Installing linux without losing files

Hi there people. Today I have decided that I am tired of windows and am now looking to move over to linux. I've just completed the creation of a bootable USB but am left with one question. Backing up my files. Now in advance I am going to say that I am aware of the partition method. However I think I have a work around. That is the fact that my PC has two harddrives. My idea is that if I use the inbuilt windows backup feature to back up the files to the second harddrive (where the OS is not going to be installed) then it shouldn't wipe the data on said harddrive. Does the installation remove data on both harddrives or is it just the one that the OS is installed to?

https://redd.it/kl8imp
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Xmonad vs Bspwm

I have been using both window managers for some time now and honestly I really love xmonad but I like the fact that bspwm is configured entirely in bash. What I particularly like about xmonad is the multihead behaviour, however, I figured out a way to replicate it in xmonad.

What I would like to know is, which is the more powerful window manager and way benefits does each one have over another.

https://redd.it/klau3q
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Music Producer who cant switch to linux because of Maschine mk3

Hi!!
I am a 17 (2 months till my 18th birthday) music producer and begginer programmer who is trying to get into linux to get more into "computer stuff"
I use Pop Os, but I am not able to make a complete switch because I use a piece of gear called Maschine mk3 that only works with Mac and Windows.
I tried to install the software with wine, but the controller does not work (drivers are not compatible I supose)
Given this my options are running Linux on a VM, running WSL2 or running a Dual boot (my least favourite option, as I heard that it may cause problems and that having to reboot my PC when I want to make music is a real pain in the *ss).
Any sugestions??
BTW sorry for any typos, but my auto-corrector is for portuguese and it sometimes bugs for english

https://redd.it/klcajb
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2021 will be year of Linux on the desktop

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How to Sync Music to iPhone (kind of) Supports iOS 14 and below only works with iPhone 10 and below. (REQUIRES JAILBREAK)

# Please read before continuing with the rest of guide.

Now as the noscript mentions this does unfortunately require a jailbreak, and unfortunately you cannot use the stock iOS music app, so we are going to be using VLC instead. In this guide I will only cover the Jailbreak process for all A7-A11 devices. So the iPhone 5s-10. Please look up the Jailbreak process if your device is not a part of this device set. As I am more familiar with iPhones I only mentioned iphones. But as long as your iPad or iPod uses one of the SoCs mentioned above (so the A7-A11) you will be able to follow this process as well. (Or if you are running a version of iOS that has another Jailbreak method, or is on an iOS version older than 11.) As such, since no proprietary encoding is taking place either, you can use this process to add movies and other videos to your device as well. As this does require a jailbreak I am not responsible for any potential loss of of data. Please do an iCloud backup before continuing.

Jailbreaking:

This Jailbreak is semi tethered, meaning if you shut down your iphone or it dies you will lose the jailbreak. Though if you are just using the Jailbreak every once and a while to add music or movies, then this should not be much of an issue for you. As even if you lose the jailbreak your media files will not be deleted from your device. To reenable the Jailbreak you will need access to you computer.

WARNING for iPhone 8, 8 Plus or 10 users: due to an inability to properly exploit a process called SEP on A11 chipsets, it has to be mostly disabled. This is only an issue on iOS 14 to my current knowledge however. If you do not disable your passcode before installing the jailbreak your device will bootloop. So please disable it before hand as well as touch/face id. Older iPhone users do not have to worry about this. Same goes for iPhone 8 or 10 users on iOS 13 or below as well.

Installing the computer side program called checkra1n:

Copy and paste the following commands:

echo "deb https://assets.checkra.in/debian /" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo apt-key adv --fetch-keys `https://assets.checkra.in/debian/archive.key`

sudo apt update

sudo apt install chechra1n

Then launch the application checkra1n.

