/// 21 Nov 2025, 12:00 am ////// Google News ///
For the name of a kernel, Linux carries either a lot of emotion or none at all.
Many people, simply don't know what Linux is. Those who do, seem to be either extremely passionate about Linux or picture pale, greasy, desk-bound hobbits. Those who associate Linux with the latter, I simply assume have obviously not tried Linux and seem to be confused that Linux is a kernel, a piece of software, a tool -- not a lifestyle or a personality trait.
To clarify, I will use the word Linux as a broad categorization of the various distributions. I know it is a kernel as I'm sure many of you do too. I know that each distribution has ups and downs and differences from another, so I am simply speaking generally. For non-Linux but Unix-related systems, like the BSDs, the generalizations and concepts I make here extend to them as-well, in my experience.
Lets get started!
Recently in my Reddit feed, I am seeing more and more posts of people inquiring about Linux with titles like these: "Is Linux right for me?" "Is Linux worth it?" "What's the best distro?" "What should I use?" "I want to switch from Windows, but I'm not sure if <insert thing>?" I could write these all day, you get the point. Now I am not bashing the people who make those posts, I get it; I too come to Reddit to gather insight from people with experience in something that I am curious about. Lets talk about some of these questions (or I guess I will and you can contribute in the comments).
Linux is great. In the modern-day of today, I think many of you will agree that the knee-jerk response of "Linux is only for techy people" is simply just not the case anymore. Distributions like Mint (I chose them simply because I can vouch for what I say about Mint from experience) make it so stinking easy to get going - even dual-booting is a simple task. For example, lets take the generic "Grandma" who is not tech-savvy and simply wants to look at cat pictures and browse the online shops or read news. She will have the same amount of difficulty doing this as she would on Windows or Mac; the process is the same, there's a desktop, with programs (apps), that she can interact with via the mouse and keyboard.
Now it would be silly to only use Grandma as the example to showcase that Linux is for everyone -- but it tackles the point many non-Linux users seem to try to make and (based on the Reddit posts I see) what the general public thinks.
Let's talk about gaming. For many, this is a staple in their desktop experience. If gaming is important to you, this is indeed a fair question. I am not a big gamer myself, nonetheless I still have some things to say about gaming and Linux. Again, in today's world, and depending on the distribution/hardware (this is one of the biggest factors regarding hardware support and ease of use/user experience), gaming on Linux can be painless. Except for three main things: hardware support, game support (from it's publisher), and kernel-level-anticheat.
- Hardware support: this is one of the most variable factors. Generally speaking, there are Linux drivers for a lot of hardware. Some of which are manufacturer made/maintained and others by the OSS community. There is a lot of support and information here on Reddit and the internet covering troubleshooting and what is or is not supported. If gaming is a must for you, then you I do think it is worth your while to look into whether your hardware will work okay.
- Game support: There are a lot of games on Steam, and Steam works on Linux. It's possible that there may be quirks in some distributions vs. others for running Steam or certain games -- but I couldn't tell you. I would wager that if it is on Steam, you can probably play it on Linux. For games like Fortnite or Valorant where they have their own launchers - that ultimately comes down to the developer's support. I would also wager that if everyone started gaming on Linux, then those companies would start making their games Linux-compatible.
- Kernel-level-anticheat: Stop playing that game. No, seriously, I think that it is insane how someone thought that it is a good idea and was just.. allowed? This is a crime, it is the computer equivalent of having a little implant inside you that can control everything you do.
Let's talk work environments. I don't have a whole lot to say here because neither you, nor I, can do much about what is required at work. I think part of the reason companies either cannot or will not use Linux is because of big enterprise monopolies, support contracts, software stacks, or resource management systems that they are heavily invested in or rely upon. Hypothetically, if every one of those things was compatible with Linux, then I'm sure it really wouldn't matter to the company what they ran on their computers.
The last category of people that seem to be barred from Linux, are the creatives. Linux has alternatives, I'm sure you're aware, but they do not receive millions in budget towards development and yadda-yadda-yadda. If you are a creative, and require the big creative suit software stack, then yeah Linux will probably not be your day-to-day. I am not saying it can't be, it could definitely be worth exploring. This is not to say the Linux alternatives are bad or worse, but they won't have the whole feature-set you may be used to.
Linux may not be able to offer the same capabilities in some of the scenarios I mentioned above, but that doesn't mean it is not right for you, simply not the best tool for that job.
