Developers also have to make sure, they actually can make a difference of donations received in case they are maintaining more than one project in order for the downstream to work in the way intended.

This will put big tech, and all private endeavours therefore, back in their place. Either locked outside the borders of open source or within compliance. Since developers are enticed to make use of the new license in order to receive and contribute, commercial products will be rewarded with license simplicity and license security. For every non-commercial contributor it is purely honor based, convenient and self-sufficient for open source. The base principle is freedom, so a developer may choose not to downstream at all, but may face the penalty of others turning down a donation opportunity to this particular project. It is a chaotic yet robust and stable principle. Bad actors will likely be detected early, since the license demands transparency.

Think of the possibilities! Companies with great talent but lack of projects may decide to have their talent work on open source projects for an additional revenue stream rather than laying off. Developers publishing via F-Droid could feed the system with liquidity. A person in a poor country may decide to become a developer rather than an employee in a scam call center due to newly found opportunities.
And what if this kind of contribution is leveraged within Wikipedia? They would probably not have to raise as much money themselves and users would benefit from the convenience donations to articles/editors of their choice. Just a thought, though.
We are talking about an engine of innovation and stability, generating taxes as a side effect. For me, it's got all the best principles of commerce baked in. An additional comment on entire teams: you will have to figure out the fair distribution of funding within the team yourself. But that's the idea of democracy: messy but self-sufficiently correcting.

I am calling out to the open source foundations to create a new license which will manifest this new, democratic and inclusive strategy of open source. Please consider this strategy seriously. If you like this idea, implement it and spread it. Have people know about it. It is inexpensive and can be hosted from a projects 'readme'-file alone, you do not need a homepage. It can - and I hope it will - change the world. This is the trickle down effect everybody deserves.

DISCLAIMER Do not be tempted to donate to my project. I am absolutely fine. This is about the open source landscape entirely!

https://redd.it/1otor4b
@r_linux

Linux Breaks 5% Desktop Share in U.S., Signaling Open-Source Surge Against Windows and macOS
https://www.webpronews.com/linux-breaks-5-desktop-share-in-u-s-signaling-open-source-surge-against-windows-and-macos/

https://redd.it/1osirb9
@r_linux

Linux is beginner friendly (and how I proved it)

(TLDR at bottom)

So, to provide some context, I've been daily driving Linux for around the past 8 months. Recently, I decided to get a new computer. Now, right now, the specs of the computers don't really matter but I decided to give the old computer to my 12 y/o sister, who's basically never touched a computer in her life except playing some games I have. I installed Linux Mint on there and gave it to her. All she does on there is play games on Steam, and use a browser, and sometimes view images. And she never once asked for technical support except once when I had to help her get Roblox working on there with Sober.

So yeah, she's been using a computer for a month and didn't need basically any support. Kinda proves that nowwadays Linux 100% can be used by somebody who, hell, used only IPhones and had no idea what a file or a program was.

TLDR: I got someone who's never used a computer to use Linux and they had almost no problems

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

EasyEffects 8.0 Released in porting from GTK4 To Qt / QML / Kirigami

Changelog: https://github.com/wwmm/easyeffects/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md

EasyEffects is the open-source application formerly known as PulseEffects that transitioned to using native PipeWire filters for providing simple audio effects on the Linux desktop. EasyEffects makes it easy to apply different audio effects like bass enhancer, compressor, pitch shift, reverberation, EQ and many more. With this week's release of EasyEffects 8.0, the user interface has been rewritten in Qt / QML / Kirigami rather than GTK4.

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

Installing a distro on a lowest-of-low-end hardware

So i found this computer that must be from 1999/2000 laying on the streets, full setup, only thing needed was some cleaning as every component seems to be good and working.

It is a Pentium III slot 1 333MHz, 256 mb RAM dimm, 8.4GB disk, 3 1/4" floppy, i tried searching the exact mother on internet but i found only similar (it's an Xcel 2000).

I've been searching for x86 distros but all seem to exceed the system specs.

