Noob Question Thread: Ask Any Questions About Linux!

Mods, perhaps a weekly post like this would be beneficial? Lowering the bar to entry with some available support and helping to keep converts.

Is it difficult to keep your leg shaved and how many pairs of long socks do you have?

OP. Gotta say that this thread is a brilliant idea!

How do symlinks work from the point of view of software?

Imagine I have a file in my downloads folder called movie.mp4, and I have a symlink to it in my home folder.

Whenever I open the symlink, does the software (player) understand «oh this file seems like a symlink, I should go and open the original file», or it's a filesystem level stuff and software (player) basically has no idea if a file I'm opening is a symlink or the original movie.mp4?

Can I use sync software (like Dropbox, Gdrive or whatever) to sync symlinks? Can I use sync software to sync actual files, but only have symlinks in my sync folder?

Is there a rule of thumb to predict how software behaves when dealing with symlinks?

I just don't grok symbolic links.

Is there a way to remove having to enter my password for everything?

Wake computer from Screensaver? Password.
Install something? Password.
Updates (biggest one. Updates should in my opinion just work without, because being up to date is important for security reasons)? Password.

I understand sudo needs a password,but all the other stuff I just want off. The frequency is rediculous. I don't ever leave my house with my computer, and I don't want to enter a password for my wife everytime she wants to use it.

Why do programs install somewhere instead of asking me where to?

EDIT: Thank you all, well explained.

Why does it feel that Linux infighting is the main reason why it never takes off? It's always "distro X sucks", "installing from Y is stupid", "any system running Z should burn"

NixOS. I don't get what it really is or does? It's a Linux distribution but with ceavets or something

Maybe not a super beginner question, but what do awk and sed do and how do I use them?

I installed Debian today. I'm terrified to do anything. Is there a single button backup/restore I can depend on when I ultimately fuck this up?

What is the system32 equivalent in linux

Is there an Android emulator that you can actually game on? I've tried a number of them (Android x86, Genymotion, Waydroid), but none of them can install a multitude of games from the Google Play store. The one thing keeping me on Windows is Android emulation (I like having one or two idle games running at any given time).

In the terminal, why can't i paste a command that i have copied to the clipboard, with the regular Ctrl+V shortcut? I have to actually use the mouse and right click to then select paste.

(Using Mint cinnamon)

On Android, when an app needs something like camera or location or whatever, you have to give it permission. Why isn't there something like this on Linux desktop? Or at least not by default when you install something through package manager.

Why in Linux, Software uses a particular version of a library? Why not just say it's dependent on that library regardless of version? It become pain in ass when you are using an ancient software it required old version of newer library so you have to create symlinks of every library to match old version.

I know that sometimes newer version of Library is not compatible with software but still. And what we can do as a software developer to fix this problem? Or as a end user.

I want to start with Btrfs and snapshots, is there a good, beginner friendly tutorial for those coming from a ext* filesystem?

I am still blowing up my install pretty often.

Other than the user folder, what else should I back up for a fast and painless reinstall next time I get too adventurous?
What should I break next?
Dose Nvidia hate me?
How do I stop Windows from fucking up my BIOS boot order every time?

Considering switching to Linux, but don't know what to choose/what will work for my needs. I want to be able to play my steam games, use discord desktop application, and use FL Studio. I need it to work with an audio interface and midi controller too. I am not interested in endless tweaking of settings, simple install would be nice. What should I go for?

Thank you for this nice thread! My question: what is Wayland all about? Why would I want to use it and not any of the older alternatives?

Why are debian-based systems still so popular for desktop usage? The lack of package updates creates a lot of unnecessary issues which were already fixed by the devs.

Newer (not bleeding edge) packages have verifiably less issues, e.g. when comparing the packages of a Debian and Fedora distro.

That's why I don't recommend Mint

How can I install non-free drivers on fedora like Debian and Ubuntu

How do you get the flavor out of it?

Is there a desktop environment with full wayland support other than Gnome and Plasma? I'd really like LXQT but without X.

I know about Sway and Hyprland but would prefer it if I didn't have to install and configure all the parts of a DE separately.

Any word on the next generation of matrix math acceleration hardware? Is anything currently getting integrated into the kernel? Where are the gource branches looking interesting for hardware pulls and merges?

How the hell do I set up my NAS (Synology) and laptop so that I have certain shares mapped when I'm on my home network - AND NOT freeze up the entire machine when I'm not???

For years I've been un/commenting a couple of lines in my fstab but it's just not okay to do it that way.

What's the difference between /bin and /usr/bin and /usr/local/bin from an architectural point of view? And how does sbin relate to this?

Short version: How do I install apps onto a different partition from the default in Pop_OS! (preferably from within the Pop Shop GUI)?

Long version: I have a dual boot with Windows and I shrunk my Win partition to install linux and eventually realized I wanted more space on the linux side so I shrunk my windows partition again. But Linux won't let me grow the existing partition since the free space isn't contiguous. Since I don't want to reinstall everything, I just created a data partition and have been using that for Steam installs. But I am still running low so yeah, looking to move some apps and realized it doesn't actually ask me where to install when I install. I saw this thread and figured I'd just ask.

I'm running Endeavour OS (KDE Plasma) and ran into a weird issue with my graphics. It's like windows sometimes flicker and flight with each other, some fullscreen videos won't play and just lock to a gray screen instead (e.g. in Steam, though YouTube is oddly fine), and most 3D games are super choppy and unplayable.

I'm not asking how to fix this, I just want to know how I start troubleshooting! I haven't done anything special with my system, and I think the issue started after a normal pacman update. My GPU is a GeForce GTX 1060.

Any suggestions to get started? I don't even know if the issue is Nvidia drivers, X, window manager, KDE, etc.

EDIT: The problem was Wayland. Fixed by logging in with X11 instead!

Ctrl Alt f1 f2 etc. Why do these desktops/cli exist. What was their intended purpose and what do people use them for today? Is it just legacy of does it stll serve a purpose?

How do people not using Debian/Ubuntu follow along with tutorials when their package manager doesn't have a package that's in Apt?

How can I run a sudo command automatically on startup? I need to run sudo alsactl restore to mute my microphone from playing In my own headphones on every reboot. Surely I can delegate that to the system somehow?

How do programs that measure available space like 'lsblk', 'df', 'zfs list' etc see hardlinks and estimate disk space.

If I am trying to manage disk space, does the file system correctly display disk space (for example a zfs list)? Or does it think that I have duplicate files/directories because it can't tell what is a hardlink?

Also, during move operations, zfs dataset migrations, etc... does the hardlinked file continue tracking where the original is? I know it is almost impossible at a system level to discern which is the original.

How do I install one Linux image to multiple machines at once?

Someone gifted me with some old iPad that's more than 10 years old. What steps should I take to install Linux on the iPad?

I'm a disabled gamer with lots of time on my hands. I'm considering dual booting Linux Mint (or something else equally easy to transition to) with Windows 10. My plan would be to entirely swap to Linux, but keep Windows for the few games that require it. However, I have some concerns.

Do I need to worry about certain niche programs I use not being Linux compatible, or do things like Wine make that irrelevant? I'm especially curious about 3rd party game/mod launchers, like GW2Launcher and XIVLauncher, or Overwolf/Curseforge.

What about Windows store apps-- is there any way to use them while in Linux? Sounds like a dumb question, but figured I'd ask just in case. This part isn't a deal breaker either way.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

This is the dumbest question ever, but here goes: I'm trying to use pika to make regular backups of my whole system to my synology Nas. So I'd choose "remote", but no matter what I enter after the SMB it doesn't take it. How do I back up to my synology Nas using pika? I like pika because the UI is fucking stupid simple, except this one little nugget.

