An alternative to raspberry pi and other SBCs - more power and packages but similar price

I stumbled upon this accidentally the other day when looking for a new SBC and wanted to make everyone aware of it. It's the Beelink BT3 Pro II. I was able to pick up one from Amazon for $99. Mine came with [a nice card in the box promising Linux installation help](https://imgur.com/a/h47Pk1t)

It's about [twice the size of a raspberry pi length and width wise but about the same thickness](https://imgur.com/a/spMc26o). I don't know how many watts it uses at idle or under load, but the included power supply is only 18 watts, so I'd imagine it's probably no more than double the pi if not less.

The real kicker is that it comes with 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 64GB emmc. The emmc isn't user replaceable, but I'm not sure about the RAM. It's also a Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor, so x86_64 instead of ARM so you can run any distro and use normal packages.

I got it yesterday. It comes with Windows 10 home, but it's easy enough to wipe it and install Linux. WiFi appears to be the same as in the raspberry pi 4 from what I gather. You can increase storage via an SD card or USB (2 or 3). I installed arch on it with no problems. I haven't installed X yet, because I haven't decided on a desktop.

By the time you add power supply, storage, a case etc. to a 4GB raspberry pi 4, you're probably not far off from the price, but definitely lacking in power, speed and available distros/software compared to the Beelink.

https://redd.it/edcdo3
@r_linux

Superpaper 1.2.0 released! The multi-monitor wallpaper manager gets PyPI release, better installation, KDE+XFCE improvements, XDG_*_HOME compliance

[Superpaper on Github](https://github.com/hhannine/superpaper)

[Superpaper on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/superpaper/)

​

This has been a while in the making since the code was split into modules and needed testing. Changes include:

* New installation & instructions
* PyPI release for Linux + icon & .desktop files
* Windows installer
* Bezel correction feature rework & bugfix
* XDG config and cache directory compliance on Linux
* KDE noscripting improvements: reduce to a single system call, filter and sort displays
* KDE + XFCE quick switch improvement: use previously cropped image pieces to make switch almost instantaneous if old images exist
* Explicit support for Kubuntu (and any other KDE system which has DESKTOP\_SESSION="plasma")
* Small bug fixes

https://redd.it/edbg6y
@r_linux

Emulating Persistent Memory in the Linux Kernel
https://www.williamwalcher.xyz/hacking-libvmmalloc-fun-profit/

https://redd.it/edgbfm
@r_linux

Is Fedora getting slower?

Well... I run Fedora XFCE mostly.

I noticed my laptop getting a little more sluggish as time goes by, but then again, it's not a pristine install.

But yesterday, I got my hands on a different machine - a netbook sporting an Atom N570. Hold on, I know, that's sluggish, period. Yet, I've run Fedora XFCE on a Atom N270 - that's single core! - without issues. However, that was back on Fedora 28.

I put 1+1 together and realized that it may just be that, instead of my installation being dirty, Fedora may not be on top of its performance game as it used to.

Can anyone relate to that here?

https://redd.it/edl6ej
@r_linux

Plasma Mobile as Daily Driver on PinePhone
https://blog.bshah.in/2019/12/20/plasma-mobile-as-daily-driver/

https://redd.it/edm4hw
@r_linux

Faerie Solitaire Remastered is now free (gratis) for Linux

To continue our support of the Linux Gaming community, we made our game Faerie Solitaire Remastered free for Linux on day one of its availability. Another gift for the Linux Gaming community!

https://subsoap.itch.io/faerie-solitaire-remastered-linux

Previously we made our game Faerie Solitaire Harvest free for Linux as well.

https://puppygames001.itch.io/faerie-solitaire-harvest

https://redd.it/ed9i7q
@r_linux

Does Linux Prevent These Vulnerabilities?

This is my concern with windows, does Linux do a better job?

So being a casual PC user as I am, I like to explore the many programs made available to me. When I installed some programs, such as OBS, discord, ManyCam(so I can use my phone as a Mic), etc. and I realized the capability programs could exploit to record your screen, record keystrokes, look at your browsing history etc. with no confirmation from windows that what devices or programs an app is using.

One thing I enjoy about iOS and android software is that it gives you confirmation stating the permissions an app can do such as what it reads, writes, or other apps it utilizes. Firefox even has this where it confirms you want to use your microphone or camera with websites like discord so you are not constantly streaming yourself to foreign websites. But Windows on the other hand, just doesn't tell you.

When I downloaded discord, I was greeted with a login screen that said "checking if you are signed in" or something of the sorts. Little did I know it checked my browser to see if I was. Why doesn't windows prevent this or allow me to confirm giving permissions to applications to read other apps? This could easily be used to sell off data and to grab your email, passwords, what you browse, etc.

