349: Steam Machine Prices Revealed, Akrites for FOSS Security, GIMP from 1996, & more Linux news

This week’s Linux news is packed with all kinds of stuff to talk about from new hardware devices, desktop environments, and a blast from the past. Valve has some exciting news about their new Steam Machine, their latest SteamOS update and also hide your wallets because the Steam Summer Sale is happening right now. Then PINE64 announced a new Home Assistant powered Smart Speaker as a local alternative to Amazon Echos and all those. We’ve got some desktop news from Xfce as their new Wayland Compositor has Preview Release ready for testing and tinkerers. The COSMIC desktop also has a new release with new features and lots of polish but is it ready to go. Then later we’ve got a blast from the past because for some reason someone made a Flatpak of GIMP 0.54 the version from 1996.

All of this and more on This Week in Linux, the weekly news show that keeps you up to date with what’s going on in the Linux and Open Source world. Now let’s jump right into Your Sourcewe are for Linux GNews!

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Chapters:

00:00 Intro
01:19 Steam Machine, SteamOS, and Steam Summer Sale
08:14 Akrites from Linux Foundation
11:49 PINE64 Smart Speaker with Home Assistant
14:41 Home Assistant OS 18.0 Released
17:37 GIMP 0.54 as a Flatpak
22:23 COSMIC 1.1 Released
26:46 Xfce’s Wayland Compositor Preview Release
29:08 Outro

Links:

• Steam Machine, SteamOS, and Steam Summer Sale
  • https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/45479024/view/685257114654870245
  • https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/06/steam-summer-sale-2026-is-live-heres-our-budget-recommendations/
  • https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/06/steam-machine-pricing-and-launch-announced-and-yes-its-pricey/
  • https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-Machine-1049
  • https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/06/valve-upgraded-the-steamos-installation-image-to-the-big-steamos-3-8-release/
• Akrites from Linux Foundation
  • https://akrites.org/
  • https://akrites.org/linux-foundation-and-industry-leaders-launch-akrites-to-defend-critical-open-source-software-against-ai-enabled-cyber-threats/
  • https://www.phoronix.com/news/Akrites
  • https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/06/linux-foundation-and-leading-orgs-launch-akrites-to-protect-open-source-from-ai-threats/
  • https://lwn.net/Articles/1079657/
• PINE64 Smart Speaker with Home Assistant
  • https://pine64.org/documentation/PineVoice/
  • https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/06/pine64-pinevoice-riscv-smart-speaker-launch
  • https://itsfoss.com/news/pinevoice-smart-speaker/
• Home Assistant OS 18.0 Released
  • https://www.home-assistant.io/
  • https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2026/06/23/the-matter-upgrade-youve-been-waiting-for/
  • https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/releases/tag/18.0
• GIMP 0.54 as a Flatpak
  • https://gimp-0-54-410d78.pages.gitlab.gnome.org/
  • https://fossforce.com/2026/06/its-1996-all-over-again-on-the-new-gimp-0-54-flatpak/
  • https://www.phoronix.com/news/GIMP-0.54-Flatpak
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1ub8xae/gimp_v054_from_1996_with_motif_toolkit_now/
• COSMIC 1.1 Released
  • https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/06/cosmic-desktop-update-system-monitor
  • https://www.phoronix.com/news/COSMIC-Epoch-1.1
  • https://9to5linux.com/cosmic-1-1-desktop-environment-released-with-cosmic-monitor-more-improvements
• Xfce’s Wayland Compositor Preview Release
  • https://www.spurint.org/journal/2026/06/xfwl4s-first-preview-release
  • https://www.phoronix.com/news/Xfwl4-First-Release
  • https://linuxiac.com/xfce-wayland-compositor-gets-its-first-preview-release/
• Support the show
  • https://tuxdigital.com/membership
  • https://store.tuxdigital.com/