Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:30 Sponsor: Proton Mail
01:23 Ubuntu 26.10 beta released
03:58 Ubuntu 24.04 to 26.04 upgrade now possible
05:14 Toolpak introduced as the Flatpak for dev tools
08:24 F-Droid launches full rewrite of the app
10:00 Firefox 157 adds the new Nova theme
12:33 Igalia working on Firefox for SteamOS
14:35 PostmarketOS changes name
16:11 Dev proposes that GNOME accepts Al contributions
18:10 Ubuntu 26.10 has an image for Snapdragon laptops
19:33 New minimalist FOSS web browser
21:55 Meta found guilty of lying on data protection and moderation
24:15 Sponsor: Tuxedo Computers
Links
Ubuntu 26.10 beta released
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/10/ubuntu-2610-beta-released
Ubuntu 24.04 to 26.04 upgrade now possible
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/09/ubuntu-2604-upgrades-live-2404
Toolpak introduced as the Flatpak for dev tools
https://blogs.gnome.org/alatiera/2026/09/26/introducing-toolpak/
F-Droid launches full rewrite of the app
Firefox 157 adds the new Nova theme
https://linuxiac.com/firefox-157-nova-released-with-its-biggest-visual-refresh-in-years/
Igalia working on Firefox for SteamOS
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-Deck-Better-Firefox
PostmarketOS changes name
https://nura.eco/blog/2026/09/27/nura-rename/
Dev proposes that GNOME accepts Al contributions
https://arunraghavan.net/2026/09/on-llms-and-free-software/
Ubuntu 26.10 has an image for Snapdragon laptops
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/09/ubuntu-2610-snapdragon-x2
New minimalist FOSS web browser
Meta found guilty of lying on data protection and moderation
I hate the rounded corners trend. I want every corner in my system to be sharp, but instead of giving me the choice, many projects just enforce the roundness.
they dont want you to stub your toes against the corners.
Honestly, I’m just tired of Apple and Microsoft creating stupid new GUI design trends that everyone else feels like they have to copy.
For those like me who don’t like the new Nova theme on Firefox.
- Open a new tab/window
- In the URL bar type “about:config”
- Firefox will warn you to proceed with caution. Click to accept the risk and continue.
- In the search bar search for “nova” we are looking for a field called “browser.nova.enabled”
- Once located, either double click on the line for this setting, or the two way arrow on the far right to toggle it off.
- Close the tab/window and you’re done!
I personally like the Nova design, BUT I know lots of people hate it and prefer the old one, so it really sucks that it’s buried in about:config. I feel like boxy vs rounded should be a toggle, you know! If they eventually drop the about:config, maybe LibreWolf or other forks will continue to have the option for the old design (?)
I like how nova looks with normal sized tabs, but it makes the compressed (or whatever it’s called when you have too many tabs and they shrink to fit) tabs not have enough room for their titles, or at least ot feels that way.
I like it too. I don’t really understand the hate, tbh. There’s barely any change. Everything is still in the same place. Everything is still where you expect it to be. It just has an ever so slightly different shape, still as great click targets like before, if not better.
I’m always psyched for UI changes to see what the inspiration is now. Lately I feel like Chrome had been looking a little crappy. Like Chrome is the worst example of an implementation of material design, somehow. 😄🫣
I don’t hate it completely, but everything feels “smaller” compared to the original, which I find mildly annoying.
Really. I feel like the opposite.
I did go into the settings to check out the new “Compact Mode” and I noticed my UI was set to “Automatic”, and automatic for me meant compact for some reason. I changed it to be the “normal” one and it feels much more spacious now. Maybe that’s why I feel like it’s a nice change.
I thunk the main problem is how it’s forced on everyone, whether they like it or not. Rounded corners should be an option, some people like their boxier corners!
Do people have the same complaints against Chrome? I don’t hang in Chrome communities much, but I see rounded design is everywhere nowadays. I get the feeling there should be an equal amount of whining there?
There are much bigger concerns for Chrome for most people I guess (removal of Manifest V2 support, Google spyware, excessive RAM usage, monopoly, etc.)
So by that logic, people whining about design changes is a pretty good grade for Firefox? There’s nothing bigger to wine about? Sounds great. I’ll take it.
Note that Firefox does bake in some telemetry by default, which needs to be manually disabled, but if you don’t want to deal with that you have LibreWolf! (Zen is another good one if you like vertical tabs)
And still having Manifest V2 support and not supporting a monopoly is always good!
Don’t expect that to last, such settings are traditionally temporary. Mozilla normally removes them a relatively short time after the big new feature is released and any related bugs have had time to get sorted out.
I’m not 100% sure about vanilla Firefox, but in Librewolf you can still enable “compact” toolbar density by setting “browser.compactmode.show” to “true” in about:config. I’m hoping they keep the option to disable Nova too.
Librewolf has an option to disable Nova with a checkbox. It’s one of the first things I did after I got the update. :D
Cool! I hadn’t seen that checkbox, it must mean they intend to maintain it at least until it becomes too difficult. Back to slightly less round buttons it is, then.
First thing I did after the update
Automatic rounded corner design built added by browser was a big reason I quit using other browsers. Of course, not the only reason but a big contributor.
Does ddg browser and librewolf exclude this enshitification?
Use a user style css thing to disable it
librewolf
It came with the last update. There’s an option to disable it in the settings.
it’s gonna come to most forks eventually but the advantage of desktop firefox is that you can fix it with userchrome unlike any other browsers
I’m pretty sure librewolf doesn’t touch stuff like that.
But idk — my setup has so much custom css that the only rounded corners I notice are at the bottom of the urlbar autocomplete dropdown, where they don’t bother me. My tabs are still nice and square and below the url.
Toolpack as described sounds like a horrible idea, hopefully they will iterate on it.
What about it don’t you like? I didn’t read the whole thing but the idea sounds great, I’ve been missing something like this
