A space biologist by training and a (Arch)Linux user by passion #ArchLinux #Linux #KISS #FOSS #terminal, #python https://www-gem.codeberg.page
"Traditionally, the /opt directory is used for installing/storing the files of third-party applications that are not available from the distribution’s repository.
The normal practice is to keep the software code in opt and then link the binary file in the /bin directory so that all the users can run it."
I use the open source KISS launcher for years now. Your data never leaves your device, and you can expect to save battery life and speed up your device compared to complex and bloated launchers. KISS is just 250 KB and never connects to the Internet.
The best thing is that - behind a simplistic configuration menu - you can configure it from an ultra minimalist black screen with one text box to call when you need to launch an app, search for a contact, search on internet... to a full app drawer organized however you want (alphabetical order, your own defined categories...). It's just insane and unfortunately so much overlooked.
Terminal is faster when you're used to it and sometimes offer more customization options to some apps that has both a GUI and TUI/CLI version.
I use the terminal (st with zsh and tmux) for:
I'm sure I'm missing some obvious tools I use daily. It's hard remember everything when it becomes so natural.
I have shared my experience with some of these tools here.
Always nice to read so great posts. Welcome to a brand new world of possibilities. I promise your journey will be long but full of self accomplishments, learnings, satisfaction. You will probably run into one or two times when you'll have to search for a solution but in these situations the Linux community will always be there for you and you'll feel so proud to have learn something along the way.
You realize how much Linux is different to other OS only when you live with it. There's a real philosophy, it's not just some branding wording. If you feel adventurous enough you'll certainly see your mindset and way of thinking evolving as time goes. You have so much possibilities to discover, I'm jealous of this sentiment of new user you'll experience. I've personaly used to tweak Windows back in the days and its limitations (amongst other things) is one of the main reasons why I switched to Linux. Twenty years later I'm wondering how I didn't know earlier that another world existed.
Beyond the fact that Linux has improved my workflow drastically compared to my Windows/MacOS colleagues, it also helped me grow intellectually. The best part is that it never ends because there's always a new tool, app, distro to experiment, play with, and learn from.
Working with a system and not adapting to it or fighting against it is a huge difference. Linux has so many options that you can litterally build the system that fits your specific needs and liking to perfection (and even better than you can think now). It's just a matter of few efforts. We're not used to make efforts nowadays and prefer opting for the laziness of being the slaves of a system/brand but I can guarantee you will be rewarded for these efforts beyond your expectations.
Enjoy your new life!
The modularity, repairability, and price for specs are what attracts me compared to the other companies mentioned in this post.
Enjoy this little guy and Linux! You won't regret your choice.
As I mentioned in the other thread, I'd advise to keep your firmware up to date with fwupd. Litterally one command line and your system will automatically update all firmware for you (including the bios). This is too often overlooked while very important and this tool makes the process so simple (no search, no manual download, no complex commands).
Drivers is a vocabulary you should almost forgot in Linux ;) Contrary to other OS, Linux will rarely require you to install a driver.
To answer your question, doing a simple online "mint wireless 8275" returned a forum with your exact issue. The reported solution is to "try powering it off, remove the power cord and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Reconnect cord and power up". As weird as it sounds this may work. It worked for me 10 years ago with a keyboard. It's easy and quick to try it. Let us know if that helps or not. Too bad you didn't like Arch because your laptop was fully supported.
Umatrix was awesome but is unfortunately not maintained anymore since July 21, 2021. Ublock origin is a perfect replacement though and can be deeply configured behind its simpler appearance. Coupled with the LibRedirect add-on in the Librewolf browser and I can navigate ad and tracking free.
I've explained my choice for zsh here
Nicely configured it's so convenient that I spend most of my time in the terminal and don't even use a file explorer anymore. It can also be expanded with some plugins for specific use-cases.
A somehow old (2021) but interesting article about why the community is moving from wpa-supplicant to iwd: https://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2021/243/iNet-Wireless-Daemon
Here is an excerpt of interest: "The description of the iwd project on www.kernel.org highlights simplicity as an important factor behind iwd's recent rise: "The core goal of the project is to optimize resource utilization: storage, runtime memory, and link-time costs. This is accomplished by not depending on any external libraries and utilizing features provided by the Linux Kernel to the maximum extent possible. The result is a self-contained environment that only depends on the Linux Kernel and the runtime C library.""
