Untitled Linux Show 238: More Time to Bake

Date: January 18, 2026
Host: Jonathan Bennett
Co-hosts: Rob Campbell, Ken Starks

Episode Overview

This week’s Untitled Linux Show dives deeply into the evolving intersection of AI and open source, highlighting a bombshell revelation about Linus Torvalds embracing AI coding tools. The crew covers major updates in hardware (Raspberry Pi’s new AI Hat 2), audio (PipeWire’s latest release), Windows compatibility (Wine 11 & Hangover), live streaming (OBS Studio 32 beta), desktop environments (Budgie’s Wayland milestone), and exciting new spins in Linux distros (EndeavourOS, Fedora Games Lab). They round out the show with practical command line tips and a lively discussion on the resurgence of screensavers in KDE.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. AI in the Linux/Open Source World

[02:29 – 10:41]

• Linus Torvalds’ “AI Bombshell”
  Linus Torvalds, usually known for his directness, dismissed efforts to label or document “AI slop” in kernel contributions, stating:

  “There is zero point in talking about AI slop now.”
  – Rob Campbell [03:29]
  Torvalds argues that contributors submitting low-quality (“AI slop”) patches won't self-identify anyway, making labeling pointless.

• Torvalds’ Personal AI Use
  Despite the debate, Torvalds openly admitted to using AI-powered “vibe coding” to help with the Python visualizer in his latest open-source project, Audio Noise.

  “He used AI in the way a lot of pragmatic developers do, to speed up the parts that's outside of their comfort zone, you know, in a low stakes side project.”
  – Rob Campbell [05:16]

• Perspective on AI-Generated Code
  The team distinguishes between responsible “vibe coding” for personal projects and irresponsible bulk AI code submissions to established repos:

  “Linus knows and is not trying to send in those vibe-coded patches to an existing project. ...That's the problem with AI code getting dumped into open source.”
  – Jonathan Bennett [06:56]

• Maintaining AI-Written Projects
  Discussion pivots to the challenges of maintaining AI-written code:

  “AI is great at writing the first pass on things, but so far it's not been very good at doing maintenance...”
  – Jonathan Bennett [09:19]

2. Raspberry Pi’s New AI Hat 2

[11:08 – 17:28]

• Features & Impressions
  The new Pi AI Hat 2 boasts:

  • Up to 40 TOPS of INT4 performance
  • Onboard neural processing cores and 8GB dedicated RAM
  • Can run models like Deepseek and Llama entirely on the Hat

• Community Reception

  “I think this is one of those products that's going to need a few more months to bake... but it gives the community a set of tools we didn't have previously.”
  – Jonathan Bennett [14:56]

• Early Reviews
  Jeff Geerling’s hands-on video (linked in show notes) is referenced. He finds it cool but still limited for practical use.

3. PipeWire 1.4.10 Update

[17:45 – 20:26]

• Notable Fixes & Features

  • Improved channel support and stream handling
  • Stability and crash fixes (esp. resampler, GStreamer tweaks)

• Speculation on Future Releases

  “The pipewire does the even, odd numbering thing where 1.4 is the stable release, 1.5 is their dev series, and 1.6 will be stable. Yeah, that makes sense.”
  – Jonathan Bennett [19:56]

4. Wine 11 & Hangover: Windows on Linux and ARM

[20:42 – 27:45]

• Wine 11 Highlights

  • NTsync for better performance on newer kernels
  • 16-bit support now considered complete in the new Wow64
  • Fullscreen, better Wayland, Vulkan, and hardware H.264 decoding enhancements

• The “Hangover” Project
  Hangover 11.0: Wine for ARM64, now dropped QEMU in favor of Fex/Box64

• Gaming and MultiLib

  “Under Wine, you now no longer need the 32-bit libraries on the Linux side. It just works.”
  – Jonathan Bennett [24:56] “Linux is a place for legacy Windows games.”
  – Rob Campbell [26:49]

5. Let’s Encrypt: Now with IP Address Certificates

[29:25 – 36:54]

• Game-Changing Update

  • Let’s Encrypt now issues six-day certificates for public IP addresses (not just domains).
  • Useful for home/internal projects that don’t want to expose a domain.

• Use Cases & Limitations

  • Cannot be used for local (“private”) IPs (e.g. 127.0.0.1 or 192.168.x.x).
  • Only for publicly routable addresses and short-term projects.

  “There are times when you have some little home server project... if you're just doing a little project but you want to have the HTTPS using that per the IP address, sounds like a great solution...”
  – Rob Campbell [32:02]

6. OBS Studio 32 Beta 1 & New Streaming Features

[37:15 – 39:46]

• Major Beta Additions

  • WebRTC simulcast (multiple-quality streams)
  • New “Add Source” dialog, improved audio mixer
  • Bug fixes (especially for PipeWire/Nvidia)

  “WebRTC simulcast... you’ve got one stream that's your full quality and then you’ve got a second stream... lower, third stream maybe that's even lower quality...”
  – Jonathan Bennett [38:47]

7. Budgie 10.10: Wayland Arrives!

[41:03 – 47:00]

• Wayland Migration Complete

  • Budgie officially migrates from X11 to Wayland, ahead of other desktops like Cinnamon.