Also i don't know how will i connect it to the Internet since it uses a phone line cable and i'm not sure if that's even possible anymore.

Edit: seems like the viable options are Gentoo or Debian, with Debian being heavily discussed and even discouraged.

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

It's been 3 years since I made neofetch-themes, thought a repost might be worth it as celebration :)
https://redd.it/1ou07gs
@r_linux

My freshly installed ubuntu mate desktop!
https://redd.it/1ou2o2n
@r_linux

Introducing Cantus a beautiful interactive spotify widget for wayland

Preview Video

https://preview.redd.it/ee3m90k5om0g1.png?width=1331&format=png&auto=webp&s=d810a5a92c73611d9f6a2676b0a690f221c8a35e

# Features

Graphics: Powered by wgpu and vello for high-performance, animated rendering of the music widget.

Queue Display: Displays your spotify queue in a visual timeline, shows upcoming songs as well as the history.

Playback Controls: Provides playback controls for play/pause, skip forward/backward by clicking to seek to a song, and volume adjustment with scroll. You can also smoothly drag the whole bar to seek through the timeline.

Playlist Editing: Favourite playlists to be displayed, shows when a song is contained in that playlist and allows you to add/remove songs from the playlist. (Also includes star ratings!)

It runs alongside your existing layer-shell.

https://github.com/CodedNil/cantus

I'd love to hear what you think!

https://redd.it/1ou940h
@r_linux

A screenshot noscript for GNOME Wayland (Ubuntu) which captures & saves the active window with window class and noscript in the filename
https://gist.github.com/KishanPRao/b35417381458dafcdf4f54e476fe8458

https://redd.it/1ou6agb
@r_linux

Firefox 145.0, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes
https://www.firefox.com/firefox/145.0/releasenotes/

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

Firefox 145, Release ! (Added Matroska support for the most commonly used codecs: AVC, HEVC, VP8, VP9, AV1, AAC, Opus, and Vorbis. And more ! )

Release notes: https://www.firefox.com/en-US/firefox/145.0/releasenotes/

Version 145.0, first offered to Release channel users on November 11, 2025

https://redd.it/1oubv16
@r_linux

PSA, especially for new users - make sure you have a firewall running.

I have been daily-driving Manjaro KDE and was shocked to discover that it didn't come with a firewall installed, let alone activated.

This made me realise that a functioning firewall must be something getting looked over for a lot of new Linux users already buried under other customizations. From what I recall there are very few distros that have a firewall set up and activated by default like Windows, even if it is installed.

Guys, not having a firewall is a major security threat. You must have it set up and configured correctly if you are using a Linux PC. You don't want to expose open ports to anyone on a leased/shared network.

Just search for "firewall" in your application launcher/start menu and open "Firewall Settings" or anything similar that comes up. Turn it on, set default incoming to Reject and outgoing to Allow, then add rules for specific apps like your torrent client to allow their respective traffic through.

If nothing comes up in the launcher, install ufw and ufw-extras, and plasma-firewall if you're using KDE or gufw otherwise. Then do the above.

Stay safe and happy computing!

Edit: Reading the comments I'm coming to understand that this is apparently not that much of risk and I am only bringing in paranoia from my Windows hangover (though I'll still personally prefer having ufw enabled for my own peace of mind). I won't be deleting this post because the discussion in comments is quite insightful and interesting, and may be of use for others with the same confusion. Thanks!

https://redd.it/1oudwb8
@r_linux

zsh-screensaver

Hey everyone — last month I released a new little Zsh plugin I’ve been fiddling with in my spare time, called **zsh‑screensaver**, and thought I’d share it in case anyone finds it fun / useful.

