Overlay Transparent Image Over Active Window (Ontopreplica alternative)

I'm looking to find out if there's a way to overlay a transparent window over my display in PopOS, as a Windows user I would use a program called ontopreplica which doesn't currently have a Linux version.

My specific use for this was creating cross stitch patterns from images, I would create an image in paint.net or similar and overlay it on top of my pattern creation tool then trace it using a graphics tablet so it's important that the window being overlayed also isn't interactive. Does anyone know of a way I can do this? I have fully switched from windows to Linux and don't really want to go back to dual booting as this is the only use case I have for my PC now that I'm unable to figure out without windows.

https://redd.it/1q98zvz
@r_linux

Did you know that starting with 6.11 XScreenSaver supports Wayland?
https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/07/xscreensaver-6-11/

https://redd.it/1q9c09j
@r_linux

xz has to be some dark magic shit

I tried to do some work that required me to make files that are pretty big (postmarket OS for Spacewar), and I wanted to upload those files to GitHub. The problem is, the files were like 4 GB each. Being cheap, I didn't want to pay for more GitHub space, so I tried to compress them, and that's where I found xz. All I did was run the command xz -T0 -9 <filename>, and the file went from 4 GB to 18 MB. That's crazy. how did i not know about this until now

https://redd.it/1q9dq4p
@r_linux

Budgie 10.10 Released: Officially Migrated From X11 To Wayland
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Budgie-10.10-Released

https://redd.it/1q9gq7k
@r_linux

Linux 7.0 Readying Improvement For Rust + LTO Kernel Builds
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-Rust-LTO-Inline-Coming

https://redd.it/1q9bq65
@r_linux

Zena bootc OS
https://zena-linux.github.io/

https://redd.it/1q9puok
@r_linux

Linus vibecoded and claimed "Antigravity" did a much better job then he could.
https://redd.it/1q9wdru
@r_linux

Waytermirror: A Wayland Remote Desktop That Runs in Your Terminal (And more!)

I’ve been working on a project that lets you view and control a live Wayland desktop entirely from a terminal. Originally it focused on Unicode-based rendering, but it has since grown into a full remote desktop system.

Waytermirror can now run in a terminal, on a Linux TTY via framebuffer/KMS, or in a classic GUI mode - whichever fits your setup best.

# What it does

Real-time Wayland capture Unicode or pixel rendering with multiple capture backends (wlr-screencopy, PipeWire for KDE/GNOME)
Multiple rendering backends Braille (2×4 dots), half-blocks, ASCII, hybrid (adaptive), sixel, kitty graphics, framebuffer, KMS, and GUI
Runs in any terminal Fully SSH-friendly and usable even over slow or high-latency connections
Efficient streaming TCP transport with LZ4 / LZ4-HC compression for Unicode video, HEVC for pixel video, and Opus for audio
Full input forwarding Keyboard and mouse support via Wayland protocols or uinput
Bidirectional audio (WIP) System audio streaming (server -> client) and microphone forwarding (client -> server) using PipeWire
Hardware acceleration (optional) CUDA-accelerated Unicode rendering or hardware-accelerated HEVC encoding on the server
Multi-monitor support Including focus-following output selection
Live controls Zoom, rotation, quality/detail tuning, and color modes (16 / 256 / truecolor)
Keyboard-driven workflow Everything is controlled via shortcuts (Ctrl+Alt+Shift prefix): switch renderers, zoom, rotate, mute audio, pause video, and more

Open a terminal, connect to the server, and your desktop simply appears. You can switch renderers, tweak quality, or zoom and rotate the view - all live, without restarting the session.

Repository:
https://github.com/cyber-wojtek/waytermirror

https://preview.redd.it/gve6k8eszjcg1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=c1cc3d2e03370f4a250ce398689bbbd6b28ededd

https://redd.it/1q9vgim
@r_linux

auto-cpufreq v3.0.0 is out!

6 years after its initial release, and 7100+ GitHub stars later ... auto-cpufreq v3.0.0 is out with new features and improvements.

Release page & notes: https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/releases

Thanks to all 114 contributors who got us to v3, a true testament to the power of open source and its community: https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq

https://redd.it/1qa715a
@r_linux

State of the Budgie: 2025 In Review and Cranking Budgie Up To 11
https://buddiesofbudgie.org/blog/state-of-the-budgie-2025

https://redd.it/1qa34ot
@r_linux

Database adventures

I have a Windows98-era Access database, many tables with quite a bit of data in them. I have jumped through every hoop I could find with no usable results. For years.

This week, I read that LibreOffice Base could read the old .mdb files. Yay! Let's do that!

Yeah... no. Aside from the fact that Base is missing most of what it needs to get to the point where it thinks it can get at a .mdb file, and that Ubuntu's LibreOffice installation doesn't even include Base... all hoops jumped, and face-planted every time.

But. It turns out there's a some software yclept "mdb-tables", so let's try that. . . . .

Holy. Shit.

It didn't even blink. I recovered the entire database with an absolute minimum of fuss. I finally have the data back.

So if you ever need to recover a really old Microsoft Access DB for someone... mdb-tables is the way.

I know this is so niche as to be in a corner of the corner case, and tucked in tightly, but I'm so jazzed right now I just had to post.

Cheers. :)

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

European Commission - Have your say;The European Commission has launched a fresh consultation into open source, setting out its ambitions for Europe's developer communities to go beyond propping up US tech giants' platforms. The consultation, which will run from January 6 to February 3, is an early
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en

https://redd.it/1qayoa3
@r_linux

Linux 6.19-rc5 Brings Fix For Newer NVIDIA GPUs, Logitech HID++ For Anywhere 3S & Fixes
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.19-rc5-Released

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

My Classic RedHat 10 desktop theme
https://redd.it/1qbjdos
@r_linux

Some wallpapers I made for RedHat

https://preview.redd.it/ufire6dcb2dg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=394390b288f5e0272e5ad9c47c0315def63c03d4

I made this Red Hat wallpaper, It uses an older redhat logo with the newer logo incorporated. I hope y'all like it, and I hope IBM doesn't get angry with me. Let's see. If you want anything else just ask and I'll design it.

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

Win8DE made a windows 8 like desktop depends on wlroots based wayland compositors.
https://redd.it/1qaoq4x
@r_linux

Other than Reddit what do you use to discuss linux?

Title says it all! What else besides Reddit do you use to discuss Linux online? What else is out there with a high number of people commenting? Im talking about Linux as a whole rather than a specific distro.

https://redd.it/1qan9o2
@r_linux

Thoughts on To Sign or Not to Sign
https://sequoia-pgp.org/blog/2026/01/12/202601-to-sign-or-not-to-sign/

https://redd.it/1qbf796
@r_linux

I restored and enhanced the sad tux raining background
https://redd.it/1qbodjt
@r_linux

Window to the past: When a Red Hat dev thought it's a good idea to remove close button as well when gnome decided to remove min, max buttons.
https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-shell-list/2011-February/msg00194.html

https://redd.it/1qbpcs6
@r_linux

Budgie to use KDE Frameworks in the upcoming versions of their desktop
https://buddiesofbudgie.org/blog/state-of-the-budgie-2025

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