If you are on an iPhone 8 or 10 running iOS 14, once again please remember to disable all lockscreen security. And DO NOT turn it back on after you Jailbreak. Doing so will cause a Kernel panic and reboot your device. Then in the checkra1n program, go to options and then check "Skip A11 BPR check" and "Allow untested iOS/iPadOS/tvOS versions" then click "back". From my experience on my 8 Plus the Jailbreak works perfectly fine.

Then click start and follow the onscreen instructions.

After your iPhone is finished rebooting you should see an app on the homescreen called Checkra1n.

Open it then tap Cydia. You must have internet on your iPhone to install it.

After it is done installing you should see an app called Cydia on your home screen.

You're done!

After Jailbreaking:

Required programs:

On linux:

iFuse: (this allows us to communicate with a portion of the iDevice's file system.) install on Ubuntu based distros with sudo apt install ifuse though most distros should already have it preinstalled.

On the iPhone:

Filza File Manager: To install it open Cydia go to the search tab and search for Filza. Then tap on the result called filza file manager (should have a blue toolbox icon) and then click the install button in the top right corner. Then click confirm. It should start to install. Then click return to Cydia. And then exit Cydia.

Finally! We can now transfer some music.

First plug your iPhone into your PC and trust the PC on your iPhone.

On the PC:

Open a terminal and type

mkdir iphone

ifuse iphone

Then select some music from your computer then click copy. Then go to the home folder, then into the

iphone folder. Then create a new folder called Music, and open it. Then paste your music inside of that folder.

On the iPhone:

Open filza and navigate to /private/var/mobile/media

You should then see the Music folder you created. Open it, then tap and hold on one of the items inside and click select from the dropdown menu, and then select all the items in the music folder.

Then click copy (or move if you don't want them to stay in that music folder as well as in VLC)

then tap <mobile to go back a page.

Then navigate to containers/data/Application/VLC/Documents/Inbox

Then click the clipboard button

Then click paste to paste the music into VLC.

Then exit filza and open VLC

You should now see your music in the music tab of VLC.

&#x200B;

I hope this guide helped anyone who wanted to use Linux to add music to an iPhone. It is less than ideal, but at least it works. If you have and suggestions, questions and/or comments please feel free to post them below.

https://redd.it/klf012
@r_linux

I'm a bit curious: What phones do Linux users use?

I'm currently using a Samsung Galaxy A50, but I plan on upgrading in the future. Samsung doesn't seem to be going in the right direction anymore, so I would like to know what you guys use.

I figured asking the Linux subreddit would be a good idea, since Linux users tend to enjoy customization and privacy, which happens to also be what I'm looking for.

https://redd.it/klf83m
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See Reddit images with just one bash command in your default image viewer!

https://redd.it/klgmo6
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Thank god linux exists...

If it not for linux, I'd not be able to complete my phd project, which requires extreme amount of open browser tabs. In windows its just not possible with my hardware. If I did it in windows, would take me 10 hours. Now in 5 hours, I am done. Now I enjoy 5 hours of me time :)

Cant express how much I love all linux devs.

https://redd.it/kldzmz
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Linux Experiences/Rants or Education/Certifications thread - December 28, 2020

Welcome to r/linux rants and experiences! This megathread is also to hear opinions from anyone just starting out with Linux or those that have used Linux (GNU or otherwise) for a long time.

Let us know what's annoying you, whats making you happy, or something that you want to get out to r/linux but didn't make the cut into a full post of it's own.

For those looking for certifications please use this megathread to ask about how to get certified whether it's for the business world or for your own satisfaction. Be sure to check out r/linuxadmin for more discussion in the SysAdmin world!

Please keep questions in r/linuxquestions, r/linux4noobs, or the Wednesday automod thread.

https://redd.it/kliw3y
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coolgreen - a rice dedicated to ease of installation

Allow me to introduce to the community a project I'm currently working on, which I have named coolgreen. Based off of dwm, coolgreen aims to provide a solid window manager while making it easy for newcomers and enjoyable for veterans alike. This project is in the extremely early phases of development, but I hope that some day it can become a viable option for newcomers to the window manager side of Linux. Please, if you have the time, give it a shot and leave some feedback, as I want to make this the best it possibly can be.

