r/linux4noobs • u/DokiDokiHermit • Jan 04 '20

Still on Windows 7? Don't want Windows 10? Consider switching to Linux (and specifically, Ubuntu). A Guide.

1.2k Upvotes

Any actions taken as part of this guide are solely at your own risk - unfortunately there is no way to account for every hardware configuration or error that may potentially crop up. BACK UP YOUR CRITICAL DATA BEFORE DOING ANYTHING

On the 14th Jan 2020, official Windows 7 support ends for most users. This means if you run Windows 7 beyond that date, you're no longer going to receive security and system updates, which will leave you increasingly vulnerable to viruses, malware and system failure. Depending on how critical your data is and how often you back up - if at all - there's a potential you can lose everything.

This is a somewhat opinionated but no-bullshit guide for those of you still on Windows 7 who really don't want or won't move to Windows 10. Aside from my own additions, it's going to reference a lot of great guides and advice written by other people, but conveniently collected in a single place. It's crazy, but it might just work.

Have you considered... Linux? Specifically, Ubuntu.

No, hear me out. Because I'm going to start (and save you a lot of time) by telling you why you SHOULDN'T switch to Linux. If any of the criteria listed apply, then:

The guide is broken into the following sections, if you want to jump to the points that are relevant. If you want to get straight to it, go to (4):

  1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?
  2. Why should I go with Linux?
  3. Why Ubuntu?
  4. What's involved in switching?
  5. Installation of Ubuntu
  6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu
  7. Gaming on Linux
  8. Alternative Software
  9. TL;DR or The Conclusion
  10. To do list for the guide

1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?

If you:

  • Don't feel comfortable installing an operating system and you don't have someone that can do it for you;
  • Have someone that helps you with all your IT-related activities who is not familiar with or dislikes Linux (ask them);
  • Are big into multiplayer games. (There are exceptions here, discussed in more detail in the Linux Gaming section);
  • Use multiple game clients and have a lot of games on platforms other than Steam;
  • Are into any sort of VR;
  • Absolutely need Outlook and refuse to consider any other mail client, like Thunderbird;
  • Use a VPN provider that doesn't have a Linux version and aren't willing/able to change;
  • Are subscribed to multiple video streaming services other than Netflix and watch these on your PC frequently;
  • Use Photoshop, Premiere, 3D Studio Max - actually, if you have any Windows software that you are locked into due to muscle memory, experience and/or professional requirements and that have no Linux version. (There are, however, often a Linux alternatives for a lot of these);
  • Require assistive technologies, such as screenreaders. While Ubuntu comes with several built-in assistive tools, there's a lot of specialised assistive use cases, tools and hardware that don't work on Linux and have no comparable alternative;
  • Want to be able to buy whatever piece of hardware that takes your fancy without researching it and expect them to work out the box with zero hassle. Especially niche and specific hardware like flight controllers, sound boards and so on;
  • Use iTunes extensively for your media library and/or interacting with your iPhone;
  • Have a large archive of Microsoft Office documents that use complex formatting, macros and/or formulas that you refer back to frequently.
  • have the worst-case scenario: rely on legacy or ancient software or hardware you're not sure you have the installation media for anymore, can't find a replacement, can't download it and it doesn't work on Windows 10. In this case, you're going to have to keep that Windows 7 box around and it's even more imperative that you make sure it's not accessible from the web or network. Start looking at moving to a more modern equivalent of it AND converting your work to a format that'll be accessible.

Some of this stuff you can work around with some effort, but it's more likely going to be more trouble than you're willing to put up with. And that's fine; Linux can't help everyone. The more of these that apply, the more certain you can be that you shouldn't consider Linux and should just go with Windows 10, unless you're willing to ~sacrifice~ compromise.

2. Why should I go with Linux?

Because whether you're a general user, a gamer or a specialised user with niche interests or requirements, Linux can provide you the same experience you're getting now with some already stated exceptions. In many ways, it's better - it's free, it's generally runs better on older hardware than Windows, it's relatively more secure due to a small user footprint and you'll have a huge, vetted library of free software that you can access. There are some applications - older Windows software and games, for instance - that don't work on Windows 10 but do on Linux, thanks to projects like Wine and Proton. It can 99% of the time update itself without interrupting whatever you're doing.

That being said, it's not perfect. You will lose some things. You will need to learn new ways of working with your PC. This is inevitable. That's the cost of switching.

Which is not to say Windows is without a cost. Unlike Windows, none of this functionality comes at the cost of your privacy and freedom. Linux will let you configure it as you like, and dive into the nitty-gritty settings to fine-tune it further. It will not try and trick you into creating yet another online account to use it. Aside from a few missteps (Ubuntu and Amazon, for one), it keeps its nose out of your business. It does not come with a unique advertising ID that links your multitude of online and offline interests and programs into a nice, tidy, profitable pack of data to be shared with "trusted third-parties". It does not serve you ads in a product you paid for. It does not try and push you into multiple online services.

In short, it does not suffer from any of the privacy concerns of Windows' future.

Now, I know people are going to throw snark about lead-and-tin alloys, their pliability and how easy that makes it to fashion headgear, but please note I said "future"; while they're not necessarily prying now, your operating system - and for almost everyone, that means Microsoft - has a very privileged position in your life as far as personal data is concerned. Any time you search in the file manager, every word you write and document you save, your budget calculations, every photo you view and program you use, every voice command you give Cortana, Windows - and by extension Microsoft - knows about. And there's nothing in their Terms of Service that stop them from starting to collect more detailed data if they so choose.

It's not a question of whether you prefer Windows 7 over 10 - Windows 7 got the same telemetry features as Windows 10 ages ago. Rather, ask yourself if you're happy with Microsoft's evolving business model, one that is shifting more and more of your content online and is intricately and opaquely tied to your personal data? If you're not, you're not alone: Holland isn't happy. Germany's not too thrilled either. There are legitimate reasons to be wary of Window's market dominance and increased level of embedded user analytics. Linux offers you an alternative.

3. Why Ubuntu?

Ubuntu LTS is by far the most commonly used desktop Linux distro and the one with the widest support by software developers and hardware manufacturers involved in Linux. If you're searching for solutions, you'll mostly find Ubuntu ones. Lastly, Ubuntu's LTS versions are supported for long periods of time: 18.04, which we'll be recommending, is supported until 2023, while the next version coming out in April, Ubuntu 20.04, will be supported until 2025.

One of the things you'll quickly learn about the Linux community is that someone will ALWAYS suggest a different Linux distro. In this case, it'll probably be Linux Mint, which aims to be a newbie-friendly Linux. It's based on Ubuntu, is similar to Windows 7 and will MOSTLY work the same as Ubuntu. I still suggest Ubuntu, but whatever, follow your heart.

To keep this guide as approachable as possible, and to have access to the widest range of help and support, I decided to focus on Ubuntu. Anything other than these two and you're just making things harder for yourself as a new user. You can always switch once you get a feel for how things work.

