F.O.S.S

by: Bill Dyer

During a weekend of tidying up - you know, the kind of chore where you’re knee-deep in old boxes before you realize it. Digging through the dusty cables and old, outdated user manuals, I found something that I had long forgotten: an old Plan9 distribution. Judging by the faded ink and slight warping of the disk sleeve, it had to be from around 1994 or 1995.

I couldn’t help but wonder: why had I kept this? Back then, I was curious about Plan9. It was a forward-thinking OS that never quite reached full potential. Holding that disk, however, it felt more like a time capsule, a real reminder of computing’s advancements and adventurous spirit in the 1990s.

What Made Plan9 So Intriguing Back Then?

In the 1990s, Bell Labs carried an almost mythical reputation for me. I was a C programmer and Unix system administrator and the people at Bell Labs were the minds behind Unix and C, after all. When Plan9 was announced, it felt like the next big thing. Plan9 was an operating system that promised to rethink Unix, not just patch it up. The nerd in me couldn’t resist playing with it.

A Peek Inside the Distro

Booting up Plan9 wasn’t like loading any other OS. From the minimalist Rio interface to the “everything is a file” philosophy taken to its extreme, it was clear this was something different.

Some standout features that left an impression:

• 9P Protocol: I didn’t grasp its full potential back then, but the idea of treating every resource as part of a unified namespace was extraordinary.

• Custom Namespaces: The concept of every user having their own view of the system wasn’t just revolutionary; it was downright empowering.

• Simplicity and Elegance: Even as a die-hard Unix user, I admired Plan9's ability to strip away the cruft without losing functionality.

Looking at Plan9 Today

Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to see if the disk still worked. Spoiler: it didn’t.

But thanks to projects like 9front, Plan9 is far from dead. I was able to download and image and fire it up in a VM. The interface hasn't aged well compared to modern GUIs, but its philosophy and design still feels ahead of its time.

As a seasoned (read: older) developer, I’ve come to appreciate things I might have overlooked in the 1990s:

1. Efficiency over bloat: In today’s world of resource-hungry systems, Plan9’s lightweight design is like a breath of fresh air.

2. Academic appeal: Its clarity and modularity makes Plan9 and outstanding teaching tool for operating system concepts.

3. Timeless innovations: Ideas like distributed computing and namespace customization feels even more pertinent in this era of cloud computing.

Why didn’t Plan9 take off?

Plan9 was ahead of its time, which often spells doom for innovative tech. Its radical departure from Unix made it incompatible with existing software. And let’s face it - developers were (and still are) reluctant to ditch well-established ecosystems.

Moreover, by the 1990s, Unix clones, such as Linux, were gaining traction. Open-source communities rallied around Linux, leaving Plan9 with a smaller, academic-focused user base. It just didn't have the commercial/user backup.

Plan9’s place in the retro-computing scene

I admit it: I can get sappy and nostalgic over tech history. Plan9 is more than a relic; it’s a reminder of a time when operating systems dared to dream big. It never achieved the widespread adoption of Unix or Linux, but it still has a strong following among retro-computing enthusiasts.

Here’s why it continues to matter:

• For Developers: It’s a masterclass in clean, efficient design.

• For Historians: It’s a snapshot of what computing could have been.

• For Hobbyists: It’s a fun, low-resource system to tinker with.

Check out the 9front project. It’s a maintained fork that modernizes Plan9 while staying true to its roots. Plan9 can run on modern hardware. It is lightweight enough to run on old machines, but I suggest using a VM; it is the easiest route.

Lessons from years past

How a person uses Plan9 is up to them, naturally, but I don't think that Plan9 is practical for everyday use. Plan9, I believe, is better suited as an experimental or educational platform rather than a daily driver. However, that doesn't mean that it wasn't special.

Finding that old Plan9 disk wasn’t just a trip down memory lane; it was a reminder of why I was so drawn to computing. Plan9’s ambition and elegance is still inspiring to me, even decades later.

So, whether you’re a retro-computing nerd, like me, or just curious about alternative OS designs, give Plan9 a run. Who knows? You might find a little magic in its simplicity, just like I did.

by: Abhishek Kumar

From the title, you might be thinking: yet another clickbait post. But I mean it when I say this, ArmSoM has truly delivered something special.

ArmSoM, yet again, has sent us their Compute Module 5 (CM5) with its IO board for review. Last time, I tested and reviewed their AIM7 board, and my head was blown by its sheer performance. With an RK3588 SoC, 8GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage, it was a beast.

This time around, we’re looking at the CM5, powered by the RK3576, a slight step down from the RK3588 but still impressive.

It comes with 8 GB of RAM (though a 16 GB version is available) and 64 GB of onboard eMMC storage. On paper, it’s shaping up to be a serious contender in the world of compute modules.

In this review, I’ll walk you through its hardware specifications, software support, benchmarks, AI capabilities, and my personal thoughts.

Let’s dive in!

CM5 Specifications

Source: ArmSoM

The ArmSoM Compute Module 5 is a compact powerhouse built around the RK3576 SoC, an octa-core processor that’s both fast and efficient.

With support up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 128GB of onboard eMMC storage, it offers twice the memory and storage options of the Raspberry Pi CM4.

What makes it even better? It uses the same 100-pin connector as the CM4, making it compatible with Raspberry Pi IO boards.

Plus, it supports 4K@120fps video output, giving you ultra-smooth visuals for high-resolution displays.

CM5-IO board Specifications

Source: ArmSoM

The CM5-IO board is designed to make the most of the CM5 module. It features an HDMI output for 4K displays, four USB 3.0 ports for peripherals, and a Gigabit Ethernet port with PoE support.

There’s also an SD Card slot and an M.2 slot for adding fast storage or PCIe devices.

With dual MIPI CSI camera interfaces and a 40-pin GPIO header, it’s perfect for projects that demand flexibility.

It’s compact, functional, and pairs seamlessly with the CM5 module to deliver a complete development platform.

Unboxing and first impression

The CM5 and its IO board arrived fully assembled, tucked neatly inside a sturdy, no-nonsense package. While the box wasn’t flashy, it did its job well, everything was secure and free of unnecessary fluff.

Sorry for the potato looking image quality

The first thing I noticed was the compactness of the CM5 module. It’s small, yet it feels solid in hand, like it means business. Looking closely, you can immediately spot the essentials: the RK3576 SoC sitting at the heart of the module, flanked by the eMMC storage chip and LPDDR5 RAM.

The layout is efficient and clean, with every component neatly placed. Even the tiny antenna connectors for Bluetooth and WiFi are exposed, ready to connect to external antennas for better wireless performance.

Flipping it over, the 100-pin connector on the back stands out.

The CM5 is designed to work seamlessly with Raspberry Pi IO boards, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to upgrade their Pi-based projects.

ArmSoM CM5 supports Raspberry Pi IO board | Source: ArmSoM

The IO board, which came paired with the module, is equally impressive. It’s larger than the CM5 itself but just as well-built.

Ports and connectors are thoughtfully arranged, from the HDMI output and USB 3.0 ports and 40-pin GPIO header.

and don't forget that this IO board also has an M.2 slot unlike Raspberry Pi 500, which came in news with its unpopulated M.2 slot.

Setting it up

Getting started with the CM5 was refreshingly simple. The module slid perfectly into the IO board, just look for the markings on the board.

And to my surprise, this time I didn't have to rely on other sources, as ArmSoM has provided a great documentation for setup and links to all the OS images.

OS Installation & first boot

If you are coming from Raspberry Pi ecosystem, you might find it difficult to flash OS images into CM5 but during my experience with AIM7, it was an ease for me.

RKDevTool is required to flash an OS image in Rockchip devices.

Flashing Android 14 image to CM5 using RKDevTool

Debian

The CM5 came pre-installed with ArmSoM’s custom Debian image, which saved me the hassle of flashing an OS right out of the box.

When I powered it on, the board booted into Debian in under 30 seconds, thanks to the onboard eMMC storage.

However, there was a small hiccup: the default locale was set to Chinese. While this threw me off for a moment, Google Translate came to the rescue. I’ve covered a detailed guide on how to change locales in Debian.

Once the language barrier was out of the way, everything ran smoothly. The system felt responsive, and the ArmSoM image came with just the right balance of pre-installed utilities to get started without feeling bloated.

Android 14

ArmSoM doesn’t just stop at Debian; they also provide an Android 14 image for the CM5, and I couldn’t resist the idea of running Android on this tiny yet powerful board.

Installing it was straightforward, though slightly different from the usual process. Instead of burning the image to an SD card or eMMC, you need to flash it as firmware using the RKDevTool utility.

The process was smooth, and once the flashing was complete, I rebooted the system.

I was greeted with the Android boot animation, and in no time, the familiar Android home screen appeared. Interestingly, the display was in portrait mode, which felt a bit odd on my monitor but didn’t hinder functionality.

The Android image was barebones - just the essentials, nothing more. I scrolled through the settings, checked out the "About" section, and explored the file manager. It felt snappy and responsive, but that was about it.

One noticeable omission was the absence of the Google Play Store. If you’re keen on having it, you can install it using Open GApps Project.

However, since I was pressed for time, I skipped that step and instead sideloaded Geekbench for Android from APKMirror to get straight to benchmarking.

Performance testing

Now comes the most awaited section, the benchmarks!

It’s one thing to talk about specs on paper, but how does the CM5 actually perform in real-world tests? To keep things simple, here’s what I tested:

• Geekbench Performance: Evaluating CPU and overall system power.

• AI Capabilities: Testing the NPU for AI-related workloads.

• YouTube Playback: Checking video performance and hardware acceleration.

📋

The Geekbench test was conducted using the Geekbench Android app. For AI testing, I used the pre-installed Debian image. YouTube performance was tested in the Chromium browser inside Debian as well, with hardware acceleration enabled.

Geekbench results

The Geekbench results gave us a good glimpse of the CM5's raw power. With a Single-Core Score of 321 and a Multi-Core Score of 1261, the CM5 delivers solid performance.

The single-core score of 321 might seem modest, but it’s adequate for basic tasks like file compression (54.9 MB/sec) and lightweight navigation (2.34 routes/sec).

If you’re planning to use the CM5 for simple applications, like hosting a lightweight server or running scripts, this score is sufficient.

However, for tasks that demand high single-threaded performance like intensive image processing or compiling large programs, you might notice some lag.

The multi-core score of 1261 is where the RK3576 shines. This score reflects the strength of its eight cores working together, making it ideal for multitasking and workloads that can leverage parallel processing.

AI workload

The CM5’s 6 TOPS NPU is designed to handle AI inference efficiently, just like its big sibling, the AIM7.

It supports RKNN-LLM, a toolkit that enables deploying lightweight language models on Rockchip hardware with optimized performance.

Source: RKNN-LLM

To test its capabilities, I ran the TinyLLAMA model with 1.1 billion parameters, and the results were consistent with the AIM7.

The NPU achieved a throughput of 13 or 14 tokens /second , showcasing its ability to handle lightweight AI workloads with ease.

With NPU handling AI tasks, the GPU stays free for other workloads. This makes CM5 ideal for edge AI projects where efficient resource use is key.

YouTube playback

YouTube playback is my favorite test for any SBC because it’s where many boards, including the Raspberry Pi (even the Pi 5), still stumble.

Playing 1080p consistently is a challenge for most, and 4K? Forget about it. But the CM5 completely shattered my expectations.

Running Chromium on Debian with hardware acceleration enabled, I tested videos at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. The CM5 didn’t just handle it, it crushed it.

Even at 4K resolution, the playback was smooth, with less than 10 dropped frames throughout the video. That’s right, 4K on an SBC, and it worked beautifully.

What’s more impressive is how efficiently it handled the load. Thanks to hardware decoding, CPU usage stayed low, leaving the board cool and responsive.

I even recorded a video of the CM5 playing a 4K YouTube video to showcase its capabilities.

If you’re considering the CM5 for a media server or as a replacement for your Android TV box, this performance makes it an easy choice. It’s rare to see this level of multimedia smoothness on an SBC, and the CM5 delivers it effortlessly.

What about Raspberry Pi CM5?

I don't want to sugarcoat it, the Raspberry Pi CM5 outperforms the ArmSoM CM5 in raw processing power, and the benchmarks make that crystal clear.

In single-core performance, the Raspberry Pi CM5 delivers a stellar 804 compared to the ArmSoM CM5’s modest 321. That’s a difference of 39.9%, and it’s noticeable in tasks that rely on single-threaded performance, like browsing, lightweight applications, or running certain server processes.

The gap widens further in multi-core performance, where the Pi CM5 scores an impressive 1651, leaving the ArmSoM CM5 trailing at 1261 a 76.4% lead that makes the Pi CM5 the clear choice for CPU-intensive tasks.

That said, the ArmSoM CM5 isn’t trying to play the same game. It’s built with a different focus, and its strengths lie elsewhere.

The 6 TOPS NPU on the ArmSoM CM5 is a game-changer for AI workloads, allowing it to handle tasks like language models or image recognition with ease, something the Raspberry Pi CM5 lacks entirely.

Final thoughts

After spending time with the ArmSoM CM5, it’s clear that this little board has carved out its niche.

It may not outshine the Raspberry Pi CM5 in raw CPU benchmarks, but it brings its own strengths to the table.

The built-in NPU, seamless 4K playback, and thoughtful design make it a compelling choice for AI-driven edge projects, media servers, or even as a replacement for an Android TV box.

What impressed me most was its support for Raspberry Pi IO boards.

I feel that, the ArmSoM CM5 isn’t trying to be a Raspberry Pi killer. Instead, it’s a specialist board that excels in areas where the Pi falters.

As I wrap up this review, I'm also thinking about running some emulators on the CM5 to dive deeper into its GPU performance and for the fun of it.

Recently, many retro game emulation videos have been popping up in my feed, and they’re tempting me to dip my toes in.

If you want to see that, let me know in the comments section! 🕹️

by: Abhishek Prakash

One of the issues I encountered after dual booting Windows with Linux is the missing Windows entry from the grub menu.

Here's the scenario. Windows was present on the computer. I installed CachyOS alongside Windows. I selected to install the Grub bootloader that allows booting into Linux, Windows (and any other OS present on the system) along with the option to access UEFI.

Only this time, Grub did not show Windows in the menu 😔

Missing Windows from Grub bootloader

That was disappointing but not surprising because I am aware that this is a feature.

Let me show you how you can fix this by enabling os-prober feature in Grub and then updating it.

Step 1: Enable os-prober in grub

Grub config file is located at /etc/default/grub. If you open it via Nano or some editor, you'll see at the end of this file that os-prober is disabled by default sighting security reasons.

If you are familiar with any terminal-based text editor, use it to uncomment the line # GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false by removing the # at the beginning of the line.

However, if you are absolutely new to the command line, you can use this command in the terminal:

echo "GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false" | sudo tee -a /etc/default/grub

It will ask for your password. It should be the same account password you use to log in to the system.

🚧

When you type the password in Linux terminal, nothing is reflected on the screen. It feels as if your system is hanged, as there is no visible feedback. Don't worry. It's a security feature and most Linux terminals won't even show asterisks (*) as you enter the password. Just type it in and enter.

With os-prober enabled, Grub will look for the presence of other operating systems in EFI folder and will add them in the bootloader menu.

There is one little problem. The config changes won't take place unless you update grub.

Step 2: Update grub

On Ubuntu and some other distributions, there is a dedicated command to update grub:

sudo update-grub

However, on Arch and some other distributions, you'll end up with update-grub command not found error.

That's because update-grub is not a standard command. It is just la stub for this command:

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Run the above command if your system doesn't have update-grub.

