F.O.S.S

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.

❇️ Future-Proof Your Cloud Storage With Post-Quantum Encryption

Get 85% off any Internxt lifetime plan—a one-time payment for private, post-quantum encrypted cloud storage. No subscriptions, no recurring fees.

⌛ Offer valid Feb 10 – Feb 25

Claim This Deal

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

❤️ 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: 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 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: 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: 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 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: 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

PikaPods allows you to quickly deploy your favorite open source software. All future updates are handled automatically by PikaPods while you enjoy using the software. PikaPods also share revenue with the original developers of the software.

You get a $5 free credit to try it out and see if you can rely on PikaPods.

PikaPods - Instant Open Source App Hosting

Run the finest Open Source web apps from $1/month, fully managed, no tracking, no ads, full privacy. Self-hosting was never this convenient.

Instant Open Source App Hosting

📰 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

🛍️ 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

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

❤️ 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 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 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: Community

If you're a developer or a power user, you probably understand the importance of having an efficient and organized workflow.

Whenever I get to work with a Windows-based system, I really miss the terminal emulator along with the ability to quickly switch between different terminal sessions. Not to mention, sometimes I need to gather 2-3 command sessions in a single view. There are many scenarios where I need to run multiple commands simultaneously. 

Sure, we have the command prompt, or Windows terminal to use, but it is not enough for a similar experience.

💡

Windows 11 Terminal does provide you the ability to create multiple panes within a tab. You can use the shortcut Alt + Shift + - and Alt + Shift + + to create horizontal and vertical panes, respectively.

With Linux, I had access to terminal multiplexers like tmux and screen.

But, wait, there is a solution on Windows 10 and Windows 11 that can work as a terminal multiplexer and a text editor – all in one!

Enter Emacs 🤩

Why Use Emacs as a Terminal Multiplexer?

While I have already mentioned why we are looking at a solution like Emacs, let me give highlight some more reasons you want to try this out (apart from the fact that it is open source and super awesome):

1. Less is More

Emacs is an all-in-one solution. It can work as a terminal, text editor, file manager, email client, calculator, a text-based web browser. All these features are packed in a 150 MB zipped file. Pretty crazy, right? You won't know all this until you give it a try!

2. Powerful Customization

Emacs is famously customizable. You can tweak almost everything: keybindings, window layouts, themes, and even the behavior of your terminal sessions. This allows you to tailor the environment to your exact needs, providing a highly efficient experience.

3. Integrated Shell Support

Emacs allows you to open a shell session inside a buffer, and with its support for eshell, shell, you can run shell commands, manipulate files, and perform operations right alongside your text editing. 

4. Flexibility with Windows

Emacs is great at handling multiple buffers in a single window. You can split your window into multiple panes (or "windows," as Emacs calls them), just like with tmux, enabling you to work on different tasks simultaneously without feeling cluttered.

Using Emacs as Terminal Multiplexer

Now that you know the benefits, to help you use it, let me give you a walkthrough on using Emacs as a terminal multiplexer.

Step 1: Install Winget

Winget comes as a part of the App Installer package. So, you need to first install the App Installer from Microsoft Store:

Step 2: Install Emacs on Windows 11 or Windows 10

Winget makes it super simple to install Emacs. Simply run this command:

winget install emacs

Step 3: Open Emacs 

Open Emacs from the Windows 11 Start menu.

Step 4: Run shell

Within emacs, press Alt + X, and type shell and hit Enter to get the interactive user interface.

💡

In Emacs terminology, the Alt key is often referred to as M, and Ctrl is referred to as C. I have used C, and M to represent the same throughout the article.

Now, with Emacs, you will realize the following benefits:

• A nice auto-completion system

• Ability to edit any previous command at a point

• Quickly jump between different command sessions.

Autocomplete selection

To see autocomplete in shell buffer, simply type in 'a' and then hit Tab, you’ll be presented with a list of options. You can select one of the options with a mouse click as shown above.

📋

If you see terms like C-s, or C-u, or Alt-x, read it as Ctrl + s/u or Alt + x.

To search for previous commands and outputs, hit C-s <your-term>. This is what I referred to when I mentioned consistent keybindings for all of your workflow. Within your Emacs environment, C-s will do a forward search everywhere unless you modify it.

To edit your previous commands, move your cursor to the previous command or do a quick search, make the necessary adjustments, and hit enter. 

If you want to open another shell, press C-u keys, and then Alt-x to open another shell.

By default, this buffer will be named “Shell 2”. And you can navigate between these different shells by C-x b and Tab. Use the mouse for selection. We’ll make it more efficient in the next section.

Terminal Multiplexing

Now here comes the magic. If you want to create two vertical layouts, simply use the keybinding C-x + 3. Then, if you want two horizontal layouts, use the shortcut C-x + 2.

For navigation to other panes, you can use your mouse or use Emacs shortcut
C-x + o

Auto-completion and multi-window layouts

Another quick tip. With just one line configuration, Emacs can provide useful completions based on your action with ido-mode. 

Save the line below in a new .emacs file usually located at your user C:/Users/YourUser/AppData/Roaming. After saving, you don’t need to restart Emacs.

(ido-mode 1)

Let’s enable winner-mode as well to undo and redo multi-window layouts. Add the line below to the config file like you did above:

(winner-mode 1)

Finally, save this two-line configuration

Simply, do Alt + x and then type eval-buffer.

Now with ido-mode, you can simply switch to shell 2 buffer using C-x b 2.

With winner-mode in place, if you want to get a full preview of a single pane, press C-x + 1, and then to go back to the previous layout, run

winner-undo

You can save yourself time by mapping a keybinding for winner-undo and winner-redo commands.

Keybindings Cheatsheet

Here’s a list of all keybindings we used throughout this tutorial.

💬Do you love having multiple terminal sessions as well? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Author Info

Bhuwan Mishra is a Fullstack developer, with Python and Go as his tools of choice. He takes pride in building and securing web applications, APIs, and CI/CD pipelines, as well as tuning servers for optimal performance. He also has passion for working with Kubernetes.

by: Abhishek Kumar

DeepSeek has taken the AI world by storm. While it's convenient to use DeepSeek on their hosted website, we know that there's no place like 127.0.0.1. 😉

Source: The Hacker News

However, with recent events, such as a cyberattack on DeepSeek AI that has halted new user registrations, or DeepSeek AI database exposed, it makes me wonder why not more people choose to run LLMs locally.

Not only does running your AI locally give you full control and better privacy, but it also keeps your data out of someone else’s hands.

In this guide, we'll walk you through setting up DeepSeek R1 on your Linux machine using Ollama as the backend and Open WebUI as the frontend.

Let’s dive in!

📋

The DeepSeek version you will be running on the local system is a striped down version of actual DeepSeek that 'outperformed' ChatGPT. You'll need Nvidia/AMD graphics on your system to run it.

Step 1: Install Ollama

Before we get to DeepSeek itself, we need a way to run Large Language Models (LLMs) efficiently. This is where Ollama comes in.

What is Ollama?

Ollama is a lightweight and powerful platform for running LLMs locally. It simplifies model management, allowing you to download, run, and interact with models with minimal hassle.

The best part? It abstracts away all the complexities, no need to manually configure dependencies or set up virtual environments.

Installing Ollama

The easiest way to install Ollama is by running the following command in your terminal:

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

Once installed, verify the installation:

ollama --version

Now, let's move on to getting DeepSeek running with Ollama.

Step 2: Install and run DeepSeek model

With Ollama installed, pulling and running the DeepSeek model is really simple as running this command:

ollama run deepseek-r1:1.5b

This command downloads the DeepSeek-R1 1.5B model, which is a small yet powerful AI model for text generation, answering questions, and more.

The download may take some time depending on your internet speed, as these models can be quite large.

Once the download is complete, you can interact with it immediately in the terminal:

But let’s be honest, while the terminal is great for quick tests, it’s not the most polished experience. It would be better to use a Web UI with Ollama. While there are many such tools, I prefer Open WebUI.

12 Tools to Provide a Web UI for Ollama

Don’t want to use the CLI for Ollama for interacting with AI models? Fret not, we have some neat Web UI tools that you can use to make it easy!

It's FOSSAnkush Das

Step 3: Setting up Open WebUI

Open WebUI provides a beautiful and user-friendly interface for chatting with DeepSeek. There are two ways to install Open WebUI:

• Direct Installation (for those who prefer a traditional setup)

• Docker Installation (my personal go-to method)

Don't worry, we'll be covering both.

Method 1: Direct installation

If you prefer a traditional installation without Docker, follow these steps to set up Open WebUI manually.

Step 1: Install python & virtual environment

First, ensure you have Python installed along with the venv package for creating an isolated environment.

Run the following command:

sudo apt install python3-venv -y

This installs the required package for managing virtual environments.

Step 2: Create a virtual environment

Next, create a virtual environment inside your home directory:

python3 -m venv ~/open-webui-venv

and then activate the virtual environment we just created:

source ~/open-webui-venv/bin/activate

You'll notice your terminal prompt changes, indicating that you’re inside the virtual environment.

Step 4: Install Open WebUI

With the virtual environment activated, install Open WebUI by running:

pip install open-webui

This downloads and installs Open WebUI along with its dependencies.

Step 5: Run Open WebUI

To start the Open WebUI server, use the following command:

open-webui serve

Once the server starts, you should see output confirming that Open WebUI is running.

Step 6: Access Open WebUI in your browser

Open your web browser and go to: http://localhost:8080

You'll now see the Open WebUI interface, where you can start chatting with DeepSeek AI!

Method 2: Docker installation (Personal favorite)

If you haven't installed Docker yet, no worries! Check out our step-by-step guide on how to install Docker on Linux before proceeding.

