Tech Roundup: Musk Leaves Twitter, Google AI, Linux Zstd, GitLab Web IDE, PHP 8.2

Elon Musk Resigns as Twitter CEO

On December 19, a Twitter poll with over 17.37 million votes showed 57.5% in favor of Musk stepping down. He pledged to honor the result and announced his resignation, though he may retain significant influence over the platform for some time.

Google CEO Calls for Broader Thinking and AI Advances

Sundar Pichai urged young technologists to think beyond coding, emphasizing the importance of a holistic view of technology. He highlighted Google’s work on a unified AI model capable of handling over 100 languages for voice and text, aiming to make knowledge accessible worldwide.

Google also announced that Google Lens will now be able to read doctors’ handwritten prescriptions, partnering with pharmacists to highlight medication names in captured images.

Linux Kernel Integrates Updated Zstd Compression

The Zstd compression code in the Linux kernel, previously lagging behind upstream, has been updated in kernel 6.2 to match version 1.5.2. This brings faster compression and decompression speeds for uses ranging from firmware to transparent file system compression.

GitLab Launches New Web IDE Beta

GitLab released a beta version of a new Web IDE, enabled by default for GitLab.com users and available for self‑managed installations starting with version 15.7. Key features include:

Collapsible panels and custom themes

Contextual actions and drag‑and‑drop support in the file panel

Find and replace within open files

Interactive document outline and visual history panel

Reduced memory usage

Improved reliability of tracking file and directory changes

Better support for touchscreen devices

The Web IDE allows developers to securely connect to remote development environments, run commands in an interactive terminal, and receive real‑time feedback.

PHP 8.2 Introduces Readonly Classes and New Types

PHP 8.2, released in early December, adds readonly classes—classes marked with the readonly modifier have all instance properties immutable and prohibit dynamic properties. It also introduces standalone types null, false, and true, enhancing type safety.

Additional improvements include DNF type support for union and intersection types, an object‑oriented random number API, deprecation of dynamic property creation, new functions such as mysqli_execute_query, and the ability to define constants in traits.