Welcome to mintCast

the Podcast by the Linux Mint Community for All Users of Linux

This is Episode 442!

This is Episode 442.5!

Recorded on Sunday, July 21, 2024

In Desperate need of a nap, I’m Joe; rockin’ the interview, I’m Moss; Working through the pain, I’m Bill

— Play Standard Intro —

• Please remember if you want to follow along with our discussions, the full show notes for this episode are available on our website and are linked in the show’s description.
• First up in the news: Mint 22 update, Red Hat may replace GRUB, Fedora drops X11, CachyOS adds AMD support, Apple approves PC emulator, SUSE Requests openSUSE to Rebrand, EXT4 Has A Very Nice Performance Optimization For Linux 6.11
• In security and privacy: CrowdStrike broke Linux and nobody noticed, Firefox’s New Controversial Feature
• Then in our Wanderings: Bill puts his foot down, Joe is working on magnetism, Moss has new toys, Eric …

• In our Innards section: We talk about Pine64 products
• And finally, the feedback and a couple of suggestions

— Play News Transition Bumper —

The News

20 minutes

• Mint 22 Update (via londoner)
  • The repository for Linux Mint 22 Beta (https://github.com/linuxmint/mint22-beta) has been archived as of yesterday, Saturday, July 20 and you can no longer report bugs there. The Mint 22 final release ISOs went into QA testing about four hours ago.
• Red Hat may replace GRUB Bill
  • From DEVConf.cz (via londoner)
  • A quality engineer at Red Hat, Marta Lewandowska who is focused on bootloaders, writes that Red Hat are working on a new scheme to replace the GRUB bootloader with a fast, secure, Linux-based, user-space solution: nmbl pronounced “nimble” (for no more boot loader).
  • Most people are familiar with GRUB, a powerful, flexible, fully-featured bootloader that is used on multiple architectures (x86_64, aarch64, ppc64le OpenFirmware). Although GRUB is quite versatile and capable, its features create complexity that is difficult to maintain, and that both duplicate and lag behind the Linux kernel while also creating numerous security holes. On the other hand, the Linux kernel, which has a large developer base, benefits from fast feature development, quick responses to vulnerabilities and greater overall scrutiny.
  • We (Red Hat boot loader engineering) will present our solution to this problem, which is to use the Linux kernel as its own bootloader. Loaded by the EFI stub on UEFI, and packed into a unified kernel image (UKI), the kernel, initramfs, and kernel command line, contain everything they need to reach the final boot target. All necessary drivers, filesystem support, and networking are already built in and code duplication is avoided.
  • A link is provided to a YouTube video (35min) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywrSDLp926M
• X11 Is No Longer Part of Fedora Workstation 41
  • from Linuxiac
  • Fedora has been a frontrunner in adopting Wayland as the platform has been the primary experience since Fedora Linux 36. However, until now, X11 support has always been part of the distribution’s ISO installation images. But with Fedora 41, this is set to change.
  • The Fedora Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo), a key governing body within the Fedora Project that oversees various technical decisions related to the distro’s development, unanimously decided, with all voting in favor, that the upcoming Fedora Workstation 41, set for release in late October, will exclusively feature Wayland, sidelining the older X11 packages for GNOME.
  • The decision to focus solely on Wayland for GNOME follows the deprecation of X11 support upstream. The change aligns Fedora with ongoing efforts to modernize and streamline user experiences across its platforms. And right off the bat, we make an important clarification for all die-hard X11 fans.
  • Although the GNOME X11 packages will no longer come pre-installed, they will remain accessible in the repositories maintained by the GNOME Special Interest Group and the Workstation Working Group for those who wish to install them manually.
  • In other words, users who do upgrades between major Fedora releases will still have Xorg, as it remains available through in-place upgrades. At the same time, for those with fresh Fedora 41 installations, adding Xorg will require manual installation of the necessary packages (“gnome-session-xsession” and “gnome-classic-session-xsession“).
  • For users, the transition to a Wayland-only GNOME Workstation means a cleaner, more efficient environment that leverages the latest developments in graphical display technology. Additionally, with the introduction of the NVIDIA 555 display driver that includes explicit sync support, Wayland has become much more enjoyable and efficient than X11.
