139: Linux 5.11, Linux On Mars!, KDE Plasma 5.21, Linux Mint, Fedora, Kodi | This Week in Linux

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Now all we need is IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) sent to Mars so it can live up to it’s promise!

I Just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to help with TWIL. If anyone helps you they’re helping Linux and you’ve been a major contributor to me learning FOSS and continuing my Linux journey.

There was a live stream I caught recently where you just reeeelentlessly answered Linux questions in chat, just dropping information bombs that blew my mind back in the day when you told me. It’s been a privelege to be any part of helping make that happen.

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Thanks @MichaelTunnell for another very informative and entertaining show - also to @Ulfnic - didn’t know you were helping-out behind the scenes though of course I notice and appreciate your contributions in the forum :slight_smile:

Linux on Mars has to be the most exciting news for me too! (Talking of space it’s only by chance I finished watching Firefly recently then rewatched Serenity this weekend and loved it!) I remember reading some years ago Bjarne Stroustrup mentioning fondly that C++ was powering some of these space devices though a part of me is curious to know if Java has got in there too meantime, OpenJDK I mean of course :slight_smile:

I find Kodi a bit mind-boggling and have so far only used it on very rare occasions if VLC doesn’t like one of my DVDs. Good to hear of the update though, and I wonder if it’s a little easier to understand the user-interface, or maybe it’s just me!

I’ve been experimenting with Manjaro in a VM primarily as I hope my next phone will be a PinePhone and it seemed to be a favourite with the hardware developers, though my heart does incline more to Ubuntu Touch as it seems more mobile-oriented from the word go. I’ll also be interested in seeing if PinePhone might have a slightly more beefy hardware upgrade too, soon, as I really do think people rely a lot on features such as the camera these days. I wouldn’t be looking for premium but more towards mid-range perhaps would do very well, I’m sure!

I remember when Devuan first launched. I think there’s a niche demand there, though I also think it’s always good to have alternatives, just in case.

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So far I’m liking Plasma 5.21 on openSUSE TW but my biggest complaint about Plasma is that the menu systems lack ONE annoying thing. The ability to navigate ALL the menu items with the keyboard.

If I use the “Application Menu” I cannot access the far left column with the keyboard, I can only navigate the app menu, not the shutdown, logout, restart, or favorites column. Same with “Application Launcher” I cannot use the keyboard to go across the top to the shutdown or reboot options. The only launcher that lets you do this is the fullscreen “Application Dashboard” and that takes so many keyboard button presses it’s not even worth it.

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