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    1. The more I use Linux, the more I hate every distro

      It's funny. I've been using Linux since the old Mandrake days (year 2000 I think). I've used Slackware, Gentoo, Void, Fedora, OpenSuse, Arch and so on. I love Linux in general, there is not other...

      It's funny. I've been using Linux since the old Mandrake days (year 2000 I think). I've used Slackware, Gentoo, Void, Fedora, OpenSuse, Arch and so on. I love Linux in general, there is not other OS I would use.

      Every distro has it's ups and downs and the only one I am content with is Void Linux, but I still don't really love it.

      Void uses runit instead of systemd, which I prefer as an init system, but this means that if you want to use a major DE like Plasma you end up with some functionalities not working right.

      So I want a minimalish system like Void that has access to the latest KDE Plasma, uses systemd and all the regular stuff, but IT IS NOT ARCH.

      Why I don't like Arch? I think it tends to break too often, you have to stay on top of updates and having only one version of the kernel installed bugs me. Void Linux is rolling and NEVER breaks. I'm not exaggerating here. It never broke on me.

      OpenSuse Tumbleweed is an alternative, but like Fedora, it does not ship with proprietary codecs so you have to jump through hoops to install the correct packages. It is just a matter of installing opi and typing "opi codecs", but you can bet that in the next weeks some breakage when updating will happen.

      This happens to me with Fedora too. I install the RPMFusion repository and install the codecs. Every now and then things break because of it and I need to troubleshoot things.

      Not to mention that when you install Plasma with Fedora or Opensuse, it ends up installing a thousand unnecessary things. I can disable the recommended packages/weak dependencies, trim things down and cut here and there, but I always feel like i lost control of things.

      Oh and OpenSuse TW always gave me trouble with the wayland session of Plasma not working properly.

      Gentoo is out of the question. I used it for years and had fun, but I don't care about all the compilation anymore.

      Debian would be a great choice if packages weren't too old. I prefer a rolling release model or at least something like Fedora that is pretty up to date.

      So in the end I stick with Void (without using Plasma), but still bitter about it.

      53 votes
    2. Can anyone recommend a printer/scanner combo that works with Linux with no additional drivers?

      I'm looking for a black & white laser printer with a scanner for home office use. The only fancy thing about it is that I'm running Linux and I don't want to install any driver packages from the...

      I'm looking for a black & white laser printer with a scanner for home office use. The only fancy thing about it is that I'm running Linux and I don't want to install any driver packages from the manufacturer. I want to plug it into any laptop running any Linux distro and start printing and scanning with no fuss.

      Brother printers are very popular, but if I search for any Brother printer and "linux", all I can find is stuff about the drivers and how to fix the various issues that come with those.

      If I understand correctly, modern printers should just work via something called IPP/AirPrint and they should also work over USB. Is that correct?

      What about the scanner? Does that also just work over IPP?

      29 votes
    3. There has never been a better time to game on Linux

      I've been running Linux full-time pretty much since Valve released Proton. I remember submitting reports to ProtonDB back when it was just a shared Google Sheet! In the years that followed I made...

      I've been running Linux full-time pretty much since Valve released Proton. I remember submitting reports to ProtonDB back when it was just a shared Google Sheet! In the years that followed I made it a point to test and report out on different games as new versions of Proton were released and support improved. I thought it important that we have a good data set for what worked and what didn't. Over those years I tested hundreds of games and submitted as many reports to the database.

      In thinking back over my gaming in 2023, however, I realized that I fell out of the habit of submitting reports because I'm so used to Proton working that it's stopped occurring to me that it might not.

      That doesn't mean that there aren't some games that don't work -- it simply means that the success rate that I used to have (maybe 30-50% on average) has risen high enough that I'm genuinely surprised if something doesn't work (it's probably somewhere around 95% for me now, though that's biased by the types of games that I play). I actually tried to remember the last game that didn't work, and I genuinely couldn't tell you what it was. Everything I've played recently has booted like it's native.

      Honestly, I genuinely don't even know which games are native and which run through Proton anymore. I've stopped caring!

