LINUX Unplugged

660: Boots and Breakups

Ubuntu wants a leaner, stricter GRUB, and your favorite setup may not survive the cut. We break down what’s really changing, and the practical ways to adapt. Plus, Chris moves on from one of his favorite open source apps. Sponsored By: * Jupiter Party Annual Membership [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r]: Put your support on automatic with our annual plan, and get one month of membership for free! [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r] * Managed Nebula [https://defined.net/unplugged]: Meet Managed Nebula from Defined Networking. A decentralized VPN built on the open-source Nebula platform that we love. [https://defined.net/unplugged] Support LINUX Unplugged [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=52946] Links: * 💥 Gets Sats Quick and Easy with Strike [https://strike.me/] * 📻 LINUX Unplugged on Fountain.FM [https://www.fountain.fm/show/dWiuBeqpDSM86AwXRXov] * LinuxFest Northwest 2026 - Back to Root [https://linuxfestnorthwest.org/] — April 24-26, 2026 - Bellingham, Washington * This Week In Bitcoin 97 | Jupiter Broadcasting [https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/show/this-week-in-bitcoin/97/] * Ubuntu 26.10 Looks To Strip Its GRUB Bootloader To The Bare Minimum For Better Security [https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-26.10-Lighter-GRUB] * Streamlining secure boot for 26.10 - Ubuntu Community Hub [https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/streamlining-secure-boot-for-26-10/79069] * Mitigating BootHole – CVE-2020-10713 and related vulnerabilities | Ubuntu [https://ubuntu.com/blog/mitigating-boothole-theres-a-hole-in-the-boot-cve-2020-10713-and-related-vulnerabilities] * There's a Hole in the Boot - Eclypsium [https://eclypsium.com/blog/theres-a-hole-in-the-boot/] * Final Release · ErsatzTV [https://github.com/ErsatzTV/ErsatzTV/issues/2839] — It is time for me to announce the final release of ErsatzTV in its current form. The existing repositories will be archived following this update. * ErsatzTV/next [https://github.com/ErsatzTV/next] * Tunarr · GitHub [https://github.com/chrisbenincasa/tunarr] — Create a classic TV experience using your own media — IPTV backed by Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, or NFO. * Threadfin [https://github.com/Threadfin/Threadfin] * xTeVe [https://github.com/xteve-project/xTeVe] * Filler - Tunarr [https://tunarr.com/configure/library/filler/] — Filler lists are collections of content used by Flex to pad time between episodes. One reason to use filler is to simulate traditional television by playing advertisements between episode airings. * Dispatcharr [https://github.com/dispatcharr/dispatcharr] — Dispatcharr (pronounced like "dispatcher") is an open-source powerhouse for managing IPTV streams, EPG data, and VOD content with elegance and control. * awesome-iptv [https://github.com/iptv-org/awesome-iptv?tab=readme-ov-file] — A curated list of resources related to IPTV * Tunarr API Reference [https://tunarr.com/api-docs.html#latest/tag/channels] * LINUX Unplugged 645 [https://linuxunplugged.com/645] — We cut the streaming cord the Linux way with free, legal internet TV you can curate, DVR, and self-host via Jellyfin or Plex. * turnstonelabs/turnstone [https://github.com/turnstonelabs/turnstone] — Experimental multi-node AI orchestration platform. Deploy tool-using AI agents across a cluster of servers, driven by message queues or interactive interfaces. * Open-Source "GreenBoost" Driver Aims To Augment NVIDIA GPUs vRAM With System RAM & NVMe To Handle Larger LLMs [https://www.phoronix.com/news/Open-Source-GreenBoost-NVIDIA] * GeneBean's Cage Kiosk [https://github.com/genebean/dots/blob/main/modules/hosts/nixos/kiosk-entryway/default.nix] * GeneBean's Pi Arm Build Setup [https://github.com/genebean/dots/blob/main/flake.nix#L202] * Planify - Task Manager for GNU/Linux [https://useplanify.com/] * alainm23/planify: Task manager with Todoist, Nextcloud & CalDAV support designed for GNOME [https://github.com/alainm23/planify] * Pick: bore [https://github.com/ekzhang/bore] — bore is a simple CLI tool for making tunnels to localhost * nixos-bore-module [https://github.com/noblepayne/nixos-bore-module] — Self-hosted bore tunnel server for NixOS * Pick: kdeconnect-sms-tui [https://github.com/firecat53/kdeconnect-sms-tui] — Terminal UI for sending and receiving SMS/MMS via KDE Connect. * Pick: Busybridge [https://github.com/agruen/busybridge/] — Complex calendar free/busy syncing across organizations for consultants who work inside multiple orgs.

