Late Night Linux

There’s only one news story this week and it’s a big one. A backdoor has been found in xz-utils, and there’s a lot to discuss about it. Plus details of a couple of Linux events in the UK later this year.

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News

Hybrid Cloud Show is a new show that’s part of the Late Night Linux Family!

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How one volunteer stopped a backdoor from exposing Linux systems worldwide

backdoor in upstream xz/liblzma leading to ssh server compromise

Everything I know about the XZ backdoor

research!rsc: Timeline of the xz open source attack

XZ threat actor Jia Tan’s change to libarchive which introduced an exploitable situation made it into Windows

New XZ backdoor scanner detects implant in any Linux binary

The Mystery of ‘Jia Tan,’ the XZ Backdoor Mastermind

Noble Numbat Beta delayed (xz/liblzma security update)

Ubuntu Security Podcast Episode 224

I am not a supplier

OggCamp is happening later this year!

Gary gives us the details.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

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The main reasons that we all use open source software in Voice of the masses, a Raspberry Pi-based network KVM switch, a fancy terminal that uses your graphics card, a classic synth in the browser, and the Arch Wiki proves to be a fountain of Linux knowledge yet again. With guest host Gary from Linux After Dark.

Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

Voice of the masses

What’s the main reason you use open source software?

Discoveries 

PiKVM

Kitty

Pro-54 (live link here

cmajor

The Arch wiki knows all

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

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Canonical struggles to get to grips with malicious Snaps, a KDE theme wipes a whole machine, Mozilla looks foolish, Redis isn’t open source now, Ubuntu 14.04 gets 12 years of paid support, Meta joins the Fediverse, and more. With guest host Gary from Linux After Dark.

News

Guess Who’s Back? Exodus Scam BitCoin Wallet Snap!

Stop the line?

Manual review of all new snap name registrations

KDE advises extreme caution after theme wipes Linux user’s files

CEO of Data Privacy Company Onerep.com Founded Dozens of People-Search Firms – Krebs on Security

Mozilla just ditched its privacy partner because its CEO is tied to data brokers

Introducing Didthis: A New App For Hobbyists

Canonical expands Long Term Support to 12 years starting with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Redis tightens its license terms, pleasing basically no one

Redict is an independent, copyleft fork of Redis

Apache Kvrocks

Meta connects Threads to the Fediverse

Threads has entered the fediverse

Fedi.Tips urges admins to defederate Threads

Switch emulator Suyu hit by GitLab DMCA, project lives on through self-hosting

World Server Throwing Championship (WSTC) 2024

Tailscale

Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/lnl and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.

Kolide

Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/latenightlinux to learn more.

Entroware

This episode is sponsored by Entroware. They are a UK-based company who sells computers with Ubuntu and Ubuntu MATE preinstalled. They have configurable laptops, desktops and servers to suit a wide range of Linux users. Check them out and don’t forget to mention us at checkout if you buy one of their great machines.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

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What pulls us away from open source and what pulls us back, a cross between Teletext and a bulletin board, a simple way to monitor precise memory usage, boilerplate code without AI, visualising plate tectonics, Tiny Core Linux is still a thing, making websites from screenshots, and more.

Voice of the masses

What’s pulling you away from open source, and what will pull you back?

Follow us on Mastodon and you can reply to future questions.

Discoveries 

Telstar

ps_mem

cookiecutter

GPlates

Mirroring Your iPhone/iPad on Ubuntu

Home assistant remote control from your Garmin watch

Tiny Core Linux is still a thing

screenshot-to-code

Tailscale

Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/lnl and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.

Kolide

Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/latenightlinux to learn more.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

RSS: Subscribe to the RSS feeds here

KDE Plasma 6 is here and Félim can barely contain his excitement. Plus the differing philosophies of GNOME and KDE, Nintendo crushes an open source Switch emulator, Mozilla does another great thing for the Web, another reason to hate Spotify, and more.

News

KDE MegaRelease 6 – KDE Community

Megarelease Teething Problems

This week in KDE: a smooth release

Critical Plasma 6 piece on the Register

Lightweight Windows-like desktop LXQt makes leap to Qt 6 with version 2.0

Nintendo’s Yuzu Lawsuit is All But Done. Price: $2.4m. Cost to Emulation: TBD

Here’s how the makers of the “Suyu” Switch emulator plan to avoid getting sued

MDN Curriculum

Hosting your podcast using Spotify is a bad idea

Tailscale

Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/lnl and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.

Kolide

Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/latenightlinux to learn more.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

RSS: Subscribe to the RSS feeds here

In a “brand new” segment we ask how you keep your kids safe online, and give our own thoughts. Plus Will tells us about a dirt cheap ham radio and the new way he sniffs Bluetooth traffic, Félim loves AI when it’s tracking his head, the open source way to control lighting rigs, a BBS-like interface to sites like Hacker News, yet another Spotify replacement, Damn Small Linux returns, and more.

Voice of the masses

How do you keep your kids safe online?

Follow us on Mastodon and you can reply to future questions.

Discoveries

Quansheng UVK5

AITrack

Neon Modem Overdrive

Open source lighting rig control with QLC+

envio

InnerTune

Damn Small Linux 2024

nRF Sniffer

Tailscale

Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/lnl and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.

Automox

Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

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The BBC is sticking around on Mastodon, Signal gets a huge new feature, yet another win for the Asahi team, a surprising company commits to FOSS, Apple kills web apps in the EU, Mozilla focuses on Firefox… and AI, Graham tells us about Canonical’s new Open Documentation Academy, and to celebrate this week’s release of Plasma 6 we let Félim do a short KDE Korner.

News

Stepping back into the refreshingly free world of Linux – The Irish Times

Extending our Mastodon social media trial – BBC R&D

Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames

Asahi Linux project’s OpenGL support on Apple Silicon officially surpasses Apple’s

Mercedes-Benz AG – FOSS Manifesto

It’s Official, Apple Kills Web Apps in the EU

EU seeks to investigate Apple over cutting off web apps

Mozilla downsizes as it refocuses on Firefox and AI: Read the memo

Anthony: “Not commenting the Mozilla lay…” – Indieweb.Social

Introducing Canonical’s Open Documentation Academy

New krita.org website launched

Kubuntu Graphic Design Contest

Wayland fake session restore and 805/500 supporters

Tailscale

Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/lnl and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.

Automox

Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

RSS: Subscribe to the RSS feeds here

An open source Spotify clone that’s almost there, simulating the control of a nuclear reactor, a network analysis tool that combines the functionality of traceroute and ping, a static site generator for people migrating away from Bandcamp, hello world in every possible language, a synthesizer for making music by drawing objects on an oscilloscope, why we are pretty down on macOS, and more.

Discoveries 

spotube

AudioTube

Nuclear Reactor Simulator

trippy

Faircamp

Joe’s music

hello world

osci-render

Tailscale

Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/lnl and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.

Entroware

This episode is sponsored by Entroware. They are a UK-based company who sells computers with Ubuntu and Ubuntu MATE preinstalled. They have configurable laptops, desktops and servers to suit a wide range of Linux users. Check them out and don’t forget to mention us at checkout if you buy one of their great machines.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

RSS: Subscribe to the RSS feeds here

Great news for Android users, more Linux in space, Windows gets sudo, Spotify fails to lock down podcasts,  the immutable Ubuntu desktop is delayed, Xfce is finally moving towards Wayland, Kubuntu sticks with KDE 5 for the LTS, Mozilla makes changes at the top, and more.

News

Unattended updates for everyone, F-Droid 1.19 is here

The Usage Of Embedded Linux In Spacecraft

“Wherever you get your podcasts” is a radical statement

Introducing Sudo for Windows!

Ubuntu Core Desktop Debut No Longer Planned for April

Introducing Mozilla Monitor Plus, a new tool to automatically remove your personal information from data broker sites [it’s white labelled like the VPN thing]

A New Chapter for Mozilla: Focused Execution and an Expanded Role in Charting the Internet’s Future

Xfce 4.20 Aiming For Usable Wayland Support While Maintaining X11 Compatibility

KDE 6 misses boat to make it into Kubuntu 24.04

Frameworks 5.115.0

KDE 6 is so close!

15 min bug update

Tailscale

Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/lnl and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

RSS: Subscribe to the RSS feeds here

Chris from ExplainingComputers joins us to discuss his Promoting Linux: An End-User Manifesto video. We talk about being an advocate and not a gatekeeper, being tolerant of other people’s choices, accepting that not everyone can use Linux, spreading the word that Linux has improved over the years, contributing where you can, and more. Plus why the Raspberry Pi bubble has burst, and the present and future of RISC-V.

Tailscale

Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/lnl and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.

Kolide

Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/latenightlinux to learn more.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

RSS: Subscribe to the RSS feeds here