  • For more information on Fedora 41’s decision to completely remove X11, see the proposal itself and the FESCo voting result.
• CachyOS Introduces New Repository Optimized for AMD Zen 4 and Zen 5 CPUs Bill
  • from 9to5 Linux
  • A new CachyOS snapshot for July 2024 is out today with various improvements and some exciting new features, especially for AMD users, as well as the usual bug fixes and other changes to improve your experience.
  • Starting with this release, CachyOS will automatically enable a software repository on new installations that will be used to provide the best performance for AMD Zen 4 and Zen 5 machines. In addition, the ISO now features automatic architecture checks for the Zen 4/Zen 5 repository and CachyOS’s hardware detection tool (chwd) received support for AMD GPUs for better detection of official ROCm-supported GPUs.
    • “This makes it possible for us to enable support for official ROCm-supported cards in our AI SDK installation variant automatically and configure these to work out of the box for common AI applications and usage. We are still working together with AI Enthusiasts to improve the preinstalled packages and shipped configuration in our AI SDK installation variant.”
  • CachyOS’s hardware detection tool also received support for configuring the libva driver as the default for supported NVIDIA hardware, along with the ability to correctly export the variable to the profile. On the other hand, AMD users received support for the “AMD CPB Boost” feature, which allows enabling or disabling the boost on a per-core basis, which is now supported in CachyOS’s kernels by default.
  • Also new is a tool to enable and disable KSM (ksmctl), a power saving patch for AMD SoCs to improve video playback, a “linux-cachyos-dbg” package that contains an unstripped vmlinux for debugging purposes, a “game-performance” script that cab be added to Steam’s launch options, and new mirrors in Austria and China.
  • Among other changes, CachyOS’s graphical installer Calamares has been updated to use only Tier 1 Mirrors from Arch Linux, install the latest archlinux-keyring package from Arch Linux before starting the installation to avoid issues, and remove unused CachyOS repositories from the config, and the copytoram kernel parameter was changed from ‘yes’ to ‘auto’ to avoid issues on machines with less RAM.
  • On top of that, the CachyOS’s Kernel Manager tool now has a GUI to manage the sched-ext scheduler allowing users to enable or disable the scx service, switch between different sched-ext schedulers, and also set command line flags for them. The July 2024 release of CachyOS also removes the unmaintained Cutefish software and the userspace kernel samepage merging daemon.
  • Check out the release announcement page for more details about the changes included in the CachyOS July 2024 release, which is available for download right now as Desktop and Handheld editions from the official website. The CachyOS Desktop edition features the latest KDE Plasma 6.1.2 desktop environment and it’s powered by Linux kernel 6.9.9.
• Apple Approves First PC Emulator App for iOS – Can it Run Linux?
  • from OMGUbuntu
  • This weekend Apple officially approved the first PC emulator on the App Store, an open-source app called UTM SE, based on QEMU, and free to download (no IAP).
  • UTM SE on iPhone
  • UTM SE can emulate a variety of desktop operating systems and system architectures, including MS-DOS, Windows XP, and (of course) Linux—all without workarounds, jailbreaks, or side-loading .ipa files via Xcode.
  • Still, I should mention (before anyone reading gets too excited) that the overall performance of running Ubuntu on an iPhone or iPad isn’t great — I’ll explain why this is the case in a moment.
  • As you may have heard, Apple relaxed its restrictions on gaming emulators earlier this year.
  • Several open-source retro console emulators are now available to install from the App Store, including Delta and Retro Arch (both of which work great).
  • Following that change, it became a question of when Apple would permit a general-purpose emulator (don’t call it a VM) capable of running PC operating systems on the App Store, especially since some vintage OSes are arguably gaming platforms too.
  • And that when is very much now.
  • Considerably more article at the link.
• SUSE Requests openSUSE to Rebrand Moss
  • From linuxiac.com (via londoner)
  • Believe it or not, an unexpected conflict has arisen in the openSUSE community with its long-time supporter and namesake, the SUSE company. At the heart of this tension lies a quiet request that has stirred not-so-quiet ripples across the open source landscape: SUSE has formally asked openSUSE to discontinue using its brand name.
