Any other Linux users here? And has anyone fully migrated?

[_oBSOLEte_]

I thought flatpaks were "sandboxed" by default as I had to use Flatseal to give access to other home paths to HeroicLauncher.

 

[diapered]

I thought flatpaks were "sandboxed" by default as I had to use Flatseal to give access to other home paths to HeroicLauncher.

Yes, they "should" be and I understand needing to maybe give extra permissions later. But why would a flatpak need full system access by default?

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Yes, they "should" be and I understand needing to maybe give extra permissions later. But why would a flatpak need full system access by default?

Yep seems weird. Never tried Dolphin from flatpaks tho. Retroarch is a flatpak on this box here and there's no core needing more permissions. Maybe run clamAV on the pak you got.

 

[diapered]

Yep seems weird. Never tried Dolphin from flatpaks tho. Retroarch is a flatpak on this box here and there's no core needing more permissions. Maybe run clamAV on the pak you got.

Yea, I thought it was weird, so I guess not just me.

Huh, is there a reason you use the retroarch flatpak? Does it just come with all current stable cores? I have never had a problem building retroarch/cores on an Arch based (manjaro, garuda) distro so never saw a need... But yea, I have encountered problems on debian based. Recently, I tried a fresh mint install and it gave me headaches with retroarch.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Yea, I thought it was weird, so I guess not just me.

Huh, is there a reason you use the retroarch flatpak? Does it just come with all current stable cores? I have never had a problem building retroarch/cores on an Arch based (manjaro, garuda) distro so never saw a need... But yea, I have encountered problems on debian based. Recently, I tried a fresh mint install and it gave me headaches with retroarch.

I've tried both deb packs and flatpaks, because I had issues with running the ScummVM core and some stuttering while using shaders. I also got it running from the Arch repo on the laptop. They're all fine, but on this box I ended up continuing to use the flat version.

For the record, turns out the stuttering issue is solved by using the framerate limit in the core options and set it to 30 or 50.

 

[SpikeSlania]

Yea flatpaks are great, I use a few on my manjaro install (the way manjaro releases packages makes it sometimes the only real option which is one thing that made me consider getting away from manjaro, despite how much I like it ;_;), but some make me paranoid, even if it is something non-critical like an emulator. For example, I do not use the dolphin emulator flatpak; it worries me it has full system read access and ones like duckstation work just fine without that. Fortunately, I find the dolphin core works perfect in retroarch, so don't need it anyway. Maybe I'm just paranoid?

I think I can give the full file system read access a pass since the code is open so it is under scrutiny by many users on what it is doing. The one that is giving me more pause is the read and write in Discord, though that may be a feature to show people what game you are currently playing. I'm not a coder so I wouldn't know what I'm looking at in the github, I just know when something does happen normally Brodie reports on it and gives me my FOSS Tea :P

 

[Deleted member 322096]

I've been thinking about starting programming for college and I hear Linux is great for programming, what do you guys think?

 

[SpikeSlania]

I've been thinking about starting programming for college and I hear Linux is great for programming, what do you guys think?

It really depends on what type of programming you plan on doing. In the business world Linux is mainly used for servers and cyber security/IT. A lot of the programs we use on Linux is also available on Windows. Even without Linux you should be able to join FOSS communities and receive tips and tricks eventually leading up to you possibly committing lines of code to projects. I know the Linux kernel uses mainly C with some Assembly and a very small amount of Rust. But using a Distro like Arch and getting all of your programs through the terminal and delving into Ricing I can see improving your programming skills. Though if the reason you want to use Linux is due to Kali Linux, would recommend not letting people outside of the Kali Linux community know that that's what you're using.

 

[Deleted member 322096]

It really depends on what type of programming you plan on doing. In the business world Linux is mainly used for servers and cyber security/IT. A lot of the programs we use on Linux is also available on Windows. Even without Linux you should be able to join FOSS communities and receive tips and tricks eventually leading up to you possibly committing lines of code to projects. I know the Linux kernel uses mainly C with some Assembly and a very small amount of Rust. But using a Distro like Arch and getting all of your programs through the terminal and delving into Ricing I can see improving your programming skills. Though if the reason you want to use Linux is due to Kali Linux, would recommend not letting people outside of the Kali Linux community know that that's what you're using.

I see, thank you. I'm mainly interested in the business world so I guess I'll have to stick to Windows, and if I want to spend a bit of my free time programming I prefer to use stuff that can be useful for work too, but I can see myself diving more into the Arch stuff. It's good to improve my programming and I get to say "I use Arch btw" too, lol.

 

[SpikeSlania]

I see, thank you. I'm mainly interested in the business world so I guess I'll have to stick to Windows, and if I want to spend a bit of my free time programming I prefer to use stuff that can be useful for work too, but I can see myself diving more into the Arch stuff. It's good to improve my programming and I get to say "I use Arch btw" too, lol.

