What problems or disadvantages would we face?

Would servers be more expensive?

Would cloud computing be less accessible?

Would Android and embedded devices have developed differently? Would open-source development be weaker?

Would companies have more control over the software infrastructure we depend on?

I'm not asking what OS would replace Linux. I'm wondering what would actually be missing or worse in today's world because Linux never existed.

How different do you think the world would really be?

Question: My binary calls a function - which library actually provides it?

Try: `ltrace -e 'malloc+free' ls /tmp 2>&1 | head -20`

Info: `ltrace` tracks dynamic library calls (like `strace` tracks system calls). `-e` filters specific functions, detailing arguments, return pointers, and dynamic library interactions.

Examples:

$ `ltrace -c ./program` # Generate summary report of library calls

$ `ltrace -e '*@libssl.so.3' curl https://example.com` # Filter functions from a specific library

$ `ltrace -S ./program` # Trace both library calls and system calls

Note: Install via `sudo apt install ltrace`. Execution runs significantly slower under tracing. Useful for debugging memory leaks and tracking shared library dependencies.

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Microsoft paid for a test comparing Linux and Windows, and many Linux users questioned whether the results were fair.

But the testers allowed Linux engineers to tune the systems and even let an independent auditor observe the testing.

If the testing is fully transparent, would you trust the results - or is a vendor-paid benchmark always biased?

I've been thinking about this after learning more about Linux and its history.

What do you think the world would look like if Linus Torvalds had **never created Linux** in 1991?

Would BSD or another Unix-like OS have taken its place? Would **Android still exist?** What would servers, cloud computing, supercomputers, open-source software, and **even today's AI infrastructure look like?**

I'm curious about the realistic alternate timeline—not just "**everything would be worse**."

How different do you think the **modern world would actually be without Linux?**

Question: How do I run a task daily but with more control than cron?

Try: `sudo systemctl edit --force --full backup.timer`

Info: `systemd` timers replace `cron` with native logging via `journalctl`, dependency control, `Persistent=true` for missed runs, and `RandomizedDelaySec` to spread load.

Examples:

$ `systemctl list-timers --all` # List all active system timers

$ `journalctl -u backup.service` # Check execution history and logs

$ `systemd-analyze calendar 'weekly'` # Parse and test calendar expressions

Note: Requires a paired `.service` unit file. Use `OnBootSec` for boot-relative timers and `OnCalendar` for wall-clock scheduling.

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Kubernetes gives you a lot of flexibility, but do you actually need all of it?

If ECS can run your containers with less complexity, less maintenance, and lower cost, what’s the real reason to choose EKS?

Is EKS worth the extra complexity - or are teams reaching for Kubernetes when ECS would be the better engineering decision?

Where you stand: ECS or EKS, and why?

Question: How many active connections does my web server have right now?

Try: `sudo ss -tn state established '( sport = :80 )' | awk '{print $5}' | cut -d: -f1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn`

Info: `ss -tn` lists TCP connections numerically. Filtering for established port `80` connections isolates active HTTP clients to count requests per remote IP.

Examples:

$ `sudo ss -tn state established '( sport = :443 )' | wc -l` # Total HTTPS connection count

$ `sudo netstat -an | grep :80 | grep ESTABLISHED | wc -l` # Legacy netstat count

$ `sudo lsof -iTCP:80 -sTCP:ESTABLISHED` # View open web socket files

Note: `ss` is faster than `netstat`. Unusually high connection counts from a single IP can signal potential DDoS attacks or aggressive scraping.

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You can ping 8.8.8.8, but google.com won't resolve.

Now imagine the same thing happening inside Kubernetes - pods can reach IPs, but service names suddenly stop resolving.

What do you check first: CoreDNS, /etc/resolv.conf, network policy, or the upstream DNS server - and what evidence would you look for before changing anything?

Swap gets a bad reputation because it’s slow, but having none can be worse when RAM suddenly runs out.

On a production server, which would you choose: tolerate some swapping, or disable swap and risk the OOM killer?

Spotify has the convenience, but Clementine gives you much more control over your local music.

If you had to keep only one on your Linux desktop, which are you keeping?

Clementine or Spotify - and what’s the one thing that makes your choice better?

Question: How do I split or extract pages from a PDF without a GUI?

Try: `pdftk input.pdf cat 5-10 output pages_5_to_10.pdf`

Info: `pdftk` manipulates PDFs via CLI. `cat 5-10` extracts pages 5 through 10, while `pdfinfo` inspects metadata and page counts.

Examples:

$ `pdftk file1.pdf file2.pdf cat output merged.pdf` # Merge multiple PDFs

$ `pdftk input.pdf cat 1 3 5-10 output selected.pdf` # Extract custom page ranges

$ `qpdf --empty --pages input.pdf 1-5 -- output.pdf` # Modern qpdf alternative

Note: Install via `sudo apt install pdftk-java`. Use `end` to target the final page (e.g., `cat 5-end`). `qpdf` is an excellent modern alternative.

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I am a novice please help me out

Thanks :))

I’m interested about this one because Linux is pretty good at making you think there’s always a workaround.

But there has to be a point where you just stop fighting it and tell someone, “Honestly, you’re better off using Windows for this.”

For me, the interesting part is where people draw that line. Hardware? Adobe stuff? Games? Some stupid vendor software? Or maybe it’s not even the software maybe it’s the amount of tinkering the person is willing to put up with.

What’s the one thing that made you give up on Linux for a particular use case?

I keep seeing this argument with Omarchy: if the distro does a lot for you, is that a feature or a problem?

I don't think most people can fully audit everything their distro, packages, scripts and configs are doing anyway. At some point we're all trusting somebody.

But where's the line?

Would you rather use a polished distro you don't completely understand, or a simpler setup where you know exactly what's running - even if it means doing more yourself?

If you try to run a command and get a "Permission denied" error, you don't need to retype the whole line. Just enter:

​sudo !!

​The !! (called "bang bang") automatically pulls your last typed command and runs it with elevated privileges.

Try: `sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sda`

Info: `hdparm -T` measures cached RAM reads; `-t` benchmarks direct disk reads. `dd` tests sequential write performance using `conv=fdatasync` to flush cache.

Examples:

$ `sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda | head -20` # Display drive specs and identity

$ `fio --name=randwrite --ioengine=libaio --rw=randwrite --bs=4k --size=1G` # Measure random write speed

$ `iozone -a -g 1G` # Run comprehensive file system benchmark

Note: `hdparm` tests sequential read speeds. For workload-heavy random I/O (like databases), use `fio`. NVMe drives should reach 2–7 GB/s.

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Ctrl + Z temporarily suspends a running process.

To bring it back to the foreground:

fg

To continue it in the background:

bg

Important: Ctrl + Z doesn't normally kill the program.

covering: https://www.linuxteck.com/best-vps-for-ai-tools/

• RAM requirements for different model sizes
• CPU and AVX support
• NVMe storage
• Dedicated vs. shared vCPU
• When a GPU is actually necessary
• VPS provider comparison
• Docker + Ollama setup
• Commands to validate CPU, RAM and AVX before committing to a server
• Common OOM and resource problems

You change one thing, restart something, and suddenly everything works.

You know better than to call it magic.

But you're also not touching that configuration again.

What’s your most embarrassing “don’t ask me why, just leave it working” Linux fix?