659: Truth Trapper Keepers

The self-hosted app that turned Chris into a family Time Lord, then we iterate on a long-desired hardware hack. Sponsored By: * Jupiter Party Annual Membership [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r]: Put your support on automatic with our annual plan, and get one month of membership for free! [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r] * Managed Nebula [https://defined.net/unplugged]: Meet Managed Nebula from Defined Networking. A decentralized VPN built on the open-source Nebula platform that we love. [https://defined.net/unplugged] Support LINUX Unplugged [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=52946] Links: * 💥 Gets Sats Quick and Easy with Strike [https://strike.me/] * 📻 LINUX Unplugged on Fountain.FM [https://www.fountain.fm/show/dWiuBeqpDSM86AwXRXov] * LinuxFest Northwest 2026 - Back to Root [https://linuxfestnorthwest.org/] — April 24-26, 2026 - Bellingham, Washington * Keeper.sh [https://github.com/ridafkih/keeper.sh] — Keeper is a simple & open-source calendar syncing tool. It allows you to pull events from remotely hosted iCal or ICS links, and push them to one or many calendars so the time slots can align across them all. * Keeper.sh: Calendar Syncing, V2 Release [https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1rwnfav/keepersh_calendar_syncing_v2_release/] * OneCal [https://onecal.io/] * PiBox Overview - KubeSail Docs [https://docs.kubesail.com/pibox/] * PiBox: A Modular Raspberry Pi Storage Server by Dan Pastusek — Kickstarter [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pastudan/pibox-a-modular-raspberry-pi-storage-server] * RPi CM4 based local storage server launches on Kickstarter [https://linuxgizmos.com/rpi-cm4-based-local-storage-server-launches-on-kickstarter/] * KubeSail [https://kubesail.com/] — So Long, and Thanks for All the Pods * ipetkov/nixos-pibox [https://github.com/ipetkov/nixos-pibox/] — NixOS modules for supporting the hardware present on the PiBox * raspberrypi/usbboot [https://github.com/raspberrypi/usbboot] — Raspberry Pi USB device provisioning tool (RPIBOOT) * cage-kiosk/cage [https://github.com/cage-kiosk/cage] — A Wayland kiosk. A kiosk runs a single, maximized application. * systemd: BirthDate Field Added to JSON User Records [https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954] — "Add birthDate field to JSON user records, allowing for standardized age-related logic within the userdb framework." * Azuay Province - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuay_Province] * Pick: fq [https://github.com/wader/fq] — fq is like jq but for binary formats, allowing you to tool, language, and decode complex binary data into human-readable structures. * Pick: file-fridge [https://github.com/EasyCloudDeploy/file-fridge] — move files that aren't accessed as often to cold storage * Pick: sigrok [https://github.com/sigrokproject/] — Portable, cross-platform, Free/Libre/Open-Source signal analysis software suite: logic analyzers, scopes, multimeters, and more! * Pick: PulseView [https://github.com/sigrokproject/pulseview] — a Qt-based LA/scope/MSO GUI for sigrok