  “Wayland is no longer the future, guys, it’s the present. And if a desktop environment is still stuck in ‘someday we’ll get there’... that’s kind of a problem for me.”
  – Rob Campbell [42:17]

• Looking Ahead to Budgie 11

  • Will be built on Qt 6 and KDE frameworks for modernity and modularity.

  “Budgie 10.10 is the ‘we made it to Wayland’ release... Budgie 11 is ‘we’re redesigning this to last’ release.”
  – Rob Campbell [46:36]

8. Fedora Games Lab & Desktop Modernization

[47:31 – 50:43]

• Fedora Games Lab Spin

  • Transitioning from XFCE to KDE Plasma
  • Meant for open source games, not AAA/Steam gaming

  “Maybe setting up a computer for the kids or for going away on the weekend... might be something interesting to look at.”
  – Jonathan Bennett [50:43]

9. EndeavourOS Ganymede Neo Snapshot

[51:09 – 54:06]

• Highlights

  • Updated kernel, drivers, and Qt 6 virtual keyboard
  • Switched Nvidia handling to Nvidia Open

• User Story

  “I tried Endeavour OS... they have a really nice system to just check a box and install Nvidia and it worked. ...then I got rid of my Nvidia card and bought AMD and, and just never looked back after that.”
  – Rob Campbell [52:43]

10. Command Line Tips

[55:04 – 64:29]

CSVI: Edit CSVs like a Vim Pro

[55:04 – 58:16]

• Powerful Vim-style CSV editor for terminals
• Supports navigation (hjkl/arrows), inserting/appending cells, deleting lines, etc.

“You can move around... it's supposed to be like VI... if you use this right now, use the HJKL to navigate around”
– Rob Campbell [55:20]

espeak-ng: Old-School Text-to-Speech

[58:43 – 64:10]

• Demoed a variety of voices, speeds, and languages

• Amusing nostalgic vibes—

  “It reminds me of my Real Talk Baseball handheld gaming system.”
  – Rob Campbell [63:39]

• Discussion of how modern AI voices overshadow it, pondering future improvements

11. KDE’s Screensaver Revival

[64:34 – 69:53]

• Dynamic Wallpaper & Screensaver Tricks

  • KDE 6.x supports third-party, animated wallpapers (including retro “Starfield” and “Matrix Rain”), both on desktop and as lock-screen screensavers.

• Wine for Classic Windows Screensavers

  • It’s even possible to use classic Windows .scr files as Linux lock screens (with some caveats).

  “Screensavers are back on the menu. I was excited.”
  – Jonathan Bennett [68:43]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If Linus can vibe-code a Python tool for a silly guitar pedal repo, I think the rest of us are allowed to experiment a little.”
  – Rob Campbell [06:56]

• “The AI writes the code, and now you need a second AI to review the PR!”
  – Jonathan Bennett [10:13]

• “Hangover 11 is a reminder that the ARM64 future is coming. Will this be the year of Linux gaming on ARM?”
  – Rob Campbell [24:56]

• “Wayland is no longer the future, guys, it’s the present.”
  – Rob Campbell [42:17]

• “I mean, after I got it [Nvidia drivers] to work, that’s why I changed the hardware. This is dumb. It shouldn’t be like this.”
  – Rob Campbell [54:06]

• “Screensavers are back on the menu. I was excited.”
  – Jonathan Bennett [68:43]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | 02:29 | Linus Torvalds’ AI stance & anecdote | | 11:08 | Raspberry Pi AI Hat 2 launch, features | | 17:45 | PipeWire 1.4.10 update | | 20:42 | Wine 11, NTsync, Hangover, ARM gaming | | 29:25 | Let’s Encrypt: Now certs for IP addresses| | 37:15 | OBS Studio 32 beta, new streaming tricks| | 41:03 | Budgie Desktop 10.10 migrates to Wayland| | 47:31 | Fedora Games Lab spin goes KDE | | 51:09 | EndeavourOS: Nvidia/Open changes | | 55:04 | CSVI - Vim-style CSV CLI editing demo | | 58:43 | espeak-ng text-to-speech demo | | 64:34 | KDE dynamic wallpapers/screensavers |

Closing Plugs

• Rob: Invites listener submissions via robertpcampbell.com.
• Ken: Requests command line tip suggestions due to their extensive historical library.
• Jonathan: Listen to FLOSS Weekly at Hackaday and look for “Mitchtastic.”

This episode embodies TWiT’s blend of geeky fun, deep technical insight, and community engagement—with plenty of tangents and technical tips for all stripes of Linux, open-source, and hardware enthusiasts.