Episode 467 Show Notes

Welcome to mintCast

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

This is Episode 467!

Recorded on Sunday, August 31, 2025.

Trying not to have a panic attack im Joe; … Moss; Losing my mind, s usual, I’m Bill; Not going on holiday now Majid; … Eric, … Summer is over this is Charles, … Loving the bokeh Jim

— Play Standard Intro —

  • First up in the Mint news: Another birthday for Mint!, Mint 22.2 final ISOs now being tested
  • In security and privacy: Arch is Ddossed and malware abounds
  • Then in our Wanderings: Joe does a lot, Majid achieves very little, Charles, Bill falls off the ARC and Jim is a photographic genius
  • And finally, the feedback and a couple of suggestions
  • Please remember if you want to follow along with our discussions, the full show notes for this episode are linked in the show’s description at mintcast.org/show-notes

— Play News Transition Bumper —

The News

20 minutes

  • Another birthday for Mint!
    • Via londoner
    • The first version of Linux Mint, code-named ‘Ada’ was released on August 27, 2006. It was based on Kubuntu 6.06 ‘Dapper Drake’ and the desktop environment was KDE 3. It was only only released as a beta, and never achieved a full release. Happy 19th Mint!
  • Mint 22.2 ‘Zara’ final ISOs being tested
    • And as if to celebrate:- On Thursday (August 28) the final ISOs for Mint 22.2, code-named ‘Zara’ entered QA testing. Watch the Mint blog for details of the release.

— Play Security Transition Bumper —

Security and Privacy

10 minutes

  • Charles Ringreaper Linux Malware https://linuxsecurity.com/features/ringreaper-linux-malware
  • What is io_uring – a revolutionary Linux I/O interface introduced in kernel version 5.1 and championed by Jens Axboe. It is designed from the ground up to optimize asynchronous I/O operations with minimal kernel interaction and near-zero overhead. With a shared memory ring buffer interface between user space and kernel space, io_uring represents the next step in Linux I/O innovation, providing developers with a fast, scalable, and modern solution to manage thousands, even millions, of concurrent I/O events efficiently.
  • io_uring allows RingReaper to gather system data (files, processes, network info) without generating the usual syscall activity.
  • This means common security tools and forensic hooks that monitor syscalls never see the malicious activity. As a result, the malware operates quietly, “whispering” rather than announcing its presence.
  • Mitigation’s Against RingReaper –
    • 1. Enhance Visibility into io_uring

Kernel-level monitoring: Extend tracing tools (e.g., eBPF, ftrace, perf) to hook into io_uring submission/completion queues rather than just syscalls.

Auditd limitations: Since auditd won’t catch io_uring calls, consider custom eBPF programs that log io_uring operations (file reads, process scans).

2. Detect Anomalous Behavior

Unusual use of io_uring: Most legitimate apps using io_uring are high-performance servers (databases, async I/O apps). Widespread io_uring use by unexpected binaries (system utilities, shells) should raise alarms.

Heuristics: Look for binaries making heavy io_uring requests that shouldn’t normally need async I/O.

Baseline normal workloads: Profile what processes typically use io_uring in your environment; deviations = suspicious.

— Play Wanderings Transition Bumper —

Linux Wanderings

30 minutes (~5-8 minutes each)

