====== Linux Notes ======

Random notes about Linux discovering along the way. 

==== Favorite as of Oct 2024 ZorinOS ====

I was using zorin on old computers as more of a necessity but now I'm finding I like it quite a lot even on my main or secondary computer. Probably going to buy the license for Pro, just to support the application. It's really great what they've got going on. Seems to be a best of for a lot of things. We'll see what the future holds. For older computers, I might look at an OS with even less resources, only problem is support for various things like wireless. 

==== Favorite Apps to Install on Linux ====

Brave, vlc, Blender, Inkscape, GIMP, VSCodium, Krita, Kdenlive, DaVinci, Kodi, Lunacy (UX), Penpot Desktop (UX), Steam, kSnip, Marble, Minetest, Signal, NextCloud, Immich, Zorin Sync, freeplane, keepassx, minder, tor, RSS Guard, Mousai song id, xnview, OBS, MKVToolNix, 

=== Other Interesting Apps ===

Surge Engine (2D game dev), Mindustry, TeeWorld (multiplayer shooter?), leocad, kolibri, scratch, scrivano, space launch, sumo traffic sim, tropy research app, appflowy, anytype, callibre, calligraphy ascii, chronos timer,  gnucash, gnumeric, gromit screen notations, halftone, invoice ninja, joplin, keyboardcast, librewolf, master pdf editor, monero gui, moosync, opendeck, pdfsam, pi imager, qr scanner, redshift, tactics (soccer lineup), webkit font generator, xmind?, curttail imag compressor, khronos time track, DOSBox,  Warble word guess, AmiBerry, Zelda3, BforArtists, Bitwig studio, DrawIO, flacon audio extractor, fontforge, freeCAD freetube, Letterpress ASCII, LMMS, jellyfin, Lollypop music org, MakeMKV, MediaDownloader, MoonPlayerDownloader,MPV Player, MUSE DAW, MUSEScore, OCR Feeder, OpenToonz, shotwell, darktable, rawtherapee, StegoSuite, StopMotion, UpScayl, Tube2Go, WireFrameSketcher, Alpaca Local AI Chat, Whaler for Docker,  

==== Pitfalls ====

Be careful updating the linux kernal for things when the confirmation screen comes up. Find out what order to update the OS vs the kernel. If the two are incompatible, you won't have a desktop environment to make any of the fixes. This happened to me with Manjaro updates in the past year. Funny also happened to Linux Tech Tips. 

==== Popular Linux Distributions (Distros) ====

  * Zorin - https://zorin.com/os/
  * PopOS - https://system76.com/pop/
  * Linux Mint - https://linuxmint.com/
  * OpenMandriva - https://www.openmandriva.org/
  * Devuan - https://www.devuan.org/
  * Fedora + KDE - https://spins.fedoraproject.org/kde/ 
  * Manjaro - https://manjaro.org/
  * Pop OS - https://pop.system76.com/
  * Arch Linux - https://archlinux.org/
  * CachyOS - https://cachyos.org/
  * Ubuntu - https://ubuntu.com/
  * xubuntu - https://xubuntu.org/
  * Kubuntu - https://kubuntu.org/
  * Debian - https://www.debian.org/
  * EndlessOS - https://www.endlessglobal.com/foundation/access/operating-system
  * Omarchy - https://omarchy.org/
  * Bazzite - https://bazzite.gg/
  * Open Suse Tumbleweed - https://get.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/
  * ElementaryOS - https://elementary.io/
  * MX Linux - https://mxlinux.org/
  * EndeavorOS (non-gaming - https://endeavouros.com/ 
  * Rocky Linux - Replaces CentOS? - https://rockylinux.org/
  * CentOS - being deprecated for servers
  * PostMarket OS - https://postmarketos.org/
  * AnduinOS - https://www.anduinos.com/

==== Drive Image Information ====

Part of getting any OS onto a computer, is getting an image. It's important to be aware of the software used to work with images. 