ArchLinux and Ubuntu respectively tested iwd on July 2020 and in Ubuntu 20.10.
the 1600€ but is so expensive for me, but i like it very much even the concept
Have you looked at the DYI option instead of the pre built one? Assembling this laptop is doable in 5 minutes for a 3 years old kid ;) You can even find step by step guides videos and that will bring the price down to your higher limit of 1000 euro. That may be a good option if you like the concept so much. I'm personaly looking to get one of those for my next machine.
Also, this discussion may help you. It's on the framework forum but comments are not only all positive which reflects liberty of speech. Another plus in my view. Finally, always remember to compare apples to apples and take longevity in consideration. Not all processors with similar specs are the same for example.
As always there's no such thing as a global "best" application. Building your system is a very personal thing. It all depends on your needs and liking.
My personal journey in the tiling WM world has started 20 years ago with awesomewm. Then I moved to i3 because it feels lighter to me while offering a configuration approach I preferred. After some times, I felt ready to "really" build my tiling WM and I moved to dwm.
I couldn't be happier until I came across bspwm which is as suckless as dwm but EWMH compliant. I also love the nice approach of keybindings offered by sxhkd. What I appreciate the most is the no limit configuration power since you can integrate the very powerful program that writes messages on bspwm 's socket (bspc) in any scripts you can imagine. This let you create some crazy and very personal rules. For example, I designed one where bspwm is listening to my video player state and if not fullscreen it automatically resizes it to a given size and moves it to a specific position. I have another one that will apply borders only to 2 specific windows applications and use a different color for each one.
This is a very brief overview of what I've experimented. Your expectations and the time you want to deserve to your configuration may guide you on another path. Archwiki has a comparison of tiling WM may be a good starting point to help you in your decision.
Very nice to read this feedback. I'm very sold to Framework after all the great things posted here. An impeccable customer support like the one you describe means a lot about a company.
There's a hype around floorp right now. Certainly because it's new and it offers a high level of aesthetic customization.
Unfortunately it doesn't work for me because:
it takes up too much RAM compared to others. Even though people don't really care about that on modern machine it goes against my philosophy.
I've been tweaking Firefox for a long time to get the highest privacy possible but it was extremely painful and I don't want to redo that with floorp.
my system look is extremely minimalist and I remove any visual effects in apps I use which would go against the point of floorp.
These are some reasons why I went with librewolf since it was released in 2020. It's efficient, well maintained, kept up to date with the latest Firefox version, and most importantly to me: deeply respectful of your privacy. Their privacy approach is very well explained in the FAQ It passed all the EFF tests better than any browser I've tested after hours of tweaks.
This is only my personal experience and preference. Per the Floorp developer himself privacy is not given the utmost care and users should prefer librewolf in that regard. If you want to use normal privacy and excellent Firefox derivatives, with no doubts, floorp will fit your needs.
Thanks very much. That's exactly what I needed. I'm still not used to the diversity of NixOS documentation and was not aware of this one.
That's what I keep reading and why I would like to give it a try. For now I'm still confused how this is easier/more efficient than sharing your list of packages, restoring a backup, or using downgrade in Arch. I'm really interested because I like to try new stuff, especially if they bring something of interest.
I really have hard time to see the difference for now after my first setup in a VM but also because imaging my full Arch system on a new machine 2 years ago only took me an hour and less than 10 command lines.
Again, I'm genuinely trying to understand what I'm missing. From my reading NixOS seems to be the only distro I could switch to.
They're unfortunately harder to find in the wild than pokemons 😂 Have you experienced long delivery time as mentioned above?
If you're looking for random posts on Linux terminal and tools then I'll do some self promotion: https://www-gem.codeberg.page
Don't expect for regular posting or any professional advice, it's just my personal experience and thoughts shared with 10 people on the planet :) Maybe 11... I can find a chair for you to join.
I second that. Always have a bootable disk ready (or even better a bootable image on your machine) so you can recover from any issues in a snap. Over the course of 20 years using Linux I can only remember two blackscreens. Unlike other OS, these situations don't happen randomly but mostly when the user mess up with the system (like in your case) and that's great opportunities to learn a lot about your system because that's when you really need to understand how it works.
If you're looking for an in-browser alternative I'd highly recommend you take a look at the LibRedirect extension for Firefox and Chromium. It'll automatically redirect any youtube URL to your preferred alternative between Invidious, Piped, PokeTube, CloudTube, Tubo, FreeTube, or Yattee.
