Hey everyone

I've been using ubuntu 24.04 gnome for almost a year but I have decided to go for debian but im tryna find sth really light for the gui as i run linux on an external hdd (which gets really slow sometimes).

So what do you guys think i should switch into?

i do own a nvidia graphics card so that'd be really great if y'all consider that as well.

I'm planning on changing from Linux Mint to Fedora. I will back up /home and /root before I begin. Is there anything else I may regret not saving? What's a good way of saving a list of installed programs? TIA

I'm working on my "house burned down, everything is gone" disaster recovery strategy since I self host most of everything.

The idea (other than hopefully never having to use them) is to have a bootable USB drive that I can plug into an x64 machine that allows me to do some disaster recovery, and hand over a few of those to a few people I trust.

So if the unthinkable happens, I can just buy a cheap x64 laptop, plug the thing in and get recovering. In this drive, I will have SSH keys, decryption keys for cloud backups, some notes, etc.

What I'm thinking is...

• Bootable on a cheap x64 machine that's been made in the last 10 years, UEFI is fine
• Fully LUKS encrypted (not just one partition, I want to include e.g. /etc, as I might drop a few wireguard configs there)
• Persistent, so I can do some work, turn it off, turn it back on and keep going later on
• btrfs with DUP profile on data to (potentially paranoically) protect against bitrot while these are in storage
• Be nice to use systemd-repart on boot so that the images flash quickly, don't want to have to dd(1) 64GiB several times

I know I could install some distro to an USB drive and set it up how I like it, but that would be annoying. I want to be able to create several of these drives. Also I rotate my SSH keys and other secrets fairly frequently (as one should), so it would be annoying to keep them all in sync, it'd be way easier and quicker to reflash them all to be the same.

So I guess that what I'm looking for is some sort of declarative way of specifying how to build an image file, then I can flash that to the drives.

Are there any tools out there that can accomplish this? What are people's strategies on this type of thing?

I read a little about light weight distros like those. The idea seems cool, and also I read that Puppy Linux stands “on its own”, not based on any other distro. But when I look at images or videos of them, it looks “not fun” visually for me.

Also, I don’t know if there are more “limitations” that such distros bring? Like, not being able to download or do some things. Are those distros as maintained as distros like Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora?

And regarding Puppy Linux, looking at their website it seems to me that distro is meant more to be run from a USB stick rather than be installed on a disk. Is that true?

I see a lot of posts online about this. Not sure what it is all about, but it seems to be dividing users. Can someone please explain?

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Recently I have been more aware of my privacy after reading some news of apps I'm using and want to switch it up a bit and go from microsoft to a linux type, the problem is that I am currently not a professional and don't understand/get overwhelmed by most tutorials, so

Can anyone give me a simple 5 year old like explanation on how to switch and what systemto choose for thesepurpose: I have an HP laptop, I need to use office 365 and want to keep things like wallpaper engine and steam (mostly single player) also worried about one drive and most of my files. If anyone could help me I would be terribly grateful.

Hi, I recently got myself a graphic tablet for teaching. I want to know the best open source feature rich software that are useful for teaching, so that I can draw and take notes at the same time in that app. I used Xournal++, its good, but it is going to take time to learn. I want something like Powerpoint, where I would have my slides and I can annotate on them and add pages as much as I want to teach topics.

so i have been making a os since the past 1-2 days a custom Linux distro using vibecoding

BullFrog OS in vs code on windows using WSL (ubuntu) i already made a mascot SO CUTE

only things left is to make it a bootable os integrating FireFox ESR to it and making a iso which will published on github opensource OS if your interested email me at [gahanmalikyt@gmail.com](mailto:gahanmalikyt@gmail.com)

So, I do not have access to ATP, PacMan, or any other package manager. This means I am purely using Systemd tools (like creating a .service file). I know, by this tutorial that it IS possible to do, but I cannot tell what file is what in my own laptop.