Once that's out of the way, let's get Open WebUI up and running with Docker.

Step 1: Pull the Open WebUI docker image

First, download the latest Open WebUI image from Docker Hub:

docker pull ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main

This command ensures you have the most up-to-date version of Open WebUI.

Step 2: Run Open WebUI in a docker container

Now, spin up the Open WebUI container:

docker run -d \
  -p 3000:8080 \
  --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway \
  -v open-webui:/app/backend/data \
  --name open-webui \
  --restart always \
  ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main

Don’t get scared looking at that big, scary command. Here’s what each part of the command actually does:

Step 3: Access Open WebUI in your browser

Now, open your web browser and navigate to: http://localhost:8080 .You should see Open WebUI's interface, ready to use with DeepSeek!

Once you click on "Create Admin Account," you'll be welcomed by the Open WebUI interface.

Since we haven't added any other models yet, the DeepSeek model we downloaded earlier is already loaded and ready to go.

Just for fun, I decided to test DeepSeek AI with a little challenge. I asked it to: "Write a rhyming poem under 20 words using the words: computer, AI, human, evolution, doom, boom."

And let's just say… the response was a bit scary. 😅

Here's the full poem written by DeepSeek R1:

Conclusion

And there you have it! In just a few simple steps, you’ve got DeepSeek R1 running locally on your Linux machine with Ollama and Open WebUI.

Whether you’ve chosen the Docker route or the traditional installation, the setup process is straightforward, and should work on most Linux distributions.

So, go ahead, challenge DeepSeek to write another quirky poem, or maybe put it to work on something more practical. It’s yours to play with, and the possibilities are endless.

For instance, I recently ran DeepSeek R1 on my Raspberry Pi 5, while it was a bit slow, it still got the job done.

Who knows, maybe your next challenge will be more creative than mine (though, I’ll admit, that poem about "doom" and "boom" was a bit eerie! 😅).

Enjoy your new local AI assistant, and happy experimenting! 🤖

by: Abhishek Prakash

In the previous newsletter, I shared the new tools directory page proposal and asked for your feedback. From the responses I got, an overwhelming majority of FOSSers liked this idea.

So I'll work on such pages. Since I want them to have some additional features, they will take a little longer. I'll inform you once they are live. Stay tuned 😄

Would you like to see more pages like this?

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

• A new Hyprland release.

• FSF's new commemorative logo.

• Microsoft's popular offering being handed a lawsuit.

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

• This edition of FOSS Weekly is supported by ONLYOFFICE.

✨ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor: Create, Edit and Collaborate on PDFs on Linux

The ONLYOFFICE suite now offers an updated PDF editor that comes equipped with collaborative PDF editing and other useful features.

Deploy ONLYOFFICE Docs on your Linux server and integrate it with your favourite platform, such as Nextcloud, ownCloud, Drupal, Moodle, WordPress, Redmine and more. Alternatively, you can download the free desktop app for your Linux distro.

Online PDF editor, reader and converter | ONLYOFFICE

View and create PDF files from any text document, spreadsheet or presentation, convert PDF to DOCX online, create fillable PDF forms.

ONLYOFFICE

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• Hyprland 0.47.0 released with HDR support and squircles.

• Bitwarden has tightened security for accounts without 2FA enabled.

• Mozilla Thunderbird 134 has landed with a new notification system.

• A few offers on Data Privacy Day.

• Microsoft has launched DocumentDB, an open source document store platform.

• The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has unveiled a fresh logo to commemorate its forthcoming 40th anniversary.

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

Facebook is banning the links from many Linux websites.

Everything is Spam on Facebook Unless It is Paid Post (or Actual Spam)

Linux websites are getting ill-treatment by Facebook.

It's FOSS News Abhishek

Microsoft's popular social media platform, LinkedIn, has been dragged to court over alleged misuse of user data.

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Moving away from Google's ecosystem is a smart move in the long run.

• You can share files between guest and host operating system in GNOME boxes.

• Small tip on tracking changes and version control with LibreOffice.

• Learn to merge PDF files in Linux.

• And some tips on customizing the launcher in Ubuntu.

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

Running the impressive DeepSeek R1 AI model on a Raspberry Pi 5 is possible.

I Ran Deepseek R1 on Raspberry Pi 5 and No, it Wasn’t 200 tokens/s

Everyone is seeking Deepseek R1 these days. Is it really as good as everyone claims? Let me share my experiments of running it on a Raspberry Pi.

It's FOSSAbhishek Kumar

✨ Apps highlight

If you like listening to audiobooks, then Cozy can be a great addition to your Linux system.

Cozy: A Super Useful Open Source Audiobook Player for Linux

Cozy makes audiobook listening easy with simple controls and an intuitive interface.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

Take your music anywhere with the open source Musify app.

🛍️ 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

🎟️ Event alert

Foss FEST 2025 is open for registration. Groups of international students can participate in the hackathon and win prizes worth 4,000 euros. It's FOSS is an official media partner for this event.

Foss FEST 2025: International Hackathon

OpenSource Science B.V.

🧩 Quiz Time

Can you beat this Linux Directory Structure puzzle?

Linux Directory Structure: Puzzle

The Linux directory structure is fascinating and an important thing to know about. Take a guess to solve this puzzle!

It's FOSSAnkush Das

💡 Quick Handy Tip

You can easily open new windows for running apps by either Middle-Clicking or Ctrl+Left-Clicking on the app from the dock. It also works for apps that are not running.

Usually, the apps open in the same workspace, however in multi-monitor setups, this might open new app windows on the other monitor.

🤣 Meme of the Week

Windows got destroyed hard. 🤭

🗓️ Tech Trivia

Apple launched the iPad on April 3, 2010, redefining mobile computing with its touch-based, versatile design. It bridged the gap between smartphones and laptops, setting the standard for tablets. The iPad's success has reshaped the tech world and inspired countless imitators.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

Pro FOSSer, Daniel is showcasing his Gentoo virtual machine setup on his laptop.

Gentoo vm install on my laptop

Up early this morning putting the finishing touches to Gentoo VM, to reboot to the CLI!! I have compiled two kernels, a gentoo-source, that I did a manual compile and a gentoo-kernel-dis for backup!! If the gentoo-source kernel works, I will nuke the gentoo-kernel. Just for fun, take a look-see Been awhile since we have had a 8 inch snow!!!

It's FOSS CommunityDaniel_Phillips

❤️ 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

Google's ecosystem includes several products and services. It is one of the prominent ecosystems on the internet with a dominating market share.

While I believe their products require no introduction, as a formality, I should mention some of them as Gmail, YouTube, Google Chrome, Google Drive, Google Search, Google Photos, and Google Gemini.

Considering I am an Android user, and prioritize my convenience, I have been using Google services for a long time now.

However, I have decided to move away from Google's ecosystem to try out other options. Sure, it is tough to eliminate their presence without affecting my convenience, so the aim is to minimize it.

Before I tell you my strategy to make the move to alternative options, let me tell you why.

Why The Move Away From Google's Ecosystem?

Without a surprise, the first reason for the switch is privacy.

While I can never be anonymous on the internet, I can share fewer details about me and my data with the services I use.

And, Google is the least preferred privacy-friendly choice out there. They get to know a lot of about from the data you store with them. And, it is not illegal, but it is something that I no longer would like to do.

I should mention that I'm not mixing security with privacy here. Google has been good enough to keep my accounts secure, or else I would not have been safely using my Gmail account for such a long time.

Next, I want to give a chance to innovative players in the market. The options may not be necessarily better than Google services, but they have their unique selling points, which could unlock a benefit for me that I never realized.

And, finally, giving open source a better chance.

Now, let me highlight how I exactly plan to move from Google's ecosystem.

📋

There are some affiliate links in the article. Please read our affiliate policy for more details.

First Step: Finding Out The Areas With Alternatives

If you know there are options, it is easy to switch. So, first, I set out to find the type of services which provide me with options.

Some easy ones include:

• Search engine

• Email + Calendar

• Cloud storage

• AI chatbot

• Video conference

• Website analytics

• Browser

And, here are the ones that are a bit tricky to move away from:

• Document Suite

• Photo collection

• Video sharing platform

• Maps

I will tackle all of them, but let us focus on the easy ones first.

The Best Google Alternatives For My Use-Case (And Hopefully For You!)

Now that we know what kind of alternatives we need, I just need to narrow down the options that are capable enough.

Yes, I can list countless alternatives, but it is useless if it cannot do half of the things Google services let me do.

The goal is not to aimlessly move away from Google, but pick meaningful alternatives. So, with the above-mentioned categories in mind, I tell you about the best options that I use along with some suggestions for you.

✋

Please note that the alternatives I am using or suggesting may not be an exact replacement of a Google service. They might be good enough for me but perhaps they won't suffice your need or preference. Try them on your own and see if you are comfortable with the alternatives.

Search Engine: DuckDuckGo

In my opinion, DuckDuckGo is a great alternative to Google search engine that promises to keep your personal activity private while offering additional privacy-focused services.

For instance, I use DuckDuckGo's Privacy Essentials browser extension to get rid of trackers, and to generate free email aliases. I can also integrate the email aliases with Bitwarden. Not to forget, they also have a privacy-friendly AI chatbot providing access to AI models like Gpt-4o mini, and a browser for Windows/macOS.

So, DuckDuckGo's ecosystem makes it an interesting choice for what I need.

📋

You can also try some privacy-focused search engines like Ecosia, Startpage, and searx.

Email + Calendar: Proton Mail

Proton Mail is an obvious choice here because of its Google-like ecosystem offering. You can also try Tuta for privacy-focused email.

