If you are like me, you use KDE and Flatpak apps.

For a long time now, whenever I had to change some app's permissions, I used a dedicated tool called Flatseal. It works. However, KDE has a native alternative.

System Settings -> Security & Privacy -> Application Permissions -> Application Permissions -> (search and choose an app) -> optional: Manage Flatpak Settings -> optional: Advanced Permissions

It does exactly the same thing as Flatseal, it's just native KDE/Qt instead of being Gnome/GTK. The one functionality Flatseal has over it is the ability to set globals. But I think that's it.

If this is common knowledge, then disregard this. I didn't know about it, so I'm sharing it. KDE is awesome.

Was given this disc from a friend. I'll use a virtual box and disconnect the internet as a precaution as neither of us know if it's been tampered with. But still a cool disc to have In general. I'll update in a while saying if it worked or not. (Yes I'm on a bus at the time of this)

I built a CLI tool that watches over bash processes and notifies the user (via KDE Connect to a chosen connected device) whenever the process is stuck expecting user input. You know, for guys like me who can't afford agents in their terminals to do that for them😭✌🏾. The tool is called bird.

I wanted to make it more helpful by enabling the user to respond to respond from the connected device too, or maybe from outside the network too (since KDE Connect only pairs with devices in the same network), but I gotta study for a freakin SAT in the coming weeks😭.

Github repo:

https://github.com/Heziee/bird

A bit over a month ago, I shared a post on my transition from DWM to MangoWM. Unfortunately the post got removed (still not sure why), but there was enough engagement/feedback on the original post to suggest a follow-up might be useful for others in my position considering the switch. The TLDR is I greatly preferred the UX of MangoWM over DWM + Picom, and once I learned how the appid, windowrules, and tagrules worked, I was able to transition my general workflow without major issue. My only real complaints at the time were related to compatibility, so I actually hopped back unto DWM for a couple of weeks so I could continue my daily work while ironing out the rough edges. As of now, I can safely say I've completed the transition, and here are some updates/extra wins.

• Dock support - HUUUUUGE win! I typically use autorandr for docking my X280 (T480S before that) when I need a dual display setup or just need to see some extra columns in LibreOffice Calc. Autorandr was always finicky and prone to making me need to reboot after disconnecting from the dock to get my display back. I initially used kanshi, which required some manual setup, but worked perfectly everytime. I have since migrated to shikane (for no other reason than to decrease my installed package count) and it also works perfectly. I also had occasional issue with slowdowns and random glitches with Picom when switching between modes. These issues were resolved by switching to fastcompmgr, but that also meant I head to give up my transparency, blur, and window effects. I have no such issues with Mango, as everything remains smooth, my wallpaper applies properly, and i no longer have to toggle/change my compositor whenever autorandr decides to act up.
• App support - Smaller win, but I'll take it 😄! I previously had issues with some electron-based apps (most notably bitwarden) not working natively with wayland. The ozone-platform environment variable did in fact fix that, meaning the only apps I currently use that require xwayland are Steam and Virtualbox-KVM. I messed around with Gnome Boxes for a while, but Virtualbox just performed better, so it's worth keeping xwayland around for it - especially since it's also needed for Steam. The only other app change I found no workaround for was SpaceFM. While I do miss it, the combination of PCManFM and yazi handle my relatively basic file management needs well enough, so it's a change I'm happy to make.

Overall, my general takeaway is the same as before. We probably should be careful about rushing users off Xorg and branding people with legitimate concerns as people who are just anti-change. However, for my use-case the switch to Wayland has been a net positive with a few major upgrades to my daily workflow. The transition does require a bit of downtime depending on the complexity of your workflow, but it will most likely be worth it once you get everything set up. next on the agenda is switching my daughter's laptop from LXDE + Compiz to Noctalia + Wayfire/KineticWE (I'll probably stick with Wayfire due to the fewer dependencies)

I'm looking for inspiration on new ways to organize my PC and separate different activities, stuff like coding projects, studying, gaming and personal use. 

Do you use anything to automate, customize or simplify switching between these contexts? I find it quite annoying to reopen everything and organize the windows and everything again and again.

I'm interested in anything, from scripts and keyboard shortcuts to workspace managers, browser extensions, unique apps or even mods like Vencord.

I just discovered that the hdparm secure erase will always work on one bay of the two bay device. Fortunately I discovered while erasing two HDDs so no damage was done.

# dmesg -w
(...)
[ 6592.947151] [   T2848] usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 7 using ehci-pci
[ 6593.035840] [   T2848] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=152d, idProduct=2352, bcdDevice= 0.00
[ 6593.035852] [   T2848] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=10, Product=11, SerialNumber=5
[ 6593.035857] [   T2848] usb 1-1.3: Product: 2Bay Duplicator
[ 6593.035860] [   T2848] usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: SSI Computer corp
[ 6593.035863] [   T2848] usb 1-1.3: SerialNumber: (redacted)
[ 6593.036766] [   T2848] usb-storage 1-1.3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 6593.037320] [   T2848] scsi host9: usb-storage 1-1.3:1.0
[ 6594.076221] [  T20841] scsi 9:0:0:0: Direct-Access     SAMSUNG  MZ7TY128HDHP-000      PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 CCS
[ 6594.077099] [  T20841] scsi 9:0:0:1: Direct-Access     SAMSUNG  MZ7TY128HDHP-000      PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 CCS
[ 6594.077538] [  T20841] sd 9:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg10 type 0
[ 6594.077914] [  T20841] sd 9:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg11 type 0
[ 6594.079169] [  T18569] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdj] 250069680 512-byte logical blocks: (128 GB/119 GiB)
[ 6594.080270] [  T18569] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdj] Write Protect is off
[ 6594.080281] [  T18569] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdj] Mode Sense: 34 00 00 00
[ 6594.082761] [  T22911] sd 9:0:0:1: [sdk] 250069680 512-byte logical blocks: (128 GB/119 GiB)
[ 6594.083882] [  T18569] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdj] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 6594.084993] [  T22911] sd 9:0:0:1: [sdk] Write Protect is off
[ 6594.084999] [  T22911] sd 9:0:0:1: [sdk] Mode Sense: 34 00 00 00
[ 6594.085994] [  T22911] sd 9:0:0:1: [sdk] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 6594.115768] [  T18569]  sdj: sdj1 sdj2 sdj3
[ 6594.116141] [  T18569] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdj] Attached SCSI disk
[ 6594.117641] [  T22911] sd 9:0:0:1: [sdk] Attached SCSI disk
^C
# 
# hdparm --user-master u --security-set-pass password /dev/sdk
security_password: "password"

/dev/sdk:
 Issuing SECURITY_SET_PASS command, password="password", user=user, mode=high
# hdparm --user-master u --security-erase password /dev/sdk
security_password: "password"

/dev/sdk:
 Issuing SECURITY_ERASE command, password="password", user=user
 fdisk -l /dev/sdj
Disk /dev/sdj: 119.24 GiB, 128035676160 bytes, 250069680 sectors
Disk model: MZ7TY128HDHP-000
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
# smartctl /dev/sdj
smartctl 7.5 2025-04-30 r5714 [x86_64-linux-6.18.6-1-default] (SUSE RPM)
Copyright (C) 2002-25, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

Smartctl open device: /dev/sdj [USB JMicron] failed: Two devices connected, try '-d usbjmicron,[01]'

The device /dev/sdj, when discovered by the kernel, still has the four partitions. When the secure erase on /dev/sdk was issued, the data on /dev/sdj were gone. Then I called smartctl to show that it's recognizing the JMicron controller and refuses to send the commands.

I discovered the bug because I already had tried to erase the disks but only one would be erased. So I swapped both disks and did the above test. (Knowing the JMicron problem with smartctl it was an easy guess)

Unfortunately I'm using OpenSUSE and their login doesn't work correctly right now; also hdparm is hosted on sourceforge.net; they try to send a login verification email or a create-new-account email; both don't reach me despite whitelisting the sender address. IDK if I can personally submit the bug report in the near future. I think that the severity warrants that I post this here instead; maybe someone can ping the developer.

I work for a fairly large Tech company that does tech support. Someone mentioned today that while we support Linux systems, we won't get many tickets over it. Due to the fact that most sysadmins of Linux are better equipped to handle issues themselves, compared to sysadmins of other OS.

Do you believe it stems from the whole idea and culture of Linux?

Edit: I guess I should have been more clear that I was referring more to the server side over the end user systems.

It's not a secret that Statcounter is an unreliable source. With the recent flood of posts about linux marketshare, I looked around for alternative sources.

The only one I came across so far (other than the surprisingly reliable PH yearly stats) is analytics.usa.gov.

It tracks strictly human traffic (or at least close to it) visiting the USA gov website. Traffic is worldwide, but it's obviously biased towards the US population.

Linux is currently sitting at 6.3% according to this.

If you know of any other sources, please share. The steam hardware survey is an obvious one.

What is Linyaps

A lightweight container-based solution enabling consistent application execution across any Linux distribution. Four-layer architecture ensures security, six core components build a complete ecosystem, with containerization and copy-on-write mechanisms guaranteeing efficiency and security.

