Another fortnight, another episode of our beloved podcast called Linux Inlaws :-). What starts as an episode on the history of Central Europe and the role of the Netherlands and Germany in the greater scheme of things rapidly moves sideways into a discussion of git-powered static HTML website generators in contrast to context management systems (CMSs) and their advantages, disadvantages and why the hell even think about this. Chris uses an innocent (?) Linux User Group (LUG) as an example for a ...
Mar 10, 2022
In this episode of the Inlaws our two ageing heroes host Doug DeMaio and Axel Braun, both intimately associated with and actively supporting the OpenSUSE project, the foundation of one of the popular Linux distros apart from RedHat and Debian for companies of all sizes (yes, and Ubuntu before I get any hate mails from Mark Shuttleworth or Cannonical in general :-). Apologies for not mentioning Alma, CentOS or Rocky Linux. Topics of discussion include the advantages of hipster concepts like rolli...
Feb 24, 2022
Right into the third year of the first five-year plan our two ageing heroes discuss the past year in review (blatantly stealing this concept from other popular podcasts), focussing on the hotter episodes of second year and progress with increasing the number of active listeners from two to five and beyond. Also, major fuck-ups and lessons learned from them are revealed including some ranting about badly designed and implemented software never mind documentation. Links: Shameless self-promoting l...
Feb 10, 2022
In this episode of your favourite FLOSS podcast our two OAPs discuss the challenges of running conferencing systems like BigBlueButton behind a network address translation (NAT) configuration, something that the Inlaws have been struggeling (?) with for quite some time but now have arrived a solution which might just work :-). If you face similar challenges or just want to refresh your knowledge about intricate network architectures never mind their pitfalls, stay tuned. All will be revealed (ho...
Jan 26, 2022
In this episode, the Inlaws are hosting Neil Johnson, VP of Engineering at Element. But this is not just about this popular Matrix graphical user interface but rather about this federated communication network dubbed as the next big thing after Mastodon and Discord, soon to take over the world (pretty much like the Inlaws themselves - it's gonna get crowded... :-). Links: The Matrix Foundation: https://matrix.org/foundation Element: https://github.com/vector-im/element-web Synapse (Matrix refere...
Jan 13, 2022
In this end of year episode / Xmas bumper our two aging heroes host the Grumpy Old Coders once again. Apart from having lots of fun, our four eclectic panelists discuss the year in review and some obscure predictions the Inlaws made at the end of last year in S01E20 to see if these became true or not. Plus a seriously long commercial break on mainframes done by our own Chris (Arvind / Jim / IBM: If you're listening: the sponsor mail address is ibm_sponsor@linuxinlaws.eu). Plus some juicy competi...
Dec 29, 2021
In this episode - sadly missing Martin as he buggered off to do something else - the remaining Inlaw hosts Wim Taymans, inventor and brain behind Pipewire, a new approach to Linux audio. Don't miss out on this episode if you're fed up with Pulseaudio (hello Martin :-) or find Jack just too complicated for every-day usage - you may see audio on Linux from a different perspective after this episode... Never mind those of you who are looking for a crash-course on audio on Linux - this episode is fo...
Dec 21, 2021
In this episode our two heroes contemplate the ins and outs of version control systems (VCS) and how to maintain sanity using them. Particular focus is on the newer generation of such as git which enabled large-scale community projects such as the Linux kernel, programming languages like Rust and Python and other shenanigans. Including a crash course on version control systems - you may credits at your local third-level education facility for listening to this episode. Just tell them the Inlaws ...
Dec 02, 2021
In this episode Martin and one of the Grumpies (as in Grumpy Old Coders) battle it out: SQL or NoSQL - which technology is better? If you ever wondered why the Structured Query Language was invented in the first place and why the hipster abandoned ship for the latest (?) rage of the likes of the NoSQL variety, this is for you. Plus: A whole family of never-heard-of sound effects make their debut on this bumper of an episode. Links: SQL: https://www.iso.org/standard/63555.html NoSQL: https://en.w...
Nov 18, 2021
In this episode our two OAPs host Deb Nicholson, the general manager of the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Apart from riveting insights into open source licensing we discuss the greater FLOSS ecosystem and Deb's views on why wearing shoes is important in certain contexts, open source standards, law suits and the differences between US and Europe among other things. Links: OSI: https://opensource.org OSI's FLOSS definition: https://opensource.org/osd Commons Clause license: https://commonsclause.c...