  • Richard Brown, a key figure within the openSUSE project, shared insights into the discussions that have unfolded behind closed doors. Despite SUSE’s request’s calm and respectful tone, the implications of not meeting it could be far-reaching, threatening the symbiotic relationship that has benefited both entities over the years.
  • Let’s face it: SUSE has been more than just a namesake for openSUSE; it has actively provided resources and support far beyond what it would ordinarily need for its business operations. This generosity has fostered a thriving openSUSE project that has excelled under SUSE’s goodwill and informal support, including contributions made by SUSE employees on company time.
  • However, the recent request for a branding separation has overshadowed this partnership. If openSUSE does not handle this request with the sensitivity and cooperation it demands, the project risks not just a reduction in support from SUSE but a potential shift in priorities away from it. The “Factory first” policy, a cornerstone of the engineering synergy between SUSE and openSUSE, could also be scrutinized, emphasizing the gravity of the current situation.
  • Furthermore, at the openSUSE Conference, discussions about governance within the openSUSE project were brought into the spotlight. In light of this, senior managers and budget holders from SUSE openly expressed concerns, signaling that changes are necessary to address underlying issues with project governance.
  • This public stand by SUSE’s management highlights a willingness to support openSUSE, but also a readiness to realign their focus if the community fails to act on these governance concerns. The message is clear: openSUSE must align more closely with SUSE’s strategic interests or risk shifting focus towards other projects like Uyuni and Rancher, which are perceived to be more in line with SUSE’s business objectives. In other words, openSUSE is at a crossroads. The project can either adapt to the evolving landscape by embracing change and addressing its internal challenges, or it can continue on a path that might lead to its obsolescence.
  • In recent years, openSUSE has gained a lot of momentum, rapidly increasing its user base. In addition, what used to be known as Leap and Tumbleweed has expanded into new names like Krypton, MicroOS, Aeon, Kalpa, Argon, and Leap Micro. A whole new openSUSE ecosystem, where frankly, even the most die-hard chameleon supporters have a hard time figuring out what exactly is what and what its purpose is. Let’s not forget ALP, of course. All of this is largely thanks to the support of SUSE.
  • For that, we don’t have to be fortune tellers to say that if SUSE withdrew its support, it would mean a drastic reduction in current openSUSE variants, rethinking priorities and options, and a likely going back down for the project. After all, what we know today as openSUSE is largely due to the code contributed by SUSE’s developers and, of course, the huge underlying infrastructure provided by the company on which openSUSE developed its distro.
  • Therefore, it can be confidently said that SUSE’s polite request will be granted, and the project will start the procedure of changing its name and searching for a new logo. Yes, that’s right, the beloved cute chameleon is part of the rebranding. In any case, we will monitor the situation closely and, as always, update you as it develops. For more information, visit the openSUSE mailing list message on the subject. The subsequent rather interesting discussion is available here.
• EXT4 Has A Very Nice Performance Optimization For Linux 6.11 Bill
  • From Phoronix (via londoner)
  • With the maturity of the EXT4 file-system it’s not too often seeing any huge feature additions for this commonly used Linux file-system but there’s still the occasional wild performance optimization to uncover… With Linux 6.11 the EXT4 file-system can see upwards of a 20% performance boost in some scenarios.
  • Ted Ts’o sent out the EXT4 updates today for Linux 6.11. He explained in that pull request:
  • “Many cleanups and bug fixes in ext4, especially for the fast commit feature. Also some performance improvements; in particular, improving IOPS and throughput on fast devices running Async Direct I/O by up to 20% by optimizing jbd2_transaction_committed().”
  • Up to 20% faster for fast devices using async direct I/O thanks to JBD2 optimizations. Indeed the patch from Huawei’s Zhang Yi to speed up jbd2_transaction_committed() shows off some great improvements:
  • It’s great continuing to see EXT4 uncover new performance optimizations.