658: Automated Love Crunch

We each spent the week on our own projects, breaking then fixing things. Now we're back to compare progress, and a few lessons learned. Sponsored By: * Jupiter Party Annual Membership [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r]: Put your support on automatic with our annual plan, and get one month of membership for free! [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r] * Managed Nebula [https://defined.net/unplugged]: Meet Managed Nebula from Defined Networking. A decentralized VPN built on the open-source Nebula platform that we love. [https://defined.net/unplugged] Support LINUX Unplugged [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=52946] Links: * 💥 Gets Sats Quick and Easy with Strike [https://strike.me/] * 📻 LINUX Unplugged on Fountain.FM [https://www.fountain.fm/show/dWiuBeqpDSM86AwXRXov] * LinuxFest Northwest 2026 - Back to Root [https://linuxfestnorthwest.org/] — April 24-26, 2026 - Bellingham, Washington * PabloVitasso/esphome-chinbasto [https://github.com/PabloVitasso/esphome-chinbasto] — A custom ESPHome component for controlling Chinese Webasto heaters using ESP32. * Hacking the Chinese Diesel Heater Communications Protocol.pdf - Ray Jones - GitLab [https://gitlab.com/mrjones.id.au/bluetoothheater/-/blob/master/Documentation/V9%20-%20Hacking%20the%20Chinese%20Diesel%20Heater%20Communications%20Protocol.pdf?ref_type=heads] * timmchugh11/Chinese-Diesel-Heater---ESPHome [https://github.com/timmchugh11/Chinese-Diesel-Heater---ESPHome] * OpenCode | The open source AI coding agent [https://opencode.ai/] * anomalyco/opencode: The open source coding agent. [https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode] * Hunter Alpha - API Pricing & Providers | OpenRouter [https://openrouter.ai/openrouter/hunter-alpha] * ESPHome - Smart Home Made Simple [https://esphome.io/] * Home Assistant [https://www.home-assistant.io/] * ESP32 Wi-Fi & Bluetooth SoC | Espressif Systems [https://www.espressif.com/en/products/socs/esp32] * nodemcu/nodemcu-firmware: Lua based interactive firmware for ESP8266, ESP8285 and ESP32 [https://github.com/nodemcu/nodemcu-firmware] * NodeMCU-32S Development Board Details, Pinout, Specs [https://www.espboards.dev/esp32/nodemcu-32s/] * Amazon.com: ESP-32S USB-C Development Board + ESP32 Terminal Board [https://www.amazon.com/AITRIP-ESP-32S-Development-Breakout-Bluetooth/dp/B0FBV7QGC4] * agent-browser-protocol [https://github.com/theredsix/agent-browser-protocol] — Deterministic browser automation. * camofox-browser [https://github.com/jo-inc/camofox-browser] — Headless browser automation server for AI agents. * chrome-devtools-mcp [https://github.com/ChromeDevTools/chrome-devtools-mcp] — Chrome DevTools for coding agents * firefox-devtools-mcp [https://github.com/freema/firefox-devtools-mcp] — Model Context Protocol server for Firefox DevTools * LittleFOX-MCP [https://gitlab.com/bytedogssyndicate1/littlefox-mcp] — Model Context Protocol server for Firefox * Chrome DevTools MCP Debug [https://developer.chrome.com/blog/chrome-devtools-mcp-debug-your-browser-session] — Let your Coding Agent debug your browser session * LFNW2026 - Back to Root [https://linuxfestnorthwest.org/] * Brunch with Brent: Jason Spisak Part 1 | Jupiter EXTRAS 40 [https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/show/jupiter-extras/40/] * Brunch with Brent: Jason Spisak Part 2 | Jupiter EXTRAS 41 [https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/show/jupiter-extras/41/] * Pick: LosslessCut [https://mifi.no/losslesscut/] — Simple and ultra fast cross platform tool for lossless trimming/cutting of video and audio files. * LosslessCut on GitHub [https://github.com/mifi/lossless-cut] * LosslessCut on Flathub [https://flathub.org/en/apps/no.mifi.losslesscut] * Pick: CanIRun.ai [https://www.canirun.ai/] — Can your machine run AI models? * Pick: llmfit [https://github.com/AlexsJones/llmfit] — Hundreds of models & providers. One command to find what runs on your hardware.

