Distribution Specific Guides by Distribution: All Distributions

Kvantum is a theme engine for Qt based desktop environments, such as KDE's Plasma and other desktop environments such as LXQt. It is based on SVG elements. It is managed with the Kvantum Manager GUI application which allows users to select and customize themes.

Unfortunately, although it is commonly …

The ext4 filesystem -- and its preceding versions, known for its stability and reliability has long been the default filesystem used by most Linux distributions. However, the Btrfs filesystem, due to its scalability and next-generation fault tolerance and self healing features have helped it gain popularity.

openSUSE pioneered its use …

In a recent article on this site, a process to convert a Fedora 39 installation on a Btrfs filesystem with a simple subvolume layout to the hierarchical subvolume layout style of openSUSE with Snapper integration, automatic creation of snapshots, GRUB menu integration of snapshots, and other conveniences was presented. Since …

Fedora, in recent releases has used the next generation Btrfs filesystem by default for new installations. Unfortunately, a default installation of Fedora, or Fedora based distributions which closely follow Fedora, such as Ultramarine Linux, do not create a Btrfs subvolume layout which allows some of its advanced snapshotting and rollback …

The Arch wiki suggests a subvolume layout for an Arch system installed on a Btrfs subvolume for use with Snapper that sacrifices the ease of Snapper rollbacks and its full functionality, opting for a simpler subvolume layout and a perceived streamlining of system restoration to a snapshot, but one that …

Many distributions provide printer drivers for printers, and some have tools to set up printers, however depending on the distribution, the drivers may be generic drivers may not permit the printer's full capability, especially if it is a multi-function device. Other utility software to perform maintenance functions may not be …

When I tried Solus 3.9999 in late 2018, all of the software I needed at that time was available in the distribution's default repositories. Now, having installed the recently released Solus 4.1 Fortitude Plasma Edison, one important program for me, Kile, built using KDE technologies, is not available in the …

For some people, the typical method of installing Arch -- using the downloaded ISO installation environment, which provides all of the very basic command line tools to install Arch, and manually configuring everything, is more difficulty than they are willing to endure. The most intimidating element of this process being …

The primary reason I wanted to try Void Linux was for its build system, xbps-src, a complement to Void's binary package management system, XBPS. It can be used to build and install source packages from Void's Github repository or to build and install software made available as source packages …

Although openSUSE is an excellent distribution in its core design, the project's adherence to certain FOSS principles prevent it from installing proprietary packages by default. This includes packages necessary to enable the proprietary Nvidia drivers through the Nvidia kernel modules. This limitation includes the Nvidia drivers specifically used with the …

Many Linux users install software from source using the steps ./configure, make, make install. This method is easy but unattractive because it bypasses the system's package management tools, and any software installed using this method doesn't allow for the management of the software with the package manager. …

After using Sabayon 14.08 for several months, I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of software in Sabayon's repositories which I had become accustomed to being available in other distributions' default repositories. There wasn't even a method for building binary packages from third party or upstream source using a simple …

My biggest complaint with Sabayon after using the 14.08 release for more than three months was the lack of a way to get software that is not available in the Sabayon repositories for management by the Entropy binary package management system. There didn't appear to be an easy way to …

Arch implements the loading of Intel processor microcode updates at boot differently from other distributions. While other distributions include the microcode into the initramfs (the replacement of the initrd) image, Arch leaves this as a separate image, which is loaded by Arch's GRUB at the same time as the …

One of the attractive features of NixOS is the ability to declaratively configure all aspects of the system from one configuration file called configuration.nix or for manageability, with this file and input files -- imports in the nix expression terminology --) that are called from this file. Even nix expressions …

This article describes how repositories are structured in openSUSE, as well as listing some of the useful repositories not enabled by default at installation, and how to manage repositories using both the zypper tool and the YaST "Software Repositories" module. Although, originally written as a supplement to the openSUSE 13.2 …