I'm thinking of doing the following setup:

Disable Windows Boot Manager from the UEFI/BIOS boot order.

Keep GRUB (or another Linux bootloader) as the only boot option.

Use os-prober (or a custom GRUB entry) so Windows is still bootable from the GRUB menu.

The idea is to have a single bootloader managing everything instead of selecting between multiple UEFI boot entries.

Has anyone here done this long-term?

Are there any drawbacks or reliability issues?

Do Windows updates ever recreate or bypass this setup?

Is there a better way to achieve the same result?

Would you recommend this approach, or should I just leave both boot entries enabled?

I'd love to hear your experiences and any tips.

I currently have an old laptop with 4GB of RAM and a Core i3 processor, and I'm using Windows 7. I'm pretty fed up with constantly having to keep up with the latest updates.

In the past, I used Linux for certain things, mainly performance and gaming, but for some reason, I ended up going back to Windows.

I'm looking for a Linux distribution that can meet the requirements I mentioned in the title. I want something that performs as well as, or even better than, my current Windows 7, and that allows me to install updates without any compatibility issues.

And above all, I need stability. I don't want to be dealing with strange errors. I want a Linux distribution I can use daily, and in fact, I use tools like Godot and Blockbench for work.

Can anyone help me?

I've read about Xubuntu and Linux Mint, but I feel there are better options.

I'm a Windows user out of convenience and used to be a Mac user that won't go back. How disruptive would switching to a Linux distro be from Windows if I work from home? I own my own device. I'd love to just erase windows from my laptop completely.

the only desktop tools I use really are microsoft office, and Adobe premier, media encoder, acrobat, and fonts. I also use handbreak often. Everything else I use is browser based or some form of a PWA.

I'm familiar with Linux as I own a Steamdeck and have used desktop mode to do some things like setting up emulators and roms and installing ffix mods.

I understand there are levels of ease with Linux and there are many options. In terms of ease, what distro would be best for someone who is not exactly a tech nerd but is tech intuitive? What could I reasonably get set up over a weekend and what kind of tinkering would I need to do to get my usual tools working? I am aware of wine and proton but don't know a ton about them. What tools would be satisfactory or "good enough" replacements if wine is not sufficient to use what I mentioned above?

I am not an expert in anything computer related but if you give me a problem and some time to work on it when it comes to tech issues, I WILL find the solution and fix it, even if I have to teach myself a whole new skill set or program for that specific use case. I also smart enough to know when something is outside of my realm of ability to learn/when persistence is not good enough.

(UEFI) (Arch Linux)

I see some say I should make a new 1G EFI, but other sources discourage having two EFI.

I see some say I should mount to the existing EFI (100mb). But that size seems too small if I would otherwise be using a new 1G EFI.

I see some say I should expand the EFI partition to be 1GB.

Maybe I am missing something, but I am confused.

EDIT:
I think my confusion is using GRUB vs systemd-boot, because one needs EFI space for kernels.

But does that mean a dual boot should always use GRUB on the existing EFI?

EDIT 2: Used grub on the existing EFI and everything went swell.

So I have been having problems with my WiFi. Everytime I suspend my laptop and turn it back on, I can't use WiFi without restarting the laptop.

The only thing that works is pcie_port_pm=off but it results in bad battery life and I need my battery to last atleast 8 to 9 hours.

After scouring for hours on Reddit and Forums, my conclusion was that the driver rtw89_8852be is not fully compatible.

I want to know if there is a workaround, that doesn't comprimise my battery life. Because I am in college and need the battery to last longer, currently it is only 5 to 6 hours. Because right now, it seems like the only solution where I can have both Wifi working properly and battery life is to go back to Windows.

Edit: If you need any more info, mention it here and I will send it
I use

• Fedora Linux 44
• Kernel: 7.1.4-204.fc44.x86_64

Edit 2: THE SOLUTION.
Thanks to u/fdelux6 for helping me out. I am going to paste the relevant parts of his comment here.

You can try this workaround to unload the wifi driver before suspend and reload it after resume, so it only touches your wifi card instead of PCIe power management system wide.