For me, I have been using Proton Mail since its early days. So, it makes sense to stick with it, along with the potential of using Proton's other services (which we will also touch upon as you read on).

Here, the relevant service to use with the email is Proton Calendar:

I use it for free (personally), and if I want to scale up my requirements, I can upgrade it to a paid plan for more storage, and features like custom email domains.

And, for my work at It's FOSS, we have a visionary (paid) account, so we get more storage, and all the perks of premium Proton services available.

I would say both free and premium options justify their use-cases to replace Gmail and Google Calendar for me.

Cloud Storage

Considering I already use Proton Mail (and its calendar), it is a no-brainer choice to go with Proton Drive, being an end-to-end encrypted (E2E) option.

You only get 5 GB of space, which is lower than what you get with Google. But, it should be decent if you want to store a couple of important documents.

And, if you want more, and aren't concerned about E2E, you can opt for pCloud, which offers more storage space, and explore other privacy-focused cloud storage services.

Top 10 Best Free Cloud Storage Services for Linux

Which cloud service is the best for Linux? Check out this list of free cloud storage services that you can use in Linux.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

AI Chatbot

A replacement to Google Gemini? That's easy.

I just set up Ollama to use one of the best open source LLMs and a web UI to easily access it without the terminal.

12 Tools to Provide a Web UI for Ollama

Don’t want to use the CLI for Ollama for interacting with AI models? Fret not, we have some neat Web UI tools that you can use to make it easy!

It's FOSSAnkush Das

Everything runs locally, I do not have to worry about anything here. Of course, you need a decent system with a mid-range GPU like the RTX 3060 to run the AI models efficiently.

Video Conference

Google Meet is a dominantly used option for all kinds of meetings/interviews, but it is not open source, nor end-to-end encrypted.

You can opt for Jitsi Meet if you want enhanced security and privacy. It is open source, and end-to-end encrypted. If needed, you can self-host it to meet your custom requirements.

For more options, you can refer to our article as well:

5 Best Open Source Video Conferencing Tools [2024]

Don’t trust the big tech with your data? Try these open source video conferencing tools for online meetings.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

Website Analytics

Google Analytics is a popular choice among web administrators because it is free, and provides a lot of information about your audience to take better decisions regarding your content, product, and more.

However, there are better (and lighter) Google Analytics alternatives out there that respect the privacy of your visitors/customers, and still give you plenty of useful insights.

The catch is most of them are paid. I understand not everyone can afford to switch to a paid alternative, but you can start with the free ones (or self-host them), and choose to invest in paid options later. Explore all the alternatives here:

8 Best Google Analytics Alternatives You Can Try Today

It is not that complicated to switch away from Google Analytics with these options. You can opt for a free self-hosted one or go for a paid one as per your requirements.

Linux HandbookAnkush Das

Web Browser

Google Chrome holds more than 65% of the market share as per Statista.

Sure, it is one of the most convenient options. However, it does not offer good privacy protection features.

If you want to switch away to get better privacy, you can try Brave, Mullvad, or LibreWolf (a hardened version of Firefox).

Documents, Photos, Videos, and Map

Honestly, there are no easy replacements to this. So, you will have to decide if you would like to adjust, and willing to pay a lot more (in some cases).

Nextcloud Office (a self-hosted replacement to Google Docs)

For instance, you will not get a Google Docs like experience with Nextcloud Office (self-hosted) or CryptPad or Proton Docs, but they are manageable to some extent. So, you need to try them out and see if it fits your requirements.

Next up is tough, a replacement for Google Photos.

Yes, Ente is an excellent open source privacy-focused option. However, it is way pricier than what Google Photos costs for extra storage, as you get only 5 GB for free. Therefore, if you have numerous photos and videos, it will be an expensive switch.

You can choose to self-host it, and explore other self-hosted Google Photos alternatives. But, of course, you will need to spend some time and money there as well.

Self-hosted Open Source Alternatives to Google Photos

Google Photos can be replaced using these open-source self-hosted photo applications.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

Finally, we need a replacement for Google Maps?

As much as we could hate Google, I can never object to its usefulness and integration capabilities with every car out there.

You can try open source alternatives like Organic Maps (for Android phones), and OpenStreetMap (web-based). However, it may not give you the same details and experience.

So, choosing a document suite, map, and photo/video platform to replace Google services will be an inconvenient endeavor.

In my case, I have tried to use CryptPad as much as possible. But, other alternatives haven't worked out well for me.

Final Thoughts

With the options mentioned above, I might have reduced my Google-centric usage by 70%, but it is not a 100% yet. I hope to reach that mark some day.

I would love to know about your plans to do the same. Are you on the same boat with me? Have any other plans? Let me know in the comments below!

by: Abhishek Kumar

Since the launch of DeepSeek AI, every tech media outlet has been losing its mind over it. It's been shattering records, breaking benchmarks, and becoming the go-to name in AI innovation.

DeepSeek v/s OpenAI benchmark | Source: Brian Roemmele

Recently, I stumbled upon a post on my X feed (don’t judge me, I’m moving to Bluesky soon!) where someone claimed to have run Deepseek on a Raspberry Pi at 200 tokens/second.

My head started spinning. "wHaaaTTT?!"

Naturally, I doom-scrolled the entire thread to make sense of it. Turns out, the guy used an AI accelerator module on top of the Pi to hit those numbers.

But curiosity is a powerful motivator. Since I didn’t have an AI module lying around, I thought, why not test the raw performance of Deepseek on a plain Raspberry Pi 5? Who's stopping me?

So, for this article, I installed Ollama on my Pi 5 (8 GB model) and downloaded Deepseek model with different parameters(i.e. 1.5B, 7B, 8B, and 14B parameters to be specific).

💡

If you're new or unsure about setting things up, don't worry, we already have a detailed guide on installing Ollama on a Raspberry Pi to help you get started.

Here’s how each one performed:

Deepseek 1.5B

This model was snappy. It felt surprisingly responsive and handled paraphrasing tasks with ease. I didn’t encounter any hallucinations, making it a solid choice for day-to-day tasks like summarization and text generation.

Performance stats

To test its capability further, I posed the question: What's the difference between Podman and Docker?

The model gave a decent enough answer, clearly breaking down the differences between the two containerization tools.

It highlighted how Podman is daemonless, while Docker relies on a daemon, and touched on security aspects like rootless operation.

This response took about two minutes, and here’s how the performance data stacked up:

total duration:       1m33.59302487s
load duration:        44.322672ms
prompt eval count:    13 token(s)
prompt eval duration: 985ms
prompt eval rate:     13.20 tokens/s
eval count:           855 token(s)
eval duration:        1m32.562s
eval rate:            9.24 tokens/s

Deepseek 7B

The 7B model introduced a fair amount of hallucination. I tried writing a creative prompt asking for three haikus, but it started generating endless text, even asking itself questions!

While amusing, it wasn’t exactly practical. For benchmarking purposes, I simplified my prompts, as seen in the video. Performance-wise, it was slower, but still functional.

Performance stats

To test it further, I asked: What’s the difference between Docker Compose and Docker Run? The response was a blend of accurate and imprecise information.

It correctly explained that Docker Compose is used to manage multi-container applications via a docker-compose.yml file, while Docker Run is typically for running single containers with specific flags.

However, it soon spiraled into asking itself questions like, “But for a single app, say a simple Flask app on a single machine, Docker Run might be sufficient? Or is there another command or method?”

Here’s how the performance data turned out:

total duration:       4m20.665430872s
load duration:        39.565944ms
prompt eval count:    11 token(s)
prompt eval duration: 3.256s
prompt eval rate:     3.38 tokens/s
eval count:           517 token(s)
eval duration:        4m17.368s
eval rate:            2.01 tokens/s

Deepseek 8B

This was the wild card. I didn’t expect the 8B model to run at all, considering how resource-hungry these models are. To my surprise, it worked!

The performance was on par with the 7B model, neither fast nor particularly responsive, but hey, running an 8B model on a Raspberry Pi without extra hardware is a win in my book.

Performance stats

I tested it by asking, "Write an HTML boilerplate and CSS boilerplate." The model successfully generated a functional HTML and CSS boilerplate in a single code block, ensuring they were neatly paired.

However, before jumping into the solution, the model explained its approach, what it was going to do and what else could be added.

While this was informative, it felt unnecessary for a straightforward query. If I had crafted the prompt more precisely, the response might have been more direct (i.e. user error).

Here’s the performance breakdown:

total duration:       6m53.350371838s
load duration:        44.410437ms
prompt eval count:    13 token(s)
prompt eval duration: 4.99s
prompt eval rate:     2.61 tokens/s
eval count:           826 token(s)
eval duration:        6m48.314s
eval rate:            2.02 tokens/s

Deepseek 14B ?

Unfortunately, this didn’t work. The 14B model required over 10 GB of RAM, which my 8 GB Pi couldn’t handle. After the success of the 8B model, my hopes were high, but alas, reality struck.

Conclusion

DeepSeek’s raw performance on the Raspberry Pi 5 showcases the growing potential of SBCs for AI workloads.

The 1.5B model is a practical option for lightweight tasks, while the 7B and 8B models demonstrate the Pi’s ability to handle larger workloads, albeit slowly.

I’m excited to test DeepSeek on the ArmSoM AIM7 with its 6 TOPS NPU. Its RK3588 SoC could unlock even better performance, and I’ll cover those results in a future article.

If you’re interested in more of my experiments, check out this article where I ran 9 popular LLMs on the Raspberry Pi 5.

Until then, happy tinkering, and remember: don’t ask AI to write haikus unless you want a never-ending saga. 😉

by: Abhishek Prakash

I would appreciate your feedback on something 'new'. I plan to add pages that let you discover applications based on certain criteria.