So what it is: when your terminal has been idle for a bit, it shows a visual overlay or banner (or even a GIF, if you want -- that's what I use 🔥), kind of like a screensaver for your shell. And then when you interact, it vanishes and restores what you were doing. I got tired of staring at idle prompts while working on several tasks (I main tmux), so this was my solution 😄.



https://i.redd.it/pxattab47n0g1.gif



If you try it out I’d love to hear:

* How it behaves on your setup (macOS / Linux / etc.)
* Ideas for other “screensaver styles” someone might enjoy
* Any edge‑cases I didn’t consider 🤔

Also, feel free to make pull requests and suggest features. I generally don't have a lot of free time, but I will try to be as responsive as possible!! ❤️ [https://github.com/UmbraDeorum/zsh-screensaver](https://github.com/UmbraDeorum/zsh-screensaver)

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

What are your go-to tools for enhancing Linux productivity?

As a Linux user, I'm always on the lookout for tools that can help streamline my workflow and enhance productivity. Whether it's a terminal multiplexer, a task manager, or a file syncing solution, there are countless applications out there that can make our lives easier. I'm curious to hear from the community about the tools and utilities you consider essential for your daily Linux tasks. What are your favorites? Are there any lesser-known gems that you believe can significantly improve productivity? Let's share our experiences and recommendations to help each other get the most out of our Linux environments!

https://redd.it/1ouf80h
@r_linux

Chromium font support is seriously broken on Fedora 42. Same for others?

There are still a lot of 8-bit character encoded web pages out there (e.g. ISO-8859-15, Windows-1252, etc.) and for such web pages they often make use of the pi-encoded Symbol font to expand the visual glyph capabilities of the web page (e.g. add a Euro in ISO-8859-1).

Symbol is a commercial font so GNU/Linux distributions include the free URW clone:

user@host:\~$ fc-match Symbol
StandardSymbolsPS.otf: "Standard Symbols PS" "Regular"

Chromium (and Brave Browser, etc.) however refuse to use fontconfig substitutions in Fedora 42, basically breaking much of the Internet for their users. Is that a Fedora specific bug or is it everywhere?

Code for simple test page, renders properly in FireFox in Fedora but not Chromium and clones:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1">
<noscript>Testing Symbol font-family</noscript>
<style type="text/css" noscript="Howdy">
span.sym { font-family: "Symbol", serif; }
span.urw { font-family: "Standard Symbols PS", serif; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p>Testing Symbol: <span class="sym">This is a test string.</span></p>
<p>Testing Standard Symbols PS: <span class="urw">This is a test
string.</span></p>
</body>
</html>

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

Deploy Debian, Ubuntu, Kali, and Alpine on Your Phone with Privileges via Shizuku/ADB to Bypass Android Restrictions
https://redd.it/1ourltl
@r_linux

Looking for a lightweight gui-less Distro

I have a very cheap laptop with a celeron and 4gb ram. I’m looking for a lightweight gui-less distro that I can build up with the tools I need. Trying to save space and keep it able to process smoothly.

https://redd.it/1ouy4ax
@r_linux

How to choose a battery with TLP?

I just replaced the external battery on my laptop and I want to calibrate it using TLP. I just did it but it seems it tested the internal battery. How would I get it to test a specific battery on a two battery system?

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

What are your experiences with using Linux on older hardware?

Many of us have seen the impressive performance of Linux on modern machines, but I'm curious about your experiences with running Linux on older hardware. Whether it's a vintage laptop, a desktop from a decade ago, or even a Raspberry Pi, I’d love to hear how well Linux performs in these situations. What distros did you choose, and what optimizations or tweaks did you implement to enhance performance? Did you face any challenges with hardware compatibility or software limitations? I believe sharing our stories can help others who are looking to repurpose older systems or give new life to legacy hardware. Let’s discuss the best practices and lessons learned from our journeys in using Linux on older machines!

https://redd.it/1ov4bsp
@r_linux

sudo-rs Affected By Multiple Security Vulnerabilities - Impacting Ubuntu 25.10
https://www.phoronix.com/news/sudo-rs-security-ubuntu-25.10

https://redd.it/1ov5q57
@r_linux

Looking for a Lightweight Linux Version for My System

Hi, I’m searching for a lightweight Linux version for my computer. Based on your experience, could you guide me on which distributions are fast, efficient, and suitable for older or low-resource systems? Any recommendations or tips would be greatly appreciated.

https://redd.it/1ovaw0r
@r_linux