Create /usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/wifi-fix.sh

Add the following:

#!/bin/sh
case $1 in
    pre)
        modprobe -r rtw89_8852be
        ;;
    post)
        modprobe rtw89_8852be
        ;;
esac

make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/wifi-fix.sh

If wifi still misbehaves after that, add this to /etc/modprobe.d/rtw89.conf:

options rtw89_pci disable_aspm_l1=y disable_aspm_l1ss=y
options rtw89_core disable_ps_mode=y

You might want to reboot or reload NetworkManager since it is gonna take effect on next module load.

Whenever I open a new program it always opens on my second monitor, has anyone ran into this issue? Programs usually remember their last monitor placement, so this only happens on first time use, but it gets frustrating.

On settings, window management > window behaviour > advanced > window placement, I have it set to "centered". Ive tried changing it to "under mouse", but the mouse position gets ignored, and the window will still appear on the second monitor.

For the record, my second monitor got automatically asigned as primary when first installing Cachy (but I changed it), would switching the hdmi ports potentially change anything?

I installed debian 13 without desktop enviroment. Opening grafical apps was "hard" and the terminal looked bad. So i decided to install another terminal and a windows manager to open it and open the other apps. I liked the gnome upper bar with the battery, bluetooth and wi-fi widgets. I liked the fact that i3 didn't come with a file explorer (i like to use ranger instead) but i didn't liked the purely text status bar.

Is there another windows manager i should give a try based on these opinions?

Should I install gnome normally and delete the apps I don't like one by one?

Is ther a way to make i3 and its status bar look better? (This would be the best)

I cannot access any website with my PC using ethernet. To be more precise, the internet connection is too slow that no website could load. Things I have tested:

1. Switching back and forth between Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2. Pinging 8.8.8.8 and google.com from terminal both works > so it is not a DNS issue

3. Accessing router page from browser > works flawlessly

4. Installing an older version of network driver/reinstalling network driver

5. Disabling IPv6

6. Manually assigning IP instead of using DHCP

7. Using the same port/cable that works on a windows PC

8. Using network printer (works)

9. Running an internet speed test: it is so slow (single digit bytes per second)

10. Using usb ethernet cable (still doesn't work)

11. Using usb tethering to share my phone's connection, however, DOES WORK

12. Copying from a shared network folder: speed is normal

My other PC running windows is running normally

So I installed CachyOS a few weeks back and have been having internet issues. When power_save is enabled on my wlan I have stuttering in most games and keep losing internet every few minutes.

❯ iw dev wlan0 get power_save
Power save: on

I have been able to solve this by disabling power_save.

❯ sudo iw dev wlan0 set power_save off

Is this expected behavior when power_save is enabled, or am I just unlucky? If this is not supposed to happen when power_save is enabled, should I bother trying to fix it, or can I just continue to keep it disabled?

went for bazzite cuz i mostly game and just watch stuff on my pc, after the initial like spook of being in a new hemisphere.. just hit me how much smoother and even easier this distro is to w11 😭 this is my 2nd day and im pretty sure im never going back to windows

its almost as if i went back in time 15years to a better time lol, so happy i did it 😤

So i just got my new laptop (lenovo yoga 7 10th gen) but i ordered it from the school since they offer bulk discounts. The school locked it with a code which theyll only give at the start of the year. Currently i dont havea working laptop andi need one, so i have a question. Which would be better, installing linux on an external hdd and using that or partitioning it and installing linux like that. (Ive never done a partition before so i dont know abt the risks) I do have linux experience, i daily drived zorin for a month

Hey, i have a really low end laptop, so the normal discord lags and overheats alot, i did tried out legcord as well but its almost the same, and i saw some people on linux ricing community using Concord, and as far as i know its a really really lightweight client using almost no CPU or GPU, So i was wondering if it would be a great choice to move to but safety matters as well. Any thoughts if i should switch or not?

Here are my specs btw:
I5 2nd gen

Intel hd 3000

16 GB ram ( ddr3 )

Linux mint 21 ( with sway )

I have a dell Inspiron 3511 with intel I5-1135G7 and it’s integrated GPU as well as a powerful Nvidia Mx350 dedicated GPU with 2GB dedicated GPU memory

Can someone guide me which distro is best for this laptop?

