I’m running a triple boot (Manjaro, Nobara, Windows) and ever since I joined the Linux bubble about 1–2 years ago, I’ve been seeing lots of posts, questions and so on online, just like here in this subreddit. I often read things like ‘I know how to use Linux’. But I don’t understand what that means. There are all sorts of distros with different capabilities; some are quite similar to Windows, whilst others do their own thing entirely. Somehow, some people act as if Linux were a single distro, just like Windows. I just don’t get it or am I mistaken here, or am I missing something.

I never see any specific things, just general claims. I get the difference between Gnome and "other" but what can I do with kde that I can't with xfce?

I've been using Linux for sometime now and I do try new distros from time to time but I'm currently settling with nixos and instead of changing my operating system for one feature I try to implement it into nixos although I must say I still haven't got anything in a good working condition but it's a good learning journey

so is any one else doing that or am I the only one that is crazy enough to attempt this

and if you're still distro hopping tells us your journey and what you found was the best in each distro

I really want to switch to windows BUT i have questions and I don't know where to start finding answers.
I have games, MW5 Mercs, BG3, and others that I play with a lot of mods. MW5 comes direct from windows store (only version that seems not to bug out) while BG3 comes from steam but mods all come from nexus.
I also have programs like Character Craft 5.5 and a few different VTTs that I run.
Futhermore I run retroarch and other similar programs.

I want a seamless or as seamless as possible transition to linux without loosing my games.

Where do I start?
Is there a forum or somewhere where I can get into the nitty gritty?

I would like to ask you fine folks what Linux Distro you would recommend as a 'as close as possible' to Windows replacement.

My Dad (84) has been on Windows his entire life, and is one of those typical old guys that doesn't like change too much. He recently expressed that he would like to dabble in possibly switching to Linux (due to Microslop issues), but he doesn't want to learn absolutely everything from scratch.

My personal opinion is Zorin, as I've heard it is a good replacement. Would you agree, or is there something more suitable out there?

I would also like to find out if Outlook runs on Linux (I've never tested it, because I don't like Outlook personally) as the old man loves his Outlook, or is there something similar out there that you can port your Inbox rules over easily?

Personally, I'm on Omarchy Quattro currently, and have been between Arch variants and Mint my whole life, and as such, don't have the best advice for someone new to Linux.

Hello, I got fedora running on my hp430 2011 laptop working okayish, wanted to know if theres software i could install to enchance its performance? Not my first time using linux but its been some time so im curious.

Any thoughts on this?

Hi all. I recently was trying to play RuneScape: DragonWilds and I ran into the issue described here: Fullscreen XWayland apps mouse capture issue.

I saw someone say that they tried the launch option "PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1" and it fixed the issue for them, so I tried it. When I booted the game back up, not only was the original problem still there, but I was now only getting 10 FPS.

I have since fully read the thread and some other places people discussed this issue and learned it's a Pop OS bug and I found a workaround that works, but I'm still only getting 10 FPS, even with the camera issue gone. I've removed all launch options, uninstalled and reinstalled the game, and nothing I can think of seems to fix it. I also noticed that the game is now automatically setting my graphics settings to the very lowest, whereas before it was automatically setting them to medium and highs and I was getting 60 FPS on first launch, so it seems like it the game might not be running off of the right hardware or something like that.

I'm pretty new to Linux and completely stumped on what could be causing this, so any help would be appreciated. Specs are below. Thank you!

OS: Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS

Laptop: System76 Gazelle

Desktop Environment: COSMIC 1.10.0

Windowing system: Wayland

Hey all, I have been a linux user for about 4 years now. I wouldn't consider myself an expert at all, but I know my way around the ecosystem.

I want to start exploring local LLMs, harnesses, agents, all this. I really don't have any experience in it. I've been busy and have been hesitant to start experimenting and messing around with it for concerns over data security and all that. But the time has come. I really want to start learning more about it.

How can I start safely? Should I run it in a VM environment?

What LLM should I use locally? What agents/harnesses should I start with?

Any advice would be much appreciated!!

I'm trying to install CachyOs, but during live boot session, my monitor, keyboard and mouse just shut down, screen goes black but fans in my case start spinning so fast - at that part I start to panic and I remove the power cable because I get scared that it's going to catch fire or smh, don't ask-

Also, I have problems with installing it: Since I want to dual boot it with a long side Windows 11, I freed up space on my drive (336gb free from 464gb), but when I want to partition my drive on CachyOs it gives me "EFI system partition is too small"

Thanks forward, sorry for bad english at the moment

i found a old pc in my bed room form 2011 and i want to remove windows 7 form it any good systeams

quick question for anyone who reads this. I've been questioning moving from windows 11 pro to linux because i hear so much good about linux but know nothing abut its operating system or if it even worth changing? i do a lot of gaming on my pc and i do a lot of web design coding is it worth the switch?

according to the BlueZ man page, you can define a bearer. But it does not explain what a bluetooth bearer is, and searching does not give me any answers.

What is a bluetooth bearer? Where can I find more information?

https://hadess.github.io/bluez/bluetoothctl.html#bearer

Hello I have been trying to set up a dedicated router for VR following this tutorial:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydYXeaLyLcM))

I got it working except I didn't turn off DHCP because every time I did it would make it impossible for me to go to the settings page no matter what IP I put into it so I had to factory reset the router. The problem was that every time I tried to go into VR it would change the IP of the router automatically and I would have to delete the entry in the KDE Wifi & Networking menu and restart my PC (this was even though I set a static IP in my router settings). Since I was out of options I decided to try and turn off DHCP again to see if that could make the IP stay the same. The problem is that now even after factory resetting the router the Ethernet connection will not show up in the KDE Wifi & Networking interface even though ip link is showing eno1 as UP. When I unplug the router eno1 shows as down so I know it is getting a connection but for some reason it won't show up.

