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It's dead, Jim – the old Microsoft UEFI CA from 2011 expired yesterday
a month ago
- The old Microsoft UEFI CA from 2011 expired on 26 June 2026, ending the signing for option ROMs and other software.
- Debian and other distributions have new dual-signed shim binaries with both old and new CAs, thanks to quick reviews by the shim-review team and Microsoft.
- Debian has started rolling out these shims in unstable and testing, with plans for point releases in Debian 12 and 13 to ensure Secure Boot functionality.
Xsnow "protestware" in Debian
24 days ago
- A user complained about xsnow's Easter egg that shows Ukrainian flags with higher probability when the language is set to Russian, claiming it violates DFSG's non-discrimination clauses.
- Debian developers clarified that DFSG applies to software licenses, not software behavior, so xsnow is compliant, though hidden behavior changes might be undesirable.
- The conversation ended without a bug report, and the maintainer hasn't responded, but Debian has mechanisms to override maintainers if necessary, though it requires formal action like filing a bug.
Debian Bookworm v12.15 Released
11 days ago
- Debian 12.15 is the fifteenth and final update of the oldstable distribution Debian 12 (bookworm).
- This point release includes security corrections and adjustments for serious issues; it does not constitute a new version but updates some packages.
- Users can upgrade using an up-to-date Debian mirror; new installation images will be available soon.
- Notable updates: fwupd to version 2.0.20 for Secure Boot CA updates, geoip-database reverted to a 2019 version for licensing reasons, and end of support for bookworm with advice to upgrade to Debian 13 trixie.
- The release includes miscellaneous bugfixes for numerous packages addressing security vulnerabilities and other issues.
- Security updates have been published separately, and some packages like smb4k were removed due to inability to provide security support.
Debian launches competing General Resolutions on LLM usage in Debian code
7 hours ago
- Debian is considering two proposals regarding LLM usage in contributions: Proposal A forbids all LLM-assisted contributions, while Proposal B allows them under strict conditions.
- Proposal A raises concerns about copyright clarity, quality, community health, and ethics of LLM companies, suggesting an addition to the Social Contract to ban such contributions.
- Proposal B permits AI-assisted contributions with conditions like legal compliance, disclosure, accountability, and prior discussion for bulk changes.
- Both proposals acknowledge enforcement challenges but differ in approach: Proposal A stresses prohibition, while Proposal B emphasizes guidelines and contributor responsibility.
GR: Ban LLM Contributions from Debian
5 hours ago
- The proposal aims to ban contributions written with the use or assistance of LLMs or other generative AI tools in Debian packages, software, documentation, and official communications.
- LLMs raise copyright concerns due to unclear legal status of their output, which conflicts with Debian Policy requiring clear licensing.
- LLM output suffers from quality issues including inaccuracies and mixing of outdated practices, making it unsuitable for Debian's stable packaging and documentation.
- LLM contributions could harm the community by burdening reviewers and preventing new contributors from learning Debian processes.
- Ethical concerns include LLM companies scraping web data without regard for license or copyright, causing denial of service on Debian infrastructure and wasting resources.
- The proposal suggests adding a 6th item to the Debian Social Contract explicitly forbidding direct LLM-generated contributions.
- Enforcement relies on community good faith rather than strict policing, as a statement of intent.

Hasty Briefsbeta

#debian

It's dead, Jim – the old Microsoft UEFI CA from 2011 expired yesterday

Xsnow "protestware" in Debian

Debian Bookworm v12.15 Released

Debian launches competing General Resolutions on LLM usage in Debian code

GR: Ban LLM Contributions from Debian