      I got my Steam Deck halfway through 2022. It was awesome, but it was definitely a bit rough around the edges. There weren't that many compatible games. The OS had some clunkiness. It matured though, and has gotten better. Among my friend group, I'm the only person who cares even a little bit about Linux. If you asked any of them to name three different Linux distributions they'd stare at you blankly because they wouldn't understand the question. Nevertheless, of my friends, SIX of them have Steam Decks and are now gaming regularly on Linux.

      There are currently ~4,300 Deck Verified games and ~8,700 Deck Playable games according to Valve. On ProtonDB, ~8,600 games have been verified as working on Linux by at least three users, while ~19,700 games have been verified by at least one user. There is SO much variety available, and the speed with which we've gotten here has been pretty breathtaking.

      This was my device breakdown for my Steam Replay for 2023:

      • 55% Steam Deck
      • 32% Linux
      • 10% Virtual Reality
      • 4% Windows

      The only non-Linux gaming I did was VR and some local multiplayer stuff I have on a Windows machine hooked up to my TV.

      I don't want to proselytize too much, but if you have a general interest in gaming, you could probably switch over to Linux full time and be perfectly happy with the variety of games you have available to you. Not too long ago, making the jump felt like a huge sacrifice because you'd be giving up so much -- SO many games were incompatible -- but it no longer feels that way. You can transfer and most of -- probably almost all -- your library will still work! Also, if a particular game doesn't work, there isn't too much sting because, well, there are thousands of others you can give your attention to.

      If you have a specific game that you must play, then it's possibly a different story. If you love Destiny 2, for example, then full-time Linux definitely is not for you. The same goes VR -- it's simply not up to snuff on Linux yet. There are other niches too that don't transfer over as well (modding, racing sims, etc.) so, of course, this isn't a blanket recommendation and everyone's situation is different.

      But for a prototypical person who's just your sort of general, everyday gamer? It's reached a point where they could be very happy on Linux. In fact, as proven by my friends and their Steam Decks, it's reached a point where people can be gaming on Linux and not even know they're doing that. That's how frictionless it's gotten!

      I don't really have a point to this post other than to say it's incredible that we are where we are, and I'm beyond appreciative of all the effort that people have put in to making this possible.

      83 votes
    4. In general, which laptop maker (OEM) provides the best compatibility for Linux desktops in terms of driver support and things like wifi, bluetooth, power efficiency, etc?

      On most laptops I've had to deal with, Linux was at least installable and bootable, the only exception was perhaps the cheap bay trail tablets and notebooks released around the years 2017-19 that...

      On most laptops I've had to deal with, Linux was at least installable and bootable, the only exception was perhaps the cheap bay trail tablets and notebooks released around the years 2017-19 that came with Intel Atom processors. These weird devices came with a 32-bit UEFI and 64-bit architecture, thus making it pretty much impossible to even boot with something other than the Windows 10 version specifically made for them. Legacy BIOS support wasn't there and Linux driver support was like terrible.

      But other than that, based on my own experience, at least Dell laptops seem to have out of box support for Ubuntu and Debian. I think some even come with Linux or FreeDOS pre-installed.

      And from what I've heard from others and online, Lenovo usually has first class support for Linux and especially the Thinkpad line seems to be a favorite of many Linux enthusiasts. Also heard some good things about Asus in this regard.

      I don't even mind if the laptop comes pre-installed with Windows (guess the OEM has to do that in some cases depending on their terms with Microsoft?). All I want is that it should be relatively painless to boot to UEFI/BIOS, be able to install Linux and drivers for WiFi, Bluetooth, efficient battery life, etc. (which are pretty much necessary in laptops these days).

      40 votes
    5. Does Linux From Scratch actually teach you anything?

      Two hours ago I randomly thought "hey, why not do LFS?", so I opened my laptop and started following the book. I've heard a lot of people say that LFS is great for learning how a Linux system...

      Two hours ago I randomly thought "hey, why not do LFS?", so I opened my laptop and started following the book. I've heard a lot of people say that LFS is great for learning how a Linux system works. However, so far it's just been a guide on how to compile different software and what autoconfig flags to use. I thought that maybe further chapters will have more information on how things work, but it seems like they all just contain a one-line description of a program and compilation instructions.