Nov 04, 2021
In this infomercial on Microsoft, our hosts discuss the infamous Halloween documents ('tis the season after all), a set of ancient scrolls dating back more than twenty years and giving an overview of the behemoth's then strategy on open source and how to possibly combat it. But fear not, ye of little faith :-), all is well now as the episode shows also the long way Microsoft has come since then and its adoption (and giving back!) as an enterprise technology. Plus: How to increase your market cap...
Oct 21, 2021
In this episode, Martin and Chris host an eclectic panel of contributors to the *other* major FLOSS operating system family - you guessed it: the flavours of the Berkeley Software Distribution (aka BSD among friends). Disclaimer: you may be tempted to diverge from the Path of the Righteousness also known as Linux and give this alternative a spin. So this episode is *not* for the faint-hearted - listen at your own discretion! Also: the true defective nature of our beloved (?) hosts' past will be ...
Oct 07, 2021
In this episode, our two hosts host Rhys Davies, a developer advocate from Canonical. So all beans will be spilled on one of the most popular Linux distros out there. Like its past, present and future. Never mind how Canonical makes its moolah and where this goes... Plus an interesting infomercial on old big iron (IBM, if you're listening: the mail address is sponsor@linuxinlaws.eu). Links: Canonical: https://canonical.com Ubuntu: https://ubuntu.com Manjaro: https://manjaro.org WSL: https://wiki...
Sep 23, 2021
This episode is dedicated to tiny kernels driving operating systems also known as micro-kernels. While discussing the last 100 years of operating system design and implementation, our two aging heroes also shed some light on operating systems in general and their recent history (like fifty years). Unless you're a true OS nerd, you find the episode mildly refreshing and educational on the layers of software underneath your beloved applications controlling the hardware and other shenanigans. If yo...
Sep 09, 2021
In this episode of our beloved open source podcast rapidly approaching its zenith of popularity (with hopefully not an equally rapid decline afterwards) our two elderly heroes pay tribute to Hacker Public Radio in general and Ken Fallon in particular. Plus: a never-heard-of-before peek into Martin's very own private life (we lift the veil and reveal it all - don't miss this!) Links: Hacker Public Radio (HPR): https://hackerpublicradio.org HPR mailing list: https://hackerpublicradio.org/mailman/l...
Aug 26, 2021
In this episode Chris is trying hard to get Martin to sleep by elaborating on the subject of free and open source software licenses but fails miserably. Listen to a more than riveting episode on the ins and outs of licensing FLOSS code bases in addition to banter about Brexit, plans for a reshaping of Europe after the invasion of England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland leave the UK. Links: MI6: https://www.sis.gov.uk OSI definition of free and open source software: https://opensource.or...
Aug 12, 2021
In this episode our aging heroes host the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). Its president, Matthias Kirschner talk about the past, the present and the future of free and open source software not only from an FSFE perspective. Never mind how he got into computers in the first place. Also, different opinions about communism in general and its implementations (and the flaws of the first rounds of implementations) are touched upon. So historians, FLOSS users and enthusiasts, communists and fre...
Jul 28, 2021
In this fourth part of our three-part miniseries on Deep and Machine Learning our two heroes shed some light on a DL architecture called Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT), a pretty sophistic piece of software that fools most humans when it comes to authoring text (ideal for budding writers with a block in place). Other topics of discussion includes OpenAI (the company behind this framework), Elon Musk, Bitcoin, Microsoft and if the GPT can actually pass the Turing test. All will be reveal...
Jul 15, 2021
In this episode - aptly named "The return of the Rust" our two heroes host a very special guest: no other than Steve Klabnik of Rust fame himself. Needless to say, this hipster programming language which is on everbody's mind at the moment (apart maybe from a few lost souls still crying over spilled coffee) plays a very important role in this show in addition to the newly founded Rust Foundation hosting such eclectic members such as Microsoft, Mozilla, Google and Facebook just to name a few look...
Jul 01, 2021
In part three of the 27.64 episodes long mini-series on artificial intelligences, machine and deep learning and other hipster topics around machines trying to imitate humans (marketing made us do these :-), our two heroes discuss domain-specific frameworks on top of (more generic) infrastructure like TensorFlow or PyTorch. As usual, all will be revealed and no details be spared (apart from a very few) including how to tell animals apart from humans (a tricky feat as any journalist can tell you w...
