Last Updated on April 28, 2023
Over the years I have become increasingly fond and dependent on the podcast medium. As my days seem to consist of more and more out and about, travelling around the country, podcasts act as magazines for my ears, allowing me to keep up-to-date on the latest Linux developments wherever I am. The improvements in Android phones, with ever increasing storage space, combined with high quality open source software podcast aggregators (such as gPodder), makes the management of podcasts to be seamless, even out in the sticks.
I previously highlighted my favorite picks of Linux podcasts in my article titled ‘Illuminating Linux Podcasts’. I wanted to keep the selection down to 20 podcasts. But this inevitably meant that some admirable Linux podcasts were omitted. Sorry to these podcasters! So here are a further 10 podcasts that will be of interest to Linux users.
Linux News Log
Linux News Log is a weekly video and audio podcast that casts itself as “Separating The Linux and Open Source Signal From The Noise”. It brings the listener the latest news from around the web for the Linux user.
Linux News Log is hosted by Adrian Bacon, a programmer and website developer, who is based in Petaluma, California. There is no fluff, no waffle in this podcast; the shows are succinct, get straight to the point, and the host researches material from a wide variety of web sources. All the episode links are detailed on the Quicksurf website.
The podcasts are released under the Media Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States license. Linux News Log is a production of Quicksurf Internet Studios.
- Website: www.stitcher.com
- Length: About 10 minutes
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, MP3
- Video format: SD Video (640×360 h.264)
TuxJam
TuxJam is a family friendly show that combines Linux news with Creative Commons music. Generally, a new podcast release is broadcast each month.
This podcast is hosted by Kevie and Andrew. Kevie is based in the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, and prefers to run the Debian distribution (Debian unstable). Andrew Conway is a commited Slackware user. Both hosts are knowledgeable about Linux and the multmedia scene, strong proponents of open source software, and approach the podcasts in a laid-back but professional manner. Each podcast has some excellent in-depth information on open source multimedia software; the recent roundup of podcatchers was particular interesting. The shows start with new distro releases which help Linux users keep up to speed on releases that catch the hosts’ eyes, and they don’t sit on the fence when voicing their articulate opinions.
The poor audio quality for Andrew does mar the broadcast to a degree, and the pause/click when switching from Kevie to Andrew is distracting.
TuxJam plays lots of Creative Commons music; some of which is quite compelling, but many tunes featured are an acquired taste.
The podcasts are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.
- Website: tuxjam.otherside.network
- Length: About 60 minutes
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, MP3
- First Edition: 3rd June 2011
Linux in the Ham Shack
Linux in the Ham Shack is billed as “a podcast, a state of mind and a phenomenon”. Over the years, the scope of the show has widened. It consists of a bi-weekly audio podcast, and live streaming show, which aims to enlighten ham radio guys and gals to open source software, and also vice versa.
Adam Curry, the podfather, thinks Linux in the Ham Shack “sucks balls”. However, I would have to disagree with that opinion. Linux in the Ham Shack is not a technical podcast, there’s lots of chat, discussion, and opinions bandied about. Some shows concentrate more on ham radio, others focus more on Linux. Overall, there is a good, varied selection of topics under discussion, with lots of content unrelated to ham radio, so the podcast should have fairly wide appeal for the Linux community.
The segments of the show are divided by music tracks.
The hosts of the podcast are Richard (KB5JVB), an amateur radio operator since 1988, and Russ (K5TUX), a systems administrator and licensed radio operator since 1993. Bill (KA9WKA) takes the notes, and occasionally helps to host the show. Good stuff chaps!
- Website: lhspodcast.info
- Length: About 90 minutes
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, MP3
- First Edition: 8 October 2008
The Techie Geek Podcast
The Techie Geek is a live, bi-weekly, general technology podcast that has the aim of being “The Linux podcast for Windows users”.
The shows are hosted by Russ Wenner and Tracy Hold. Each episode there is discussion about computing hardware, Linux, Mac, and Windows, and almost any topic that appeals to an “Inner Geek”.
