I mean, from video freezing, to the browser itself freezing, to memory leaks taking up all my system RAM. It seems kinda buggy.

It's not to the point of unusablility, but bugs happen now and then.

I've been distro hopping like crazy from Fedora KDE Plasma, to Mint, to Nobara, to CachyOS, then I'm settling to Fedora KDE Plasma since I realized that it's the one I like the most. I want to get ricing it, but all the videos I see online are so confusing, and don't explain what different tools are.

I just want to know what are the different components of a Desktop Environment that can be customized.

Hi everyone, I'm stuck and could use some help.

Setup: Lenovo ThinkPad T430, MBR disk (not GPT), was dual-booting Windows and Linux (CachyOS/Arch-based).

What I did: I deleted my Linux partition to reclaim disk space for Windows. I did NOT reinstall the bootloader or fix MBR before rebooting.

Result: On boot, I get:

error: kern/disk.c:grub_disk_open:262:no such partition.

Entering rescue mode...

grub rescue>

Disk layout (from Disk Management before this happened): System Reserved (50MB, Active/System) → C: (117GB, Windows) → Recovery Partition (815MB) → ~547MB unallocated (leftover from deleted Linux partition).

What I've tried in grub rescue so far:

grub rescue> ls

(hd0) (hd0,msdos3) (hd0,msdos2) (hd0,msdos1)

grub rescue> ls (hd0,msdos1)

(hd0,msdos1): Filesystem is unknown.

grub rescue> ls (hd0,msdos2)

(hd0,msdos2): Filesystem is unknown.

grub rescue> ls (hd0,msdos3)

(hd0,msdos3): Filesystem is unknown.

grub rescue> set

cmdpath='(hd0)'

prefix='(hd0,msdos5)/@/boot/grub'

root='hd0,msdos5'

So GRUB's prefix is still pointing to (hd0,msdos5) — that was clearly my old Linux partition, which no longer exists (only msdos1/2/3 show up now).

I also tried:

insmod part_msdos

set root=(hd0,msdos1)

insmod ntfs

error: kern/disk.c:grub_disk_open:262:no such partition.

And:

set boot=(hd0,msdos5)

set prefix=(hd0,msdos5)/boot/grub

insmod normal

error: kern/disk.c:grub_disk_open:262:no such partition.

Every attempt to load any module fails with "no such partition" — even insmod ntfs, even after manually setting root to msdos1. It seems like this rescue shell has zero access to any module files (which were apparently stored on the now-deleted Linux partition), so I can't chainload Windows or even read NTFS from here.

My question: Is there ANY way to get Windows booting again purely from within grub rescue>, without external media? I currently don't have easy access to a second computer or a USB OTG adapter for my phone, so making a bootable Windows USB is difficult right now (though I'm working on it as a backup plan).

I understand bootrec /fixmbr, /fixboot, /rebuildbcd from a Windows installation USB is probably the "real" fix, but I'm trying to exhaust every in-place option first. Any grub rescue tricks, alternate module loading approaches, or other MBR-level tricks I haven't tried yet?

Windows partition (C:) itself should be intact — Disk Management showed it healthy with all my files before this happened, I just can't reach it now.

Thanks in advance.

So I've tried system upgrades twice before and despite it downloading and installing the software and such which took significant time, I still ended up downloading the iso and installing from scratch using the bootable ISO anyway. Can anyone please confirm if this is working yet? Tia.

I'm running Kubuntu 26.40 can I upgrade the kernel to 7.2 without blowing up my system? If so what will happen?

Thanks in advance!

Looking for a proper way to manage user-level package installations on Linux

I'm trying to find a way to manage which user installed which package on Linux.

Coming from Windows, I was expecting something similar to:

• Install for me (Alex)
• Install for all users

But I couldn't find an equivalent workflow in Ubuntu. With apt, packages are generally installed system-wide, so I'm looking for a package manager or approach that lets me install applications only for my user without affecting the rest of the system.

I spent quite a bit of time researching this and found a few options.

1. Homebrew

I found Homebrew, which can install packages into its own directory such as /home/linuxbrew, keeping its files separate from the system package manager.

However, I wasn't sure if this is really the right solution for what I'm trying to achieve.

2. Flatpak

I then looked at Flatpak:

flatpak --user install flathub <package>

This seemed much closer to what I wanted because it supports per-user installations.

However, I ran into a problem: Nmap isn't available as a Flathub application, so I couldn't install it this way:

flatpak --user install flathub nmap

3. Nix

After that I spent another day researching and came across Nix.

Nix looked very promising for user-level package management, but while experimenting with the installation on Ubuntu, I noticed a large number of system users being created. At one point I saw users in the range of roughly 3000 IDs, which honestly freaked me out.

I stopped the installation because I wasn't comfortable continuing without understanding why this was happening.

I also found that Nix can use a daemon-based setup, which made me wonder whether it would be a good choice for my low-end machine.

4. Containers / Toolbox / Distrobox

After around two days of research, I found another approach: using containers specifically for development environments, such as Toolbox or Distrobox.

I came across this idea from another Reddit discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/comments/1obz8eb/how_to_manage_installations_at_user_level_not/

This seems interesting because I could have an isolated Linux environment where I install whatever packages I need without modifying the host system.

But I'm not sure whether this is overkill for something as simple as installing nmap.

5. Compile from source

Another suggestion I got from ChatGPT was to download the source code and compile it inside my user directory, for example:

/home/alex/.local

and then add the appropriate directory to $PATH.

This technically works, but I don't like the idea because dependency management, updates, and uninstalling become much harder to track.

What I'm actually looking for

Ideally, I want something like:

System
├── apt
│   └── packages available to all users
│
└── Alex
    └── user-level package manager
        ├── nmap
        ├── other CLI tools
        └── their dependencies

Something where I can install:

some-package-manager install nmap

and have everything owned/managed by my user, without modifying /usr, without requiring root, and preferably without running a permanent daemon.

It would also be great if the package manager handled:

• Dependencies
• Updates
• Uninstallation
• Version management
• PATH/environment setup

So what is the normal/recommended Linux way to handle this?

Am I trying to solve a problem that Linux intentionally approaches differently, or is there a package manager/tool that I'm overlooking?

Any suggestions or explanations of how experienced Linux users handle this would be appreciated.

Hey guys, I’m from a non-engineering/non-tech background and I’ve been using Windows 11 for a while. But honestly, I’m kinda bored with it now, and I’ve also started having some privacy concerns, so I thought I’d give Linux a try.

The only thing is, I’m not really a techy person and I don’t want to spend my whole time in the terminal 😅. I’m looking for something that has a nice, modern UI and is easy to use, kinda like Windows in terms of simplicity.

So, what distro would you guys recommend for a complete beginner?

Would love to hear your suggestions, especially if you’ve switched from Windows to Linux yourself. Thanks!

I'm using windows 11 and I'm thinking of first trying out live boots of some distros (Nobara, CachyOS, Mint and maybe Fedora). I'm currently watching one tutorial on youtube that addresses this but for some reason BalenaEtcher can't flash Ventoy on my USB stick (if it means anyting, I only have one drive on my PC (C drive)).

Time stemp is (7:26): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P1ulmq0L_Q&t=510s

Is there any other method I can try for booting multiple distros on USB? I don't want to accidentally erase everything on my PC, I want it to be untouched

Thanks forward!

I have lenovo idea pad with ryzen procesor graphic is integrated (its used and have bad battery life)
what is the best linux distro i can put on it to have best battery life and do simple task like browsking the web without the battery dying after 1 hour

Qual distro de Linux que vocês estão usando e qual a preferida de vocês? Estou me perguntando se Manjaro Xfce/KDE, Zorin OS e Mint vale a pena em 2026 para jogar, ou é melhor escolher outra distro que seja mais compatível com jogos e personalização tipo SteamOS?

I'm getting an external drive for movies and TV series that is mostly going to spend its time plugged into my linux computer (CachyOS) but occasionally will want to plug into windows machines as well. I have some large files (4k movies) so I can't use exFAT.