&#x200B;

https://github.com/canada-water/coolgreen

https://redd.it/klijra
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Gtk, Qt etc.

I'm confused about gtk.

gtk2, gtk3 and qt. none of the parts make sense to me.

What I like to do, is to install a theme, and icon theme. I would like to configure this. Eg. I want to change the colors and icons.

So first of all, what do I need to install to make my gui apps look good? Should I install a gtk2 or gtk3 theme? and what about qt? I would like to avoid installing a gtk engine, and would like to configure theme and icones, in the gtkrc itself or something similere. I use a tiling wm if it is realevent to know.

https://redd.it/kljnkf
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Soundux - Soundboard for linux that outputs to any program that is accepting input without requiring you to switch inputs
https://flathub.org/apps/details/io.github.Soundux

https://redd.it/kkaiwf
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Anyone uses Scientific Linux?

Does anyone here uses Scientific Linux on a regular basis? If so, why did you switch for it?

I'm a Windows user that employs Scientific Linux for some specific purposes, so I wanted to know if I should make the change to this distribution. Are there any Linux options for scientists besides Scientific Linux?

Thanks in advance for your help!

https://redd.it/klmg6i
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Idea: QR code as a setup instruction for linux installs?

What if you can turn on the camera and read a QR code to load in a series of commands to setup a new PC?

Might be handy in terms of repeatable installs. Or as a way for you to help a random person setup their computer remotely in a hassle free way.

https://redd.it/kln9yk
@r_linux

sync two calendars of two different mail accounts

Hi there, I recently switched to a new mail provider called mailbox.org. It uses CalDav and CardDav for Mails, Contacts and Calendars. However I still have an account at Outlook.com that has a shared calendar with my wife. Unfortunately every supplier has its walls, so it is not possible to share my Outlook calendar with my mailbox.org accound and vice versa.

I have both accounts in my Evolution Mail, so I would like to ask if it is possible to run a sync noscript? Like rsync that syncs the calendar in both accounts. The disadvantage would be my PC, that needs to be turned in, for every synchronization, but that is only a small drawback.

https://redd.it/klnbje
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New features in cam_board (turn web cam into black / white board) - link and denoscription in comments

https://redd.it/kloqwc
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Encrypted external SSD that works with linux, PC and Mac and decrypts by plugging hardwarekey to host

So I would like to set myself up with something like described in the noscript.
Since my privacy concerns increased lately I started to LUKS encrypt my system and now I use a Yubikey to decrypt the LUKS partition and also to authenticate myself in general when interacting with my system.
That this is overkill since noone has an interest in physically getting access to my computer or getting MY data in general is besides the point and I'd still like to do it this way since it gives me some peace of mind.
Now since I tend to distrohop from time to time and since I tend to "forget" data before installing a new OS I do backups onto an external hard drive. That harddrive is still an HDD and its speed or rather the lack of it is annoying me whenever I have to use it therefore I want to get myself a new external harddrive soonish.
Now I was thinking all that encryping is pretty useless if I keep unencrypted backups laying around...
So I'd like to have an external harddrive that:

1. I can plug in any OS and it will be be detected (e.g. to show photos of the last vacation to the family over the hollidays).
2. That is encrypted
3. That can be decrypted with a hardwarekey


How are encrypted eternal harddrives "set up"? Sometimes you see manufacturers fish for customers with promises like everything is AES encrypted on the harddrive.
I assume the encryption is still handled by the hosts CPU otherwise there would have to be a "cryptochip" in/near the harddrives controller right?
Furthermore I assume you are being prompted by the OS to put in a passphrase (decryption key) for the external harddrive when you plug it in? Is there an API for that?
If so is this uniformal? Or are manufacturers implementing it once for Windows and once for Mac?
I assume this does not support FIDO2.