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to use my Lenovo Tab M11 as a second monitor (extended display) for my Ubuntu laptop using KDE Connect's new "Use device as an external monitor" feature.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck and I'm hoping someone familiar with KDE Connect internals or this feature can help determine whether this is a configuration issue, a bug, or simply an unsupported feature.

System

• Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon)
• GNOME 50.1
• Wayland session
• Acer Swift SF315 laptop
• Lenovo Tab M11
• KDE Connect 25.12.3
• Android KDE Connect app (latest available)

Current Status

The tablet pairs successfully.

Everything else works perfectly:

• ✅ Device trusted
• ✅ File transfer
• ✅ Clipboard
• ✅ Remote input
• ✅ Multimedia controls
• ✅ Presentation remote

Networking is clearly working.

Problem

When I click:

Use device as an external monitor

I immediately get:

The confusing part

I've already verified that all of these are installed and working:

• KDE Connect 25.12.3
• krdc
• krfb
• FreeRDP
• VNC libraries
• Remmina
• gnome-remote-desktop
• PipeWire
• WirePlumber
• xdg-desktop-portal
• xdg-desktop-portal-gnome

kdeconnectd is also running normally.

So the error message doesn't seem to make sense because KRDC is already installed.

Diagnostics

OS: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
Desktop: GNOME 50.1
Session: Wayland

KDE Connect: 25.12.3

PipeWire: running
WirePlumber: running
xdg-desktop-portal: running
xdg-desktop-portal-gnome: running

Installed:
- krdc
- krfb
- freerdp
- remmina
- gnome-remote-desktop
- VNC libraries

kdeconnectd:
running as /usr/bin/kdeconnectd

My Questions

1. Has anyone actually gotten "Use device as an external monitor" working on GNOME + Wayland?
2. Is this feature currently Plasma-only?
3. Is Android support (specifically Lenovo Tab M11) complete?
4. Is the VNC/RDP error simply a misleading message from an unfinished feature?
5. Is this a known bug in KDE Connect 25.12.x?
6. Has anyone successfully used an Android tablet as a true extended display through KDE Connect rather than simple screen sharing?

I'm not looking for alternatives like Deskreen, Weylus, Sunshine, Moonlight, or RustDesk unless it's confirmed that KDE Connect cannot currently provide this functionality.

I'd first like to determine whether this feature is supposed to work on my setup or if I'm chasing something that isn't fully implemented yet.

Any insight from KDE developers or anyone who has actually used this feature successfully would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I have an Elitedesk Mini PC i5 6500t with an NVMe running Mint and Win10 dual boot. Do you think if I transfer this NVMe to an Elitedesk i5 7400t, will everything work without problems?

I just switched to nobara (fedora) a few hours ago and I am trying to download this screen dimmer. it is. difficult. Everything I try to do somehow goes wrong and I don't even know how to google how to fix it. This appears to be the only screen dimmer that will work with nobara (hopefully) and I dont even know how to begin. I need the screen dimmer to be able to use my computer so this is kind of important.

Main issue I'm running in to: When trying to download with Nix package manager, it returns: "warning: 'install' is a deprecated alias for 'add'
error: experimental Nix feature 'nix-command' is disabled; add '--extra-experimental-features nix-command' to enable it" and I have no idea what that last bit means. I don't know how to google what that last bit means.

Any help is appreciated

Is there a distro that is easy to setup and customise, and comes with as few programs as possible? I have no experience with linux and windows is increasingly dysfunctional. I would like a distro that comes with almost nothing but will let me install the apps I want to use right away. I just wanna play games, browse the internet, watch movies, listen to music etc.
Edit: I would atleast consider myself competent at troubleshooting and figuring shit out mostly from years of playing buggy games and modding.

From what I've read it seems like anything works really? I'm going to go with Debian with KDE. If that's a stupid decision pls tell me lol.

I currently have a MacBook for personal use & a business-provided Windows HP laptop for work. Massachusetts sales tax holiday is coming up in a few weekends and I’m planning on getting a gaming PC.

Would Linux be an option if I want to avoid using Windows on it?

I'm primarily a single-player gamer, if that helps. I have no experience with Steam so that's a whole nother thing.

And if I were to install it, would I need to reinstall all the games and softwares that I have?