Untitled Linux Show 247: Trips off the Tongue (March 22, 2026)

Podcast: All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)
Episode: Untitled Linux Show 247
Host: Jonathan (with Rob, Ken, Jeff)
Main Theme: Open source developments, Linux community news, software freedom, security, and the state of key projects.

Episode Overview

This week, the team dives into key happenings in open source and Linux:

• Germany's move to mandate the Open Document Format (ODF)
• The meaning of "free" in free software
• Systemd’s dominance and the fate of its alternatives
• Google’s compromise on Android’s unverified install flow
• Blender’s major new release and AMD GPU support
• The Manjaro Linux internal crisis and community split
• Security updates (Snapd vulnerability) and command line tips

The tone is geeky, relaxed, sometimes irreverent, with the panel bouncing between nostalgia, technical advice, and real-world concerns in open source.

Browser Roll Call and Opera GX Discussion

[01:36–05:58]

• Jonathan starts a light-hearted check-in: “What browser is everyone dialing in with?”
  • Rob: “Microsoft Edge, of course.” (02:36)
  • Jonathan: “That checks out.” (02:44)
  • Jeff: “Firefox is my main browser.” (02:45)
  • Jonathan: “I am running Chrome, not a Chromium.” (02:50)
  • Ken: “Today I am trying out Opera GX...my normal day-to-day use is Firefox and Chromium.” (03:06)
• Ken explains Opera GX’s gamer-focused features:
  • RAM/network limiting to avoid tab bloat during gaming
  • “It’s got a Discord button!” jokes and bookmarks (05:03, 05:07)
• The team discusses Discord’s browser issues versus the standalone app (05:33–06:24)

What Does “Free Software” Really Mean?

[06:50–14:35]

• Rob quotes the GNU Free Software Philosophy:

  “Free software means software that respects users’ freedom and community...You should think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer.” (06:52)

• Reviews the Four Essential Freedoms (running, studying, redistributing, modifying with access to source).
• Advice: Communicate clearly—specify if you want “free as in freedom” or “free as in gratis.”
  • “I see a lot of confusion...the answer is all over the place because it’s an ambiguous term without context.” (10:31)
• Jonathan: “That’s why Floss Weekly is free libre open source software.” (11:25)
  • Highlights “freedom 0”—the right to use software for any purpose (even purposes others consider ‘evil’).
  • “Free software is not anti-capitalistic...Red Hat is the most famous example.” (13:05)
• Wraps up: “If you want a free alternative, be explicit about what freedom you’re after.” (14:32)

NEWS: Germany Mandates ODF for Public Administration

[14:58–20:53]

• Ken: Germany’s new "Deutschland Stack" mandates ODF and PDF UA, excluding proprietary formats.
  • “This is not a recommendation...it is a mandate.” —Florian Effenberger, Document Foundation (16:07)
  • The move is about sovereignty, interoperability, and limiting vendor lock-in.
• Jonathan & Rob reflect on:
  • The importance of open formats for long-term access.
  • The challenge of old/proprietary formats (Word, Works, Lotus), and the “pain” of extracting old documents without open standards.

INIT Systems: Whatever Happened to Systemd Alternatives?

[23:03–31:38]

• Jeff gives a quick history of init systems before systemd:
  • Upstart: Ubuntu’s 2006–2015 event-based system.
  • OpenRC: Used by Gentoo/Alpine; more “do one thing well.”
  • RunIt & S6: Lightweight systems with higher learning curves.
• Why systemd won:
  • Integration (“complete package”), broad adoption by Red Hat/Debian, ease of alignment.
  • “One of the biggest reasons, too, that systemd won...alignment made things a lot easier.”
• Panel jokes about pronunciation: Sysv (“Vee” or “Five”) and how things "trip off the tongue"—referencing the show's title (31:09, 31:34).