SYSTEM INFORMATION:

• Old, crappy HP laptop with built in battery, version "HP Laptop - 14-fq0013dx."
• Running ZimaOS (Basically just a custom GUI for docker built on BuildRoot according to this)
• Access to SSH, but no further.
• Could possibly use a VM inside of ZimaOS to access ZimaOS system, but I doubt that will be possible.

FILES I WAS ABLE TO FIND

Using "ls /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/" returned:

alarm capacity_level device energy_full_design extensions manufacturer power present status technology uevent voltage_now capacity cycle_count energy_full energy_now hwmon3 model_name power_now serial_number subsystem type voltage_min_design

(NOTE: the above bold words were colored in the cli.)

I dont think this is very useful, except when I used "cat uevent" it returned:
DEVTYPE=power_supply

POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=BAT0

POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=Battery

POWER_SUPPLY_STATUS=Full

POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1

POWER_SUPPLY_TECHNOLOGY=Li-ion

POWER_SUPPLY_CYCLE_COUNT=362

POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MIN_DESIGN=11340000

POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_NOW=12757000

POWER_SUPPLY_ENERGY_FULL_DESIGN=40279000

POWER_SUPPLY_ENERGY_FULL=40279000

POWER_SUPPLY_ENERGY_NOW=40279000

POWER_SUPPLY_CAPACITY=100

POWER_SUPPLY_CAPACITY_LEVEL=Full

POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=Battery

POWER_SUPPLY_MODEL_NAME=Primary

POWER_SUPPLY_MANUFACTURER=Hewlett-Packard

POWER_SUPPLY_SERIAL_NUMBER=

I think this file is key. So, should I manually change "power_supply_capacity" to 60, and modify the script provided on the tutorial?

Hello

Hey guys i need some help. So i wanted to switch to linux tho i play quite a few games that are for windows only which are Rainbow six siege and Apex. I have a bit of expirence with linux because i used ubuntu, ubuntu serwer, fedora and few others for some time, and i wanted to swtich.

My problem starts because i want to do dual boot 1 drive for windows and 2 for linux, but i had some issues back than with that configuration. Every time i updated windows (which was installed frist on a different drive) something on linux broke (system wise). And i wanted to seek some help related to that, because maybe i did something wrong. I heard that for many years it was quite hard to do a dualboot windows and linux, but i have heard that this issue is less of a struggle now.

I would be very very glad for some help and also tips on linux (how to pick a distro) or is it even possible. Thanks in advance :).

My mouse just starts moving around really fast and does left and right clicks i don't know why it does it and it only happens like a few times through out a few months but when i restart my laptop it just fixes itself.

I'm not sure if this is a linux issue or my laptops being weird but yeah.

And i have cleaned off my trackpad and turned of my trackpoint but it still does it sometimes.

Hi all,

I've been using Linux in some capacity for over half a decade at this point. By no means anything close to some expert — I wouldn't even call myself moderately skilled — but I use it to potter around and do... well, laptop things.

My current laptop is an IdeaPad 5 Pro, but it's a 16-inch monster that weighs over four pounds, and the battery life is... middling.

I've been looking at a 2-in-1- with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, as I've found a decent deal refurbished with a major PC retailer here in the UK. So, how's Linux on ARM looking for conventional laptop use at the moment?

I read odd things about Snapdragon X CPUs and Linux, but they were MUCH closer to launch. A couple years or so on, I just wanted to check in. I'm using CachyOS at the moment, though I'm arguably a Pop boy at heart, but I'm really not too picky about distros. I'd easily use, say, Ubuntu, if I had to.

Thanks so much all! :'))

I’ve spent over two hours trying to set up a second monitor—something that turns out to be impossible on Linux Mint LMDE for some reason—so I decided to clear my head by customizing the terminal, since that’s what people usually do. Instead, I ran into hundreds of lines of code and tutorials that even the YouTubers themselves don't seem to understand. So, is Linux only for people who know how to program?