657: Slop to Slap

After experiencing Planet Nix and SCaLE, we come back convinced the next phase of Linux is already taking shape. Sponsored By: * Jupiter Party Annual Membership [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r]: Put your support on automatic with our annual plan, and get one month of membership for free! [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r] * Managed Nebula [https://defined.net/unplugged]: Meet Managed Nebula from Defined Networking. A decentralized VPN built on the open-source Nebula platform that we love. [https://defined.net/unplugged] Support LINUX Unplugged [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=52946] Links: * 💥 Gets Sats Quick and Easy with Strike [https://strike.me/] * 📻 LINUX Unplugged on Fountain.FM [https://www.fountain.fm/show/dWiuBeqpDSM86AwXRXov] * PlanetNix 2026 [https://planetnix.com/] — Where Nix Builders Come Together * SCaLE 23x [https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/23x] — SCALE is North America's largest community-run open source conference. * Jupiter Broadcasting's SCaLE Matrix room [https://matrix.to/#/#scale:jupiterbroadcasting.com] * SCaLE 23x - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh1QjGnfC2eSvaI_246vzl8howJNYUa4s] — SCaLE 23x live streams, talks, and more. * LinuxFest Northwest 2026 - Back to Root [https://linuxfestnorthwest.org/] — April 24-26, 2026 - Bellingham, Washington * Flox.dev [https://flox.dev/] * Flox: Developer environments you can take with you - GitHub [https://github.com/flox/flox] — Flox is a virtual environment and package manager all in one. With Flox you create environments that layer and replace dependencies just where it matters, making them portable across the full software lifecycle. * Keynote: Privacy’s Defender - Fighting Digital Surveillance for over Thirty Years | SCALE [https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/23x/presentations/keynote-privacys-defender-fighting-digital-surveillance-over-thirty-years] * Cindy Cohn | SCALE [https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/speaker/cindy-cohn] * noblepayne/nix-anywhere-else-talk [https://github.com/noblepayne/nix-anywhere-else-talk] — A Slidev presentation about the "dark arts" of ELF surgery and Nix, built entirely with Nix. This talk explores how patchelf and a deep understanding of the Executable and Linkable Format can make binaries portable in both directions: bringing foreign tools into NixOS, and taking Nix-built artifacts out to the rest of the world. * DeepComputing [https://deepcomputing.io/] — Advancing the adoption and implementation of RISC-V * Roxane Fischer - Anyshift.io [https://www.anyshift.io/authors/roxane-fischer] * Determinate is the future of Nix today: Wasm, provenance, and flake schemas [https://determinate.systems/blog/determinate-nix-future/] * EFF Privacy’s Defender - Fighting Digital Surveillance for over Thirty Years | SCALE [https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/23x/presentations/keynote-privacys-defender-fighting-digital-surveillance-over-thirty-years] * Cindy Cohn - SCaLE [https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/speaker/cindy-cohn] — Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which works to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice and innovation for all the people of the world. * Electronic Frontier Foundation - Defending your rights in the digital world [https://www.eff.org/] * llama.cpp: LLM inference in C/C++ [https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp] * mangowm - Mango Wayland Compositor [https://github.com/mangowm/mango] — Practical and powerful wayland compositor (dwm but wayland) * The Open Source AI Definition 1.0 - Open Source Initiative [https://opensource.org/ai/open-source-ai-definition] * Pick: sone [https://github.com/lullabyX/sone] — Native TIDAL desktop client for Linux. Modern UI, custom themes, and bit-perfect lossless audio up to 24-bit/192kHz via exclusive ALSA. License: GPL-3 * Pick: qmd [https://github.com/tobi/qmd] — mini cli search engine for your docs, knowledge bases, meeting notes, whatever. Tracking current sota approaches while being all local. License: MIT * Pick: mtr [https://github.com/traviscross/mtr] — Combines the functionality of 'traceroute' and 'ping' in a single network diagnostic tool. License: GPL-2 * MTR - Welcome Home Brent [https://www.bitwizard.nl/mtr/]

