fidzu : Fedora

23 Feb 2026 11:00am GMT

I wanted a way to stay inside Visual Studio Code, use Copilot Chat as the "orchestrator," and still mix and match models for different parts of the work. Plan a change with one of the slower, more capable models, but let a smaller, faster model handle mechanical refactors. Edit a blog post with one model, but hand Jekyll plumbing or JSON/YAML munging to another. The friction was that the built-in Copilot Chat extension only lets subagents run on the same model as the parent conversation, while the Copilot CLI happily lets you pick any available model per run. Phone a Friend bolts that flexibility onto Copilot Chat, so I can keep the full VS Code experience - including gutter diffs - while dispatching subtasks to whatever model is best for the job.

The Problem

When you use GitHub Copilot Chat in VS Code, every subagent it spawns runs on the same model as the parent conversation. If you're on Claude Opus 4.6, all subagents are Claude Opus 4.6. Sometimes you want a different model for a subtask - a faster one for simple work, or a different vendor for a second opinion.

GitHub Copilot CLI supports --model to pick any available model, but using it directly doesn't help - changes made by the CLI don't produce VS Code's gutter indicators (the green/red diff decorations in the editor margin). You get the work done but lose the visual feedback that makes code review comfortable.

Phone a Friend is an MCP server that solves both problems. It dispatches work to Copilot CLI with the model of choice, captures a unified diff of the changes, and returns it to the calling agent - which applies it through VS Code's edit tools. Gutter indicators show up as the changes were made natively.

How It Works

1. Copilot Chat calls the phone_a_friend MCP tool with a prompt, model name, and working directory
2. The MCP server creates an isolated git worktree from HEAD
3. It launches Copilot CLI in non-interactive mode in that worktree with the requested model
4. The subagent does its work and writes its response to a "message-in-a-bottle" file
5. The MCP server reads the response, captures a git diff, and cleans up the worktree
6. The MCP server then returns the response text and unified diff to the calling agent
7. The calling agent applies the diff using VS Code's edit tools - gutter indicators appear

The "message in a bottle" pattern is worth explaining. Copilot CLI's stdout mixes the agent's response with progress output and is unreliable to parse. Rather than fighting noisy output, the tool instructs the subagent to write its final response to a file. The server reads the file. Clean separation.

Safety

Worktree isolation means your working tree is never modified directly. Push protection blocks git push at the tool level. Worktrees are cleaned up after every invocation, even on errors.

Setup

You install Phone a Friend like any other MCP server in VS Code: add the @bexelbie/phone-a-friend npm package through the MCP: Add Server... command, or point VS Code at it via your MCP configuration. The GitHub README details the exact JSON and prerequisites (Node.js, Copilot CLI, Git).

Usage

Once configured, you stay in Copilot Chat and describe the outcome you want; the calling agent decides when to route a subtask through Phone a Friend. The tool surface includes discovery hints, so natural phrasing like "get a second opinion from another model" is usually enough to trigger it. Any model that Copilot CLI exposes is available.

Known Limitations

A few trade-offs worth knowing:

• Context cost. The unified diff lands in the calling agent's context window. Large diffs eat context. I've got an issue open exploring ideas for improving this.
• Message-in-a-bottle compliance. Most models follow the instruction to write their final response into the message-in-a-bottle file, but some may occasionally ignore it. When that happens, the calling agent still gets the diff of any file changes but not the response text.

Availability

The project is on GitHub under MIT license, and published on npm as @bexelbie/phone-a-friend. Written in TypeScript.

What Changed For Me

Since integrating this into my Copilot setup, the biggest shift is that I no longer have to choose between "the model I want to think with" and "the model I want to do the work" and I eliminated a bunch of copy/paste from manually emulating this. I keep the main conversation with a larger, more capable model for planning and review, and routinely:

• send quick, mechanical refactors to a smaller, faster model
• hand Jekyll front matter, Liquid, and config tweaks to a model that's better at markup and templating
• ask a different vendor's model for a second opinion on changes or ideas, especially where that model may be better at the task

Because everything still lands back in the same VS Code buffer with normal gutter diffs, it feels like one coherent tool instead of a handful of loosely-connected ones.

