Collabora launches Apertis v2026 based on Debian 13 (Trixie). Production Editor Embedded Computing Design April 07, 2026 Collabora has announced the release of Apertis v2026, a modernized foundation for industrial embedded designs. The release is based on Debian 13 (Trixie) and offers updated system libraries, development tools, compilers, and core services, alongside a new default Wayland compositor, a reworked SDK, and enhanced packaging pipelines. According to the press release, this is the first release built on Debian 13 (Trixie), integrating all upstream modifications from the latest Debian release. A detailed look at the changes can be found in the Apertis v2026.0 release notes. The release solves build issues and guarantees all packages can be built from source via OBS. The release ships the latest LTS kernel, Linux LTS 6.18 and adds contributions including more support for Rockchip and MediaTek SoCs families. Weston is the reference implementation of a Wayland compositor and provides a flexible and standards-based graphical foundation. Having Weston be the default compositor offers benefits such as: * A well-supported and widely adopted Wayland implementation * Support for multiple shell configurations (such as desktop and kiosk use cases) * Easier extensibility and long-term maintainability through a strong upstream community Collabora suggests that the shift to Weston modernizes the graphical stack and better positions Apertis for future graphical and HMI constraints in industrial environments. With Apertis v2026, Collabora introduced a reworked SDK image that enhances designer capability for building, testing, and integrating Apertis-based systems. Goals of the SDK image rework: * Cleaner separation between host and target tooling to improve cross-compilation workflows * Better alignment of SDK contents with the Debian Trixie base and current image policies * Improved usability as a development sandbox for package maintenance and image customization Also introduced with Apertis v2026 are improvements in ci-package-builder developed to improve how Debian-derived packages are managed across Apertis releases. New pipeline benefits: * Automatically track changes from Debian as packages evolve upstream * Identify relevant updates, including security fixes and targeted improvements * Backport selected changes to older Apertis releases in a controlled and auditable way * Reduce manual effort when maintaining multiple stable release branches Due to the rebase process, the infrastructure and tooling are more predictable and easier to track including improvements across the entire process, from the planning stage to tracking progress during the rebase itself. Per the press release, the tooling supports testing critical stages such as bootstrapping and image generation, while prioritizing the set of packages needed to build the target images. These tools can be found in:

Monado becomes the open source foundation for various OpenXR (VR) vendors. By Liam Dawe - 27 Mar 2026 at 8:32 am UTC Collabora announced that their open source XR runtime (VR / AR) Monado has made some serious waves in the industry, and is now the foundation for many vendors. While GamingOnLinux has OpenXR, that's just the standard, the API developers build against (and what Valve now focus on for SteamVR too), but you still need a runtime to actually get everything hooked up and working. Previously, a lot of XR vendors went their own way with proprietary XR stacks but that has all shifted. Collabora's XR lead, Frederic Plourde, wrote up a blog post to note how Monado is now being used by the likes of Google's AndroidXR, Hololight Stream, NVIDIA CloudXR, Pico's runtime (Neo3 and Pico4), PortalVR, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Spaces. As for why it has become the foundation for so many, Plourde notes multiple advantages: * High Modularity: Monado is architected as reusable components. Need a specialized compositor, custom controller driver, specific distortion mesh, SLAM algorithm, or ML-based hand-tracking? Enable what you need, disable what you don't. Monado's build system makes it effortless. * High Quality: Following the Mesa state-tracker philosophy, Monado cleanly separates the OpenXR API from its implementation. Rigorous argument validation ensures the runtime stays stable and predictable. * Permissive Licensing: Its license supports diverse business models, with easy integration for both Open Source projects and commercial proprietary products, and no legal friction. * Lower Barrier to Entry: Debug the actual stack instead of reverse-engineering a black box. Teams ship faster by focusing on their unique hardware value-adds rather than wrestling with runtime mysteries. And because many more are using it, all the fixes and improvements filter back to the community to improve XR for everyone. I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Discover more Hard Drives All posts need to follow its rules. Please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Readers can also email GamingOnLinux for any issues or concerns. No comments yet!