It's a work in progress, but feel free to have a look and share your opinion 🙏

Discover Interesting Linux Terminal Tools

Discover a selection of interesting tools and utilities you can use from the (dis)comfort of your terminal.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

Would you like to see more pages like this?

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

• Upgrading to Mint 22.1.

• Flathub introducing a new section.

• Linux powering NVIDIA's Project DIGITS.

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

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

✨ANY.RUN: Business-Ready Interactive Linux Malware Analysis

Don’t let your business be the next target of emerging Linux malware. Strengthen your critical operations with ANY.RUN’s Interactive Sandbox, designed for proactive malware hunting and analysis.

Here’s how it helps businesses stay safe:

• Quick setup gets you started instantly

• Real-time detection spots threats fast

• Unlimited sessions let you analyze all your files

• Risk-free interaction keeps your system safe

• Detailed reports boost your defenses

• User-friendly design simplifies analysis

• Cloud access works anywhere, anytime.

Protect your business and gain peace of mind with the ultimate malware analysis platform trusted by companies worldwide. Try it for FREE!

Interactive Online Malware Analysis Sandbox - ANY.RUN

Cloud-based malware analysis service. Take your information security to the next level. Analyze suspicious and malicious activities using our innovative tools.

ANY.RUN

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• Rhino Linux 2025.1 is now available.

• Intel's Tofino P4 has been open sourced.

• Flathub has made it easy to find mobile apps on the platform.

• NVIDIA Project DIGITS is a supercomputer that is powered by Linux

• Upgrading to Mint 22.1 from Mint 22.

• WINE 10.0 is now available.

Linux kernel 6.13 is a major upgrade with many changes.

Linux Kernel 6.13 Released: Here’s What’s New!

AMD users and old Apple device owners, this is a good release for you!

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

This is not how you 'force implement' cloud features.

Bambu Lab Firmware Fiasco Has Caused Rifts In The 3D Printing Community

Bambu Labs has found themselves in a tough spot.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

Hindenburg Research closing up shop has resulted in an interesting outcome.

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Hyprland series sees the addition of two new tutorials; grouping items in Waybar and screenshots utilities in Hyprland.

• WSL tutorial series has also been reorganized.

• Spice up your Kodi setup with these stunning builds!

• Not the true measure, but this trick lets you have some ideas about how long it takes to boot your Linux system.

Blend in with the crowd with these jargons.

21 Jargon Every Linux User Should Know

Even if you don’t know Linux well enough, you should know these common terms to blend in ;)

It's FOSSAnkush Das

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

Tinker right out of the box with these 7 Raspberry Pi laptops and tablets.

7 Raspberry Pi-Based Laptops and Tablets for Tinkerers

Raspberry-powered laptops and tablets can be the perfect pick for your projects, and portable computing needs. Here’s a list of options.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

Tip on monitoring the CPU and GPU temperature of your Raspberry Pi.

📹 Videos we are creating

Take a look at the new features in the new Mint 22.1 Xia.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

✨ Apps of the Week

Text Pieces is a neat app that acts as a scratchpad for developers.

Text Pieces: A Rust-based Open Source App to Help Devs With Text Transformations

A handy little scratchpad app for developers.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

Managing your finances is crucial, My Expenses makes it simple.

🛍️Deal You Would Love

If you are looking for a career in IT with Linux, Cloud and DevOps, Linux Foundation's training and certifications (LFCS, CKA etc) are on a limited time discount.

Check Linux Foundation Offer

🧩 Quiz Time

This time it's a crossword on Linux terminal emulators.

Linux Terminal Emulators: Crossword

Let’s explore some Linux terminal emulators with this crossword.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In KDE Plasma, you can add some additional effects to the Breeze window decorations using system settings. First, go to System Settings, then go to Colors & Themes → Window Decorations.

Here, click on the edit icon near the Breeze theme to get more options, where a new settings dialog should appear. You can do appearance changes like title alignment, shadows and outline, button size tweaks, etc.

This might work with other Plasma themes too.

🤣 Meme of the Week

Do you also feel the same way?

🗓️ Tech Trivia

The Macintosh, launched on January 24, 1984, was the first successful computer with a mouse and graphical user interface. It revolutionized personal computing by making technology more accessible. Its debut was marked by Apple’s iconic “1984” Super Bowl commercial.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

Pro FOSSer, Jimmy, shares how he is impressed by Atuin.

Atuin Rocks!: Fuzzy Search for Bash History

Hey everyone, Around mid November I decided to try Atuin: Github link. Atuin replaces your shell history with an SQLite database. You can also set it up so that your fully encrypted history is synchronized between different machines*. Before this, while I used the shell history, I cannot say that I was very good at it. If it had been a long time since I had run the command, I was usually better off just trying to figure out what I ran before by typing it out. Of course, sometimes I would have…

It's FOSS CommunityAkatama

❤️ 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

Whether you are a Windows/macOS user, or someone who is new to computers, Linux often comes as a challenge to everyone when they encounter unfamiliar terms.

You do not usually come across Linux-specific jargon in standard high school academic computer books, unless there is a dedicated chapter for Linux.

So, for the majority of users who never used Linux, the terms associated will sound alien to them.

With this article, I aim to change that by explaining some of the important jargon that should help you navigate the Linux world better.

1. Kernel

The core of an operating system that interacts with the hardware, and software to help you take control of it, is a kernel.

And, Linux is just a kernel. We have an article that explains what Linux is for more details.

Every operating system is built on top of a kernel, like the Windows NT kernel for Windows, and the XNU kernel for Apple's macOS.

2. Distro

A distro (short for distribution) is a complete operating system package built on top of a Linux kernel.

There can be 100s of Linux distros. Each of them can differ in terms of its desktop environment, package manager, software pre-installed, user interface, Linux kernel version, and its use-cases. The combination of such system components that you like should be your preferred Linux distro.

Some of the examples of a distro include Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch Linux, and Linux Mint. Furthermore, there are distros that are based on other existing distros. For instance, Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, and Ubuntu is based on Debian.

It can be confusing to choose a distro based on what's available. So, I recommend going through the list of the best Linux distributions for all kinds of users.

Best Linux Distributions For Everyone in 2025

Looking for the best Linux distribution that suits everyone? Take a look at our comprehensive list.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

3. Dual Booting

The technique of having two operating systems installed in a single computer is called dual booting.

You can decide to use either of them, whether you have two Linux distros or one Linux and Windows operating system.

If you are considering doing it, you must know about the dual booting myths before proceeding.

Don’t Believe These Dual Boot Myths

Don’t listen to what you hear. I tell you the reality from my dual booting experience.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

4. Grub

Grub is the boot manager program (or bootloader) that lists the operating systems installed on your computer. You can find it on most popular Linux distributions, with some exceptions like Pop!_OS.

If you didn't know, a bootloader is a program that starts when you boot up the computer and loads the kernel to execute. You get to customize the order of it, and also customize the look of it to some extent.

You can learn more about grub in our jargon buster article.

What is Grub in Linux? What is it Used for?

If you ever used a desktop Linux system, you must have seen this screen. This is called the GRUB screen. Learn what is GRUB in Linux and what is it used for?

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

5. Desktop Environment

The desktop environment is a component of a Linux distribution that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to interact with all the tech.

It includes elements like icons, toolbar, wallpaper, widgets, and more.

You can get a detailed explanation of what a desktop environment is in our article and explore all the available desktop environments here:

8 Best Desktop Environments For Linux

A list of the best Linux Desktop Environments with their pros and cons. Have a look and see which desktop environment you should use.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

My favorite desktop environments include GNOME and KDE Plasma.

6. Display server

Display server is the core tech of what enables you to see and have a graphical user interface (GUI). Without it, you will not have a GUI to interact with.

It is not the same as desktop environment. In fact, a desktop environment includes a display server under-the-hood to make things possible.

You might have heard about X11, and Wayland sessions, those are the types of display servers available. Explore more here:

Linux Jargon Buster: What is a Display Server in Linux? What is it Used for?

In Linux related articles, news and discussions, you’ll often come across the term display server, Xorg, Wayland etc. In this explainer article, I’ll discuss display servers in Linux. What is display server in Linux? A display server is a program which is responsible for the input and output

It's FOSSDimitrios

7. Display Manager

The display manager is a program that gives login capabilities to the user in a desktop environment.

Some popular display managers are GDM, LightDM, and SSDM. You can learn more about it here:

Linux Jargon Buster: What is Display Manager in Linux?

In this chapter of the Linux Jargon Buster, you’ll learn about display manager in Linux. Is it part of the desktop environment? What does it do?

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

8. GNOME Shell

The user interface component in the GNOME desktop environment that is responsible to managing actions like window switching, notifications, and launching applications is the GNOME shell.

You can customize the behavior and add more functionalities to it using GNOME shell extensions.

9. Terminal Emulator

The terminal emulator is a text-based program that lets you type in commands for the computer to process. Some may even prefer to all it the command-line interface (just like the command prompt in Windows).

By default, every Linux distribution offers a terminal emulator with a set of capabilities. However, you can choose to install a separate one to get more functionalities or a different look/feel.

You can explore our list of available Linux terminal emulators to try out some cool options.

10. Sudo

Sudo is a command on Linux that gives you elevated privileges (or root privileges) temporarily.

It is used whenever you want to make a system modification, or want to simply access a system file. The user is asked to prove that they are the administrators of the computer by typing in the password whenever sudo is used in a command.

Interestingly, the password is not visible when you type it in the terminal for security purposes.

11. Package Manager

A tool that lets you install, manage, and remove applications on your Linux distro, is the package manager. It can be terminal-centric or one with a graphical user interface (GUI).