— Play Security Transition Bumper —

Security and Privacy

10 minutes

• CrowdStrike broke Debian and Rocky Linux months ago, but no one noticed Moss
  • from NeoWin
  • In what has been said to have been the biggest IT failure on Friday, a widespread Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) issue on over 8.5 million Windows PCs disrupted operations worldwide across various sectors, notably impacting airlines, banks, and healthcare providers. The issue was caused by a problematic channel file delivered via an update from the popular cybersecurity service provider, CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike confirmed that this crash did not impact Mac or Linux PCs.
  • It turns out that similar problems have been occurring for months without much awareness, despite the fact that many may view this as an isolated incident. Users of Debian and Rocky Linux also experienced significant disruptions as a result of CrowdStrike updates, raising serious concerns about the company’s software update and testing procedures. These occurrences highlight potential risks for customers who rely on their products daily.
  • In April, a CrowdStrike update caused all Debian Linux servers in a civic tech lab to crash simultaneously and refuse to boot. The update proved incompatible with the latest stable version of Debian, despite the specific Linux configuration being supposedly supported. The lab’s IT team discovered that removing CrowdStrike allowed the machines to boot and reported the incident.
  • A team member involved in the incident expressed dissatisfaction with CrowdStrike’s delayed response. It took them weeks to provide a root cause analysis after acknowledging the issue a day later. The analysis revealed that the Debian Linux configuration was not included in their test matrix.
  • “Crowdstrike’s model seems to be ‘we push software to your machines any time we want, whether or not it’s urgent, without testing it’,” lamented the team member. The was no phased deployment either with the update being pushed out to all of CrowdStrike’s customers at the same time.
  • This was not an isolated incident. CrowdStrike users also reported similar issues after upgrading to RockyLinux 9.4, with their servers crashing due to a kernel bug. Crowdstrike support acknowledged the issue, highlighting a pattern of inadequate testing and insufficient attention to compatibility issues across different operating systems.
  • To avoid such issues in the future, CrowdStrike should prioritize rigorous testing across all supported configurations. Additionally, organizations should approach CrowdStrike updates with caution and have contingency plans in place to mitigate potential disruptions.
• Firefox’s New Controversial Feature: Is it a problem? Bill
  • From It’s Foss (via londoner)
  • Mozilla’s Firefox is unmistakably one of the last-standing forces against the onslaught of Chromium-based browsers, and many people rely on it to get things done, without sacrificing their privacy. Sure, there are some fascinating projects such as the revived Servo, and the increasingly popular Ladybird, but, these are still under heavy development, and we will have to wait a bit before we start seeing some tangible results.
  • Unfortunately, with a recent release, Firefox has found itself in the middle of a controversy, that has struck a rather fiery conversation across the internet. Many people over the past few days have been lashing out at Mozilla for enabling Privacy-Preserving Attribution (PPA) by default on Firefox 128, and the lack of publicity surrounding its introduction.
  • There are even reports that the “Distributed Aggregation Protocol” (DAP) used underneath is not private by design. Provided Mozilla and ISRG, the ones behind this protocol, were to collude, trying to breach privacy. If that happened, it would allow advertisers to identify the behavior of individual browsers. If you were wondering what PPA is, it is a bare-bones, experimental feature that is supposed to serve as a privacy-focused approach for collecting limited user data and serving ads on a website.
  • When a website detects that a user clicked on an ad, it can ask the browser for a report. The browser will then encrypt it, and then anonymously submit it to an “aggregation service” (not the website) using DAP. After which, the report is combined with other similar reports by the aggregation service, and the website receives periodic reports with a collection of such data.
  • Even though Mozilla mentioned that PPA would be enabled by default on Firefox 128 in a few of its past blogs, they failed to communicate this decision clearly, to a wider audience.
  • There’s also a discussion going on Mozilla Connect calling for PPA to be removed from Firefox, with many supporters joining in. In response to the public outcry, Firefox CTO, Bobby Holley, had to step in to clarify what was going on. He started with how the internet has become a massive cesspool of surveillance, and doing something about it was the primary reason many people are part of Mozilla.
  • He then expanded on their approach with Firefox, which, historically speaking, has been to ship a browser with anti-tracking features baked in to tackle the most common surveillance techniques. But, there were two limitations with this approach, one was that advertisers would try to bypass these countermeasures. The second, most users just accept the default options that they are shown, and that Mozilla doesn’t believe in modal consent dialogs as they find such dialogs to be a “user-hostile distraction from better defaults”.
  • Similarly, Bas Schouten, Principal Software Engineer at Mozilla, made it clear at the end of a heated Mastodon thread that:
    • This is making privacy a privilege for the people that work to inform and educate themselves on the topic. People shouldn’t need to do that, everyone deserves a more private browser. Privacy features, in Firefox, are not meant to be opt-in.
    • They need to be the default.
    • If you are ‘completely anti-ads’ (i.e. even if their implementation is private), you probably use an ad blocker. So are unaffected by this.
  • As expected, this move has also generated a great deal of misunderstandings and mob-like reaction across social media, with some taking shots at Mozilla’s acquisition of Anonym, an advertisement tech company. Andrew Moore, a Solutions Architect out of Montreal, tried his best to demystify some common misconceptions with a detailed blog, where he shed light on the inner workings of PPA. He shared that the goal of this API was to study the viability of such implementations, so that one day, existing ad networks could start moving away from invasive individual tracking.
  • Even one of our readers had something to add on this topic, and I do agree with what they said:
    • When you condemn Mozilla’s attempt to introduce adtech in Firefox (with an option to turn it off), please note that Mozilla is fighting a life-and-death battle for the survival of Firefox.
    • If Firefox goes away, so do its alternatives such as LibreWolf, Waterfox and the most secure web browser currently available, Floorp. Support Firefox, because if not, you will be even more vulnerable to global tech companies.
    • In today’s age, advertising has become a necessary evil for an Internet-focused organization to stay in business, and what Mozilla seems to be trying to, is pushing for “better defaults”, that can hopefully be the standard one day.
    • The standard right now is to harvest user data in any way possible, a user’s right to privacy doesn’t matter, authority over their data doesn’t matter, what matters are the metrics. As they say, “It’s a numbers game”, so it’s refreshing to see someone try something different.
  • However, as mentioned earlier, I do feel that Mozilla should have communicated this decision more adequately. Just a few blog posts obviously can’t help convey such a major change, that too in an age where a user’s attention span is a rare commodity. When users updated to the 128 release, they should have shown a pop-up or opened up a new tab with an easy-to-understand description of PPA. Showing how it is enabled by default, and with an option for the user to disable it, and some reassuring text sprinkled about.
  • Anyhow, what’s done is done. For users who don’t want this, they can follow these steps to disable PPA:

• Go into the three-ribbon/hamburger menu at the top-right.
• Select “Settings”.
• Under the “Privacy & Security” menu, scroll down to the “Website Advertising Preferences” section.
• Uncheck the box called “Allow websites to perform privacy-preserving ad measurement”.
• Which side of the discussion do you fall in? Let us know.