      If anyone here has done LFS, did you actually learn anything from it? Is it worth spending more time on?

      19 votes
    6. Looking to "compile" some of my phone's videos into an .iso to send to family; I use Linux

      So as the title states, I am realizing that most folks don't have CD readers. I do, and I can burn my phone's videos to one, but... I also use Linux these days. I have a CD burner somewhere around...

      So as the title states, I am realizing that most folks don't have CD readers. I do, and I can burn my phone's videos to one, but... I also use Linux these days. I have a CD burner somewhere around here, but honestly I just want to do a "zip file" type option, where I can just group the videos and get them on a usb stick to send out.

      Everything I find on the 'net is about burning CDs and whatnot... which isn't my goal. Honestly, I think windows did this just easy-peasy with select and "burn to image" or whatnot. But I dunno how with Linux (Arch/i3).

      Edit: I'm asking because I don't see any options in pacman. It may be in yay, but it's my bedtime...
      Edit 2: Lots of folks asking why I want an ISO and not just copy the files; my dad states their TV will play videos 'in a DVD format from a USB stick' (and I don't know how accurate it is, but it's what was requested).

      16 votes
    7. Tkinter vs PyQt vs wxPython vs PyGtk vs Kivy: Too many options with nuanced pros and cons causes analysis paralysis and difficulty in taking decisions

      The good things about Python which make it a very ubiquitous language worthy of learning (platform agnostic, elegant syntax, portable standard library and ecosystem packages, etc.) unfortunately...

      The good things about Python which make it a very ubiquitous language worthy of learning (platform agnostic, elegant syntax, portable standard library and ecosystem packages, etc.) unfortunately also has this weird side-effect of causing tremendous pain when it comes to choosing which library or toolkit to use for say, a side project for a Desktop GUI app.

      It seems as if researching about these Python GUI toolkits, finding out their pros and cons and nuances has itself become a dedicated project of its own and I have almost forgotten about the actual app and user story for which I was looking them up in the first place!

      Though I'm almost certain at this point that Kivy isn't something I'm going to use. I don't want my app to run on android, at least not presently. And even if a need arises in future, a more efficient path there is to use something like Java with an Android IDE.

      Plus a 100% pure python toolkit means some sacrifice in performance. With PyQt and PyGtk, you can get the raw performance of underlying C++ and C runtimes respectively which they wrap.

      Now tkinter and PyQt is where I'm really confused and not able to decide which one to use. The pros of tkinter are highly appealing to me, to be honest. The fact that it comes built-in with python and right out of the box - which incidentally also frees you of all the licensing hassles unlike PyQt/PySide stack is also a great plus. Though this particular project is going to be open source anyway, so it shouldn't matter much. But in the long run and generally speaking, it's clear that one has the licensing advantage here.

      Secondly, tkinter also has the advantage of being smaller in size. Since it comes built-in, the final portable EXE size would perhaps be as small as that of just the portable python interpreter using PyInstaller or something?

      But on the other hand, smaller size doesn't really matter in the age of gigabyte high-speed Internet, does it? And I've seen some PyQt projects too that seem to create smaller bundles with efficient packaging, wonder how they are able to do that!

      One criticism of tkinter I came across is that while getting started with a Hello World GUI is easy, making something non-trivial soon leads you down a rabbit hole which is filled with messy and hacky workarounds. For example, there isn't a native or built-in support for creating a system tray icon for your app which is considered pretty much a standard feature for desktop GUI apps these days. Even for adding this trivial feature to your app, you must install a third party package called pystray which isn't a very thrilling experience at all. Imagine what all you'll be going through if you want to implement say a complex data grid with dropdown widgets or a complex tree view widget.

      But PyQt, on the other hand, also has its own set of criticisms. For starters, since the core toolkit is written in C++, the Pythonista must hack their way through all the object orientedness mandated by the core libraries in ways that don't seem very pythonic. For example, you can't pass a simple tuple with (x,y) co-ordinates for a widget location or size, you must find the corresponding widget class such as QtSize or whatever to be able to do that.