For instance, APT package manager for .deb files is terminal-focused. And, Synaptic is a GUI-based tool.

Every Linux distro has a different package manager. However, some package managers are predominantly found in most of the Linux distributions. For more information, you can check out our package manager explainer:

What is a Package Manager in Linux?

Learn about packaging system and package managers in Linux. You’ll learn how do they work and what kind of package managers available.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

12. End of Life

End of Life (EOL) is a term used to point out the particular date/year after which a software will stop receiving any maintenance or security updates. In our context, it can be a Linux distribution. However, it is a term used for all kinds of software.

For instance, the End of Life for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is April 2029. The End of Life differs based on the release cycle of the distribution, which I shall mention in the next point.

Suggested Read 📖

What is End of Life in Ubuntu? Everything You Should Know About it

Learn what is end of life of an Ubuntu release, how it impacts you, how to check support status and what you should do if your system reaches end of life.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

13. Long-Term Support (LTS) and Non-LTS Release

A release cycle is the period when you can expect a software to get a new upgrade while marking the end of life of the current version.

If you find something that mentions — Long-Term Support (LTS) release, it means that the software will get updates for a long duration of time, focusing on its stability over bleeding-edge changes.

Depending on the software or the distro, the duration will differ. For instance, every LTS release of Ubuntu gets at least five years of updates, and its flavours get only three years of updates.

And, non-LTS is the opposite of it, meaning, the software will get updates for a shorter duration (or limited time).

For instance, Ubuntu 24.10 will be supported for only nine months.

14. Point and Rolling Release

A point release is a minor update to a major version of the software. For instance, Linux Mint 22.1 is a point update to Linux Mint 22.

On the contrary, a rolling release does not increment in any similar form. It just gets updates, small or big, with every new push by the developer team after its initial big release. For instance, Arch Linux is one of the best rolling release distros.

What is a Rolling Release Distribution?

What is rolling release? What is a rolling release distribution? How is it different from the point release distributions? All your questions answered.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

15. Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage

Snap, Flatpak, and, AppImage are three different universal packaging formats for Linux software. Unlike DEB or RPM packages, you can use Snap/Flatpak/AppImage packages on any Linux distributions.

Technically, they have certain differences among each other, but they serve a similar aim, to make things cross-distribution friendly and remove the hassle of dependencies.

Suggested Read 📖

Flatpak vs. Snap: 10 Differences You Should Know

Flatpak vs Snap, know the differences and gain insights as a Linux user to pick the best.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

16. Tiling Window Manager

Tiling Window Manager is a program that lets you organize your windows in a tile layout. It is a mighty utility to make the best use of your screen space while keeping things organized.

It boosts your productivity, and also makes your desktop experience prettier.

Suggested Read 📖

Explained: What is a Tiling Window Manager in Linux?

Learn what a tiling window manager is, and the benefits that come along with it.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

17. Upstream and Downstream

In terms of Linux software lingo, upstream is often referred to an original project from which the current software is based on. It can be a kernel, or a distro, or an app in our context. And, the downstream is the one that takes things from the upstream.

For instance, the Linux kernel releases are upstream, and the distro developers customizing it and using it will be termed as downstream.

You can learn more in our article here:

Linux Jargon Buster: What are Upstream and Downstream?

The terms: upstream and downstream are rather ambiguous terms and, I think, not really used by the general public. If you are a Linux user and do not write or maintain software, chances are pretty good that these terms will mean nothing to you, but they can be instructive in

It's FOSSBill Dyer

18. Daemon

A daemon is a utility program that runs in the background to make sure certain services are running and monitored. For instance, the system update daemon makes sure to check for updates at a regular interval of time.

Get more insights on this on our article here:

What are Daemons in Linux? Why are They Used?

You’ll often come across the term daemon while using Linux. Don’t be scared. Learn what are daemons in Linux & why they are used in UNIX-like operating systems.

It's FOSSBill Dyer

19. TTY

When it comes to Linux, TTY is an abstract device in UNIX and Linux. Sometimes it refers to a physical input device such as a serial port, and sometimes it refers to a virtual TTY where it allows users to interact with the system (reference).

What is TTY in Linux?

Sooner or later, you’ll come across the term tty while using Linux. Learn what it is and what is its significance.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

20. Immutable Distro

Considering you already know what a distro is, an immutable distro is just a type of distro where you cannot modify the core of the operating system (in other words, it is read-only).

This makes it a safer experience, and a more reliable one. Immutable distros have gained popularity recently, and you can find plenty of immutable distros to try the concept for yourself.

12 Future-Proof Immutable Linux Distributions

Immutability is a concept in trend. Take a look at what are the options you have for an immutable Linux distribution.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

21. Super Key

The Windows key that you normally know and love is the super key for Linux. It acts as the command button (like macOS) with which you can perform a range of keyboard shortcuts.

So, if someone says press the super key, it is just the Windows key on most keyboards. In some rare instance, the keyboard button could have a Linux icon over a Windows one.

What is the Super Key in Ubuntu Linux?

Get familiar with the super (or is it meta) key in Linux in this chapter of the Jargon Buster series.

It's FOSSSagar Sharma

Conclusion

It helps to know the common technical terms, specially if you are in discussion on online forums.

Of course, there is no end to jargon. There are many more that didn't make to this list. There will be newer ones as we progress with time.

What are your favorites Linux jargon that you learned recently? Share it with us in the comments 😄

by: Abhishek Kumar

While I’ve always enjoyed Kodi’s default skin, I’ve found that it can get a bit "boring" after a while.

That’s when I started exploring Kodi builds, these pre-packaged setups not only refresh the interface but also bring in various features and add-ons that make the experience more exciting.

After spending some time fiddling with different builds, I’ve collected the ones I find particularly interesting and amazing.

Whether you're new to Kodi or looking for a fresh look, these builds will definitely take your streaming game to the next level.

What's the point of Kodi builds?

Kodi, by default, gives you the freedom to customize everything from the interface to the content you access.

However, this can sometimes mean a lot of manual work, like searching for and installing individual add-ons for movies, TV shows, live sports, and more. While this gives you control, it can be time-consuming, especially for beginners.

In simple words, Kodi builds bundle everything you need into one pre-configured setup, from add-ons to custom settings, saving you time and effort.

Instead of piecing everything together yourself, you get a fully functional and visually appealing interface right from the start.

How to install Kodi builds?

Installing Kodi build is a straightforward process. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Enable Unknown Sources: Open Kodi, go to Settings > System > Add-ons, and toggle Unknown sources on. (Accept the warning)

2. Add the Repository: In Settings > File Manager, click Add Source, enter the repository URL, name it, and save.

3. Install the Build: Go to Add-ons > Install from zip file, select the repository you just added, and install the build wizard (like Chef Wizard or Doomzday Wizard).

4. Open the wizard from your Program Add-ons, pick your desired build, and follow the on-screen steps to install it.

Restart Kodi, and your new build will be ready to use!

📋

All the builds mentioned in this list are designed to work with Kodi 21 Omega, which is the latest release of Kodi right now. Some of these builds may also be compatible with earlier versions like Kodi 20 Nexus, 19 Matrix, and 18 Leia, and I’ve pointed those out where applicable.

1. Doomzday Nova

Compatibility: Kodi 21 Omega & Kodi 20 Nexus

Whether you're using a low-RAM device like FireStick or an Android TV Box, or you have a powerful computer or SBC, Doomzday has something for everyone.

The Nova TV build, for example, is a lightweight option that runs smoothly on lower-spec devices, while other feature-rich builds are perfect for high-end systems.

With a variety of popular Kodi add-ons pre-installed, you can easily access all your favorite content in one place.

Key Features:

• Lightweight builds for low-RAM devices (e.g., Raspberry Pi 3, FireStick)

• Feature-rich builds for high-end devices

• Pre-installed popular add-ons like Asgard, The Crew, and more

• Easy-to-navigate interface with different categories

• Supports a wide range of content: Movies, TV Shows, Sports, Live TV, etc.

• Includes 4K streaming options (Debrid 4K)

• Frequent updates and improvements

• Free and premium streaming options (Debrid support)

• Access to specialized content like documentaries and family-friendly shows

Doomzday

2. Diggz Xenon

Compatibility: Kodi 21 Omega

Diggz Xenon is often regarded as one of the best Kodi builds, and for good reason. Its futuristic interface, vast content library, and a solid collection of add-ons make it a top choice for cord-cutters.

Located within the Chef Wizard, Xenon offers both "Debrid" and "Free" versions, allowing users to choose based on their needs.

The Debrid version requires a Real-Debrid account to access higher-quality streaming links, while the Free version skips the need for a debrid service.

With the addition of the AIO (All-In-One) update, users can now preview builds before selecting, making it even easier to find the perfect setup.

Key Features:

• Sleek, futuristic interface with smooth navigation

• Two versions: Debrid (for higher-quality links) and Free (no debrid required)

• Extensive content library covering Movies, TV Shows, Sports, and more

• Located inside the Chef Wizard, which houses other high-quality builds

• AIO (All-In-One) update for previewing builds before installation

• Includes popular add-ons like Umbrella, Seren, FEN, and Asgard

• Regular updates for improved functionality and content

• Excellent for both new and experienced Kodi users

• Great support for both free and premium streaming options

Diggz Xenon

3. Aspire

Compatibility: Kodi 21 Omega

Aspire is a well-regarded build in the Kodi community, known for its sleek design and solid performance.

It strikes a great balance between style and functionality, making it an excellent choice for users who want both aesthetics and practicality.

Aspire works smoothly on a variety of devices, including lower-spec options like the Onn, Google TV Box and Fire TV Stick Lite.

It can be installed through the Doomzday Wizard or EzzerMans Wizard, offering flexibility in how you set it up.