— Play Wanderings Transition Bumper —

Bi-Weekly Wanderings

30 minutes (~5-8 mins each)

• Bill
  • So this morning started at the crack of dawn with a knock at the bedroom door by one of the teen boys. My wife answered to find a rather disheveled teen boy explaining the lawn mower “wasn’t working.” After some time, I was able to collect enough of myself as was possible without coffee, dragged my 300 lbs outside to find that they had about 9 times the amount of oil as needed to run the mower and the seals no doubt blew and now the combustion chamber is now filled with oil. True to form, both teen boys threw the other under the bus, neither accepting enough responsibility to warrant any leniency. I therefore, in calm yet brutal exacting retribution, took their Xboxes, Laptops, tablets, and most importantly: phones. We then took to some much needed landscaping work, which while they did a lot, I found myself doing most of the more difficult work. And now I must deal with the pain. If feels good to get a lot of these things done though. Much has been put off these last few years as I’ve buried myself in the work of the podcasts I’m a part of. I was able to employ the kind help of my across the street neighbor who has a huge zero-turn mower. He was happy to come over and finish the back yard which was only half done by Frick and Frack. The whole reason they were out there trying to get the mowing done was to get it done before their mother and I could get out there and scrutinize the work. They wanted to hurry up and get it done so that they could get to gaming. They’re probably upstairs sleeping right now. I don’t have a clue what they will get into without any electronics. That’s my fault I suppose.
  • In preparation for today’s show I spent some time getting my Raspberry Pi 400, and my RockPro 64 back in usable shape so that I could talk a little about this stuff in the innards, which if you’re listening to the audio only version of the show will be out next week (assuming you’re up to date). I won’t talk much about the RockPro here, but I will say I am pleased to find Netflix, Prime, Hulu, and Disney+ now works well on Chromium, which is the default browser on Raspberry Pi OS. I was able to watch with excellent performance, on my 1080p screen. I didn’t notice any dropped frames, no compression artifacts, and the audio tracked the video. This support is a long time coming, and I’m not sure why it was ever a problem other than the lack of commercial imperative, which is the usual explanation for things like this.
  • Last weekend I was AFK so that the Family and I could load up the F150 and head out to Walcott, Iowa for the Iowa 80 annual trucking jamboree. Iowa 80 is the biggest truck stop in the world, and hosts one of the biggest truck shows in the world. 3 Fat Truckers was there along with a whole lot of the other content creators in the space. We had a great time, got to speak with a lot of people, and got some great footage. By the time we left, I was tired. The drive home felt as though they put another state between Iowa, and Indiana. I don’t think I really had a chance to recover, before heading back out for another week on the road. It really wears me down sometimes.
• Joe
  • I recently had some issues with my phone calling emergency services in my pocket. This led me to purchase a case with a screen cover. The case also has a Magsafe strip in it. I found this interesting.
  • I decided to try out some Magsafe mounts because there is an issue where the cover makes it so that a bunch of my clamp mounts do not hold correctly. Even the low-cost ones are a little higher than I want to pay. But I did order one for testing purposes. I like how it worked but like I said I did not like the cost.
  • So I looked on thingiverse and found a model that I liked. I made sure that it would print and then ordered the magnets that would go into it. They were pretty small at 4×2 mm but it used 50 of them spaced very close together. I ordered those for next day delivery and printed a second one after modding the STL to also include a 17mm ball mount adapter
  • I received the magnets and was able to get one row in with much difficulty using a tap and a hammer but whenever I started on the outer row the inner would pop out. It was very frustrating and eventually I gave it up as a bad idea. So I have a bunch of magnets again for future projects
  • I did find complete rings of magnets that are made for Magsafe but they only seem to be sold on AliExpress. I will probably order them but not today. I will also need to design my own STL to hold the magnets and add the ball mount so that I can use it my garage and vehicles. I mean there are a couple of other designs that I could try out and order some different magnets and just use the stuff that is more readily available. But I want to do some new stuff.
  • Now for the mounting in the vehicle a mini cooper there was not a whole of spaces to work with to put a mount so I decided to go with a CD drive mount. I did look at STLS and did a couple of prints with PLA to see how they would work but because I am in Texas I was considering going with PETG but looking into it that would still not be heat tolerant enough. I have some ABS and I have an enclosure so I could get it to print but I still had my concerns. So in the end I purchased a CD player adapter mount and used that.
  • But I do think that the ball mount setup that those STLS used are better than the ones that I have used before so I will be cutting those parts out using TinkerCAD and using them in other prints going forward.
  • Well the parts that I ordered previously to convert that palm keyboard to Bluetooth arrived. I ordered the wrong board. I should have ordered the one without the battery holder and I accidentally ordered the one with.
  • I was able to correct that issue by removing the battery holder with my snips and my soldering iron. At the same time there were a couple of other parts that needed to be removed in according to the instructions
  • I have started the 3D prints for the casing for it and I still need to get the wires soldered on the code loaded up and assembly complete. Am having some trouble with the 3D print sticking to the bed
  • this was easily resolved on my PEI bed with the application of IPA from my spray bottle. So now the 3D prints are ready and I have all the wires I just need to get them together in one spot. I will probably use that roll of ribbon cable that I got a few years back and just cut down to what I need. I still love that roll.
• Moss
  • I got my new PineTime, and also a new ONN TV box that Bill sent me.
  • The PineTime needed an app to update the firmware, and I could not get my cellphone to give the app sufficient permissions to work. The next day, I tried an app on my computer, and it worked. I managed to set the time and date, and get access to the steps function and the pulse function, which is all I needed from this watch. Yes, I can feel warm and fuzzy inside because my watch runs Linux, but I do not need a watch to pull up all my notifications, messages, and phone calls. This watch will do that, but I don’t need it, so I’m happy.
  • The ONN box was attached properly, but when I turned it on I have about a 10% overscan on my TV. The ONN box could not find the right code to be able to affect the volume from its remote, but that can be done from the TV remote. I have since gotten the overscan issue fixed, and have gotten Tubi and Prime Video to play; I have installed Plex and started to play with that, and installed Jellyfin but have not yet gotten to that.
  • Ken Fallon’s interview of me is now on Hacker Public Radio. A bit messy towards the end, but I think it went well.
  • We have yet to take all the steps needed to sell our leftover car (2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ). I just got the pictures taken on Friday, Suzanne has to do the listing.
  • I rearranged my desk, got my desktop PC, Scarlett Solo, WavLink box, and USB hub all nice and cozy and looking sharp.
  • I finished all the online classes I had to take to be reinstated to my substitute teaching job. I think I was the first to do so, my supervisor seemed surprised.
  • I have been running into some of my favorite students lately, one working the drivethrough at the Hardees in Rutledge, another working for his family at the gas station at which I frequently fill up my Mazda with 100% gasoline. The latter will be a Junior this year, so I have two more years to torture him.

— Play Innards Transition Bumper —

Linux Innards

30 minutes (~5-8 minutes each)

• Pine64
  • mintCast is not sponsored by anybody, including Pine64, but we thought we’d talk a bit about the devices this manufacturer provides, all of which run Linux to the best of their ability.
  • Facts and History:
    • Pine Store Limited, known by its trade name Pine64 (styled as PINE64), is a Hong Kong-based organization that designs, manufactures, and sells single-board computers, notebook computers, as well as smartwatch/smartphones. Its name was inspired by the mathematical constants pi and e with a reference to 64-bit computing power.
    • Pine64 initially operated as Pine Microsystems Inc. (Fremont, California), founded by TL Lim, the inventor of the PopBox and Popcorn Hour series of media players sold under the Syabas and Cloud Media brands.
    • In 2015, Pine Microsystems offered its first product, the Pine A64, a single-board computer designed to compete with the popular Raspberry Pi in both power and price. The A64 was first funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding drive in December 2015 which raised over US$1.7 million. The Kickstarter project was overshadowed by delays and shipping problems. The original Kickstarter page referred to Pine64 Inc. based in Delaware, but all devices for the Kickstarter campaign were manufactured and sold by Pine Microsystems Inc. based in Fremont, California.
    • In January 2020, Pine Microsystems Inc. was dissolved while Pine Store Limited was incorporated on December 5, 2019, in Hong Kong. As of late 2020, the standard form contract of pine64.com binds all orders to the laws of Malaysia, while the products are shipped from warehouses in Shenzhen, China and Hong Kong.
  • Products
    • Pine A64 & Rockchip SBCs
      • The original Pine A64 boards released in 2016 are powered by the Allwinner A64 system-on-chip. It features a 1.2 GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A53 64-Bit Processor, an ARM Mali 400 MP2 graphics processor unit, one HDMI 1.4a port, one MicroSD slot, two USB 2.0 ports and a 100 Megabit Ethernet port. The A64 board has only 512 megabytes of RAM, the 1 GB and 2 GB versions are labeled “Pine A64+”. While the 512 MB model only works with Arch Linux and Debian GNU/Linux distributions, such as Armbian or DietPi, the A64+ with more memory can also run other operating systems including Android, Remix OS, Windows 10, FreeBSD, and Ubuntu. Optional eMMC storage modules can be plugged into special headers on the board.
      • A compute module called SOPINE A64 was introduced in January 2017. It features the same system-on-chip as the Pine A64, but mounted on a DDR3 SODIMM form factor board without the USB, HDMI, and Ethernet connectors. It competes with the Raspberry Pi Compute Modules. Pine64 sells a “Clusterboard” with an inbuilt eight-port Gigabit Ethernet switch, which can be used to build a cluster system out of up to seven SOPINE modules. A review by Hackaday noted problems with production quality, software, and user support.
      • 2017 also saw the addition of a “Long Term Supply” (LTS) version of the Pine A64/A64+ boards, called “Pine A64/A64(+)- LTS”. The LTS versions are identical to the A64/A64+, but are guaranteed to be available until the year 2022 at a slightly higher cost.
      • In July 2017, the company added a new line of single-board computers based on Rockchip SoCs. The ROCK64 features a Rockchip RK3328 quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 64-bit processor; a Mali-450MP2 GPU capable of playing 4K HDR videos; one, two, or four gigabytes of RAM; two USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 ports; one HDMI 2.0 port; a Gigabit Ethernet port; a microSD slot and several other peripheral ports.
      • Its larger brother, the ROCKPro64, is based on a Rockchip RK3399 Hexa-Core (dual ARM Cortex-A72 and quad ARM Cortex A53) 64-Bit Processor instead. It features a Mali T-860 Quad-Core GPU and, in addition to the standard USB, Ethernet, HDMI, and MicroSD ports, also has an eDP interface and an open-ended PCI Express x4 slot. An optional PCI Express to Dual SATA-II adapter and an optional Wi-Fi module are offered by Pine64
      • In 2019, a new Allwinner-based board was added as a direct competitor to the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. The Pine H64 is based on the Allwinner H6 quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 64-bit processor. It features a Mali T-722 GPU, two or three gigabytes of RAM, two USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI 2.0 port, onboard 802.11n Wi-Fi, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a microSD slot and several other peripheral ports.
      • The Star64 is Pine64’s first RISC-V SBC, based on the StarFive JH7110 SoC, launched in September 2022.
      • Our experiences with these products:
        • Bill: Of these devices, I own the RockPro64.
    • Notebooks
