Untitled Linux Show 222: "That's On Me"

Date: September 28, 2025
Host: Jonathan Bennett
Co-hosts: Rob Campbell, Ken Starks, Jeff Geerling

Episode Overview

In episode 222, the Untitled Linux Show crew dives into the latest happenings in the Linux world. From new hardware announcements like the Raspberry Pi 500 Plus, bold developments in kernel and desktop environments, to practical tales of sysadmin catastrophe, this episode balances deep technical discussion with classic TWiT banter. The hosts cover multi-kernel Linux proposals, the arrival of OBS Studio 32, reflections on recent distro upgrades, desktop evolution (KDE Plasma 6.5, PopOS’ Cosmic), and much more. Sprinkled throughout are helpful tips, hard-earned lessons, and even a cautionary tale about overreliance on AI tools.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Multi-Kernel Linux: A New Frontier?

Timestamps: 01:06–09:02

• Rob Campbell introduces news from the Linux kernel mailing list: proposals for multi-kernel architecture where multiple, independent Linux kernels run side-by-side on the same machine—potentially without full virtualization.

  “Think of it as kernels living side by side, each minding their own business, but capable of communicating when needed…” – Rob Campbell (02:18)

• Benefits Discussed: Fault isolation, security (kernel separation), better resource utilization, and zero-downtime kernel updates via “kernel handover.”
• ByteDance’s “Parker”: An alternative approach, where each kernel is fully sandboxed post-boot, never interacting with others—a different take on the concept, partitioning CPU, memory, devices, etc.
• Use Cases Imagined: Real-time kernels alongside standard; running separate kernels for security-critical applications.
• Audience Reflection:

  “Before reading these articles…I'm starting to be a little convinced of how this could actually be pretty useful.” – Rob Campbell (05:18)

• Comparison Points: Light hypervisors vs. true virtualization; mention of Jailhouse by Siemens, a similar existing approach.

2. OBS Studio 32 Release

Timestamps: 09:02–13:03

• Jonathan Bennett: News that OBS Studio 32 has dropped, highlighting its new plugin manager, automatic crash log uploader (Windows/Mac only), RTX audio improvements (voice activity, “chair removal” effect), and an experimental Metal renderer for Macs.
• Plugin Management: Centralized control—installing, disabling, and updating plugins from one interface.

  “Imagine…being able to see the list of plugins you have installed, install them on the fly, disable…just have a single place to go to…” – Jonathan Bennett (10:11)

• Immediate Experiences: Ken has it running on OpenSUSE Tumbleweed (“There’s no plugins for me to manage yet…” – Ken Starks (12:10)), and Jonathan plans to upgrade after a Fedora install.

3. Living on the Edge: CacheOS on the Desktop

Timestamps: 13:03–20:59

• Jeff Geerling shares first-hand experience swapping Kubuntu for CacheOS on his main machine.

• Key Points:

  • Full system wipe and partitioning strategy.
  • Choice of file system: Switched to BTRFS for its modern features (snapshots, etc.).
  • Desktop environments: Opted for KDE Plasma but notes support for many (16) desktops.
  • Hardware Optimization:

    “CacheOS will use programs and libraries optimized for your hardware…like Gen2 but not with the granularity…” – Jeff Geerling (17:16)

  • Discoveries: AUR management is manual; some apps need workarounds, but happy with initial experience.

• Cautionary Interlude:

  "So far it’s CacheOS, not Crashy OS." – Jonathan Bennett (20:50)

• Bonus: Quick primer on the differences between BTRFS and ext4 (snapshotting, rollbacks), and tips for using TimeShift.

4. Calibre’s AI Integration & Quality-of-Life Upgrades

Timestamps: 28:17–31:41

• Ken Starks highlights recent updates in Calibre eBook manager:
  • New “Ask AI” tab in dictionary lookup (supports hundreds of models, including free ones and local, e.g., Ollama).
  • Customize tooltip templates.
  • Windows and markdown regression fixes.
• Live Demo: Ken attempts to interact with the new AI features and shares how flexible configuration has become.

5. Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta & Cosmic Desktop

Timestamps: 32:13–40:18

• Rob Campbell recaps development progress:

  • Beta now public—built on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Linux 6.1.6 kernel.
  • Ships with new Rust-based Cosmic desktop (true Wayland environment, suite of custom System76 apps, new window tiling and launcher).

• Discussion: While Cosmic is gaining excitement, the Pop!_OS release cadence lags—team hopes once Cosmic stabilizes, Pop!_OS releases will speed up again.

  “Cosmic isn’t just a reskin, it’s a full desktop environment built on Wayland…” – Rob Campbell (34:06)

6. KDE Plasma 6.5 Beta

Timestamps: 41:05–44:53

• Jeff Geerling previews features in the upcoming KDE Plasma 6.5:
  • Night mode (auto dark/light themes, temperature shifting).
  • GPU overlay support for efficient compositing.
  • Long-requested ability to pin clipboard items as favorites ("snippets"), rounded corners (can be disabled).
  • Discover supports Flatpak+HTTPS install links.
• Philosophical Tangent: The everlasting debate about modern UI trends (rounded vs. sharp corners); Jeff’s “Tetris stacking” analogy.