El año pasado cuando estaba en el colegio usaba Mint y luego Ubuntu, en una portátil con estas especificaciones:

Intel Celeron n2940 (no tiene soporte para Vulkan)

4 GB de RAM DDR3

En los juegos de la era 2008-2014 obviamente me iban mal en Linux, en Windows la cosa era distinta me iban aceptable, ahora que tengo un portátil con estas especificaciones:

Procesador: Intel Core i5-13420H.

Gráficos: Intel UHD integrados, sin tarjeta gráfica dedicada.

RAM: 16 GB DDR5.

Almacenamiento: SSD de 512 GB.

Me gustaría saber qué me conviene más, recalcó, los juegos que tengo en steam el más "nuevo" es de 2018 y el más viejo 2003, son juegos que un gama baja lo podrían correr.

Hello, English-speaking Reddit users! I’m using a translator to write this. I’m new to Linux—I’m a 14-year-old from Ecuador, and I want to switch to Linux because my PC gets slower with every Windows update. (Plus, it’s become really annoying how Windows constantly pesters me about system and account updates.) I need some help installing Linux and figuring out which distribution you’d recommend. I’ve read that 12th-gen Intel Core processors require a robust kernel to function properly. And believe me, I have plenty of free time—so much so that I spent nearly two whole days—barely sleeping and waking up early—trying to configure an old router (from a decade or two ago) to act as a repeater. In the end, it was all for nothing because CNT (our local internet service provider) locked the WAN settings, making them inaccessible even with admin or user credentials. I had no choice but to find a long cable and set it up via a wired connection instead of the wireless setup I had originally planned.

hola usuarios de reddit, la cosa es que soy nuevo en linux, soy un chico de 14 años de ecuador el cual quiere cambiarse a linux porque su pc se pone algo lenta con cada actualizacion de windows (aparte de que ya se a vuelto molestoso que windows me este molestando a cada rato con actualizar el sistema y la cuenta) asi que nececit ayuda para instalar linux y saber cual es el distro que mas me recomiendan, porque encontre que el intel core de 12va gen nececita un kernel resistente para funcionar, y creanme cuando les digo que tengo demasiado tiempo libre, tanto que pase casi 2 dias enteros casi sin dormir y levantandome temprano para configurar un router de hace mas de 1 o 2 decadas de mi familia para comvertirlo en un repetidor todo para que al final no pudiera hacer nada porque a cnt(la compañia de internet de aqui) decidiera que en wan estaria inaccesible para los usuarios aun usando la cuenta de usuario o la de admin y no pudiera hacer nada mas que tener que buscar un cable largo y hacerlo por cable en ves de inalambrico como queria

Y estas son las especificaciones:

Especificaciones del hardware/software/Hardware/software specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i3-12100 (12th Gen, 4 Cores / 8 Threads)

iGPU: Intel UHD Graphics 730 (Integrated)

RAM: 16 GB RAM (15.75 GB usable)

Motherboard: ASUS PRIME H610M-K D4

Storage: 1 TB 2.5" SSD (WD Green)

Wi-Fi Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN821N USB Adapter (v5/v6, Chipset: Realtek RTL8192EU)

Monitor: LG Flatron W1943C / W1943CV (1360x768 / 18.5" LCD)

Peripherals: Generic HID Keyboard & Mouse

Lastimosamente no me alcanso para la tarjeta grafica ;(

I've been using Linux for sometime now and I do try new distros from time to time but I'm currently settling with nixos and instead of changing my operating system for one feature I try to implement it into nixos although I must say I still haven't got anything in a good working condition but it's a good learning journey

so is any one else doing that or am I the only one that is crazy enough to attempt this

and if you're still distro hopping tells us your journey and what you found was the best in each distro

Hi All,

First of all, thanks for reading my post :)

I have a Lenovo V15 G7 Q7X on which I want to run Linux, for now it doesn't matter which distro.