Key Features:

• Sleek, stylish design with a user-friendly interface

• Small size (267 MB), making it ideal for lower-spec devices

• Packed with content including on-demand titles and live channels

• Supports integration with debrid services for enhanced performance

• Can be installed via Doomzday Wizard or EzzerMans Wizard

• Works well on devices like Fire TV Stick Lite and onn. Google TV Box

• Includes popular add-ons like Diggz Free99, Ghost, and Magic Dragon

• Smooth streaming experience with minimal buffering

• Regular updates to keep the build fresh and functional

• Great for both casual viewers and avid streamers

Aspire

4. Grindhouse

Compatibility: Kodi 21 Omega

Whether you're looking for lightweight builds or feature-rich setups, Grindhouse has something for everyone.

It’s home to over a dozen builds, including popular ones like AR Build, Blue, Decades, Horror, Jaws, and Pin Up.

These builds are designed to provide an all-in-one experience, so you don’t need separate outlets for movies, TV shows, and live programming.

The sleek, dim-themed interface is easy to navigate, with sections for Builds, Maintenance, Backup/Restore, Tools, and more.

Grindhouse continues to be a go-to repository for many Kodi users, and it’s easy to see why it made it to our list.

Key Features:

• Diverse collection of builds, from lightweight to feature-rich

• All-in-one builds for movies, TV shows, and live programming

• Easy-to-navigate, sleek, dim-themed interface

• Includes popular builds like AR Build, Blue, Decades, and more

• Sections for Builds, Maintenance, Backup/Restore, Tools, and Close

• Continually updated and maintained for optimal performance

• Ideal for users who want a variety of content in one place

• Popular among Kodi users for its versatility and ease of use

• No need for multiple add-ons to access all types of content

• Simple setup and installation process

Grindhouse

5. Plutonium

Compatibility: Kodi 21 & Kodi 20

Plutonium is a lightweight, visually engaging build with a colorful interface that makes it a great choice for devices with limited storage.

It’s designed primarily for Video On-Demand (VOD) content, offering a packed library of movies and TV series.

While it doesn’t include live TV channels, this simplicity helps it run smoothly and quickly. If you already have an IPTV service, Plutonium might be the perfect build to complement your setup.

The latest update from EzzerMan ensures compatibility with Kodi 21, continuing to deliver an optimized, user-friendly experience.

Key Features:

• Colorful, engaging user interface

• Extensive library of movies and TV series for on-demand streaming

• No live TV channels, but ideal for users with IPTV services

• Simple setup and navigation for easy use

• Optimized for streaming video content without buffering

• Available through EzzerMan’s Wizard, alongside other notable builds

• Easy-to-install and quick to get started

• Frequent updates to ensure smooth performance

Plutonium

6. Xontrix

Compatibility: Kodi 21 Omega

Xontrix is a powerful all-in-one Kodi build that offers both on-demand content and live TV channels.

It’s housed in the popular Chains Repository, known for its high-quality builds and addons. Installation is straightforward, and the build works seamlessly right after download.

The user-friendly interface allows easy navigation between content categories and addons, making it simple to find what you're looking for.

Xontrix also features a dedicated Kids section for family-friendly content and offers immersive music options.

For optimal performance, integrating a premium resolving service like Real-Debrid is recommended, as many of the build’s addons are “premium” options.

Key Features:

• All-in-one build with both on-demand content and live TV channels

• Easy installation and flawless performance right after download

• User-friendly interface with categories for quick navigation

• Includes a Kids section for family-friendly content

• Music options for an immersive audio experience

• Best used with a premium resolving service like Real-Debrid for enhanced performance

• Located in the reputable Chains Repository

• Customizable settings to adjust categories and services

• Supports a variety of popular addons

Xontrix

7. Green Monster

Compatibility: Kodi 21 & Kodi 20

Green Monster is a visually impressive and versatile Kodi build known for its lightweight design and top-notch video add-ons.

It offers a variety of categories, making it a great choice for streaming movies, TV shows, and live channels.

The build has been around for several years and continues to receive frequent updates.

Although it may take a few minutes to set up after installation due to its slightly heavier size, the wait is worth it.

Once installed, you’ll find a wide range of content options that can be easily customized to suit your needs.

Key Features:

• Impressive user-interface with a visually appealing design

• Lightweight yet versatile with a variety of categories

• Frequently updated by developers to ensure a smooth experience

• Great for streaming movies, TV shows, and live channels

• Slightly heavier than other builds, so it may take time to set up initially

• Provides a wide range of content choices once installed

• Customizable settings to adjust to your preferences

• Top add-ons for enhanced streaming experience

Green Monster

8. Misfit Mods Lite

Compatibility: Kodi 21 Omega

Misfit Mods is back and better than ever! Known for its sleek and modern layout, this build has been a favorite among Kodi users, especially those who used it on Kodi 19 Matrix.

Now, with compatibility for Kodi 21 Omega, it’s even more accessible. Misfit Mods Lite offers thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows, along with hundreds of live channels.

It also features categories for children's shows and music, making it a versatile option for the entire family.

For an enhanced experience, integrating a premium resolving service like Premiumize, AllDebrid, or LinkSnappy is highly recommended.

Key Features:

• Sleek and modern user-interface for easy navigation

• Thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows

• Hundreds of live channels available

• Dedicated categories for children’s shows and music

• Ideal for users looking for a well-rounded build

• Best experience with Premiumize, AllDebrid, or LinkSnappy integration

• Simple installation and quick setup

• Regular updates to ensure smooth performance

Misfit Mods Lite

9. Superman

Compatibility: Kodi 21 Omega

The Superman Kodi build is a fan favorite, known for its Superman-themed interface and versatile content options. Whether you're into movies, TV shows, live channels, or sports, this build has it all.

It even features a dedicated “Marvel & DC” category for superhero content, making it a perfect choice for comic book fans.

The user interface is easy to navigate, ensuring a smooth experience on any device. For the best streaming performance, it’s recommended to integrate a cloud provider.

Key Features:

• Superman-themed interface with easy navigation

• Offers movies, TV series, live channels, sports, and a superhero-specific “Marvel & DC” category

• Smooth user experience on all devices

• Regularly updated with new content

• Works well for both beginners and experienced Kodi users

• Reliable performance with no buffering (with proper cloud integration)

• Top add-ons for enhanced streaming quality

Superman

10. Estuary Switch

Compatibility: Kodi 21 & Kodi 20

If you are like me and prefer the classic, familiar look of Kodi, Estuary Switch is the build for you. It uses the default Estuary skin, ensuring that users don’t have to adjust to a new interface.

While it doesn't offer an overwhelming number of add-ons, it includes the essentials for basic streaming needs.

The build allows users to filter content by Genre, Year, and Decade, making it easy to find what you're looking for.

Its simplicity and lightweight nature make it ideal for less powerful streaming devices, offering a smooth experience without unnecessary bloat.

Key Features:

• Classic Kodi interface with the default Estuary skin

• Easy navigation with content filtering by Genre, Year, and Decade

• Essential add-ons for basic streaming needs

• Simple and lightweight, perfect for low-powered devices

• Familiar home screen layout for quick access to media

• Great for users who prefer a minimalistic setup

• Regular updates for optimal performance

Estuary Switch

Other Notable Builds

Due to space constraints, we couldn’t go into detail about every fantastic build available. However, here are some notable builds worth checking out.

Cosmic One

A Trakt-compatible build from The Crew repo, offering categories like movies, TV shows, sports, live content, and more.

CrewNique

Found in both the Chains Build Wizard and The Crew Wizard, this build includes movies, IPTV, TV shows, and sports categories.

OneFlix

A Debrid-only build described as a “Netflix-style streaming service,” featuring notable add-ons like Ghost, AfFENity, Umbrella, and SEREN.

POVico

With an interface reminiscent of Kodi’s original aesthetic, this build focuses on movies and TV shows.

Conclusion

Choosing the best Kodi build ultimately comes down to your personal preferences and streaming needs.

Whether you’re drawn to the versatility of Diggz Xenon, the torrent-powered Burst, or the sleek interface of Aspire, there’s no shortage of excellent options to enhance your Kodi experience in 2025.

While Kodi builds are legal to install and use, it’s important to remain cautious about the content you access. 🏴‍☠️

Many builds include third-party add-ons, and users should ensure they only stream publicly available titles to stay on the right side of copyright laws.

For safety, stick to trusted sources and scan files for malware before installation. Kodi is a powerful tool, and with the right build, it can transform your media setup into a streaming powerhouse.

Enjoy exploring, and happy streaming! 🎞️

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!

by: Sreenath

Waybar is the perfect top panel program for Wayland systems like Hyprland, Sway, etc.

It offers many built-in modules and also allows the user to create custom modules to fill the panel.

We have already discussed how to configure Waybar in a previous tutorial.

📋

I recommend you to go through the article first. It should make things easy to understand as you read on.

In this article, let's learn some eye-candy tricks to make your Hyprland user experience even better.

0:00

/0:11

1×

Hardware Groups with Waybar with group module.

Grouping modules in Waybar

Those who went through the wiki pages of Waybar, may have seen a module called group. Unlike other modules (memory, cpu, etc.), this group module allows you to embed more pre-built modules inside it.

This is shown in the above video.

So, what we are doing here is grouping related (or even unrelated, as you like) modules inside a group.

Writing a sample group module

Usually, all modules should be defined and then called in the top bar on respective places as you require.

This is applicable to the group as well. Let's make one:

Step 1: Start with framework

First, define the group with a name and the structure:

"group/<groupname>": {
	----,
	----
}

The group module definition should be wrapped between the parentheses.