      • In November 2016, the Pinebook, a netbook built around an Allwinner A64 SoC with 2 GB of RAM and a 16 GB eMMC module, was announced. Pre-release comments in Make wrote that the A64’s closest analog was two to three times the A64’s price, and that the A64 continued the Raspberry Pi’s trend of breaking barriers for engineers. Production started in April 2017. The Pinebook can only be obtained via a build-to-order system, potential buyers have to wait weeks or even months for an order code which then has to be redeemed within 72 hours. The hardware is priced at $99, but due to a $30 shipping fee and country-dependent import duties and taxes, the final price is higher.
      • The Pinebook was notably used by the KDE team to improve Plasma on ARM desktops. In a review of the final hardware by Linux.com, the reviewer was surprised at his ability to have the full, albeit slow, Mate desktop environment at the A64’s price. Phoronix’s benchmarks indicated similar CPU performance to a Raspberry Pi 3.
      • In July 2019, the company announced the PineBook Pro, a netbook based around the Rockchip RK3399 SoC which is also used in the ROCKPro64. The preorder system went live on July 25, 2019. The device is priced at $199, though the final price after shipping and import duties and taxes is higher. On March 15, 2020, it was announced that the PineBook Pro will ship with Arch Linux based Manjaro Linux as the default operating system.
      • Our experience with these products:
    • Smartphones
      • As of 2019, Pine64 is working on a Linux smartphone, PinePhone, using a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 64-Bit System on a chip (SoC). The aim is for the phone to be compatible with any mainline Linux kernel and to “support existing and well established Linux-on-Phone projects”, as a community-developed smartphone. After an initial BraveHeart release for early adopters in February 2020, the company continued releasing Community Editions that incrementally improve the design. The community support has been excellent, with 17 different OSes released for the device.
      • In October 2021, the company announced the PinePhone Pro based on a binned RK3399 SoC with additional RAM and MMC storage, as well as higher resolution cameras.
      • Our experience with these products:
        • Joe:
    • Tablets
      • In May 2020, Pine64 announced the PineTab tablet, with an optional detachable backlit keyboard. It is a 10″ tablet based on the same technology as the PinePhone, but without the modem and kill switches of that model.
      • In August 2021, the company announced the PineNote. The PineNote is a 10″ tablet with a Rockchip RK3566 and 4 GB RAM, the same configuration used for the new Quartz64 SBCs. The tablet features a 227 DPI touchscreen Eink display panel that also includes a Wacom digitizer layer for stylus support.
      • In December 2022, Pine64 announced the PineTab 2, intended to be a successor to the original PineTab, which was heavily impacted by shipping delays and component shortages.
      • Our experience with these products:
        • Moss: I bought a used PineTab 2 from one of our listeners, at about half the price it would have cost to purchase it new from Pine64. It arrived with the “danctNix OS” on it, an Arch-based system using the special kernel adapted from 5.15 by user “danct”. I have since updated it to a Debian Bookworm version using the same kernel, and there is also a Debian Trixie based OS available which I haven’t tried. I’m quite happy with it as it is. It is more than a bit heavy for use as a tablet, and 99% of what I use a tablet for is to read Kindle books (for which, of course, I use my Fire HD8), but, while a little slow, it is manageable as a small laptop. I have just added book readers, with which I intend to read Books 4-6 of Ken McConnell’s series (which he graciously sent to me, as they are not included in Kindle Unlimited).
    • Wearables
      • In 2019, Pine64 announced that it was working on a smartwatch. Only being available for developers initially, Pine64 released the PineTime in 2021, aimed at the consumer market. The PineTime display has a resolution of 240×240 with 65,000 colors. The device features 64 KB of RAM, 512 KB of flash storage, and 4 MB of additional flash storage with Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy for connectivity. The watch is powered by the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 SoC, with a 64 MHz ARM Cortex-M4F processor. The device was well received for its low cost to feature ratio.
      • In early 2022, the company announced that it was working on a set of wireless earbuds. Pine64 later revealed the PineBuds, true wireless earbuds intended to run open-source firmware.
      • Our experience with these products:
        • Moss: I have a PineTime. I discussed it in my Biweeklies, had to use my PC to get the firmware updates, but I love it. As I was not able to get the app to work on my phone, that means I don’t have all the bells and whistles, but I really didn’t want them.
        • Bill:

• The Pinecil is a smart mini portable soldering iron with a 32-bit RISC-V SoC featuring a sleek design, auto standby and it heats up to an operating temperature in just 6 seconds!
  • Dual power input design: 1) USB-C supports both PD and QC 3.0 and; 2) DC5525 barrel DC jack.
  • Speedy Rapid Warmup: Reaches operating temperature in 6 seconds. Support for on-demand rapid boost feature.
  • Adjustable soldering tip temperature which can be set between 100° C and 400° C using the adjustment buttons and an easy-to-read OLED display.
  • Portable: it features a sleek and slim design, comprised of an SAE 304 stainless steel core housed inside a polycarbonate shell.
  • Auto standby mode engages when it is not in use ensuring the user safety.
  • Our experience with these products:
    • Joe:
      • I have the original version of the pinecil soldering iron. Not the new risc 5 one. I still love that thing for all the small electronics that i work on. It is quick to heat up and wasy to store and take travelling
      • I also have a much more powerful one that use on thick boards or large joins as the small iron while it can do large items takes a bit longer to heat everything up.
      • The best thing about it though is the fact that it can use either a laptop power brick or a high powered usb c connection
      • You can use lower power on it but it takes longer to heat and doesnt get as hot
      • I also still have the pine phone that a listener sent me. It too is one of the original ones. Thank you again for sending that to me Jeff i appreciate it
      • I like running manjaro on it and being able to tweak the scaling so that almost anything will run on it but i do have to say that the device is not ready to be a daily driver. I would love to see a more powerful device come to market that runs linux and can also run all the apps from android. The market has been taken over by two OS’s and if a company wants to start taking over the space this is probably the fastest way to do it. Then grow out the mobile applications over time
• More comments:

— Play Vibrations Transition Bumper —

Vibrations from the Ether

20 minutes (~5 minutes each)

— Play Check This Transition Bumper —

Check This Out

10 minutes

Housekeeping & Announcements

• Thank you for listening to this episode of mintCast!
• If you see something that you’d like to hear about, tell us!

Send us email at [email protected]

Join us live on Youtube

Post at the mintCast subreddit

Chat with us on Telegram and Discord,

Or post directly at https://mintcast.org

• Next Episode – 2 pm US Central time on Sunday, August 4, 2024.
• Get mintCast converted to your time zone
• for 4xx Next Roundtable Live Stream – 2 pm US Central time on Saturday, July 27
• Get the Roundtable Live Stream converted to your time zone
• for 4xx.5 Next Roundtable Live Stream – 2 pm US Central time on Saturday, August 10
• Get the Roundtable Live Stream converted to your time zone
• Livestream information is at mintcast.org/livestream

Wrap-up

• Joe – Tllts.org,  linuxlugcast.com, [email protected], Buy Joe a coffee
• Moss – Full Circle Weekly News, [email protected], Mastodon @[email protected], occasionally on HPR
• Bill – [email protected], Bill_H on Discord, @[email protected] on Mastodon, also – checkout my other two podcasts Linux OTC and 3 Fat Truckers
• Majid – [email protected] @[email protected], AtypicalDr on Instagram and Threads and The Atypical Doctor Podcast on Spotify and also Linux OTC.
• Eric – You can hear and see me on the Distrohoppers’ Digest and Linux OTC podcasts as well as the Linux Saloon and LinuxLUGCast streams. I can be reached by email at [email protected].

Before we leave, we want to make sure to acknowledge some of the people who make mintCast possible:

• Someone for our audio editing
• Archive.org for hosting our audio files
• Hobstar for our logo, initrd for the animated Discord logo
• Londoner for our time syncs and various other contributions
• Bill Houser for hosting the server which runs our website, website maintenance, and the NextCloud server on which we host our show notes and raw audio
• The Linux Mint development team for the fine distro we love to talk about <Thanks, Clem … and co!>

— Play Closing Music and Standard Outro —