656: Why KDE Linux Surprised Us

We take KDE Linux for a spin and push it a little too far. Plus, a friend of the show stops by with a fresh tool: Nebula Commander. Sponsored By: * Jupiter Party Annual Membership [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r]: Put your support on automatic with our annual plan, and get one month of membership for free! [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=117630r] * Managed Nebula [https://defined.net/unplugged]: Meet Managed Nebula from Defined Networking. A decentralized VPN built on the open-source Nebula platform that we love. [https://defined.net/unplugged] Support LINUX Unplugged [https://jupitersignal.memberful.com/checkout?plan=52946] Links: * 💥 Gets Sats Quick and Easy with Strike [https://strike.me/] * 📻 LINUX Unplugged on Fountain.FM [https://www.fountain.fm/show/dWiuBeqpDSM86AwXRXov] * SCaLE 23x | Registration [https://register.socallinuxexpo.org/reg23/] — Get 40% off registration with promo code "UNPLG" * PlanetNix 2026 [https://planetnix.com/] — Where Nix Builders Come Together * Pasadena Linux Party, Fri, Mar 6, 2026, 6:00 PM [https://www.meetup.com/jupiterbroadcasting/events/313050140/?slug=jupiterbroadcasting&eventId=313050140] * KDE Linux - KDE Community Wiki [https://community.kde.org/KDE_Linux] * Beta (Enthusiast & Stable editions) · KDE Linux · GitLab [https://invent.kde.org/groups/kde-linux/-/milestones/2#tab-issues] * Install Software Not Available in Discover - KDE Community [https://kde.org/linux/docs/more-software/] * KDE Linux / Kapsule · GitLab [https://invent.kde.org/kde-linux/kapsule] * suikan4github/Using-tailscale-client-on-an-Immutable-OS [https://github.com/suikan4github/Using-tailscale-client-on-an-Immutable-OS] * xuars/kdelinux-tailscale [https://github.com/xuars/kdelinux-tailscale] * Nix - KDE Community [https://kde.org/linux/docs/nix/] * Fitting Everything Together [https://0pointer.net/blog/fitting-everything-together.html] — TLDR: Hermetic /usr/ is awesome; let's popularize image-based OSes with modernized security properties built around immutability, SecureBoot, TPM2, adaptability, auto-updating, factory reset, uniformity – built from traditional distribution packages, but deployed via images. * Nebula Commander [https://nebulacdr.com/] * DEMO Nebula Commander [https://nebulacdr.net/login] * Nebula Commander GitHub [https://github.com/nixrtr/nebula-commander] — Nebula Commander is a self-hosted control plane for nebula overlay networks. * Star Trek Comm Badge for Home Assistant Voice Control [https://www.instructables.com/Star-Trek-Comm-Badge-for-Home-Assistant-Voice-Cont/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email] * Pick: hcloud-upload-image [https://github.com/apricote/hcloud-upload-image] — Quickly upload any raw disk images into your Hetzner Cloud projects! * Pick: Launcher Studio [https://arnaudmichel.fr/projects/launcher-studio/] — Launcher Studio is a GTK4 desktop application for creating and managing .desktop files on Linux. * Launcher Studio on Flathub [https://flathub.org/en/apps/fr.arnaudmichel.launcherstudio] * Pick: tinyproxy [https://github.com/tinyproxy/tinyproxy] — A light-weight HTTP/HTTPS proxy daemon for POSIX operating systems * Pick: socks-to-http-proxy [https://github.com/KaranGauswami/socks-to-http-proxy] — An executable to convert SOCKS5 proxy into HTTP proxy