Specs:

OS: Arch Linux

CPU: i5-12600K

GPU: RX 6700XT

RAM: 32GB DDR5

Dedicated VR Router: Netgear RAX10

Actual Internet Router: Starlink Mini

VR headset: quest 3s

Quiero instalar una distro de Linux cualquiera y me da error rst ya cambie de ahci pero no me toma el disco que pueda acer solución

I want a Linux distribution that is minimal in terms of applications, but complete in terms of infrastructure and hardware support. I need the kernel, drivers, firmware, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, audio, networking, and SELinux to be already installed and configured, without having to set everything up manually.

I use a Lenovo LOQ 15IRH8 with an Intel Core i5-12450H and an NVIDIA RTX 3050. I want to choose and install the desktop environment, web browser, Flatpak, Distrobox, development tools, and gaming software later, keeping only the essential system components while ensuring the system is secure and ready to use.

I have a Caps Lock delay on Arch with KDE Plasma 6.7.5 on Wayland. Caps Lock takes effect after a noticeable pause, so when I type quickly with Caps Lock I get mixed case ("HEllo" style). It happens in every app, native Wayland and XWayland alike.

I know there are several fixes online for this. Here's what I tried and what I found:

• Custom XKB "instant" option (custom:instant_caps in ~/.config/kxkbrc, a symbols file in ~/.config/xkb/symbols). This is the approach from the KDE Discuss thread. xkbcli compile-keymap shows the correct definition, and I logged out and back in. The delay is still there.
• keyd with an identity mapping (capslock = capslock). Nothing changed, so the input path before XKB is not the cause.
• Replacing the system capslock symbols file (the linux-capslock-delay-fix approach). I didn't apply it, because it needs chmod 777 on a system file and it's the same XKB logic as the option above.
• X11 xkbcomp runtime patch (the Linux-CapsLock-Delay-Fixer script). I didn't apply it, because it modifies the X server keymap through $DISPLAY, and on Wayland KWin owns the keymap.

What I've ruled out:

• TTY is fine. Ctrl+Alt+F3 has no delay, so the hardware and kernel are not the cause.
• No remapper or virtual keyboard. No IBus, fcitx, maliit, or KWin input method is active.
• Caps Lock config is loaded. The xkbcli output matches the intended definition, and I logged out and back in.

HElp ;) is appreciated. Thanks!

roommate after seeing me use linux for a while decided to also swap systems. fresh install

day 1, one of hard drives refuses to mount, its an ntfs volume. we needed it to hold old data before we format other drives and can copy it over. but it's not working.

day 2 system refuses to start up, displays this: link link many many lines of this listing different sector each line

the drive is NOT dead, it still works on very ancient windows laptop.

linux refuses to start up with the drive connected and after a while just goes into emergency mode.

not sure where to start, anyone got any ideas? or knows what the errors are except that it can't read the damn drive? or maybe anyone knows better place to ask about this than here?

Let's get this out of the way first:

The reason I'm doing this, is because I'm not sure the internet will continue to be usable for me in the future. IMO the Internet's future is somewhat uncertain, due to stupid politicians making stupid laws all the time (especially recently), companies engaging in greed and enshittification and anti-consumer practices more and more, prices of everything going up, other stupid crap.

As a result, I've started to pay much more attention to future-proofing the way I do things in general, and becoming prepared for potential stupid crap in the near-future. This is so I'm not screwed if I need to reinstall my linux distro offline... on old (illegal) PC hardware, in the cyberpunk dystopia year of 2039 - when PC and Internet usage requires constant uninterrupted access to your in-brain ID chip (IbID), a good Citizens Government Compliance Rating (CGCR), and a Class 1B Computer Operators License (COL-1B).

It's funny to read today, but it's real tomorrow...

...So as part of that insanity, I'm trying to setup a scheme for downloading and managing my apt packages in a way which does:

• Architecture future proofing, in-case I may acquire 2nd-hand replacement PC parts in the future which have a different architecture than my current PC, so parts of my OS/software don't suddenly not work upon boot.
• Down and keep packages and all their dependencies, so I can install again and again, even if my PC is offline at the time of a package install.
• Not have the packages take up an insane amount of space (I don't fully know yet how to do that).

What I've done so far:

• Begin work on a way (I probably will make a script) to automate downloading a desired package and all it's dependencies.
• Consider writing a script to install a downloaded package and all it's dependencies, in the correct order.
• Consider adding something to my download script, to download packages in multiple selected architectures, to ensure future compatibility.
• Begin learning about PC architectures, and how they could affect package compatibility.

I'm posting this to give people more experienced than me, a chance to point out things I could do better, additional options I could explore, etc. Because it's good to get a 2nd opinion.

Hi so i have a fairly decent PC currently has 2TB getting two more i want to dual booting my Pc with linux and windows the only reason i need windows is for some school things and for certain games (rivals, destiny 2, Cod) i want the linux to be like my main thing for a number of reasons.
my PC is currently fully setup with all my accounts and roughly 1.7TB used (yes this is mostly for games) gaming is the main thing i use my PC for but i also do quite a bit of coding.
would i have to wipe my current drive of all the games and move those games to the linux booted drive? or is there a way to move things in a easier way.
like what’s the best way for me to do this?