  • Joe
    • I am still trying couple of things out in regards to my mini rack. A short time ago on one of the mint VM’s i started setting things up so that i could move all of my audiobook settup onto the rack instead of sharing things over network shares. That way it is not dependent on both machines being up and running. One of my redundancies allows for the just the garage computer to be on but doesnt save my listening history. I have another redundancy that does save my history but still requires both computers, that was set up to handle when one of the drives drops. Now i want one that is only dependent on the minirack being running. I prefer it to save my history but that may take a different setup. For now what i have done is create a drive location on the mint vm using the storage that is attached to the rack computer. I originally made it 2 tb.
    • I then wanted a way that would copy my current library over and one that would maintain and update if i added more books on my computer side. So i went and got an application that i used to use a lot called resilio sync. i dont like that i have to get a key from them even if i am using a free version but i do know that it works well and does not require much in the way of setup.
    • The problem got to be that i did not allocate enough space and it got completely filled. I had to force stop the VM and resize the virtual drive that i had given it to 3tb and start the VM and run gparted to resize. Granted i had to stop the systemd instances that i had created because they were using the drive, then unmount the drive then resize and restart the services and then restart the VM and then everything was able to finish copying over and because i set resilio up as a service it will now copy over any new books that i add automatically.
    • now i can either setup an instance of audiobookshelf on the VM or i can create a share that can be seen by my current instance of audiobookshelf. As long as the file structure is the same and i am storing the config and logs separatley i will be able to maintain my listening history and it will not take a whole lot of extra time to scan the files. Just a change in config for the docker compose file.
    • Or i could setup both for the sake of redundancy. yeah probably that.
    • I also got an Elegoo Centauri Carbon 3d printer from my kids for my birthday.  It is kinda awesome.  It is much louder than my ender but it is also incredibly faster, and there are several things that can be done to quiet it down.  The 15 minute benchy came out beautifully, very smooth and detailed.  I love the bed leveling automation.  I have mostly printed things for it so far since i got it the day before i went to Florida.  Printed the collection bin for the back and the side slots to hold the top glass so that it doesnt get set somewhere and broken.  All 3 of those prints were on the device and easy enough to print.  But i also wanted one of the vented risers so that i dont have to take off the glass on the top to print PLA.  So i got that from printables and came up against my first concern. This device is not compatible with octoprint.  It is compatible with orca slicer though and that connected to it easy enough.  That gave me the ability to do network printing and to view the webcam but i dont want to have to install it on all of my computers.  But i can use it from a webpage if i install the docker version and use novnc.  Works great and now i can view it from any pc on the network and get all of the functionality that i previously had setup on octoprint.  probably going to have to uninstall that for now, although i do still have the ender which may go to my son if he is interested.  
    • This also means that it is time to get the ABS out of desiccant and see about printing some things for higher heat.  I also want to see about getting some tpu to print with but i think i need to do some research first and see how that goes. Because of permissioning i did have to move the orca slicer docker image from the LXC to one of the VM’s but i think that i can move back if i add some extra to the compose files and give the correct elevated permissions.  But it is working for now and that is the same VM that previously had the octoprint running on it because of the requirement to hook up the printer and the camera over USB
    • The vented riser that i printed also has attachments for a bar light, which i did have one attached to the ender so that will be moving and i have a tool holder that will be going on the side as well so maybe i dont lose the tools as quickly.  after that i have a part for a pair of headphones that is really small that i need to design and print.  I have not found an stl online for it and the one that you can order from china costs 10 bucks.  id much rather print it if i can.  And i do want to see how well the printer handles PETG since i have been printing in PLA.  Though this tiny part may be better in ABS.  I guess i could try all 3.  I have a lot of ABS but it has been sitting on my shelf (properly stored) for a long time, since i put away the maker select v2 in favor of the ender 3 v2.  i am also looking at several other prints for the printer, like the articulated hinges that allow the door to open more and a cover for the screen.  maybe also something to hold the door partway open for printing with PLA if the vents are not enough to keep the inside cool.  
    • And then i figured out that the printer has its own webpage where you can print things and monitor it much the same as you could with octoprint and that orcaslicer was just accessing that page.  Which is cool as hell but kinda makes me feel like an idiot.  but hey how was i supposed to know
    • But now i also need to start ordering extra parts for this device since the spares that i have are all for the ender.  A couple of build plates for quick swapping and some extra extruders in case of clogging and maybe some extra hot ends for fast nozzle size changes.  Wonder how much quicker it would be with a .6 instead of a .4.  Plus need to put some TPU into my wish list. I was able to convince my kids at home to remove things from the build plate a couple of times and that did allow me to continue printing while several hundred miles away until i ran out of PLA.  
    • While on vacation i started using my onegx as my primary machine.  I noticed that the keyboard started to go out on it and that it started having some issues with typing in general.  i do have a replacement keyboard for it that i purchased when it get wet a year or two ago and since it started working again i did not replace.  yes i went through the drying process on it.  I probably dont use this machine as much as i should but i still think it is great especially considering the size and the overall power of it.  So i will be doing my best to make sure that it stays in service as long as possible.  Even if in the long run i have to turn it into some stand alone mini pc.  I have not done the keyboard swap yet but maybe i will have by the time i actually talk about all the stuff that i have worked on since i will be missing a couple of shows.  Well since i wrote that i did do the keyboard swap.  it was a pain in the butt.  Literally had to take it all the apart and there was something like 30 or 40 extremely tiny screws to get it out and back in.  And obviously i did a little bit of damage but only to one of the antenna end connections that dont really do anything.  It did work but looking at the battery is starting to swell and i will need to order another one. Which i have ordered another one using the money that was donated to on kofi.  Thank you guys very much.  I will let you know when it arrives and gets installed
