Untitled Linux Show 224: No Poetry Was Harmed

Date: October 12, 2025
Host: Bryan Lunduke
Co-hosts: Jeff Geerling, Robert P. Campbell

Episode Overview

In this episode, the hosts dive into recent major Linux and open source news, highlight community wins, and recount personal Linux adventures. Key topics include Ubuntu's new release (and its Flatpak-breaking bug), Qualcomm’s acquisition of Arduino, Intel’s shifting open source strategy, improvements in KDE Plasma, kernel memory management updates, Germany's mass migration to open-source email, and System76’s bold hardware moves. The episode carries an informative and playful tone throughout, filled with technical details, personal stories, and the usual friendly banter.

Key Discussion Points

Desktop Linux Shenanigans: Google Chrome, Snapshots & Reinstalls

[03:17–10:16]

• Jeff’s Desktop Troubles
  • Jeff describes a failed update on his cutting-edge Cache Linux system, leading to reboot issues and a blinking cursor, especially before Plasma’s login.
  • Snapshots failed to rescue him due to repo and version mismatches.
  • Ultimately, the beauty of Linux is “the quick reinstall” — he reinstalled from Ventoy in minutes, preserving /home and most config/settings.

“No poetry was harmed in the formatting.”
— Jeff Geerling [05:33]

• Community Tips
  • Bryan notes remote recovery using SSH from phone is sometimes handy.
  • KDE’s per-monitor config handling explained (possible reason for Jeff’s desktop appearing “off” after reinstall).

Ubuntu 25.10: The Flatpak “Breakage” Incident

[12:04–19:51]

• The Bug Explained
  • The Ubuntu 25.10 interim release broke Flatpak support due to a missing AppArmor permission for fusermount3 (needed for Flatpak installs).
  • This appears to be an oversight by Canonical; Flatpak isn’t a first-class citizen (Snaps are their focus).
  • Bug was reported a month before release; a fix is coming, but a workaround exists.

“Was it really just a slip up that got missed? I mean, seems like enough time...”
— Robert P. Campbell [16:15]

• Security Layer Comparison
  • AppArmor (Ubuntu/Debian) vs SELinux (Red Hat), concerns about restrictive defaults, and musings on deeper security/immutability debates.

Qualcomm Buys Arduino: What Does It Mean for Makers?

[19:51–26:39]

• Acquisition Details
  • Qualcomm has bought Arduino—a massive moment for the maker and embedded Linux community.
  • Announced new “Arduino UNO Q” board: Qualcomm ARM CPU, targeting Raspberry Pi’s market.

“Arduino has just been part of the landscape for a long time... For hackers and makers… The API has become a standard for programming microcontrollers.”
— Bryan Lunduke [21:02]

• Potential Ecosystem Impact
  • Hosts are worried Qualcomm may not grasp Raspberry Pi’s success is about “ecosystem and long-term support,” not just hardware specs.
  • Hope for success depends on management’s understanding of open source; “bean counters” at the helm would spell trouble.

Nostalgic Hardware Hacks: How the Hosts Got Started

[26:39–31:12]

• Jeff’s first electronics experiences with Gakken EX system kits; Bryan’s early Arduino breadboard lighting hacks.
• Chat about vintage electronics learning kits and hobby stories, Demilova Arduinos, Heathkits, and the value of early hands-on tinkering.

Intel: Open Source Hero or Pulling Back?

Part 1: Positive Change (P-State Driver Simplification)

[31:20–36:02]

• Intel engineer Rafael Wysocki’s upcoming kernel (6.19) streamlines the P-state driver, improving performance and efficiency, especially for hybrid-core architectures.
• Simpler, more reliable performance scaling for P-cores, E-cores, and LPE cores.
• Energy preference given to lower-power cores, easier config.

Part 2: The Big Worry (Open Source Retrenchment at Intel)

[39:11–50:53]

• Shift in Strategy
  • Intel plans to prioritize open source efforts that provide a "competitive advantage" to Intel, not their rivals.
  • Many top engineers have left, some projects like Clear Linux discontinued, other drivers now unmaintained.
  • Concern that Intel will now limit contributions that might benefit AMD or broader open source.

“We use our open source software as an advantage to Intel and not let everyone else take it and run with it.”
— Quoting Intel exec [41:27]

• Community Reaction
  • Michael Larabel’s (Phoronix) long-form critique: loss of “legendary” open source stature.
  • Rob plans to shift bias to AMD if trends continue; Bryan and Jeff note nuance, including Intel’s financial struggles and the pragmatic need to survive.
  • Reminder: open source is fundamentally a license, not a democracy or charity.

Amiga 4000 PCI on Mainline Linux & Old Hardware Joy

[53:49–59:59]

• Kernel Support for Ancient Hardware

  • Daniel Palmer submits driver patches for Amiga 4000 PCI bridge (“Mediator”) to the Linux kernel. Encouraging, collaborative feedback from the kernel community.
  • Reflecting on Amiga’s hardware greatness and its “downfall by bean counters.”

• Nostalgic Refrain

  • The hosts reminisce about old systems, discuss aging well (or not), and the modern hobbyist's dilemma: cherish the memory or chase the hardware.

KDE Plasma 6.5 Preview & Bugfixes Galore

[60:23–67:23]

• What’s New & Improved
  • Plasma 6.5 due soon; 6.4.6 already includes major crash fixes.
  • Notable improvements:
    • Faster Flatpak metadata fetching in Discover.
    • Less “false positive” config changes—easier version control.
    • KDE fixes for XWayland app flicker, vector content copy-paste, orientation crashes, and more.
    • Biggest crash culprit: out-of-range error in third-party wallpaper engine code (5000+ crashes squashed).
  • Nate Graham (KDE dev): “6.5 is going to be the most stable release of the 6 series yet.” [65:44]
  • Hosts note that .5-point releases are historically where KDE really stabilizes.