I fear points 1 and 3 exclude each other, at least for now, if so my priority would be on points 2 & 3.

I'm not an expert on this stuff and often my knowledge is partial, by any means please correct me if misphrased something/misunderstood something.

https://redd.it/kloynd
@r_linux

Microsoft's and Apple's move to ARM is a wake up call for PC manufacturers

I believe that Apple's and soon Microsoft's move to ARM is a wake up call for PC OEMs like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus and so on...

Microsoft entering the CPU market is the worst thing that could've happened from a business standpoint for OEMs. Assuming Microsoft wont just abandon selling Windows for OEMs which they probably wont, they would either have to sell CPUs and Windows or just Windows while selling their own devices.

This could mean that Windows could be optimized for Microsoft's CPU's on their own devices while its x86 counterparts on Intel based devices made by other OEMs would work like crap thus undermining their business models and killing off the competition.

It makes no sense for Microsoft to have other competitors... they don't want Windows to have a negative association when being compared to macOS on ARM so there is no reason for Microsoft to let other OEMs possibly ruin the experience of Windows by selling them CPU's which is why I believe they will only keep selling Windows while making their own ARM devices that will probably work much better.

This could very possibly be the one and only chance for Linux to step in and stop this degradation, If OEMs have at least some sense in business they can't allow Apple and Microsoft to cut their sales and become subpar PC manufactures... If they haven't learned anything from what Apple did to Intel we are doomed to a duopoly of locked ARM devices from Apple and Microsoft while the competition will fade away into nothing.

OEMs could embrace Linux and possibly RISCV to block this move by Apple and Microsoft otherwise they will become dependent on their direct competitors for business and that's going to be a death blow both for them and the x86 platform.

What are your thoughts? are we doomed? could OEMs possibly embrace Linux to save themselves from what looks like an ARM apocalypse?

https://redd.it/klpma2
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notcurses 2.1.2 employs sexblitter by default where supported, multithreaded nclsm

hello there, penguinistas! i've posted here about my Notcurses project (github) before, and if you're uninterested in the Local Group's most powerful TUI/character graphics library, go ahead and move on. otherwise, azaelia and i hope you enjoy the 2.1.2 hype video, showcasing my new Unicode 13-based "sexblitter":

&#x200B;

clockwise from upper left: ASCII, halfblocks, sexblitter, quadblitter

sexblitter uses the Symbols for Legacy Computing introduced in Unicode 13 to map a 3x2 pixel region to a single ccharacter cell. the improvement in resolution is noticeable, especially over the halfblock solution used by e.g. mpv's TCT output driver and viu and even over notcurses's own quadblitter. if you're not looking for a full-screen render, sexblitter still improves image quality in whatever portion of the screen you use, or allows a smaller region for images which fit wholly within the screen.

of course, notcurses is a TUI library, not just a flashy image/video renderer, and 2.1.2 introduces a new progress bar widget, accelerates rasterization via use of the `hpa` control sequence, and introduces a multithreaded `ncls` that must be seen to be believed:

&#x200B;

1471 images rendered with the highest quality. Video is not accelerated. w00t!

take a look at one of the growing number of tools making use of notcurses, or better yet go write your own! available under the Apache-2.0 license.

notcurses 2.1.2: release notes, demo video, man pages and other useful links

not bad for a year's work, if i do say so myself =\]. happy 2021, hax0rs!

\--rigorously, nick (dank)

https://redd.it/klqot7
@r_linux

Garuda Linux

Anyone here try Garuda Linux? I'm currently giving it a spin and it's pretty freaking awesome! Has to be one of the prettiest looking distros ever, also, I've had absolutely zero issues with it. It seems like no matter what distro I try, theres always an issue with it, weather it be random crashes and stuff not working. Garuda so far has been working perfectly. Highly recommended

https://redd.it/klrjip
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