It should show an output like this:

And as you can see in the above output, grub is probing for other OS and has found Windows boot manager. This is an indication that when you reboot the system, grub should show Windows in the available option.

And Windows is back in Grub

Still no Windows boot manager?

See, this method only works when dual boot succeeded properly and you have all EFI settings located in the same folder under the same ESP partition.

If that's not the case, you could try accessing the UEFI settings, go to boot order. Windows boot manager should be present there and if you move it up the order, you can boot from it into Windows.

This is not the most convenient option, I understand but it's a workaround until you figure out why Grub bootloader could not see Windows.

💡 Bonus tip: The time synchronization issue

Since we are discussing dual booting Windows and Linux, let me share another potential issue you'll encounter. You'll notice that system time changes when you switch between Windows and Linux. You can fix it, if you want.

[Solved] Wrong Time in Windows 10 After Dual Boot With Linux

If you dual boot Windows and Linux, you’ll notice that often one of them shows incorrect time. Here’s why that happens and what you can do to fix it.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

💬 I hope this little trick helps you get a better dual booting experience. Let me know in the comments if you were able to get Windows back in Grub.

by: Abhishek Prakash

Happy new year 2025 🥳

The Tuxmas Days continue in full swing. Main highlights are:

Tuxmas Day 3 introduced the new commenting system. You'll see it in action when you leave a comment on the website.

Tuxmas Day 4 introduced the lifetime membership option. Instead of a recurring fee, you get the Plus membership forever with a single payment of $76 till 7th January. After that it will be $99. If you wanted to support It's FOSS with Plus membership, this would be the best time and chance 🙏

Tuxmas Day 5 has Linux Terminal and Bash series converted into downloadable PDF eBook.

Follow the entire Tuxmas series here. And your feedback is greatly appreciated.

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

• Serpent OS's alpha release.

• An open source 3D printer.

• Rediscovering an operating system.

• And other Linux news, videos and, of course, memes!

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• Serpent OS Alpha is out for testing with new hardware support.

• GNOME's new image viewer is set to receive some handy upgrades.

• A new open source 3D printer has appeared, can be built using off-the-shelf parts.

• NVIDIA says that it will open source Run:ai, a platform that it is said to have acquired for $700M.

And finally, open source tools are adding AI features. Better late than never.

Kdenlive is Adding an AI Background Removal Tool

You can easily remove backgrounds with this new tool.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

What's your new year resolution?

My Linux and Open Source Resolutions for 2025

Here’s what I have decided for 2025. What are your resolutions?

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

Ankush's favorite distro of 2024 is one that you might not have expected.

My Favorite Linux Distro for 2024 is Not Ubuntu, Not Mint, It’s This

Revealing my favorite Linux distribution before 2024 ends.

It's FOSS NewsAnkush Das

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Start 2025 with some good note-taking apps.

• If you were looking to distro hop, you could take ArchBang Linux for a run.

• Following that, you could learn how to use the apt search and apt show commands in Ubuntu.

And if you are still unfamiliar with the Linux command line, use the new year motivation and get acquainted with the essentials in this series.

Linux Command Line Introduction [Free Course]

Want to know the basics of the Linux command line? Here’s a tutorial series with a hands-on approach.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

Your homelab will thank you for using a dashboard tool to manage it effectively.

Imagine that the genius minds like Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan and Bjarne Stroustrup collaborated on a new operating system and yet it flopped.

Rediscovering Plan9 from Bell Labs

An OS that was developed by the likes of Rob Pike, Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan, Bjarne Stroustrup and yet it did not achieve the success.

It's FOSSBill Dyer

📹 Videos we are watching

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✨ Discover handy tools

A dope looking GUI-based system monitor for Linux.

NeoHtop - Modern System Monitor

A beautiful, efficient system monitor built with Rust and Svelte. Monitor processes, CPU, and memory usage in real-time.

NeoHtopYour Name

🧩 Quiz Time

Call yourself a terminal junkie? Find the wrong paths with this puzzle.

Find The Wrong Path

Spot what’s wrong, and solve the quizzes!

It's FOSSAnkush Das

If that's too tricky, then you can try your hand at the Essential Ubuntu Shortcuts puzzle.

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In a terminal, you might already know that you can select a word by double-clicking on it.

However, if you hold the Shift key and left-click on another word after that, all the text between the first and last selected text will also be highlighted. No need to manually drag the cursor to select those.

It may not work in all the terminal emulators (i.e. terminal applications).

🤣 Meme of the Week

Oh, that would be something. 🤌 ✨

🗓️ Tech Trivia

On December 31, 1889, American Bell reorganized and transferred its assets to AT&T to bypass Massachusetts laws. By becoming the parent company, AT&T took control of the Bell System. This move eventually led to AT&T becoming a legalized monopoly in the U.S.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

What was your favorite distro in 2024? Join other FOSSers and share yours!

What’s your favourite Linux distro? Why do you use that one?

You have to move with the times. When you retire you may have the luxury of doing it your way. Snaps are like static binaries, but with some extra crud to fit them into the package system. I dont see why they should startup slowly… there must be some clunky scripts involved. A static binary is large, but not so large that it would affect load time. I have one app (keenwrite) that comes as a static binary… it loads quite fast and my machine is rather like your Dell with early corei7 and…

It's FOSS Communitynevj

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Enjoy using Linux in 2025 🐧

by: Abhishek Prakash

The brilliance and curiosity of some people amazes me. Take this person who managed to run Linux inside a PDF file 🫡

Wow! You Can Now Run Linux Inside a PDF

Yes, you read that right.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

• Debian logging off X/Twitter.

• Installing DeepSeek R1 locally on Linux.

• Doom running on Android 16's Linux Terminal.

• And other Linux news, tips and, of course, memes!

• This edition of FOSS Weekly is supported by PikaPods.

❇️ PikaPods: Enjoy Self-hosting Hassle-free

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📰 Linux and Open Source News

• An official Arch Linux WSL image is in the works.

• Debian has stopped publishing content on X/Twitter and it created a controversy.

• Running Doom on Android 16's Linux Terminal is possible.

• Fedora's KDE Plasma Desktop has been promoted to Edition.

• The sole maintainer of the Linux wireless networking drivers has stepped down.

GTK set to drop support for X11 and Broadway

GTK Drops X11!

And Broadway Support, Lays the Foundation for New Android Backend

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

The Video Game History Foundation is giving people early access to their archive of research materials on video game history.

The VGHF Library opens in early access | Video Game History Foundation

For free. For everyone. Wherever you are.

Video Game History FoundationPhil Salvador

Development of Serpent OS has slowed down considerably due to funding issues.

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• It's FOSS Community member, Bhuwan, shares how you can use Emacs as your terminal multiplexer on Windows.

• Get started with Rust programming with our Rust Basics series.

• Linux books I own and recommend.

A common issue these days is missing Windows from Grub in a fresh dual boot setup. The fix is easy.

Missing Windows from Grub After Dual Boot? Here’s What You Can Do

Can’t see Windows in Grub after successfully dual booting? That’s because os-prober is disabled. Here’s how to fix it.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

The ArmSoM CM5 is a compact powerhouse that's built around the RK3576 SoC.

ArmSoM CM5: Powerful Replacement for Raspberry Pi CM4

ArmSoM’s Compute Module 5 is an impactful Rockchip device with impressive hardware specs. And yes, it can support Raspberry Pi IO boards.

It's FOSSAbhishek Kumar

Also, learn to install DeepSeek locally on Linux.

✨ Apps highlight

Bored of Chrome and Firefox? Maybe this browser can help:

I tried this non-Chrome Open-Source Web Browser (And You Should Too!)

It’s time we got to try an open-source browser not based on Chrome. Zen Browser is the hero we didn’t know we needed.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

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🧩 Quiz Time

Ready to jog your memory of 90s video games?

90’s Retro Rewind Memory Game

Know the classics? See them and memorize the titles to uncover them as a pair.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In Nautilus File Manager (GNOME Files), you can go up and down directories using Alt + Up/Down Arrow Keys.

Similarly, you can use Alt + Left/Right Arrow Key to go back and forward.

🤣 Meme of the Week

The funny little penguin is why some of us switched to Linux! 🐧

🗓️ Tech Trivia

Ken Thompson, co-creator of UNIX, was born on February 4, 1943. UNIX was developed at AT&T Bell Labs and took inspiration from Multics, the first multi-user, multitasking OS. It quickly gained popularity among engineers and scientists.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

Pro FOSSer, Jimmy, shares an interesting case where a popular animation-focused YouTuber has moved to Linux Mint years after being exploited by Adobe.

Animator James Lee on dropping Adobe and switching to Linux

Hey everyone! A few weeks ago I saw this video by James Lee, and I forgot to post it here. If you aren’t familiar, James Lee is an Australian animator who has been somewhat popular on Youtube. He’s probably most famous for a collaboration he did with streamer Cr1TiKaL, but I have watched several of his videos before and he’s very funny. Also, his animations have a very unique and striking art style that I really like. As a small warning, most of his videos have swear words. It personally does…

It's FOSS CommunityAkatama

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Share it with your Linux-using friends and encourage them to subscribe (hint: it's here).

Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

Follow us on Google News and stay updated in your News feed.

Opt for It's FOSS Plus membership and support us 🙏

Enjoy FOSS 😄

by: Abhishek Prakash

Recently, I bought an Asus Zenbook and dual booted it with Ubuntu. But Ubuntu 24.04 didn't perform well on the new hardware and thus I removed Ubuntu from dual boot.

This is typically done by moving the Windows boot manager up the boot order and deleting the Linux partition from within Windows.

The annoyance is that Linux will still show up in the UEFI boot settings.

Although it doesn't hurt to leave it there, it triggers some sort of OCD in me to get a pristine system without unnecessary stuff.

And hence, I went out to 'fix this non-issue' and I am going to share how you can do the same if you like.

The process is composed of these two steps:

• Mount the EFI system partition (ESP) in Windows (has to be command line)

• Delete the Ubuntu/Linux entry from the EFI folder using either command line or GUI

📋

Again, the Linux entry in the UEFI boot menu is not a blocking issue and you can leave it as it is to use only Windows on the system.

Step 1: "Mount" the EFI partition in Windows

Press the Windows start button and look for CMD. Right click on it and select "Run as administrator".

Once the command prompt is open, start the disk partition utility by entering:

diskpart

Type "list disk" to list all the disks present on your system and get the name of the disk where the EFI partition is located.

list disk

If you have only one disk, it should show only one entry.

Enter the disk to see all the partitions on this disk:

select disk 0

You should see 'Disk 0 is now the selected disk' in the ouput.

Now, list all the partitions on this disk with:

list partition

Usually, it is the system partition that is EFI partiton and as you can see in the screenshot below, it is the partition number 1.

🚧

Since my ESP (EFI System Partition) has assigned number 1, I'll select this partition. Yours could be different, so pay attention.

select partition 1

Now, assign it a drive letter. Since C, D, E etc are usually taken, let's go to the end of the alphabet and use the letter x here.

assign letter x

With the EFI partition getting a driver letter, you can now see it in the file explorer like C or D drives.

Basically, all this hassle for mounting the ESP partition. Anyway, exit the disk partition tool:

exit

Step 2: Delete Linux folder from EFI

Till here, we were not doing anything risky. But now, we have to delete the Ubuntu Linux folder from the EFI partition.

This can be done via graphically as well as via command line. You used the command line above but for 'deleting' something, I would recommend using the graphical method.

Method 1: Use GUI

Open the task manager in Windows (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and here, click the 'Run new task':

This will give you the option to create new task. What you have to do here is to click on the "browse" button:

You can now browse the partitions and the files inside them. Using this, you can add or delete files and folders.

Browse to drive X and the EFI folder. You should see ubuntu (or whichever distro you used) listed here. Select it first and then right click to see the option to delete it.

I could not take a screenshot of it as Window's built-in tool didn't allow taking screenshots of the right-click context menu. Once you hit the delete option, a conformation dialogue box will pop up.

Select yes and close the browser and then close task manager as well.

Congratulations! Now if you access the UEFI settings from Windows, you won't see the Linux entry anymore.

Command line warrior? Let's see the other method for you.

Method 2: Use command line

📋

You need to perform all this in command prompt running as administrator.

Use this command to enter the drive you had mounted earlier. Mind the colon after the drive letter.

x:

See the content of the directory with:

dir

It should show a folder named EFI. Enter this directory:

cd EFI

And now look at the content of this folder:

dir

You should see some folder belonging to Linux. It could be named Ubuntu, Fedora etc.

The next step is to use the rd command (remove directory) with the Linux folder's name to delete it:

rd ubuntu /s

Once done, exit the command prompt by typing exit.

Conclusion

The ESP partition mounted as drive X won't be there anymore when you restart the system. And neither will be the Linux boot entry.

In a YouTube video, I discussed uninstalling Ubuntu from the dual boot system, I mentioned the fact that a leftover Ubuntu entry in the boot doesn't hurt. Still, a few comments indicated that they would like everything cleaned up. Hence, this tutorial.

💬 Is it worth the hassle to clean up the Linux boot entry after removing it from dual boot? Share it in the comments, please.

by: Sreenath

On our Arch installation video, a viewer requested a tutorial on installing Arch but with BTRFS and with encryption enabled.

And hence this tutorial came into existence.

I am using the official archinstall script. Though a command line tool, this guided installer allows even a moderate system user to enjoy the "greatness" of Arch Linux.

🚧

The method discussed here wipes out the existing operating system(s) from your computer and installs Arch Linux on it. So if you are going to follow this tutorial, make sure that you have backed up your files externally, or else you’ll lose all of them. You have been warned!

Requirements

Here's what I recommend for this tutorial:

• An x86_64 (i.e. 64 bit) compatible machine

• Minimum 2 GB of RAM (recommended 4-8 GB, depending upon the desktop environment or window manager you choose)

• At least 10 GB of free disk space (recommended 20 GB for basic usage with a desktop environment)

• An active internet connection

• A USB drive with a minimum 4 GB of storage capacity

• Familiarity with the Linux command line

Once you have made sure you have all the requirements, let’s install Arch Linux.

Step 1: Download the Arch Linux ISO

Download the ISO from the official website. Both direct download and torrent links are available.

Download Arch Linux

Step 2: Create a live USB of Arch Linux

You will have to create a live USB of Arch Linux from the ISO you just downloaded.

You may use the Etcher GUI tool to create the live USB. It is available for both Windows and Linux.

Etcher Live USB creation

Alternatively, if you are on Linux, you can use the dd command to create a live USB. Replace /path/to/archlinux.iso with the path where you have downloaded the ISO file, and /dev/sdx with your USB drive in the example below. You can get your drive information using lsblk command.

dd bs=4M if=/path/to/archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdx status=progress && sync

Basically, choose any live USB creation tool you like.

Step 3: Boot from the live USB

🚧

Do note that in some cases, you may not be able to boot from live USB with secure boot enabled. If that’s the case with you, disable secure boot first.

Once you have created a live USB for Arch Linux, shut down your PC. Plug in your USB and boot your system. While booting, keep pressing F2, F10 or F12 key (depending upon your system) to access UEFI boot settings.

Here, select to boot from USB or removable disk. Once you do that and the system boots, you should see an option like this:

UEFI Boot Screen

Select Arch Linux UEFI (x86_64) option to start the live medium.

📋

Legacy BIOS users should select the x86_64 BIOS option.

Step 4: Connect to Wi-Fi

You need an active internet connection for installing Arch Linux.

If you have wired connection, good. Else, you need to make some effort to connect to your Wi-Fi before starting the archinstall script.

First, in the Arch Linux live prompt, enter the command:

iwctl

This Internet Wireless daemon control is used to enrol Wi-Fi connection to your system. As soon as you enter the command, you can see that the prompt has changed to iwd.

Here, you need to list devices to get the name of your wireless hardware device.

List network devices

In the above screenshot, you can see the name of my Wi-Fi device is wlan0.

Now, use this device to scan available Wi-Fi connections in the vicinity.

station wlan0 scan
station wlan0 get-networks

Connect to a Wi-Fi

This will print the name of the Wi-Fi services available. Note the “Network Name”.

To connect to the network, use the command:

station wlan0 connect "Network Name"

This will ask you to enter the Wi-Fi password. Enter it and you should be now connected to internet.

Exit the iwd prompt using CTRL+D.

You can check if the network is functioning using the ping command:

ping google.com

Ping Google

Step 5: Pacman download settings

Before starting the archinstall script, let's change the download limit of pacman.

Edit the pacman configuration using:

nano /etc/pacman.conf

Here, uncomment the parellelDownload option and set a value according to your internet speed.

If you have a decent internet speed, set the parallel download count to 10.

📋

On my test system, I needed to run pacman -Sy and then pacman -S archlinux-keyring (install Arch Linux keyrings) before starting the installer. Otherwise, the installer crashed with some errors.
You may also need to read carefully what the prompt error says.

Step 6: Start Archinstall script

With the network connection ready, let's start the archinstall script with the command below:

archinstall

This will start the text-based arch installation script.

Archinstall script

Set the installation language

The first setting in the installer is the installation language. This option sets what language is used in the Terminal User Interface.

The latest archinstall provides a percentage value corresponding to each language, that describes how much translation has been completed.

Installation language

I will be going with the default English.

Locale Settings

You should set your locale and keyboard settings. Here, if you are OK with the defaults, you can skip to the next setting.

💡

Some programs like Rofi launcher may not launch if your locale is different from en_US. So, adding en_US as a locale is a good thing to avoid future headaches.

Set keyboard and locale settings

To change a setting, press the enter key to go inside and select individual items.

Inside locale settings

Mirror settings

Press the enter key on the Mirrors in the main menu of archinstall script. This will bring you to the mirror selection section.

Enter the Mirror Region.

Select the Mirror Region option.

This will provide a list of countries. You can select a country near your location for a faster network.

Mirror Countries (Click to expand the image)

💡

Use the "/" key to start a search. TAB key to select/mark an entry. Once multiple entries are marked, use the ENTER key to set those countries as mirrors.

The mirrors from selected countries will be listed. Move to “Back” and click enter.

Country-wise mirror list

Disk Configuration

Now, you need to partition your disk. The archinstall has a neat mechanism to help you here.

On the main menu, select “Disk Partition”. Inside this, select “Partitioning”.

Select Partitioning option

Here, use the option “Use a best-effort default partition layout”.

Best-effort partitioning

In the next dialog, use the TAB key to select your hard disk device and press the ENTER key.

Select Disk

Choose a partition type. Here, I am going with BTRFS partition. You can pick EXT4, a very well-tested file system, or XFS, f2fs etc.

Select BTRFS File System

On the next screen, you will be asked to use a default subvolume structure or not.

Let's say you select “Yes”.

Create Subvolumes True

You will be asked to pick compression or disable copy-on-write. It is advised to select Compression, to enable a Zstd compression.

Use Compression option

This will create a partition for you, with subvolumes for /, /home, /var/log, /var/cache/pacman/pkg, and /.snapshots.

Subvolume listing (Click to expand the image)

📋

Subvolumes are beneficial for users who want a granular control and use features like snapshots extensively.

If you are using a simple system, and not going to use such features, you can choose to avoid the subvolumes.

For this, pick “No” for BTRFS default subvolumes.

Subvolume choice

On the next screen, you should select “Use Compression” option.

Thus, you will get a simple partition for the system.

Simple no-subvolume partition.

Use the "Back" button to go to the installer main menu.

Disk Encryption

🚧

Disk encryption may introduce slight performance delay to the system. If your system is a casual home PC or an alternative system with no critical data, you can ignore the encryption.

Select the Disk Encryption option from the main menu. On the dialog box, select Encryption type and pick LUKS.

This will enable two other fields; Encryption password and Partition.

Fill the fields. Select the partitions that need to be encrypted using the TAB key.

Encryption overview (Click to expand the image)

🚧

Do not forget the encryption password. If you do, you'll lose access to the data on disk and formatting the entire operating system will be the only option for you.

Swap

Swap on zram is enabled by default in the installer. If needed, you can disable it.

Bootloader

By default, it is set to systemd-boot. This is a simple bootloader for those who expect simplicity.

If you require familar functionality, go for GRUB bootloader.

Select Grub Bootloader

Hostname

You can configure hostname here. By default, it is archlinux.

Root password

Next is Root password. Select it using enter key. Then enter and confirm a strong root password.

Root Password Setting

User creation

It is important to create a regular user account other than root account. This is for day-to-day purposes.

On User section, select "Add a user" option.

Click on "Add a user"

Here, enter the username.

Enter username

Now, enter a password.

Password for user

Confirm it by entering again when prompted. You will be asked whether the user a superuser or not.

Make the created user superuser (administrative privileges) by selecting the “Yes” option.

Admin privileges to regular user

Now, use the "Confirm and exit" option.

Exit user creation

Profile (Desktop selection)

The “Profile” field in the installer is where we will set desktop environments.

Select Profile → Type. Here, select the Desktop option.

Select Desktop Option

On the next screen, select a desktop (desktops) using the TAB key and press enter.

🚧

Try to avoid installing multiple heavy desktops in one system. Like KDE Plasma and GNOME in one system is not recommended.

Select GNOME Desktop

💡

You can choose one desktop like GNOME/Plasma and then choose one tiling window manager, making it install two desktop options.

Selecting a desktop and pressing enter will bring you to the driver selection settings.

For the test system, the installer automatically assigned all open-source drivers.

Driver packages

You can enter the “Graphics driver” settings and decide appropriate driver packs.

Available drivers are listed

Normally, you should not be doing anything on the greeter, as it will be automatically selected (GDM for GNOME, SDDM for KDE Plasma etc.)

Audio settings

For Audio settings, you can select Pipewire or pulse audio.

Select Pipewire

Kernel

You can either go with the default Linux kernel or select multiple kernels. Learn more about kernel options in Arch Linux.

The screenshot below shows two kernels selected, linux and linux-lts.

Kernel selection

Network Configuration

In the Network Configuration settings, select "Use NetworkManager" option.

Use NetworkManager

Additional Packages

If you need to install additional packages to your system, you can do it at the installation stage itself.

Press enter key on “Additional package” option in main menu.

Now, just enter the proper name of the packages you want to install, separated with space.

In the screenshot below, packages like firefox, htop, fastfetch, and starship are added.

Specify additional packages

Optional Repositories

You can enable multilib repositories using this setting. Select items using the TAB key and press enter. Learn about various Arch repos here.

Additional Repositories

Timezone

Search and set the timezone based on your location. Asia/Kolkata for Indian Standard Time, US/Central for central timezone etc.

Timezone settings

Automatic Time Sync with NTP will be automatically enabled, and no need to change.

Start the actual install

Once all the settings have been done, you can use the Install option to start the installation procedure.

Use Install button

You will be asked to verify the installation configurations you have set. Once satisfied, enter on “Yes” option.

Confirm installation (Click to expand the image)

The process will be started, and you need to wait for some time to finish all the downloads and installations.

Step 6: Post Installation

Once the archinstall script finishes, it will ask you to chroot into the system for further settings. You can give NO to the question if you have nothing planned to do.

No chroot enter

You can now shut down the system.

shutdown now

Shutdown the system

Once the system is shut down, remove the USB device from the port and boot the system.

This will bring you to the encryption page, if you have enabled encryption. Enter the password you have set.

Enter encryption password

You will reach the login page. Enter the password to log in to your system.

Log in to the system

Enjoy Arch Linux with BTRFS and encrypted drive.

by: Abhishek Kumar

Ever since I realized that AI was shaping the future, I’ve been fascinated by its endless possibilities.

I’m someone who enjoys testing large language models (LLMs) on my devices, and the open-source approach to data has always been my preference.

Why? Because open-source projects empower us to have control, privacy, and customization, which is essential in today's data-driven world.

When I decided to explore AI image generation, it felt like a natural extension of this mindset. Why rely on proprietary models when open-source alternatives offer powerful features and flexibility?

Now, I’ll admit - I don’t have the ideal hardware to run these models locally at blazing speeds, but where there’s a will, there’s a way! Sure, CPU inference is painfully slow, but it gets the job done eventually (and hey, patience builds character, right?).

During my research, I stumbled upon several fascinating projects. Some are fully ripe and ready to use, while others are still budding and need more time to mature.

This article is a combined list of some of the best open-source AI image generators that you can run locally. If I’ve missed any gems, feel free to let me know in the comments!

1. Stable diffusion 1.5 (paired with stable-diffusion webui)

Stable Diffusion WebUI | Source: AUTOMATIC1111

Stable Diffusion v1.5 is a powerful latent text-to-image diffusion model designed to generate photo-realistic images from textual prompts.

Developed as an evolution of earlier versions, it was fine-tuned on a large-scale dataset, "LAION-Aesthetics v2 5+", to enhance its capabilities.

This model is particularly well-suited for artistic, creative, and research purposes, offering impressive results with minimal computational requirements.

Key features

• Unlock high-quality text-to-image generation with its latent diffusion process, achieving impressive results with reduced computational overhead.

• Fine-tuned on a large-scale dataset to improve its ability to generate visually appealing images.

• Supports multiple platforms and tools, including Diffusers Library for seamless integration into Python workflows, ComfyUI, Automatic1111, SD.Next, and InvokeAI for local usage.

• Enjoy efficient weight options like EMA-only weights for inference or EMA + non-EMA weights for fine-tuning tasks.

• Leverage the Pretrained Text Encoder, inspired by Google's Imagen model, to robustly understand text prompts.

• Generate artwork, design prototypes, and educational visuals with its creative applications, ideal for artistic and research purposes.

Stable Diffusion 1.5

2. Invoke AI

Source: InvokeAI

InvokeAI is a robust, open-source image generation project that takes its inspiration from upon Stable Diffusion, offering users a highly customizable experience for creating unique visuals.

Whether you're looking to generate artwork, photorealistic images, or something more abstract, InvokeAI provides a powerful toolkit with an easy-to-use interface.

Its flexibility is perfect for those who want more control over the creative process, especially for those working with specific intellectual property or requiring tailored workflows.

Key Features

• Create highly detailed prompts with options for both positive and negative guidance to guide the generation process.

• Generate images based on textual descriptions, with numerous customization options for finer control.

• Use an existing image as a reference to help guide the AI in maintaining specific colors, structures, or themes.

• Access a unified canvas that enables users to modify images by regenerating certain elements, editing content or colors (inpainting), and extending the image (outpainting).

• Experiment with different models, each trained to generate specific styles or outputs, providing flexibility to match your creative needs.

• Utilize advanced customization options like Low-Rank Adaptations (LoRAs) and Textual Inversion Embeddings to focus on specific characters, styles, or concepts.

• Customize the number of de-noising steps and choose from different schedulers to optimize the generation process for quality and speed.

Invoke AI

3. OpenJourney

OpenJourney is a powerful, open-source text-to-image AI art generator that allows users to create stunning visuals from text prompts.

Launched in November 2022 by PromptHero, it has quickly gained popularity as a free alternative to MidJourney.

Built on Stable Diffusion, OpenJourney was trained using thousands of MidJourney images from its v4 update, as well as other AI models like DALL-E 2.

OpenJourney excels at generating photorealistic and artistic images, and its open-source nature ensures it remains accessible to a wide audience.

Key Features

• Create stunning visuals from text prompts with its powerful text-to-image generation capabilities.

• Enjoy photorealistic and artistic images, perfect for artists, designers, and anyone looking to generate high-quality content.

• Access a library of curated prompt ideas to inspire your creativity and get started with generating art.

• Customize the style and content of your generated images by crafting specific prompts that fit your vision.

• Benefit from OpenJourney's stable diffusion-based architecture and additional training on MidJourney images for enhanced capabilities.

• Take advantage of its wide accessibility, available for free download on Hugging Face as part of a broader ecosystem of open-source AI models.

Openjourney

4. LocalAI (all-rounder)

This is an example of telegram-bot created using LocalAI | Source: LocalAI

LocalAI is an open-source, free alternative to OpenAI that enables local AI inferencing on consumer-grade hardware.

It acts as a drop-in replacement for OpenAI's API specifications, allowing you to run large language models (LLMs), generate images, audio, and more without the need for a GPU.

LocalAI API WebUI | Source: LocalAI-frontend

Created and maintained by Ettore Di Giacinto, LocalAI provides a flexible and cost-effective solution for running AI models on-premise.

Key Features

• It offers compatibility with OpenAI API specifications, making integration straightforward for developers.

• The platform operates on consumer-grade hardware, eliminating the need for a GPU.

• Supports a wide range of models and platforms, including Llama, Hugging Face, and Ollama, for diverse applications.

• Enables advanced text generation using models like Llama.cpp and transformers.

• Allows users to generate images from text prompts for creative projects.

• Includes audio features such as text-to-audio and audio-to-text with whisper.cpp.

• Facilitates embedding generation for vector database tasks like semantic search.

• Offers peer-to-peer inferencing for distributed AI processing across multiple devices.

• Integrates voice activity detection using Silero-VAD for improved audio task accuracy.

• Provides an easy-to-use WebUI for managing models without technical expertise.

• Features a model gallery for browsing and downloading models directly from platforms like Hugging Face.

Local AI

5. Foocus (Editor's choice)

Source: Fooocus

Fooocus caught my attention as one of the most user-friendly and innovative open-source image generators out there.

I was especially drawn to its ability to work on modest hardware(like mine, my poor laptop) and can handle diverse styles, having compatibility with various models.

It’s like having a Swiss Army knife for image generation!

Key features

• Fooocus boasts a proprietary inpainting algorithm that delivers superior results for editing and completing images.

• With the ability to use multiple prompts simultaneously, Fooocus enriches creative possibilities and output diversity, opening up new avenues of artistic expression.

• Fooocus supports a vast array of SDXL models, accommodating styles from artistic to photorealistic, giving users endless options for experimentation.

• Users can specify aspect ratios for tailor-made image generation, ensuring that every output meets their unique requirements.

• Advanced style controls, including contrast, sharpness, and color adjustments, empower users to fine-tune generated images with precision.

• Fooocus utilizes A1111's reweighting algorithm, enhancing the influence of specific elements within prompts for more targeted results.

• The platform incorporates InsightFace technology for precise face swapping, ideal for creating personalized avatars or modifications.

• Optimized for performance across a wide range of hardware configurations, Fooocus ensures accessibility and speed, regardless of the user's setup.

Fooocus

Conclusion

And there you have it! From Stable Diffusion to Fooocus, these are some of the open-source projects you can host or deploy locally to create stunning images right on your hardware.

While I won't dive into the murky waters of how these models get trained (support your favorite creators, and remember, stealing is bad!), I can tell you this: each project offers unique capabilities and tons of creative potential.

I like exploring local AI tools. Take this list of open source AI tools for documents.

5 Local AI Tools to Interact With PDF and Documents

Interact with your documents but in private with these local AI tools.

It's FOSSAbhishek Kumar

Now, before I get lost in a sea of stunning visuals and my laptop's fan decides to take off, I have a tiny request for you.

What do you think? Have any hidden gems that I missed? Do you agree with my not-so-secret affection for LocalAI and Fooocus?

Dive into the comments section and let me know your thoughts. Who knows? Your suggestion might just be the next project I test out (if my CPU allows it, of course)!

Until next time, keep generating and keep dreaming!

by: Abhishek Kumar

Earlier, I shared how you can use Cloudflare Tunnels to access Raspberry Pi outside your home network.

A few readers suggested using Tailscale. And indeed, this is a handy tool if your aim is to ssh into your Raspberry Pi securely from outside your home network.

In this article, I'll be covering how you can use Tailscale VPN to remotely connect to your Raspberry Pi without the hassle of complicated network setups.

What is Tailscale?

Tailscale is a zero-config VPN built on the WireGuard protocol, designed to securely connect devices across different networks as if they were on the same local network.

It simplifies private networking by establishing a mesh VPN that routes traffic between your devices, no matter where they are.

Tailscale is available for multiple platforms, including Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and embedded devices like the Raspberry Pi, making it a versatile solution for remote access.

How Tailscale Works

At the heart of Tailscale is WireGuard, a fast and modern VPN protocol.

Tailscale uses this protocol to create encrypted connections between your devices, while managing all the networking complexities behind the scenes.

Its key mechanics include:

• Mesh Networking: Devices in your Tailscale network (or "tailnet") connect directly to each other where possible, creating a mesh of encrypted connections.

• End-to-End Encryption: All traffic is encrypted from one device to another, ensuring privacy and security.

• NAT Traversal: Tailscale automatically handles NAT traversal and firewall configurations, so you don’t need to worry about setting up port forwarding or exposing services.

• Auto-Routing: Once your devices are connected to the tailnet, Tailscale automatically routes traffic between them as needed.

This makes it an excellent option for remotely accessing your Raspberry Pi or any other device, eliminating the hassle of configuring VPNs, firewalls, or DNS settings.

Installing Tailscale on Raspberry Pi

Tailscale can be installed easily on any Linux-based system, including the Raspberry Pi. Here’s how to set it up:

Update your system:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Tailscale:

curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh

Authenticate and connect to Tailscale:

sudo tailscale up

This command will generate a URL. Open this URL in your browser to log in with your Tailscale account. Once authenticated, your Raspberry Pi will be connected to your tailnet.

Access Your Raspberry Pi: Once your Pi is part of the tailnet, you can access it remotely using its Tailscale IP address.

ssh pi@<tailscale-ip>

Setting Up Your Tailscale Network (Tailnet)

Once you’ve created your Tailscale account, you’ll need to set up your tailnet and connect devices to it.

Tailnet Creation: The good news is that Tailscale automatically creates a tailnet for you when you log in.

There's no need for manual network setup just install Tailscale on your devices and they’ll join the same tailnet.

Tailnet IP Addresses: Every device that joins your tailnet gets its own private, secure IP address.

These IP addresses are assigned automatically by Tailscale and can be used to remotely access your devices.

Managing Devices: Once a device joins your tailnet, you can view and manage it from the Tailscale web dashboard.

From here, you can see the connection status, IP address, and name of each device. You can also remove devices or disable connections if needed.

With your tailnet set up, you’re ready to access your Raspberry Pi from anywhere in the world, securely and without any complicated network configurations.

Pricing

Tailscale offers a straightforward pricing structure, starting with a Free Tier that supports up to 100 devices and includes all the key features needed for secure remote access—no credit card required.

For users needing more, the Personal Pro plan is $5 per user per month, with unlimited devices and 1 subnet router, while the Business Plan at $10 per user per month adds advanced features like ACLs and more subnet routers.

The Enterprise Plan offers custom solutions for larger networks.

For most personal projects, the Free Tier provides everything you need to get started easily.

Conclusion

Tailscale offers a simple solution for those needing simple, secure remote access to their Raspberry Pi or any other device.

By leveraging WireGuard for fast and encrypted connections, and simplifying the complexities of VPN setup, Tailscale allows you to focus more on your projects and less on network configuration.

The ease of installation, makes it an excellent choice for beginners, developers, and home automation enthusiasts alike.

If you have any suggestions for other apps or services you’d like us to cover, or if you want to share what systems you use for remote access, feel free to comment below! We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

by: Community

As a developer, you've likely seen many IDEs offering AI capabilities - from standalone editors like Cursor, Void editor, and Zed, to extensions like GitHub Copilot, Continue.dev, and Qodo.

If you enjoy tinkering with open source tools and experimenting with different approaches, Flexpilot IDE might be just what you're looking for. 🔍

Why Flexpilot IDE? ✨

Here are my reasons for creating and using Flexpilot:

Bring your own AI Model 🤖: Most developers already have API keys for various LLM services. Today's LLM providers offer generous free tiers - take Google Gemini or Azure OpenAI for instance. Instead of being locked into a specific subscription, Flexpilot lets you use these existing credentials and experiment with different models as you see fit.

Use locally hosted models 🏠: Privacy concerns in AI development are real. With advances in small language models and quantization techniques, running AI locally for simple coding tasks has become increasingly practical. Flexpilot embraces this by supporting locally hosted models, giving you complete control over your code's privacy.

GitHub Copilot Extension marketplace 🔌: The GitHub copilot extension marketplace is one of the largest growing Agentic Marketplace as of today. Flexpilot stands alongside VSCode (i.e., with GitHub copilot) as one of only two platforms that can tap into these extensions, opening up a world of specialized AI capabilities.

Use it inside a browser instantly 🌐: For those of us who spend time exploring GitHub codebases, the default GitHub interface can feel limiting. While vscode.dev and github.dev offer better browsing experiences, they lack AI capabilities. Flexpilot fills this gap through ide.flexpilot.ai, providing a familiar IDE experience enhanced with AI features right in your browser.

Uses native API interfaces ⚡: Most VS Code extensions rely on webviews for their chat interfaces, which can create unnecessary overhead. Flexpilot takes a different approach by using native APIs. Think of it like using a native app versus a web app - the difference might seem subtle at first, but the improved performance and additional capabilities become apparent as you use it.

Forked from VS Code 🔱: If you're comfortable with VS Code, you'll feel right at home with Flexpilot. It maintains all the familiar VS Code features while adding seamless AI integration. This means you get the best of both worlds - a trusted development environment with enhanced AI capabilities.

Use Flexpilot IDE in web browser 🌐

📋

While the browser version offers a streamlined experience, it operates as a minimal client-only version. Due to browser limitations, it can't access nodejs or native APIs, but it handles code browsing and AI features remarkably well.

One of Flexpilot's standout features is its browser accessibility. Similar to vscode.dev or github.dev, but with integrated AI capabilities, you can start using it immediately without installation. Try it by clicking here to browser Flexpilot IDE's source code.

To browse any GitHub repository, simply modify the URL with your desired repo details:

https://ide.flexpilot.ai/?folder=web-fs://github/<repo-user>/<repo-name>/<branch>

For example, to explore the flexpilot-ide repo's main branch, use:

https://ide.flexpilot.ai/?folder=web-fs://github/flexpilot-ai/flexpilot-ide/main

Use Flexpilot IDE on Linux desktop 🐧 💻

It would be better to use Flexpilot on the desktop to use its full functionality.

Step 1: Download and install

Head over to flexpilot.ai to download the latest Desktop version. You'll find builds for Windows, Mac, and Linux, with options for both x64 and ARM architectures.

For Ubuntu users, the installation process is straightforward. Once you download the appropriate .deb package, Open Terminal in your download directory and run:

For x64 systems:

sudo dpkg -i linux-x64.deb

For ARM systems:

sudo dpkg -i linux-arm64.deb

Then install dependencies:

sudo apt-get install -f

Now you can launch Flexpilot through your Applications menu or by just typing flexpilot in the terminal.

Step 2: Connect to GitHub

When you first launch Flexpilot, you'll notice a chat panel on the right side of the screen with a GitHub sign-in option. This connection does more than just authentication - it personalizes your experience with your GitHub profile and automatically configures GitHub Models API access, giving you immediate access to AI features.

Step 3: Configure AI Model (Optional during initial setup) ⚡

While GitHub Models API is pre-configured after sign-in, you might want to set up additional AI providers. Access the command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type Flexpilot: Configure the Language Model Provider, and customize your model settings according to your needs.

Step 4: Start chatting with your codebase using AI 💬

Flexpilot offers several ways to interact with AI throughout your development workflow:

Panel Chat

The panel chat sits conveniently on the right side of your screen. Select your preferred model, add context by referencing files or symbols, and start your AI-assisted coding journey.

Inline Chat

Need to modify specific code sections? Select the code, press Ctrl+I, and describe your desired changes. The AI will suggest improvements while maintaining context.

Terminal Chat

Working in the terminal? Press Ctrl+I while in the integrated terminal to get AI-powered command suggestions and explanations.

Additional Features

Flexpilot's AI integration extends beyond chat interfaces. You'll find AI assistance in code completions, multi-file edits, quick chat, symbol renaming, commit message generation, and more. Check out the official documentation for a complete feature list.

Step 5: Configure completions

For those who enjoy predictive code completions, configure any OpenAI API compatible completion model providers through the command palette. Select Flexpilot: Configure the Language Model Provider and choose Edit Completions Config.

💡

Consider trying Codestral API by Mistral - they offer a generous free tier for code completions. Sign up at console.mistral.ai/codestral without requiring payment details.

Extend AI capabilities with Copilot Extensions 🔌

Flexpilot's extension system represents a significant step toward the future of AI development. Type @ in your chat to see installed agents and discover new ones through the marketplace. For instance, try the MongoDB extension - just start your questions with @mongodb for database-specific assistance.

This extension ecosystem embodies the vision of collaborative AI agents working together to solve complex development challenges.

Conclusion

Flexpilot IDE brings a fresh perspective to AI-assisted development. While it's still evolving, its unique features and open approach make it a valuable tool for developers who want more control over their AI assistance.

Looking to contribute? Visit GitHub repository and join the community in shaping the future of AI-native development.

Happy coding! 🚀

Author Info

Mohankumar Ramachandran is a Gen AI enthusiast, turning caffeine into code. Creator of Flexpilot.ai and open source advocate who believes AI is not just hype - it’s the future.

by: Abhishek Prakash

One of the main downside of using AppImages is the lack of desktop integration. This can be achived using AppImage Launcher tool.

Another problematic part is the lack of support for autostarting an AppImage application when the system restarts.

With some effort, you can achieve that, too.

The method involves twp steps:

• Creating a desktop file for the application

• Adding this desktop file to autostart application list

Let me show you the process in detail.

Step 1: Create a desktop file

Desktop files are text files that contain metadata about applications, such as their name, icon, and the command to run them.

These files are stored in specific locations, and the system menu uses them to allow users to launch applications from the menu.

For user-installed applications, the desktop file is typically stored in ~/.local/share/applications.

Before you explore autostarting an AppImage file, let’s first create a desktop file for your AppImage package.

Method 1: Using AppImage Launcher

AppImageLauncher is a handy tool that integrates AppImages with your Linux system. This way, you can find the AppImage apps in the system menu.

Although, AppImage Launcher hasn't see a new release in almost three years, it still works.

For Ubuntu and other Debian-based systems, you can use the deb package to install AppImage Launcher.

First, go to the releases page and download the deb file.

Download AppImageLauncher Deb File

📋

You can either download the stable release file, released in 2020 or the continuous build file, released in 2022.

Then install the deb file to your system.

If you are an Arch Linux user, you can install AppImageLauncher from AUR using an AUR helper like Yay.

yay -S appimagelauncher

There are release files for Fedora on the official releases page.

Once AppImageLauncher is installed, right-click on an AppImage app file and select "Open with AppImageLauncher".

Open AppImage with AppImageLauncher

For the first time, it will ask you to select a centralized location. Go for the default (~/Applications). Click OK. Now, this is where all your AppImage files will be stored.

Default AppImage location

Now, in the next window, chose "Integrate and Run".

Integrate and Run the AppImage

That's it. Your AppImage is now integrated to your system. You can now find the app you just ran with AppImage launcher in the system menu.

And it creates the required desktop file which is located at ~/.local/share/application.

Method 2: Creating desktop file manually

📋

This part requires you to have basic knowledge of Linux commands.

If you do not want to use AppImage Launcher, you can also create a desktop file manually.

Create a file called <your-app-name>.desktop in ~/.local/share/applications. For example, if you are using ClickUp, name it ~/.local/share/applications/clickup.desktop

Inside this file, add the following lines in this manner:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Logseq
Comment=A Note taking and Knowledge Management Application
Exec=/home/$USER/Applications/Logseq.AppImage
Icon=/home/$USER/Applications/Images/Logseq.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Office;

This is a very minimal desktop file for an application.

Here, the fields should be filled with data:

• Replace the Name and Comment field with the name and description for your application.

• The Exec field should point to the absolute path of the AppImage file.

• The Icon field should point to the absolute path of the icon image file.

• Terminal=false means that the application does not require a terminal to run. For most graphical applications like AppImages, this is the desired setting.

• Categories is where your Application will appear in the system menu.

Once done, save the file. That's it. You have created a desktop file for the AppImage.

💡

I advise placing all the AppImage files in a dedicated directory for better organization and avoiding accidental removal of the AppImage files.

Step 2: Autostart the application

Once you have the AppImage desktop file ready, you can easily autostart the application by just copy and pasting it to the ~/.config/autostart directory.

Use the cp command to copy the file:

cp ~/.local/share/applications/Logseq.desktop ~/.config/autostart

There is a dedicated GUI tool to autostart programs in Ubuntu. You may use that, if you want.

Now, when you restart your system, the selected application will be auto-started.

Conclusion

Out of Snap, Flatpak and AppImages, I like AppImage for the protability feature. You download the AppImage file, make it executable and run it.

The ease of use comes with a few downsides. The desktop integration is the most obvious one. You cannot launch them from the system menu. However, this can be achived using the third-party AppImage Launcher tool.

Not able to auto start an AppImage app when the system starts is another pain point. With some effort, that can also be achieved.

I so wish that AppImage ecosystem provides these feature by default. I mean if a third party AppImage Launcher can allow desktop integration, it can surely be integrated by AppImage officialy. What do you think?

by: Abhishek Prakash

You want to be good at Linux? Start using it. Linux doesn't get easier. You get better at it.

The more you use it as your daily driver, the more you explore it and the more you learn. You won't even realize how much you have improved from day zero 💪

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

• New LibreOffice and ONLYOFFICE releases.

• DeepSeek making its way into a Linux terminal.

• New EndeavourOS release

• And other Linux news, tips and, of course, memes!

• This edition of FOSS Weekly is supported by Internxt.

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P.S. There is a 30-day money back policy. Take advantage of it to try it and see if it fits your need.

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• EndeavourOS Mercury shows up as a modest release.

• DeepSeek support lands in the latest Warp Terminal release.

• Proxmox has been made a toplevel platform for Fedora CoreOS.

• The Open Euro LLM initiative is Europe's bet on achieving transparent AI.

• LibreOffice 25.2 and ONLYOFFICE Docs 8.3 have arrived with many notable improvements.

KDE Plasma 6.3 arrives with some digital artist-focused changes.

KDE Plasma 6.3 Release Aims to Be the Ultimate Desktop for Digital Artists

KDE Plasma 6.3 has arrived with some pretty exciting changes for digital artists.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

After the recent Linux kernel drama, a new policy has been introduced for Rust.

After Recent Kernel Drama, Rust for Linux Policy Put in Place

The recent Linux kernel drama over Rust code has resulted in the creation of a Rust kernel policy.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Dual-booted and now Windows is not showing in Grub? You can fix that.

• Installing Arch Linux with BTRFS and disk encryption is fairly straightforward.