Google’s Unverified Install Flow for Android Apps

[33:38–42:31]

• Jonathan: Google’s original plan to block all side-loaded, unverified Android APKs met major backlash (F-Droid, open source, developer use cases).
• Google’s compromise:
  • Installing unverified APKs initiates a 24-hour delay and phone reboot to disconnect scammers.
  • User must confirm twice (after reboot) and biometric authenticate.
  • Once enabled, F-Droid and similar stores can function, though initial setup is inconvenient.
  • “It’s a pain, but much better than disallowing it altogether.” (35:25)
• Rob & Ken: Discuss developer concerns about new Play Store requirements (ID, fees, verification)
• Rob: “My complaint was in the past I paid $25 one time...iOS was $100 a year…” (38:42)
• The team muses on how malware still hits even official stores, and real-life phishing (banking app) attacks. (39:26)

Age Verification Laws & Systemd’s New “Birth Date” Field

[42:31–51:17]

• Rob: Highlights Ageless Linux, a distro created in protest against OS-level age verification mandates (in Germany, California, Brazil, Colorado, etc.)
  • Arch Linux 32 blocks downloads to affected regions as noncompliant.
• Systemd adds a (non-mandatory) “birth_date” field for possible admin/compliance use.
  • Jonathan: “There is nothing inherently wrong with an age field in Systemd...it’s just a field." (47:23)
  • Pushback from social media, but panel agrees: the issue is with government mandates, not merely having a field.
  • “People are just getting stupid over this now. Come on.” —Rob (47:15)
• If required, centralization is useful for business (distros like Red Hat, Canonical); it's not a privacy crisis for personal/noncompliance use.

Blender 5.1 Update: Performance, AMD HIP, and More

[52:48–56:37]

• Ken details highlights of Blender 5.1:
  • AMD GPU ray tracing via HIP enabled by default.
  • New FCurve Gaussian Smooth modifier; window management improvements under Wayland.
  • Switch to TBB Malloc proxy for memory allocation.
  • Benchmarks show up to a few % CPU rendering improvements over 5.0.
  • Links provided to full reviews and a CG Cookie video demo of new features.

Manjaro’s Crisis: Community vs. Company

[56:44–66:30]

• Jeff covers the upheaval inside Manjaro:
  • Project stagnation, expired TLS certificates, stalled updates.
  • Company co-owner (Philip Müller) centralized resources, didn’t reinvest; sole dev lost income.
  • Community proposal: Split into Manjaro GmbH (company) and Manjaro Project e.V. (community nonprofit), transition all assets, infra, trademark for €1.
  • Co-owner Roman Gilg publicly sides with the community.
  • “The project has been declining over the past decade.” —Manjaro 2.0 Manifesto
• Jonathan: “This is why it’s always useful to have more than one...decision-maker at the top.” (62:54)
• The fate of Manjaro will be a test for community-run Linux projects’ resilience.

Chrome Coming to ARM64 Linux

[66:51–73:32]

• Jonathan: “Finally, Chrome is coming to ARM64 Linux in Q2 2026.” (66:52)
  • Will enable full Netflix, DRM, Google Pay, and password manager features unavailable in Chromium.
• Panel discusses if Netflix works on Firefox ARM (Jonathan tests live: “Firefox impresses Jonathan!”), and the advantages of Chrome sync, device continuity.
• Tangent on flip phones, tech nostalgia, app patterns of “luddites,” and use cases.

Security: Snapd Vulnerability

[74:27–78:10]

• Rob: Snapd local privilege escalation (CVE-2026-3888) on Ubuntu (25.10 & all supported LTSes).
  • “A local user could potentially gain root privileges by recreating SNAP’s private temp directory when systemd temp files is enabled.”
  • Not a “hair on fire” bug for most, but important for shared/multiuser systems and worth patching soon.
• Panel jokes: “Those of us without hair—not a problem.” (78:05)

PipeWire Updates

[78:20–80:55]

