I’ve been meaning to give PikaOS a try cause I’m generally a Debian preferrer, but one thing we really need is a Mint that’s been given the Cachy-style treatment. Most new users right now are doing it for the games, so combining the most user-friendly distro with gaming optimizations would be pretty much ideal.
I mean, my main machine that I play games on runs mint and I don’t have any real complaints about it. Like, maybe I could squeeze a bit more performance out of it, but most things are running smooth enough for my taste.
Plenty of people are more picky and insist on running things at 240 FPS at 4k for a title that just came out, but, I think most people probably wouldn’t notice a significant difference between games on mint or games on catchy. Maybe a few cases where something peculiar about a specific game makes it chug.
This isn’t limited to Linux. There’s a ton of “why would you want to do that?” Type unhelpful comments everywhere.
When I wanted to write my own game engine in 2015, people just directed me to Unity. Some people even said that unless I want to work for some company that actually develops the engines, I don’t need to learn API or anything like that. It took a while to people to point me in the direction of SDL for input and displaying a framebuffer (back then I used CPU rendering, as almost no one cared about pixel alignment, hence why my engine is called PixelPerfectEngine).
I started with Slackware. I currently use Void. Do not follow my path. Use Ubuntu, Mint, or Fedora.
I’m glad I often see people recommending Linux Mint for newcomers. Maybe I didn’t understand the OP.
It is really good for that, a sort of ‘just works’ variant of Linux. I honestly sometimes consider replacing my main box Kubuntu with that, I have a few older boxes with Mint.
Yah, like, it’s not perfect, but no average user is going to brick their machine trying to use Linux mint, and they’ll be able to figure out how to do everything most people will want to do.
This is pretty accurate; there are quite a number of furries in FOSS.
I’m a beginner with linux but intermediate/advanced with windows and so far I’ve got limited experience with bazzite, cachyos, and linux mint. I think any of those 3 are easy enough for anyone to start with.
Entirely inaccurate, there wasn’t near enough baseless insults and wild assumptions.
yep, you got to love all the, Arch BTW or Linux Mint FYI.
stop slop btw
deleted by creator
Ah xfce user
The Arch and NixOS users feel attacked.
man as a NixOS user i’m too busy perfecting my configuration to care about what other users are doing.
It. Is. Never. Perfect.
I recently installed NixOS on my PC and this is so relatable. I’m thinking of installing NixOS on my servers too, to waste some more of my time.
I use the dendritic approach for my NixOS configuration. put everything in individual modules. then I go back and further cut up those modules to be even more specific. It’s gotten so bad I even have modules for almost every individual WM/DE to just turn them on and off within the flake. They’re just so fun to build. it’s addictive. I need help.
Migrating the rest of my boxen to flakes rn. Kindly keep it quieter out there, folks, you’re making it hard to hear the HDD to see if the nixos-rebuild actually uses the cache.
Install Gentoo, it’s easy and updates are simple
Really? i get handheld terminal command lines with embedded copy functions when i search for solutions to my Mint problems. It’s a pretty kind and helpful community.
Mint community’s first solution is always “have you tried just not doing that?”.
Never got that one before, I always get multiple solutions and workarounds until a problem is solved.
That gets a lot of people in trouble and I really advise against giving people terminal commands when it can be avoided. Unless the person already is familiar with the terminal, they’re just typing magic words into a black box and it reinforces the stereotype that Linux is this complicated and arcane thing.
After all, what use are detailed instructions and explanations?
And that’s OK. It does get them to open the term and see it and use it a little - copy/pasta is how we all started out. (Truth is, I still copy/pasta after more than 20 years should perhaps need) But that does not negate the GUI experience. I like and use the GUI every time I can.
But I understand the need for the Cli too. I can often use it to better see where a problem is. Something my GUI lovin’ lazy butt doesn’t always do.
Just tell them it’s a very basic AI chat and so you need to be precise in instruction
It’s more complicated to describe how to do something in a gui and it will only work for one environment if it’s set up the same way.
Command line is easier for the person giving it but it teaches nothing to the person using it and I agree with the previous poster, just reinforces the idea that Linux is this mysterious non-understandable os. Many knowledgeable people in the community love to gatekeep so it works out in their favor and no one else’s.
Does this one have a soul?
Nope.
Yes, but at least they will understand the solution.
You can also just compile a script that they just have to execute, but they will understand even less and are way more likely to install malware.
