Linux
171 episodes
#6512: Build Servers Never Actually Build Anything
A Woodpecker CI server runs entirely as an idle control plane using roughly 100 MB of RAM while external agents handle compilation.
#6452: Why Recursive File Watching Strains Linux Memory
A recursive watch across a million directories locks up roughly a gigabyte of pinned kernel memory that cannot be swapped.
#6426: Tracing How IP Cameras Phone Home in OPNsense
When firewall rules change, an IP camera's cloud stream stays alive because the kernel preserves existing connections in the PF state table.
#6354: What Remote Teams Can Learn from the Linux Kernel
Between 1991 and 1995, over 15,000 contributors submitted code or comments to Linux discussion channels without an office or an HR department.
#6353: How Ubuntu Actually Updates Your Firmware
During a UEFI capsule update, Linux never overwrites motherboard flash; it stages files on the EFI partition and hands off execution on reboot.
#6188: Every Way Linux Relieves Memory Pressure
Zram, zswap, swappiness, and the OOM killers — the full ladder Linux climbs when RAM runs out, and what to actually run.
#6187: Can Your Laptop Borrow Your Desktop's RAM?
Two gigabytes free on the laptop, sixty-four idle on the desktop next door. Can swap over the network actually help?
#6186: A Virtual Disk Inside Your Linux Filesystem
Loop devices let a plain file act as a real disk — format it, encrypt it, mount it from fstab. Here's what works, and what bites back.
#6182: Running a Private APT Repo for Family Machines
Daniel wants his Debian packages on family machines without becoming their unpaid update service. Here's the modern way to do it.
#6166: Turning a Drifted Server Into a Rebuildable Playbook
Your server grew for years. Now you want a recipe that can rebuild it from scratch. Here's the honest path from drift to playbook.
#6128: Where the Screws Go: Internal KVM Mounting
PiKVM, NanoKVM, JetKVM, and BliKVM all promise remote rescue — but wiring one inside your case is a different problem entirely.
#6125: Which Env Var Wins? Cloud vs. Local Precedence
Same variable name, two values, one silent winner. Vercel and n8n go one way; dotenv goes the other.
#5970: Swapping Your Linux Kernel: What Actually Changes
Your kernel is swappable without reinstalling anything. But do Liquorix and XanMod actually beat the default? The benchmarks say less than the mark...
#5969: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS: Is Staying on LTS Still a Trade-Off?
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS shipped in April. Point releases, HWE kernels, and SRUs have quietly closed most of the freshness gap — but not everywhere.
#5968: Gentoo in 2026: Still Worth Compiling?
Twenty years on Linux and he's never tried Gentoo. In 2026, does the compile-everything reputation still hold?
#5967: How UEFI, Secure Boot, and the Boot Chain Actually Work
Twenty years of Linux and nobody explains the firmware. Here's the boot chain, the keys, and what's changing in 2026.
#5966: How Much of Your Linux Desktop Is Actually Misconfigured?
Most "Linux tweaks" are folklore. A few are real — and one toggle most people never open is worth up to 42%.
#5965: Compiling From Source: What You Actually Get
Source builds aren't faster — they're smaller. What USE flags, compiler flags, and the build feedback loop actually buy you.
#5964: Containers vs VMs for GPU Inference: What You Actually Pay
Containers cost 0.03%. Passthrough VMs cost 1%... or 36%. Same hardware, different systems — here's how to tell which you'll get.
#5961: What Your GPU Is Actually Waiting On
Your GPU says 100% utilized. It's multiplying zeros. Here's what the counters actually measure during inference.
#5942: Service Workers: The Proxy That Never Sleeps
A JavaScript file with no tab, no DOM, and the power to intercept every request your site makes — and why refreshing never updates it.
#5938: One Regex Rule Worked, One Was Impossible
A dictation app, two text-replacement rules, and the mathematical line between what regex can match and what it provably cannot.
#5905: Bare Linux Routing vs OPNsense: What Actually Wins?
You can build a router on plain Debian or Ubuntu. The question is whether you should — and what it costs you over ten years.
#5870: Homebox Fork's Two Backend Scripts Need a Real Job Runner
A Homebox fork has two incremental scripts — WebP conversion and AI image enrichment — and no scheduler built to run them safely.