Okay, so whats so great about Linux then, right? When I say you can do pretty much whatever you want on Linux, I mean it. Yeah you may not be able to run Adobe Photoshop, but it's not impossible? Someone just has to develop it XD. If the same amount of time and money went into Linux as some of these other things, then I'm positive there would be no difference.
I had this thought the other day after scrolling by some of the Linux-questionnaire Reddit posts: "The question isn't 'Is Linux for me?', it should be, 'Is Windows/Mac for me?'" What do I mean by that? There seems to be so much more useful programs available on Linux. Some of them may also be available on other systems, but may be limited in capability or not perform the same. As a result of simply having more programs available, naturally that means that there are more options for you to choose from.
Let's not talk about filesystems... but the same goes.
For example, on Apple you have Finder and Windows you have Explorer. I could not tell you how many different file-browsers there are on Linux - and they're not just different 'looks', oftentimes they offer different feature-sets. Humans love choice right? So what better than the ability to choose the right tool for you and for your workflow. I used the file-browser here as an example but this is the case for many programs in Linux. Heck, even your desktop-environment can be of your choosing ... or none! Apple recently rolled out its "liquid glass" update, well with something like picom (a compositor), we've had "liquid glass" for I don't even know how long, longer than I've used Linux.
The terminal/command-line interface (CLI). The CLI is first class citizen on Linux. While this is intimidating for some, it is truly a powerful tool. I'm not saying it doesn't exist on Windows or Mac, but on Linux it is everywhere. Even if you don't use the CLI now on Windows, I bet you'll get curious on Linux and start playing around. I've talked long enough and I could go on and on about all the things you can do with the terminal - many of which could also be done on Mac or Windows, but, in my opinion, it is much less intuitive there - as if to steer you away or hide it (says my inner skeptic). Linux offers you so many powerful tools all right at your fingertips, learn how to use them and you start to feel like a wizard.
Customer support. A.k.a all of you. Something not working? Having trouble figuring out how to set something up? Hoping for a feature? General questions? Ask!. Many of us love Linux and would love to help others along in their journey. We are human, and you may meet some of our grumps, but would you rather talk to a Customer Support Chatbot for an hour and get nothing but an email asking to rate your experience? There are many sponsored and paid/funded projects in Linux, but the general community has a "we're all in it together" feeling.
The last thing I want to mention is how much learning Linux promotes. If you are a Curious George like me, you will not be disappointed. There is constantly something else you'll want to learn about.
I will not be able to use Windows anymore and the only thing I prefer about MacOs is the nice metal box they come in. I appreciate the choices, structure, and capabilities Linux brings to my user experience that I simply would not have on any other system. I am more productive and more knowledgeable about every little thing going on in my system than I would be on a different one, plus, it looks and functions exactly how I like - tailored to me.
I'm wrapping this up because I've wrote a lot already and have plenty more I could share but I'll save it and feel free to ask if your curious about something.
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sh is a shell parser, formatter, and interpreter. It supports POSIX Shell, Bash, and mksh. It requires Go 1.24 or later.
The post sh – shell parser, formatter, and interpreter appeared first on LinuxLinks.
/// 20 Nov 2025, 7:56 pm ////// GamingOnLinux ///
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Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.
/// 21 Nov 2025, 1:47 am ////// Phoronix ///
/// 21 Nov 2025, 4:43 am ////// ITS FOSS ///
The Snap packaging system makes it easy to install and update software on any Linux distribution that supports them. However, if you’ve ever had to reinstall your system, you’ve probably been burned by the fact that Snap, like most other packaging systems, doesn’t provide any built-in means for exporting your apps or moving them to a new machine.
Thankfully, there's good news: You can still. With just a few commands and a bit of organisation, you can export and restore your Snap applications on any other system where it's supported.
🚧 Some things to keep in mind
Before you dive in, there are some key things to understand about the Snap packaging system and how it works. Snap doesn’t yet have a built-in “export/import” tool like Flatpak. Neither packaging format allows you to repackage any packages you've already installed.
Furthermore, with the Snap system, reinstalling restores the latest version of the package, not necessarily the exact revisions you previously had. Since many apps store extra data under /var/snap/, you'll likely need to restore this data as well, if you're seeking to retain your settings when migrating. This article will show you how you can back up and restore this directory as well.
⚠️ What this tutorial cannot cover
Occasionally, Snap packages require hooks to enable certain features and integrations. Unfortunately, this is a more complicated process and must be done on a per-package basis. For this reason, we won't cover how to do this for individual packages, as that process can differ for each package that requires it.
