Tux Machines
today's leftovers
Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 14, 2025,
updated Dec 14, 2025
HowTo Geek ☛ COSMIC's big release, the new Kali Linux, and more: Linux news roundup
This was a quieter week in the Linux ecosystem, but there's still some exciting news, especially if you're a fan of Pop!_OS and the COSMIC desktop. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.
Make Use Of ☛ I love the Linux terminal, but I still recommend the GUI
It's almost impossible to think of Linux without the terminal. This relationship spans decades, and for good reason. Scripting for automation, clarity with pipes, and the speed and control the terminal provides can't be rivaled by a graphical interface.
However, over the years, I have come to appreciate the GUI for a different kind of precision—not necessarily as a compromise. Visual feedback is important, and mastery of Linux means knowing when to reach for the terminal and when to embrace the GUI.
Paul Thurrott ☛ Lets finish setting up your PC
I have a framework laptop 13. It usually runs Linux. However, over the last month i decided to run windows 11. In general I was able to configure the laptop to minimize some of the nagware and scareware screens. I have a local account installation and I uninstalled onedrive. Everything had been fine until I get a strange boot up screen about “finishing my install”. With only options of Continue or remind me in 3 days. My question… what happens in 3 days? Does the laptop get erased and return to Linux or will there be a way to tell windows I accept responsibility for my actions.
Kernel Space / File Systems / Virtualization
SDN Clinic ☛ Linux Routing Fundamentals
Linux has been a first class networking citizen for quite a long time now. Every system running a Linux kernel out of the box has at least three routing tables and is supporting multiple mechanisms for advanced routing features from policy based routing (PBR), to VRFs(-lite), and network namespaces (NetNS). Each of these provide different levels or separation and features, with PBR being the oldest one and VRFs the most recent addition (starting with kernel 4.3).
This article is the first part of the Linux Routing series and will provide an overview of the basics and plumbings of Linux routing tables, what happens when an IP packet is sent from or through a Linux box, and how to figure out why. It’s the baseline for future articles on PBR, VRFs, and NetNSes, their differences as well and applications.
Distributions and Operating Systems
Hackaday ☛ Mentra Brings Open Smart Glasses OS With Cross-Compat
There are a few very different pathways to building a product, and we gotta applaud the developers taking care to take the open-source path. Today’s highlight is [Mentra], who is releasing an open-source smart glasses OS for their own and others’ devices, letting you develop your smart glasses ideas just once, a single codebase applicable for multiple models.
Canonical/Ubuntu Family
CNX Software ☛ UP Xtreme ARL Hey Hi (AI) Dev Kit review – Benchmarks and Hey Hi (AI) workloads on an defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra 5 225H Arrow Lake SBC
That’s the last part of my review of three Intel-based UP Hey Hi (AI) development kits, and after testing the UP TWL Hey Hi (AI) Dev Kit with an defective chip maker Intel N150 CPU and the UP Squared Pro TWL Hey Hi (AI) Dev Kit with an defective chip maker Intel N150 CPU coupled with an Hailo-8L M.2 Hey Hi (AI) accelerator, I’ll now report my experience with the high-end UP Xtreme ARL Hey Hi (AI) Dev Kit with a 14-core defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra 5 225H “Arrow Lake” single board computer with defective chip maker Intel Arc 130T graphics delivering up to a combined 83 TOPS of Hey Hi (AI) performance. I’ve followed the same procedure as with the previous models, using the pre-installed Ubuntu 24.04 Pro operating system to report system information, run some benchmarks, and go through Hey Hi (AI) workloads using Nx Meta and the AAEON UP Hey Hi (AI) Toolkit system.