March GNU Spotlight: 18 New Releases Featuring Autoconf and PSPP

The Free Software Foundation announced the release of 18 new GNU software packages as of March 31, 2026. This update, detailed in the March GNU Spotlight by Amin Bandali and published on April 1, 2026, includes updates to developer tools, security protocols, and specialized application systems.

The releases span a variety of technical functions, ranging from system management and programming language interpreters to medical record systems. Notable updates include Autoconf 2.73 and G-Golf 0.8.5, alongside several infrastructure and specialized tools.

Developer Tools and Programming Frameworks

Among the updates are tools designed to streamline software portability and application development. Autoconf 2.73, released on March 20, 2026, provides developers with a set of M4 macros. These macros expand into shell code that tests the features of Unix-like systems, allowing software packages to adapt automatically to different environments. This process ensures that the resulting shell scripts are portable and self-contained, removing the requirement for users to have knowledge of M4 or Autoconf.

For developers working with Guile Scheme, the March 24, 2026, release of G-Golf 0.8.5 offers a library for modern application development. G-Golf provides a direct binding to the GObject Introspection API. It also includes functionality to import Gnome libraries and make GObject classes and methods available within GOOPS, which is Guile’s object-oriented programming system.

the GNU Project released APL 2.0. This software serves as a free interpreter for the APL programming language and is an implementation of the ISO standard 13751.

System Infrastructure and Security

The March 31, 2026, update introduced Anastasis 0.7.0, a free software protocol and implementation focused on secret recovery. The system allows users to securely deposit core secrets with a public set of escrow providers, ensuring that these secrets can be recovered if the original copies are lost.

For platform management, GNU FreeIPMI 1.6.17 was released. This collection of in-band and out-of-band IPMI software adheres to the IPMI v1.5/2.0 specification. The software provides interfaces for several platform management functions, including:

• System event monitoring
• Sensor monitoring
• Power control
• Serial-over-LAN functionality

Specialized Software Applications

The release cycle also included GNU Health HIS 5.0.6. This medical software system provides a comprehensive suite for health management, including support for electronic medical records (EMR). The system includes a health information system (HIS) that is managed and installed via GNU Health Control, as well as a hospital management information system (HMIS) that features a native GTK client. To support international use, the system offers interfaces in both English and Spanish.

The GNU Project and Software Freedom

These releases are part of the broader GNU operating system, which is developed specifically to ensure user freedom. The GNU Project defines free software as software that respects the freedom of its users, distinguishing the concept of free as a matter of liberty rather than price.

According to the GNU Project, free software is defined by four essential freedoms:

• Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.
• Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works and change it to suit your computing needs, which requires access to the source code.
• Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies to help others.
• Freedom 3: The freedom to distribute copies of modified versions to others.

The GNU operating system consists of GNU packages and free software released by third parties. To implement these principles, the project recommends installable versions of GNU, specifically GNU/Linux distributions that consist entirely of free software, such as Trisquel 11 with the MATE desktop.