Untitled Linux Show 233: "Tiny Tater Tots"

Date: December 14, 2025
Host: Jonathan
Co-hosts: Rob, Jeff
Timestamps: Provided at key points

Episode Overview

This week’s Untitled Linux Show features a festive crew digging into fresh Linux desktop releases, innovative mini hardware, distro drama, and plenty of community color. The main highlights include Pop!_OS’s new Cosmic Desktop (finally stable!), the rebirth of Pear OS, a review of a palm-sized NVMe NAS, the surprisingly powerful Orange Pi 6 Plus, why GNOME extensions are saying “no more AI,” Rust’s official status in the kernel, and trends in gaming Linux distributions. As always, the team rounds out the show with command-line tips and lively banter.

Key Discussion & Insights

1. The Rise of Cosmic Desktop on Pop!_OS (05:43–12:00)

• Rob’s Prediction Comes True:
  "Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS...with the first stable release of the new Cosmic Desktop is now available and the Cosmic Desktop specifically being in a first stable release is what I predicted." (Rob, 05:53)
• Built from scratch in Rust:
  Cosmic is fast, modern, and available beyond just Pop!_OS (Arch, Fedora, BSD, Redox OS, etc.)
• New Hardware Support:
  Ships with Linux 6.17, Mesa 25.1.x, Nvidia 580 option, improved hybrid graphics support, and ARM image.
• Initial Impressions:
  Still a few bugs (audio routing, dock glitches, OBS issues), but mostly solid for a first-gen DE.
• Upgrades Coming Soon:
  “Upgrade prompts are expected to start showing up in January of 2026.” (Rob, 10:10)
• Community Tone:
  Excitement for a new desktop, but reminders that it’s early days—KDE and others have had years to polish.

2. Mini Hardware Highlights: Tiny NAS & Orange Pi 6 Plus (13:08–27:13)

Palm-Sized NVMe NAS: UE2 Nest Disk (Jeff, 13:08)

• Specs & Features:
  • 4 NVMe slots (up to 4TB each, 16TB total)
  • Intel N150 quad-core, low-power (6W)
  • Dual 2.5GbE ports, HDMI, USB-C, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
  • Ships with Debian-based Open Media Vault
  • Supports all major RAID levels, can also be a light desktop/router
• “$219 on Amazon...I think Rob and Jonathan need one of these!” (Jeff, 13:17)
• Chat on USB-C Power:
  • “USB-C with power delivery has become that standard.” (Jonathan, 18:43)

Orange Pi 6 Plus ARM Board Review (Jonathan, 20:04)

• Impressive Performance:
  12-core ARM v9 SoC with up to 64GB RAM, on par with some Intel i5s.
• Price:
  £247/ ~$330 USD for 16GB, $299 for 32GB (“Definitely more expensive than a Raspberry Pi.” – Rob, 25:08)
• Niche Use Cases:
  Great for routers, DIY projects—two 5GbE NICs, ray-tracing GPU, 3x NVMe slots, but “the problem is just having the projects to run with them.” (Jeff, 25:58)

3. Distro News: Pear OS Returns & Ubuntu’s Next Moves (29:50–68:38)

Pear OS: Back From the Dead—with a Twist (29:50)

• A Brief History:
  Started in 2011 to imitate macOS, died, reborn, switched hands and codebases repeatedly.
• Now:
  New “Nice Core 25.12” release based on Arch + Plasma with heavy Mac-inspired styling (“Liquid Gel” theme).
• Drawbacks:
  New Electron+Node.js installer is “clearly a work in progress” (Rob, 33:00), download servers overloaded—no torrent option.
• Skepticism:
  “I am always a little dubious of these niche distros...” (Jonathan, 36:20)

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Roadmap (58:17)

• GNOME, But More Vanilla:
  Canonical moving away from custom shell theme—fewer inconsistencies, more aligned with upstream.
• Telemetry Expands:
  “Insights can send a report monthly instead of the old, you know, one time and you're done before.” (Rob, 59:17)
• Community Reaction:
  Always tetchy about privacy—even “opt-in, anonymized, boring hardware stats” become a big topic.
• Endangered Flavors:
  Ubuntu MATE & Unity missing from 26.04 LTS—uncertain futures.