• If you are not up for that, why not get started with Fedora for your next distrohop?

Here are some elementary but necessary tips on using the Linux commands in terminal.

19 Basic But Essential Linux Terminal Tips You Must Know

Learn some small, basic but often ignored things about the terminal. With the small tips, you should be able to use the terminal with slightly more efficiency.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

Ditch the cloud with these five local AI tools for image creation.

Tailscale makes SSHing into your Raspberry Pi simple and secure.

SSH into Raspberry Pi from Outside Home Network Using Tailscale

Learn how you can use Tailscale to secure connect to your Raspberry Pi from outside your home network.

It's FOSSAbhishek Kumar

✨ Apps highlight

Feeling the winds change? Time to check out a cool open source weather app. 🌤️

Another day, another IDE with AI features. Flexpilot joins the list.

Flexpilot is an Open Source IDE for AI-Assisted Coding Experience 🚀

Flexpilot is almost like VS Code, only a bit better with built-in AI features. Learn why I created it and how you can use it.

It's FOSSCommunity

🛍️ Deal You Would Love

15 Linux and DevOps books for just $18 plus your purchase supports Code for America organization. Get them on Humble Bundle.

Humble Tech Book Bundle: Linux from Beginner to Professional by O’Reilly

Learn Linux with ease using this library of coding and programming courses by O’Reilly. Pay what you want & support Code For America.

Humble Bundle

📽️ Video I am Creating for You

Subscribe to It's FOSS YouTube Channel

🧩 Quiz Time

In the most intelligent photo ever taken, do you know all the people?

The Most Intelligent Photo for Curious Minds

Did you know about the individuals in this photo? We help you here.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In KDE Plasma, you can assign a temporary shortcut to a window so that you can bring it to the foreground when needed. For this, right-click on the title bar of the required window and select More Actions → Set Window Shortcut…

Now, enter a shortcut by activating the desired keyboard shortcut combination and press OK.

And, that's it. Now you can see that the title of the window is modified to show the new temporary window shortcut. Use the keyboard shortcut combination to bring the window to the foreground.

🤣 Meme of the Week

The clock's ticking, Windows 10 users! ⏰

🗓️ Tech Trivia

On February 10, 1996, IBM’s Deep Blue became the first computer to defeat a reigning world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, in a single game. Kasparov won the match 4–2.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

Have you heard of the Haiku Project? It is an open source operating system that focuses on personal computing. Join other FOSSers in the discussion over it!

Haiku Project looks interesting!

So, there’s this other OS, it’s not Linux, nor a *BSD. It’s Haiku. A continuation of BeOS, which was meant as a competitor to Windows, it has quite some interesting features. It boots fast, REALLY fast, and I only tried its live mode in a VM! Yes, it’s rough around the edges (that’s why it hasn’t got a 1.0 yet), but already it looks promising. Its GUI is really responsive and looks and behaves quite different than the Windows or MacOS-esque GUIs, so takes some getting used to. So, what do you…

It's FOSS Communityxahodo

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Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

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Enjoy FOSS 😄

by: Abhishek Prakash

The Linux terminal could be intimidating. The dark screen with just commands to use. It's easy to feel lost.

The thing is that Linux command line is a vast topic. You can manage the entire system using just the commands. I mean that's the role of sysadmins, network engineers and many other jobs.

The aim of this tutorial collection is not to make you job-ready. It intends to give you the starting point of your Linux command line journey. It will give you enough to navigate the terminal and understand a few basic things like reading files and editing them.

Since it's just the beginning, most of the tutorials are in the 'file operation' category. That's where most Linux books and courses begin.

📋

The best way to learn is by doing it yourself. I have written the tutorials in 'hands-on mode' so you can follow the examples on your Linux system. Each chapter in the series contains some sample exercises to practice your learning. Follow, practice and you'll be getting better at Linux command line in no time.

Prerequisite

When you are absolutely new to the terminal, you'll find yourself lost even while reading the tutorials. That's because you may not always understand even the simplest of terms.

The article below will help you with some of that. While some of the tips I shared may be a little advance or not-so-useful for you at this moment, you'll find plenty of useful stuff.

19 Basic But Essential Linux Terminal Tips You Must Know

Learn some small, basic but often ignored things about the terminal. With the small tips, you should be able to use the terminal with slightly more efficiency.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

What will you learn here?

• Changing directories: In the first chapter, learn to switch directories (folders) using absolute and relative paths. This way, you can navigate in the Linux command line.

• Making directories: Now that you know about switching directories, learn about creating new ones.

• Listing directory content: You are getting a good grasp of the directories. Learn to see inside directories and see what files and subdirectories do they have.

• Creating files: Enough about directories. Learn to create new files in the Linux command line.

• Reading files: What's inside the file? Learn to read text files in this chapter.

• Deleting files and directories: Now that you have learned to create new files and folders, it's time to delete them.

• Copying files and directories: Keep on with the file operations and learn to copy files and directories in this installment of the terminal basics series.

• Moving files and directories: Moving file operation is like cut-paste. You can use the same method for renaming files and directories as well.

• Editing files: As the last major file operation, learn to edit text files in the command line.

• Getting help: Now that you have learned plenty of the basic Linux command line operation, it's time to know how you can get help in the terminal itself.

Where to go from here?

Now that you are more comfortable with the terminal and know the basic file operations in the command line, you may wonder what comes next.

I will suggest getting a Linux book like How Linux Works. However, you can start with any Linux book you come across. Here are a few Linux books I love.

Best Linux Books For Beginners to Advanced Linux Users

Here are some Linux book recommendations to improve your knowledge. These books cater to the need of beginners and experts and help you master Linux concepts.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

Don't want to spend money on books yet? No worries! Here are some free Linux ebooks you can download.

20 Best Linux Books You Can Download For Free Legally

Let me share the best resource to learn Linux for free. This is a collection of Linux PDFs that you can download for free to learn Linux.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

Bash scripting is also an integral part of Linux learning. Even if you don't have to write shell scripts, if you know the basics, you should be able to understand scripts you come across while using Linux.

Learn Bash Scripting For Free With This Tutorial Series

New to bash? Start learning bash scripting with this series in am organized manner. Each chapter also includes sample exercises to practice your learning.

It's FOSS

There is no limit to learning. It's impossible to know it all. Yet, if you know at least the basics, it helps you in using the system more effectively.

🗨 I hope you like this Linux terminal tutorial series. Do share your feedback in the comments section.

by: Abhishek Prakash

The holidays are over and so do the Tuxmas Days. 12 days of 12 new features, changes and announcements.

As mentioned on Tuxmas Day 11, It's FOSS Lifetime membership now also gets you lifetime Reader-level membership of Linux Handbook, our other portal focused on sysadmin, DevOps and self-hosting.

If you are one of the 73 people (so far) who opted for the Lifetime plan, you'll get a separate email on Linux Handbook's membership. Meanwhile, please download the 'Linux for DevOps' book for free as part of your Plus membership.

Please note that this combined benefit of free lifetime Linux Handbook Reader level membership (usually costs $18 per year) is only available till 11th January. Thereafter, it will cost $99 and won't include Linux Handbook's membership. Get the additional advantage before the time runs out.

Get It's FOSS Lifetime Membership

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

• SteamOS rolling out

• Kdenlive working on a new AI-powered feature.

• Nobara being the first one to introduce a release in 2025.

• And other Linux news, videos and, of course, memes!

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• Nobara 41 is the first Linux distro release of 2025.

• 2025 has hardly started and we have some bad news already as Absolute Linux is discontinued.

• Kdenlive is working on adding an AI-powered background removal tool.

• If rumors are to be believed, a 16 GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 5 could be coming very soon.

• Soon, you'll be able to install SteamOS on other handheld gaming devices.

Did you know there is a dedicated Linux distribution for wiping disks?

ShredOS is a Linux Distro Built to Wipe Your Data

A Linux distro built to help you destroy data. Sounds pretty cool!

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

Sourav switched to Proton VPN after going through many other VPN services, here's what he thinks of it:

I Switched to Proton VPN and Here’s What I Honestly Think About It

Proton VPN is an impressive solution. Here’s my experience with it.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Learn how to install and use Neovim on various distros.

• Updating your Python packages is crucial, and it's effortless with pip.

• Optimize your workflow by auto-starting AppImages on your Linux workstation.

And an analogy to explain why there are so many Linux distributions.

What is Linux? Why There are 100’s of Linux OS?

Cannot figure out what is Linux and why there are so many of Linux? This analogy explains things in a simpler manner.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

Did you know you could run LLMs locally on a Raspberry Pi?

How to Run LLMs Locally on Raspberry Pi Using Ollama AI

Got a Raspberry Pi? How about using it ton run some LLMs using Ollama for your own private AI?

It's FOSSAbhishek Kumar

📹 Videos we are watching

Do you really need a media server software?

Subscribe to our YouTube channe

✨ Apps of the Week

Mullvad Browser is a very solid privacy-focused alternative to the likes of Google Chrome.

Mullvad Browser: A Super Privacy-Focused Browser Based on Firefox

Mullvad is Firefox, but enhanced for privacy, pretty interesting take as a cross-platform private browser app.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

If you are looking for a change in file management on Android, then you could go for Fossify File Manager.

🧩 Quiz Time

Have some fun finding the logos of distros and open source projects.

Spot All The Logos: Image Puzzle

Let’s see if you can spot the hidden items in the image!

It's FOSSAnkush Das

💡 Quick Handy Tip

If you are a Xfce user with a multi-monitor setup, then you can span the Xfce panel across monitors. First, right-click on the panel you want to span and then go to Panel → Panel Preferences. Here, in the Display tab, set Output as Automatic and enable the “Span monitors” checkbox.

🤣 Meme of the Week

The pain is real. 😥

🗓️ Tech Trivia

Hitachi announced the first 1 MB memory chip on January 6, 1984. At the time, this was a revolutionary leap in storage technology. Today, we carry more memory in our pockets than entire systems from that era!

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

Pro FOSSer Neville shares his experience with Chimera Linux on virt-manager. This is a detailed write-up, so be prepared for a lengthy read.

Chimera Linux in virt-manager with Plasma | Wayland | APK | Clang/LLVM | musl | dinit | BSD core tools

Chimera Linux in virt-manager with Plasma and Wayland Want to try something really different? Chimera Linux have just released new images as of 4/12/24. Chimera is a new distro build from scratch using Linux kernel 6.12 core tools from FreeBSD apk package system from Alpine Clang/LLVM toolchain Musl C library Gnome and Plasma desktops with Wayland &/or X11 multiple architectures - Intel/AMD, ARM AArch64, POWER, and RISC-V the dinit init system A real mix. One could debate whether it is L…

It's FOSS Communitynevj

❤️ With love

Share it with your Linux-using friends and encourage them to subscribe (hint: it's here).

Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

Follow us on Google News and stay updated in your News feed.

Opt for It's FOSS Plus membership and support us 🙏

Keep on enjoying Linux in 2025 🐧

by: Abhishek Prakash

When you think of essential Raspberry Pi accessories, you count a screen, monitor and mouse if you want to use it as a regular desktop computer.

How about turning it into a laptop?

There are a few projects that work on this one. Elecrow's CrowView Note is such a device that lets you attach your Raspberry Pi or Jetson Nano or other SBCs to a laptop like interface.

This sounds interesting, right? Let me share my experience of using CrowView Note.

Just so that you know, Elecrow sent me CrowView Note. The views expressed here are my own and not influenced by Elecrow.

CrowView Note: What is it?

The CrowView Note by Elecrow is a portable, all-in-one monitor with an integrated keyboard and trackpad designed to transform SBCs like Raspberry Pi into a laptop.

Elecrow is a Hong Kong based company that creates and sells hardware for makers and tinkerers. If you are into Raspberry Pi and SBCs, you might have come across their CrowPi kit.

CrowView Note features a 14-inch Full-HD (1920×1080) IPS display with built-in speakers and a 5000mAh battery. There is no CPU, HDD/SSD or even camera here.

The good thing here is that CrowView is not just limited to Raspberry Pi. It's like an external screen with a keyboard and touchpad. You attach it to any single board computer using the Mini HDMI and USB cables.

You can also connect it to your Android smartphone (thanks to features like DeX) and gaming consoles like Steam Deck etc. You should be able to use it with digital cameras, Chromecast like devices and Blu-ray/DVD players (if you still use them).

It is powered by a 12V DC power supply to charge the 5000mAh battery. You can disconnect direct power and run it on battery like a regular laptop.

Technical specifications

Here are the specs that might interest you:

• Display: 14″ IPS (1920×1080), 100% sRGB, 60Hz refresh rate, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300 nit brightness

• Ports: 1x USB-C (full), 1x USB-C (power), 2x USB-A, 1x Mini HDMI

• Audio: 2W speakers, 3.5 mm audio jack, microphone

• Power: 12V DC charging and 5000 mAh battery

• Size: 33.5cm*22cm*1.7cm

• Weight: 1.2 Kg

The device is priced at $169 excluding shipping and custom fee. More details can be found on its official page.

Experiencing CrowView Note

If you look at CrowView at a glance, it looks like a regular laptop. Not a premium one. Just a regular, entry-level, inexpensive but lightweight laptop.

You pick it up and it feels light. My Asus ZenBook and Dell XPS are almost the same weight, I guess.

Which made me curious because I was under an impression that there are not much hardware inside it. The Raspberry Pi is attached from the side, externally. So, there is no CPU, motherboard or graphics inside, or so I am guessing.

I am so tempted to open it up and have a peek inside it. Perhaps I'll do that after a few weeks when I have explored all other aspects of this device.

Bottom View of CrowView Note

There are on-board speakers at the bottom that are not great with 2W of power and I am not complaining. You get the sound feature, at least. If you want something better, connect a headphone or speaker.

So, it is a laptop-like device but there are no processors inside it. You attach a Raspberry Pi to its left side using a dedicated bridge board. This way, you don't need to separately power the Raspberry Pi.

CrowView with a Raspberry Pi 5 attached to it

This connector bridge is also available for NVIDIA Jetson Nano, purchased separately for $7.

The bridge is not necessary. You can connect to Pi or other devices using mini HDMI and USB cables. The device needs to be powered separately in this case.

My other Pi device inside the Pironman case got successfully connected this way.

I also connected it to my ArmSoM Sige7 SBC and it worked the same without any issues.

CrowView Note with ArmSoM Sige7

Display

CrowView Note features a 14 inches, full-HD (1080p) display and there is nothing to complain about it. The IPS display looks sharp and there is no noticeable glare. The 60Hz refresh rate is pretty standard.

Although it looks like there is a webcam in the middle, that's not the case. Which is disappointing, to be honest. I would expect a laptop to have a functioning webcam.

Keyboard

The keyboard is fine. Not premium but fine. Again, I am not complaining. It is definitely better than the cheap Bluetooth keyboard people usually use with SBCs.

In fact, I feel the keyboard felt better than the official Pi keyboard. The plastic on the keyboard feels a bit rough, just like the official Pi keyboard.

There are dedicated function keys that provide additional features to the CrowView Note:

• F1 key lets you switch between devices if you are connected via Type C on the right and HDMI/USB on the left

• F7 key gives you OSD (On-screen display) to access color settings for the display

• F11 key quickly shows the battery status

Other than that, there are function keys for volume, media and brightness control. There is a Num-Lock key to access the number pad on the same keyboard.

Keyboard

Touchpad

Touchpad has invisible left and right click buttons at the bottom. I prefer tapping finger and thankfully, you can also tap to click here. Two finger tap for right click also works in Raspberry Pi OS.

