AerynOS: Blog post: Development update os-tools
https://aerynos.com/blog/2025/07/11/development-update-os-tools/

https://redd.it/1lxl99f
@r_linux

Introduction Koca - A universal and OS-agnostic build, package, and publishing tool
https://redd.it/1lxmezr
@r_linux

Switching to Linux from a business perspective

I work for a managed IT service provider. We're primarily a Windows shop, though we do manage a few Linux servers and macOS devices across various clients. Our customers range from small businesses to enterprises with up to 1,000 employees.

Lately, I’ve been reading about several government initiatives in the EU aiming to switch to Linux or open-source platforms. The main reasons seem to be digital sovereignty, vendor independence and long-term cost savings. While that might work for public institutions I started wondering what such a move would look like for our customers and us as an MSP. In my opinion the operating system is one point but more important are the services you use on top. Let me explain:
We can offer competitive pricing and good quality largely thanks to efficiency and integration with Microsoft 365. Take a typical Windows device deployment:
- We unbox the device and initiate Autopilot.
- Windows installs and configures itself.
- Group policies are applied automatically.
- Software is deployed via Intune
- Antivirus is activated and monitored (Defender)
- OneDrive and SharePoint sync files immediately.
- Printers, default apps, VPNs—everything is ready out of the box.
- Central monitoring and patching is seamless.

And all of this is covered under the license "M365 Business Premium" which is round-about $270 / user / year. The service itself is maintained by Microsoft so we just have to actaully configure the system. No maintenance or whatsoever.

This (more or less) seamless integration saves time, reduces support requests and keeps everything consistent. Now I am unsure how Linux would compete in terms of this operational efficiency: Can it match this level of integration and automation? Are there integrated services that are as price-competitive or at least ensure more sovereignty? Or in the end do I need to buy services like Nextcloud, mattermost, jitsi, libreoffice, some virus and policy-tool, grafana individually and maybe even self-host, maintain, monitor etc...? If not, what are the overall benefits?
Additionally, it is hard to find good and qualified people. With a Linux solution this would get even harder.

Re-reading my text made me think of as it's almost a Windows ad. Please don't take it this way. I am not arguing against Linux, I’m genuinely curious about its practical application in a business context. Looking forward to your opinions and inputs!


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

Denoise Software like Topaz?

Just moved from windows to CachyOS and iv been fine with gaming and basic photo edits using Rawtherapee. Mostly what I am missing from my workflow was using Topaz to denoise images that were shot at higher ISO. Rawtherapee sliders kind of just smooths out the image and isn't comparable to the Ai denoise filters. Is there any alternatives to Topax/DXO/Lightroom denoise? or perhaps a way of getting Topaz to run via wine?


I would appreciate any input.

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

Four Years of Universal Blue
https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/four-years-of-universal-blue/9507

https://redd.it/1lxtxf0
@r_linux

Which linux should I install considering I'm a lifetime windows user?

I've been a windows user ever since I got to use a pc in 2014. I'm thinking of trying out linux. Which version should I go ahead and install? I haven't used linux or macintish os either. This would be my first time trying out something new. Could you all please guide me?

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

Would Linux be viable for skills training centres in Sub-Saharan Africa?

So I work with a charity that sends computers to skills training centres in Sub-Saharan Africa. They're all donated computers, so the age and quality varies. We used to stick Windows 10 on all of them, but support is ending this year, and we're finding that more and more of them can't support Windows 11, and even if you bypass the compatibility checks, it runs very poorly.

I'm a light Linux user, ZorinOS on my main pc and EndeavourOS on a Thinkpad, so I've seen a few flavours of it and how easy or difficult it can be. I was thinking of starting to put ZorinOS on all the donated computers, as it seems to be the absolute closest experience to Windows, especially with the built in Windows App Support.

Obviously, it's still not Windows, but could someone tell me if this is a good or terrible idea? I was going to create a process for setting up each one, such as setting Libre Office to save with Microsoft Office file types by default, installing Windows App Support, adding a readme to the desktop to give them a basic guide, etc.

I just think it would really speed up the devices we get donated, but the issue would be that it may not be what they're used to. I guess the principles would all still apply, and they'd only be using the Linux machines to learn basic word processing, maybe some graphic design, but it just seems like we're at a point now where Linux is very approachable with certain distros.

https://redd.it/1lxy0ww
@r_linux

This Week in Plasma: tablet dials and day/night cycles
https://blogs.kde.org/2025/07/12/this-week-in-plasma-tablet-dials-and-day/night-cycles/

https://redd.it/1lxxn7r
@r_linux

Linux on MacBook Air 2017

Hey.
I have an old MacBook Air from 2017 ( I guess). Is it possible to run Linux on it and which distribution would you recommend? Bonus if the distribution is european…

Is it possible to run Linux without formatting the HDD? I need to backup some data. It‘s been quite a while since I last used Linux…

Thanks,
n.

https://redd.it/1ly71u2
@r_linux

My 3 Month Review of KDE Neon (user edition)

So its been 5 months since i have been using Linux in general now. I have tried a few different distros before landing on to KDE Neon.
I have seen a lot of remarks that KDE Neon is not for daily driving so this is just an honest review about how it's been for me.

