2.5 Admins 284: BooTooth

2.5 Admins 284: BooTooth

Author: The Late Night Linux Family January 30, 2026 Duration: 26:08

Why you might not want your Windows encryption keys to be backed up to Microsoft, some Bluetooth devices are vulnerable to snooping and tracking, a lesson in the need for backups,  and the best practices and stack for setting up a mail server.

 

Plugs

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

Klara’s Expert Perspective on OpenZFS in 2026 and What to Expect Next

Modern VDI on Proxmox: ZFS Reliability and GPU Acceleration at Lower Cost

 

News/discussion

Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw

How to encrypt your PC’s disk without giving the keys to Microsoft

WhisperPair: Hijacking Bluetooth Accessories Using Google Fast Pair

When two years of academic work vanished with a single click

 

Free consulting

We were asked about the best practices and stack for setting up a mail server.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

 


Ever wondered what happens when two seasoned system administrators and a producer who knows just enough to be dangerous get together for a weekly chat? That’s the premise behind 2.5 Admins, a refreshingly honest tech podcast from The Late Night Linux Family. Hosts Allan Jude and Jim Salter bring their deep, real-world expertise to the table, while Joe Ressington-the “0.5” who can configure a Samba share on a good day-keeps the conversation grounded and relatable. Each episode feels like eavesdropping on a lively breakroom discussion, where the latest headlines in technology are dissected not with sterile analysis, but with the practical, sometimes weary perspective of people who keep the digital lights on. You’ll hear them tackle listener-submitted admin questions, offering solutions that are tried and tested rather than purely theoretical. This isn’t about hype or buzzwords; it’s about the tools, headaches, and occasional triumphs that define life in IT. The chemistry between the hosts makes complex topics accessible, and the blend of professional insight with Joe’s every-user viewpoint creates a uniquely balanced listen. If you’re looking for a tech podcast that feels like talking shop with knowledgeable friends, this is it.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

2.5 Admins
Podcast Episodes
2.5 Admins 265: Storage Lies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:53
Joe set up a FreeBSD box to serve as a replication target and it was surprisingly straightforward, if rather different from Linux. Plus the lies that storage tells us. Plug Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS fe…
2.5 Admins 264: A Question of Trust [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:27
Matrix shows how painful enormous databases can be to restore, why the certificate authority system doesn’t seem to make sense in 2025, a hosting provider thinks they are better than Cloudflare at blocking malicious traf…
2.5 Admins 263: Seagate RAID [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:41
McDonald’s IT systems seem to be riddled with 90s-style coding errors, we finally know where the fraudulent hard drives came from, when IT workers go rogue, and ZFS on root without using FreeBSD or Ubuntu. Plug Support u…
2.5 Admins 262: It’s About Control [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:51
Google is planning to assert even more control over which Android apps can be installed, the US government takes a 10% stake in Intel, and minimum networking speeds in homes and offices. Plugs Support us on patreon and g…
2.5 Admins 261: Worms and Baskets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:01
Why you can’t rely on a single cloud provider, Jim discovers AI that spreads itself like a worm, and configuring all-flash arrays. Plugs Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes Fre…
2.5 Admins 260: Watery Email [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:36
AMD’s recent mobile-class processors impress us with their power to performance ratio, the UK government suggests a preposterous way to save water, setting up verified boot with snapshots, and the best way to configure Z…
2.5 Admins 259: New Web? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:15
The Web is a mess of tracking and AI scraping so do we need a new one, would it even be possible, or is this the wrong question? Plus setting up servers in a garage where dusty woodworking is happening. Plug Support us o…
2.5 Admins 258: Artificial Dirtbag [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:02
Jim is concerned that although over-anthropomorphising LLMs is a mistake, we should be cautious about some of their human-like behaviour. Plus how to maintain old ZFS pools, and accessibility in the BSDs. Plug Support us…
2.5 Admins 257: Outage365 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:00
Two recent outages were handled very differently but show the dangers of centralisation, Let’s Encrypt is introducing certificates for IP addresses, and the differences between backup and production systems. Plug Support…
2.5 Admins 256: Why ZFS [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:16
To celebrate the 256 milestone we devote the whole episode to explaining why we use ZFS. We explain about data safety, data retention, data portability, and ease of administration. Plugs Support us on patreon and get an…