4. Rust Is Official in the Kernel (38:07–41:56)

• Major Milestone:
  “At the 2025 Linux Kernel Maintainer Summit, the experiment has just been deemed concluded...Rust is here to stay.” (Jeff, 38:07)
• Why It’s a Big Deal:
  Removes legacy “experimental” label from kernel docs. “Things like the Nvidia Nova driver are written in Rust and will soon be included in the kernel for everyone.”
• But Not a Panacea:
  “It’s not like, oh, it's now in Rust, everything's great.” (Jeff, 44:00)
• Community Politics:
  Much controversy among devs who have strong C loyalties and concerns about long-term maintainership.

5. GNOME Bans AI-Generated Extensions (46:11–50:51)

• New Rule:
  “Extensions must not be AI-generated.” (Jonathan, 46:11)
• Reason:
  Manual review of extension code, too much low-quality/“vibe-coded” AI output swamping maintainers.
• Notable Quote:
  “The AI agent has no shame.” (Jonathan, 52:17)
• Context:
  It’s about practicality, not politics or morals.
• Other Desktop News:
  Wayland screen mirroring fixed in KDE; KDE now supports custom screen modes.

6. Linux Gaming Distro Trends (71:02–78:30)

• From Boiling Steam Data:
  • Arch leads in gamer share, but CachyOS surges (18.2%), overtaking Arch’s 15.1%.
  • Bazzite (Fedora-based) also rising; Manjaro plummeting.
  • Pop!_OS stuttered but rebounding post-Cosmic.
  • Mint, Fedora, Ubuntu: Mint flat, Fedora gradually gaining, Ubuntu losing market share.
• Reason for Arch/Cachy dominance:
  Rapid kernel releases and up-to-date drivers crucial for gaming.
• SteamOS, Flatpak:
  Reported as “Holoiso” and Flatpak, not rolled into Arch numbers.

7. Security Roundup (78:30–83:12)

• Hornet LSM:
  New Linux Security Module (from Microsoft) tightens eBPF program security.
• GOGS Under Attack:
  Major RCE vulnerability—ill-maintained project, hundreds of exploited instances. “If you are on GOGS, go run over and use one of those [forges] and get rid of your GOGS install...” (Jonathan, 81:34)
• React to Shell RCE:
  Public exploit released, widespread impact after initial fuzzing by “vibe-coded” exploits hit news; advice—patch and don’t expose admin services to the internet.

8. Command Line Tips (83:37–97:17)

Rob:

• starlet:
  Python tool using OpenWeatherMap API for CLI weather info.
  Tip: Free for 1000 API calls/day, config via --edit.

Jeff:

• VAR Directory Monitoring:
  Reminds admins to check /var for runaway logs/caches—use du, df, ncdu, clean up package manager caches, and automate alerts.

Jonathan:

• NTP Status One-liner:
  Checks if system clock is synchronized:

  timedatectl status | grep synchronized | grep yes -c
  

  “Gives you either a 1 if yes, your time clock is synchronized, or 0 if not.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “KDE is so much smoother… well, it’s had 20 years head start. This is brand new.” (Jeff, 11:01)
• “USB-C with power delivery has become that standard.” (Jonathan, 18:43)
• “You know, I didn’t know you could sell these little distros. I need to get into that business.” (Rob, 30:57)
• “GNOME actually reviews the code of all of those extensions before they accept them… and the poor guy that does it is sick and tired of looking at everybody’s bad Vibe Coded extensions.” (Jonathan, 46:22)
• “At the 2025 Linux Kernel Maintainer Summit, the experiment has just been deemed concluded...Rust is here to stay.” (Jeff, 38:07)
• “It’s not like, oh, it's now in Rust, everything's great.” (Jeff, 44:00)
• “We’re not as famous as a side character in a B-tier cable show. It’s like, nobody cares. We’re below small potatoes. Yeah, we’re tiny tater tots.” (Jeff, 70:31)

Episode Timestamps for Key Segments

• Pop!_OS/Cosmic Desktop Deep Dive: 05:43-12:00
• Mini NAS & Orange Pi 6 Plus: 13:08-27:13
• Pear OS Returns: 29:50-36:48
• Rust News in Kernel: 38:07-41:56
• GNOME Bans AI-generated Extensions: 46:11-50:51
• Ubuntu 26.04 News & Distro Flavors: 58:17-68:38
• Gaming Linux Distros Stats: 71:02-78:30
• Security Roundup: 78:30-83:12
• Command Line Tips: 83:37-97:17

Closing Thoughts

The episode wraps with the hosts offering their usual blend of practical command-line wisdom, community notes, and a few parting jokes—especially about distro drama, Rust in the kernel, and the “tiny tater tots” that represent regular Linux users (and their hardware). This week’s show offers a lively look at both emerging tech and the quirks of the Linux landscape for users and tinkerers alike.