But before that i would like to specify my use case-

\- I mostly try to use .deb where ever possible (feels more convienet and safe tbh)
\- I am a CS Student
\- Currently learning Unity, C#, C++
\- Use VSC
\- Normal browsing, photo viewing, normal college documents etc (nothing online readers or stuff cant support)

Now a bit of history of why am I using KDE Neon -
So my first distro was actually "Fedora KDE" cause i read a lot and wanted customisation and good stableness. I loved it. It had every thing i needed (almost) and the performace was great. But then the first issue landed -- .rpm support -- . I was not learning unity bakc then but when i started i saw that it didnt support .rpm and had a way around that just didnt work for me. Used fedora for 1.5 months but had to say bye bye :((.

Now i tried finding distros with stability and customisation and good .deb support.
\-- First was Kubunutu - sorry but i didnt like it (fedora ruined me ngl)
\-- Second was Pop!\_OS - didnt had enough customisation still a good distro def recommended.Now coming to KDE Neon. The good and the bad of it. Ofc like any other distro its not sunshine and rainbows at all

**PROS-**

Up-to-date KDE: You get the latest Plasma features way before Kubuntu or other Ubuntu-based distros. It feels clean, fast, and responsive.

Ubuntu LTS base: So everything .deb-based just works (for me. It can vary for others). Unity Hub, VS Code, Discord, Steam, Spotify etc, all install and work without issues.

Customisation: KDE’s strength. I’ve done theme changes, messed with widgets nothing has broken (tho the occational hiccups are there)

Steam works perfectly with NVIDIA: No weird graphics bugs, Proton works, gaming is smooth. I don’t game heavily, but everything I’ve tried runs great.

Stable since early setup: Once past the initial driver stuff, it’s been rock solid for daily use.

**CONS/ISSUES I FACED**\-

Bricked it once (early): 5 days in, I broke the system with NVIDIA driver config. Reinstalled, learned my lesson. Haven’t had problems since.

Bluetooth issues: Turned out to be a Realtek card issue, not Neon’s fault. I swapped the card, works fine now.

Video wallpaper plugin: I use video wallpapers, but KDE pauses them when windows are maximized too long (even if not fullscreen). Minor but annoying.

Widgets occasionally buggy: Sometimes they don’t refresh properly or glitch visually. Typical KDE stuff, nothing fatal.


Spotify performance issues (early days): Around the time I was fighting with NVIDIA drivers, Spotify had slow launch times, occasional freezes, and fullscreen weirdness. Might’ve been related to GPU/rendering. Switched to Spicetify, and it’s been working flawlessly since.

In the end will i say KDE Neon is amazing for daily driving? Well no. But if:

* You want Plasma updated to the latest version
* You rely on .deb for key tools (like Unity, Steam, etc.)
* You’re okay with learning a few fixes early on

Then it’s actually a great daily driver. It's not "beginner-proof," by any means but it’s not unstable either — as long as you’re not blindly installing every driver or random PPA.

Also Just to be clear — this isn’t an ad or some KDE fanboy post. I’ve just noticed a lot of people either hate on Neon or write it off without actually using it long-term. Thought I’d share my experience in case it helps someone else decide.
And again i would love to know other POVs of this cause in the end im a student trying to learn something new

https://redd.it/1lya7gv
@r_linux

linux ricing
https://redd.it/1lyc4vv
@r_linux

I am having so much fun learning Linux.

It has been a month since I made the full switch on my desktop PC and I have had so much fun with Linux. If anyone is interested I have been using Fedora KDE. Today I wanted to figure out how to make my second SSD automount at boot. I have my steam library on there and it was a bit annoying having to manually doing it every time. Not a big task right? And with applications like Disks it is easy in the GUI. But I wanted to learn how it is done in the terminal just to see the logic behind it. So what did I learn doing this?

1. That mounting of drives is handled by /etc/fstab
2. How to find the UUID of my drives
3. That /dev/ contains device files which are the interfaces for when the OS communicates with devices.
4. That in Linux you can choose ANY mounting point you want so you can plan according to use case. Cool!
5. How to configure the fstab file so make the drive boot on startup.

