I try to help people often with their technical issues in this subreddit. It feels good to help. I also know I'm not just helping that person, but anyone else that may run across it in the future from a search.

But often, the questions are deleted by the OP, leaving me disappointed and frustrated. I'm less and less motivated to help as it happens.

Please. Give back in the most minimal way possible to this subreddit, and avoid deleting your posts if they've been upvoted and answered.

(I'm not a mod, btw)

I always see people in the Linux community saying they use Arch btw but I couldn't find the the btw version in their website, just regular one. Is it a members-only kind of thing? I'd love to give it a try.

Thanks in advance.

Not aliases or scripts a real, built-in command that saves a stupid amount of time.

Somebody help. This is my dad's work computer. My mom works on it too. I'm gonna die or else.

don't please dont delete it mods. I need help. Edit: I just found out this linux is called mint. Hope that helps

Hello Linux Questions folks

Chris has installed linux onto my computer and I do not like how it looks..I need it to look like my windows 7 I had before as this new setup is too confusing and unfamiliar....I liked the windows menu as I found it very convenient helpful and familiar. I miss the look the computer used to have with the bright colors and nice sounds ,as this one is too dark and depresses my mood.

I am also having troible finding my programs...I liked the programs I used and cannot figuee out how to get them back. I cannot ask Chris since he is too busy to come visit . Thank you to any kind folks who know how to help!

James.

Hopefully this isn't too much of a rant, but it's bothered me since I started following this sub.

I see reformatting/reinstalling recommended way too often and in situations that don't call for it. If you can't answer the actual question this is not a reasonable substitute.

It's one thing if the OP gives up and decides that route is easier, but telling someone to nuke their operating system is avoiding the question, not answering it. It's telling someone to just give up, not helping them learn.

I'm using Kubuntu. I tried custom mapping, but don't know how to put Ctrl as an action. This is Owlotech ergonomic keyboard. Thank you for your help

On the right of this image, what is the type of Linux running?

Damn!

https://www.neowin.net/news/linux-bans-university-of-minnesota-for-sending-buggy-patches-in-the-name-of-research/

I know, I know, Linus is too young to think about retirement already, but anyway - what if?

He may decide he doesn't want to take care of Linux kernel anymore. He may retire after all. Something may happen to him (gods forbid). Or any other random event may occur and leave Linux "Linusless".

What happens then? I know Linux is more of a community project, but undeniably Linus is the leader, the patron, the mentor... Do you think (or know) there is or will be someone who would step in? Or the responsibility will scatter? Or...?

Throw your wildest guess at me.

//edit

Wow, I wrote this before sleep expecting maybe 2 or 3 answers, and woke up to quite a discussion. Thanks everyone! I'll have something interesting to read at the start of my workday, haha.

So what if California, Colorado and Brazil want age verification? Just ignore them. How can they fine someone not in their country or block their access? Why do we bend to these idiotic tyrants? Piracy being illegal did not stop it from being alive for decades. If Linux will be illegal, so be it. Its still better than having age verification.

I switched to Linux some years ago and ever since then I've been using it and distro hopping as such. But my school don't like me using Linux since some of the application I have to use such as word and office 365 and OneDrive is not available. I have alternative for those ( libre office, onlyoffice and web office) they still say that I'm a nerd and a geek for using Linux. I also have difficulties socialising as I m very privacy focused person and uses only open source apps (except for discord). Should I buy another computer that is for school? Should I switch to the apps they use that is non open source?

Thanks to everyone who helped me, this thread is now resolved. I have resorted to buying a spare windows machine that will do the job and some people suggested me some links to useful software and i will be sure to check them out and maybe i won't buy a computer if these software works out!

edit: I will stop replying to every comment, i have made my decisions. If the VM thing and dualboot thing doesn't work out for me, i will either try to reskin my os to look like windows or just buy another laptop overall. also note i am a student so i keep this very vague and i didn't give much context, sorry for everyone who mis-understood the point of this thread.

Takeaway

This thread was posted as i was angry at my school for how they operate. There were two views to this point. First - I wasn't following instructions second - they mis-use their powers to reduce marks. This thread was also posted as a sidenote that most International school curriculum (usually highschool) uses closed-source software or paid softwares. I just wanted to make this clear that, if the school are able to provide a license for that, then it's all good but some school uses cracked softwares which is illegal!

