Untitled Linux Show 215: Unencumbered by the Thought Process

Released on August 10, 2025, the Untitled Linux Show 215 hosted by TWiT delves deep into the latest developments in the Linux and open-source ecosystem. The episode, titled "Unencumbered by the Thought Process," features insightful discussions among hosts Ken, Jeff, Marius, and Jonathan, covering a range of topics from software updates and hardware support to significant industry lawsuits.

1. Audacity Updates and Workflow Integration

Timestamp: [03:43] - Marius

Marius kicks off the episode by discussing the latest updates to Audacity, a popular open-source audio editing tool. He highlights the release of Audacity 3.7.5, which addresses several critical issues:

• Crash Fixes: Resolves crashes during Wave import for audio files up to 7 milliseconds and issues with the Macro Wizard.
• Platform Support: Introduces support for Windows on ARM64 (WOA 11), thanks to contributions from developers like Terence and Donno, who provided a WOA fork of FFMPEG necessary for Audacity's functionality on this platform.

Marius emphasizes the importance of these updates for users who rely on Audacity for tasks such as ripping vinyl records, showcasing its integration into various workflows.

Ken’s Experience with Audacity vs. Ardour

Ken shares his personal experience, noting that while he prefers Ardour for many projects, Audacity excels in specific scenarios like automatically trimming silence from audio files—an essential feature for podcasters dealing with lengthy pauses or edits.

“In Audacity, it's a simple method.” — Ken [07:05]

This ease of use in Audacity contrasts with Ardour’s more complex processes, making Audacity a valuable tool in Ken's editing arsenal.

2. Intel Layoffs and Their Impact on Linux Drivers

Timestamp: [08:15] - Jonathan

Jonathan presents concerning news about Intel's layoffs and how these workforce reductions are affecting Linux driver support. Key points include:

• Driver Maintenance Issues: Several Intel Linux drivers are now orphaned due to the departure of key engineers. Examples include:

  • CorTemp Hardware Monitoring Driver: Maintained by Fenghua You, who has moved to NVIDIA, leaving the driver unmaintained.
  • Ethernet RDMA Driver: Reduced maintenance staff leading to potential future stability issues.
  • Intel FPGA DFL TOD Driver: Now orphaned following M. Cheetan Kumar’s departure.

• Future Implications: The lack of maintenance means that any future bugs or necessary updates will not be promptly addressed, potentially impacting users relying on these drivers.

“The patch removes Fenghua you as the CorTemp hardware monitoring driver maintainer. Well, he's no longer at Intel...” — Jonathan [09:31]

Ken and Marius discuss the broader impact, suggesting that while some maintainers might continue support independently, the overall stability and reliability of Intel’s Linux drivers could suffer significantly.

3. KDE Linux’s New Immutable Distro: Project Banana

Timestamp: [15:41] - Ken

Ken introduces KDE Linux, an immutable Linux distribution currently in its pre-alpha stage under the codename Project Banana. Key features include:

• Based on Arch Linux: Unlike KDE Neon, which is based on Ubuntu LTS, KDE Linux builds upon the rolling-release model of Arch.
• Immutable Design: Utilizes a dual read-only ButterFS root partition, enhancing system stability and security by preventing unauthorized modifications.
• Nvidia GPU Support: Exclusively supports recent Nvidia GPUs with fast driver integrations, although this limitation may deter some users.

Ken expresses skepticism about the necessity of another KDE-based distro, given the abundance of existing options, but acknowledges the innovative approach KDE Linux brings to the table.

“It's built on top of Arch. It's actually very similar to Valve's SteamOS. KDE Linux will be an immutable distro...” — Ken [20:39]

The hosts debate the potential impact of KDE Linux, considering its immutability and strict hardware support requirements, questioning its appeal compared to more flexible distributions.

