaDBeeF (in any case) defaulted to GTK3
Light-weight tune participant DeaDBeeF slipped out its first replace since closing 12 months’s 1.10 unlock. That shipped with an not obligatory GTK3 UI plugin and right here, in DeaDBeeF 1.10.1, it’s now the default. The GTK2 UI stays to be had for individuals who need it.
A brand new lyrics plugin is integrated, there’s FLAC community streaming reinforce and a brand new ‘Forestall After Queue’ mode when you’d quite playback to stop when your queue is out of tracks. The participant can now display album paintings embedded in Opus recordsdata.
Obtain the brand new DeaDBeeF 1.10.1 at the mission web page, the place respectable DEB installers are to be had for Ubuntu customers along the most recent supply code and builds for different platforms.
digiKam added a survey software
digiKam, the open-source picture control software, launched v9.0 in March, the primary giant model in just about 3 years.
It features a new Survey software for briefly reviewing and score photographs. This opens in a separate window, which turns out to be useful on a 2d track, and acts as a synchronised preview of the principle icon view with more than a few equipment and get right of entry to to score, labels and tags.
digiKam 9.0 makes use of Qt 6.10.1, bettering its Wayland steadiness, and has remodeled diversified components of its UI together with a local Qt Welcome web page and rewritten Report Reproduction and Report Switch dialogs. The album view now helps orientation, GPS location and record layout sorting.
RAW digital camera reinforce has been expanded, looping in probably the most newest fashions from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Sony, Panasonic, Hasselblad and Leica.
Get the most recent unlock at the mission web page, the place respectable AppImage bundles are to be had, along the Flathub and Snap Retailer variations for Ubuntu customers.
Euphonica were given an async rewrite
The epically flashy MPD front-end Euphonica noticed a “primary architectural overhaul and rewrite of the codebase into async Rust”, in step with the discharge notes for its newest beta (the app is but to hit a 1.0 strong unlock).
Developer Huỳnh Thiện Khiêm additionally says the codebase has been “massively simplified” and made more straightforward to give a contribution to.
Album artwork now use fade transitions when loading, which will have to lead to a smoother and no more abrupt influence all the way through preliminary library loading from faraway MPD servers. Primary displays additionally employ ‘general loading spinners as they populate’.
Metadata fetch mistakes at the moment are communicated by means of in-app toasts quite than silently failing, and the app will routinely retry to fetch information once more; and a “pending duties” popover presentations within the top-left of the window if 3 or extra background operations are working.
You’ll set up Euphonica on Linux on Flathub, or grasp the supply code on GitHub.
Krita noticed a twin unlock
Krita, the unfastened and open-source virtual portray software, introduced the discharge of five.3.0 (strong) and six.0.0 (experimental Qt 6 port) in March,
The headline addition is bound to be the ground-up rewrite of the textual content software.
You’ll now edit textual content on-canvas, position textual content alongside paths or within shapes, and revel in complete reinforce for OpenType options, with reinforce for alternates, ligatures and stylistic variants out there via a brand new Glyph Palette.
A brand new devoted Textual content Homes docker gives sort settings and helps textual content taste presets to avoid wasting explicit settings too, to briefly observe once more. Krita could also be provided to import and export textual content items from PSD recordsdata, will have to you could have want to.
For comedian artists, a brand new Comedian Panel Enhancing software permits you to break up and merge vector items briefly, so you’ll be able to create customized comedian panel layouts; whilst the fill software can shut gaps in order that if the traces of your ink paintings don’t moderately meet, it received’t flood the whole lot with color.
Different adjustments come with a sooner Become > Liquify software; the Recorder Docker can now paintings in actual time; and a couple of latest filters, er, clear out in: Propagate Colors (expands color into within reach clear spaces) and Reset Clear (strips color values from absolutely clear pixels).
Krita 6.0.0 is (most commonly) functionally an identical, however is the primary unlock constructed on Qt 6. It’s nonetheless thought to be experimental, so for daily paintings, use 5.3.0. But when you want Wayland color control or wish to have the benefit of HDR, most likely give it a move.
See the Krita 5.3 unlock notes for extra main points, screenshots and Waifu artwork (:P).
You’ll obtain Krita as an AppImage for Linux, or get it on Flathub. Home windows and macOS variations are to be had at the respectable web page, in addition to on their respective app retail outlets.
Vivaldi intro’d follower tabs
Vivaldi 7.9 arrived mid-March, including a few new options to the customisable Chromium-based browser that’s already full of them.
First is UI Auto-hide, which you’ll be able to permit by way of urgent ctrl + f11. This hides the tab bar, cope with bar, panel and standing bar out of view, leaving the web page you’re studying or content material you’re staring at to span all of the window viewport.
Transfer your cursor to any fringe of the display screen when this mode is energetic and the hidden UI components slide again in view. Transfer away once more they usually retreat.
In the event you’ve attempted Zen browser, or the general public beta of Kagi’s Orion internet browser, a ‘focal point mode’ shall be acquainted, however as that is Vivaldi, you get a slew of controls which components auto-hide. Move to Settings > Look > UI Auto-hide to mess around.
The second one new function is Follower Tab, a function nodding to Vivaldi’s roots with the unique Opera building group:
To make use of it, right-click any hyperlink and make a selection Open Hyperlink as Tiled Follower Tab. The brand new web page opens in a side-by-side tiled view. Not like a normal split-view, the unique tab remains put; additional hyperlinks you click on routinely load within the follower tab. Your authentic tab remains anchored.
This option shall be specifically helpful when you’re doing analysis or “rabbit hollow” surfing, because it way you to discover a chain of hyperlinks from one web page, subsequent to it, with out ever shedding sight of the beginning supply.
But even so the ones, Vivaldi 7.9 brings more than a few enhancements to its integrated Mail app: the composer can now open in a separate window, switching between wealthy textual content and simple textual content is completed by means of a toggle and reminiscence utilization has been lowered.
Vivaldi is unfastened, however no longer open supply, device. Obtain at the respectable web page or set up the Vivaldi snap the Snap retailer (sudo snap set up vivaldi).
GIMP squashed some insects
GIMP 3.2.2 sneaked out on the finish of March, serving as the primary bug-fix unlock within the new strong 3.2.x sequence, and arriving an insignificant two weeks after 3.2.0 – to suppose we used to move months between updates!
The cause of the short turnaround was once an worrying layer crew rendering malicious program which made layers with some filters implemented, like Drop Shadow, to forestall rendering as soon as added to a layer crew. Whilst the information was once by no means affected, it was once worrying – and promptly fastened.
Quite a lot of problems with vector layers had been additionally resolved, SVG trail uploading made to scale as it should be, and the PSD plug-in has advanced the way it handles channel and layers, making it more straightforward to paintings with Adobe Photoshop recordsdata.
GIMP 3.2.2 is to be had to from the respectable obtain web page for all primary OSes, with an AppImage and Flatpak construct equipped for Linux.
You’ll additionally set up GIMP on Ubuntu from the Snap Retailer (sudo snap set up gimp). The GIMP Snap is an respectable bundle maintained by way of the mission at once.
A bumper month of updates (once more)
Different musical updates of observe: command-line Spotify Participant can now display a neat audio visualiser for your terminal; MPD consumer Plattenalbum’s newest replace reworks the search bar and improves the server information conversation; whilst Tidal-HiFi tailored to the streaming provider’s new glance.
That’s a wrap on March’s lot, however, as ever, if you already know of a device replace you suppose others will have to learn about, get involved by means of the touch shape – article guidelines, typo flubs and content material tips at all times welcome.