Open Source in Government: Germany Goes Full FOSS for Email

[68:47–74:50]

• The Migration
  • German state of Schleswig-Holstein migrates 40,000+ mailboxes (100 million emails) from Microsoft Exchange/Outlook to Open-Xchange & Thunderbird.
  • Nearly every branch of state government now on FOSS email; project dealt with migration hiccups but is “fully operational.”

“There's hardly a comparable project of this magnitude anywhere in the world... our success means we can help others who want to follow this path.”
— Minister Dirk Schroeder [71:29]

• Economic & Security Angle
  • Independence from US tech, transparency, and reallocation of licensing fees toward in-house developers suggested.

System76 Oryx Pro: Shipping Flagship Linux Laptops with Cosmic Beta

[76:23–83:08]

• Product Details
  • New Oryx Pro (starting $2599), highest-end System76 laptop yet—AMD Ryzen AI, Nvidia RTX 5070, big RAM/storage.
  • Ships with Pop_OS 24.04 (with Cosmic), even though Cosmic is still in beta!
  • System76 argues this is safe since they're tightly controlling hardware, and bugs are mostly hardware compatibility issues.

“...they make the case that because they know exactly what hardware this is going to ship with, they can make sure it is a very good experience, and so they are not afraid of shipping Cosmic.”
— Bryan Lunduke [77:19]

• Aux Jack Appreciation & Mobile Device Rant
  • Hosts cheer the continued inclusion of a headphone jack.
  • Tangent on mobile phone trends: lament the lost art of small, practical phones, and bemoan the lack of innovation (other than “thinness for its own sake”).

Linux Kernel 6.18: Memory Management Enhancements

[84:09–88:09]

• What's In the Patchset
  • Improved swapping, better transparent huge page management.
  • Kexec handover function improvements (for seamless live kernel patching).
  • Optimizations for page cache and swap.
  • Rust allocator & data structure (maple tree) improvements for memory efficiency—especially beneficial for servers and enterprise.

“Some of that is really deep magic.”
— Bryan Lunduke [88:09]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Linux’s Easy Recovery:
  “The beauty of Linux is the quick reinstall. Within five minutes I was up and running.”
  — Jeff Geerling [05:43]

• On Canonical & Flatpak:
  “So was it really just a slip up that got missed?... It was actually reported back in early September.”
  — Robert P. Campbell [16:15]

• On Makers & Corporate Acquisitions:
  "If you put somebody in charge that has a clue it's going to go well. If you put a bean counter in charge… not going to go well."
  — Bryan Lunduke [25:22]

• On Old Hardware & Open Source:
  “It’s so interesting... Amiga 4000 hardware is going to get better support inside the Linux kernel when that's hardware from the ‘90s.”
  — Bryan Lunduke [55:47]

• On Intel’s Open Source Reprioritization:
  “Their only open source goals now appear to be for them and to give them an edge—and not to really care about anyone else.”
  — Robert P. Campbell [41:49]

• On KDE Stability:
  “6.5 is going to be the most stable release of the 6 series yet.”
  — paraphrased, Nate Graham [65:44]

• On Open Source in Government:
  “Large-scale secure open source deployments in government aren’t just possible—they’re happening right now.”
  — Robert P. Campbell [71:54]

Tips & How-Tos

How to Fix Flatpak Installs on Ubuntu 25.10

[91:26–95:53]

• Disable AppArmor profile forfusermount3:
  • Run:
    sudo ln -s /etc/apparmor.d/fusermount3 /etc/apparmor.d/disable/
  • Reload AppArmor:
    sudo apparmor_parser -R /etc/apparmor.d/fusermount3
  • Once patched, remove the symlink & reload:
    sudo rm /etc/apparmor.d/disable/fusermount3
sudo apparmor_parser -a /etc/apparmor.d/fusermount3
  • Use with caution: this lowers security, don’t deploy on production.

Print All Environment Variables

[95:53–97:08]

• Command:
  printenv
  • Outputs all current environment variables—useful for debugging scripts or checking for leaked secrets.

Btrfs Assistant for Managing Btrfs File Systems

[97:14–100:16]

• Install and run:
  • Command: sudo btrfs-assistant
  • GUI for managing subvolumes, snapshots, allocations—helpful for newcomers to Btrfs, especially when adjusting snapshot schedules and controls.

Final Fun: Limerick Riddle

[102:07]

• Jeff shares a limerick about using the terminal, with the answer: “Terminal.”

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Linux Desktop Drama | 03:17–10:16
• Ubuntu 25.10 Flatpak Bug | 12:04–19:51
• Qualcomm/Arduino Acquisition | 19:51–26:39
• Early Electronics Nostalgia | 26:39–31:12
• Intel P-State Driver | 31:20–36:02
• Intel’s Shift on Open Source | 39:11–50:53
• Amiga 4000 PCI Kernel Support | 53:49–59:59
• KDE Plasma 6.5 Previews | 60:23–67:23
• Germany Goes FOSS on Email | 68:47–74:50
• System76 & Cosmic Beta | 76:23–83:08
• Kernel 6.18 Memory Updates | 84:09–88:09
• Tip: Fix Flatpak on Ubuntu | 91:26–95:53
• Tip: printenv | 95:53–97:08
• Tip: Btrfs Assistant | 97:14–100:16

Conclusion

A wide-ranging, upbeat episode with a deep-dive into both the technical and social happenings across the Linux community. From the quirks of daily Linux use to deep kernel magic, from big corporate maneuvers to open government success stories, the Untitled Linux Show remains a vibrant hub for Linux enthusiasts to catch up, commiserate, and celebrate all that makes open source unique.

Show links, tips, and more at TWiT.tv.