zypper (openSUSE package manager) is fast now

For as long as I've been meaningfully aware of openSUSE as a distro, the number one complaint against openSUSE I've seen has been that zypper, the package manager, was slow.
Which was true, as it didn't have parallel downloads, and it was painful to use it on a rolling distro that had most of its packages updated fairly regularly.

Well, that's fixed now. In March, zypper gained the ability to perform parallel downloads as a non-default behaviour, and parallel downloads became the default about 3 days ago.

The performance gain is absolutely enormous, especially in my case as I have a relatively ideal setup; I'm based in Prague, the same city as the official mirror, and a gigabit pipe. To me, subjectively, zypper is now as fast as pacman.
~~Of course, your mileage may vary, especially if you're not in Europe, as most (all?) of the infra is over here.~~
--EDIT--
It had completely slipped my mind that as of last year, openSUSE uses Fastly CDN, which should be active automatically if you're based outside of Europe.
--EDIT--

That being said, unless your have a very fast internet connection, I'd suspect zypper will still saturate your download speed most of the time, especially if you go into /etc/zypp/zypp.conf and bump up the number of concurrent connections to more than 5, which is the default.

So, if you've been sleeping on openSUSE due to zypper, consider giving it another go.

If you don't know why you should use or care about openSUSE, here's why, in my opinion:

- openSUSE Tumbleweed is a rolling release distro, with a very robust automated testing procedures which means that the distro rarely breaks
openSUSE Slowroll (beta) is the same, except that the updates come all at once, approximately once a month

- if it does break, openSUSE comes out of the box with btrfs snapshot via snapper (a tool similar to Timeshift) that automatically snapshots before and after every update. This means that in case something does break, rolling back is trivial.


- another oft cited sore spot, the installer, is in the process of being replaced. Although the new installer is still not the default, I have already used it without any issues.

- backed by SUSE Linux Enterprise, and with an active community, it has been around a while, and is a robust option

https://redd.it/1l93mjl
@r_linux

I like the Gnome look but the KDE usability

Been a KDE guy forever as I originally used Windows and KDE is a closer match. I like how it feels intuitive like want to do this I instinctively can get there (right click, in the settings, etc.). What I don't like is how plain and muddled the UI "decorations" feel. Things like pop out windows look like 1990's style. I've spent a deal of time customizing my layout and while I do like it the little things like squared off flouts on taskbar icons and so many other things annoys me.

Now Gnome isn't my friend. I like the normal windows way of doing thing and gnome seems less intuitive to me. But what is there is georgous and I really like the look and feel of it. Now I've been on OpenSUSE so maybe that's got a lot to do with it because last time I tried Gnome was an Ubuntu install a couple years ago and I struggled to get anything done so one day later did away with it.

So. I've been playing in a VM. Using my favorite Tumbleweed but this time playing with extensions. While not exactly as customizable as I'd like I am getting really, really close to the configuration I have in KDE as far as layout but with all the "prettiness" of Gnome. I dig it and apps just look nicer it's hard to explain. I've tried tons of KDE themes and I lack the words to describe but there's just something that seems polished to Gnome.

So. I want to switch, or at least try. I don't want to reformat my existing system I'd like to add Gnome. Last time I tried that it kinda hosed up my desktop icons and my default apps I had a lot of cruft. Is there a way to have both DE's without causing issues? Does anyone else know what I'm talking about with the generally tidy and neat visuals vs. KDE a little less so?


https://redd.it/1l96a66
@r_linux

I'm deciding to switch from windows to linux

I have tried a few os which I didn't like and here they're:
Linux mint (wayyy to much like windows I need something new looking)
Endeavor os/kubuntu it's just I hate how the UI looks like and they're hard to install stuff on keep in mind idk nothing about Linux.

I just want something minimal and looks good and costumaziable thank you for reading<3

https://redd.it/1l97lva
@r_linux

AOSP project is coming to an end
https://redd.it/1l9amau
@r_linux

Let's make the worst build process

So I just had to deal with a POS FOSS that made me question, in a very philosophical kind of way, what's exactly the value of being FOSS when building it yourself is nigh impossible and the code is all weird and fragmented.

