r/linux4noobs

I've been using Linux for half a year (Linux Mint, but hopped to CachyOS yesterday). And I've used Windows all my life, so I am used go write fast on a keyboard.

One of the biggest issues I had going yo a unix system is how Caps Lock work.

On Windows, you click Caps Locks and activates, you click again and deactivates. But on Unix it doesn't work like that, there you click Caps Lock and activates, you click again but it doesn't deactivate when you click BUT when you release the button. Which seems like no issue, but someone that types fast will start writing double caps letter like this. "HEllo JHonny. THis is an example."

It is infuriating. I contacted friends IRL that are using Linux and they just gaslighted me into a "me" problem. Like "Just use Shift, instead of Caps Locks" or just plainly not understanding what or how that can be a problem.

I searched on all the keyboard options, on Cinnamon and KDE, you can make Caps Lock become a clone of Esc key, another Ctrl, you can deactivate the key... But change that behaviour? No. Impossible. Doesn't matter if Wayland or x11.

I read information and I found that it was on purpose to make the same feeling as a typewriter. Cool. But why force it? Isn't Linux supposed to be a way to feel my computer to feel like MY computer? Anyway, sorry for the tangent

In the end I had to use a script, on Cinnamon DE, that sometimes (randomly) stopped working, and had to reactivate. And on Wayland KDE Plasma, something similar but tied to a rule on the keyboard options.

But using proton to play a game? Yeah f u, it doesn't work there.

Anyway, I am just ranting at this point. I just wanna understand what is the purpose, why it seems like no issue for so many people. And why I cannot just change it with an option like "Change Caps Lock behaviour to press instead of release"

Or maybe I am just missing something?

For me, learning a few basics completely changed how comfortable I felt using Linux. Things like:

• grep
• chmod
• top
• journalctl
• rsync

What’s one command or tool you wish someone had taught you much earlier and why?

I have 2 computers.

A small thinkpad with 6gb of RAM + i5 and a PC with 16gb + i7 but it has w10

options?

Hi all,

I have an issue where the input latency that i can record music at increases when I connect my USB mic. I already have one USB interface connected and the latency sits at 2.6ms but when I connect the second device it increases to 4.0ms.

Could someone help me with this please? As I understand, only the sample rate and buffer size should affect the latency. How can two different devices have different latencies with all other settings remaining unchanged?

system info

this is some of /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf

here's the audio routing

this is what my Digital Audio Workstation (reaper) is saying while the RØDE is plugged in. with the RØDE unplugged it's indentical except the 4.0 becomes 2.6

The GT-1000 device gives me 2.6ms on the input and the output, the "Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI)" also gives me 2.6 on the output (and 0.0ms on the input for some reason).
The "RØDE NT1 5th Gen Mono" (which I have connected via the USB cable not the XLR) gives me 4.0 ms.

thanks for reading this far and thanks in advance for any help/advice

EDIT: something else that just occured to me was that this mic is able to record at 32 bit. The WAVs that I get in reaper are only 24 so, if anyone knows how to change that (presumably it's a system thing, not a reaper thing) please do tell...

thanks

This may be a very stupid question born out of naivety.

I’ve read in multiple places that the codecs are only supported in Resolve Studio for Linux, including in Blackmagics Docs.

And okay fine, I can read and understand that. But why?

Why are these codecs available on Windows and Mac without paying, but not on Linux?

And if there is a solid reason for the above, what makes transcoding the best solution rather than some sort of extension/plugin?

What I’m struggling to understand is why there isn’t a workaround? The Linux community seems so inventive and driven, and while video editing isn’t huge in Linux, it also seems like it is an annoyance for a large enough number of people that I would’ve expected some attempt to be made.

So I thought there must be something about how the app is put together, or how it “talks” to the system that makes this difficult.

Would appreciate any replies, I’ve done some research but I’m still a bit confused.

I want to learn to rice linux, but I don't think tiling is what I want (I quite like having my windows overlap instead of having them side-by-side).

Is there something really customisable and dotfile-based like Hyprland, but isn't tiled?

Hi, I've been trying to get this little pc usable as it came with windows 10 and was practically unusable with how slow it ran. So i have been distro hopping trying to find one that not only worked but fit my use case. The issue is finding one that worked with the specs.