If you're looking for an external app and like using your terminal then ytfzf may be a good choice. I've briefly talked about it here. It will even allow you to search on Youtube (through invidious), Peertube, and Odysee if you so desire.
Source Code Pro for writing and Nerd for symbols.
Framework also has an outlet, just in case you want to take a look ;)
Do you have any experience with neovim? I'm certainly not a Python programmer but I'm doing simple things for fun and so far neovim served me very well. If I eventually go deeper in Python I would be interested to know the limitations of neovim beforehand.
Any headphones should work (if your hardware supports it if using bluetooth). I've connected at least 4 different brands from no name to Aftershokz with no issues. Even tried airpods for a friend.
That's the beauty of Linux! If you feel adventurous, you always easily find something to tweak/experiment. Since I moved to Linux my mindset and workflow never ceased to evolve. That's because I'm curious but that couldn't be possible in any other OS. Only Linux can offer so much options and an exceptional level of granularity so anyone can build his/herown perfect system. We may achieve the same thing but in different ways and we'll both run Linux.
If you're more shy you can simply install a set of software under a given distro and you're done. This is also a Linux option. Right now, I couldn't find any challenges to keep me busy for more than a day or two until I decided to test a new system (NixOS) in a virtual machine. This is another way to have the kind of fun you mention :)
I love tweaking and improving my system so much that I dedicated my little blog only to that. Sharing is another crucial principles I love in the Linux philosophy.
Hi. I've briefly shared my experience with neo(vim) and emacs here. Going into all the details would require writing an encyclopedia because they're both so vast topics. I think the main factor of choice would be to know if you prefer to build your own perfect tool with just what you need and expand as you go (i.e. neovim) or just have a do-it-all ready tool right out of the box (i.e. emacs). Both will require some coding and maintenance anyway. In that regards, I personaly found neovim to be easier and more reliable but mileage may vary based on your needs and preferences. After years using vim 20 years ago, I made a break. Then I used emacs for a year before eventually going back to neovim. I would certainly recommend it vs vim and I would suggest starting from scratch (no lazyvim or similar) so you clearly understand how things work. This will certainly be useful in the long run anyway and that'll eventually save you time. Note that I've also tried welcome screens (startup) but really couldn't justify its use so I removed it after few months.
Wish someone would come with something like tut for mastodon.
Oh you mean mullvad! They're two different apps.
Novacustom... Never heard of it. The almost insignificant disadvantage I can see so far for Framework is that they don't use open-source boot. Everyone so far stand behind Framework. How would you sell me on System76 or Novacustom?
Or maybe I'm already too old for so much tech. But thanks for letting me think that I'm still a young boy ^^ Not helping with my question but pretty self satisfactory.
Thanks for the tip. I know a lot of people are going for Thinkpads and you're specific recommendation may seem interesting but I'd like to support other companies like the ones I bought from so far (Toshiba, Lenovo, Dell, Vaio, Acer, PB, Razer) and I'd also like to build my own laptop from the start.
Thanks very much for this important feedback. Framework is definitely taking the lead in responses to this post.
One would say you're more weird than me then. That makes me feel better ^^
Can you expand on that?
Any more details? ;)
Looks like the group is eventually not that small.
Right. Actually one of the things I love about Linux is that it offers so many options so you can make your own combination to create the perfect system for your specific needs.
You can get all the visual distractions out of your way and tweak litterally everything to an incredible granular level. No other OS can pretend to be so user focused while staying so simple in appearance. You're not adapting to your system, it's built for you.
XPS13 has very highly positive reviews from several sources. I've had the same dilemma as you 3 years ago and went with the XPS13 9310 and I'm extremely happy with it. So much that I bought an on sale Razer Book 13 for my wife since it's almost an XPS 13 with a different name.
Note that I don't have the "developer" version of the XPS but it runs with no issues at all. I can install Linux myself, don't need someone to do that for me and I'm not using Ubuntu anyway. Also, the delivery delay were insane when I bought it and I was extremely lucky to find a "regular" version in one of my local stores.
I've tried a lot of laptops over 30 years and no brand was convincing enough to get me returning to them every time. I just go where I can find the hardware I need enclosed in a well-enough robust case and I'm done. All the parts are sold by the same manufacturers anyway. The difference between brands is just which parts are assembled together and how well it's done.
As a bonus, it's also nice that the firmware of the XPS 13 (including the bios) can be updated with fwupd.
I use rofi as my app launcher and more. I've share my old script here.
I have now extended this script to support the following: