Pantherina

@Pantherina@feddit.de

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Pantherina,

All in use by like one app. Sorted them 100 times, still some need it and I need the app

Pantherina,

Syncthingy works great? Try either Flatseal or KDEs flatpak permission settings to add the directories you are missing. As long as all packages use Portals, either they are completely unisolated or they break in those ways. I prefer the second option and add the needed directories

Pantherina,

I started on Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora. Native apps where often horrible. I remember SciDavis for Ubuntu being completely broken, Libreoffice for Fedora, and Flatpak just worked.

Officially supported Flatpaks are great, a bit like the Windows way but better, as they are reviewed, containerized and in an actual repository.

But flatpakking random apps isnt that easy, but I really want to learn it. Especially an easy semi-automatic way of converting Appimages (may they burn in hell) to Flatpaks. Like BalenaEtcher and so many more.

Also, Flatpaks are not secure in the case of biig projects. Nearly all the known Linux apps like Libreoffice, Gimp, Inkscape etc are unisolated. And trying to specify the permissions (only home and all the mounts, instead of your entire root partition) gives you “they are insecure anyways and should get portals” and your PRs closed.

So they are in a very incomplete state currently, and you need to manually secure them to be actually kinda protected. But without Portals, entire home access is not actually isolated.

Also, try and use the --verified repo:


<span style="color:#323232;">flatpak remote-add --subset=verified flathub-verified https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
</span>

Problem here is that many apps like VLC, that work great, are not yet adopted by upstream, so the verified repo is not really usable currently.

And native messaging (keepassxc-browser, etc.) and other things are not always working. Drag&drop is, for some reason, but not in Firefox, maybe there are different ways.

Pantherina,

There are too many, especially outdated runtimes in use. That is a problem. I have like 7GB of runtimes, somewhere a year ago when I roughly counted it.

Pantherina,

I see that fragmentation of runtimes is a problem. If all apps would simply use the same runtime, and a modern one, and there was a package manager that installs the missing dependencies, that would be nice.

The diskspace is a true problem too, just because of the fragmented runtimes.

But Distros are fragmented too. If simply everyone could unify, at least a bit, instead of at least 5 different big Distros competing, every app could just work. But thats not the case, so Flatpaks often work best, and maany packages are either only .deb, .rpm or even only on Arch

Pantherina,

In general its not about the CPU or GPU. Even Nvidia works kinda okay on some Devices, at least according to Nick from TheLinuxExperiment. Some apps like Davinciresolve require it, and cuda is also only supported on Nvidia. Mobile AMD graphics are kinda underpowered for some tasks.

Its more about weird hardware that isnt supported, Fingerprint readers, even keyboards going into some weird hibernation and you need to hard reset the PC as you cant control it anymore (Acer swift). Some devices like Microsoft Surfaces need a custom kernel.

Lots ot refurbished business laptops like the Lenovo T series, HP or Dell business series works well, as they also dont have weird components.

Check linux-hardware.org and if you have a running laptop, install their HWprobe and run it, to share that your laptop is working. With comments you can add what is really working etc.

Personally I would also care about Coreboot. Checkout Novacuston (EU) or System76 or Starlabs, they have Coreboot laptops. I mean, installing Linux on some laptop with a proprietary garbage Bios that doesnt get updates (!!!) anymore is pretty hypocritical. Coreboot is awesome but rare, its awesome that there are some companies and people making it run on new hardware, so I would check those out.

And… maybe dont get an M1 Macbook ;D

Pantherina,

Welcome to Linux! Every hardware runs everything. Its not Mac or Android. Old Devices work always, as the drivers already exist. Only reeeally old stuff gets thrown out of the kernel.

Thinkpad T430’s have a pretty high price on Ebay currently, I have one and its a great laptop, nice keyboard, Coreboot/Heads/Libreboot/1vyrain custom BIOS all run. But it is a really old Laptop.

Bought a Clevo MZ41 on Ebay, will attempt to flash coreboot. Was not pricey too.

Try Thinkpads, Dell, Hp. Normally older Acer or Asus too. If you find a laptop with

  • good 1080p display
  • good keyboard in your language/ you dont care about stickers
  • good battery life
  • everything normal broken, not completely old

Just search for “Linux MODEL” and you will probably find some reports.

For new hardware you want a recent Distro, Fedora (try Kinoite! ublue.it), OpenSuse Tumbleweed (try Kalpa) or EndeavorOS for easy Arch, are all good. Maybe avoid ubuntu, or use something like PopOS or TuxedoOS, which are better versions of Ubuntu, with newer packages and less annoying crap like Snap.

I am not sure if you already use Linux, but some general tips:

  • try to use Flatpaks from Flathub as much as possible. They are already often officially supported and have less bugs. Also the apps are isolated from your system, so they are more up to date, dont break your system, keep system upgrades small, and they have privacy advantages
  • use a Distro that supports Wayland very well. X11 is stupidly old and will be completely unsupported in a few years. Its already dead since a few years, as nothing changes.
  • try an “immutable”, image based Distribution like Fedora Atomic (Kinoite (KDE), Silverblue (Gnome)) or Opensuse Kalpa (KDE) or Aeon (Gnome). They are simply modern, stable, resettable and your changes are transparent.
  • if you want to do any crazy stuff like code, install apps with many dependencies, do it in a Distrobox. You can install apps normally, but they are still not bloating your system. If you dont need them, delete the Distrobox and your system is clean again. This goes especially for strange University etc. software that needs to be installed with some script or something.
  • use a root Distrobox if you need things like USB
  • use fish as your normal shell, simply by editing the Terminals “open command”. That way your shell in the Distroboxes has a different configuration, fish looks nice and colorful and has stuff like autocompletion.
  • do backups of your system and your data. Just do that always, on an extra drive. It saves so much horror of losing everything, if a drive breaks or your laptop gets stolen or whatever. If you want Cloud backups, use Cryptomator and any cloud you want.
  • use Syncthing, maybe disable global discovery for LAN only, for syncing your data between two or more specific devices.
  • use soundbound, SoundCloud Downloader (Firefox Addon) and youtube downloaders as long as they work. Download all of your music to not be dependend on those companies
  • try waydroid for Android apps on Linux. Use F-Droid basic as the application store, and check for “list of f-droid repositories” and add some.
Pantherina,

No XD again, every hardware runs every distro.

