announce bndtools 7.4.0 release

Signed-off-by: Christoph Rueger <chrisrueger@gmail.com>

Author: chrisrueger

_posts/2026-08-18-bndtools-7.4.0.md

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+---
+layout: prev-next-collection
+title: Bnd/Bndtools 7.4.0 released
+description: We are happy to announce a new release.
+comments: true
+author: Christoph Rüger
+---
+
+Here's a short blog announcement draft based on the release notes:
+
+---
+
+## Bnd/Bndtools 7.4.0 Released
+
+We are happy to announce the release of **Bnd/Bndtools 7.4.0**!
+
+This release brings a range of improvements across security, tooling, stability, and developer experience. Highlights include:
+
+- **Trusted Checksum Verification** for Maven repositories — enhancing supply chain security
+- **Overridable HTTP client request headers** — more flexibility for custom integrations
+- **New `repo deps` command** — easily export Maven GAVs for use with Eclipse Dash license tooling
+- **Improved Maven resolve logging** — better feedback for Maven users during bundle resolution
+- **Gradle improvements** — proper configuration of `sourceSet` compile and runtime classpaths, and fix for `compileJava`/`processResources` task ordering
+- **Various bug fixes** — including fixes for `IndexOutOfBoundsException`, NPE in `RepoCollector`, and thread-safety improvements
+- **Bndtools Explorer Quick Links** — added quick link for opening existing Bnd Workspaces
+
+For the full list of changes, see the [**Release Notes for 7.4.0**](https://github.com/bndtools/bnd/wiki/Changes-in-7.4.0).