4. Bottles Project Secures Funding

Timestamp: [24:16] - Marius

Marius shares positive news about the Bottles project—a tool for managing Wine environments to run Windows applications on Linux. Key highlights include:

• Funding Grant: Bottles received a grant from the NL Net Commons Fund through the 2025 Commons Fund initiative, supported by the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet program and Switzerland's State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovations.
• Project Goals: The funding aims to accelerate the development of a more modern and polished experience for running Windows software on Linux.

“'Bottles has received an NL Net Commons Fund grant through the 2025 Commons Fund,' — Marius [26:31]

Ken appreciates the support for Bottles, recognizing its value in the Linux ecosystem and its role in enhancing compatibility with Windows applications. The discussion underscores the importance of governmental support in sustaining open-source projects.

5. DuckStation PS1 Emulator Faces Potential Linux Support Drop

Timestamp: [29:36] - Jonathan

Jonathan reports on challenges faced by DuckStation, a highly accurate PS1 emulator, regarding its continued support for Linux:

• Licensing Changes: The emulator's developer shifted from a GPL v3 license to a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, which prohibits commercial use and derivative works, effectively preventing the community from forking or modifying the software.
• Community Frustration: The author expressed frustration with the Arch User Repository (AUR) maintainers for violating official guidelines, leading to a decision to potentially discontinue Linux support.

“He wrote a license that says that for any fixes to make it into his source code, they have to go through him...” — Ken [33:00]

Ken and Jonathan critique the developer’s misunderstanding of open-source principles, emphasizing that such licensing changes can stifle community-driven improvements and jeopardize the emulator’s future on Linux.

6. Debian 13 (Trixie) and Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS Released

Timestamp: [41:00] - Marius

The hosts celebrate the release of Debian 13 (Trixie) and discuss the new point release of Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS:

• Debian 13:
  • New Features: Official support for RISC-V64, hardening against ROPE and COPGOP attacks, HTTP boot support, improved manual translations, and progress towards reproducible builds.
  • Kernel and Graphics: Powered by Linux kernel 6.14 and the Mesa 25.0 graphics stack from Ubuntu 25.04.
  • Future Point Releases: Scheduled next release in February 2026.

“Ubuntu 24.3 LTS is powered by Linux kernel 6.14 and the Mesa 25.0 graphics stack from the newer Ubuntu 25.04 release.” — Marius [42:49]

• Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS:
  • Purpose: Bundles security and bug fixes for easier deployment of new systems.
  • Plasma Desktop Update: Transitioning to Plasma 6, providing a modern user experience.

Ken mentions the ripple effects of these releases, particularly how Debian serves as an upstream source for numerous distributions like Raspberry Pi OS, hinting at broader adoption and updates across the Linux landscape.

7. PipeWire and WirePlumber Command Line Tips

Timestamp: [76:47] - Marius

Marius introduces the wpctl command, a tool for managing WirePlumber objects and settings via the command line in PipeWire:

• Usage: Allows users to view and control the state of PipeWire objects, including audio and video devices, sinks, sources, and streams.
• Examples:
  • Status Command: wpctl --help and wpctl status --help provide usage instructions.
  • Detailed Status: wpctl status -n outputs comprehensive details about the current PipeWire setup, including version, user sessions, and device configurations.

“WP ctl space status space dash h and you'll now see it gives that usage again.” — Marius [78:17]

Ken and Marius discuss the practical applications of wpctl, emphasizing its utility in configuring audio setups and troubleshooting issues within the PipeWire ecosystem.

8. The Landmark AI Lawsuit: Authors vs. Anthropics

Timestamp: [87:49] - Ken

Ken delves into a significant class action lawsuit involving authors and Anthropic AI, which could become the largest copyright class action in history:

• Case Details:
  • Claimants: Up to 7 million individuals alleging that Anthropics trained its AI models using their copyrighted works without permission.
  • Potential Damages: Estimates suggest possible fines up to $150,000 per work, leading to potential billions in damages.