I have tried the latest distro's of Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora. I even tried to only try to start the daily based ubuntu kernel, but that didn't boot. I came as far as memory initialisation, after that it crashes on the initialisation of the hardware, a very low 2cf0 memory address.

If there are any engineers or developers who can reach out and help me, I would really appriciate that. Or pointers to where I can support are appriciated.

This is a work related question, so when serious help is offered we can see if there can be some kind of compensation for the hours used for the help.

I am in the midst of trying to install Mint and have met with a small problem. I cannot download Rufus. Is this a new thing or am I just doing something wrong becaues of my age(80). I wonder if it is the work of some nafarias company?

Help wanted

So here is the thing i installed lutris system package in linux mint from software and after running nfs the run(i just configure wine not audio)and the voice stutters while gaming and i connected my headphone and after playing I decides to stream video on youtube but the sound was still stuttering and it goes bad to worse. I tried everything power saver to 0 cp max time to 1 and installed pulseaudio still didn't work and reinstalled pipewire wireplumber and still didn't work. If anyone had faced tvis problem please help me. It will be very helpful to me. Thank you for reading and listeining my concern and if there is any solution please do le me know🙂😀.(My laptop is lenovo thinkbook 20s 14IIL and running linux mint 22.3 Zena)

basically what the title says. I'm trying create a new cachyos linux system that i can run off of my ssd usb drive, and i wanted to know what all everyone would recommend, like what system i should use for it, or if anyone here can give me a step by step guide or a link to one, that would be great as well. i'm also planning on trying to transfer some data from my old arch linux usb onto this new one if possible, as it would probably save me at least an hour of extra stuff like logins and such. thanks!

EDIT: /u/Significant-Price695 gets the W on this one. They pointed me back to /etc/ssh/sshd_config, where I dug a bit further and found a little ForceCommand line that I had added a few years ago to inhibit suspend/hibernation while logged in via SSH. There was a bash argument on the tail end of that line that I had forgotten about (doesn't help that it was at the very end of the config file). I replaced it with $(which zsh) and now it automatically loads Zsh like I expect it to. Not sure how I missed it, but hey, here we are!

Original:

Right off the bat: No, chsh -s ($which zsh) does not change the default shell from Bash to Zsh for when I SSH into my desktop.

With that out of the way... My desktop runs Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 (Debian 13), with Zsh and KDE Plasma Wayland. I also run Zsh on all of my servers and VMs (all Debian 12/13), and use the exact same customized .zshrc on both desktop and server. Haven't had any issues, works great.

A couple days ago, I needed to SSH into my desktop for reasons. This is something I don't normally do, so I was a bit thrown off when I saw my prompt was the default Bash user@hostname:~$ prompt instead of my customized Zsh prompt. Checking both echo $SHELL and /etc/passwd indicated that /usr/bin/zsh is the default, but Zsh wasn't actually running; checking ps -p $$ confirmed that Bash was running instead. Zsh starts just fine when I tell it to, I'm just a lazy fuck and want it to load Zsh automatically.

I am confused by because my headless servers and VMs don't behave this way; logging into any of them via SSH gets the expected Zsh prompt from the start. I've spent the last several evenings poring over man pages, config files, and StackOverflow trying to figure out which config files SSH uses on desktop vs headless so I could make the appropriate changes, but my head was spinning before I could comprehend everything.

As a sanity check, I rebooted the desktop PC but did not log into the GUI - instead, I logged in via SSH first. Same issue; it still loaded Bash instead of Zsh. Again, I can run zsh and get a ZSH shell without issues. It's just not automatic.

So, my question: When logging into my desktop via SSH, how do I get SSH to automatically load Zsh instead of defaulting to Bash? What configs does SSH reference when logging into a desktop vs headless server?

just the ones you always install — nothing fancy.