And seeing things just work after trying to figure things out is so satisfying! I am just having so much fun with my computer since making the switch. Not sure exactly why problem solving is so much fun, while on windows it was just frustrating. I guess it is that you have so much control that does it.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my little experience. We will see what I will try figuring out next. But now I will hop onto Rimworld.

https://redd.it/1lycb21
@r_linux

Since bottles is in limbo, I want to make a spiritual successor. I'd like to know your opinion.

Hi, my name's Fred. I'm the creator of Open TV.

Bottles is my main way to play games on Linux and since it's been in limbo for months, I'd like to make a spititual successor.

I have a few ideas of what I'd like to see. First, I'd like to have full UMU and "classic" wine builds support.

I'm still hesitating for the framework between iced, libcosmic, gtk and flutter. One thing is sure, it will use rust for the backend, no python. I don't want to throw shade, but python for medium to big projects is completely unsuitable and that's one of the reasons that Bottles failed to properly continue development.

My aim is to make something really stupid simple like FaugusLauncher but even more feature packed, with proper sandboxing and flatpak as the main platform.

I'm making this post because I want to hear what you think! We have 6-7 launchers on linux and there's really amazing features on each of them, I want to try to combine all the essential features of each to make this next launcher. Yes, you can criticize me for trying to make something new when I could try contributing to one of the existing projects, but I have a very pragmatic view for software and I prefer working mostly alone. Contributors will be welcome down the line.

Big shoutout to Bottles, the UI/UX is incredibly well designed and it's my main source of inspiration for this project.

https://redd.it/1lyh2u9
@r_linux

Learning new tricks: the MTA edition

After 30 years of running sendmail as my MTA, I am considering migrating to the new fangled postfix mail. Lots of reading docs to figure out, for example, SASL or how to masquerade domains. I am almost at the point of reverting to using sendmail. They said postfix is easier!!!

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

Candidate applies 'sudo rm -rf job_offer' to Windows-only position
https://redd.it/1lylkl5
@r_linux

A little help with older laptop.

My friend gave me her old Laptop to fix for her as it kept crashing. It was running Windows 7. It is a Toshiba Satellite L630. I removed the hard drive to run a diagnostic in my other pc. My OC simply said it had too many bad sectors. I replaced the hard drive with an old one I had and I have been trying to get any version of Linux to work. I keep getting the error ' Memory corruption detected in low memory' then reboots. I even tried reinstalling Windows 7 and it just hangs on the "Starting Windows logo and reboots. The only thing I can get to work on it is XP. I am scratching my head. I don't think I have ever had an issue with installing Linux. Currently I am trying Linux lite 32bit, I am still getting the reboot issue. I would greatly appreciate any step by step help as although I have used Linux distros in the past I am still fairly a novice. Thank you.

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

Linux in 2025 (for laptops)

Linux on laptops in 2025 is no joke - it’s genuinely good now

I’ve been running Linux on my laptop recently, and I have to say - experience has reached a point where it feels premium. With the broader adoption of Wayland, many of the things that used to be a hassle are now working seamlessly out of the box.

I’ve got smooth, screen tear–free scrolling, full support for touchpad gestures, and even fingerprint scanning - all working without any weird hacks. These used to be pain points just a few years ago, and now they’re practically set-and-forget.

What surprised me the most, though, is how good I could get the audio to sound. With some well-tuned EasyEffects profiles, both my laptop speakers and my AirPods sound noticeably good (better than Windows maybe act) The sound is clean, balanced, and actually enjoyable for music and media.

All in all, Linux feels like a truly polished daily driver in 2025 - not just functional, but enjoyable. There are only 2 pain points for me now.

1. DRM content streaming sucks.
2. A lot of CAD software (Fusion 360 in particular) is not on Linux so that makes using it a lil more painful ig.

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

Migrating to Linux from windows

I’ve been running windows 10 21h2 for the past couple years. Never updated it because I didn’t want any of Microsoft’s crappy ai bloat. Anyways I know windows 10 is reaching eol some time this year and so instead of going to win11 I’ll be moving to Linux. I game so the comparability with games is quite important. I also develop for android studio and use visual studio code for web dev.

I suppose I just want to know what distro of Linux people would recommend for myself? I recall one being very compatible with games but I don’t remember the name of the distro..

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

GeanyPad - Use Geany as a simple text editor
https://redd.it/1lys147
@r_linux

DAPU — Distro Agnostic noscript to manage packages
https://github.com/deltaZenith/DAPU

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

Operese (a Windows-to-Linux migration tool made by a nerd)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMoXClh8emw

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