4. What's involved in switching?

I promised you a no-bullshit guide, so I'm going to cut straight to it. Take your time with all of these steps, do them properly, and you shouldn't have a problem.

First step: back up all your important documents, photos, email, games - whatever is important to you, and preferably somewhere external to your machine. This is just good advice regardless of whether you're switching to Linux or not. Always have a backup.

If you're a gamer, check out the following guide by PC Gamer's Jarred Walton on how to back up your games across multiple clients.

While you're backing up, install Thunderbird (Mozilla's open-source mail client) and copy your mail over to it. You'll have a much easier time doing this in Windows than in Linux to start. Thunderbird can automatically pull your mail from Outlook if installed on the same machine. Then follow the steps here for backing up your Thunderbird profile. You'll restore this in Linux later. Make sure you have your mail account details.

Get hold of your Windows 7 serial key. If it's physical media, like a DVD, then check and make sure the key is in the box or on the disc. If it's a laptop that came with Windows 7 preinstalled, it's usually a sticker on the specific laptop. You'll need this if things go awry and/or decide Linux is not for you.

Check the minimum specs for Ubuntu 18.04.03 here. If your system doesn't meet them, you're going to have a bad time regardless of whether you go with Ubuntu or Windows 10 (Windows 10 minimum requirements are bullshit, btw. 1Gb Ram, 1Ghz processor? I challenge anyone to link me to a Windows 10 video running on those specs where it performs acceptably.). There are lightweight alternatives if you can't afford a new PC, (Lubuntu, for instance), but upgrading your PC should be your first step in this case.

Here comes the arduous bit. Make a list of your current hardware, software and services that you use frequently, make sure you have the installation media for the critical pieces of software you use (Don't expect to be able to just copy/paste the applications you have) and do a search on whether they run on Linux. I'd recommend following the "Software" section in this guide on Migrating to Linux by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts]

A lot of the Linux software alternatives, such as LibreOffice and GIMP, are available for Windows as well. Consider downloading those that interest you to try out in Windows and get a feel for how they work.

Ultimately, to echo the advice you'll find that you can either run it, have an alternative or just can't switch. That's okay; Linux can't help everyone.

Download the Ubuntu LTS 18.04.03 distro. The "LTS" means it's a long-term support version - you won't have to think about this exercise for the next three years if you're lucky. Ubuntu LTS 20.04 is coming out in four months, which'll be supported until 2025, but since most of the focus is still on 18.04, you're better off sticking with it for now.

Whichever you choose, you'll have to write it to a DVD or USB. If it's a DVD, use whatever you normally use to write DVD ISOs. If you're going to use a USB, here's a guide to doing that.

Did I mention to back-up your important data? Back-up your important data. Double-check that it's all there. If you want to take an extra precaution, you can use Clonezilla to clone your current OS drive. It's not necessary, but if things go bust, Clonezilla allows you to restore your PC to precisely the way it was before you started without needing to install Windows from scratch. However, Clonezilla can be a bit daunting if you're not technically inclined. Check out this somewhat out-of-date video by cButters Tech for a general idea of what's involved.

Lastly, try running Ubuntu as a Live CD/USB first. This will allow you to run Ubuntu as if it were installed, but without making any changes to your current installation. Please keep in mind that the Live is not indicative of performance... it will run slower than if it was installed, as it has to read everything off the DVD or USB stick first and load it memory. The important thing to check here is that it's picking up all your hardware, that it's displaying on your screen correctly, that all your drives are available, and so on.

Live USB should perform better than a Live DVD. Check out the "Okay, it's installed/Okay, I'm running the Live CD. What tips do you have for using Ubuntu?" section to get an idea of what you should be checking.

5. Installation.

You've done all the above, triple-checked your backups and either decided that you can't make the jump or you're ready.

However, before you begin installing, you have one last decision to make.

There's a lot people that suggest dual-booting - that's where you keep Windows around and just install Linux alongside it. This is often proposed as a safety net and a means for people to have the best of both worlds. I don't, for a couple of reasons:

  • If you are going to dual-boot, you'll need to update to Windows 10 anyway, and if you're going to do that, why bother with Linux in the first place?

  • Data will be spread between two operating systems. Instead of backing up and maintaining one OS, you'll be maintaining two. It's doable but a PITA.

  • You're sabotaging your efforts, and your switch to Linux will likely fail. That's not a statement on Linux's capability or ease of use. A lot of things are easier on Linux - but they won't be at first. You probably have years of Windows use ingrained in you; you've come to expect things to work they way Windows works. That's not ease, that's familiarity; that's a boiling frog. And the moment something throws you a challenge in Linux, the temptation to just "do it" in Windows will be too great. And the more you do that, the more running Linux will seem like a chore than a choice.

  • If you absolutely have no option but to run Windows 10, do it in a virtual machine - you get the benefits of dual-booting but with the bonus of limiting Windows 10 to a virtual environment where access to the rest of your system (and personal data) is restricted while allowing you to run your non-negotiable applications (other than games or any intense 3D applications) just fine.

If you decide to dual-boot, you'll need to find a recent guide that covers this. Typically, it's best to update to Windows 10 first, then follow the guide to dual-boot Ubuntu. None of the guides I found seemed good for beginners, so I'm willing to take suggestions from the comments.

If you take my advice and simply dive in, installing Ubuntu on your machine will be a painless process: just follow the steps here in a beginner's guide written by Jason Evangelho and you should be fine.

6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu?

Things that you should do only once Ubuntu's installed are prefixed with an [+]. Otherwise, the tip applies to both installs and Live demos:

  • Power off, log-out and running taskbar applications will be in the top-right of the screen by default.
  • To search, press the Windows key on your keyboard. This'll bring up Ubuntu's search bar. You can use this to find applications, folders and system settings.
  • In the File Manager, your Home directory will be where your primary OS and applications will typically be installed, while the Other Locations will list additional hard drives (usually your additional storage drives). By default, Ubuntu does not actually mount the drives in the "Other Locations" section. Clicking on any of them, however, will automatically mount them. If you want to learn more about the general structure of Ubuntu's file system, you can do so here.
  • Ctrl+Alt+T will bring up the terminal. The terminal is where you'll often be sent if you're attempting to diagnose a problem, perform specific tasks or install specific tools/software. Check yourself before your wreck yourself before copy-pasting commands from strangers on the 'net. Be super cautious of any command that involves "sudo" and "rm".
  • The default office suite for Ubuntu is LibreOffice. Try it out: see if you can open a couple of your documents, like spreadsheets and Word docs. You might be pleasantly surprised. Writer is the word processor, Calc is for Spreadsheets. Formating on complex documents will likely be broken. Don't save any of these at this point.
  • In fact, open up a couple of common files you normally use - images, documents, compressed files, music, videos and so on. Get a feel for how it works, what opens and what doesn't. Sometimes, you'll need to install some software first before it will work.
  • Check the list of alternative software for some suggestions on what to install if you seem to be missing something.
  • Plug in your phone and see if it detects it and you can access your files. If it's Android, you should be fine.
  • You'll notice that some commands - like updating - require you to enter your password again. This is a security feature similar to when Windows ask you to run a program as administrator or with elevated privileges. If you didn't initiate the command that brought up the password request, be cautious about entering it in.
  • [+] Change your desktop preferences and move the application bar to the bottom of the screen. By default, Ubuntu puts it on the left-side. Hey, maybe you'll like it like that! This was the one Windows habit I was never able to shake.
  • [+] Try and store your data in the pre-defined folders (Music, Videos, Documents, Pictures). You don't have to, but you'll make your life a lot easier doing so.
  • [+] Search for and create a shortcut to the Software Updater. This allows you to quickly check for and install Ubuntu updates.
  • [+] Likewise, create a shortcut to the Ubuntu Software Centre. To start with, you'll want to stick to installing applications from the Centre. These have been specifically tested to work on Ubuntu and will 99% run without a hitch. You'll be able to remove applications from here as well.
  • [+] Speaking of the Centre, Ubuntu comes preinstalled with an Amazon launcher. Use this time search for it and remove it. Or don't, it's up to you.
  • [+] Sometimes, you'll see there's two versions of a piece of software in the Centre. This is most likely due to there being a Snap version of it. Snaps are self-contained versions of the software that are usually the most up-to-date; however, they can run erratically or not have access to some things on your system, like fonts. I'd stick with the ubuntu-bionic versions for best compatibility.
  • [+] If you're a gamer, change your graphic drivers so you can get reasonable performance. For Nvidia, simply search for the Software & Updates application, open it, select the Additional Drivers Tab, and check whether you're using the Nvidia Driver. You'll want to select the one that's listed as proprietary and tested. AMD's a little more complicated and I profess to having little experience with it. I'll happily take advice from the comments in this instance.
  • [+] When downloading some games or applications specifically for Linux, you'll often get a .Deb file or a script. A deb file can often be run as is by double-clicking in Ubuntu; you can read more about them here. Scripts often need to be run from the terminal and made to be executable. You read more about that here. Again, same safety check applies to running anything you download from the web.

7. Gaming on Linux

If you're a gamer, I'd recommend the following the guide by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts on the /r/linux_gaming subbreddit. But to summarise...

The Good News

Thanks to Valve's involvement in Linux through Proton and the efforts of the Wine team, Linux gaming has never been better. It's now possible to play many Windows-only games with no hassle and minimal performance loss. Just a few examples of recent games that run just fine on Linux are the Resident Evil 2 remake, Sekiro, Halo: Master Chief Collection (single-player and custom multiplayer games), DOOM, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Risk of Rain 2, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and more; you can even toss a coin to all of your Witchers. To get an idea of games that run on Linux, you can visit ProtonDB, Wine AppDB or Lutris and search for your desired game. If you're primarily a single-player gamer, the transition should be mostly painless.

Another amazing development is the number of open-source implementations of older games game engines that allow for playing of classic and retro titles on modern hardware, (such as DevilutionX for Diablo 1)often with improvements, bug fixes and quality of life improvements, ensuring they'll be able to run into the future.

However, the most critical development is that the number of developers and platforms that provide and support native Linux games has increased significantly. Feral Interactive publishes several AAA Linux ports, numerous indies now provide a Linux version, and store fronts like GOG and itch.io provide an alternative with DRM-free games.

The Bad News

Despite all of this, gaming remains one of the biggest hurdles to adopting Linux.

If you're into multiplayer gaming, you're out of luck. While many multiplayer titles do work on Linux (LoL, Dota 2, CS:GO, TF2, Rocket League, Warframe, Overwatch, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Elite: Dangerous, Monster Hunter:World and so on), many more don't - Fortnite, some Call of Duties, Apex Legends, PUBG, Battlefield, GTA Online. Essentially, anything with an anti-cheat is likely NOT going to work, and there's always the risk that playing a Windows multiplayer game will get you banned due to anti-cheat measures that dislike any whiff of Linux. My suggestion is check which games you play and go from there.

Unless you're using Steam, running other launchers is complicated and prone to constant breakage without continuous effort and maintenance. Epic, Origin, Uplay and GOG Galaxy can all run on Linux with some effort. Lutris does sort most of these out, but you'll need to follow the instructions here, which means your going to have to install Wine first.

Some games simply don't work, and there's no solution for it.

Some of the latest developments aren't going to be available to you. VR is tiny on Linux, and you'll likely lose access to most of your VR software and experiences.

Despite being fairly technical already, many gamers do expect things to "just work". Here's a list of things that require some effort to get working correctly:

  • Super-sampling is out. Not entirely, but it's more complicated than Windows.
  • Access to things like custom shaders and injectors are also going to be limited. Mods can be more complicated or, in some cases, not available.
  • You'll lose some of the benefits of your Gsync/Freesync monitors, since the two tech don't work that well on Ubuntu's standard display compositor. This will change once Ubuntu shifts to Wayland.
  • Things like community game patches are often aimed at Windows, with no Linux alternative.

Most importantly, AMD and Nvidia graphic cards are handled very differently on Linux when compared to Windows. Ubuntu uses an open-source driver by default - this is alright for general use but terrible for games and 3D applications. To get decent performance, you'll need to install their respective drivers.

Nvidia's latest Linux drivers are made available in Ubuntu directly. However, this is just the drivers: Nvidia's GeForce Experience isn't available on Linux and you're going to lose access to all of its tools. That means no Ansel in many cases, no DSR, no predefined gaming configs and no ShadowPlay (Although OBS offers a decent alternative in this case). See the Tips section above on how to install it. On the plus side, the installation process is a breeze and Nvidia's performance is fairly solid.

AMD benefits from much better open-source drivers and active support from AMD, but unfortunately suffers from delays for support of their most recent cards and a fairly complicated install process . AMD uses the MESA Driver, combined with Valve's ACO shader compiler, to deliver performance boosts. Installing these drivers can be a complicated, multi-step process. I'm sorry I can't help you on this; I'll happily take someone's advice on getting this working in Ubuntu LTS and include it in the guide.

8. Alternative software

This is a quick and dirty guide to equivalent software for Windows applications in Linux.

  • Antivirus software: This may seem counterintuitive, but for the most part Linux does not require any sort of anti-virus software. While viruses for Linux exist, the number of viruses and such that target the Linux desktop specifically is tiny compared to Windows. You can read up about it here.. That being said, if you are concerned there are several tools available for detecting both Windows and Linux malware on the same page. Follow good internet hygiene, don't open suspicious links/mails and think before just randomly following command instructions on the 'net.
  • Microsoft Office: LibreOffice. Or you can access Office365 online.
  • Adobe Photoshop: GIMP, Krita
  • Adobe Premiere: Blender
  • 3D Studio Max: Blender
  • Illustrator/CorelDraw: Inkscape
  • Xsplit: OBS
  • Windows Media Player: VLC
  • Basic Audio Editor: Audacity
  • Audio Mixing: Ardour, Mixbus
  • Adobe Reader: While there are several PDF readers on Linux you can use, almost none of them play well with Adobe PDFs with advanced features. You're better off sticking with what comes with Ubuntu, and if it doesn't work, open it up in a browser.

9. TL;DR or The Conclusion

Switching to Ubuntu is possible and relatively safe if you do some research on which apps/games/software/hardware you use will and won't work on Linux first, you BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT DATA before doing anything and don't expect a 1:1 experience with Windows. It's all dependent on your flexibility, technical experience and willingness to learn and compromise.

If you're not, Windows 10 is a perfectly acceptable choice to upgrade to: you'll benefit from improved security compared to Windows 7, a larger selection of hardware and software and will have to put less effort to make everything work at the cost of your privacy and some ads.

If you have legacy software or unsupported hardware that doesn't run on either, you're kind of screwed. I'd keep the Windows 7 box around, make sure it's disconnected from all networks (for your sake as well as others) and start making emergency contingency plans to find a modern alternative.

I know that people are going to take issue with some of the difficulties I raised, and suggest they're really not dealbreakers. Before you post, consider whether a new user coming from Windows 7 who'll be using Linux probably for the first time in their life will have the knowledge, gumption and willingness to perform sometimes complex technical steps in an operating environment they're unfamiliar with and where it's much, much easier to really break things.

Feel free to post criticisms and suggestions in the comments. If there's some good advice worth including, something needs further clarification or I need to correct something, I'll edit it in with credit.

10. To do list for the guide

  • I'd really like to add a section on assistive technology and software that works on Linux, but as I don't use any of it, I feel my research would be limited and miss vital pieces. If you have advice on this, let me know.
  • A good, up-to-date and easy-to-follow guide for dual-booting.
  • Instructions on how to install AMD drivers correctly on Ubuntu.
241 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/FaidrosE • Jun 21 '20

Distrochooser: "Welcome! This test will help you to choose a suitable Linux distribution for you"

Thumbnail distrochooser.de
937 Upvotes
254 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/sxnmc • 7h ago

I want to learn LaTeX, not learn how to install LaTeX

49 Upvotes

I've been on Linux (first Mint, now Ubuntu) for close to a decade now because Microsoft is evil and Windows sucks and runs like shit. I can browse the internet, play some games, manage my files, write some documents. It's good. I've recommended it to others for those reasons.

However, I've often felt like I was banging my head against a wall when trying to install more specific software. Most recently: LaTeX.

I've heard it's a better way of editing text documents and I was looking forward to trying it out. But I simply cannot get to that point. There's nothing in the AppCenter that's a straightforward install and run. I've looked it up and seen people say they use MiKTeX and TeXLive and Vim and EMCAS? So now I'm not sure I understand what it "LaTeX" really is at all.

The only thing that makes sense to me so far is Overleaf. You get a GUI that lets you type in the "code" and hit a button and it spits out a PDF. It's like markup. Cool! But I'd prefer to use it locally, and I don't understand how. I've followed instructions on this (1999 lookin' ass) website, which is supposed to be "straightforward". I still don't have anything on my computer that lets me edit or create documents. At least I don't understand how.

Am I that stupid? I'd like to think not. I've managed to install Linux at least. And I'm not scared of computers, I've installed some other stuff through the CLI in the past. I might be impatient. But is that so bad? I thought this was fairly common software, I'm on the most common distro, and creating documents is a common task. I'd have thought installing it would just work. But it won't and it's lowkey making me lose my damn mind.

Not sure I want help, I'm mostly just venting. Probably I'll just try Overleaf and see if I like that for the time being. But I really wish Linux was more user-friendly. A big selling point is that it lets you do whatever you want, but what use is that theoretical possibility if it's too complex to actually execute? Right now I'm feeling completely locked in.

43 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Jay_Stranger • 11h ago

migrating to Linux How do you truly get started with learning this?

20 Upvotes

I have tried linux mint a few times over the years and inevitably get frustrated and go back to windows due to needing to learn so many little things just to get going. Although I get frustrated with it, I still feel this enticing pull towards linux. I want to learn, I just don't understand how people consider this easy at all. Where do I go to get a good deep learning of this and to ease my biggest pain points.

Biggest pain points:
1. First and foremost, how do you learn the equivalent of the windows explore? I open it up and it looks familiar, but everything goes to weird pathways. I install things and I don't know where they go.

  1. The terminal. How did anyone even figure out any of the commands for this? I have been told that terminal is essentially an optional thing you can do with linux, but most users use the terminal because it makes things "easier". I was dabbling in a few of the beginning commands. And when I thought I understood things it clearly showed I had 0 idea what I was doing. things like sudo apt commands. I just felt like whenever I was "downloading" anything through terminal it felt like I was downloading an unknown program and always had me wondering if it was really what I was searching for.

This also meant for updating, I felt like I had updates almost daily, if not multiple times a day it would show that I had updates.

I guess those are really my biggest pain points. I have tried looking at videos to learn, but it feels like I still need a background in coding or something to understand these things.

It could be as simple as the person saying so go in to the terminal and type in sudo apt upgrade and then they would just say what sudo was, but it made no sense to me. I would even consider myself a very tech savvy person as well. Which is probably why I always run away from linux, because if I feel like it's to advanced I just consider it not worth going further.

Maybe you guys can shine some light on this and really point me in a better direction. Possibly maybe even someone that was in my position and finally had that "aha" moment.

63 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Ill-Palpitation2755 • 27m ago

Meganoob BE KIND Steam games not working kinda

• Upvotes

So I just switched from windows 10 to pop os and one of the first things I did was download steam to play games but when I loaded into Arma 3 and selected code four gaming KOTH it would let me get past role selection screen so I joined another server and got into the game but didn’t make it 5 mins before disconnecting so I decided to play sea of thieves but when I loaded into the game i could run fine everyone else was smooth I could tell but my screen just shot everywhere. Any help please

1 comment

r/linux4noobs • u/Vebrandsson • 45m ago

programs and apps LXQT-Config-Monitor issues

• Upvotes

Distro: Arch Linux

Desktop Environment: LXQT v2.4.0

Relevant Hardware: AMD Radeon RX570 graphics card (AMD GPU drivers are installed and in use)

So, to preface this, I'm aware I've probably made several mistakes at this point, but I've gotten myself completely lost and am in desperate need of help.

Earlier today I decided to run a full update on my Arch system, since it had been nearly 2 weeks since I'd updated any packages, so I ran a full "sudo pacman -Syu" command and let everything update, then I did a reboot of my system. In doing so, something has gone horribly wrong with my monitor config, and not only is the LXQT Monitor GUI app not letting me set anything, but nothing I was doing to the relevant files was having any effect either. I tried to do quite a bit of troubleshooting on my own, but I've made no meaningful progress.

After the aforementioned reboot my screens are all in the wrong order (I am running 4 monitors all connected to the RX570) and the resolutions are all wrong, and the wrong monitor is default. I attempted to run the lxqt-config-monitor GUI application but for some reason all it gives me is a blank box, there's no options or anything available in it, which is not how it's been working up until this most recent update of packages.

Faced with the above window, I opened the settings dialog which showed me that I had 1 presaved setting, but wouldn't actually display the information in that setting, it simply showed the date and time I'd saved it, I tried to apply that, but nothing happened. When that didn't work I navigated to /etc/xdg/lxqt and found the lxqt-config-monitor.conf file that resided there, and tried to manually edit it by copying my save to the "current config" section of that file, then rebooting. This had no impact. As such I went to ~/.config/lxqt and found the lxqt-config-monitor.conf file in that location and did the same thing, copying the settings I wanted into the "current config" section of the file then rebooting and again nothing happened.

After manually editing both files failed to have any effect I made what I'm sure is my first mistake in this process and deleted both files then rebooted. The computer rebuilt ~/.conf/lxqt/lxqt-config-monitor.conf but did not rebuild the file that was in the other location, however the file it did build was blank. I realized then not backing up the files before I deleted them was probably a bad call but that's neither here nor there at this point.

The next thing I attempted was to uninstall and reinstall lxqt-config, so I ran a "sudo pacman -Rs lxqt-config" followed by "sudo pacman -S lxqt-config" and then rebooted, however after the reboot nothing had changed, the lxqt-config-monitor GUI app still looks as pictured above, the config files are still blank, etc. I did at this point try to use the GUI app and tell it to save the current settings. This updated the ~/.conf/lxqt/lxqt-config-monitor.conf file from being blank to containing the following but nothing else has changed, and I can't dump the saved data I had before because I deleted it.

[General]
__userfile__=true
size=@Size(600 400)

[SavedConfigs]
SavedSettings\1\date=2026-10-27T12:06:46
SavedSettings\1\name=Tue Oct 27 12:06:46 2026
SavedSettings\1\settings\size=0
SavedSettings\size=1

[currentConfig]
settings\size=0

After that failed I decided to open up a terminal (which I realize I probably should have done much earlier in troubleshooting) and run "lxqt-config-monitor" as a terminal command, but that just said "Connecting to KScreen..." and opened the same GUI window as shown above. I then ran "sudo lxqt-config-monitor" and that's where I seem to have hit on something error wise but several hours of web searches haven't gotten me further than this. The output for that command is as follows:

LXQt::SingleApplication::SingleApplication(int&, char**, StartOptions) "Can't connect to the D-Bus session bus\nMake sure the D-Bus daemon is running"
error: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is invalid or not set in the environment.
Failed to create wl_display (No such file or directory)

I've run a "sudo systemctl status dbus" and confirmed the D-Bus service is active and running but that's as far as I've managed to get, why the app thinks it cannot connect to the D-bus session or what these other errors mean and how to resolve them I've not made any progress on, so I'm really hoping for some help in figuring out what I've broken and how to fix it.

For what it's worth this seems to be the only component of the entire system not working, I do have a display on all 4 monitors, and everything else seems to be working normally, I just can't properly arrange my monitors or change the resolution on them.

1 comment

r/linux4noobs • u/chocolatesuperfood • 5h ago

hardware/drivers Persistent Xorg crashes irrespective of kernel, Linux Mint, AMD integrated GPU

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

A couple of days ago I posted about GUI problems, freezes etc. I had reinstalled Linux Mint on Oct 3 (v22), but the problems keep happening since spring, when I was still on v21. I also changed the SSD used.

A lot of people suggested changing the kernel used.

First, again, my current system specs:

System:
  Kernel: 7.0.0-38-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.3.0 clocksource: tsc
  Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.6.9 tk: GTK v: 3.24.41 wm: Muffin v: 6.6.3 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.30.0
    Distro: Linux Mint 22.3 Zena base: Ubuntu 24.04 noble
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 21K4S02000 v: ThinkPad T14 Gen 4
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 21K4S02000 serial: <superuser required>
    part-nu: LENOVO_MT_21K4_BU_Think_FM_ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO
    v: R2FET72W (1.52 ) date: 09/15/2026
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 51.6 Wh (97.4%) condition: 53.0/52.5 Wh (101.0%) volts: 17.3 min: 15.5
    model: Sunwoda 5B10W51867 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> status: not charging cycles: 73
CPU:
  Info: 8-core model: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U w/ Radeon 780M Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    smt: enabled arch: Zen 4 rev: 1 cache: L1: 512 KiB L2: 8 MiB L3: 16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1907 high: 3438 min/max: 419/5135 boost: enabled cores: 1: 2375 2: 1100
    3: 2287 4: 1977 5: 1330 6: 1100 7: 2612 8: 1331 9: 1100 10: 1330 11: 1418 12: 3438 13: 1319
    14: 1319 15: 3244 16: 3244 bogomips: 105402
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Phoenix1 vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: RDNA-3 pcie: speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 ports: active: HDMI-A-1,eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, DP-4, DP-5, DP-6, Writeback-1
    bus-ID: 64:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:15bf class-ID: 0300 temp: 37.0 C
  Device-2: Chicony Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 bus-ID: 3-1:2 chip-ID: 04f2:b7c0 class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 4480x1868 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1185x494mm (46.65x19.45")
    s-diag: 1284mm (50.55")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-A-0 pos: primary,top-left model: Dell S2721DS serial: <filter>
    res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 109 size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23") diag: 676mm (26.6") modes:
    max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 mapped: eDP pos: bottom-r model: Lenovo 0x403a res: 1920x1200 hz: 60 dpi: 161
    size: 302x189mm (11.89x7.44") diag: 356mm (14") modes: max: 1920x1200 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi device: 1 drv: swrast
    gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11: drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 25.2.8-0ubuntu0.24.04.4 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon 780M Graphics (radeonsi phoenix LLVM 20.1.2 DRM 3.64
    7.0.0-38-generic) device-ID: 1002:15bf
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.275 layers: 3 surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 0 type: integrated-gpu driver: N/A
    device-ID: 1002:15bf device: 1 type: cpu driver: N/A device-ID: 10005:0000
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Rembrandt Radeon High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 64:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1640 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD ACP/ACP3X/ACP6x Audio Coprocessor vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_pci_ps v: kernel
    pcie: speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 64:00.5 chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480
  Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 64:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k7.0.0-38-generic status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active
  Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: off (using pipewire-pulse)
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Lenovo RTL8111/8168/8411 driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: 6000 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp1s0f0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Qualcomm QCNFA765 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lenovo driver: ath11k_pci
    v: kernel pcie: speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 17cb:1103 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: docker0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: USI driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-3.1:6
    chip-ID: 10ab:9309 class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.3 lmp-v: 12
    sub-v: 65e2 hci-v: 12 class-ID: 7c010c
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 227.32 GiB (23.8%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: MZVL21T0HDLU-00BLL size: 953.87 GiB speed: 63.2 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 7L2QGXD7 temp: 32.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 937.33 GiB used: 227.32 GiB (24.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 6.2 MiB (1.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -1 file: /swapfile
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 5 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 1-2:2 info: Hitachi ports: 4 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 045b:0209
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-2.1:4 info: Winbond Ducky One2 SF RGB type: keyboard,mouse,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 4 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 0416:0123 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 1-2.3:7 info: Sunplus Innovation Optical Mouse type: mouse driver: hid-generic,usbhid
    interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 1.5 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 98mA chip-ID: 1bcf:0005 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-3: 1-3:3 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-3.1:6 info: USI type: bluetooth driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 10ab:9309 class-ID: e001
  Device-2: 1-5:5 info: Shenzhen Goodix USB2.0 MISC type: <vendor specific> driver: N/A
    interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 27c6:6594 class-ID: ef00
    serial: <filter>
  Hub-4: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 2-2:2 info: Hitachi ports: 4 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 045b:0210
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-6: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-1:2 info: Chicony Integrated Camera type: video driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 5
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 500mA chip-ID: 04f2:b7c0 class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
  Hub-7: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 1 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-8: 5-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-9: 6-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 1 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-10: 7-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-11: 8-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 1 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s lanes: 1
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 37.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 4500
Repos:
  Packages: 2438 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2422 pm: flatpak pkgs: 16
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/git-core-ppa-noble.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/git-core-ppa-noble.gpg] https: //ppa.launchpadcontent.net/git-core/ppa/ubuntu noble main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com zena main upstream import backport
    2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble main restricted universe multiverse
    3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates main restricted universe multiverse
    4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-security main restricted universe multiverse
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu noble stable
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.sources
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //dl.google.com/linux/chrome-stable/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi.sources
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.sources
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB note: est. available: 30.05 GiB used: 4.57 GiB (15.2%)
  Processes: 422 Power: uptime: 3m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle wakeups: 0
    hibernate: platform Init: systemd v: 255 target: graphical (5) default: graphical
  Compilers: gcc: 13.3.0 Client: Unknown python3.12 client inxi: 3.3.34

Yesterday, I tried Winapps via a Docker VM, but it was unusable because of entire system freezes, so I looked into the coredumps since my Oct 3 install:

$ sudo coredumpctl list
TIME                            PID  UID  GID SIG     COREFILE EXE                       SIZE
Sat 2026-10-03 20:50:13 CEST   1081    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Sat 2026-10-03 22:13:53 CEST   5873    0    0 SIGSEGV missing  /usr/bin/python3.12          -
Sun 2026-10-04 02:20:23 CEST   1077    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-05 10:22:25 CEST   1125    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-05 15:15:48 CEST   1060    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-05 16:35:29 CEST   1071    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-05 16:40:58 CEST   3210 1001 1001 SIGSEGV missing  /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot    -
Mon 2026-10-05 17:27:40 CEST   6087 1001 1001 SIGSEGV missing  /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot    -
Tue 2026-10-06 02:19:55 CEST   1079    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Tue 2026-10-06 15:23:15 CEST   1064    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Wed 2026-10-07 00:15:36 CEST  64530 1001 1001 SIGABRT missing  /opt/zoom/ZoomWebviewHost    -
Fri 2026-10-09 00:38:00 CEST   1136    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Fri 2026-10-09 10:47:58 CEST   1069    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Sat 2026-10-10 07:56:09 CEST   1139    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Sun 2026-10-11 15:21:08 CEST   1076    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-12 00:55:49 CEST   1146    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-12 13:00:42 CEST   1059    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Tue 2026-10-13 15:46:46 CEST   1146    0    0 SIGABRT present  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg        8.9M
Wed 2026-10-14 17:04:52 CEST   1062    0    0 SIGABRT present  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg        8.9M
Thu 2026-10-15 15:16:11 CEST   1165    0    0 SIGABRT present  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg        8.9M
Fri 2026-10-16 11:34:22 CEST  33279 1001 1001 SIGSEGV present  /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot 3.9M
Sat 2026-10-17 08:09:38 CEST   1171    0    0 SIGABRT present  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg        7.8M$ sudo coredumpctl list
TIME                            PID  UID  GID SIG     COREFILE EXE                       SIZE
Sat 2026-10-03 20:50:13 CEST   1081    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Sat 2026-10-03 22:13:53 CEST   5873    0    0 SIGSEGV missing  /usr/bin/python3.12          -
Sun 2026-10-04 02:20:23 CEST   1077    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-05 10:22:25 CEST   1125    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-05 15:15:48 CEST   1060    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-05 16:35:29 CEST   1071    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-05 16:40:58 CEST   3210 1001 1001 SIGSEGV missing  /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot    -
Mon 2026-10-05 17:27:40 CEST   6087 1001 1001 SIGSEGV missing  /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot    -
Tue 2026-10-06 02:19:55 CEST   1079    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Tue 2026-10-06 15:23:15 CEST   1064    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Wed 2026-10-07 00:15:36 CEST  64530 1001 1001 SIGABRT missing  /opt/zoom/ZoomWebviewHost    -
Fri 2026-10-09 00:38:00 CEST   1136    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Fri 2026-10-09 10:47:58 CEST   1069    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Sat 2026-10-10 07:56:09 CEST   1139    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Sun 2026-10-11 15:21:08 CEST   1076    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-12 00:55:49 CEST   1146    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Mon 2026-10-12 13:00:42 CEST   1059    0    0 SIGABRT missing  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg           -
Tue 2026-10-13 15:46:46 CEST   1146    0    0 SIGABRT present  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg        8.9M
Wed 2026-10-14 17:04:52 CEST   1062    0    0 SIGABRT present  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg        8.9M
Thu 2026-10-15 15:16:11 CEST   1165    0    0 SIGABRT present  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg        8.9M
Fri 2026-10-16 11:34:22 CEST  33279 1001 1001 SIGSEGV present  /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot 3.9M
Sat 2026-10-17 08:09:38 CEST   1171    0    0 SIGABRT present  /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg        7.8M

A whole lot of Xorg crashes!

Looking into the first Xorg crash shows

$  sudo coredumpctl info 1081$  sudo coredumpctl info 1081
           PID: 1081 (Xorg)
           UID: 0 (root)
           GID: 0 (root)
        Signal: 6 (ABRT)
     Timestamp: Sat 2026-10-03 20:50:13 CEST (3 weeks 2 days ago)
  Command Line: /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg -core :0 -seat seat0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch
    Executable: /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg
 Control Group: /system.slice/lightdm.service
          Unit: lightdm.service
         Slice: system.slice
       Boot ID: 8bce1c24607842e2b55a2307361f3080
    Machine ID: -
      Hostname: hostname
       Storage: /var/lib/systemd/coredump/core.Xorg.0.8bce1c24607842e2b55a2307361f3080.1081.1791053413000000.zst (missing)
       Message: Process 1081 (Xorg) of user 0 dumped core.

                Module libzstd.so.1 from deb libzstd-1.5.5+dfsg2-2build1.1.amd64
                Module libsystemd.so.0 from deb systemd-255.4-1ubuntu8.17.amd64
                Module libudev.so.1 from deb systemd-255.4-1ubuntu8.17.amd64
                Stack trace of thread 1081:
                #0  0x00007efa0509eb2c __pthread_kill_implementation (libc.so.6 + 0x9eb2c)
                #1  0x00007efa0504527e __GI_raise (libc.so.6 + 0x4527e)
                #2  0x00007efa050288ff __GI_abort (libc.so.6 + 0x288ff)
                #3  0x000063ea71216fae OsAbort (Xorg + 0x1e4fae)
                #4  0x000063ea7121caf7 n/a (Xorg + 0x1eaaf7)
                #5  0x000063ea7121db77 FatalError (Xorg + 0x1ebb77)
                #6  0x000063ea71099210 n/a (Xorg + 0x67210)
                #7  0x00007efa0502a1ca __libc_start_call_main (libc.so.6 + 0x2a1ca)
                #8  0x00007efa0502a28b __libc_start_main_impl (libc.so.6 + 0x2a28b)
                #9  0x000063ea71081395 _start (Xorg + 0x4f395)
                ELF object binary architecture: AMD x86-64

           PID: 1081 (Xorg)
           UID: 0 (root)
           GID: 0 (root)
        Signal: 6 (ABRT)
     Timestamp: Sat 2026-10-03 20:50:13 CEST (3 weeks 2 days ago)
  Command Line: /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg -core :0 -seat seat0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch
    Executable: /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg
 Control Group: /system.slice/lightdm.service
          Unit: lightdm.service
         Slice: system.slice
       Boot ID: 8bce1c24607842e2b55a2307361f3080
    Machine ID: -
      Hostname: hostname
       Storage: /var/lib/systemd/coredump/core.Xorg.0.8bce1c24607842e2b55a2307361f3080.1081.1791053413000000.zst (missing)
       Message: Process 1081 (Xorg) of user 0 dumped core.

                Module libzstd.so.1 from deb libzstd-1.5.5+dfsg2-2build1.1.amd64
                Module libsystemd.so.0 from deb systemd-255.4-1ubuntu8.17.amd64
                Module libudev.so.1 from deb systemd-255.4-1ubuntu8.17.amd64
                Stack trace of thread 1081:
                #0  0x00007efa0509eb2c __pthread_kill_implementation (libc.so.6 + 0x9eb2c)
                #1  0x00007efa0504527e __GI_raise (libc.so.6 + 0x4527e)
                #2  0x00007efa050288ff __GI_abort (libc.so.6 + 0x288ff)
                #3  0x000063ea71216fae OsAbort (Xorg + 0x1e4fae)
                #4  0x000063ea7121caf7 n/a (Xorg + 0x1eaaf7)
                #5  0x000063ea7121db77 FatalError (Xorg + 0x1ebb77)
                #6  0x000063ea71099210 n/a (Xorg + 0x67210)
                #7  0x00007efa0502a1ca __libc_start_call_main (libc.so.6 + 0x2a1ca)
                #8  0x00007efa0502a28b __libc_start_main_impl (libc.so.6 + 0x2a28b)
                #9  0x000063ea71081395 _start (Xorg + 0x4f395)
                ELF object binary architecture: AMD x86-64

Back then, I still used kernel version 6.14.0-37:

$ journalctl -k -b 8bce1c24607842e2b55a2307361f3080 | grep -m1 'Linux version'
Oct 03 20:50:09 hostname kernel: Linux version 6.14.0-37-generic (buildd@lcy02-amd64-031) (x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc-13 (Ubuntu 13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04) 13.3.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Ubuntu) 2.42) #37~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Nov 20 10:25:38 UTC 2 (Ubuntu 6.14.0-37.37~24.04.1-generic 6.14.11)$ journalctl -k -b 8bce1c24607842e2b55a2307361f3080 | grep -m1 'Linux version'
Oct 03 20:50:09 hostname kernel: Linux version 6.14.0-37-generic (buildd@lcy02-amd64-031) (x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc-13 (Ubuntu 13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04) 13.3.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Ubuntu) 2.42) #37~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Nov 20 10:25:38 UTC 2 (Ubuntu 6.14.0-37.37~24.04.1-generic 6.14.11)

The crashes appear to happen irrespective of the kernel.

Does anyone have any other ideas into what else I could look (before getting Lenovo to replace my motherboard)?

Thank you so much in advance!

3 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Fritz-Futermann • 5h ago

Meganoob BE KIND Proton vs Gamescope

3 Upvotes

I've successfully and permanently switched from Windows to Bazzite KDE Plasma and I'm running all my games through Steam via Proton Experimental/ge/cachyos, but someone told me that they're using Gamescope. What is that and are there any advantages over Proton?

13 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/PureDarkOrange • 1h ago

Debain Bullseye Sources - Apologies Up Front

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• Upvotes
0 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/an0nym0us_visual • 9h ago

Trying to switch

4 Upvotes

Hey everybody I'm a windows user from the very start but I am considering shifting to Linux. The problem that I am facing is that I don't really know anything about it. All I know is how to use windows.

So I need serious help. If anybody can tell me where to start, how to practice before actually installing any type of Linux and where to practice as well. Why am I saying before installing is because I have only one pc which is behind handled for all my tasks so basically I don't want to lose any stuff and get blocked out.

Any help and advice is really appreciated. My DM is open as well.

18 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Undesero • 6h ago

hardware/drivers Trying to get the same performance on windows

2 Upvotes

So I've been dreaming of switching to Linux over months deciding which distro and it's benefits and everyone knew that id pick mint

I heard that there is a catch

I had GT 610 Fermi architecture with 4 gigs of ram and i3 3220 but indie titles (silksong nine sols ultra kill etc.) ran VERY well as I mean and there was some kind of a catch on Linux

It only supported vulkan and I have openGL I read that there is a way to make it run opengl via switching to it and downloading the preparatory drivers (installing nouvue first then on desktop installing preparatory ones) will that reduce my overall fps or make games crash? And if it did... Is there a way to make it run well just like it did on windows with my potato toaster?

Also it's a nividia GeForce 610 so anyone doesn't get confused I don't know what fps i got there but after posting it in linux_gaming the mod suggested me to come here.

That's all and thank you:)

(Note: haven't switched yet so I couldn't regret it I'm planning to use XFCE Linux mint which is well for beginners)

4 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/plyskaitsakis • 3h ago

Meganoob BE KIND Transfer files and user settings between users (bazzite)

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1 Upvotes
0 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/withabrandnewfunk • 11h ago

installation moving a drive over to a "new" pc and removing mint

3 Upvotes

got a newer pc and on my current is mint and neon kde

1-any thing specific I need to do to transfer the whole drive to the new pc? will it work plug and play? do I need to upodate anything?

2-I do not like mint at all. too many issues. id like to try something else on that partition. I know how to cope with windows and install process on partitions but not with linux

some insight on how to remove mint and slap a different distro on that partition?

8 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Warm_Discipline_1044 • 7h ago

Meganoob BE KIND deleting partition issue

1 Upvotes

i'm not someone with tech literacy, and i have a life, apologies if some of the things i say here feel stupid. i'm just trying to get by and customize my desktop 😭 stupid things happen everyday and linux mint is a beginner distro omg

so, i was exploring and trying to figure out a way to make my storage drive accessable to steam since i couldn't select it for a drive. i figured it was permissions, since i also couldn't download another thing (as i remember...)

then, i went to the disk management, i tried to change /storage to /home, but it didnt seem to work.. so i deleted the partition. nothing seemed to happen, the partition was still there.

i was pretty confused until i restarted my pc and got sent to emergency mode.

(sdit: in emergency mode, the partition is unallocated space now.)

(also, i'm not sure if this is connected, but in journalctl -xb, i saw:

"nvidia: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel"

"nvidia: module license taints kernel"

"Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint"

"nvidia: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel"

"nvidia: module license taints kernel"

i can't install anything, i can't do as much as the super user, and also, my timeshift files are gone (gee i wonder why), and my internet wont turn on.

Linux Mint 22.3 - Cinnamon 64-bit 7.0.0-38-generic AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics x 6 NVIDIA Corporation GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cezanne [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series] 15.6 GB 643.5 GB Cinammon 6.6.9 X11

9 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/chocolatesuperfood • 17h ago

shells and scripting Pipes vs command substitution

5 Upvotes

Hi!

I use the bash shell. I can do

$ head `which apt`
#!/usr/bin/python3

import sys
import os
import subprocess
import shlex
import shutil

def usage():
    print("""
$ head $(which apt)
#!/usr/bin/python3

import sys
import os
import subprocess
import shlex
import shutil

def usage():
    print("""

But not

$ which apt | head
/usr/local/bin/apt
$ which apt 2>&1 | head
/usr/local/bin/apt

Well, I can do it, but it won't let me see the head of my Linux Mint's Python wrapper for apt.

Apparently - according to my internet research - that's because with pipe, the path becomes stdin and not an argument for head. I need which apt | xargs head for it to work.

Could you please elaborate on the difference between these two? I have a hard time understanding it.

I also read through this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/9hz1pz/piping_vs_command_substitutionwhats_the_difference/
I realize, after reading it, that if I have some commands that should be called one after another, I still don't know if I need pipes or command substitution and that I would just have to try. I'd like to do better. When do I need stdin, when an "argument"?

Thank you so much in advance!

14 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Zachalope64 • 18h ago

Meganoob BE KIND Saving a set of windows for future use?

5 Upvotes

I'm using Bazzite, and I literally just switched, so my knowledge on Linux is extremely bare bones. I'd like to set up a group of windows on a screen and 'save' their layout so that I can open them all at once at any time. Specifically, I'm trying to have OBS and a few webpages open, since from what I can tell, flatpak OBS can't add custom docks. Is there a way to do this? Or is it a manual process every time?

5 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/diacid • 1d ago

migrating to Linux Success story

29 Upvotes

I am not a newbie. I actually grew up around computers. I work in an unrelated field (bus company) and computers are a tool, not the product.

We got a new management guy, he was a former driver and never used a computer before. I started trying to help him and stuff. We use windows at work. It is a journey but a steady going one. Until he asks me for a personal computer. After pondering, i see for his use, one of my old computers i had laying around could be a nice gift. Done deal. What should I put on it? Well, debian seems a good choice.

And what do I hear the next day (after showing him around at the office) when he tries to use the computer at home? "The computer works, everything is fine, I am able to use it" oh i am so overjoyed I got one more soul the gift of freedom powered computing!!!

5 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Straight_Web_8959 • 22h ago

distro selection Does Bazzite work for nvidia GPUs?

5 Upvotes

So, either in a few months or more (depending on a repair thing for my current PC) I'm gonna build a new one, now granted if everything works out I'll stay on windows, but for my next PC that I'm gonna build as my first PC build, I wanna make the move to linux, granted I will have windows on a second SSD for games with kernel level anti cheats. Anywho, I wanna use Nvidia since I've had nothing but trouble with my AMD GPU and since I wanna use windows on another drive, I don't wanna use it for my next PC, so I wanna know if a 5070ti will work well on bazzite since I've heard that linux and nvidia doesn't mix that well. You can also recomend another distro, I want a gaming specific distro, well not specific but a focused one and I've heard CachyOS is good on Nvidia but I'm scared of Arch. I also don't care about it being super identical to windows, if it works well with wireless PCVR over steamlink (since virtual desktop doesn't support linux I've heard) then that's a total plus, downloading stuff should be easy, since I don't know how to install stuff with the terminal or whatever. I don't wanna use linux mint as my daily driver for a gaming PC, if it was a non gaming PC then yeah I would use mint, like if it was a work PC I'd pick it. What do you guys recomend?

12 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Ploobledoop • 19h ago

security What Level of Sandboxing can be Done With Steam or Proton?

4 Upvotes

I'm not quite sure of how to word the question, but I'm wondering how well things can be sandboxed with Steam's Proton. I ask this in the context of the possibility some games or mods might be malware and it's assuming that the game is running as a windows game without native Linux options. I know roughly that everything in your home folder could be accessed by the game. How well can it be mitigated? Is it possible, assuming no linux malware hidden inside, to make windows based malware unable to effect or see anything beyond its own steamapp folder?

7 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/RemoteSpirited5459 • 13h ago

Which Linux distro should I install on my 2017 MacBook for learning cybersecurity??

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

I have a 2017 MacBook with the following specifications:

Processor: 1.8 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5

RAM: 8 GB DDR3 (1600 MHz)

Storage: 121 GB total, with around 100 GB available

I wanna become a SOC analyst and hence I want to start learning skills on linux. I'm confused which linux should i use that'll be best for my MacBook. I asked chat gpt and it said I won't be able to run heavy labs on it so I want your help knowing whether it's right and if it's right then what should I do??

3 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Fragrant-You-6491 • 19h ago

Hyprland on debian?

2 Upvotes

Running Debian 13 with gnome on an older system (gt 1030, i5-9400k, 16gb ram), and considering switching my DE to hyprland. Would this be a good idea / would it be as smooth an experience as gnome is for me?

6 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/BabyLionCamel • 1d ago

learning/research Linux fundamentals book

7 Upvotes

Next month I am going on vacations and I would like to read a book on how to use Linux and terminal commands. Any recommendations?

around 300 pages preferably, written concisely.

Thank you for your reccommendations

8 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/Pubes_are_Cool • 17h ago

Stuttering while trying to play games or watch youtube.

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1 Upvotes
0 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/belac4862 • 1d ago

installation Im looking for a user friendly, but able to explore Linux os and expand my knowledge of the os.

5 Upvotes

I have a spare laptop that my boss gave me to fiddle around with and test out Linux with our ISP servers and switches for security purposes. I have absolutely no idea where to even start. So if there are video guides to go along with the install process that would be great.

28 comments

r/linux4noobs • u/bgymr • 1d ago

Trying to install virtualbox to run home assistant and am struggling.

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2 Upvotes
3 comments