Hey, idk if this is the right place to ask this, but I have a bit of a dilemma.

I have been using linux exclusively on my main PC and on my laptop for a while now. That said, I am moving to a new school, and buried in their rules they say that "Chromebooks (or other Linux machines) cannot be used." They also want us to use their office 365 license, but do not require it.

Now, besides just being incredibly annoying, I cannot use windows/mac on my laptop because it's a 2011 macbook, so it cannot run anything but lightweight linux distros without combusting, and I would like to avoid spending 500+ euro on a new crappy windows laptop.

Is there any reason, besides saving myself some trouble, to not just use my laptop as is (currently on arch, gonna switch it to cachyos) and something like libreoffice that I don't see or can I just ignore this and hope for the best?

Microsoft, as we all know, is guilty of a lot of things. But one thing in particular I want to talk about is how they made the general public irrationally wary of a feature with legitimate and noble purposes: Automatic Updates.

Whenever Windows converts use a distro such as Fedora that has automatic updates enabled by default, I have seen posts asking about how they can disable it. This is because they have been burned by Windows sneaking in undesirable features, reinstalling applications (Edge) that they explicitly uninstalled, and even forcibly updating to Windows 11 from 10. They are justifiably looking to delete something that has, on the surface, harmed them in the past.

But they do not understand that auto-updates exist for a legitimate reason. Software bug fixes, QOL and Accessibility enhancements, and most critically, patching SECURITY vulnerabilities that must be done immediately!! Users should NOT be responsible for being proactive about this stuff, the vendors should! Auto-Updates are Good, Actually. I even allow my Arch to do it!

I, of course, place the blame firmly at Microsoft. Their piggybacking on a security essential to push customer-unfriendly things all out of greed has directly contributed to a paranoia that directly hinders public safety.

But, open-source is here to repair the harm caused by corporate greed. How can the Linux community as a whole contribute to lessening this paranoia and restore trust in those that actually work to keep their personal devices safe?

I’m a young Linux user and I’ve been having a problem recently. Yesterday I was planning on designing the motherboard for a DIY game console, so I was downloading the proper software then I realize “My windows always look messy and unorganized“. This is a huge problem if you’re working on a project that requires more than one windows, so I decided to download swaywm. Whilst I was downloading Sway, my mother walked in on me with the terminal open and text flying by (normal sudo apt Install stuff) and told me to turn off the computer and not use it again because she didn’t like the terminal.

For context I’m using my grandmothers old IMac, which was bricked due to apple being greedy. All the stuff on the IMac was already off the computer and my mother was worried about me messing with said (inaccessible) data via the terminal I guess?

Does anyone know how to explain this situation to a tech illiterate person?

(I originally posted this on r/Linux but it was removed)

EDIT: Can we moderate* would be more appropriate.

The sub is getting overwhelmed by this kind of posts. Currently, it's like 20% of all posts (exactly now, 3/12 of the most recent posts) That's too much.

I'm willing to hear others' opinions but this seriously feels like out of place here. I feel like those posts have their place in r/linux4noobs as the subreddit name clearly implies. There's also even an ad hoc distro-choice sub: r/findmeadistro .

Moreso, as is aforementioned, there are literally hundreds of such posts, and 90% of those submissions are always the same generic questions and considerations that have been answered countless times at great length, and which they could have trivially found with a bit of research. Each time I see the same comment threads over and over again and am seriously asking myself if this is the best use of this community.

Can we keep this sub about actual technical Linux questions where people could really need a hand ? And notably, where people won't (at least way less likely) also indulge in pointless political, opinionated and subjective debates.

PS: Of course, some posts can be justified where the needs are non-trivial, and I'm not asking for a 100% ban. This however could really be filtered heavily and leave room for more visibility on other questions.

EDIT: Now that this has gathered enough attention, I feel justified to ping you u/aperson. Please acknowledge this, and write us back. I'm entirely willing to help this moderation task btw. I'm already spending hours daily on the sub.

EDIT: Original post kept down below to keep consistency with the comments, but I wanted to take a moment to address the legitimate criticism my snarky, off-the-cuff post has received by making a more serious version of this post that is actually helpful.

If you are reading this post, you are either...

• ... new to Linux and have chosen Kali as your first distribution, if so, this post is for you.

• ... not new to Linux and take issue with the title, if so, this post is not for you, but you will comment anyway.

