Manjaro is in trouble, Germany mandates open formats, Google destroys sideloading

Mar 21, 2026

A deep dive into Manjaro contributors pushing to split from their company. A furious discussion of Google’s new, hostile sideloading and developer verification rules. Germany moves to mandate ODF for public administration. Quick takes on Orion’s Linux beta, CachyOS rising for gaming, GNOME 50’s big release, and PS5 gaining Linux GPU support.

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INSIGHT

Germany Mandates ODF For Public Administration

Germany will mandate ODF (Open Document Format) for public administrations as part of Deutschlandstack to ensure interoperable, non-proprietary document exchange.
This mandate forces open formats and eases future migration away from proprietary suites, though MS Office's ODF support may be intentionally imperfect.

INSIGHT

Orion Browser Arrives As GNOME-Friendly Beta

Orion browser by Kagi launched a public beta built on WebKit GTK and libadwaita, offering a native-looking GNOME-friendly UI and extension potential.
Early builds crash, lack features, and are distributed via a Flatpak ref file and newsletter link for testers.

INSIGHT

CachyOS Surges Among Linux Gamers

CachyOS, an Arch-based gaming-focused distro, now dominates ProtonDB reports, rising quickly since early 2024 and claiming nearly a quarter of submissions.
Its optimizations and gaming focus appeal more to gamers than plain Arch, while immutable alternatives like Bazite emphasize stability.

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