And it also made me wonder what the theorical most incompilable FOSS project would be. I'll start, taking from that and other experiences:

- No proper compilation instructions. It's all hidden away in the build.yaml workflow file
- Depends on weird libraries nothing else you've used touched
- At least one of the libraries is by the same developer, and used solely and exclusively in this project.
- The compilation instructions for the library are tucked away hidden in the main project's, not the library's, build.yaml file.
- Requires cargo, python, venv, and cmake. Maybe even cmake and ninja. Shouldn't python noscripts be made redundant by makefiles? Why does it need to create its own environment altogether, you ask? Good question. Good question. There's also a bash file somewhere. You can feel it in your soul.
- Only compiled versions are on flatpak. And yes, it depends on a very minor version of the opengl drivers and kde/gnome runtime that nothing else you have installed uses.
- Which is relevant here because the compilation instructions are exclusively for flatpak. Everything else is up in the air to figure out yourself.
- Single developer, because nobody else wants to touch the code.

What else? There's more here. We can make a more awful thing, if we all work together.

https://redd.it/1l91e3l
@r_linux

Trump drives European governments to Microsoft alternatives: What Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria are planning
https://www.heise.de/hintergrund/Wie-europaeische-Staaten-ihre-Abhaengigkeit-von-Microsoft-reduzieren-wollen-10365345.html?seite=all

https://redd.it/1l9hwcw
@r_linux

Flatpaks need the ability to request user permissions like iOS/Android

This probably has been requested before but I'm saying it again that for the long term support and ease of use for Flatpak/Flathub, there needs to be a system in place that Flatpak apps can request permissions from users. Rather then having to modify permissions, that often times aren't really clearly labelled for non technical users. Example discord doesn't output audio by default unless the (enable input devices) flag in checked in flatseal



https://redd.it/1l9jl1d
@r_linux

Google released Android 16 to AOSP without Pixel device-specific source code, which impacts all custom ROM development
https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/

https://redd.it/1l9ks2r
@r_linux

I want bulid something for Linux
https://redd.it/1l9o6wx
@r_linux

Mac users coming to Linux?

I’ve seen a lot of folks talking about how the end of windows 10 support will dramatically increase the number of people interested in moving to Linux, but after the recent announcement that Intel based Macs are also end-of-support, that number might go way higher than originally thought. Especially since there’s a little more parity in mac/linux user experience.


Could it be? A perfect storm? The year of the… well, you know.

What do yall think?

https://redd.it/1l9nlnp
@r_linux

Why not execlpe()?

Hi guys, I'm learning about system calls in Linux-based systems, primarily focusing on process-related system calls right now. I came to learn about exec system call and understood that it is a family of system calls. Here's an hierarchy to understand the family easily:
- execl()
- execlp()
- execle()
- exelv()
- execvp()
- execvpe()
- execve()

My doubt is, when we have execvpe(), why don't we have an execlpe() system call?

https://redd.it/1l9sp6d
@r_linux

Gesture support improvements coming to KDE Plasma
https://blogs.kde.org/2025/06/12/gesture-customization-mini-sprint/

https://redd.it/1l9wpch
@r_linux

What does the current state, and future, of lightweight desktop environments look like?

When I started using Linux many years ago I went for XFCE, because I was using Linux on old used laptops, but by the time KDE 5 started becoming more mature I made the switch to it.

I like lightweight desktop environments in theory, how they're barebones and laser focused on one task, but I feel like they don't really fit in that much in the modern computer landscape.

Development of desktop environments like Xfce, Lxqt, Mate and Cinnamon is moving along pretty slowly, especially with the switch to Wayland coming soon, and the performance difference between KDE and Gnome compared to other lightweight DEs really isn't that big these days.

I run Fedora KDE with Wayland on a 10 year old Thinkpad T450, and it works just fine. The bottleneck for performance when it comes to older hardware comes from things like how bloated the modern internet has become, not what DE you're running.

Am I wrong in my assessment? Are there any new desktop environments being developed that has an explicit goal of being lightweight, that looks like it can become viable in the future? The only one I know of is Enlightenment, and to me it seems like development is moving really slowly.

https://redd.it/1l9t62r
@r_linux

OpenZFS 2.2.8 Released With Newer Linux Kernel Support
https://www.phoronix.com/news/OpenZFS-2.2.8-Released

https://redd.it/1la9q54
@r_linux

I bet these will be helpful!
https://redd.it/1laa0l0
@r_linux

Audio stream across network to remote Raspberry Pi from Pipewire to Pulseaudio
http://serendipity.ruwenzori.net/index.php/2025/06/13/audio-stream-across-network-to-remote-raspberry-pi-from-pipewire-to-pulseaudio

https://redd.it/1lacsx6
@r_linux

PSA: EasyEffects can drastically improve audio quality of your laptop speakers
https://redd.it/1laetsl
@r_linux

Tattoy: a text-based terminal compositor
https://tattoy.sh/

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

Are Universal Blue distros good for "grandma computers"?