For example, I am creating a group called hardware to place CPU, RAM (memory), and Temperature modules.

🚧

The modules like cpu, memory, etc., that we need to add to a group should be defined separately outside the group definition. These definitions are explained in the Waybar article.

So, I will start the group definition at the end of my ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc file:

"group/hardware": {
	----,
	----
}

🚧

In the JSONC files, never forget to add a comma to the end of previous module (},), if it is not the last item.

Step 2: Add an orientation

You already know that Waybar allows you to place the bar on the top, bottom, left, or right of the screen. This means, you can place your bar either vertically (left/right) or horizontally (top/bottom).

Therefore, you may need to specify an orientation for the group items using the key orientation.

"group/hardware": {
	"oreintation": "horizontal",
}

I am using a bar configured to appear at the top of the screen. Therefore, I chose “horizontal” orientation. The value for orientation can be horizontal, vertical, orthogonal, or inherit.

Step 3: Add a drawer effect

With orientation set, let's make the groups a bit neat by hiding all items except one.

The interesting part is, when you hover over this unhidden item, the rest of the modules inside the group will come out with a nice effect. It is like collapsing the items at once under one of the items, and then expanding.

The keyword we use in the configuration here is “drawer”.

"group/hardware": {
	"oreintation": "horizontal",
	"drawer": {
		---
	},
}

Inside the drawer, we can set the transition duration, motion, etc. Let's go minimal, with only setting the transition duration and transition motion.

"group/hardware": {
	"oreintation": "horizontal"
	"drawer": {
		"transition-duration": 500,
		"transition-left-to-right": false
	},
}

If we set the transition-left-to-right key to false, the first item in the list of modules (that we will add in the next section) will stay there, and the rest is expanded.

Likewise, if left to default (true), the first item and the rest will all draw out.

Step 4: Add the modules

It's time to add the modules that we want to appear inside the group.

"group/hardware": {
	"oreintation": "horizontal",
	"drawer": {
		"transition-duration": 500,
		"transition-left-to-right": false
	},
	"modules": [
		"custom/hardware-wrap",
		"cpu",
		"memory"
		"temperature"
	]
}

Here, in the above snippet, we have created four modules to appear inside the group hardware.

📋

The first item inside the module key will be the one visible. The subsequent items will be hidden and will only appear when hovered over the first item.

As said earlier, we need to define all the modules appearing inside the group as regular Waybar modules.

Here, we will define a custom module called custom/hardware-wrap, just to hold a place for the Hardware section.

So, outside the group module definition parenthesis, use the following code:

"custom/hardware-wrap": {
	"format": Hardware
	"tooltip-format": "Hardware group"
} 

So, when "custom/hardware-wrap" is placed inside the group module as the first item, only that will be visible, hiding the rest (cpu, memory, and temperature in this case.).

Step 5: Simple CSS for the custom module

Let's add a CSS for the custom module that we have added. Go inside the ~/.conf/waybar/style.css file and add the lines:

#custom-hardware-wrap {
     box-shadow: none;
     background: #202131;
     text-shadow: none;
     padding: 0px;
     border-radius: 5px;
     margin-top: 3px;
     margin-bottom: 3px;
     margin-right: 6px;
     margin-left: 6px;
     padding-right: 4px;
     padding-left: 4px;
     color: #98C379;
}

Step 6: Add it to the panel

Now that we have designed and styled the group, let's add it to the panel.

We know that in Waybar, we have modules-left, modules-center, and modules-right to align elements in the panel.

Let's place the new Hardware group to the right side of the panel.

"modules-right": ["group/hardware", "pulseaudio", "tray"],

In the above code inside the ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc, you can see that, I have placed the group/hardware on the right along with PulseAudio and system tray.

Hardware Group Collapsed

Hardware Group Expanded

Wrapping Up

Grouping items is a handy trick, since it can create some space to place other items and make the top bar organized.

If you are curious, you can take a look at the drawer snippet given in the group page of Waybar wiki. You can explore some more customizations like adding a power menu button.

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: Abhishek Prakash
Linux Mint 22.1 codenamed Xia is available now. I expected this point release to arrive around Christmas. But it got delayed a little, if I can call it a delay, as there are no fixed release schedule.

Wondering what's new in Mint 22.1? Check this out 👇

6 Exciting Features in Linux Mint 22.1 ‘Xia’ Release

Linux Mint’s latest upgrade is available. Explore more about it before you try it out!

It's FOSS NewsAnkush Das

And the Tuxmas lifetime membership offer is now over. We reached the milestone of 100 lifetime Plus members. Thank you for your support 🙏

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

• A new Raspberry Pi 5 variant.

• AI coming to VLC media player.

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

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

• This edition of FOSS Weekly is supported by PikaPods.

❇️ PikaPods: Self-hosting Without Hassle

PikaPods allows you to quickly deploy your favorite open source software. All future updates are handled automatically by PikaPods while you enjoy using the software. Did I tell you that they also share revenue with the original developers of the software?

Oh! You also get a $5 free credit to try it out and see if you can rely on PikaPods.

PikaPods - Instant Open Source App Hosting

Run the finest Open Source web apps from $1/month, fully managed, no tracking, no ads, full privacy. Self-hosting was never this convenient.

Instant Open Source App Hosting

📰 Linux and Open Source News

• Microsoft's Phi-4 AI model has been made open source.

• The Raspberry Pi 5 now has a 16 GB variant for power users.

• COSMIC Alpha 5 serves as a reminder of how the desktop environment is progressing.

• Flatpak version 1.16 is released with new features

Earlier, Kdenlive introduced AI feature and now VLC is adding AI subtitles.

AI Subtitles Are Coming to VLC— Get Ready!

VLC is adding the ability to generate subtitles with the help of AI.

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

Linus Torvalds is proposing to build a guitar effects pedal for one lucky kernel contributor.

Linus Torvalds offers to build free guitar effects pedal

‘I’m a software person with a soldering iron’, he warns alongside release of Linux 6.13-rc7

The RegisterSimon Sharwood

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

• Level up your Gedit experience with these 10 tweaks.

• Using your phone's camera and mic in Ubuntu is possible.

• You can run Windows apps on Linux by following this beginner's guide.

Don’t Believe These Dual Boot Myths

Don’t listen to what you hear. I tell you the reality from my dual booting experience.

It's FOSSAnkush Das

👷 Maker's and AI Corner

ArmSoM AIM7 sets the stage for cutting-edge AI applications.

ArmSoM AIM7: A Promising Rockchip Device for AI Development

Harness the power of RK3588 Rockchip processor for AI development with ArmSoM RK3588 AI Module 7 (AIM7) AI kit.

It's FOSSAbhishek Kumar

Usenet was where conversations took place before social media came about.

Remembering Usenet - The OG Social Network that Existed Even Before the World Wide Web

Before Facebook, before MySpace and even before the Word Wide Web, there existed Usenet. From LOL to Linux, we owe a lot to Usenet.

It's FOSSBill Dyer

📹 Videos we are watching

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

✨ Apps of the Week

What's so clever about KleverNotes? Find out:

KleverNotes Is A Practical Markdown Note-Taking App By KDE

That’s a clever markdown-powered editor. Give it a try!

It's FOSS NewsSourav Rudra

🛍️Deal You Would Love

Challenge your brain and have a blast learning with these acclaimed logic and puzzle games exploring key concepts of programming and machine learning.

New Year, New You: Programming Games

Have fun learning about programming and machine learning in this puzzle and logic game bundle featuring while True: learn(), 7 Billion Humans, and more.

Humble Bundle

🧩 Quiz Time

Here's a fun crossword for correctly guessing the full forms of the mentioned acronyms.

Expand the Short form: Crossword

It’s time for you to solve a crossword!

It's FOSSAnkush Das

💡 Quick Handy Tip

You can search for free icons from Font Awesome or Nerd Fonts to add to panels and terminal tools like Fastfetch.

Ensure that you install the respective fonts, font-awesome and firacode-nerd on your system before using. Otherwise, they won't appear properly.

On Font Awesome, click on Copy Glyph to copy the icon to the clipboard. And in Nerd Fonts, click on the Icons button to copy the icon to the clipboard.

🤣 Meme of the Week

Yep, that happens. 😆

🗓️ Tech Trivia

Wikipedia launched on January 15, 2001, as a free, collaborative encyclopedia. Created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, it grew to host millions of articles in multiple languages.

Today, it’s one of the most visited websites globally, embodying the spirit of open knowledge.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

Would it be possible to learn to code after 50? Community members share their views and experience.

50+ and learning to code...?

I’m over 50 (became 50 on 28 October 2024) and, while I did do some coding in a grey past, I noticed I’m currently finding it difficult to pick it up. There’s so much to learn: Coding (in my case C++) The API of the relevant libraries I intend to use for my Amazing FLOSS Project™. 🙂 (In my case FLTK, and yaml-cpp). The language of the build system (CMake in my case). Some editor like thing with some creature comforts (in my case I’m going with sublime text). Git (including how to…

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: 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 Kumar

When ArmSoM kindly offered to send me their upcoming RK3588 AI Module 7 (AIM7), along with the AIM-IO carrier board, I was thrilled.

Having worked with AI hardware like Nvidia’s Jetson Nano and Raspberry Pi boards, I’m always curious about devices that promise powerful AI capabilities without requiring a large physical setup or heavy power draw.

The RK3588 AI Module 7 (AIM7), powered by the Rockchip RK3588, seemed to hit that sweet spot, a compact module with robust processing power, efficient energy use, and versatile connectivity options for a range of projects.

What intrigued me most was its potential to handle AI tasks like object detection and image processing while also supporting multimedia applications, all while being small enough to integrate into custom enclosures or embedded systems where space is a premium.