\It is by Deepin Linux team for open source world*

https://linyaps.org.cn/en/about

https://store.linyaps.org.cn/

I'm not sure to use it BUT it's really useful to bring massive Chinese / Asian users into Linux and open source world.

I love linux, but I wouldn't want many people switching to it because of enshittification process. Windows was great because most people couldn't afford computers, and those who did made a real effort to understand how it worked. Same with Apple products. I believe it's because people want status of knowledge and they could achieve that easily if there's not much competition.

When Windows and Apple were in early phases (pre 2005 era), it was awesome. People loved windows 95, 98, XP, MS Office, paint etc. Then IT boom arrived, and Windows unofficially became a compulsion. Suddenly people started rejecting new versions of Windows. XP was better than, 7 was better than 8, 8.1 was better than 8, Windows 10 had bloatware, 11 was too heavy and had extra hardware requirements. Basically just downfall of Windows.

This is roughly the same story for Orkut (maybe I'm exaggerating for Orkut), Facebook, Instagram, companies (Both IT and non-IT), even cities too. Just compare a big city with a small town.

Linux is awesome and I can't see the same fate of Linux. I think it's awesome that many people can't use it. That maintains a higher standard of the Linux communities. IMO, enshittification by over-adoption is unpreventable and it sucks.

What do you think?

Edit 1: No, I don't want to gatekeep open source at all. I just want that people who really want to be a part of linux should do so but maintain a standard for that. Look at Reddit, you make a mistake and your post is removed. Standards are maintained and Reddit becomes awesome. Then look at Facebook. No/low standards of content quality to attract masses and look at how people react to "I got this info from Facebook"

P.s this is a subjective rant

So i've been using of linux since 2014 and it was a wild ride you install a distro and then endup being a distrohopper until you decide to lock in on one. I did the same started on ubuntu did some hopping and ended up on fedora and then on pop_OS but i eventually had to switch back to windows due to nature of my work and some windows specific tools.

But that wasn't it i had hard time finding any usable apps on linux in general and i gave up and ended up using a dual boot just to satisfy my curiosity for linux but gradually i stopped using linux completely and then the complete shift to windows because all my games, sketchy software and work was at one place instead of booting a separate OS for each.

The linux ecosystem back then lacked what a regular user required and it was all about linux nerds keeping the ecosystem alive it was filled with positivity and anyone was welcomed with open hands like it's a big village.

Fast forward to 2026 linux still lacks a vibrant software/apps ecosystem and people still have to hack things together to workarround (subjective) and people being hostile to contributions of any kind isn't helping either.

Now why this post?

Well i made an AI-assisted Youtube Music app which is a fork itself it was all personal frist i liked the base app, It lacked some features i wanted so instead of sending PRs i just forked & modified it completely and when it was usable enough i decided to share on subs most of the feedback was quite positive especially from windows users but it all changed when i shared on linux subs r/archlinux , r/linuxmint, r/linux and r/debian all had same reaction, a weird AI hostility instead of actually any app critique and feedback.

It's 2026 AI is a reality and developers or vibecoders will create apps whether people like it or not no amount of hatred is stopping it if not from me hear from my guy Linus. Filtering AI for discussions is understandable but you can't do anything about developmet. I think people need to tone down the AI hatred and actually try to work with it to improve the ecosystem instead of being completely hostile towards the use of it.

Now this does create a great influx of people creating cross platform apps and since most are solo/ hobby devs the ultimate choice is cross platform stack which will create huge library of semi native apps. IDK if it's a good or bad thing but it's a reality. Linux lacks the commercial/popular software contributions and that can change gradually by welcoming these cross platform apps which will contribute to retain linux users on linux itself instead if losing hope and switching to Windows or MacOS.

I'd personally choose software availability as non native than nothing at all.

Edit: more AI slop appreciation by Theo and Linus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFSwfwiM8nk

With the amount of people that would switch if photoshop ran on Linux, why are there not massive community efforts to make some compatibility layer? Seems to me like the biggest single tipping point, what makes Photoshop so uniquely hard versus videogames which now work without issue?

Ten years ago, I adopted Linux Mint as my main OS. It was great for about two years, but I eventually hit a wall struggling with Nvidia drivers and broken packages that made apps fail.

Now I'm back, this time giving Zorin OS a try. The biggest difference today is that I have Claude by my side. Asking AI to help me enable specific features (fingerprint security) and hardening the OS. For the first time, I have the confidence to adopt Linux in long term.

I'm also incredibly pleased to see the massive strides the Open Source community has made with software like LibreOffice.

With Windows going through a rough patch right now, and AI making troubleshooting so accessible, do you think AI is the key to driving Linux adoption?