The project also had an unexpected dynamic in the development process. Building an MCP server that mimics a capability already available to the model created a strange feedback loop. I could collaborate on the implementation with Opus, and then turn around and interview it as a subject matter expert on how it uses that very same capability. It was a weird feeling to use the model as both a partner in writing the code and a primary source for understanding the user requirements.

23 Feb 2026 10:10am GMT

Fedora is heading back to sunny Southern California! As we gear up for SCaLE 23x, we are thrilled to announce a special edition of Fedora Hatch. This is taking place on Friday, March 6 as an embedded track at SCALE.

Whether you're a long-time contributor, a curious user, or someone looking to make your very first pull request, Fedora Hatch is designed for you. This is our way of bringing the experience of Flock (our annual contributor conference) to a local level. It focuses on connection, collaboration, and community growth.

What's Happening?

This year, Fedora has secured a dedicated track on Friday at SCALE. We've curated a line-up that balances technical deep dives with essential community initiatives.

When: Friday, March 6, 2026

Where: Room 208, Pasadena Convention Center

Who: You! (And a bunch of friendly Fedorans)

The Schedule Highlights

We have a packed morning featuring five talks and a hands-on workshop:

• Getting Started in Open Source and Fedora (Amy Marrich): Are you new to the world of open source? Or are you looking to make your first contribution? This session will provide a guide for beginners interested in contributing to open source projects. It will focus on the Fedora project. We'll cover a variety of topics, like finding suitable projects, making your first pull request, and navigating community interactions. Attendees will leave with practical tips, resources, and the confidence to embark on their open source journey.
• Fedora Docs Revamp Initiative (Shaun McCance): The Fedora Council recently approved an initiative to revamp the Fedora docs. The initiative aims to establish a support team to maintain a productive environment for writing docs. It will establish subteams with subject matter expertise to develop docs in specific areas of interest. We'll describe some of the challenges the Fedora docs have faced, and present the progress so far in improving the docs. You'll also learn how you can help Fedora have better docs.
• A Brief Tour of the Age of Atomic (Laura Santamaria): Ever wished to try a number of different desktop experiences quickly in your homelab? Maybe it's time to explore Fedora Atomic or Universal Blue! The tour starts with what makes these experiences special. It will then review the options including Silverblue, Cosmic, Bluefin and Bazzite (yes, the gaming OS). We'll briefly get under the hood to explore bootc, the technology powering Atomic. Finally, we'll explore how you can contribute to the future of Fedora Atomic.
• Accelerating CentOS with Fedora (Davide Cavalca): This talk will explore how CentOS SIGs are able to leverage the work happening in Fedora to improve the quality and velocity of packages in CentOS Stream. We'll cover how the CentOS Hyperscale SIG is able to deliver faster-moving updates for select packages, and how the CentOS Proposed Updates SIG integrates bugfixes and improves the contribution process to the distribution.
• Agentic Workloads on Linux: Btrfs + Service Accounts Architecture (David Duncan): As AI agents become more prevalent in enterprise environments, Linux systems need architectural patterns that provide isolation, security, and efficient resource management. This session explores an approach, using BTRFS subvolumes combined with dedicated service accounts, to build secure, isolated environments for autonomous AI agents in enterprise deployment.
• RPM Packaging Workshop (Carl George): While universal package formats like Flatpak, Snap, and AppImage have gained popularity for their cross-distro support, native system packages remain a cornerstone of Linux distributions. These native formats offer numerous benefits. Understanding them is essential for those who want to contribute to the Linux ecosystem at a deeper level. In this hands-on workshop, we'll explore RPM, the native package format used by Fedora, CentOS, and RHEL. RPM is a powerful and flexible tool. It plays a vital role in the management and distribution of software for these operating systems.

Don't forget to swing by the Fedora Booth in the Expo Hall! Our team will be there all weekend (March 6-8) with live demonstrations of Fedora Linux 43, GNOME 49 improvements, and plenty of fresh swag to go around.

Registration Details

To join us at the Hatch, you'll need a SCaLE 23x pass.

• Location: Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E Green St, Pasadena, CA.
• Tickets: Available at the official SCaLE website.

We can't wait to see you there. Let's make SCaLE 23x the best one yet!

23 Feb 2026 8:00am GMT

23 Feb 2026 6:17am GMT

22 Feb 2026 5:00pm GMT

Well, another saturday, time for another bit of longer form recapping what has been going on in fedora infrastructure and other areas for me.

