Linux

The timing’s interesting: as Windows 10 approaches end-of-life in 2025, and when users are being nudged towards a cloud-first model, this week's APC’s saying: maybe don’t. Maybe go Linux.This isn’t a niche Linux mag. It’s a mainstream Australian tech publication telling average users that Linux is now the smarter choice. That’s a shift. Feels like we’ve gone full circle: the same headlines from 2005, but this time it’s not about hope. It’s about practicality. Bloat, telemetry, UI friction maybe Linux’s time on the desktop really has arrived.

Source

On GNOME, it is possible to switch windows by doing the three-finger swipe up and selecting the window. When you do the three-finger swipe down, it goes back to your current window. Is it possible to configure GNOME so that when I hover over a different window after the 3-finger swipe up gesture and then do the 3-finger swipe down it goes to the different window rather than the current one? Or is that not a thing? It would be really helpful as then I don't have to click whenever I want to switch windows. I am running Fedora Workstation 42 on a laptop.

Aside from this small quibble, Linux has been very fun to use :D

OC by @merci3@lemmy.world

Single core, 32 bit CPU, can't even do video playback on VLC. But it kinda works for some offline work, like text editing, and even emulation through zsnes! It's crazy how Linux keeps old hardware like this running.

Thankfully though, this laptop CPU is upgradable, and so is the ram, so I'm planning on revitalizing and bringing this old Itautec to the 21st century 😄

So basically, my dad doesn't have any tech literacy, like at all.

The only reason he learned how to ever use a computer was thanks to Linux (in my experience the elderly find it easier to use than Windows btw).

However, I moved to a different country long ago, and his old Ubuntu installation is getting extremely old. Not only that, but I forgot to install something like Rust Desk before I left, which means his browser etc hasn't been updated in years (he forgot how to do updates and lost the page with instructions).

So, my solution now that I know he needs an updated system is to send him a USB drive and detailed printed instructions on how to install it with pictures by mail.

I'm planning on sending him Linux Mint, because I wanted to use the OEM install option in order to pre-install some programs (freetube, signal, and especially Rust Desk) using it in a virtual machine, and then turn that into an iso/img that I could flash to a USB so that it's ready for him to just install once he gets it. I also need to be able to preemptively rename Rust Desk and change the icon to something he can easily identify so that if he needs help, he can easily find the program, ideally already pinned in the panel or with a desktop shortcut.

Problem is, I can't figure out how to do that. I've been trying for 3 days. I tried converting the vdi into a img file using qemu but that causes errors when trying to run the img or iso (I think it's still raw?). I even got desperate enough to try ChatGPT by it gave me a very advanced answer that I didn't understand that involved calculating memory, or to use Cubic (which can't modify Rustdesk), and it also gave me a solution that didn't work.

I also noticed that the vdi is much bigger than the initial mint iso - I guess because everything has been unpacked in the virtual machine. Shrinking it so it can fit in my spare 8gb drive would be the next step of I even made it that far.

Original question and text by @HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org

Why software do you use in your day-to-day computing which might not be well-known?

For me, there are ~~two~~ three things for personal information management:

• for shopping receipts, notes and such, I write them down using vim on a small Gemini PDA with a keyboard. I transfer them via scp to a Raspberry Pi home server on from there to my main PC. Because it runs on Sailfish OS, it also runs calendar (via CalDav) and mail nicely - and without any FAANG server.

• for things like manuals and stuff that is needed every few months ("what was just the number of our gas meter?" "what is the process to clean the dishwasher?") , I have a Gollum Wiki which I have running on my Laptop and the home Raspi server. This is a very simple web wiki which supports several markup languages (like Markdown, MediaWiki, reStructuredText, and Creole), and stores them via git. For me, it is perfect to organize personal information around the home.

• for work, I use Zim wiki. It is very nice for collecting and organizing snippets of information.

• oh, and I love Inkscape(a powerful vector drawing program), Xournal (a program you can write with a tablet on and annotate PDFs), and Shotwell (a simple photo manager). The great thing about Shotwell is that it supports nicely to filter your photos by quality - and doing that again and again with a critical eye makes you a better photographer.

original post: https://mk.moth.zone/notes/a8zer7ypj6uv02ka