With Windows 10 support coming to an end, my mother asked me for advice for what to do with her laptop. It's an older Thinkpad and still perfectly serviceable for her needs, but too old to support Windows 11. I suggested she try Linux before buying a new computer, and she was open to the idea.

I've been thinking of what distro to set her up with, and the Universal Blue distros, namely Aurora, caught my eye for their easy updates and purported reliability. I'm familiar with the Fedora Atomic distros these are based on, but there's new stuff here that I don't know much about -- namely the whole "the base OS is actually a container" thing.

How are these distros for tech illiterate users? Does the user of these distros ever need to concern themselves with the internals?

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

It is perfectly acceptable administrating a website from your phone's terminal emulator...

I was a couple days younger when I realized that Android phones have Termux, a command line emulator with, well, most of the functionality of a linux TTY. Which is great because it adds a huge amount of functionality to a "bad" phone (Celero5g) that I only got because my carrier was threatening to drop 4g coverage.

So I've been using it to administrate my website with ssh, rsync, and some aliases and using it to back up everything on this horrible device and edit html pages on VIM. I actually really like the workflow, I don't know if I'm just abusing myself needlessly but it's been really a lot of fun.

Edit: I was also able to configure my favorite Linux program of all time, Ani-CLI, which is unfathomably based.

https://redd.it/1lako14
@r_linux

I built Enchat: Terminal-based E2E Encrypted Chat

After watching The Amateur, a film where a cryptographer takes privacy into his own hands, I was inspired to build something minimal, functional, and radically private.

Enchat is a fully self-hosted terminal chat app designed for people who don't want to rely on third-party platforms or opaque backends. It works entirely over the ntfy publish/subscribe protocol, with a unique double-layer encryption system that makes messages completely unreadable - even if someone has your passphrase.

The security is both powerful and invisible: You just run it from the command line, choose a room name, a nickname, and a passphrase. Behind the scenes, Enchat automatically generates temporary session keys that only exist while your chat is active. Messages are encrypted twice - first with this temporary key, then with a room-specific key derived from your passphrase. This means that even if someone intercepts your messages and later obtains your passphrase, they still can't read anything.

What makes Enchat different:
- True forward secrecy: When a chat session ends, its messages become permanently unreadable
- Session-based security: Each chat uses unique temporary keys that are never stored
- Double-Layer encryption: AES-256 encryption with both session and room-specific keys
- Zero knowledge design: The ntfy server sees only encrypted data, never keys or content
- Automatic security: All key generation and exchange happens invisibly
- No persistence: Nothing is stored - no logs, no metadata, no messages once you leave

Beyond secure messaging, Enchat also supports fully encrypted file transfers:
- Share any file type up to 5MB with the same double-layer encryption
- Files are split into encrypted chunks before transmission
- Filenames and metadata are also encrypted
- Automatic integrity verification ensures perfect file reconstruction
- Files are securely wiped after transfer
- Simple commands: /share, /files, and /download

There's no signup, no login, and no reliance on centralized services — unless you choose to use the public ntfy server (or host your own).

This project is built for those who value truly ephemeral conversations — where nothing is stored and everything disappears once you leave. It's especially relevant for journalists, developers, and researchers who need a lightweight and secure way to communicate without relying on complex infrastructure. And if you're someone who prefers clean, functional tools in the terminal over bloated apps, Enchat was made with you in mind.

What sets it apart from other encrypted chat tools is that even if an attacker:
- Has your room passphrase
- Captures all network traffic
- Compromises the server
- Gains access to stored files

They still cannot read your messages or access your transferred files, because they're protected by temporary session keys that only exist during active chats and are never stored anywhere.

Enchat includes many more valuable features that improve your privacy and ease of use. From advanced file transfer to extensive encryption options, and from handy terminal commands to detailed security settings. All features, technical documentation and installation instructions are fully described on the GitHub page. Discover for yourself why Enchat is the most secure choice for privacy-conscious users who value a powerful terminal-based chat solution.

The project is actively maintained, and I'm open to any feedback, ideas, or contributions. You can explore it here: https://github.com/sudodevdante/enchat

https://redd.it/1lalgo5
@r_linux