  * Raspberry Pi Imager - https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/
  * Balena Etcher - https://etcher.balena.io/
  * Rufus - Create Bootable USB drives - https://rufus.ie/en/
  * Win32Disk Imager - https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
  * DD command in linux (copying bootable usb with partitions to another USB)
    * take an existing drive and turn it into a disk image to copy elsewhere.

==== Linux Laptops ====

  * http://system76.com
  * https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/
  * https://slimbook.es/en/
  * https://shop.puri.sm/shop/librem-14/
  * http://www.emperorlinux.com/
  * https://www.entroware.com/store/
  * https://www.thinkpenguin.com/catalog/notebook-computers-gnu-linux-2
  * https://www.linuxcertified.com/linux_laptops.html
  * https://linucity.com/
  * https://thelinuxlaptop.com/
  * https://www.koompi.com/koompi-e11
  * https://laptopwithlinux.com/
==== Niche Distros / Lesser Known ====

  * F3OS - Family Friendly - (created by Missourian) - https://f3os.com/
  * Alpine Linux (small distro) - https://www.alpinelinux.org/downloads/
  * FerenOS - https://ferenos.weebly.com/
  * AV Linux (based on mx) - http://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/
  * DahliaOS (non-gaming) - https://dahliaos.io/
  * ReBorn OS - https://rebornos.org/
  * ArcoLinux - https://arcolinux.com/
  * Solus OS - https://getsol.us/home/
  * Clear Linux - https://clearlinux.org/
  * Cutefish - https://en.cutefishos.com/
  * Peppermint - https://peppermintos.com/
  * Void Linux - https://voidlinux.org/
  * Artix - https://artixlinux.org/
  * Antix - Commie bullshit ideology, but interesting project - https://antixlinux.com/
  * DevuanDog - Like Puppy - http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=115124
  * ToriOS - http://torios.top/
  * Makulu - https://www.makululinux.com/
  * TTY Linux - https://www.minimalinux.org/ttylinux/
  * Absolute Linux - https://www.absolutelinux.org/
  * BunsenLabs - https://www.bunsenlabs.org/
  * Q4OS - https://q4os.org/
  * Archbang (based on crunchbang) - https://sourceforge.net/projects/archbang/?source=typ_redirect
  * PeachOSI Patriot OS - https://www.peachosi.com/
  * ArchLabs Linux - https://archlabslinux.com/
  * Trisquel Linux - https://trisquel.info/
  * Watt OS - https://www.planetwatt.com/
  * Zorin OS - https://zorin.com/os/
  * Crux OS - https://crux.nu/
  * Menuet OS - http://menuetos.net/
  * Refracta OS - https://get.refracta.org/
  * Basic Linux - https://distro.ibiblio.org/baslinux/
  * Vector Linux (dead link?) - https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=vector
  * Linux BBQ - https://linuxbbq.com/
  * NanoLinux - https://sourceforge.net/projects/nanolinux/
  * Salix - https://www.salixos.org/
  * Kolibri OS - http://kolibrios.org/en/
  * GoboLinux - https://www.gobolinux.org/
  * Parabola GNU - https://www.parabola.nu/
  * ReactOS - https://reactos.org/
  * Knoppix - http://www.knoppix.org/
  * StormFish OS - https://sourceforge.net/projects/stormfish-os/files/iso/
  * CrunchBang Plus Plus - https://www.crunchbangplusplus.org/
  * Absolute Linux - https://absolutelinux.org/
  * Porteus OS - http://www.porteus.org/
  * Haiku OS - https://www.haiku-os.org/
  * Asahi Linux for Mac Silicon devices - https://asahilinux.org/
  * Xero - https://xerolinux.xyz/
  * CachyOS - Designed to be fast, Arch-based - https://cachyos.org/
  * KaOS - https://kaosx.us/
  * Mil-OSS - Military? - https://mil-oss.dev/
  * Astra Linux (Russian) https://astralinux.ru/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra_Linux