“There’s one line here in the Ars Technical article that there's the possibility of $150,000 fine per work.” — Ken [90:37]

• Defense Strategy: Anthropics seeks to fragment the lawsuit into individual cases to mitigate the financial impact, as a unified class action could result in devastating penalties.

• Judicial Expertise: The case is presided over by Judge Alsop, known for his technical understanding of software, having self-taught Java for the Oracle v. Google case. His background provides confidence in his ability to adjudicate complex technological disputes.

Marius and Jonathan further explore the implications, discussing the challenges of defining AI training as transformative versus infringing acts. They ponder whether training an AI mirrors human learning processes, akin to students reading and internalizing information, or if it constitutes direct copying.

“Is training an AI similar enough to what happens when a human reads a book?” — Ken [65:47]

The discussion touches on broader themes of copyright law, AI's role in society, and the enduring debate over intellectual property in the age of machine learning.

9. Command Line Tips: Clearing Cache and Using tr

Timestamp: [83:50] - Jonathan & Ken

The hosts share practical command line tips to help users manage system resources and manipulate text:

• Clearing RAM Memory Cache:
  • Command: sudo sync; echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
  • Purpose: Clears page cache, dentries, and inodes to free up memory without rebooting.
  • Caution: Can lead to system instability if done under high load.

“Use the command sudo space sync... and then use sudo space swap on space a.” — Jonathan [83:50]

• Using tr for Text Transformation:
  • Command Example: echo 'TEST' | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' outputs test.
  • Functionality: Translates or deletes characters from standard input, useful for case conversion and more.

“It’s a bash one liner... echo the word test with a capital T, pipe it through TR and it will output a lowercase test.” — Ken [89:57]

These tips provide listeners with actionable commands to optimize their Linux experience, emphasizing the importance of understanding system internals and command-line utilities.

10. Closing Remarks and Community Engagement

As the episode draws to a close, the hosts share personal anecdotes and upcoming plans:

• Jonathan’s Record-Breaking Motorcycle Run: Jonathan recounts setting a speed record on his motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats, sharing experiences and interactions with other enthusiasts.

“Our record for 3000cc motorcycle, modified, partially streamlined is 154.506 miles an hour.” — Jonathan [91:17]

• Ken’s Hackaday Contributions: Ken promotes his work on Hackaday and encourages listeners to support the show through Club Twit for additional benefits, including ad-free content and exclusive access.

The episode concludes with enthusiasm for future shows and ongoing community support, reinforcing the collaborative spirit of the Linux and open-source communities.

Notable Quotes

• “In Audacity, it's a simple method.” — Ken [07:05]
• “He’s not happy that he's getting all this and he's not happy that he can't request removal of the packages in the aura.” — Jonathan [32:40]
• “It’s not unreasonable for them to do that.” — Ken [16:55]
• “We have all these products that we're still supporting that we spun off a few years earlier.” — Jonathan [16:55]
• “It's just gonna have to be a one cycle timeout for the BCash FS project.” — Ken [38:35]
• “Ah, but no, you're going to have a lot of variation on what versions of various files you have.” — Jonathan [55:09]
• “OK, you can fork it.” — Ken [34:40]
• “Everybody loves immutable Linux.” — Ken [21:43]
• “It's super interesting and I think we really do need some solid court rulings on this.” — Ken [72:31]
• “Yeah, everybody that’s been playing with LLMs and AI, like the companies making them have been in this weird gray area for the last few years.” — Jonathan [74:36]

Conclusion

The Untitled Linux Show 215 offers a comprehensive exploration of current events and developments within the Linux and open-source communities. From software updates and hardware support challenges to groundbreaking legal battles in the AI domain, the hosts provide nuanced analyses and personal insights. The episode underscores the dynamic nature of technology, the importance of community-driven projects, and the evolving landscape of intellectual property in the age of artificial intelligence. Whether you're a seasoned Linux user or a tech enthusiast, this episode delivers valuable information and engaging discussions to keep you informed and connected.