Late Night Linux Family All Episodes Late Night Linux – Episode 352
Sep 23, 2025
There's drama brewing in KDE as a key leader departs after 25 years, stirring up funding disputes. Concerns mount over the missing Android 16 QPR1 source code, sparking debates about Google's transparency. Meanwhile, Ubuntu's switch to Rust coreutils reveals performance hiccups that need addressing. Mastodon takes a bold step by introducing new paid services to boost revenue. In a quirky twist, the hosts discuss a creative hacker who hosts a website on a disposable vape, reflecting on a potentially dystopian tech future.
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KDE Leadership Split After Funding Shift
- Jonathan Riddle left KDE after 25 years amid disputes about how funding and governance changed.
- Hosts described cultural tensions after Blue Systems moved contracts to TechPaladin and Jonathan disagreed with the outcome.
Money Forces Governance Tradeoffs
- Open governance and private contractual arrangements often clash when money enters open source projects.
- That tension between transparency and necessary private channels creates unavoidable cultural fractures.
Android Source Drops Growing Delayed
- Google delayed releasing Android 16 QPR1 source code and device trees, worrying developers used to prompt drops.
- Hosts observed this as part of a pattern of Google moving more features into proprietary components and tightening control.