==== Privacy Focused ====

  * TailsOS - privacy portable - https://tails.boum.org/
  * Qubes OS - privacy instancing - https://www.qubes-os.org/
  * Whonix - anonymize - https://www.whonix.org/
  * Kali Linux - Penetration Testing - https://www.kali.org/

==== Lightweight super low power distros (for OLD laptops) ====

  * Puppy Linux - https://puppylinux.com/
  * Slax - https://www.slax.org/
  * Damn Small Linux (DSL) - http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
  * Tiny Core - http://www.tinycorelinux.net/
  * Sparky - https://sparkylinux.org/
  * Lubuntu - http://www.lubuntu.me/
  * LXLE - http://www.lxle.net/
  * Porteus - http://www.porteus.org/
  * Bodhi Linux - https://www.bodhilinux.com/
  * Silver Blue (fedora) - https://silverblue.fedoraproject.org/
  * TomsRBT - http://www.toms.net/rb/
  * PsychOS - https://psychoslinux.gitlab.io/486/index.html
  * LinuxLiteOS - https://www.linuxliteos.com/
  * Gentoo - https://www.gentoo.org/
  * ELive Linux - https://www.elivecd.org/
  * SliTaz - https://www.slitaz.org/en/

==== Gaming Distros ====

There will be some duplicates here. Dedicated Gaming distributions of Linux just mean things like Steam, nvidia cards will maybe be more compatible. It's expected that some would work on newer more powerful computers and support drivers for newer hardware. 

  * Replay OS - https://www.replayos.com/
  * Nobara Project (by the proton guy) - https://nobaraproject.org/
  * Pop OS - https://pop.system76.com/
  * Garuda - https://garudalinux.org/
  * DraugerOS - https://draugeros.org/go/
  * Lakka - http://www.lakka.tv/
  * Batocera - https://batocera.org/
  * ChimeraOS - https://chimeraos.org/about
  * SalientOS (Arch Based) - need more info - https://salientos.github.io/
  * Sparky Game Over Edition - https://sparkylinux.org/download/rolling/
  * Manjaro - https://manjaro.org/
  * Fedora + KDE - https://spins.fedoraproject.org/kde/ 
  * Kubuntu - https://kubuntu.org/
  * ElementaryOS - https://elementary.io/
  * SteamDeck (Valve) - https://www.steamdeck.com/en/
  * TTOS Linux? - https://www.ttoslinux.org/
  * Retropie - https://retropie.org.uk/
  * RecalBox - https://www.recalbox.com/
  * Clear Linux - https://clearlinux.org/
  * Voyager Ubuntu - https://voyagerlive.org/
  * Zorin OS - https://zorin.com/os/
  * Sabayon Linux - https://www.sabayon.org/
  * Regata OS - https://www.regataos.com.br/p/home.html
  * Open Suse Tumbleweed - https://get.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/
  * ArcoLinux - https://arcolinux.com/
  * Solus OS - https://getsol.us/home/
  * MX Linux - https://mxlinux.org/
  * DahliaOS (non-gaming) - https://dahliaos.io/
  * EndeavorOS (non-gaming - https://endeavouros.com/ 

==== Linux software ====

I've used some excellent software over the years on linux. Much of this has been talked about everywhere but I need to put my own favorites on here. part of these apps are going to be the answer to a full featured setup for somebody like myself. 