Rule of thumb, avoid intel generations younger than 7-8 and avoid i3, on AMD I am not sure but probably the same. Avoid weird cheap brands you never heard, chances are huge that nobody cared to support every hardware piece of them.

Best are noname OEMs like Tongfang and Clevo, if you get those, chances are very good and they are cheaper.

Also a little reminder from debloating a Windows “Gaming laptop” today. Windows doesnt support shit, its the manufacturers making the hardware work by bloating the system with horrible software.

Pantherina,

I too think Cinnamon is a pretty great Experience. I am using KDE and heard from many people that it feels better, its more unified and has way more features.

Wayland is important for security, and Mint will need a long time to adopt that. There are already apps only running on Wayland for reasons.

KDE is a bit unstable as its a huge project. I hope that will get better in Plasma 6.

I sure wish to have something like KDE more stable. But once you are used to it, its just better. Things that are not there yet on Mint are on KDE since years.

Its a bit of a mess as its so old. Extensions need to be cleaned up. But like, Dolphin extensions are so great, I dont know an equivalent on Cinnamon.

Also the distro model is the standard one. A Fedora Atomic Cinnamon variant, with modern presets and everything working, would be a great thing to install anywhere. Automatic atomic updates, easy version upgrades, transparent system changes and resets being just one command away.

Pantherina, (edited )

Right! I have to try that.

Personally I dont care for cinnamon, but it is easy for users and ublue is great.

My personal wishlists are a Fedora-based TV OS, a hardened version and a rawhide kde 6 one

Pantherina,

Officially supported doesnt mean its more stable. They can just take binaries, add dependenciesy tadaa.

Bubblewrap is not insecure. But I am not an expert

Pantherina,

Distrobox… or simply Flatpak?

Pantherina,

Every Linux runs everywhere! This is not Android, iOS or MacOS! Backwards compatibility is the key word here.

Your purse will limit you to older hardware though.

Pantherina,

Oh you again, yes Linux supports every normal hardware, and even a lot of crazy ones like Risc-V

On Android the system is bundled with the firmware as it comes from the same people. And for some reason those people dont like providing updates for sane amounts of time, like… 20 years?

Pantherina,

Lol that comment is goooone

Pantherina, (edited )

Yo I have a story for you.

I have a damn Thinkpad T495, so not thaat old, but “oUT oF WaRrAnTy”.

I need Windows for work stuff, so I tried installing it and that shit misses drivers. Downloaded .exe drivers and put them to a seperate USB stick (after giving up the wish to include them in the ISO).

But supposedly these drivers are installers and not direct executables, and I have no idea of Windows. So well… contacted their support.

First, if its not a hardware problem it doesnt exist. Did the typical thing, click through the “Oh maybe its a problem with X?” “No, I know your stupid FAQs wont help me, other problem”

Support mail? No way.

So I get to a very friendly bot, giving me stupid solutions

Hey have you tried X?

Not helping, I want to get a mail contact

So would this help?

It does not help me, I need to speak to a human.

maybe this?

fuck you

Oh, I am sorry not being able to help, here is a list of options.

That damn list suddenly had a support mail? Lol? These bots really react best if you plain up harass them. I reproduced this exact scenario twice.

Pantherina, (edited )

I just got myself a Clevo NV41MZ, supported by Dasharo! Lets see if this machine would like to boot my damn usb sticks XD

Pantherina,

Thanks, true! The people from Novacustom are very nice.

Pantherina,

No the NV41MZ for example has no numpad. Its the compact 14in model which I would always choose for my tasks. Maybe not all, but it was the only clevo on like all Europes Ebay. Literally shipped it in from Great Britain

Pantherina,

Yes, model names, its a NV41MZ. Very rare to find actually and an older model than novacustoms.

So far, the build quality… they saved on material. Keyboard and chassis are very cheap. I wish I could swap in my Thinkpad keyboard, would probably be possible.

Pantherina,

The keyboard is okaaay. I will post a review of the laptop soon. I am simply very spoiled by my Thinkpad.

I am not sure what material the chassis is, top around the keyboard is like metal, the screen thing too, meanwhile when opening it up you can see the metallic spray paint inside?

It is easy to open, not sure how easy to find spare parts but everything is very well removable. I think modern Thinkpad keyboards are the best ones ever, one could get a usb variant and wire somehow inside.

Or you would need an arduino board, a custom mini firmware and all, just to translate the different keyboards. But that was “random keyboard to usb”, and not “random keyboard to random keyboard”.

Man it would be great if you could just swap keyboards

Pantherina,

Wl Kernel mod?

Pantherina,

Both tools use dd underneath so this should be no problem. But I can try

Pantherina,

I dont think that will change anything. Its not the distros fault, thats the thing. I used these exact ISOs

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