Jun 17, 2021
In this episode the inlaws host Paul Ramsey of OpenGeo fame. Apart from his PostgreSQL contributions, Paul is probably best known for GIS work and geo DB contributions in general (in addition to off-the-beaten track stuff like URL of his website among other things). Don't miss this for nuggets on geo databases and beyond! Links: Paul Ramsey: https://blog.cleverelephant.ca/ PostgreSQL: https://www.postgresql.org PostGIS: https://postgis.net FOSS4G 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ5_NnrBHjo...
Jun 03, 2021
After successfully navigating through the shallow (or not-so-shallow) depths of the first episode on deep learning fundamentals, our two heroes tackle a more concrete topic in this episode: How to use the damn stuff! No expenses will be spared to bring to the listeners the finer details of tensors, TensorFlow and other frameworks which serve as the basis for modern artificial intelligence / machine learning applications running on back-propagation networks (see the first episode on the foundatio...
May 20, 2021
In this episode, our two ageing heroes host an eclectic panel of kernel contributors of a small, mostly unknown operating system called "Linux". The panelists hail from all over the planet (sadly, no money or love would buy Richard's or Linus' way onto that panel :-) but the discussion proves more than interesting regardless of these uber-nerds being absent. All will be revealed including the true age of Linux, one of Chris' secret obsessions (hint: it's not software bugs), Linus Torvald's thoug...
May 06, 2021
In this episode, our two heroes explore the realm of artificial intelligence, paying special attention to deep learning (hoping that some of the stuff may rub on them :-). In this first part of a three-part mini-series the chaps discuss the foundation including networks, neurons and other topics of advanced black magic, carefully avoiding the temptations of introducing too much maths (we'll leave this to the Grumpy Old Coders :-). Links: Artificial intelligence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art...
Apr 22, 2021
In this episode, our two heroes explore the realm of the great uncertainties also known as probabilistic data structures. For this adventures they managed to retain one of the experts in this field from the open source realm. Check out the episode to get in on this secret and its details! Links: Probabilistic data structures (PDS): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Probabilistic_data_structures Hash functions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_function Bloom / cuckoo filters: https://bdupr...
Apr 08, 2021
In this episode our two aging heroes discuss the proper temperature to drink beer at (spoiler: it's not 20 degrees as CAMRA would make you believe) and the ins and outs of basic and enhanced security on our beloved operating system. If you ever wanted to know more about Linux Security Modules, AppArmor and SELinux and how dames of negotiable affections relate to these concepts, this show is for you. Shownotes: Campaign for Real Ale: https://camra.org.uk/ Linux Security Modules: https://en.wikipe...
Mar 25, 2021
This time our two heroes host an eclectic couple known as the grumpy old coders. Thomas, David, Martin and Chris discuss stealing, um, borrowing (and never giving back) of mottos and mascotts, programming languages including Java, Python and Rust woes and how they all arrived at podcasting. Never mind Chris revealing his true and only heritage and other little-known secrets. Don't miss out on this episode for the full lowdown (never mind the even lower down . Shownotes: Grumpy Old Coders: https:...
Mar 10, 2021
Plankalkül: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankalk%C3%BCl Fortran: https://fortran-lang.org COBOL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL ALGOL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALGOL GNU Fortran: https://gcc.gnu.org/fortran/ IBM System/36: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/36 IBM Z: https://www.ibm.com/it-infrastructure/z/hardware Niklaus Wirth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niklaus_Wirth Pascal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_(programming_language) Modula-2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
Feb 25, 2021
Free software (not just Richard's idea): https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html How Nvidia became Skynet: https://hackerpublicradio.org/eps.php?id=3069 Hacktoberfest: https://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com Claudio and crew: https://hackerpublicradio.org/eps.php?id=3099 Not going out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Going_Out An American Pickle: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9059704/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2 Mrs Honeyhume: https://hackerpublicradio.org/eps.php?id=3251...
Feb 11, 2021
Linux Professional Institute: https://www.lpi.org Kali Linux: https://www.kali.org Anti-pox of the week (Java is broken): https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2210720/how-to-analyse-a-noclassdeffounderror-caused-by-an-ignored-exceptionininitialize Book of Monsters: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7260818 Tucker and Dale vs. Evil: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1465522 The serpent (BBC series): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Serpent_(TV_series) Grumpy Old Coders (epside 6): https://soundcloud.com/us...
Jan 27, 2021