I have windows PC with 6 drives, mostly SSD and on HDD that I assume are all NTFS. Two of the drives are nvme(?) attached to the mobo, and I only have one mobo with nvme slots. I have a number of older boards that top out at SATA connections.

If I install Linux Mint, can I format one nvme drive with whatever the current preferred linux formatting is, install Mint, and move the files from the other drives around as I format each one?

Or do I need to move all the data I want to keep to SATA drives, put them in a different windows box, and then copy them over using a network connection?

It's been a while and I'm guessing my lack of finding an answer means linux still doesn't work with NTFS enough to do what I'm thinking of.

@cyclohexane Is there any risk for me to try installing Linux on my MacBook (intel) and are there specific distros that run better on a macbook?

I use Kali Linux for cybersecurity work and learning in a VM on my Windows computer. If I ever moved completely over to Linux, what should I do, can I use Kali as my complete desktop?

what is hyprland

why do ppl use the CLI for things like making and moving files? i find the GUI easier and faster as well as less prone to mistakes

what is wayland and xorg, and why does everyone argue about them

How do I enable DNS over HTTPS or DNS over TLS for all connections in NetworkManager in Debian 12?

It is easy to configure custom DNS servers for all connections via a new .conf file in /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d with a servers=8.8.8.8 entry in the [global-dns-domain-*] section.

How can I configure NetworkManager to use DNS over HTTPS or DNS over TLS via a conf file?

What is the practical difference between Arch and Debian based systems? Like what can you actually do on one that you can't on the other?

Question about moving from Ubuntu to Debian - Package updates and security updates...

On Ubuntu, I seem to get notifications almost every week about new package updates. (Through the apt UI)

On Debian, I don't see this.

I can run apt update and apt upgrade

On Ubuntu, I see this pull a bunch of package data from various package repo URLs.

On Debian, I only see this pulling package data from two or three repo URLs at debian.org

Mainly I am concerned about security updates and bug fixes. Do I need to manually add other repo sources to the apt config files? Or does debian update those repos regularly?

What you think about Declarative system management.Do u use it?

Is wine still the "most windows" distro?

I want to turn a Microsoft surface go 2 into a kali linux machine. I would appreciate any guidance pulling this off. I want use it for learning it security stuff, partly for work but mostly for curiosity. Occasionally I run across malware, trojans, and I want to look under the hood to see how they work. I'm assuming Kali is the best tool for the job and that Lemmy is the place to go for tooling around with tools.

Is there any performance difference between KDE and GNOME?

Is explicit sync a good enough solution to make wayland gaming with nvidia a reality(+ remove window flickering like some people claim it will)? It's the last obstacle I find now trying to move my main pc to linux, and I don't really want to use x11.

Pd. Lesson learned, next time I'll get an AMD gpu.

How can I hide a pinned post without blocking the poster? It bothers me having this at the top of my list all the time, like some reminder on my phone I can't ack and make go away.

[interview question]

Assuming a user is a root, can this user create a file that couldn't be read or deleted by other roots? ....by the same user?

what is the difference between Wayland and xorg, why would you choose one over the other?

I bought a cheap Intel i226-v nic to use 2.5gbe in Unraid and it tries to auto configure to 100mbps. I realize now that the Intel 2.5gbe nics have issues, so is there anything I could do to get it to play nice, or does anyone know of a solid low profile 2.5gbe nic I could use without breaking the bank?

I feel like I'm getting performance below what I've been getting on windows for the same games when I'm booting in Linux. Top of the head example is COD WWII, the gameplay and cutscenes stagger a lot but runs fine on windows with the same hardware. I've checked that my graphics card is being used by Linux but I just feel like I'm missing some settings that would optimise it.

I'm running Linux mint with a NVIDIA GTX1070. I know there's some issues with NVIDIA and Linux but would that be the full reason?