Linux

Putting together a new Linux HTPC build and looking for a 10ft UI WM/DE to use with it. Essentially, it would be a launcher for a few PWAs (Emby, Netflix, etc) as well as Steam and maybe some emulators. Navigation would likely be a wireless keyboard and, if absolutely necessary, mouse (goal is to get a bluetooth remote working and use that, but that's the next phase).

I haven't used Kodi since it was still Xbox Media Center (running on an actual Xbox lol), but would it be a good choice? I used it forever ago as the dashboard for my modded Xbox, and it was great. However, for this, I'd rather not run Kodi, if possible, since Emby already covers those use-cases.

If there's no "dedicated" one, any recommendations for which regular DE might be best modifiable/extendable to work for that purpose?

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/13008257

SUSE just open-sourced a typeface :)

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/19007507

For context:
I've encrypted the swap partition with:

cryptsetup -v luksFormat /dev/${DEVICE}
cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/${DEVICE} swap

And what I want is for the user to be able to enter their password only once to decrypt their root partition which would contain a keyfile to then decrypt their swap partition.

Does anyone know if this is possible?
Just thought I'd ask to see if anyone's done this already

Links:

• Dm-crypt Unlocking - With a keyfile embedded in the initramfs
• Dm-crypt - Automated unlocking and mounting

H1_SD is the name of a MicroSD card I'm connecting, it does connect a second later, but it's annoying to keep dismissing this error every time. I am also getting it with regular SD cards and USB Drives regardless on which USB Port I've connected it to, and which format it's been partitioned too. NTFS, exfat, fat all respond similarly.

EDIT Welp, I was able to brute force a "fix". There appeared to be an issue with the Nemo configuration between 21 and 22. Not sure what the issue was specifically, but deleting the users ~/.config/nemo and a reboot fixed it for me.

I've tried every tutorial I could find. From symlinking the desired terminal to gnome-terminal, or using the update-alternatives command to using the gsettings command to set the default terminal. Nothing works.

What is the definitive way to set the default terminal for this GUI action? And why is this so hard to do?!

I'm on Fedora if it's relevant.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/15787798

Archived version

Naomi Wu has disappeared. Perhaps she has been disappeared. That’s not rare in China.

[...]

The proximate cause of her apparent disappearance, as Jackie Singh explains in detail here, was a discovery that Naomi Wu, an experienced coder, had made. It seemed that the cute little cellphone keyboard applications developed by the Chinese company Tencent, and used by just about everyone, were spyware. They could log keystrokes, and did it outside of even very secure applications such as Signal, so things that were sent securely could be “phoned home” by the keyboard app itself.

It seems, though the evidence is coincidental, that this was one too many cats let out of the bag, and the Chinese communist government of Winnie Xi Pooh acted quickly, with the results (probably understated) in the Tweet quoted above.

[...]

The silence has been deafening. People on the internet, especially young, enthusiastic websters, have long been thought unbelievably shallow, in it for whatever they could get out of it, and unwilling to take a stand on something important unless there was profit in it for them. We needn’t think that anymore — now we know it’s true.

What can be done? [...] Our government won’t lift a finger even for American citizens or very well known Chinese figures trapped under the thumb of the Disney-character’s evil lookalike, or the Uyghurs, unless there’s some political gain to be had, such as with the tattooed LGBT WNBA player who couldn’t be bothered to leave her dope at home during a visit to Russia.

[...]

China was afraid that silencing Naomi Wu would make the government there look bad. Let’s prove them right.

Should be a very common issue

KeepassDX + KeepassXC, Android to Linux.

Synced with Syncthing.

I do a change on the password manager on one device and on another, Android killed Syncthing again so now I have 2 files, one called "sync conflict".

Both files have some new change, I need to keep both.

When using the import feature in KeepassXC, I think everything is duplicated. This would be the best place to do this.

Any idea how to merge them or at least show the diffs?

Displaying all entries, without folders, sorted by date, could also already help.

kinda-solution

In KeepassXC, bottom left, "all entries". Alternatively, search for "*".

Then sort by date.

This helps to compare the most recent changes, and copy them over to the want-to-keep version of the file.

I run Davinci Resolve on my machines and I've had a heck of a time trying to install/run it on Linux Mint 22.

So I put off upgrading my main rig until a good enough resolution came around. Which turned out to be this. I followed it and it worked for me.

Apparently this is an issue caused by Ubuntu 24.04 so this guide will help if you have issues on Ubuntu too.

This is a combo of 2 tricks.

Based off this german guide, a bit outdated and not suited for the Flatpak

Goal

a signature like

Firstname Lastname
Role
_____
<fancy logo>
Company name
Contact info including website and mail

This is probably really easy in Outlook, and kinda linux-y (bundling together parts that only make sense if you are a programmer) on Thunderbird.

1. The Sandbox

When attaching an image, Thunderbird Flatpak needs to have permanent access to that location.

By default it uses portals, so if you use "attach image" it will use some /run/doc/... folder that is gone after restarting the app.

For some reason, using the KDE Plasma Flatpak settings or Flatseal, granting the app access to a certain location, doesnt work, even if you use the real location of the image.

So instead:

1. Create a directory in the internal Flatpak's folder

mkdir ~/.var/app/org.mozilla.thunderbird/SIGNATURE

2. Copy the attachment image there (company logo etc.)
3. Copy the path to the image (for example in KDE Dolphin, no idea about GNOME)

2. The HTML Signature

Just write a new mail (Ctrl+N) and write exactly your signature in there.

You dont need the

--

As that is automatically inserted below the last line.

Add the picture, but replace the path with the real path, not the /run/doc/... one of the portal.

Then the image is inserted, you can resize it.

Now instead of sending, in the menu under "File" use "Save to..." and instead of .eml use .html.

If you want to add a clickable mail address, in the mail compose toolbar, behind the "picture icon" there is a menu, select the "link" icon.

You can add a normal http/https link there. But using mailto:[email protected] you can make it a clickable mail link!

(Whoever needs that in a mail)

3. Sandbox again.

Save that file to the same ~/.var/app/org.mozilla.thunderbird/SIGNATURE folder.

4. Account settings

Navigate to these settings, in the first page of your account, instead of writing your signature, use "use HTML file".

Select the file or paste the exact ~/.var/app/... location in there, again, dont use the portal.

Done!

Once figured out it makes sense. That directory in the Flatpaks storage will not be deleted or interrupt anything. So this is a clean way.

flatpak remove --delete-data thunderbird would purge that entire folder and all it's contents.

Using "rum" and a custom version by "ElementalWarrior" of WINE, compiled yourself.

Should also work in a Distrobox container

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/18636248

I've always approached learning Linux by just diving into it and bashing my head against problems as they come until I either solve them or give up, the latter being the more common outcome.

I wouldn't take this approach with other pieces of software though - I'd read guides, best practices, have someone recommend me good utility tools or extensions to install, which shortcuts to use or what kind of file hierarchy to use, etc.
For example, for python I'd always recommend the "Automate the boring stuff with Python", I remember learning most Java with that "Head first Java" book back in the days, c# has really good official guides for all concepts, libraries, patterns, etc.

So... lemme try that with Linux then! Are there any good resources, youtube videos, bloggers or any content creators, books that go explain everything important about linux to get it running in an optimal and efficient way that are fun and interesting to read? From things like how the file hierarchy works, what is /etc, how to install new programs with proper permissions, when to use sudo, what is a flatpak and why use it over something else, how to backup your system so you can easily reconstruct your setup in case you need to do an OS refresh, etc? All those things that people take for granted but are actually a huge obstacle course + minefield for beginners?

And more importantly, that it's up to date with actually good advice?