      This is what I got from my reading and youtubing so far. I don't know how hard this usually is in practice. Coming from a C# and Java background, I don't think it should be for me. But I'd like to know from more experienced Python programmers who have traversed both these paths (tkinter and PyQt) - which path is better as a learning investment in the long run?

      17 votes
    8. Building a home media server on a budget

      Hi I figured before I start venturing into other forums dedicated to this sort of thing, I'd ask here on Tildes since I'm at least comfortable with the community and how helpful they can be here....

      Hi

      I figured before I start venturing into other forums dedicated to this sort of thing, I'd ask here on Tildes since I'm at least comfortable with the community and how helpful they can be here.

      I'm tired of all of the subscription services I have, movies and TV shows disappearing from them, buying a film on Prime and only being able to watch it offline through a specific app. Even then, half the time we're watching comfort TV shows that we have on DVD already (X-Files and Friends for instance).

      So I figured that building a home media server would give me the chance to cut the cord with a couple of these services and allow us to start using and controlling our own data again.

      I have a budget of around £300 (I could perhaps push to £400 if needed) and I'm honestly not sure at all where to start. I have knowledge on how to build brand new, medium to high end gaming PCs as I've done it since I was in my late teens and built my first PC with the wages from my very first job but building a budget minded PC for use as a home media server goes completely over my head.

      I've noticed that a lot of the pre-built NAS or media server boxes are very expensive so my first thought was to buy a refurbed workstation or small form factor PC that has enough "oomph" to do the trick but I don't know what ones to even start looking at and then I start to feel a little bit out of my comfort zone.

      Things like getting the right CPU in these refurbed machines that offers the features I'm looking for like hardware transcoding etc., integrated GPU's, ensuring there's enough SATA ports for multiple hard drives and an SSD for a boot drive, and then to top it all off ensuring that while achieving these features the thing shouldn't draw too much power when idling as it'll be on for long stretches of time, if not left on 24/7.

      I've also got no knowledge of Linux, I've never even looked at it but if it's genuinely easy enough (for someone with next to no Linux experience) then I'd be happy to give it a shot if it offers better performance compared to using Windows 10 or something.

      All the server will be used for is watching TV shows, perhaps the odd film, listening to a bit of music perhaps and the odd podcast now and again. Simultaneous streaming will be fairly minimal, perhaps 2 streams as me or my partner watch one thing and our daughter watches another on her tablet. In regards to streaming outside the house that will also be almost non-existent, perhaps, again our daughter watching a kids TV show like Pokemon or Fireman Sam on her tablet when we're out but me and my partner don't tend to watch anything when we're outside the house, certainly not TV shows or movies anyway.

      Redundancy isn't something I'm too horrendously worried about, I wouldn't be storing anything like photos that we wouldn't want to lose on it and while it'd be annoying, losing a drive with TV shows or films on it wouldn't be the end of the world.

      Any help would be massively appreciated, thanks.

      36 votes
    9. Anyone interested in a "Linux" group?

      Sorry, I'm a bit new here and not sure how topic creation happens. But considering so much discussion goes on about Linux operating system all the time, I was wondering if any folks are interested...

      Sorry, I'm a bit new here and not sure how topic creation happens. But considering so much discussion goes on about Linux operating system all the time, I was wondering if any folks are interested in giving the topic its own place on Tildes. Maybe even something like ~comp.linux or ~tech.linux like some other topics have done?

      But I also understand that a whole lot of other topics will also be competing for space then like ~comp.python, ~comp.java, etc! Hasn't demand for those topics ever arrived until now?

      46 votes
    10. Which is the lightest (least memory eating) Screen Recorder for Linux Desktops?

      I know of below four: Kazam Vokoscreen SimpleScreenRecorder OBS (Open Broadcasting Studio) My only recording constraints are as follows: Be able to record the desktop while speaking. Webcam output...

      I know of below four:

      1. Kazam
      2. Vokoscreen
      3. SimpleScreenRecorder
      4. OBS (Open Broadcasting Studio)

      My only recording constraints are as follows:

      1. Be able to record the desktop while speaking.
      2. Webcam output containing my little obnoxious face visible in a top/bottom corner.