The Techie Geek is an extremely interesting show, with real diversity in the topics covered, and there will something to appeal here whatever operating system that you run. A podcast definately worth subscribing to.
- Website: archive.org
- Length: About 45 minutes
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, MP3
- Video format: On YouTube
- First Edition: 29 March 2008
TGTMNews
Talk Geek to Me News (TGTMNews) is billed as “a voice of the resistance”, an alternative news podcast that explores what “the man” would not wish you to know, and topics that are not taken by mainstream news organisations.
TGTM is hosted by DeepGeek. Whilst TGTMNews is not a Linux podcast, it will be of interest to Linux users.
TGTMNews uses a mix of Creative Commons licensed material as well as some other sources with their permission. The readings of the stories are licensed “Creative Commons By Attribution Share Alike unported 3.0,” as well as any original material attributed to “deepgeek.”
UPDATE – TGTMNews has podfaded.
- Website: Website down
- Length: About 45 minutes
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MP3, Speex
- First Edition: –
Frostcast
Frostcast was a podcast which interviewed project leaders of free and open source software along with Linux operating systems.
Shows have featured interviews with Matthias Kirschner, the Fellowship Coordinator and the Coordinator from the Free Software Foundation Europe, Micah Lee, a staff technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the project maintainer of HTTPS Everywhere, and Jonathan Nadeau who talked about the accessible Computing Foundation.
The interviews are fairly in-depth and have some useful insights. The podcast had a hiatus from November 2012 until June 2013, came back, and then has disappeared again.
- Website: Unknown
- Length: Typically fairly short; 15-45 minutes
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, MP3
- First Show: January 2011
Open Source Musician Podcast
Open Source Musician Podcast is a guide to open source for musicians. It discusses the use of Linux and other open-source software in the creation of music.
The show is hosted by Spencer Jackson. The podcast covers the use of free libre and open source software for musicians. The show covers topics like software, gear, audio releases and recording. There have also been a few interviews with people from the Linux audio community.
The Open Source Musician Podcast was started in March 2008 by Daniel Worth in response to wanting a podcast similar to “Inside Home Recording” but using free and open source tools.
The host, Spencer, goes through the Linux Audio Announce lists. Even Spencer concedes it sounds a bit of a monologue, and he is not in a position to offer opinions on a lot of the software that is mentioned. There are some user contributed music compositions which does help to liven up the show.
Open Source Musician Podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
- Website: opensourcemusician.com
- Length: 45 minutes
- Audio format: MP3
Free as in Freedom
Free as in Freedom is a bi-weekly oggcast, hosted and presented by Bradley M. Kuhn and Karen Sandler.
The podcast’s discussion covers topics such as legal, policy, and many other issues in the Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) world. Occasionally, guests join Bradley and Karen to discuss various topics regarding FLOSS.
- Website: Website down
- Length: Slightly longer than an hour
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, MP3
- First Edition: 6 October 2010
Distrowatch Weekly Podcast
The Distrowatch Weekly Podcast is a bi-weekly Linux podcast.
DistroWatch.com, a fascinating Linux distribution news and information site, publishes a weekly news and commentary section. A Guest Host reads DistroWatch content, and adds a little of their own.
Frankly, the show is currently pretty mundane and dry. Whilst there is good material and reviews here, and the latest news summary is informative, the monotony of the presentation just sends the listener to snoozeville. The show really needs something to liven it up. A missed opportunity from what is an excellent website and resource.
- Website: distrowatch.com/news/podcast.xml
- Length: About 40 minutes
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, MP3
Sunday Morning Linux Review
Sunday Morning Linux Review is a Linux podcast hosted by Tony Bemus, Mat Enders and Mary Tomich. The podcast is not suitable for young families, as it contains profanity.
The hosts start the show talking about what they have been up to during the past week. Mat then provides an update on kernel news, before the hosts chat about the latest Linux distro news, which is explored in some detail. A lot of shows include a distro review. There is also tech news, listener feedback, with the show closing with outtro music.
- Website: smlr.us
- Length: About 100 minutes
- Audio format: Ogg Vorbis, MP3
- First Edition: 16 October 2011