21 Feb 2026 7:27pm GMT

21 Feb 2026 9:37am GMT

Hoje fiz um curso online do RH da empresa, sobre preconceito e assédio, e abrange etnia, idade, sexo e deficiência. Eu achei ótimo o conteúdo, muito lúdico e bem estruturado, aprendi um monte de coisas. Hoje em dia todas as empresas exigem esses treinamentos. E fiquei pensando que a História da Humanidade, até bem pouco tempo atrás, ficaria orgulhosa em se olhar no futuro finalmente tratando esse assunto para o bem. Então, mesmo que estejamos ainda longe de erradicar preconceito neste Planeta, quero reconhecer e parabenizar todos nós pelos passos que estamos dando. Com a soma dos pequenos passos chegaremos longe.

Today I completed an online HR course at my company on prejudice and harassment, covering topics such as ethnicity, age, gender, and disability. I found the content excellent. Engaging, well-structured, and truly educational. I learned a great deal. These days, this kind of training is required in most organizations. It made me reflect on how, not so long ago, humanity might have looked to the future appreciating that we are finally addressing these issues constructively and consciously. Even though we are still far from eradicating prejudice on this planet, I want to acknowledge and congratulate all of us for the steps we are taking. It is through the accumulation of small steps that we will go far.

Publicado também no meu LinkedIn.

20 Feb 2026 4:25pm GMT

20 Feb 2026 12:22pm GMT

20 Feb 2026 11:24am GMT

This is a report created by CLE Team, which is a team containing community members working in various Fedora groups for example Infrastructure, Release Engineering, Quality etc. This team is also moving forward some initiatives inside Fedora project.

Week: 16 Feb - 20 Feb 2026

Fedora Infrastructure

This team is taking care of day to day business regarding Fedora Infrastructure.
It's responsible for services running in Fedora infrastructure.
Ticket tracker

• [GSoC Project Idea 2026] Revamp Fedora Badges project with modern fullstack architecture and dedicated MCP support [Ticket] [Followup]
• [Infra] Added package and installed size to package metadata [Review] [Lint]
• [Infra] Improve vagrant setup instructions and add container-based setup [Followup A] [Followup B]
• Migration of pagure.io repositories to forge.fedoraproject.org continues (9 more repositories migrated)
• Resolved authentication issues with wordpress instances (thanks to misc)
• Fixed database connection issues on Dist-Git
• Dep updates and CI fixes for our apps in Github
• Worked on the port of bugzilla2fedmsg to Kafka (since the UMB deprecation), deployed it to staging, asked RHIT for firewall ports.

CentOS Infra including CentOS CI

This team is taking care of day to day business regarding CentOS Infrastructure and CentOS Stream Infrastructure.
It's responsible for services running in CentOS Infratrusture and CentOS Stream.
CentOS ticket tracker
CentOS Stream ticket tracker

• lack of ipv6 on some sponsored servers
• New Build Target and Tags for the Kmods SIG (kernel-6.18)
• Extend maximum build time for CS10 Risc-v
• Spam on the automotive-sig mailing list
• Move Hyperscale SIG docs source from pagure to gitlab
• Request: Add new SSH key for OKD / SCOS bootimage sync to cloud.centos.org
• mirror request
• Setup BuildRoot for CS10 risc-v
• allow rsync for 2 fedoraproject mirrors
• Need more disk space on Gitlab Runners
• Ensuring that gen2 images are also deleted/cleaned up from koji (through koji-gc)

Release Engineering

This team is taking care of day to day business regarding Fedora releases.
It's responsible for releases, retirement process of packages and package builds.
Ticket tracker

• Fedora 44 Beta Freeze is now in effect.

RISC-V

This is the summary of the work done regarding the RISC-V architecture in Fedora.

• (Not a lot to report this week, besides the routine on-going work.)
• Started a discussion with the RISC-V team about RHEL builders for Konflux. (This is not about general Konflux support, that's out of scope)
• Continued to investigate Fedora 44 build failures and all that entails - working with relevant upstream maintainers to get changes reviewed, merged, etc.
• Sorted out a build-timeout issue with Copr upstream. (Jason Montleon is currently used to build some board-specific kernels.)

QE

This team is taking care of quality of Fedora. Maintaining CI, organizing test days
and keeping an eye on overall quality of Fedora releases.