• Ken: PipeWire 1.6.2 and 1.4.11 bring mixer optimizations, fixes for JACK compatibility, and improved filter graph, noting which bug fixes backport.
• Discussion on PipeWire’s V4L2/OBS integration: “Better, but not there yet.” (80:09)

Btrfs File System Performance in Kernel 7.0

[81:59–89:48]

• Jeff: Michael Larabel’s ongoing file system benchmarks: Btrfs, Ext4, XFS, regression around kernel 6.15 (checksumming fallback for VM images).
  • “If you want your file system to be super boring—good.”
• Panel quips on file system nomenclature and real-world relevance of benchmark deltas: “The difference is so slight, it’s not humanly detectable.” (88:10)
  • “Performance-wise, you need about 10% uptick before you even really perceive it.” (88:55)

Command Line Tips

[90:56–101:54]

Rob: Oh My Posh

• “A tool to theme/customize your shell prompt. Next week: easier install & more.” (90:56)

Ken: Midnight Commander (mc)

• Classic text-based file manager, “better than the default file manager in many cases.” (92:27–94:49)

Jeff: Memos

• “A focused, open-source self-hosted note-taking app—ideal for small teams, families, gaming groups.” (97:00)

Jonathan: ClamAV

• Open source antivirus scanner for compliance needs or attachment scanning (also freshclam updater).
• “If you want antivirus on Linux but don’t want closed source, try ClamAV.” (99:11)

Panel jokes: “All of these tips brought to you ‘free as in speech’.” (101:54)

Closings and Plugs

[102:34–105:44]

• Rob: Visit robertpcampbell.com for more, accept coffee donations (thanks, Mike!).
• Ken: Plugs SuperTux, a classic open source Mario clone.
• Jeff: Offers a tech haiku:

  "Errors have occurred.
  We won’t tell you where or why.
  Lazy programmers." (104:50)

• Jonathan: Recommends Hackaday’s “This Week in Security” by Mike Kershaw.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Rob: “Free software can cost money.” (13:03)
• Ken: “The concept of freedom...that’s the most expensive concept out there.” (14:35)
• Jonathan (on Systemd): “There is nothing inherently wrong with having an age field...it’s just a field.” (47:23)
• Jeff: “I hope all of your boots go smooth.” (end of INIT segment – 28:26)
• Jonathan (on file systems): “You want your file system to be super boring.” (87:02)
• Jeff: “Errors have occurred. We won’t tell you where or why. Lazy programmers.” (104:50)

Timestamps Quick Reference

| Segment | Start | |----------------------------------------------------|-----------| | Browser check & Opera GX intro | 01:36 | | Free software meaning & GNU definition | 06:50 | | Germany/ODF news | 14:58 | | INIT systems & systemd alternatives | 23:03 | | Android unverified install flow | 33:38 | | Age verification & Systemd’s new field | 42:31 | | Blender 5.1 release | 52:48 | | Manjaro community crisis | 56:44 | | Chrome for ARM64 Linux | 66:51 | | Snapd vulnerability | 74:27 | | PipeWire updates | 78:20 | | Btrfs benchmarks | 81:59 | | Command line tips | 90:56 |

Episode Flow Summary

1. Warm-up: Casual browser discussion, leading into open source topics.
2. Defining Terms: Revisiting “free” in free software context; importance of clear language in FLOSS.
3. News Deep Dives: Germany’s ODF mandate, INITS before systemd, Android’s sideloading policy, legal and technical impacts of age verification.
4. Project/Software Spotlights: Blender’s improvements, Manjaro’s community split, Chrome for ARM64, Snapd security, PipeWire tweaks, and file system performance.
5. Practical Segment: Command line app tips, geared at listeners wanting to sharpen their Linux skills.
6. Wrap-up: Plugs, humor, and community thanks.

This episode uniquely blends practical advice, deep dives into FOSS definitions, reactions to global policy moves, software updates, and some classic Linux banter. The team balances concerns about the future of software freedom and real-world security with nostalgia and actionable tips for Linux users of all skill levels.