There is one thing that does bother me here. The double click actually takes three tap. You know, you double-click on a folder or file to open it. Two taps don't work. You have to quickly tap it three times. Surprisingly, the left click button at the bottom works fine with two clicks.

There is a thin plastic film on the touchpad. I can see bubbles at the lower part, I am not sure if it is supposed to come out. I tried taking it out but I could not grab the edge. So I left it as it is. The touchpad works, so why bother unnecessarily?

Touchpad close up

CrowView is flexible till 180 degrees. I am not sure if that is very helpful for practical use cases. I let you decide that.

CrowView Note stretched at 180 degrees

Battery

The on-board 5000 mAh battery is not much but it is decent enough to power your Raspberry Pi for a few hours comfortably.

The minor inconveniences

While I was able to connect CrowView Note to my ArmSoM Sige7 through mini HDMI and USB, I could not connect my Samsung Galaxy with it. I tried opening Dex but it was expecting either wireless or HDMI connection.

Another minor annoyance is that when I shut down the Raspberry Pi from within the system, the CrowView still runs on battery. I can see the battery indicator on and Pi's power indicator stays red (meaning it is off but still connected to a power source).

I am guessing it doesn't consume as much power but it is not completely shut down. It can be turned off completely by pressing the on-board power button.

I have mentioned it earlier. Lack of webcam is certainly a disappointment.

I was also wondering about all this bridge system to connect Pi to CrowView. A Pi attached to a laptop looks odd.

Why on the side? Why not a box where it could be plugged in at the bottom? That will make it less weird. Perhaps Elecrow wanted to expose the GPIO pins. Plugging it in at the bottom will also heat it up as there will be no scope to put in a fan without increasing the thickness of the 'laptop'.

Also, Elecrow already has a device like this in the form of the famous CrowPi. So this time, they took a different approach.

Conclusion

The one thing that I am glad CrowView Note it is not confined to just Raspberry Pi. You can use it with various devices and that is indeed a good thing. If you are spending $169 for a display-keyboard setup, it only makes sense that it works for all kinds of computers you have.

In simpler words, it adds more value to the offering.

It is a well-thought device, too. The function keys work irrespective of the devices and operating systems. At least, that's what I noticed in my experiment with it. The idea to add dedicated buttons for battery status and source change is excellent.

Should you buy CrowView Note? That is really up to you. See if you need or even want a gadget like this and if it is well under your budget.

For me, the device targets a specific set of users. And considering the fact that its Crowdfunded campaign attracted 27 times of its initial funding goal, I would say there is a significant interest in CrowView Note.

More Details on CrowView Note

💬 Your turn now. What do you think of Elecrow's CrowView Note? Is it something you need or want?

by: Community

A new (or perhaps old) way of enjoying music for the command-line enthusiasts.

I've seen things... seen things that you people wouldn't believe... Linux developed by governments, Linux on mobiles, and terminal audio players.

Yes, it could be funny, but it's real, you could play music from your command-line.

And that's just one of the many unusual things you can do in the terminal.

Subscribe to It's FOSS YouTube Channel

Meet Kew

When you use the terminal more often than the graphical tools, you would perhaps enjoy playing music from the terminal.

I came across Kew, a terminal music player fully written in C. It's small (not more than 1 MiB), with a low memory profile. You can create and play your own playlists!

Kew music player running in the terminal

First things go first: Installation

It's straightforward to install Kew because it's available in the repositories of the common Linux Distributions like Arch Linux, Debian, Gentoo., etc.

For Debian and Ubuntu-based distros, use:

sudo apt install kew

You can use an AUR helper for Arch-based distros. Let's you use yay:

sudo yay -S kew

For openSUSE, use zypper:

sudo zypper install kew 

Exploring music with Kew

One of the most interesting and surprising things it's that kew can search in your music directory (usually ~/Music, or you could change it) only with one word:

kew bruce

And you're immediately listening to the Boss!!

You can see the album cover while you're listening to it.

You can make a playlist based on the content of a directory (and the others inside it recursively). The playlist can be edited/modified inside Kew in the Playlist view.

You can play the songs from the playlist using:

kew kew.m3u

Direct Functions

Kew provides some direct functions that you can type with kew:

• <none>: You go straight to the music library.

• dir <album name>: Play a full directory.

• song <song name>: Play only a song.

• list <playlist name>: Play a playlist that you could define.

• shuffle <album name>|<playlist name>: shuffles the album or playlist

• artistA:artistB:artistC: shuffles all 3 artists.
  Just to mention some of their fantastic functions. You could get all the commands here.

Views

There are different views for different functions that can be accessed via a function key.

F2 : Current Playlist

F3 : Library view

F4 : Track View

Kew music player running in the terminal

F5 : Search view

F6 : Help

Press F6 to get the keyboard shortcuts info

Key bindings

If you decided to use Kew regularly, it would be much better to use and remember various keyboard shortcuts. You can surely configure your own.

Press F6 and it will show the key bindings:

• + (or =), keys to adjust the volume.

• ←, → or h, l keys to switch tracks.

• space, p to toggle pause.

• F2 or Shift + z to show/hide the playlist.

• F3 or Shift + x to show/hide the library.

• F4 or Shift + c to show/hide the track view.

• F5 or Shift + v to search.

• F6 or Shift + b to show/hide key bindings.

• u to update the library.

• v to toggle the spectrum visualizer.

• i to switch between using your regular color scheme or colors derived from the track cover.

• b to toggle album covers drawn in ascii or as a normal image.

• r to repeat the current song.

• s to shuffle the playlist.

• a to seek back.

• d to seek forward.

• x to save the currently loaded playlist to a m3u file in your music folder.

• Tab to switch between views.

• gg go to first song.

• number + G, g or Enter, go to specific song number in the playlist.

• g go to last song.

• . to add current song to kew.m3u (run with "kew .").

• Esc to quit.

Conclusion

There are several terminal audio players like Cmus, MOC - Music on Console, Musikcube, etc. Kew can be placed in this list of terminal tools.

Written in C, with a small memory blueprint, Kew is worth trying for a terminal dweller.

If you give it a try, do share its experience in the comments.

Author Info

Jose Antonio Tenés
A Communication engineer by education, and Linux user by passion. In my spare time, I play chess, do you dare?

by: Abhishek Prakash

Pay attention if you use Amazon Kindle. Starting 26th Feb, Amazon won't allow 'Download and transfer via USB' feature anymore. That's the feature people used to download the Kindle books they purchased and convert them to EPUB or PDF to read on other eBook readers like Kobo or their computers. In other words, your Kindle purchases will be restricted completely for Kindle devices.

If you want the control of your Kindle purchased books, take action and download the books before the deadline, remove DRM and convert them to PDF or EPUB.

Use Calibre to Remove DRM from Kindle Books and Convert to PDF

Own your content by removing DRM from Kindle books with the help of open source tool Calibre.

It's FOSSSagar Sharma

If you have hundreds of Kindle books, there is a script that can be used to download them in bulk. I have not tested it yet.

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

• GNOME's website getting a makeover.

• Fedora being threatened with a lawsuit.

• openSUSE making waves with recent moves.

• And other Linux news, tips, and, of course, memes!

• This edition of FOSS Weekly is supported by ANY.RUN.

❇️ Sandbox to Rescue

Infosec head at an EU bank shared insights on how they:

• Prevent hundreds of potential security incidents every year  

• Stay lean and efficient with limited resources

• Help the business avoid cyber attacks and protect clients

Must-read for all security professionals operating on a tight budget.

How I Used a Sandbox to Strengthen Bank’s Security

Discover how an investment bank cut threat response time in half and prevented hundreds of security incidents with ANY.RUN’s sandbox.

ANY.RUN's Cybersecurity BlogName

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• GNOME's website has received a complete revamp.

• AI-powered edit predictions have arrived on Zed editor.

• openSUSE has decided to ditch AppArmor for Tumbleweed.

• They are also considering dropping Legacy BIOS support for Leap and SLES.

• Nitrux has introduced a new kernel builder tool for Debian-based distros.

• Popular system stability testing and monitoring tool OCCT has arrived on Linux.

And we gear up for the Ubuntu 25.04 release.

Ubuntu 25.04 Features and Release Date: Here’s What You Need to Know

Here are the best Ubuntu 25.04 features.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

The string of dramas in the Linux space don't seem to stop, huh? This time, it is Fedora getting threatened with a lawsuit by OBS Studio.

Open Sue! OBS Studio Threatens Fedora With Legal Action

Another day, another Linux-related drama. This time, it’s OBS Studio and Fedora going at it.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Setting up Conky on Ubuntu is quite straightforward.

• We debunk the most common myths surrounding Linux.

• Learn how to always keep a window on top in GNOME.

• Using the night light feature on Linux Mint.

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

Sharing my experience of using this unusual device that converts an SBC into a laptop.

CrowView Note: Turning Raspberry Pi into a Laptop, Sort of

A highly crowdfunded device to add a portable workstation to your Raspberry Pi and other SBCs.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

And a little about running a LLM locally as a coding assistant in VS Code.

✨ Apps highlight

Plank Reloaded is a modern successor to the beloved Plank dock.

Plank Reloaded is a Fresh Take on the Classic Dock Experience

Plank Reloaded aims to refine what the classic Plank dock offered by staying simple but with a modern take on it.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

Who needs a GUI to listen to music when you could use kew?

🛍️ Deal You Would Love

15 Linux and DevOps books for just $18 plus your purchase supports Code for America organization. Get them on Humble Bundle.

Humble Tech Book Bundle: Linux from Beginner to Professional by O’Reilly

Learn Linux with ease using this library of coding and programming courses by O’Reilly. Pay what you want & support Code For America.

Humble Bundle

📽️ Video We are Creating for You

Subscribe to It's FOSS YouTube Channel

🧩 Quiz Time

Call yourself a Fedora buff? Prove it by beating this quiz.

Fedora Trivia Quiz

An enjoyable trivia quiz about Fedora Linux.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

💡 Quick Handy Tip

With the Extensions List GNOME extension, you can toggle extensions, access their settings, visit its home page, etc. right from the top panel. There is no need to open an additional extension app like Extension Manager.

You can install the Extensions List extension and get started right away.

🤣 Meme of the Week

We all have that friend. 😆

🗓️ Tech Trivia

February 15, 1999, marked Windows Refund Day, when Linux users staged protests outside Microsoft offices in the San Francisco Bay Area. The event aimed to raise awareness of Microsoft’s practice of bundling Windows with PCs and not offering refunds.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

Pro FOSSer Neville shares his experience with Meld. Have you used it before?

Meld is very useful for programming work

I have been editing some R code . I work in a temporary copy, in an R workspace. I have some modifications ready… I want to add them to the new version, but I cant simply copy in the .R files, because my temporary workspace is out of date. So I have to re-edit all the changes into the new version’s files. Here is how You can see my workspace screeen with a terminal for editing the new version on the left. On the right top you see a meld screen, comparing the new version file with the te…

It's FOSS Communitynevj

❤️ With love

Share it with your Linux-using friends and encourage them to subscribe (hint: it's here).

Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

Follow us on Google News and stay updated in your News feed.

Opt for It's FOSS Plus membership and support us 🙏

Enjoy FOSS 😄

by: Abhishek Kumar

Kodi is a versatile media player that can be customized to fit your needs, and one of the best ways to personalize your experience is by installing a Kodi build.

These builds come pre-configured with skins, addons, and settings that make your Kodi experience even better.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps of installing a Kodi build, using the Diggz Xenon Build as an example. The same method is used for installing add-ons to Kodi.

Whether you're using Kodi on a Raspberry Pi, PC, or even an Android Box, these steps will work across all devices.

Step 1: Enable unknown sources

Before we can install third-party builds, we need to allow Kodi to install from unknown sources. Here's how:

Go to Kodi's Home Screen and click the Settings Cog (top-left corner).

Select System from the options.

Scroll down and choose Add-ons. On the right side, toggle the Unknown Sources option to On. A warning message will pop up; click Yes to confirm.

We’re enabling this because Kodi doesn’t allow third-party sources by default for security reasons, but since we trust the source, we’ll proceed.

Step 2: Add the repository source

Now, we’ll add the source for the Team Crew Repository. This is where the HomeFlix and many other amazing Kodi builds reside.

Go back to the Kodi home screen and open Settings again. Select File Manager.

Click on Add Source.

In the window that appears, click on <None>.

Enter the build URL, in our case: https://team-crew.github.io and click OK.

Name the source with any name you prefer), then click OK.

Step 3: Install the build repository

Now that the source is added, we’ll install the build repository.

Return to the Kodi Settings page and click Add-ons.

a

Choose Install from Zip File.

Select the source you just added.

Click on the zip file named repository.thevrew-X.zip (X will be the version number).

Wait for the notification that says The Crew Repository Add-on Installed.

Step 4: Install the build wizard

The next step is to install the build Wizard, which will allow us to install the specific build that we want.

From the Add-ons menu, click Install from Repository.

Open the Build Repository i.e Crew repo in my case.

Select Program Add-ons.

Click on build wizard i.e. The Crew Wizard

and then select Install.

A prompt will appear asking you to confirm the installation of dependent addons. Click OK.

Wait for the installation to complete. This may take a couple of minutes.

Step 5: Install the actual build

Now we’re ready to install the actual build itself. I like Homeflix because if its familiar interface with Netflix, thus I'll be installing that.

Return to the Kodi home screen and go to Add-ons.

Select Program Add-ons

and click on Chef Wizard

Click on Build Menu.

Find and select your preffered build, I'm selecting Homeflix.

1. Click Continue and wait for the build to download and install. This may take a few minutes, so be patient.

Once the installation is complete, click OK to force close Kodi.

Step 6: Restart Kodi and Enjoy!

After the installation, simply reopen Kodi, and you’ll be greeted with the HomeFlix Build. The interface will be customized with a sleek new look, and you’ll have access to a range of addons and features.

Conclusion

Personally, I love the Homeflix Build by Team-Crew because it gives me that Netflix-like experience, which I find really comfortable.

It’s clean, visually appealing, and comes with tons of addo-ns pre-installed, including some premium ones like Debrid.

If you’re using premium services, you might need to configure those, but the build itself is a great starting point for anyone looking to get a smooth Kodi experience.

There are plenty of builds out there, each catering to different preferences. Whether you’re into movies, TV shows, live sports, or even gaming, there’s likely a Kodi build that fits your style.

I’ve already listed my favorite Kodi builds in a separate article, so be sure to check that out for more recommendations.

Best Kodi Builds to Spice Up Your Experience in 2025

Pimp your Kodi with a new skin and additional features by using one of the Kodi builds of your preference.

It's FOSSAbhishek Kumar

Explore a few options, experiment with different builds, and find the one that enhances your Kodi experience the most.

Now that you’ve got your build installed, sit back, relax, and enjoy a fully customized Kodi setup. Happy streaming!

by: Sreenath

I found it cool enough to watch someone, often portrayed as a hacker, use the Linux terminal, especially in the movies. What if I try to become one of the super cool hackers from the Hollywood movies? 😎

Now that I'm older, I'm no longer fooled by those movie skits 😌 But, I'm still a kid at heart, and I want others to think that I am a secretive hacker when they see me using the terminal.

To pursue that, I started exploring a list of cool Linux terminal tools that I can use for the job.

If I can feel like a hacker with these tools, you can too! Let's give them a try!

💡

You can use CTRL+C to exit the terminal after running these tools.

1. genact

Do you often feel like all you do in the terminal is run update commands, with nothing impressive to show off? Don’t worry—genact is here for you!

0:00

/1:02

1×

Running genact in a terminalRunning genact in a terminal

This little command will fill package download, network and other entries to your terminal. Those watching will think you are compiling some great programs.

