Linux Unplugged

Do you use desktop Linux for idealistic or practical reasons? We ask our virtual LUG & share our stories. Plus Chris’s new VPN solution & the hosted vs self hosted debate with a new twist. Plus Canonical’s smart move to push Snap packages forward, tons of updates from our favorite projects & the disturbing news about Chrome.

Chris discovers he’s being snooped on by his ISP, we discuss some Linux friendly solutions solve the situation. Is Linux Mint 18 really the best Linux distro every? Or should Ubuntu 16.04 be getting more of the credit? Plus our chat with a Matrix.org developer, Solus goes rolling, Unity on Windows & building a long-term financially sustainable open source product.

Noah joins Wes for the second time this week to talk with the mumble room. Package management for Bash takes it one step too far, Nvidia starts putting GPUs in your containers, we learn some surprising things about open source at Comcast & discuss just what "Microsoft ♥ Linux" really means.

We go hands on with Linux Mint 18, then discuss the latest batch of desktop killers & Wimpy’s new rig. Plus what makes Mattermost really great, a new new universal package format, the confusing things Red Hat says & we get to know WireGuard!

We have a spirited discussion from both sides of the universal packaging issue, take a quick look at maru OS that turns a Nexus phone into your desktop, get the inside scoop on the recent Mycroft update & the new Solus release. Plus much more!

Canonical drops a bombshell by making snap packages available for nearly all Linux distributions, Nextcloud has some serious momentum, Samsung is rumored to drop Android in favor of Tizen across all devices & Wes kicks the tires of elementary OS’ new Beta of Loki. Then we try out Snap packages & discuss needs to happen next to really make them take off as the standard universal Linux installer.

After we get through a slew of great open source project achievements, we discuss the slippery slope that online services represent to Linux users. Plus we get all big picture, what can be learned from ownCloud’s recent troubles, what we conclude by reading between the lines & more!

Open Source artificial intelligence in all the things? Ryan from Mycroft joins us to update us on their recent hard work. Is YubiKey going to hell in a handbasket? The latest from openSUSE, our first impressions of Remix OS & more!

Package once, run anywhere. It’s always almost here, just around the corner, in the near future. But are we finally about to nail it? We look at Flatpack, Snaps, AppImage, ask what stands out from the pack & which will fall flat. Plus why you're going to want to wait on that systemd upgrade, funding projects with a rocky past, the big thing about Mycroft no one is talking about & we try out Mycroft on the desktop.

You're insecure unless you're running one of Greg’s Kernels & we think he’s right! Plus openSUSE chairman Richard Brown stops by to follow up on not shipping ZFS in openSUSE which leads to a passionate discussion. And the simple thing we could all be doing to improve open source, but maybe we’re all feeling a little too entitled!

Is a new wave of tech savvy Linux users coming? Chris makes his case & why distributions like Linux Mint won’t be ready for it. Plus updates from some of our favorite projects, Linux on the PS4 & a quick look at the Fedora 24 beta.

Your marvelous container powered future, what happens when your favorite open source project takes its ball and goes closed source? Subsonic is going closed source, we discuss alternative options, how we feel as donors & the bigger picture in all of this. Hands on with the HTC Vive under Linux, DuckDuckGo supporting their favorite open source, the goals for Ubuntu 16.10 & much more!

This week LTS has a new meaning as we reflect on a couple of weeks with Ubuntu 16.04 & why we’re dumping it. We pick up the mood with some exclusive LinuxFest Northwest clips, projects updates & another clip that was never meant to air.

We get a little rambunctious as we talk about Ubuntu 16.04, why not the openSUSE Build Server & the remarkable problem with Ubuntu that’s just now being solved. Plus some audio never meant for public release, updates on your favorite projects, first hands on with the Bq Ubuntu Tablet & more!

ZFS on Ubuntu gets new prominent criticism from Richard Stallman & we launch into a wider discussion the underlying message in these recent statements. Leo Laporte gives Linux another go after his previous switch disaster & reports back with some interesting insights. Then we discuss the big updates to XFCE, the HTC Vive's lack of Linux support & Chris finally sets up Traccar, a self hosted location tracking server & discovers it’s surprising limitation.

We look at the state of Virtual Reality under Linux. Richard Brown from openSUSE joins us to discuss making the Plasma Desktop even better & our quick review of Apricity OS “a modern, intuitive operating system for the cloud generation”. Plus a bunch of project updates & much more!

Has Linux met its match? That’s the claim several outlets are making this week. We look at the new & innovative operating systems stepping into the public light. The first official Ubuntu tablet goes on sale & we share our thoughts, a little BASH on Windows & a lot more!

Plasma Desktop 5.6 is out today & we’ll share of the small things that we simply love. Plus some of our secret LinuxFest Northwest Linux rig build plans are revealed, why gaming on Linux is doing better than you’ve been led to believe & live shootout of open source Skype killers. Also our thoughts on ubuntuBSD, open source GPS tracking, Nvidia shipping Wayland support & more!

The future of Linux package management is here & there’s a lot of ideas on how to solve it. We discuss some of the more popular ones & how they might be impacting your Linux desktop much sooner than you expect. Plus that awkward moment when a traditional desktop environment adopts a controversial UI modern element, the new generation of “perfect” Linux laptops & more!

Our world has forever changed with Microsoft’s announcement of SQL server for Linux. We get a little nostalgic. Plus a look at the new OwnCloud release & updates on some of our favorite projects. Then we take a look at Shashlik which promises to transparently run Android apps on your Linux desktop & more!