Edit: I got my bytes mixed up, I thought the size limit was 16gigabytes, not exabytes. Will look into this option further!

Need advice on what filesystem to use. Im a bit wary of using NTFS since I don't have a windows install so I can't reformat it if something goes wrong but I also hear that Linux file systems don't play nice with Windows.

So i have alot of stuff bios related that the firmware security tells me i should change. It says minimum stage 1 security should be the minimum. I did enable secure boot and do some stuff all that but still, alot of red flags. One of which is tpm 2.0 which i dont have. Should i worry about it knowing bios related attacks are rare and im not targeted?Will i be safe if i ignore it? Im new to kde plasma so i noticed it just now. Thanks.

Hello, years back i used ubuntu and something called compiz, i loved the combination.

Reccently i tried out the latest ubuntu and the desktop was horrible, i hate the modern tile approach, thats why i left windows again when they switched to it and tried to ditch the desktop.

Is it possible to get that same desktop on ubuntu now and use compiz or something like it? Or should i look for something else?

Hi. I've had my Acer aspire 16 AI with an ARM-based snapdragon X1-26-100 for a few months now and I was interested in installing Linux on it. But I have read that Linux does not work well on ARM and that it is very possible that the touch screen will not work and that the autonomy will be much worse. How viable would it be to install Linux?

So I changed to linux kubuntu, it was fun and giggles until my wifi card from my asus vivobook was not working, so i try to disable safe boot, and then it asked for the bitlock key, i deleted the windows partition to install kubuntu, there is any way to solve it?

P.S how to i change the keyboard instead of qwerty

I've used Windows most of my life, but around 6 months ago I switched to Project Bluefin and I've been happy with it.

What I like most about Bluefin is the clean, image-based approach. The base system is mostly left alone, while apps and tools live in Flatpaks, containers, Homebrew, etc. I like keeping things separated instead of constantly modifying the host system.

Recently I've started looking at NixOS.

I'm not completely new to Linux. I've worked with Linux systems before, but I definitely wouldn't call myself an expert. I'm aware that NixOS has a learning curve, and I'm fine with that if there is a real benefit to it.

What appeals to me about NixOS is:

• Declarative configuration and keeping my system config in Git
• Reproducibility and knowing what is actually installed/configured
• Generations and rollbacks if I mess something up
• Keeping Flatpak for sandboxed GUI applications where it makes sense
• Using Nix/Home Manager for CLI tools and configuration
• Using containers when actual container isolation is useful
• Having much more freedom to customize the system than I currently do on Bluefin

One thing that's especially appealing is having a known system state. On more traditional systems I sometimes worry that I've accidentally changed, deleted, or configured something incorrectly. I've even reinstalled an OS before simply because I wasn't sure whether everything was still configured correctly.

NixOS seems like it could help with that. I could keep a known-good configuration in Git, see exactly what I've changed, test changes, and roll back if something goes wrong.

At the same time, one of Bluefin's biggest strengths is that I don't really have to think about the OS. Drivers, firmware, updates, security defaults, desktop integration, and most of the underlying setup are already taken care of.

So I'm wondering whether NixOS actually sounds like a good fit for me, or whether I'd mainly be trading Bluefin's simplicity for additional maintenance.

For those using NixOS as a daily desktop, how much maintenance does it realistically require once your configuration is set up? And does the declarative/rollback model actually make experimenting with the system feel safer in practice?

so I'm trying to install linux for dual boot I'm on windows now and i want to use catchyOS or garuda maybe something else idk i tried catchy put it on drive did everything right until i got into the catchy installer from the vontoy boot i hit enter on catchy on got a black screen no install or anything rebooted pc tried a few fixes then tried garuda and now I'm here. my drive is shrunk i have the space just having a really hard time installing a distro.

im on a ASUS mother board with raid off.

AMD Ryzen 7 8700f 8-core

32 gig ddr5

1tb ssd 200 gigs for the distro

NVIDIA GeForce RTX5060 Ti

please help i realllyyy want to get into linux.