Now, let's dive in.
Step 1. Creating a list of installed snap packages
To get started, you'll first need to save a list of every Snap package currently installed on your system:
snap list --all | awk 'NR>1 {print $1}' > snap-list.txt
This will create a text file with the names of all your Snap packages. As with most other packaging systems, package names are all you need to refer to the packages you want to manage. However, if you'd keep a note of further details in this list, you can do so with the following command:
snap list --all > snap-list-detailed.txt
Step 2. Backing up your app data
Snap packages store their data and settings in your home folder within the ~/snap directory. Each app saves its data in a subdirectory of the same name. For example, Inkscape saves its data in /snap/inkscape Firefox in /snap/firefox, and so on.
You can back up individual apps if you'd like, but for the purposes of this tutorial, we'll run through how to back up the entire directory.
To do this, you can run:
tar -czf snap-data-backup.tar.gz ~/snap/
Remember to copy this file along with snap-list.txt to the target system where you'll be restoring your packages.
Step 3. Transferring to the target system
On the target system, you should first ensure Snap is installed and working.
For the best results, it's safest if the target system has the same or a newer version of Snap compared to the original. You can check the Snap version on both systems by running the following command:
snap version
If you get output showing your snap version and other data, you’re ready to go.
Installing your packages on the target system
In the same directory where you've copied the snap-list text file, run the following command to install the snap packages from your list:
xargs -a snap-list.txt sudo snap install
Once this command is finished running, you'll have all the same Snap apps and packages you'd have had on your previous system. Now, you can move on to restoring your app data.
You can verify your apps successfully installed by running:
snap list
4. Restoring app data
Now that you've successfully restored your Snap apps and packages, you can restore your Snap package data. To do this, you can decompress the archive you created earlier in your home folder:
tar -xzf snap-data-backup.tar.gz -C ~/
Remember, if you've done this for multiple users, this will need to be done in each user's home folder individually.
Optional bonus for advanced users: Automating your setup
If you regularly install or change your Snap packages, and you'd like to run this step more smoothly, you can automate it all with some simple scripting and cron.
Creating the script
For the script, you just to tie these commands together. Create a file such as ~/bin/snap-back.sh, and give it executable permission:
# Create the script:
touch ~/bin/snap-back.sh
# Give it executable permission:
chmod +x ~/bin/snap-back.shNow edit the script with the text editor of your choice, and add the following:
#!/bin/bash
# Backup Snap package list and user data
snap list --all | awk 'NR>1 {print $1}' > ~/snap-list.txt
tar -czf ~/snap-data-backup.tar.gz ~/snap/
# Optional: enable logging
echo "Snap backup completed on $(date)" >> ~/snap-backup.log
If you don't need to keep a log, you can remove the last line (and the comment above it).
Automating it all
If you'd like to have this back up run at regular intervals, you can schedule this process with cron:
# Open your crontab
crontab -eIn the editor, add this line:
0 10 * * SUN ~/bin/snap-back.shThis will set your Snap package backup to run automatically at the beginning of every week. You can choose any interval you'd prefer, of course.
Conclusion
Even though Snap doesn't offer the same level of convenience as Flatpak, these steps still give you a dependable and scriptable way to preserve and transfer your setup. This is especially useful if you love to maintain the same setup across devices or like to do a fresh installation on upgrade. Remember, you can always keep your setup synced to a version control system or your personal cloud server.
/// 18 Nov 2025, 11:40 pm ////// Slashdot ///
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
/// 19 Nov 2025, 8:30 pm ////// FSF Blog ///
Apple iWork is Apple’s suite of office applications, similar to Microsoft Office or Google Docs, consisting of three main applications
The post How to Open and Edit Apple iWork Files on Linux first appeared on Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides./// 20 Nov 2025, 5:24 pm ////// The Hacker News ///
/// 19 Nov 2025, 5:37 pm ////// DISTROWATCH ///
/// 18 Nov 2025, 12:00 am ////// RedHat ///
Shout it to the heavens: Steam Machine, powered by Linux, is set to arrive in 2026.
/// 20 Nov 2025, 6:48 pm ////// 9to5Linux ///
PHP 8.5 open-source scripting language is out now with URI extension, Pipe operator, and support for modifying properties while cloning. Here's what's new!
The post PHP 8.5 Released with Pipe Operator, URI Extension, and Clone With Functionality appeared first on 9to5Linux - do not reproduce this article without permission. This RSS feed is intended for readers, not scrapers.