7. Kali Linux 2025.3: New Tools and Pi 5 WiFi Improvements

Timestamps: 48:08–52:22

• Ken Starks:
  • Added Nexmon support—monitor/injection mode for RasPi WiFi.
  • 10 new pen-testing tools (e.g., KerbRelayX, LLM Tools, Nmap, MCP, etc.)
  • Changes to vagrant image build process for developers.
• Fun Moment:

  “Tell me what the K-R-B-R-E-L-A-Y-X is.” – Ken Starks (49:53)
  (“Curb Relay,” a play on Kerberos.)

8. Tale of Caution: When AI Eats Your VMs

Timestamps: 53:06–61:17

• Rob Campbell tells a sysadmin horror story:
  • Used ChatGPT to write an Ansible playbook for cloud snapshots.
  • GPT set “state: absent” (meant to shut down VM) — but “absent” means “delete” (doh!).
  • All VMs vanished; only able to recover with backups.

  “I thought I would school GPT by responding with ‘the playbook deleted my VM!’ and ChatGPT very kindly replied, ‘Oh no, I’m really sorry, that’s on me…’” – Rob Campbell (57:09)

  • Moral: Always review code generated by AI; never test on production; always back up first.

9. Raspberry Pi 500 Plus: Out Now

Timestamps: 61:20–73:51

• Jonathan Bennett provides an in-depth breakdown:
  • Now ships with 16GB RAM, 256GB NVMe SSD, and a mechanical keyboard (Gateron Blue switches, RGB).
  • Price up to $200 (vs. $90 for Pi 500), but value broken down: $40 for RAM, ~$37 for SSD, rest for keyboard/case upgrades.

  “People that say [it’s overpriced] sort of miss the point…sort of makes sense when you break it down…” – Jonathan Bennett (66:36)

  • Lively debate over affordability (“I understand the value…but $200 is more than I…” – Rob Campbell (69:23))
  • Use cases: Development machine, security appliance (with Kali), and VS Code on ARM.

10. Ubuntu 25.10 Rust Coreutils & APT Improvements

Timestamps:

• Rust Coreutils: 74:16–78:49

• APT History: 79:10–81:44

• Jeff Geerling: Reports that Ubuntu 25.10 will ship with Rust-based coreutils by default; hiccups with MakeSelf archives & MD5 checksum errors under the beta. Developers are triaging, with fixes likely pending for release.

  “So while not perfect, there’s a lot of effort being put in to make the Rust version work.” – Jeff Geerling (77:28)

• Ken Starks:

  • APT will soon support subcommands for package transaction history (e.g., apt history list, apt history info), ending the need for manual log parsing or Nala frontend. Not arriving until APT 3.0 (future release).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Multi-Kernel:

  “Maybe this is the missing piece between the Docker style containerization and the virtual machine style containerization.” – Jonathan Bennett (06:00)

• On New Features:

  “Now, something I didn’t realize is CacheOS will use programs and libraries optimized for your hardware…It’s kind of like Gentoo but not with the granularity Gentoo has.” – Jeff Geerling (17:16)

• On Sysadmin Fail:

  “Turns out absent really means absent.” – Jonathan Bennett (57:06) “I understood the English words that were in front of me, just not their meaning.” – Rob Campbell (60:50)

• On KDE Clipboard:

  “That’s going to be my new password manager.” – Rob Campbell (45:46)

• On Hardware Value:

  “When I broke it down like that, I went, oh, that’s actually not too terrible.” – Jonathan Bennett (66:36)

• On Testing:

  “Rob told me you’re just supposed to test in production.” – Jeff Geerling (102:27)

Feature Segments and Tips

Command Line & Desktop Tips

Timestamps: 84:00–106:14

• ChatGPT GNOME Extension: Rob demos an extension to bring GPT directly into GNOME via a system tray icon (85:22).
• Bandit Wargames: Jonathan showcases “Bandit” from OverTheWire—a series of hands-on, SSH-based Linux sysadmin/pentesting puzzles (87:01).
• Fish Shell Web Config: Jeff touts fish_config for easy, graphical shell customization (93:33).
• WirePlumber Audio Tweaks: Ken gives a step-by-step on saving, resetting, and deleting persistable wireplumber audio settings using wpctl settings commands with live demo (96:00).

Closing Thoughts & Final Words

• Ken: Notices on possible future Git/Rust development; reiterates that “information wants to be both free and expensive.”
• Jeff: Poetry returns—project deadlines vs. preference for leisure:

  “The servers are old. Update them, I'm told. I'd rather go drink a beer.” (108:47)

• Rob: Plugs his personal website for more tech musings and connections.
• Jonathan: Thanks the cast, listeners, and encourages joining Club TWiT or checking out his Hackaday and FLOSS Weekly work.

Takeaways for Listeners

• Linux evolution is as rapid as ever, from kernel experiments to new hardware and desktop environments.
• Practical tips and cautionary tales serve as invaluable reminders—always back up, always review, and sometimes “absent” is a four-letter word.
• Community-driven development (Rust coreutils, Cosmic, APT logging, etc.) means growing pains, but also constant improvement.
• Try something new: Whether it’s a different shell (Fish), a hacking puzzle (Bandit), or a new Linux distro, there are endless ways to expand your skills.

For full links, hardware breakdowns, and detailed show notes, check the episode show page at TWiT.tv.