  * Blender - https://www.blender.org/
  * Kdenlive - https://kdenlive.org/en/
  * Krita - https://krita.org/en/
  * Gimp - https://www.gimp.org/
  * Tahoma 2D - Toons & Stop Motion Anim - https://tahoma2d.org/
  * Inkscape - http://inkscape.org
  * Trilium (note taking / knowledgebase) - https://github.com/zadam/trilium
  * Joplin - https://joplinapp.org/
  * Session - https://getsession.org/ linux and android
  * Laverna - https://laverna.cc/
  * Stacer - (system cleanup) https://github.com/oguzhaninan/Stacer
  * Deadbeef - https://deadbeef.sourceforge.io/
  * HTOP - https://htop.dev/
  * Flowblade Video Editor - https://jliljebl.github.io/flowblade/index.html
  * BTOP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmzBJmpFMpw
  * Jitsi - https://jitsi.org/
  * VIM - https://www.vim.org/
  * App-outlet - https://app-outlet.github.io/
  * Notepad-QQ - https://notepadqq.com/s/
  * MPV (Video player) - https://mpv.io/
  * VLC Player (videolan) - https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
  * Epiphany browser (gnome) - https://github.com/GNOME/epiphany
  * Virt Manager - (Virtualization) - https://virt-manager.org/
  * QEMU - (virtualization) - https://www.qemu.org/
  * VirtualBox - https://www.virtualbox.org/
  * KMyMoney - https://kmymoney.org/
  * HomeBank - http://homebank.free.fr/en/
  * Semantik (Mindmapping) - https://waf.io/semantik.html
  * FreePlane - https://www.freeplane.org/
  * Darktable - https://www.darktable.org/
  * Openshot - https://www.openshot.org/
  * Raw Therapee - https://www.rawtherapee.com/
  * Digikam - https://www.digikam.org/
  * VokoScreen - screencapture - https://linuxecke.volkoh.de/vokoscreen/vokoscreen.html
  * Gnome Boxes - connect to remote computer - VNC
  * Station - https://getstation.com/
  * Duplicati - https://www.duplicati.com/
  * KDE Connect - https://community.kde.org/KDEConnect
  * Clipboard Gnome - https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/779/clipboard-indicator/
  * Caffeine - keeps pc from going to sleep - https://launchpad.net/caffeine
  * Image annotator - https://appcenter.elementary.io/com.github.phase1geo.annotator/
  * Phototonic image organizer - https://github.com/oferkv/phototonic
  * Magnus screen magnifier - https://www.kryogenix.org/code/magnus/
  * BPYTop - https://github.com/aristocratos/bpytop
  * FontForge - https://fontforge.org/en-US/
  * Wireframe Sketcher (commercial wireframing) - https://wireframesketcher.com/features.html
  * UltraEdit Linux - https://www.ultraedit.com/
  * Viva Designer (odd commercial publishing) https://www.viva.us/
  * auto-cpufreq - battery savings
  * SCRPY - android screen access - https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy
  * Cozy Audio - https://cozy.sh/
  * Blanket - Background sounds - https://github.com/rafaelmardojai/blanket

 === Essential app list ===
  * https://itsfoss.com/essential-linux-applications/



==== Creating USB / SD card Images for Linux and Pi ====

In order to install Linux on a system using USB, you need to make a working USB image from an ISO. To create the USB image, use the Rufus application.  If you need to flash a raspberry pi OS from an downloadable image to SD or USB, use Raspberry Pi imager or Balena Etcher.

  * Rufus - https://rufus.ie/en/
  * Raspberry Pi Imager - https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-imager-imaging-utility/
  * Balena Etcher - https://www.balena.io/etcher/

==== SteamDeck ====

This device is being built by valve and will run the new SteamOS linux software. Millions have preordered this device so there will be a huge incentive to make games for this system to work. 

https://www.steamdeck.com/en/


====  System 76 ====

System 76 created PopOS distro.  But they are also working on their own desktop environment called Cosmic. And they created their own open source customizeable keyboard that seems to have an excited following. Before that they had [[https://github.com/system76/thelio|open sourced their case designs]] too. 

https://system76.com/

==== Gaming Resources ====

Cool thing about linux is all of the retrogaming 

  * GamingOnLinux
  * Dolphin
  * Emulation Station
  * Dosbox
  * Youtube Linux gaming channels
  * Recent Linux AAA games

==== Commercial Software ====

Here are some interesting commercial software offerings for Linux.

=== Graphics ===

  * Paintstorm - https://paintstormstudio.com/jp/index.html
  * Viva Designer - (Page Layout - https://viva.systems/designer/overview/

=== Video Editing ===

  * DaVinci Resolve

=== UX Design ===

  * Lunacy
  * PenPot