I also downloaded a mouse macro that allowed my to have my mouse move so I remain online on some of my apps. This had to ability to shut down my PC with no confirmation and could put it into an infinite boot loop. (Then I would have to go into secure mode to delete it)

Please don't suggest to just not download unfamiliar programs , or use solely open source programs, because I am already aware of these options . I feel like I could make a program that would seemingly be harmless, but is recording screens, looking at apps behavior, or browsing a users file system, and have it all sent to my database for data collection.

​

Perhaps I am being paranoid, and maybe windows defender is making sure these programs are safe, but how? What precautions can I take to see if I am being exploited? How is Linux handling this?

https://redd.it/ednr6f
@r_linux

notcurses 0.9.1 released, multimedia-capable TUI library

I've spent the last month working on a TUI library for modern, complex terminal applications, and tonight cut [notcurses v0.9.1](https://github.com/dankamongmen/notcurses). It's already up in the [Arch AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/notcurses/), and Debian Unstable packages will soon be uploaded to my [APT repository](https://www.dsscaw.com/apt.html). It uses terminfo as included with Thomas E. Dickey's NCURSES (to which it owes a great debt), but goes beyond that library, especially along the bling axis.

I hope to cut 1.0.0 early in January with [a good deal more](https://github.com/dankamongmen/notcurses/milestone/2) features, but it's already come pretty far in a month if I say so myself. I've got demos [on youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEv2YRyiEVM), but nothing's quite like building it, ensuring you're in a DirectColor-capable terminal, and giving the demo a spin locally. Or over ssh. Or through seven proxies. If nothing else, it's Something New.

Please let me know your thoughts. Apache 2.0. hack on!

[some shots from the 0.4.0 demo](https://preview.redd.it/w44nm931iy541.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=9b6bfa5aaf4bdc71302a33b8415cc22e90a131e2)

https://redd.it/edo49w
@r_linux

Found an easteregg in the libvorbis encoder
https://redd.it/edpe7i
@r_linux

AMD Ryzen Series or Intel/NVIDIA

Hey guys, I am planning to buy a laptop and most of my work is on Linux. What works better in Linux AMD or Intel+NVIDIA?
I do some graphic designing and editing work on windows so I need to consider that as well. What do you think will be a better choice?


FYI I can afford either Ryzen 5 3550 or i5 9th gen.

https://redd.it/edq5m3
@r_linux

Agrep: Based on Levenshtein distances, it's possible to search for words looking alike a word.
https://twitter.com/chaignc/status/1208413293909557248?s=20

https://redd.it/edrg00
@r_linux

How is the process for a release of a GNU/Linux operating system?

For example, in a distribution like Ubuntu who is responsible for compiling the source code and putting it online?, What control does the community have over that process?.

https://redd.it/ednos7
@r_linux

It's my first time seeing this on internal Hardware.
https://redd.it/edstdi
@r_linux

If package managers are such a big advantage to linux, why is the windows store so hated? What is different

Im a relatively new linux user and I do like the concept of package managers, especially when you have some as robust as those found in the arch based distros.


This got me thinking that windows 10 has something similar but I only see people trash it.

What is windows doing wrong that linux does right?

https://redd.it/edckm6
@r_linux

Binary Debugger and Reverse Engineering Framework (Cross-Platform)
https://cutter.re/

https://redd.it/edkb5h
@r_linux

Linux driver for the Xbox One wireless dongle
https://github.com/medusalix/xow

https://redd.it/edv6la
@r_linux

Weird problem with rc.local on Raspbian 7

If I edit something like rc.local, change passwd, or similar, the change will not persist after a reboot. Everything reverts to the previous version.

Any ideas? Maybe it has entered some kind of mode mapping the live operating system folders like /etc/ to RAM or something. The command df shows correct mount points, so I'm unsure what is causing this.

https://redd.it/edyvdc
@r_linux

Wallpaper - Christmas Tux 2019
http://klowner.com/wallpaper/christmas_tux_2019/

https://redd.it/edzmh9
@r_linux

Convert Android TV box's OS to Arch Linux ARM?

Is it possible to change Leelbox MXQ mini's OS to Arch Linux ARM? How?

https://redd.it/ee0qj6
@r_linux

best gaming linux distro

so i’m new to linux, but i have been having issues with windows (surprise surprise) which version of distro would you recommend for a complete beginner for gaming any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


also sorry for the grammar i’m on mobile!

https://redd.it/ee1j6j
@r_linux

What is the difference between volume and partition ?



https://redd.it/ee2f2h
@r_linux