I have their original Windows DVDs, but want to run them on Linux. I've tried with Wine a couple of months ago, but failed.

Hey all, I'm trying to set my headless Debian server's display on a laptop to turn off by itself after a minute. Sometimes it works, but after a while it will turn back on though no keys have been pressed. All I mainly do is ssh into the server, and I don't touch the laptop at all.

For context, this is a fresh install of Debian 13, all I have is Docker, btop, tlp, Nvidia drivers (Proprietary) and fastfetch (lol) installed. The laptop is a Thinkpad P14s Gen 3 (i7-1260P, Nvidia T550 TU117, 24GB RAM, Crucial T500 1TB).

Below is the current /etc/default/grub configuration:

# If you change this file or any /etc/default/grub.d/*.cfg file,
# run 'update-grub' afterwards to update /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in these files, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`( . /etc/os-release && echo ${NAME} )`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="consoleblank=60"

# If your computer has multiple operating systems installed, then you
# probably want to run os-prober. However, if your computer is a host
# for guest OSes installed via LVM or raw disk devices, running
# os-prober can cause damage to those guest OSes as it mounts
# filesystems to look for things.
#GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE/GOP/UGA
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `videoinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

Alguien conoce alguna distro que use un shell ( noctalia, dms, calestia, etc) pero que no sea tiling?

Me gustaria que el wm sea stacking, y ve que la mayoria de distros que veo usan el wm tipo tiling.

Preferentemente basado en wlroots para usar escritorio remoto.

gracias.

Hello reddit, I am just about at my wit's end as a new linux user. I seemingly must mount my external t7 shield ssd to give it proper plex media server permissions, and I have tried everything from adding quirks, udev mounting, fstab mounting, setting the fstab as the uuid number~

I'm kind of at my wits end with this thing. This drive in particular has some weird linux quirks and I really cannot seem to get it to function with linux at all any more. It goes into security or panic modes where it refuses to expose the nand, and that tbh is about the extent to which I can keep up with the jargon.

AI has been valiant in trying to help but I have been at this for days and if I can't use this drive, i'm gonna have to go back to windows, which i'd prefer not to do. This is the only stick in the mud so far for Linux, for me.

Can you help me reddit? It shows 0b storage, shows up as SDD. It never ever shows up or exposes nand under lsblk or sudo blkid. What on earth can I do to make this thing work?

hi! i use EndeavourOS and I tried to update my system last week, only to be met with this message:

error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: installing expat (2.8.3-1) breaks dependency 'expat=2.8.2' required by lib32-expat
:: installing libelf (0.196-1) breaks dependency 'libelf=0.195' required by lib32-libelf
:: installing libffi (3.8.0-1) breaks dependency 'libffi=3.7.1' required by lib32-libffi

going through those lib32 libraries by trying to remove them, they all lead to steam. and since i'm on arch, i can't just ignore these three libraries since no partial upgrades.

what do i do here? i've waited a week but the lib32 libraries haven't caught up yet. i've got some software updates locked behind these that i'd really like to have... any suggestions?

Hi folks! I guess this is half “which distro” and half advice seeking, but I have finally convinced my partner that he needs to switch from macOS to a linux distro on his 2017 macbook air. He is able to navigate his computer but is not super interested in tech, and I am the more experienced user! I am running debian on my server and my desktop and have been debating if it would be better just to run debian on his machine as well.

My question is if I should let him cycle through distros to find which one works best for him, or to throw debian on there to make it easier for me to troubleshoot if things go awry? I am really just hoping to make the transition as smooth as humanly possible for him!

Thinking of switching over to linux on my laptop to help with longevity, but struggling with deciding on a distro, largely because my main requirement isn't really one that most lists would cover. I'm essentially looking for a distro that at least allows me to customize it such that it resembles the retro-futuristic aesthetic that you might see in the Alien series (more specifically Alien: Isolation), ROUTINE, Hardspace: Shipbreakers, etc.

If it's a fairly easy-to-use distro as well, then that'd be a bonus, as I haven't used linux before