Linux for Old Folks… a discussion

I was thinking the other day about setting my parents (mid 79s) up with some form of Linux distro. The problem is they are a few thousand miles away from me and I wouldn’t dare even tell them the command line exists.

I was thinking of just sticking with Ubuntu and having them use the snap store for the handful of programs they use.

Wondering, how would you more seasoned Linux users approach this situation? Or would you not even bother?

https://redd.it/1j1pjh7
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Resources to learn more about creating an extremely usable desktop

I've been using linux for a while now and I'm just now learning about a .local/bin where you can store custom noscripts, how /etc/hosts can block sites you don't want connected, how many feautres zsh has, like it can find directories from incomplete paths (like cd g/ex goes to git/example), how xorg has a xorg.conf.d where I can create all the custom keyboard layouts, touchpad, and other configs I want.

Those 3 are just a few of them that I didn't know for the longest time and it helped me so much creating a (an almost) perfect desktop environment for myself.

I would love to know where I can learn more about random tips, tricks, and customizations without accidentally stumbling upon them. I'm on Debian SID and using DWM just in case it's relevant.

https://redd.it/1j215np
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"Perfectly balanced, as all things should be"
https://redd.it/1j26t1j
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AdGuard launches nightly version of world’s first Linux ad blocker
https://adguard.com/en/blog/adguard-for-linux-nightly.html?utm_source=reddit

https://redd.it/1j266dh
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Configs for a Nushell-based fzf dmenu-like

I spent a while today making a dmenu-like application runner for my setup with the River compositor and Wezterm, and wanted to share in case anyone else wanted to reuse most of the work for their own setup. It should be relatively easy to migrate it to other terminals and compositors/window-managers as well!

You can check out the files here

https://redd.it/1j28o2c
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Alternatives to Marcan42's Mastodon page? Anyone that posts regularly about software hardware and or Linux development?

As you all know Marcan42 resigned from the Asahi Linux Project. He had a Mastodon page where he would talk about AL development and hardware stuff, as well as frustrations dealing with kernel maintainers to upstream things like Rust stuff (long before the beef that went down last month).

It's too bad had deleted it, I wish it was at least left as read-only. I'm really feeling a void for that content and would love to read similar posts from devs. Posts that are not too long, like ones on Mastodon or Bluesky, rather than long articles (which there are an abundance of).

https://redd.it/1j2er3d
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3D animation software for Ubuntu - Preferably free or stupidly cheap?

I'm trying to create animated 3D characters for a game project, but I can't seem to do the animations as Meshy AI keeps telling me the animations are outside the rigging areas.

Are there any preferably free apps other than Blender? I have Blender but I can't work out how to use it.



https://redd.it/1j2famd
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Motorola moto g play 2024 smartphone, Termux, termux-usb, usbredirect, QEMU running under Termux, and Alpine Linux: Disks with Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) Partition Table (GPT) partitioning
https://old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1j2g5gz/motorola_moto_g_play_2024_smartphone_termux/

https://redd.it/1j2git9
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Concerned About OLED Burn-In on Linux – Need Your Advice!

Hey everyone,

I'm currently using Windows 11 with WSL for development, but I'm thinking about making the switch to Linux. My laptop is an Asus VivoBook with an OLED display that supports HDR, and I'm worried about the potential for OLED burn-in on Linux.

On Windows, the MyAsus app provides built-in protection against burn-in, but I’ve noticed there isn’t a similar support system on Linux.

I'm not looking for HDR since I mainly do web development and some content consumption. My top priorities are good text rendering, vibrant colors, and overall display longevity.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

https://redd.it/1j2glkz
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OBS and Gamescope Lag? Simracing on Linux

I recently got Assetto Corsa with mods working, and I am trying to optimize my setup, to get the most out of the game.

To get triples screens working, I can either use a virtual monitor, which I enable and configure via protontricks, by editing the winecfg, or by using gamescope.

I also run a tablet as a 4th monitor, it serves as my Gauge cluster when simracing. To drive the pixels intended for this display I render the game at a higher vertical resolution than my screens, as when it is visually lined up it goes below my main screens.

I use OBS virtual camera consumed by VLC to achieve this (I use obs projector in windows, but it crashes obs here), finally being streamed to the tablet itself via Sunshine/Moonlight, I add a pipewire window capture and Crop and Pan the capture until the tablet and main screen line up.

TL;DR When I capture the window when it is using the virtual monitor, performance is Excellent while OBS is capturing the window. If I try to use Gamescope, performance tanks to unplayable the moment I start capturing it. Any ideas what I may be doing wrong?

I'm happy to continue using the virtual monitor, but it would be nice to have better desktop integration.
Nobara 41 KDE Nvidia 4070Ti on the latest graphics.

And does anyone know anything about why OBS's projector's make OBS crash?

https://redd.it/1j2ji2c
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I finally migrated to Wayland

I could never fully migrate to wayland because there was always "this tiny thing" that wouldn't be supported and forced me to X11.

Last year I had to use a Macbook for work but I hated the full year, so now I'm back on my beloved Debian and decided to try the state of Wayland. I was surprised to see that everything I need works perfectly (unlike ever other time that I tried it); zoom screen share, slack screenshare, deskflow, global shortcuts for raising or opening apps, everything. And the computer feels snappier and fluid.

I don't have ~~linux~~ friends so I posted this here.
I guess this is a PSA for long time linux users, out of the loop on Wayland progress and still on X11, to give Wayland a try.



https://redd.it/1j2k8sw
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Flatpak "Refreshes", what are they, why they keep appearing almost every day?

This became annoying.

Earlier Flatpaks would receive new versions, the new version would appear on whatever application your Distro uses to update software. Then the cycle of waiting for another version to be made and shipped would repeat, but now all Flatpaks are receiving "Refreshes" that I don't know what they do, it it seems almost every time I check for updates.

What is this? Why this is happening, why this started?

https://redd.it/1j2lg7a
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Massive DDoS Botnet Eleven11bot Infects 30,000+ IoT Devices
https://cyberinsider.com/massive-ddos-botnet-eleven11bot-infects-30000-iot-devices/

https://redd.it/1j2mmb2
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DaVinci Resolve Studio suddenly crashes on launch FIX

I recently had this problem and maybe some of you did too. Despite the error message not giving any clues as to what's amiss, I figured out, besides previous patches, it now relies on system availability of libqt5gui5. Install that library with your system's package manager and you will be good to go.

https://redd.it/1j2ntjg
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[openSUSE] Tumbleweed Monthly Update - February 2025
https://news.opensuse.org/2025/02/27/tw-monthly-update-february/

https://redd.it/1j2p3vo
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Triple Buffering, a debrief
https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/triple-buffering-a-debrief/56314

https://redd.it/1j2rdj9
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Terminal emulators: Are they not GUI based, utilizing a CLI-like environment? or can they not render graphical images also?

I have this notion for a terminal-like environment used to browse the internet whilst also being able to view certain media more accurately closer to its original form (this does not equate to rendering a web page in its entirety) This would essentially mean "graphically" browsing the web in the terminal. To better show you what I mean: please read the following:

So-- Some time ago, I stumbled upon this classic fps: Marathon(1995) made by Bungie which revolved around the usage of terminals for in-game progression, This was one of my first interactions with "terminals", though they weren't actual terminals per se, but rather Graphical elements portrayed by a video game engine

In addition to my satisfaction for using such terminals, in all of their beauty and aesthetic component, I realized something in particular about them which was really set the tone for the rest of this examination of mine. It really changed my view on all things computer-related and it also really changed the way In which I looked at and used real world computers.

One thing that stood out immediately to me from these in-game terminals was the way they In which simultaneously portrayed both non-graphical, and graphical information at the same time. (much how like real computers work now adays. ~~in the form of " graphical windows" whatever the hell that is~~ (Of course, this is all done within the games engine)

(Here's one example from an in-game's terminal)

https://www.eyrie.org/\~aerianne/marathon/fatum.jpg

Some time after this, I almost became immediately obsessed with the way computer interfaces function, their purpose, their design, the way the work --and not just due to my mundane observations (partly from this game), but also due to the intense irritation generated from having to use modern day poorly designed software.

There is so much bloatware and unnecessarily complicated and meaningless flat design in most modern interfaces. Its gotten much worse over the recent years, but now it seems peak.-- and it persists! So how to deal with rounded corners and a nearly invisible button with no outline that blends in with the background??? LOL

I, Having to use high contrast options and "reader-modes" for websites is an option, one which is fortunately there (sometimes) but one which shouldn't have to exist IMO. Its examples: like from this game which really set the contrast between good and poor design and to show us what really meaningful design could potentially look like, and there are tons of more examples everywhere. Good UI designs, whether analog or digital, have been mastered (re-mastered?) over and over again, It's been done for years, and we have become quite good at it. --And more recently, it has become revolutionary. One thing worth mentioning: Its not like this has to be an Issue for modern UI desgin either...