      I don't care about resolutions, etc., even basic 450p/720p is enough for me. I don't care about background music, etc.
      But I do care about "light weight", my xubuntu laptop doesn't have very high configuration plus I want to conserve all resources for the actual stuff I'm doing on the desktop.

      Which among the above eats the least amount of RAM/CPU while delivering on these two constraints? Based on your experience? I'm not inclined to use OBS as I've heard it's very bloated. Any other suggestions apart from these are also welcome.

      9 votes
    11. Advice on making a full snapshot/backup of a running Linux system (Debian)

      Hi all, I’m looking for advice re making a full snapshot/backup of a running Linux system (Debian). In an ideal world, should an issue occur, I would like to be able to load a live USB with the...

      Hi all,

      I’m looking for advice re making a full snapshot/backup of a running Linux system (Debian).

      In an ideal world, should an issue occur, I would like to be able to load a live USB with the backup, boot and write from that.

      Timeshift seems to be an option but I’m wondering how the above would work in my case. A few questions.

      1. My disk is fully encrypted with LUKS. Would this pose a problem?
      2. I would like to write my backups to a veracrypt container. Would this pose any issue? I’m not sure how I would boot from a live USB in this case I could not decrypt the USB.

      Essentially I’d like a step-by-step guide to backing up my full system (including all files in home) in such a way that I can easily roll back should the worst happen. Do any of you know of such a guide or can perhaps offer some help?

      10 votes
    12. Have you ever compiled a custom Linux kernel?

      I was stubbornly determined to get my new Yubikeys working for FIDO2 SSH on WSL, which led me down the road to compiling my own custom Linux kernel for WSL with HIDDEV and HIDRAW enabled. This was...

      I was stubbornly determined to get my new Yubikeys working for FIDO2 SSH on WSL, which led me down the road to compiling my own custom Linux kernel for WSL with HIDDEV and HIDRAW enabled.

      This was my first time ever trying anything like this, and by the end of it I realized that it's not actually so scary to compile your own custom Linux kernel!

      Have you ever compiled a custom kernel before? What was the sequence of events that led you to do it?

      20 votes
    13. Is there an updated NixOS guide for first timers?

      I want to finally try NixOS and build a desktop OS from the ground up with sway, iwd, waybar, foot terminal, cmus, etc. I'm not a developer, but I'm a seasoned Linux user. Used Gentoo for years,...

      I want to finally try NixOS and build a desktop OS from the ground up with sway, iwd, waybar, foot terminal, cmus, etc.

      I'm not a developer, but I'm a seasoned Linux user. Used Gentoo for years, Void Linux and now I'm on OpenSUSE TW.

      I'm finding all sorts of guides and it seems confusing. In the past there wasn't any mention of home-manager and flakes, now it seems there are these things. Those are all things I need to care about? Is it all configured in one file?

      9 votes
    14. Pop!_OS hardware compatibility

      I want to upgrade my gaming setup, but I want to move towards a desktop replacement laptop for the compact form factor to free up desk space or even get rid of a desk altogether. I also want to...

      I want to upgrade my gaming setup, but I want to move towards a desktop replacement laptop for the compact form factor to free up desk space or even get rid of a desk altogether. I also want to try out Pop!_OS since I know it has good Nvidia drivers and that most games are compatible with Linux nowadays.

      Has anyone had any experience with switching to Pop!_OS from Windows? What is software compatibility like? Pros and cons?

      Also is anyone here using an 18 inch gaming laptop? I'm interested in huge laptops since I'm not really planning on taking it on the go.

      10 votes
    15. I want to learn more about linux

      I know the basics commands, command substitution, redirection, pipelines, and I know about .bashrc, .vimrc etc. but I feel like I still don't know a lot and I feel a bit lost as to where to learn...

      I know the basics commands, command substitution, redirection, pipelines, and I know about .bashrc, .vimrc etc. but I feel like I still don't know a lot and I feel a bit lost as to where to learn more. I know I'm being a bit vague, but that's on purpose, I don't really know what's possible. feel free to suggest any book or resource that you think would help me learn more about linux (I also haven't been keeping up with it lately, so any new stuff like what's NixOS would help)

      41 votes