You can install this from the Ubuntu Snap store or grab the prebuilt binary for genact from the official GitHub repository as per your CPU architecture.

If you downloaded the binary, open a terminal in the downloaded directory, and give the file execution permission with the following command:

chmod +x ./genact-file-name

The file name will look like genact-1.4.2-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu

Next, execute it using:

./genact-file-name

genact

2. Cmatrix

Anyone who has seen The Matrix movie cannot forget the iconic effect of characters raining down the screen. With CMatrix, you can recreate this mesmerizing display right in your terminal.

0:00

/0:09

1×

Cmatrix command running in terminal.

You can install Cmatrix from the official repository of most Linux distributions. For instance, here's the command for Ubuntu-based distributions:

sudo apt install cmatrix

Now, just run it using the command:

cmatrix

For more fun, you can pair it with other fun terminal tools like lolcat, one of the fun ASCII art tools.

3. Hollywood

Hollywood is that command which will make others think that your system has been hacked my someone.

It will burst a huge text and animation effects on your terminal, where regular keyboard entries will do nothing. For a minute, I forgot I had to stop it to continue writing the article, it looked so cool! 😎

To install hollywood on Ubuntu, use the command:

sudo apt install hollywood

Hollywood

4. TEXTREME

Do you want a text editor that will show all types of fancy animation for character entry and deletion?

Textreme is for you.

This is not a regular text editor, where you will code swiftly, but a cool fancy text editor, that gives a festive party vibe while you write something.

You can grab an executable binary from the official website. And, extract the tar file and double-click on the file to start the editor.

TEXTREME

5. No More Secrets

No More secrets will show an encrypt/decrypt effect for everything piped into it. It tries to recreate the famous data decryption effect seen on screen in the 1992 hacker movie Sneakers.

There are no release files for this package. So, you need to compile it from GitHub.

Make sure you have git and essential build tools like make installed. Then use the following commands to proceed:

git clone https://github.com/bartobri/no-more-secrets.git
cd ./no-more-secrets
make nms
make sneakers
sudo make install

This will install two tools, no-more-secrets or nms and sneakers.

Sneakers

Sneakers recreates the movie clip for you. Once the command completes printing encrypted characters, press any key to start the decrypting effect.

No More Secrets

Pipe any text output to this command and see the effect for yourself. If you would rather not press a key to start decryption, use:

cat agatha.txt | nms -a

This will print the contents of the file in encrypted form and then automatically start to decrypt it and show the original content.

You can experiment with it to show different colors as well!

No More Secrets

6. Cool Retro Term

Sometimes the feeling of a hacker or a whiz comes from retro tools. This is one of the super cool terminal emulators that helps achieve what we want here.

You can install the Cool Retro Term terminal emulator application on Ubuntu using the command:

sudo apt install cool-retro-term

Next, open the terminal from your Activities Overview or app menu:

Do not forget to right-click on the terminal and explore the settings. There are more effects waiting!

Cool Retro Term Settings

Cool Retro Term

7. gping

Did you ever use the Ping command to check whether you have an active internet connection? Or to check whether a site is up and running?

The ping command is just a text command, where you need to look at the values to get the picture. You can do the same, but have some aesthetically pleasing outputs (graph) using gping.

Install GPing on Ubuntu using the command:

sudo apt install gping

0:00

/0:43

1×

Gping command

gping

8. Bpytop

Bpytop is a htop alternative that prints system information neatly. You can use this command to make someone think that you're monitoring super serious aspects of your computer.

To install it, use the command:

sudo apt install bpytop

0:00

/0:30

1×

Bpytop command with options

Bpytop

When it comes to Linux terminal tools, there are endless options from various individual developers.

Here, I have shared the ones that I tried to make myself look like a hacker to anyone who observes me when I use the computer 😄

You can also choose to explore some terminal emulators or system monitoring tools to have fun with:

Top 14 Terminal Emulators for Linux (With Extra Features or Amazing Looks)

Want a terminal that looks cool or has extra features? Here are the best Linux terminal emulators you can get.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

💬 What is your favorite on the list? Do you have some fun tools that I missed listing here? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.

by: Abhishek Prakash

If you are starting to use and learn Linux, remember this:

• Linux is not magic 🪄

• It's sudo science 🔬

Okay...sorry... my dad jokes urges get the better of me at times 😁

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

• Cropping a video in VLC (no, seriously)

• Cloning SD card in Raspberry Pi

• Modern terminals with modern features

• And other Linux news, tips, and, of course, memes!

• This edition of FOSS Weekly is supported by PikaPods.

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• DietPi's new release supports Pi-hole v6

• Nextcloud Hub 10 is available now

• Mozilla introduces 'terms of use' for Firefox

Answering the difficult question. Is Linux any better for gaming in 2025?

Is Linux Ready For Mainstream Gaming In 2025?

Linux is quietly gaining ground on Windows in the gaming space. But how well does it actually perform? Here’s what I experienced.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

The RSS feed matters more than ever.

• Why I Still Love and Use RSS Feeds in 2025

• RSS feeds are classic. And surprisingly, they are still relevant in 2025.

It's FOSS NewsAbhishek

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Cropping a video in VLC: is that even a thing?

• See the devices connected to your local network on Linux

• Although I prefer using yay, here are some other AUR helpers, Arch users.

Here are some modern Linux terminals with not-so-traditional features.

7 Linux Terminals From the Future

Just when I thought the terminals cannot be innovated, there is an influx of modern terminal emulators with interesting new features.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

The easiest way to back up your Raspberry Pi is by cloning it. Am I right?

• Clone Existing Raspberry Pi OS to a Bigger SD Card

• Need more space on your Pi? How about cloning it to a bigger SD card? Here’s how to do that.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

✨ Apps highlight

Alright! Obsidian is not open source but it is awesome.

• Obsidian Review: Notion Alternative for the Markdown Pros

• This second brain tool has taken the first brain of Markdown lovers by storm.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

🛍️ Deal Ending Soon

And I know there is Logseq, its open source alternative. Between you and me, we have a tutorial series planned on Logseq, covering its features and tips on using it.

15 Linux and DevOps books for just $18 plus your purchase supports Code for America organization. Get them on Humble Bundle.

Humble Tech Book Bundle: Linux from Beginner to Professional by O’Reilly

Learn Linux with ease using this library of coding and programming courses by O’Reilly. Pay what you want & support Code For America.

Humble Bundle

📽️ Video I am Creating for You

It's a small topic but often confuses the Arch beginners.

Subscribe to It's FOSS YouTube Channel

🧩 Quiz Time

Test your Linux file permission knowledge by taking this quiz.

• Linux File Permission

• The Linux file permission is an important concept to know about. Test your knowledge.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In Nautilus file manager (GNOME's file explorer), you can use the Shortcut CTRL + S to start a quick "Select Items Matching".

In the dialog box, enter the glob pattern matching, like *.png to select all PNG files, or *.txt to match all txt files.

🤣 Meme of the Week

I laughed harder than I should have on this meme. If you know Linux Mint, you would laugh too.

And if you are interested, learn the logic behind the codenames of popular distro releases.

🗓️ Tech Trivia

The first web browser was introduced by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web on 26th Feb 1991. It was named WorldWideWeb at first but renamed later to Nexus to avoid the confusion.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

FOSSers are discussing the future 🖲️

In 50 years, what will our computers look like?

Imagine, it’s the mid-term future. What will desktop computers look like? What specs will they have?

It's FOSS Communityxahodo

❤️ With love

Share it with your Linux-using friends and encourage them to subscribe (hint: it's here).

Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

Follow us on Google News and stay updated in your News feed.

Opt for It's FOSS Plus membership and support us 🙏

Enjoy FOSS 😄

by: Ankush Das

One of the superpowers of having a computer is dual booting. You can have two operating systems installed on a single computer, and switch between them at boot time.

If you are hearing it for the first time, I suggest you read our article on dual booting to learn more about the impressive capability.

And, the most popular option to dual boot is Linux and Windows. So, you can have the best of both worlds, without any compromises.

However, there are some myths surrounding this combination of dual booting. Here, I tell you the reality of the myths as per my experience with dual booting for more than a decade now.

1. Dual Booting Slows Down Your System

If you have been dual booting for a long time, you must have come across this thought where some were convinced that dual booting affects your system speed.

Fortunately, it is not true, as you only use one operating system at any given time.

When you are greeted with the grub screen or dual boot screen with the two options, you merely choose what to load up for using your computer. It is either Windows or the Linux distribution.

Dual boot grub screen of my computer

So, when you do pick one, the other remains dormant, until you reboot and select it.

It never slowed down my system, and it will not slow down yours.

2. Dual Boot is Only About Windows and Linux

I have a dual boot Windows and Linux setup for my use-case, and that is the most common choice among users.

But, that does not mean that is the only possible choice.

You can choose to have two Linux distributions for dual booting, and you can also have two Linux distributions, and Windows. Something like this:

Credits: It's FOSS Community

If I can think of a combination, I can do that, it is that simple.

3. You Cannot Dual Boot With Secure Boot

When it comes to dual booting with secure boot, you are limited to certain Linux distributions that support it (and offer documentation for it). But, it is not impossible.

For instance, Ubuntu supports dual booting with UEFI secure boot enabled.

You can follow our tutorial on installing Ubuntu with Windows to get it done.

4. You Need Two Disks to Dual Boot a System

While I admit that I utilize two disks for dual booting conveniently, but it is not what everyone does.

Plenty of users have just a single disk, and install the secondary OS to dual boot on a separate partition. Linux distributions have made it easy by offering an "Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager" option during installation:

You just have to be more careful when selecting the path to the bootloader, and the partition to install the OS. But, it is entirely possible.

5. You have to install Linux after Windows

It is a no-brainer that most Windows users think of installing Linux as a secondary OS. I find it so peaceful for a change, even if you rely on some Windows-specific applications for work.

So, that is the popular norm. But, it also works the other way. If you have Linux installed already, you can install Windows later without any hiccups. Just like we have done here:

How to Install Windows After Ubuntu Linux in Dual Boot

When it comes to dual boot, the general idea is that you have a system preinstalled with Windows and then you install Linux alongside Windows. On the boot, you select whether you want to use Windows or Linux. How about the opposite situation? What if you have a system that

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

Or, if you have nothing pre-installed. You can choose to first install Linux, and then Windows, it does not make a difference.

6. You Cannot Go Back to Windows Without Formatting The Entire System

Whether you have Linux or Windows installed currently, you can always go back to your favorite as the only option again.

Let us assume that you want to go back to Windows as your daily driver over your Linux distribution.

In such a case, all you need to do is add Windows as a secondary OS for dual booting and then remove format the partition that housed Linux, that's it:

Beginners Guide to Install Windows With Ubuntu in Dual Boot

This detailed article shows you how to dual boot Ubuntu with Windows 10, step-by-step, accompanied with proper screenshots.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

And, if you added Linux as the secondary OS to boot, and no longer want to use Linux. You can remove that too by simply deleting the partition/disk drive where you installed it. Here's some more information regarding that:

How to Uninstall Ubuntu from Windows Dual Boot Safely

This beginner’s guide shows you how to safely remove Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution from Windows dual boot.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

So, you can always go back to either of the operating systems as per your choice. You do not need to format the entire system to get rid of one.

Wrapping Up

I have been on a dual boot setup with Linux distributions and Windows for years now.

Yes, I might have put myself into trouble, thinking that I almost lost all my data. But, once you learn how to do it correctly, it is an interesting life.

💭 What do you think about dual booting? Let me know your thoughts on the same!

by: Abhishek Prakash
Thu, 02 Jan 2025 06:11:30 GMT

Happy new year 2025 🥳

The Tuxmas Days continue in full swing. Main highlights are:

Tuxmas Day 3 introduced the new commenting system. You'll see it in action when you leave a comment on the website.

Tuxmas Day 4 introduced the lifetime membership option. Instead of a recurring fee, you get the Plus membership forever with a single payment of $76 till 7th January. After that it will be $99. If you wanted to support It's FOSS with Plus membership, this would be the best time and chance 🙏

Tuxmas Day 5 has Linux Terminal and Bash series converted into downloadable PDF eBook.

Follow the entire Tuxmas series here. And your feedback is greatly appreciated.

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

• Serpent OS's alpha release.

• An open source 3D printer.

• Rediscovering an operating system.

• And other Linux news, videos and, of course, memes!

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• Serpent OS Alpha is out for testing with new hardware support.

• GNOME's new image viewer is set to receive some handy upgrades.

• A new open source 3D printer has appeared, can be built using off-the-shelf parts.

• NVIDIA says that it will open source Run:ai, a platform that it is said to have acquired for $700M.

And finally, open source tools are adding AI features. Better late than never.

Kdenlive is Adding an AI Background Removal Tool

You can easily remove backgrounds with this new tool.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

What's your new year resolution?

My Linux and Open Source Resolutions for 2025

Here’s what I have decided for 2025. What are your resolutions?

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

Ankush's favorite distro of 2024 is one that you might not have expected.

My Favorite Linux Distro for 2024 is Not Ubuntu, Not Mint, It’s This

Revealing my favorite Linux distribution before 2024 ends.

It's FOSS NewsAnkush Das

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Start 2025 with some good note-taking apps.

• If you were looking to distro hop, you could take ArchBang Linux for a run.

• Following that, you could learn how to use the apt search and apt show commands in Ubuntu.

And if you are still unfamiliar with the Linux command line, use the new year motivation and get acquainted with the essentials in this series.

Linux Command Line Introduction [Free Course]

Want to know the basics of the Linux command line? Here’s a tutorial series with a hands-on approach.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

Your homelab will thank you for using a dashboard tool to manage it effectively.

Imagine that the genius minds like Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan and Bjarne Stroustrup collaborated on a new operating system and yet it flopped.

Rediscovering Plan9 from Bell Labs

An OS that was developed by the likes of Rob Pike, Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan, Bjarne Stroustrup and yet it did not achieve the success.

It's FOSSBill Dyer

📹 Videos we are watching

Subscribe to our YouTube channel, too

✨ Discover handy tools

A dope looking GUI-based system monitor for Linux.

NeoHtop - Modern System Monitor

A beautiful, efficient system monitor built with Rust and Svelte. Monitor processes, CPU, and memory usage in real-time.

NeoHtopYour Name

🧩 Quiz Time

Call yourself a terminal junkie? Find the wrong paths with this puzzle.

Find The Wrong Path

Spot what’s wrong, and solve the quizzes!

It's FOSSAnkush Das

If that's too tricky, then you can try your hand at the Essential Ubuntu Shortcuts puzzle.

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In a terminal, you might already know that you can select a word by double-clicking on it.

However, if you hold the Shift key and left-click on another word after that, all the text between the first and last selected text will also be highlighted. No need to manually drag the cursor to select those.

It may not work in all the terminal emulators (i.e. terminal applications).

🤣 Meme of the Week

Oh, that would be something. 🤌 ✨

🗓️ Tech Trivia

On December 31, 1889, American Bell reorganized and transferred its assets to AT&T to bypass Massachusetts laws. By becoming the parent company, AT&T took control of the Bell System. This move eventually led to AT&T becoming a legalized monopoly in the U.S.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

What was your favorite distro in 2024? Join other FOSSers and share yours!

What’s your favourite Linux distro? Why do you use that one?

You have to move with the times. When you retire you may have the luxury of doing it your way. Snaps are like static binaries, but with some extra crud to fit them into the package system. I dont see why they should startup slowly… there must be some clunky scripts involved. A static binary is large, but not so large that it would affect load time. I have one app (keenwrite) that comes as a static binary… it loads quite fast and my machine is rather like your Dell with early corei7 and…

It's FOSS Communitynevj

❤️ With love

Share it with your Linux-using friends and encourage them to subscribe (hint: it's here).

Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

Follow us on Google News and stay updated in your News feed.

Opt for It's FOSS Plus membership and support us 🙏

Enjoy using Linux in 2025 🐧

by: Abhishek Prakash
Thu, 02 Jan 2025 06:11:30 GMT

Happy new year 2025 🥳

The Tuxmas Days continue in full swing. Main highlights are:

Tuxmas Day 3 introduced the new commenting system. You'll see it in action when you leave a comment on the website.

Tuxmas Day 4 introduced the lifetime membership option. Instead of a recurring fee, you get the Plus membership forever with a single payment of $76 till 7th January. After that it will be $99. If you wanted to support It's FOSS with Plus membership, this would be the best time and chance 🙏

Tuxmas Day 5 has Linux Terminal and Bash series converted into downloadable PDF eBook.

Follow the entire Tuxmas series here. And your feedback is greatly appreciated.

💬 Let's see what else you get in this edition

• Serpent OS's alpha release.

• An open source 3D printer.

• Rediscovering an operating system.

• And other Linux news, videos and, of course, memes!

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• Serpent OS Alpha is out for testing with new hardware support.

• GNOME's new image viewer is set to receive some handy upgrades.

• A new open source 3D printer has appeared, can be built using off-the-shelf parts.

• NVIDIA says that it will open source Run:ai, a platform that it is said to have acquired for $700M.

And finally, open source tools are adding AI features. Better late than never.

Kdenlive is Adding an AI Background Removal Tool

You can easily remove backgrounds with this new tool.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

What's your new year resolution?

My Linux and Open Source Resolutions for 2025

Here’s what I have decided for 2025. What are your resolutions?

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

Ankush's favorite distro of 2024 is one that you might not have expected.

My Favorite Linux Distro for 2024 is Not Ubuntu, Not Mint, It’s This

Revealing my favorite Linux distribution before 2024 ends.

It's FOSS NewsAnkush Das

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Start 2025 with some good note-taking apps.

• If you were looking to distro hop, you could take ArchBang Linux for a run.

• Following that, you could learn how to use the apt search and apt show commands in Ubuntu.

And if you are still unfamiliar with the Linux command line, use the new year motivation and get acquainted with the essentials in this series.

Linux Command Line Introduction [Free Course]

Want to know the basics of the Linux command line? Here’s a tutorial series with a hands-on approach.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

Your homelab will thank you for using a dashboard tool to manage it effectively.

Imagine that the genius minds like Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan and Bjarne Stroustrup collaborated on a new operating system and yet it flopped.

Rediscovering Plan9 from Bell Labs

An OS that was developed by the likes of Rob Pike, Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan, Bjarne Stroustrup and yet it did not achieve the success.

It's FOSSBill Dyer

📹 Videos we are watching

Subscribe to our YouTube channel, too

✨ Discover handy tools

A dope looking GUI-based system monitor for Linux.

NeoHtop - Modern System Monitor

A beautiful, efficient system monitor built with Rust and Svelte. Monitor processes, CPU, and memory usage in real-time.

NeoHtopYour Name

🧩 Quiz Time

Call yourself a terminal junkie? Find the wrong paths with this puzzle.

Find The Wrong Path

Spot what’s wrong, and solve the quizzes!

It's FOSSAnkush Das

If that's too tricky, then you can try your hand at the Essential Ubuntu Shortcuts puzzle.

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In a terminal, you might already know that you can select a word by double-clicking on it.

However, if you hold the Shift key and left-click on another word after that, all the text between the first and last selected text will also be highlighted. No need to manually drag the cursor to select those.

It may not work in all the terminal emulators (i.e. terminal applications).

🤣 Meme of the Week

Oh, that would be something. 🤌 ✨

🗓️ Tech Trivia

On December 31, 1889, American Bell reorganized and transferred its assets to AT&T to bypass Massachusetts laws. By becoming the parent company, AT&T took control of the Bell System. This move eventually led to AT&T becoming a legalized monopoly in the U.S.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

What was your favorite distro in 2024? Join other FOSSers and share yours!

What’s your favourite Linux distro? Why do you use that one?

You have to move with the times. When you retire you may have the luxury of doing it your way. Snaps are like static binaries, but with some extra crud to fit them into the package system. I dont see why they should startup slowly… there must be some clunky scripts involved. A static binary is large, but not so large that it would affect load time. I have one app (keenwrite) that comes as a static binary… it loads quite fast and my machine is rather like your Dell with early corei7 and…

It's FOSS Communitynevj

❤️ With love

Share it with your Linux-using friends and encourage them to subscribe (hint: it's here).

Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

Follow us on Google News and stay updated in your News feed.

Opt for It's FOSS Plus membership and support us 🙏

Enjoy using Linux in 2025 🐧

by: Sreenath

Hyprland is a highly customizable Wayland tiling compositor known for its eye-catching aesthetics and impressive performance. With such a high degree of customization, one important feature that many users seek is the ability to take screenshots.

Whether for sharing on social media or saving essential screen details for future reference, capturing your screen is an essential task.

In this article, we will explore various methods to set up screenshot functionality on your Hyprland installation.

First Option: Grimblast

Grimblast is an official Hyprland screenshot utility offering various options.

It is a shell script, that uses tools like grim and slurp to take screenshots.

Installing Grimblast

Before installing Grimblast, we need to get the required dependencies. On Arch Linux, use the following command:

sudo pacman -Syu jq grim slurp wl-clipboard libnotitfy hyprpicker

🚧

For other distributions, you should check the official program pages for installation instructions.

Grimblast is not available in the package manager of applications. To install, first go to the official repo of the project and go to the grimblast folder.

Click on grimblast

Here, go to the script file 'grimblast' and click on it to access.

Click on grimblast script file

Here, click on the download icon on the top-right corner of the code page to start downloading it.

Download grimblast script

Download Grimblast Script

🚧

You should keep an eye on the project for updates/commits.

Once downloaded, go to the download location and give it execution permission.

chmod +x ./grimblast

Now, copy the file to a directory that is in your PATH.

sudo cp ./grimblast /usr/local/bin/

Using Grimblast

Grimblast has several useful options. We will be taking a look at some items in the table below:

Grimblast supports the following area of screenshots:

• active: Current active window.

• screen: All visible outputs.

• output: Currently active output/monitor.

• area: Manually selected rectangular area/window.

1. Open the image in an editor

Grimblast supports opening the screenshot in a selected image editing application. By default, this is set as GIMP.

So, if you have GIMP installed, you can use the command:

grimblast edit area

The above command will take a screenshot of an area and open it in GIMP.

If you are using another image editor like Photoflare, you can use that program by configuring the GRIMBLAST_EDITOR environment variable.

On your ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf file, use the following line:

env = GRIMBLAST_EDITOR,photoflare

That's it. Now, when a screenshot is taken, it is opened in the selected editor.

2. Move the screenshot area

While taking region screenshots, you can move the screenshot view port. For this, when the screenshot key is pressed, and a region is selected, hold down the Space key without releasing the mouse click.

Now, without releasing the mouse click, drag the mouse to move around the screenshot area.

You can release the space key, and continue the resizing of the screenshot as well.

3. Add Grimblast Keybindings

You should be using Grimblast only through keybindings.

On Hyprland configuration file, add the line:

bind = , PRINT, exec, grimblast copysave area
bind = $mainMod_SHIFT, PRINT, exec, grimblast copysave output

The above command will save a screenshot of the selected area or window to ~/Pictures directory when you hit the PrtScr key. It will also be copied to your clipboard. The Super + SHIFT + PrtScr key will save a screenshot of currently active output, with the same will be copied to clipboard as well.

Second Option: Hyprshot

Hyprshot is an exclusive screenshot utility designed specifically for Hyprland.

It is a straightforward tool that does exactly what it's meant for: taking screenshots.

If you have read through the GitHub page of this tool, you will realize that it is primarily a shell script that serves as a wrapper around tools like grim, slurp, and others to take screenshots in Wayland environment. Furthermore, it is specially tailored to work with Hyprland, which is the most important thing here.

Installing Hyprshot

Before installing Hyprshot, first we need to get the dependencies. On Arch Linux, use the following command:

sudo pacman -Syu jq grim slurp wl-clipboard libnotitfy hyprpicker

Once the dependencies are installed, let's install Hyprshot:

yay -S hyprshot

If you are using any other distribution, go to the official GitHub page of Hyprshot and download the release file.

Download Hyprshot

Once done, extract the archive file, and you will get a shell script file called hyprshot. Go inside the extracted location and make this script file executable:

chmod +x ./hyprshot>

Now, copy this file to a directory in your PATH to make it available everywhere.

sudo cp ./hyprshot /usr/local/bin/

That's it!

Setting Hyprshot

Once installed, it's time to configure. Open your hyprland.conf file using any of your favorite text editor.

nano ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf

Inside this file, go to the end and add a key binding for Hyprshot. To make everything look neat, we will create a section using comment called Hyprshot Screenshots.

# Hyprshot Screenshots
bind = , PRINT, exec, hyprshot -m region
bind = $mainMod_SHIFT, PRINT, exec, hyprshot -m window

Here, we have set two keybindings with the values. To take a screenshot of a rectangular region:

hyprshot -m region

💡

While selecting a region, without releasing the mouse left-click press the space and drag the mouse. This will move the selection area. A video is shown in the Grimblast section.

And to take the screenshot of an open window, you type in:

hyprshot -m window

There are other options available with Hyprshot, let's take a brief look:

Did you know you can also freeze the screen?

An interesting use-case that you can pull off is to freeze the screen while taking a screenshot. For this to work, you should have hyprpicker installed.

Once you have Hyprshot and Hyprpicker, you can use the -z option to freeze the screen.

For example, to take the screenshot of a rectangular region with screen frozen, use the command:

hyprshot -zm region

To add this to the Hyprland config, use the keybinding command:

bind = , PRINT, exec, hyprshot -zm region

For those who only need to add it to the clipboard without saving, use:

bind = , PRINT, exec, hyprshot -zm region --clipboard-only

💡

If you have a notification daemon like dunst is running, Hyprshot will notify you about the screenshot.

Third Option: Flameshot

Flameshot is a great screenshot taking utility for Linux. But the default package available in the repos of distribution works mainly on Xorg-based distributions.

But, you can use the git version of Flameshot in Wayland-based systems like Hyprland. Let me tell you how.

Install Flameshot

First, remove any other Flameshot instance installed on your system (this is applicable for Arch users):

sudo pacman -Rs flameshot

Next, install the git version of Flameshot from the AUR. We will recommend using an AUR helper like yay to install the package.

yay -S flameshot-git

Wait for some time to compile the program and installation process to complete.

Once completed, you can open Flameshot from your app menu:

Flameshot offers better screenshot options compared to other items mentioned here. But, you should keep in mind that Flameshot is developed mainly for Xorg sessions, and the packaged versions may not work properly in Hyprland.

So, try out Flameshot as an experiment if you do not like the first two options.

Wrapping Up

While starting with Hyprland can be challenging for new users, you can do a great deal of things with ease, as mentioned above.

💬 How do you take screenshots on Hyprland? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

by: Ankush Das

The Raspberry Pi is an extremely popular invention that enabled tinkerers to make interesting projects out of it.

You name it, and there must be a way for tinkerers to make it happen using the Raspberry Pi board. The possibilities are endless. Don't believe me? You can explore our list of Raspberry Pi project ideas to see what kind of projects exist.

That being said, the Raspberry Pi can also be used in arrangement to make a laptop you can use, or maybe a tablet. You can purchase some ready-made Raspberry Pi-based kits or choose to build it yourself following some project ideas out there.

Here, I have compiled all such options for you to take a look at.

🚧

The Raspberry Pi kits and accessories mentioned are available across various platforms. These websites may not have the best return/shipping policies. Please check them carefully before you make a purchase.

📋

The article contains affiliate links. Please read our affiliate policy.

1. RasPad

RasPad is one of the most popular Linux tablets out there. While it is extremely difficult to find it in stock on the official website, you can find several retailers/resellers making it available.

It is built to be used along with a Raspberry Pi device, which you have to purchase separately. Sure, it may not be a slim tablet, like the Android ones, but it is a fun portable gadget to put together and use.

You can install RasPad OS or any other Raspberry Pi operating system.

RasPad

2. CrowPi Raspberry Pi Educational Kit

A portable Raspberry Pi-based kit that looks like a laptop, CrowPi by Elecrow is a decent option available to purchase.

It is compatible with Raspberry Pi 5. So, you can make use of the latest tech available to get yourself a portable Raspberry Pi device with a big 9-inch IPS touch screen.

You can connect a keyboard to it, install any operating system of your choice, and you have a portable laptop to mimic, even if it may not look the prettiest.

CrowPi Compact Educational Kit

3. Piper Computer Kit

A Raspberry Pi-based kit tailored to provide a computer building experience where you end up with a device which you can use to learn and build stuff.

The kit is designed like there are puzzle pieces that you need to put together to learn as you build. It already includes a Raspberry Pi in the kit. So, you do not need to purchase it separately.

Piper Computer Kit

4. CrowPi L

CrowPi L looks relatively close to a laptop, and you have it as an assembled device without the Raspberry Pi.

It is compatible with Raspberry Pi 4B. So, all you have to do is get the board, and install it on its back side just like you would install a removable battery, yes, that easy!

You get an integrated camera + microphone, an 11.6-inch IPS screen, and a 5000 mAh battery to power the device.

You can choose to use it as a real laptop replacement or utilize it to build other projects.

CrowPi L

5. Handeld Nano Pi 2

Unlike the above-mentioned options, this handheld Raspberry Pi device is a project idea that you can refer and build it yourself.

The project runs a Raspberry Pi 2 version board with an incredibly small phone-sized keyboard and screen. You can 3D print the chassis of the keyboard, screen, and the box using the files available. And, customize it for a newer Raspberry Pi board.

For instructions, you will have to check out its Thingiverse page.

Thingiverse Nano Pi2 UMPC

6. CrowView Note

CrowView Note is a portable monitor with a keyboard and all the essentials, like microphone, camera, to turn any SBC like Raspberry Pi into a laptop.

Sure, you can use Raspberry Pi alternatives. But, I have seen people build Raspberry Pi laptops out of it on YouTube, just like this one:

When writing this, it was available as a Kickstarter product. So, it should be available when it's back in stock or at a later date again on its official manufacturer's website, Elecrow.

CrowView Note

7. Raspberry Pi 500 Desktop Kit

Credits: Jeff Gerling

If you are not satisfied with any of the options available in the market, you can go for the Raspberry Pi 500 or its predecessor, Raspberry Pi 400, built on top of the Raspberry Pi 5 and 4 respectively.

It is not a laptop nor a tablet, but if you aren't concerned about the form factor, this can be a portable solution. All you need is a screen to connect to, as the keyboard is the entire computer.

With the kit, you get a mouse, a preloaded SD card with Raspberry Pi OS, and essential cables to connect to a monitor. You will find limited online resellers having it in stock.

Raspberry Pi 400

Any Other Options To Consider?

You can build countless form factors when using a Raspberry Pi board to create a device. The ready-made options are always limited.

If you just want a lightweight hackable laptop to run Linux for your projects (not based on Raspberry Pi), you can take a look at PineBook that uses its custom SBC.

Not a tinkerer? And, looking for a mini PC? We have a list of Linux-based mini PCs as well:

11 Mini PCs That Come With Linux Pre-installed

Looking for a Linux-based mini PC? Here are the options that let you replace your traditional bulky desktop with a compact yet powerful mini PC.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

💬Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments down below!