Yeah, the terminal is much more universal on Linux distros.
People will have wildly different GUI environments. I have no idea how to do thing X in all of KDE Plasma or GNOME or Xfce or Cinnamon or whatever. But outside of package management and some systemwide config, most Linux distros work pretty much the same way at a bash prompt.
And GUI feels like black magic too if the person doesn’t know what’s going on.
Is it? I usually chain names of buttons or something like that:
File - Create - From templates
That’s nice, right until you have to troubleshoot why the other person is having difficulty following the instructions. My not-entirely-but-still-mostly-strawman scenario (specifically with the RPi Imager) where that approach fails:
Run the application. If it asks for a password and then nothing happens, then you’ll need to use
pkexecto launch it with root privileges, runpkexec env $(env) DISPLAY=:1 /path/to/application. The main window will look like a wizard utility with the steps on the left and input fields on the right. Follow the instructions until step 4. Then complete step 4, but DO NOT click “next”. A gear icon should appear.No, not the gear icon on the top, the large gear icon on the bottom right. It didn’t appear? Okay, go back to step 2 and make sure the “full” option is selected. Now go to step 4 and reenter everything. Still nothing? Send me a screenshot. Okay, the “hostname” field must not contain a hyphen, replace it with an underscore. Wait, which version of the app are you running? Go to the small gear menu, click on “About”, and send me the version number… okay, nevermind, that version doesn’t support this specific feature, you’ll have to update.
I had to have this conversation with myself. Conducting it over an internet forum with a stranger of questionable technical skills is my definition of hell.
One simple command vs:
Go to your start menu
Search for program name
Click on it
Scroll down about half way
Click the <Button>
Enter <Some text>
Click the <Button>
Click the <Button> in the popup
And if that’s done in Gnome, does it help a KDE user, Xfce, Mate? I think not. And that’s if the gui handles the problem at all.
Of course, the command comes with an explanation of what it does.
I don’t know, it isn’t that hard for me to help others with UI. 🤷
Trolls, who like to corrupt people’s data, exist. A GUI procedure is almost always safer.
Tell me how to gather this information from the GUI. Plasma for preference please.
>>> inxi -exzz ±[●][master] System: Kernel: 7.2.8-200.fc44.x86_64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 16.2.1 Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.7.5 Distro: Fedora Linux 44 (KDE Plasma Desktop Edition) Machine: Type: Desktop System: Intel Client Systems product: NUC8i7BEH v: J72992-303 serial: <superuser required> Mobo: Intel model: NUC8BEB v: J72688-303 serial: <superuser required> Firmware: UEFI vendor: Intel v: BECFL357.86A.0056.2018.1128.1717 date: 11/28/2018 Battery: Device-1: hidpp_battery_1 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse MX Master 2S charge: 100% (should be ignored) status: discharging CPU: Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-8559U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Coffee Lake rev: A cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 8 MiB Speed (MHz): avg: 1132 min/max: 400/2700 cores: 1: 1132 2: 1132 3: 1132 4: 1132 5: 1132 6: 1132 7: 1132 8: 1132 bogomips: 43198 Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx Graphics: Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-U GT3e [Iris Plus Graphics 655] driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 bus-ID: 00:02.0 Display: wayland server: Xwayland v: 24.1.13 compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting gpu: i915 resolution: 1: 2560x1440~60Hz 2: 2560x1440~60Hz API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,swrast platforms: active: gbm,wayland,x11,surfaceless,device inactive: N/A API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 26.0.3 glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 (CFL GT3) API: Vulkan v: 1.4.341 drivers: intel,llvmpipe surfaces: N/A devices: 2 Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr Audio: Device-1: Intel Cannon Point-LP High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 API: ALSA v: k7.2.8-200.fc44.x86_64 status: kernel-api Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.6.9 status: active Network: Device-1: Intel Cannon Point-LP CNVi [Wireless-AC] driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 00:14.3 IF: wlp0s20f3 state: down mac: <filter> Device-2: Intel Ethernet I219-V driver: e1000e v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> Bluetooth: Device-1: Intel Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP) driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB bus-ID: 1-10:3 Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.1 lmp-v: 10 Drives: Local Storage: total: 2.81 TiB used: 920.76 GiB (32.0%) ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: A-Data model: SU800NS38 size: 119.24 GiB ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Toshiba model: Q300 size: 894.25 GiB ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Samsung model: ST2000LM003 HN-M201RAD size: 1.82 TiB type: USB Partition: ID-1: / size: 116.66 GiB used: 18.42 GiB (15.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 ID-2: /boot size: 1.9 GiB used: 442.1 MiB (22.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 ID-3: /boot/efi size: 598.8 MiB used: 20.1 MiB (3.4%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 ID-4: /home size: 893.82 GiB used: 246.53 GiB (27.6%) fs: xfs dev: /dev/sdb1 Swap: ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 8 GiB used: 827.8 MiB (10.1%) dev: /dev/zram0 Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C pch: 49.0 C mobo: N/A Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A Info: Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.2 GiB used: 9.3 GiB (29.8%) Processes: 357 Uptime: 1d 3h 26m Init: systemd Packages: 7 note: see --rpm Compilers: clang: 22.1.8 gcc: 16.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 inxi: 3.3.41Not that I particularly want to get involved—I do also like
inxi—but you can launch Info Center (kinfocenter) fromkrunner, the application menu, or under About this System in System Settings to get a good amount of this information and more.