That would be when dual booting could come in handy. Have your main OS be Windows and then when you want to tinker around in Arch just switch over to it. Though I in good faith can never recommend setting up a dual boot system on one storage device since if you don't know what you're doing with partitioning you could end up deleting files and losing data. I always prefer having separate storage devices for my OSes.

 

[Leon]

View attachment 44478
I think I can give the full file system read access a pass since the code is open so it is under scrutiny by many users on what it is doing. The one that is giving me more pause is the read and write in Discord, though that may be a feature to show people what game you are currently playing. I'm not a coder so I wouldn't know what I'm looking at in the github, I just know when something does happen normally Brodie reports on it and gives me my FOSS Tea :P

Discord is known to collect user data, most emulators need low level access to access the full potential of your hardware, but can't send data back, your gpu driver on windows also needs low level access for this reason, basically if something is given that extra access in flatpak it's likely been reviewed to ensure it's safety.

And yes, anti-cheat software could work this way as well, but most anti-cheat software go much further than this and technically qualify more as spyware.

 

[Deleted member 322096]

That would be when dual booting could come in handy. Have your main OS be Windows and then when you want to tinker around in Arch just switch over to it. Though I in good faith can never recommend setting up a dual boot system on one storage device since if you don't know what you're doing with partitioning you could end up deleting files and losing data. I always prefer having separate storage devices for my OSes.

I actually was dual-booting Win11 and Mint for a while, it was on a second SSD though so I avoided huge messes. I ended up deleting Mint though because there wasn't really much use for it, so now I just have this spare SSD lying around lol. I'm planning to use it on an old laptop I'm trying to fix, I'm getting POST codes and my suspicion is that the RAM has gone bad. Don't have any spare RAM though so I can't really verify unfortunately.

 

[Leon]

I actually was dual-booting Win11 and Mint for a while, it was on a second SSD though so I avoided huge messes. I ended up deleting Mint though because there wasn't really much use for it, so now I just have this spare SSD lying around lol. I'm planning to use it on an old laptop I'm trying to fix, I'm getting POST codes and my suspicion is that the RAM has gone bad. Don't have any spare RAM though so I can't really verify unfortunately.

If it has 2 sticks you can yank one out to test it, another option is memtest x86, it's designed to check for ram errors and boots from well, boot, hence why it's os agnostic.

 

[Deleted member 322096]

If it has 2 sticks you can yank one out to test it

Nope, only one unfortunately.

another option is memtest x86, it's designed to check for ram errors and boots from well, boot, hence why it's os agnostic.

Problem is, the laptop doesn't even boot past the post code. I just get the POST code beep and then it just displays a black screen and nothing can be done. How would I get memtest x86 on it? I don't think I can even pull up the boot menu. It does boot normally sometimes but it's like a 1% chance.

 

[diapered]

I've been thinking about starting programming for college and I hear Linux is great for programming, what do you guys think?

YES! I would say it is the best way to learn. You want to get your hands dirty! And easy access to the terminal I think is necessary for that (Windows will not provide that experience). Don't start with an IDE, learn how to build your own codes and run them using only a text editor and the command line.

 

[Deleted member 322096]

YES! I would say it is the best way to learn. You want to get your hands dirty! And easy access to the terminal I think is necessary for that (Windows will not provide that experience). Don't start with an IDE, learn how to build your own codes and run them using only a text editor and the command line.

Noted, thanks for the advice!

 

[Leon]

Nope, only one unfortunately.

Problem is, the laptop doesn't even boot past the post code. I just get the POST code beep and then it just displays a black screen and nothing can be done. How would I get memtest x86 on it? I don't think I can even pull up the boot menu. It does boot normally sometimes but it's like a 1% chance.

Does it reach bios?
If it reaches bios than memtest x86 will work as it works before it tries to boot into OS, if it's not even able to get to bios, it's more than ram that's the issue, it sounds like a corrupted bios chip.

 

[Deleted member 322096]

Does it reach bios?
If it reaches bios than memtest x86 will work as it works before it tries to boot into OS

I don't think so. It does sometimes but very rarely, I'm just hoping it's a RAM issue and not a motherboard issue.

if it's not even able to get to bios, it's more than ram that's the issue, it sounds like a corrupted bios chip.

Damn, I was really hoping this wasn't the issue. Weird thing is, it doesn't always happen. The first time I booted the PC after like 10 years it worked fine, but after that it never even got to the BIOS. Is this the typical behavior for corrupted BIOS chips? I hope they can be replaced but honestly I don't think that's possible. Is the laptop screwed for good?

 

[Leon]

I don't think so. It does sometimes but very rarely, I'm just hoping it's a RAM issue and not a motherboard issue.

Damn, I was really hoping this wasn't the issue. Weird thing is, it doesn't always happen. The first time I booted the PC after like 10 years it worked fine, but after that it never even got to the BIOS. Is this the typical behavior for corrupted BIOS chips? I hope they can be replaced but honestly I don't think that's possible. Is the laptop screwed for good?

Bios chips cannot be replaced, get a liveusb of linux mint and unplug the windows drive, if the drive is the problem hopefully it will boot into the liveusb, if it does then you can rule out the bios chip, also bios means the hammer f12 or delete key depending on the motherboard screen i mean, the splash screen that says for example, acer or asus.

If that screen shows up, your bios is fine and it's either the memory or drive, if it's the drive you can use a liveusb to test linux until you can get another ssd.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

View attachment 44478
I think I can give the full file system read access a pass since the code is open so it is under scrutiny by many users on what it is doing. The one that is giving me more pause is the read and write in Discord, though that may be a feature to show people what game you are currently playing. I'm not a coder so I wouldn't know what I'm looking at in the github, I just know when something does happen normally Brodie reports on it and gives me my FOSS Tea :P

Damn you made me realize, all of the flatpaks are potentially unsafe here. I truly live on the edge, I guess.

 

[SpikeSlania]

Damn you made me realize, all of the flatpaks are potentially unsafe here. I truly live on the edge, I guess.

If you compare Dolphin to Duckstation you can see how different they are. Each flatpack is different. I think all gaming flatpaks will be labeled potentially unsafe since they want to access your controllers. Don't look at Discord's list of potential unsafe features, might give you a heart attack :P But atleast on flathub they will tell you all potential problems while if you were to go to Dolphin's or Discord's website to download it directly there is no potential warnings :P

 

[Deleted member 322096]

Bios chips cannot be replaced, get a liveusb of linux mint and unplug the windows drive, if the drive is the problem hopefully it will boot into the liveusb, if it does then you can rule out the bios chip, also bios means the hammer f12 or delete key depending on the motherboard screen i mean, the splash screen that says for example, acer or asus.

If that screen shows up, your bios is fine and it's either the memory or drive, if it's the drive you can use a liveusb to test linux until you can get another ssd.

I'll follow those steps, thank you very much for the help

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

View attachment 44503
If you compare Dolphin to Duckstation you can see how different they are. Each flatpack is different. I think all gaming flatpaks will be labeled potentially unsafe since they want to access your controllers. Don't look at Discord's list of potential unsafe features, might give you a heart attack :P But atleast on flathub they will tell you all potential problems while if you were to go to Dolphin's or Discord's website to download it directly there is no potential warnings :P

Which is the worst tho? Controlling your webcam or having read access to all the files... XD

I Dont like the Discord app, only use it in the browser. And I'm not fond of Flatpak. I thought the whole point of having the apps installed in ~/.var/app with unhandy subfolders names and a new layer of permissions was to have them properly sandboxed, really. At best, when everything on the store is "potentially unsafe", it looks more like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, or some disclaimer stuff from their legal team than actual information. F-Droid on my smartphone does it better with describing anti-features.

 

[diapered]

View attachment 44503
If you compare Dolphin to Duckstation you can see how different they are. Each flatpack is different. I think all gaming flatpaks will be labeled potentially unsafe since they want to access your controllers. Don't look at Discord's list of potential unsafe features, might give you a heart attack :P But atleast on flathub they will tell you all potential problems while if you were to go to Dolphin's or Discord's website to download it directly there is no potential warnings :P

Yes! that's exactly what I was talking about @SpikeSlania ! Yea, I understand device access (lol, how are you going to use a controller?) and it needs permissions to audio devices and I think network access is pretty standard. But some permissions for emulators like dolphin seem excessive, to me. I'm sure the applications are safe, but why is duckstation pretty much perfect in this regard but others are not?

Duckstation also has the added plus that the developer is involved. However, as far as flatpaks go, that is not a deal breaker even for a paranoid person like me: I do understand that just means the developer is not interested in flatpaks.

 

[Leon]

Yes! that's exactly what I was talking about @SpikeSlania ! Yea, I understand device access (lol, how are you going to use a controller?) and it needs permissions to audio devices and I think network access is pretty standard. But some permissions for emulators like dolphin seem excessive, to me. I'm sure the applications are safe, but why is duckstation pretty much perfect in this regard but others are not?

Duckstation also has the added plus that the developer is involved. However, as far as flatpaks go, that is not a deal breaker even for a paranoid person like me: I do understand that just means the developer is not interested in flatpaks.

If i remember specifically in dolphin's case it's related to it's internet and device features, i think the wiimote support also needs some deep access too but i don't remember why.