2gb ram 32gb storage. In edition to trying to find a distro that works which i half did in void, i have another question as the pc came with a 32bit efi bootloader but a 64 bit processor, do I need to be looking for 32bit versions or 64bit versions?

TLDR: I think I have an NVIDIA GPU, I do very lightweight gaming on Steam not that often, will do VS Code, GitHub and Dockers, general web browsing and willing to take a learning curve. Seek stability above cutting edge. Thinking about Ubuntu, not sure if Mint fit my needs. Worried the GPU won’t allow Linux to work. Arch is likely too much.

Hello ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between. I bought a PC about 6 years ago and I didn’t used it for a year or two since it has an HDD, takes 5 minutes to boot and I broke the SSD I bought for it by accident. I got a laptop for my school work and I’be been using it since. I study in IT and I’m pretty new to the whole Linux, though I think I’m starting to understand the difference between distributions? I am willing to have a learning curve if needed and use the terminal, that’s not an issue. We all know Windows is called that way because this is where you’re gonna throw the PC after it implements Copilot into loading screens, but I might stick around with it on my laptop until graduation to make sure I don’t encounter software compatibility issues.

Usage
So, I think I’ll be using it for a lot of common web browsing stuff. No big surprise. However, I will use VS Studio Code a lot and I will be experimenting with Docker and stuff. As much as I **despise** Cisco Packet Tracer and I wish to never use it again, I might need to use it again. I heard that it was only compatible with Debian or Ubuntu based distribution so that already guide mu choices.

As for Gaming, I don’t really game on my PC often. I prefer consoles to separate entertainment and work/studies. Maybe a few lightweight games like One Finger Death Punch, some Lego games and Potion Craft Alchemist Simulator on Steam. I don’t like big competitive multiplayer games so I don’t think the kernel anti-cheat will matter to me.

For my specs, I think it’s about 8-12Gb of RAM, upcoming SSD and I think it’s an intel CPU and an NVIDIA GPU, which might be a problem. Iirc, Linux enjoy NVIDIA as much as a child enjoys broccoli and it might just straight up bit work? Hopefully I don’t need to buy another PC because my budget is as stable as the little pig’s straw house.

Disto I had in mind
For my choices of distributions, I heard of Mint and a few other beginner friendly OS. I don’t really know if Mint would work for my needs since for all the hours of YouTube guides I’ve watched yesterday, they made a big emphasis on separating “beginner disto” from the “programmer disto”… so what gives? I am thinking about using Ubuntu for that reason, any other disto you would recommend for a Windows refuge who still need to do programming? You guys know better than me. Thanks a lot for your time in advance, might take some time to answer since I’m in the middle of my final exams rush.

I have a family member with an old, slow computer running Windows 10 Free Edition, so I want to download a Linux distro for him. His computer is the Acer Aspire 4740G with the following specs:

• CPU: Intel Core i3-330M
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 310M (has 512 MB of VRAM)
• RAM: 4 GB DDR3
• Storage: 1 TB Samsung SSD(the only thing he upgraded)

As you can see, it's practically a potato with parts attached. He isn't exactly good with PCs(he once asked me how to turn off his computer lmao) , so I want something relatively easy to set up(I'll be doing that for him and I'm a pretty nerdy guy when it comes to PCs), familiar to him since he uses Windows and easy to fix problems with. Ideally, problems, if they ever pop up, should be easy to diagnose and fix. My Linux nerd friend said Endeavor OS(Arch-based, I'm not sure about that one lol), but I know for a fact that you guys know more. Any recommendations?

Hi!

Today I received two Security Updates.

How can I know what they were about?

Also, what happened with CVE-2026-31431 (Copy Fail) Patch?

When that Security Update is going to be available, and how to know?

Thank you!

From the net:

The patch for the CVE-2026-31431 vulnerability, known as Copy Fail, is currently being rolled out across various Linux distributions. However, specific information regarding the availability of this patch for Zorin OS 18.1 has not been provided.

Recommended Actions:

* Check Official Channels: It is advisable to monitor Zorin OS's official website or community forums for updates on the patch status.

* Stay Informed: Follow security advisories related to Zorin OS to ensure you receive timely information about the patch release.

General Patch Status for Other Distributions

Distribution Patch Status Notes:

Ubuntu, Not patched (mostly), No broadly released fixed kernels

Debian, Patched, Fix available in latest kernel packages

RHEL, Patching in progress, Gradual rollout of backported fixes

Fedora, Patching in progress, Updates being released

Not applying the CVE-2026-31431 patch on Zorin OS 18.1 can lead to local privilege escalation, allowing an unprivileged user to gain root access, which could compromise the entire system. Additionally, it may facilitate container escape scenarios in environments running untrusted workloads.

I am finishing my first desktop build and want to finally migrate completely to Linux. I have some experience in Ubuntu because of university, all the pcs there use Ubuntu and I installed it on a VM in Windows (I share a laptop with my family) to see if Linux could work for me. The good news is it did, but I need some help.

I want to use the pc to play, but casualy, probably not many new releases and definetly not in ultra high configs. The options Ive thought are:

-Gaming-centered distro

-Dual boot between a "main" distro and another gaming centered distro

-Non gaming centered distro with Proton

-Non gaming centered distro with VM

Still doing research, so if you have any recommendations about some specific distro I will be pleased to read

Firstly, apologies if this is a dumb question.

I am semi computer literate* but have long ruled out going to linux because I just don't know enough about it (I don't even know what I don't know). But now I have a bit more time and want to begin dabbling with linux. Is it a good idea to buy a cheap computer (even something like a raspberry pi) to experiment with this, and, if so, are there any cheap brands/models that are particularly recommended for someone who wants to learn from the ground up and take their time with it? Also any distro that would best suit someone knew to this OS (coming from exclusively windows experience).

Thanks in advance for any advice/recommendations!

*by this I mean I am comfortable with command line, coding and other things but I have big gap in knowledge regarding hardware and differences between OSs.

I want to switch to linux because windows steals all my ram from my poor 8gb stick. I mainly my pc for gaming. Mostly war thunder and minecraft and sometimes cs source (poor 8gb ram stick cant run cs2). Please help me choose a distro. Thanks

Hello, previously on kubuntu if I wanted to see which nvidia driver I had installed and update it, there was a slightly hidden but still accessible "additional drivers" settings menu I could find that would let me access that. However now, after my recent update to 26.04, I absolutely cannot find that menu. it does not show up in the system search bar, or when searching within system settings. it is not in the "software update" menu as google suggests, and even the direct command to open that menu does not work anymore (although I cannot remember what that command was currently). Was this feature removed by ubuntu or kubuntu? is there a way to re add it? I cant find any news about it being depreciated or removed, but its just gone.

Edit: I'm aware there is a console only command that does something similar, but when possible i would prefer a gui, if only so i do not have to repeatedly lookup what that one command was and its syntax

TLDR, because i am just venting down there:
Is there any step by step Video series or workshop i can follow, to get started with linux, mostly for gaming.

Because I hate Windows 11 I decided to try ubuntu, which is kinda working on my laptop.

But because I love gaming i wanted to try dual booting it on my PC, which to my endless suffering has a nvidia graphics card, which seems to be on of the deadly sins of linux.

I tried POP OS which had a problem with about everything i did. But the drivers worked and i had internet, but i wanted better so i tried Ubuntu and here my experience was also kinda horrible, because Ubuntu seems to have a problem with 5 GHZ Wifi (which is the industry standard since about 10 years) and after many problem solving videos and tutorials i deleted my complet networkmanager and i cant get it back.

The thing is i really hate Microsoft and I really want to master Linux, because I dont want to be a consumer victim anymore

I'm going to be dual booting mint cinnamon and windows 11. If I realize I need more storage in either side, how would I resize the partitions?

Hey there! I'm completely new to Linux, but I ended up using it because Windows was giving me constant headaches with kiosk mode configuration.

I'm setting up a terminal that only opens Chromium on fullScreen, and I created a custom keyboard in Python. The problem is that I can't find a way to automatically show the keyboard when an input/text field is selected inside Chromium.

I know Linux has native on-screen keyboards, but I was asked to only display certain keys (letters, numbers, and a few symbols), and Onboard doesn't seem to work. (some /bin error)

Inside the browser, I have a website I made, but the payment flow opens another tab that goes to a third-party website I don't own, so I can't modify the inputs there to somehow trigger the keyboard.

Does anyone know of a solution for this?

I've been wanting Linux for a awhile but I am computer illiterate so my best chances are is to just buy a computer that has Linux. But what's a good computer brand that has Linux preloaded because there are so many options?