• ... studying cyber security and are wondering why you shouldn't install it, this post is not intended for you.

First, welcome to Linux, you're in for an exciting ride! Learning to use Linux is like experiencing computers for the first time again, a lot of your knowledge about Windows can be thrown out the window and you get to rediscover what makes computing fun again. Unfortunately, getting started with Linux can be overwhelming for newcomers, with a lot of choices to select from but a lack of knowledge to make the right choice for yourself.

Lately there's been an influx of people who are installing Kali as their daily driver, main Linux distribution to use for desktop usage; asking questions that are a direct result of misunderstanding what Kali is for and ignoring the strong advice of the distribution to not use it that way. Such questions are a waste of everyone time's including your own, but more importantly, may discourage you from trying to use Linux again by assuming that that is the normal experience.

Why shouldn't I install Kali?

Do not just take my word for it, read the documentation: https://docs.kali.org/introduction/should-i-use-kali-linux

But in short: Kali Linux is a hyper specialized distribution meant for security experts, penetration testers and the likes. It is not meant to be used as a general purpose operating system. The ideal way to use Kali Linux is from an USB stick or, even better, a virtual machine. Kali is more like a tool suite than an operating system.

I want a secure distro and Kali is a security distro!

Kali Linux is not a secure distribution of Linux in the defensive sense, it is an offensive security distribution. The tools that it comes with are specifically meant to attack networks. The tools Kali Linux comes with are dangerous, and if used improperly can even lead to serious legal consequences.

If you want a secure defensive Linux distribution, you have many alternatives such as Parrot Home Edition as an example.

I watched Mr Robot and I want to become a cool hackerman and you're wrong so I'm going to do it anyway.

Go ahead, no one is stopping you from throwing caution to the wind. The best case scenario is that you'll get bored of it within a few hours, the worst case scenario is that you think this is what Linux is about. It's not, Linux is normally very convenient and easy to work with, read on to learn more.

Furthermore, do not expect to get any help. The people in r/kalilinux will mock you for ignoring the documentation; and people here will most likely tell you to install something else.

Okay, I tried it and my infosec dreams are shattered, I hacked my local coffeeshop's wifi and got arrested, and I cannot use computers anymore.

I warned you!!

What Linux distribution should I actually install if I am new to Linux?

Generally speaking, Ubuntu is highly recommended to newcomers as this is the most supported distribution by most third party software developers like Valve, Discord and many others. It is very popular and you will have the most luck finding solutions to issues you are likely to run into as many people will have had the same problems you did.

That said, Linux distributions come in many shapes, sizes, flavors and colors and you are encouraged to experiment and try for yourself. Some other distributions that are suitable for beginners (though some are easier than others) are:

• Linux Mint

• Pop_OS!

• Manjaro Linux

• OpenSuSE

• Fedora Linux

• Debian

Good luck in your Linux journey!

Old post

Repeat after me:

• Kali Linux is for pentesters, you are not to install it, the documentation for Kali tells you this.

• If you think you'd like to use Kali as a desktop OS, you aren't ready to use an OS like Kali in any capacity.

• No, you're not cool for installing Kali, it doesn't make you a hacker, just install Ubuntu.

Feel free to sed s/Kali/Parrot/ too, and any other pentesting, security oriented OS.

I just don't get it. No hate, just need a legit explanation here. In my experience, Nano feels comfortable to edit in, but vim has me wrestle with achieving even the most basic tasks.

I'm here to learn

EDIT: I'm way blown away with the responses (192 at time of writing). While obviously too hard to individually respond to everyone, thank you all so much for the helpful input!!

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.

On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.

Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface .

This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.

The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do?

1. Complain. Message the mods of /r/reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message /u/reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /r/reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.

2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at /r/ModCoord - but please don't pester mods you don't know by simply spamming their modmail.

3. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!

4. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible. This includes not harassing moderators of subreddits who have chosen not to take part: no one likes a missionary, a used-car salesman, or a flame warrior.

It's so frustrating how little effort NVIDIA puts into supporting Linux. Drivers are unstable, sub-optimally tuned, and far behind their Windows counterparts. For a company that dominates the GPU market, it feels like Linux users get left out. Open-source solutions like Nouveau are worse because they don't even have good support from NVIDIA directly. If NVIDIA really cared about its community, it would take time and effort to make Linux drivers first-class and not an afterthought.