Its seems that the only standards for creating such user-interfaces are by the very tech companies which developed and continue to develop them, and they themselves are falling short in some cases!!! It seems that this whole desktop environment was developed some time in the 70s when paper categorization and office filing systems were the standard and that same idea was some how integrated into modern computer systems early on, granted it does work, but I believe we do have better options, options which we haven't even explored yet. The sad truth is that this seems to be mostly dictated by the big Tech corps which deal with all evolution )or de-evolution) of Design elements Technology-wise. --They own the rights to all the useful software, so they should be the ones to maintain it? Until them, there probably isn't much we can do until someone else changes the playfield a little bit. So, for once, lets take an example from this game , this one heck of a game. and maybe go back to good old proper CLI and non crappy software, until modern

corporate minimalism dies down a little... what do you think? I guess Technology and the Medium in which the way technology is presented are two very different things. I'm not saying: don't rely on the tools that you need to get work done, just realize there may be a reason for your stagnation imbedded within the very design of the technologies you use.

This leads me to my original question:

Is it possible to have a both GUI and Non GUI-"like" environment in-which you can essentially use "terminal-browser" for semi graphical viewing? Not necessarily replicating an entire web page but only certain elements: Like photographs or video formats? (Something like this could potentially eliminate all the issues discussed)

TLDR:

So I played a video game (which was nice), but now modern software looks ugly to me and I can hardly read it. I found out "graphical" terminal browsing are a thing, except I found out images look like sh*t, (here's an example using Carbonyl terminal-browser : https://i0.wp.com/monodes.com/predaelli/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/02/browsh-html.jpg?w=1160&ssl=1so So, now I'm left questioning if it's even possible to render images graphically in the terminal? If not, what alternatives could potentially replicate what I have in mind (if these alternatives even exist): That is: A terminal browser with minimal to no distraction with the ability to accurately view media (not necessarily exact web page replication to its core, we have regular GUI browsers for that). If not, I may also ask if its even possible to render things graphically in a terminal app (which I believe is GUI based anyways) .You way ask why would someone want to do this?

1. Its looks cleaner and
2. No ads. bonus+

I guess the main driver for wanting something like this would be to read websites in a strict text-like terminal format whilst also being able to view media without hinderance. Up till now i've sorta be reliant on high contrast and other tools which work --okay-- Or Perhaps a more sophisticated browser which can run google's search engine would a better Idea? IF rendering graphical images in the terminal is impossible (perhaps a pipeline where the terminal could output things to a graphically capable environment would would just the same visually speaking?)

Please let me know.

https://redd.it/1j2t6xy
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Extremely short Nobara review.
https://nobaraproject.org/download-nobara/

https://redd.it/1j2vzqn
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What is the difference between arch and other distros? (Noob perspective)

I used windows (and a bit of macOS) all my life, and a few weeks ago i decided i want to try out linux (see what all the fuss is about), so i installed fedora and used it for a week. After a week i wanted to give Arch a try, just out of interest. I got a computer science degree, so i have some basic knowledge about linux and the terminal. (not much, only basic commands like sudo, cp, mv, mkdir, touch, cd ...). So yesterday i installed arch, and... it works fine? (Not trying to jinx it). Im just asking, because i heard arch is so incredibly hard and breaks all the time. Ive only been using for a day, but from my (noob) perspective I cant even really tell a difference between arch and fedora. Yeah, I use pacmac instead of dnf, but thats all the difference I can tell. I setup my desktop the same as on fedora (KDE Plasma). Will the problems only start to come, or was the installation and setup the hardest part?

https://redd.it/1j2yjhm
@r_linux

Difference between Andronix and userland for linux w/ desktop gui on android (any other recommendations are appreciated too!)

I have an old android phone and have been interested in the idea of running linux on it with a desktop GUI. I've looked up different ways and I found Andronix and UserLAnd. It seems like Andronix hasn't been getting support lately, even though it seems to have a more modern UI, so I am thinking of trying out UserLAnd, which has been updated and has good reviews still. Is there a major difference between the 2?

Are there also other ways to use linux with a desktop gui with linux I am unaware of?

Thank you for your help!

https://redd.it/1j2zmy9
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