November 2025 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

Anyone using Ubuntu LTS with "mainstream" kernel updates?
by Evan Leibovitch 02 Dec '25

02 Dec '25

Hi all, As just the latest chapter of some of my recent distribution-hopping adventures, I find myself needing to investigate the use of Ubuntu (or to be specific Kubuntu) LTS version. It's mainly because of third-party support, stuff that I want to use is officially supported on Ubuntu LTS, RHEL and clones (ie, Rocky) and little else. What I want is community-supported on Fedora, CatchyOS and elsewhere, but that means going through hoops and update-breakage risks that I'd care to avoid. Here's the problem: my newish hardware isn't fully supported by kernels older than 6.16.9 and *ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS ships with 6.8. There are two ways to get newer kernels with Ubuntu LTS. One, "Hardware Enablement" (HWE) goes up to 6,14, closer but not quite. Another path, the "Mainline kernel PPA <https://kernel.ubuntu.com/mainline/dashboard.html>" offers kernels as current as 6.18-rc7 but is unsupported and not recommended for anything but experimental systems. My main problem should alleviate on February 12 when Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS is scheduled for release, with the HWE kernel will be at oldest 6.17. Between now and then I must choose between (a) hardware that isn't fully functional, (b) a provided-but-unsupported kernel update that is not recommended for anything but testing. My question here is whether anyone reading this has any experience with Ubuntu LTS using Mainline kernels. If so, how stable was it? Thanks! -- Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada @evanleibovitch / @el56

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Linus, meet Linus
by Evan Leibovitch 01 Dec '25

01 Dec '25

https://youtu.be/mfv0V1SxbNA?si=GamGvJIkSJUZ5A7l I wondered when this was going to happen... Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada @evanleibovitch / @el56

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Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III open sourced
by Colin McGregor 30 Nov '25

30 Nov '25

The games Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III have been open sourced and released under the MIT license. Now these games were released in the early 1980s and today you have to be a fairly hard core retro gamer to go for these games. Still, nice to see these games can now (subject to the license conditions) be (legally) distributed and made available in the retro game community. Details can be seen here : https://opensource.microsoft.com/blog/2025/11/20/preserving-code-that-shape… Now the open source release of Zork I - III is a good thing, but ... I don't know when / if the copyright holder will release the source code for other similar games that were originally released by the same people as Zork I - III. Colin

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Status of Debian and derivatives, or flatpak/appimage/snap discussion redux
by Nick Accad 29 Nov '25

29 Nov '25

Hi Recently I have been noticing that more and more of my daily-use packages in Debian are old. I am not talking about stuff in "Stable" where versions are not upgraded but fixes are backported, I am using Sid as my main workstation, and some stuff is really old Example is rssguard, in Debian (any release), it is stuck on version 4.0.4, github is on 4.8.6. I started digging, and I found out that there are over 4000 packages in Debian that are either orphared, or the maintainer is asking for help. This is not sustainable, I tried looking into taking over a simple package, and honestly got overwhelmed, mostly because I am not a programmer in any way. This is not just Debian, but any Debian derivative, including Ubuntu and its derivatives. Take a look at https://wnpp.debian.net/ for a full list, see the packages that are orphaned and without owner, that is almost 1300. Admittedly, not all of them are critical or even important, but it should be a reason for concern. The immediate solution for me is to use flatpaks. I find myself relying more and more on flatpaks or external repos. On my desktop is not really an issue, but I keep having nightmares about possible security problems. The other option is of course to switch to something else, either Fedora and derivatives, or Arch and derivatives, but honestly after 20+ years of Debian, I am the old man who has no patience for new toys. In short, Debian needs help, if you have the knowledge and the time, please consider taking over something. Thank you -nick

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Zorin vs Mint
by William Park 27 Nov '25

27 Nov '25

(Double posted, so reply to your list) Anyone running Zorin OS or Linux Mint on real machine? Any issues? I've been trying them out on VirtualBox, to see which one I should migrate to. I can't decide. They are about the same, in terms of stability. - they crash about the same number of times (but, I think it's VirtualBox issue). - speed is about the same - they're based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (kernel 6.14). - Zorin has its own desktop... it's okay. - Mint has its own desktop, too... it's okay, too. So, I need real-life feedback...

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NOTICE OF AGM and December Meeting
by Alan Heighway 23 Nov '25

23 Nov '25

This is a reminder that at December's general meeting we also will hold our AGM. *Agenda*: 1. AGM 2. General Meeting Business 3. Presentation 4. Discussion 5. Adjournment of AGM AGM: 1. Year in Review 2. BOD Nominations and Election if required 3. Financial report 4. Adjournment Generat meeting Presentation: Tech Toy Lighting Talks... Description: We are coming to you to tell us about your favorite tech related toy or software. For our December meeting, we’re turning the spotlight over to *you*! We’d love for each member to share a favorite tech-related toy, tool, or piece of software. It doesn’t have to be strictly computer-based—anything that scratches your tech itch is fair game. Tell us *what it is*, *what it does*, and most importantly, *why you enjoy it*. Maybe it’s a gadget that makes life easier, a piece of software you can’t live without, or even a clever non-digital device that satisfies your inner tinkerer. Come ready to show it off, share your enthusiasm, and maybe even inspire someone else’s next favorite tech treasure! Speaker: All of you! *Date / Time:* December 9th, 2025 19:30 EST *A*lan *H*eighway <http://heighway.ca/> heighway.ca 416-712-5247 VA3WAH / VA3YKZ [image: Please consider the environment before printing]

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Repeater mode = Media Bridge mode + AP mode
by William Park 23 Nov '25

23 Nov '25

I'm mad as hell. I've been using Asus RP-N12 Repeater as "media bridge" for long time. Essentially, devices with only network port connects to the repeater (directly or via switch), and the repeater connects to your wireless router. Just like one network switch connecting to another network switch. It has 3 modes: *repeater*, *media bridge*, *access point* (AP) modes. Anyways, I just found out that (default) "repeater" mode = "media bridge" mode + "ap" mode. In "media bridge" mode, "AP" mode is turned off. In "AP" mode, "media bridge" mode is turned off. In "repeater" mode, "media bridge" and "ap" modes are turned on. So, why am I mad? There were so many occasions when I had to walk up the stairs to get good signal, when I could've just operated it in the default "repeater" mode, and get "media bridge" for my devices and get "ap" mode for those crappy wifi devices. My advice: Just use it in the default "repeater" mode.

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[gta-bb-group] Bash this Saturday
by Do-Ming Lum 21 Nov '25

21 Nov '25

I am back in town and expect to attend. Have there been any issues with browsers connecting to the Bash Jitsi server while I was away? I ran into some problems earlier today on a different server and was told that Jitsi doesn't work with updated versions of current browsers. I had an older version of Chromium which allowed me to connect, but shortly afterward, it too exhibited failure mode behaviour. cheers, Do-Ming

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Red Hat User Group Toronto meeting coming up
by Evan Leibovitch 21 Nov '25

21 Nov '25

December 3, 4pm Details are at this link. <https://reg.experiences.redhat.com/flow/redhat/2931050/redhatfieldeventspre…> -- Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada @evanleibovitch / @el56

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HowtoGeek Article: 6 things I wish I knew before moving from Windows to Linux
by Don Tai 20 Nov '25

20 Nov '25

An interesting article about getting into Linux. He didn't say much about security. Mostly geared towards those who are thinking about making the switch. https://www.howtogeek.com/common-mistakes-linux-beginners-make/

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