    • With proper cooling it may even make a halfway decent steam machine.  we shall see.  But since i was on vacation and had limited gear i pulled out my docking station and my portable monitor as well as my jellycomb mouse and my mechanical keyboard and while that left me a little stationary it did work pretty well and I was able to get everything done that i wanted to. Plus i still had my Dell tablets for portability.  But the internet there was slow.  Not terrible service wise but only 10gbs which is still useable but not great.  Also the router was very far away in the house but i did bring one of the mesh routers whw03’s and i set that up as a repeater.  that helped some but i also think that the antenna came lose in the onegx so i set up my glinet as bridge and that fixed a lot of my network issues with that.  The mesh router will be staying and i will need to redo all the configuration on the portable router when i get home.  or maybe just set one of the mesh routers up and keep my portable router portable.  I still need to find my other ones as well and maybe set something up in my car.  
    • I also found a good stl for the steel series arctis 9x.  It prints very nice in petg and went right on.  Unlike the 7 the 9x doesnt have a ribbon connector but 11 different solder points instead.  So i got out my paper and pencil and drew out all of the connections and used kapton tape to put them in the proper groups.  The only thing that is giving me a problem is the snap ring that doesnt want to go back on.  I have replaced those before with a solid core wire that is wound in a way that it wont come undone so i will do that as a work around.  i really like the arctis 9x headsets because with the adapter i can have it hooked to my phone and my computer at the same time and it sounds great.  The mic is good enough for work calls and the audio is more than good enough for music or books.  Maybe not as loud as some of the other headsets that i have but still dang good.  And with this 3d printed fix i should be able to get some of the ones with broken plastic for cheap and make them usable as needed.  
    • Back on the mini rack front i am working on migrating all of the drives onto the rack and setting up some kind of network shares so that i no longer need to have the rack in the garage.  I would like it to be a bit more portable and that is the only thing really holding it back.  The hard drives that are connected to my main garage PC.  It will probably be a long process considering the way that things are setup now and will take a lot of reconfiguring of containers.  Also i will need to setup a VM for managing the network shares and i do have my concerns about overwriting. But i do have one drive that has less data on it and i am hoping that i can find it disconnect and reconnect and see what can be done.  
    • OpenMediaVault did install pretty easy and i moved one of my 8tb drives over to it to check and see if i could pass the whole drive and see the data.  So there were two 8tb drives hooked to the mini rack and my testing showed that i could indeed see the data from a passed drive and could probably make it available to other devices.  I then had to reconfigure a few things and in the process i i attached the wrong drive to openmediavault and reformated it.  Losing me the disk image for most of my lxcs and a couple of my vms.  So i ended up having to rebuild a bunch of things.  I still have not redone my home assistant setup because that is a very involved process.  But 2 vms were redone and almost my entire arr stack along with my nextcloud instance. .  But i was able to take the reformatted drive and make a share out of that i can attach anywhere on my network which is the first step to getting the rack completely disconnected from my garage PC.  I do have some ideas on hooking up another drive to the other mini pc or maybe a few of them.
  • Jim
    • Podcast setup- Camera: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Canon 28mm 1.8 prime lens; Ulanzi camera desk mount stand with flexible arms. Lighting: key light- LED floor lamp with changeable color temperature and brightness control; fill light- window or 24” monitor; accent light- SmallRig RM75 LED video light. Audio: Samson Q2U USB/XLR mic mounted on InnoGear Boom Arm microphone mic stand. Need new Android phone for app to control settings while camera is mounted.
    • OTA TV setup. Televes Dinova Boss Mix antenna mounted to roof, existing coax into house; Fire TV Recast DVR (issues, broken program guide, and end of life); new Tablo 4th gen. DVR. Fire TV 4K Max or 4K devices and Fire TV OS.
    • MakeMKV app to rip DVDs and Blu-rays. Ubuntu PPA, perpetual beta
    • Simplescreenrecorder (Mint software store) to capture streaming media, both video and audio. Plus VLC or MPV using keyboard shortcuts to delay audio + or – to fix out of sync video and audio.
  • Majid
    • Server issues.
      • Synology NAS vs Server
      • New Machine
      • Ubuntu Server
      • CLI vs Lubuntu vs Cockpit
      • ZFS
      • OpenMediaVault vs TrueNAS
      • OMV it is! I wish I’d known Joe was doing it and having similar issues!
      • transferring data takes ages
    • Distrohopping
      • Cachy back to Mint
      • Bluefin now Manjaro
      • Ubuntu saves the day
    • Spotify moved to YouTube Music
    • More Podcast episodes done, trying to get a new guest
  • Bill
    • Arc GPU woes
    • Wife’s Pinetime finally went out
    • Got new Galaxy S 25 Ultra
    • Chuwi – need I say more?

–Play Bodhi Corner Transition Bumper*–

Bodhi Corner

3-5 minutes

Shape 1 — Play Vibrations Transition Bumper —

Vibrations from the Ether

20 minutes (~5 minutes each)

  • Phil s in Perth – Western Australia
  • Greetings folks,
  • The subject of donations has once again been raised and I fully support the idea of you accepting donations via a service such as Patreon. I already subscribe via Patreon to Late Night Linux and would happily do the same for yourselves as you could use the financial support.
  • I find the ones that usually object to this sort of thing are those that (always) want something for nothing which they mask as a philosophical argument. Back in the BBS days they were referred to as “file sponges”. If you have the means to support a project, why not throw a small amount of money towards it? From a moral standpoint it’s the right thing to do!
  • Watching this with interest – keep up the good work fellers.

? Bill, do we have a Patreon now?

— Play Check This Transition Bumper —

Check This Out

10 minutes

Housekeeping & Announcements

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

— Play Closing Music and Standard Outro —

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