Noob Question Thread: Ask Any Questions About Linux!

No question here, just wanted to highlight that I use arch btw

I'm always too afraid to ask.... Is this year finally the year of Desktop Linux? Is next year the year of Mobile Linux?

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I kid, this year has been the year of Desktop Linux for well over two decades for me. Obviously! And I think this megathread is great idea :)

What is something Linux related that you've learned recently?

As a meta question, could this work as an additional (or alternate) recurring discussion question? It felt similar in intent, to encourage people to keep learning / asking questions and chances are that if someone learned something then others will benefit from the information (or correct them)

Alright, absolute noob here, I'm not particularly interested in computer science or an OS I have to obsessively research. First, how is gaming on Linux nowadays? I play a lot of games, most of which are not triple-A, so I wonder how accessible this is. Second, what distributions are accessible and still customizable? I have all kinds of peripherals I'd like to be able to use, speaker systems, midi controllers, etc.

I have an old (2017) Windows 10 box that is ineligible for Windows 11. Originally purchased to run my Oculus Rift, it now just streams YouTube and Twitch and plays some old Steam games and occasionally school related stuff (Lexia, Scratch, stuff like that).

I started thinking that, rather than worrying about an unsupported Windows OS on my network, I might upgrade to Mint or Ubuntu.

So, my question(s) is/are, how much of a hassle will such an upgrade be? Will I need to wipe the drive, or can I keep my files without having to back them up first? Can I run Windows games on Steam with Wine? Are there good 3D card drivers nowadays?

I'm reasonably versed in using Linux as a user, less so as an admin, in case that affects the way you answer.

I'm on Linux mint 22 and my audio outputs don't change automatically. When I plug in USB headphones, audio won't output to them unless I manually change it in settings.

Also, why can't I interact with the panel applets (on the right side) while I'm in game? For example: I'm playing a game, I plug in my headphones, I have to manually change the audio output so I hit the "windows" key to bring up the panel, but I can't interact with any of the applets on the right side of the panel (I can't select the audio icon and change settings from there). I have to search audio settings in the panel then alt tab to it. It's really cumbersome

I don't know if this is specifically possible. I'm not quite rookie-level new (been using it about a year now) but I have something I would love to have convenience-wise.

It's a desktop machine with regular speakers, and I have a wireless headset that connects to its own dongle (not Bluetooth). It's there a way to switch to the headset automatically when I power it on, and revert to speakers when I turn it off?

I feel like it's possible hardware-wise, but I'm not tryna learn how to code to make it happen, and I don't know how to find a software solution. I don't even know what to call what I'm looking for.

With the recent Microsoft garbage, I'm giving Linux another try. I've been running a laptop for a while, no issues. My main rig, however can't read all of my um..?hard drives

A live USB of Mint 21 reads 2 of 5 drives fine. The rest are recognized from GParted, but can't access them. It looks like NTFS-3G is installed.

I've duck duck go'd (which apparently is just Bing) for a solution, but haven't succeeded. Long term, I can probably pick up another drive, copy, and reformat everything to something Linux friendly. For now, I just want access.

I'm lazy and burned out. I don't want to use the terminal- which I did try. I just want to make a few clicks and have access to all of my files.

If it matters, the drives (roughly) show up as: 500 gb, 4 TB NTFS (readable) 3, 12, 16 TB unknown (not readable)

Windows says they're all NTFS.

Is there an easy way to easily mount my drives?

1. For Linux enthusiasts, how do you decide which distro you would like to try out next among the plethora of options that are available? The difference I perceive between majority of distros gets smaller the more I try to understand about them.

2. What are the minimum issues I am likely to face using the most beginner friendly distro like Mint for programming and light gaming?

3. How customizable is the GUI in Linux Mint specifically? What if I want a start menu like Windows 10 with the app list and the blocky app tiles? What about those custom widgets I see in hardcore Linux users' desktops?

4. I heard there is no concept of file extensions in Linux. How am I supposed to work on my projects that I imported from my Windows machine that do contain extensions?

Bonus: Who creates those distro icons in color coded ASCII in the system info command in the terminal?

Is there a way to assess which packages on my linux distribution aren't open source? I'm planning on having a secondary machine which is exclusively open source, but not sure how I would go about ensuring that is the case.

Is it wise to go for arch to try linux for the first time?

Could you point me to a good place to start learning how to troubleshoot? I added Unbuntu as a dual-boot to my gaming rig a while back, and when it works, it's great. But as soon as I hit an error, I drop back to Windows because I know how to fix shit there.

I've got one progam that I need for work that I cannot get to run on Linux. I've tried WINE on both Ubuntu and Zorin (and winlator for android). I have the installer exe file and try to launch with WINE but then nothing happens. Is that a program problem, WINE limitation, or something else? Is there a different program I should try to launch it?

Is plasma big screen really an option? Id like to install it on a desktop to act as a android tv. Launch Stremio, YT and maybe one or two other apps/websites. Easy big tile navigation with remote (flirc).

It's in dev since 2020. The images hosted on the site are bit for any of my hardware. It says theres a Debian package. Installed that though LMDE but it was horrible. Somone mentioned Kububtu can install it with apt, but its not listed. Think I'll give up.

Will it blend?

I got one!

What constrains access to an rpc socket in the file system? Is it just the permissions of the socket or is there more to the whole process?

E: I originally wrote port instead of socket because it was early lol.

My Ubuntu server (which has been working for a few years now) recently asked me in a full-screen prompt while updating something about GRUB. There was a list of partitions with just one element, which is the partition that GRUB os on. I was focused on something else so I just hit enter, but now I am really scared to reboot it. Is there any way to pull this back up or to double-check that everything is ok with the machine?

I wanna install Linux on my Desktop as main OS after years of windows, last time I tried desktop was Fedora and Ubuntu back in the late 00s, back then all I remember is playing around with Gnome and KDE and compiz...

Most of what I know about Linux distros today is from memes...

How can I quickly learn about the best distro for my needs, (general use, some development, and some gaming, easy hardware support). With a toddler and demanding job, I don't have too much time to just experiment with different distros and draw my own conclusions.

Thanks in advance.

I want to upgrade (Mint 21.3 => 22). Last upgrade took hours and the result was so bad I had to reinstall Mint from scratch. Do you guys use the upgrade tool, or do you have good advice on how to approach this?

Is it that much better to have a Desktoo Environment, on my desktop computer? I'm still halving it with Windows trying to get my games to run on arch lol

I have a server that has multiple services running under multiple users that each store data. I want to be able to bundle all this data up and send it to another server for backups.

At a high level, how do I manage permissions for this? Currently I run the backup as root, then chown it to a special backups user which can log in through ssh. But this all feels clunky to me.

Howdy. I have a "homeserver" that I'd like to actually start using. What's currently keeping me from it are... Permissions.
I have TrueNas Scale running on top of Proxmox, and I can't for the life of me not access NFS Shares from other VMs (specifically a Debian VM that I use as Docker Host) that I host in Proxmox. Plox hlp.

I'm familiar with Proxmox, virtualbox, and KVM/KVM manager.

If I want to set up a PC to virtualize multiple operating systems, but with the feel of a multiboot system, what virtualization software would you suggest?

My goal is for the closest I can get to a multiboot system (windows, Debian, fedora) but virtualized so I can make snapshots. It should feel like I'm on baremetal when inside the VM.

Virtualbox is clunky with lots of pesky UI cluttering the screen and Proxmox doesn't seem great for this use case.

How in the world do I set previews while browsing a folder full of photos in KDE plasma (I'm using Nobara because gaming), I can only see the generic photo icon. I love it so far and I'm having very few issues, but trying to sort and delete photos from a folder without a thumbnail/preview is impossible! I have tried googling the issue but apparently it's not that common? I'm sure these is a dumb setting somewhere but I still haven't found it.

Is OpenRC meant to be faster than systemD as a process system? I've been thinking of spinning up some non systemD distros like Artix on a VM on a mini DELL tinbox.

I will say though, I am not an advanced Linux user as the distros I've used were :

Ubuntu Endeavour OS SpiralLinux (Easy Mode Debian)

Would I need to make configurations in openrc or can it just run without messing with it like systemD?

Thank you

Has anyone ever used the enterprise version of dbeaver? Does it do as good a job interfacing with nosql databases it does relational databases?

Finally bit the bullet and got a Thinkpad and I'm leaning towards putting Fedora on it. I've never used Linux before but I've done some research and I like the idea of something that updates more often than Debian but isn't as DIY as Arch. Do y'all think Fedora would make a good starting point? I hear it's stable enough and offers enough non-free applications through the RPM file management system.

Also, are there any drawbacks in using the immutable Silverblue version? I'm considering it just so I don't do anything dumb by accident.

Is there a way to track screen time on linux? I use Fedora 40.

When Gnome and KDE become so major and even noob user can use it withotu problems? When Libre office take over microsoft in office space?