• TestDays App was updated in production.
• Anubis no longer breaks actions in Forge thanks to our debugging (and Infra fixing it, of course).
• Blockerbugs meetings and the whole blocker review process has started since this week.
• Ran test days: Grub OOM fix, GNOME 50

Forgejo

This team is working on introduction of https://forge.fedoraproject.org to Fedora
and migration of repositories from pagure.io.

• Spike of zabbix installation for ansible-role-forgejo-runner researched
• Forge image build and versioning fully automated
• Runners updated to use image version 12
• More migrations from pagure and troubleshooting
• Private Issues: Fixed tests, tied up loose ends and consolidated feature branch.
• Packit team got access to staging distgit deployment
• Create new organisation and namespace on Fedora Forge for Fedora Join [Followup] [Namespace]

UX

This team is working on improving User experience. Providing artwork, user experience,
usability, and general design services to the Fedora project

• CLE logo complete!
• F45 wallpaper mindmap session took place. Mindmap created can be found here.
• Continuing Forgejo migration.

If you have any questions or feedback, please respond to this report or contact us on #admin:fedoraproject.org channel on matrix.

The post Community Update - Week 8 2026 appeared first on Fedora Community Blog.

20 Feb 2026 10:00am GMT

The Podman team and the Fedora Quality Assurance team are organizing a Test Week from Friday, February 27 through Friday, March 6, 2026. This is your chance to get an early look at the latest improvements coming to Podman and see how they perform on your machine.

What is Podman?

For those new to the tool, Podman is a daemonless, Linux-native engine for running, building, and sharing OCI containers. It offers a familiar command-line experience but runs containers safely without requiring a root daemon.

What's Coming in Podman 5.8?

The upcoming release includes updates designed to make Podman faster and more robust. Here is what you can look forward to, and what you can try out during this Fedora Test Day.

A Modern Database Backend (SQLite)

Podman is upgrading its internal storage logic by transitioning to SQLite. This change modernizes how Podman handles data under the hood, aiming for better stability and long-term robustness.

Faster Parallel Pulls

This release brings optimizations to how Podman downloads image layers, specifically when pulling multiple images at the same time. For a deep dive into the engineering behind this, check out the developer blog post on Accelerating Parallel Layer Creation.

Experiment and Explore: Feel free to push the system a bit and try pulling several large images simultaneously to see if you notice the performance boost. Beyond that, please bring your own workflows. Don't just follow the wiki instructions. Run the containers and commands you use daily. Your specific use cases are the best way to uncover edge cases that standard tests might miss.

What do I need to do?

• Make sure you have a Fedora Account (FAS).
• Download test materials in advance where applicable, which may include some large files.
• Follow the steps on the wiki test page one by one.
• Send us your results through the app.

Details on how to test and report results are available at the Wiki Test Day site for Podman 5.8 test day:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2026-02-27_Podman_5.8

Test Week runs from Friday, February 27 through Friday, March 6, 2026

Thank you for taking part in the testing of Fedora Linux 44!

20 Feb 2026 8:00am GMT

Potential GSoC contributors may reach out with questions about our project ideas or GNOME internships in general. Please direct them to gsoc.gnome.org to learn more.

You can find our proposed project ideas at gsoc.gnome.org/2026.

Project proposal submissions are open from March 16th to 31st.

20 Feb 2026 6:58am GMT

19 Feb 2026 11:56am GMT

19 Feb 2026 10:19am GMT

Want to learn the latest container tech? From February 27 to March 6, 2026, you can join the Podman 5.8 Test Day. It is the perfect time to explore new features and see how the future of Fedora is built.

What is new?

• Faster Downloads: Try optimized "parallel pulls" to get your images in seconds.
• Setup: Test the new "automatic database creation" for a smoother start.
• Expert Skills: Learn how to use latest container environments before they go mainstream.

Why join?

Your setup is unique. By running Podman 5.8 on your machine, you make sure the final version works perfectly for everyone. It is a great way to learn by doing and to see how top-tier open-source software is made.

Start here

We have prepared easy-to-follow steps for you here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2026-02-27_Podman_5.8

The post Master Podman 5.8: Join Fedora Test Week appeared first on Fedora Community Blog.

19 Feb 2026 10:00am GMT