One “simple” command that could do anything including killing their entire PC vs detailed instructions of something they can follow and understand, especially if you include pictures.
If you want people in your community, treat them with respect.
What if the person you’re helping has a different UI language? Or when buttons get hidden based on available screen space? Or when you need to get an older person to use a dropdown menu with hover and click options?
Sure it’s doable, but it’s so much easier to just copy and paste a command. Of course, whenever I tell someone to do something like this, it comes with a lot of warnings about the shell. If they’re close enough I just tell them to never run a random command without consulting me first.
Very often you want the other person to learn (memorize) the way to do something.
And most of the time that person (in my experience) is an elder being or something, so they prefer UI and I don’t want to die on a hill of making them relearn their ways.
I imagine most Linux communities have half a dozen or so online users, at any given time, just refreshing the New Posts section waiting to fix someone’s problem and blow their mind.
There’s a misguided imagination cloud about Linux, then in reality the incredible wealth of help and support Linux users invest and receive.
It’s the FOSS “lone-wolf” thing. If you feel like you’re on the outside, each Linux user sounds like a crazed wasteland wanderer.
Meanwhile, we’re using comfortably customized environments curated and supported by our community, updating in the background, and enjoying stable 20-second boots.
It’s really fun when they start arguing and blowing each others minds.
Gotta teach em bad habits early. That way they break things before it matters to much and they can learn!
You can indeed use sudo in kitty: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/
I did, for a while, subscribe to the RSS feed of a Linux forum to help people xD
Mint is great for that. Fedora also offers up cookbook style instructions that can show both GUI and terminal commands. It’s a great way for newbies to get used to both methods.
linux mint and a little patience!
I hunt buffalo, btw
Sorry to be that guy, but arch = deer.
Buffalo = nixos / gentoo / hannahmontanaOS
Sorry to break it to you, but Gentoo is a penguin.
You fucker, we’re all pingus
A quick search did not yield me a Hannah Montana penguin, I’m severely disappointed in this community.
Ehh, having used all 3 Arch and Nix are about the same level of difficulty, Nix just doesn’t have documentation (or at least didn’t when I was using it). Flakes make it more complicated, but those are 100% optional, and I didn’t use them
Gentoo is a notable step up. Shit actually breaks there, horrendously. Still love it tho.
HMLinux does, in fact, scare me. I’m debating doing LFS, but I don’t think I could handle the difficulty that HML would offer
LFS is actually a pretty good learning experience. But that depends on whether you’re interested in topics like kernel configuration, filesystem organization, the boot components and boot sequence, init system, common app resources, compiling apps, and generally how a Linux system comes together. It gives you a solid grounding that’s applicable to any Linux distro (not super-specific like Arch/Gentoo/Nix tend to be). But it’s pretty dry stuff and you have to be really fascinated by Linux to dig into it.
On the cool side once you get through LFS you should be able to put together your own mini Linux distro and see how small you can make it and still boot and do something useful.
Yeah, I’m very interested in the user side of Linux, less so what’s under the hood. There’s some degree of it there, I do use Gentoo, which is more manual than any other distro I’ve come across, but that’s about as deep as I want to go for a daily driver. I am a little tempted to do LFS on a VM once I have a computer that can handle it again
but are you also a buff anthro lion?
Goddam that almost killed me. 🤣
