Distro watch

What’s down the side of the free software sofa?

Facebook Container Extension

Facebook’s handling of its users’ data has been under scrutiny recently, and if you’re concerned about what sort of information Facebook has on you, and how it’s being shared, then you’ll want to install Mozilla’s new Facebook Container Extension.

With it installed, next time you visit the social network a new blue-coloured “container” tab will open, keeping your Facebook activity separate from your general web activity, and vice-versa. You can find out more at http://bit.ly/facebook-container-ex.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5

The latest version of the enterprise-level distro by Red Hat is now available, and according to the release announcement ( http://bit.ly/red-hat-enterprise), it comes with boosted security and compliance controls (thanks to OpenSCAP integration), as well as tools to reduce storage costs, and better integration with Microsoft’s Windows and Azure platforms.

One change that’s getting a lot of attention, however, is the depreciation of Python 2, which will be replaced with Python 3 in the next major release.

Krita 4.0.1

Krita, which is developed by KDE, has become one of the most popular image-editing programs for digital artists. Some of the new features added with the latest update include using scalable vector graphics (SVG) on vector layers by default, rather than OpenDocument drawing document format (ODG).

SVG is the most widely-used format for vector graphics, so that move will be welcomed by artists. There’s also a new text tool, a brand-new Python scripting tool, new brushes and a lot more. For the full list visit http://bit.ly/krita-new-features.

GIMP 2.10 RC1

Speaking of popular image-editing software, GIMP’s first release candidate for 2.10 is now available. Not only does it include 142 bug fixes since 2.9.8 was released at the end of last year, but it now has a range of new features that improve how GIMP handles system resources, such as the new Dashboard dock that helps monitor its usage.

There’s lots of handy features with this early version of the program, and to check out the full list head to http://bit.ly/gimp-release-candidate.

If you’re a digital artist looking for an excellent open source image editor, then Krita is a fantastic choice.

The long-running GIMP project continues to go from strength to strength.

Now you can have more control over the information you feed into Facebook.

Version 7.5 brings a lot of new tools, and also paves the way for the move to a Python 3 code base.