Here’s my hands-on experience with this exciting piece of hardware.

📋

RK3588 AI Module 7 is an upcoming product in the crowdfunding pre-launch phase. My experience is with a product in early stages and the product will improve with the feedback provided by me and other reviewers.

ArmSoM RK3588 AI Module 7 AIM7 specifications

The RK3588 AI Module 7 is a compact yet powerful board built around the Rockchip RK3588 SoC, an octa-core processor with a quad-core Cortex-A76 and a quad-core Cortex-A55, clocked up to 2.4 GHz.

Complementing this powerhouse is the ARM Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with a 6 TOPS NPU, making it an excellent choice for AI workloads and multimedia applications.

Its small size and versatile connectivity options make it suitable for embedded applications and development projects.

The unit I received came with 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 32 GB of eMMC storage.

AIM-IO Carrier Board Specifications

The AIM-IO carrier board is designed to complement the RK3588 AI Module 7. It offers a rich set of features, including multiple USB ports, display outputs, and expansion options, making it an ideal platform for development and prototyping.

Unboxing and first impressions

The RK3588 AI Module 7 arrived in a compact, well-packaged generic box alongside the AIM-IO board, which is essential for getting the module up and running.

At first glance, the AIM7 itself is tiny, measuring just 69.6 x 45 mm—almost identical in size to the Jetson Nano’s core module.

I added the heatsink on my own

The carrier board, too, shares the same dimensions as the Jetson Nano Developer Kit’s carrier board, making it an easy swap for those already familiar with Nvidia’s ecosystem.

The build quality of both the module and the carrier board is solid. The AIM-IO board’s layout is clean, with clearly labeled ports and connectors.

It features four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, a 40-pin GPIO header and an M.2 slot for expansion, a welcome addition for developers looking to push the hardware’s limits.

Setting it up

Installing the RK3588 AI Module 7 onto the AIM-IO board was straightforward. The edge connector design, similar to the Jetson Nano’s, meant it slotted in effortlessly.

Powering it up required a standard 5V barrel jack.

I know these Rockchip SBCs get real hot, so I got a generic passive heat sink. Active cooling options were way too expensive.

Since I was hoping to use this device for home automation projects, I also got myself a DIY-built case.

Don’t judge me, I’m moving out, so I haven’t even peeled the protective plastic off of acrylic yet (to protect from scratches)!

OS installation

📋

ArmSoM devices come with a Debian installed on eMMC but in Chinese. I decided to install a distro of my choice by replacing the default OS.

Now, let’s talk about the OS installation. Spoiled by the ease of the Raspberry Pi Imager, I found myself on a steep learning curve while working with RKDevTool.

Burning an image for the Rockchip device required me to watch several videos and read multiple pieces of documentation. After much trial and error, I managed to flash the provided Ubuntu image successfully.

I’ve written a dedicated guide to help you install an OS on Rockchip devices using RKDevTool.

One hiccup worth mentioning: I couldn’t test the SD card support as it didn’t work for me at all. This was disappointing, but the onboard eMMC storage provided a reliable fallback.

Performance testing

To gauge the RK3588 AI Module 7’s capabilities, I ran a series of benchmarks and real-world tests. Here’s how it fared:

📋

For general testing, I opted for the Armbian image, which worked well, though I couldn’t test the AI capabilities of the NPU on it. To explore those, I later switched to the Ubuntu image.

Geekbench Scores

Here you can see the single-core and multi-core performance of RK3588, which is quite impressive. I mean, the results speaks for themselves. The Cortex-A76 cores are a significant upgrade.

You can see the full single-core performance of RK3588:

Multi-core performance:

The RK3588’s multi-core performance blew the Raspberry Pi and even Jetson Nano out of the water, with scores nearly double in most tests.

Source: ArmSoM

AI Workloads

The RK3588 AI Module 7’s 6 TOPS NPU is designed to handle AI inference efficiently. It supports RKNN-LLM, a toolkit that enables deploying lightweight language models on Rockchip hardware.

I tested the TinyLLAMA model with 1.1 billion parameters, and the performance was amazing, achieving 16 tokens per second.

Output result:

root@armsom-aim7-io:/# ./llm_demo tinyLlama.rkllm 
rkllm init start
rkllm-runtime version: 1.0.1, rknpu driver version: 0.9.6, platform: RK3588
rkllm init success

**********************可输入以下问题对应序号获取回答/或自定义输入********************

[0] what is a hypervisor?

*************************************************************************

user: 0
what is a hypervisor?
robot: A hypervisor is software, firmware, or hardware that creates and runs virtual machines (VMs).There are two types: Type 1 (bare-metal, runs directly on hardware) and Type 2 (hosted, runs on top of an OS). tokens 50 time 3.12
Token/s : 16.01

• While I couldn’t test all the other supported models, here’s a list of models and their performance, courtesy of Radxa:TinyLLAMA 1.1B – 15.03 tokens/sQwen 1.8B – 14.18 tokens/sPhi3 3.8B – 6.46 tokens/sChatGLM3 – 3.67 tokens/s

The RKNN-LLM toolkit supports deploying lightweight language models on Rockchip hardware, and the NPU’s efficiency makes it a compelling option for AI workloads.

The performance varies depending on the model size and parameters, with larger models naturally running slower. The NPU also consumes less power than the GPU, freeing it up for other tasks.

Image & video processing

I couldn’t process live video and images as I didn’t have a compatible camera module. I own an RPi camera module but lacked the compatible ribbon cable to connect it to the AIM-IO board.

Despite this, I tested the image processing capabilities using the YOLOv8 model for Object detection on the demo images provided with it.

Took me a lot of time to understand how to use it (will cover that in separate article, hopefully) but thanks to Radxa's well-structured documentation, which provided a step-by-step guide.

The results were impressive, showcasing the board’s ability to handle complex image recognition tasks efficiently.

What Could It Be Used For?

The RK3588 AI Module 7 (AIM7) offers a wide range of potential applications, making it a versatile tool for developers and hobbyists alike. Here are some possible use cases:

1. Home Automation: AIM7’s low power consumption and robust processing capabilities make it ideal for smart home setups. From controlling IoT devices to running edge AI for home security systems, the AIM7 can handle it all.

2. AI-Powered Applications: With its 6 TOPS NPU, the AIM7 excels in tasks like object detection, natural language processing, and image recognition. It’s a great choice for deploying lightweight AI models at the edge.

3. Media Centers: The ability to decode and encode 8K video makes it a powerful option for creating custom media centers or streaming setups.

4. Robotics: AIM7’s compact size and versatile connectivity options make it suitable for robotics projects that require real-time processing and AI inference.

5. Educational Projects: For students and educators, the AIM7 provides a hands-on platform to learn about embedded systems, AI, and computer vision.

6. Industrial Automation: Its robust hardware and software support make it a reliable choice for industrial applications like predictive maintenance and process automation.

7. DIY Projects: Whether you’re building a smart mirror, an AI-powered camera, or a custom NAS, the AIM7 offers the flexibility and power to bring your ideas to life.

If you are not interested in all of the above, you can always use it as your secondary desktop, at the end it is essentially a single board computer. 😉

Final thoughts

After spending some time with the RK3588 AI Module 7, I can confidently say that it’s an impressive piece of hardware. I installed Ubuntu on it, and the desktop experience was surprisingly smooth.

The onboard eMMC storage really made the experience smooth, it made app launches fast and responsive, offering a noticeable speed boost compared to traditional SD card setups.

Watching YouTube at 1080p was smooth, something that’s still a bit of a challenge for Raspberry Pi in the same resolution. The playback was consistent, without any stuttering, which is a big win for media-heavy applications.

The RKNN-LLM toolkit enabled me to deploy lightweight models, and the NPU’s power efficiency freed up the GPU for other tasks, which is perfect for edge AI applications.

My only gripe is the lack of extensive documentation from ArmSoM. While it’s available, it often doesn’t cover everything, and I found myself relying on Radxa and Mixtile forums to work around issues. ArmSoM told me that documentation will be improved after the crowdfunding launch.

You can follow the crowdfunding campaign and other developments on the dedicate page.

RK3588 AI Module7

A low-power AI module compatible with the Nvidia Jetson Nano ecosystem

Crowd Supply

I’m looking forward to exploring more of its potential in my home automation projects, especially as I integrate AI for smarter, more efficient systems.

by: Bill Dyer

Before Reddit, before GitHub, and even before the World Wide Web went online, there was Usenet.

This decentralized network of discussion groups was a main line of communication of the early internet - ideas were exchanged, debates raged, research conducted, and friendships formed.

For those of us who experienced it, Usenet was more than just a communication tool; it was a community, a center of innovation, and a proving ground for the ideas.

📋

It is also culturally and historically significant in that it popularized concepts and terms such as "LOL (first used in a newsgroup in 1990)," FAQ," "flame," "spam," and,"sockpuppet".

Oldest network that is still in use

Usenet is one of the oldest computer network communications systems still in widespread use. It went online in 1980, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University.

1980 is significant in that it was pre-World Wide Web by over a decade. In fact, the "Internet" was basically a network of privately owned ARPANet sites. Usenet was created to be the network for the general public - before the general public even had access to the Internet. I see Usenet as the first social network.

Over time, Usenet grew to include thousands of discussion groups (called newsgroups) and millions of users. Users read and write posts, called articles, using software called a newsreader.

In the 1990s, early Web browsers and email programs often had a built-in newsreader. Topics were many; if you could imagine a topic, there was probably a group made for it and, if a group didn't exist, one could be made.

The culture of Usenet: Learning the ropes

While I say that Usenet was the first social network, it was never really organized to be one. Each group owner could - and usually did - set their own rules.

Before participating in discussions, it was common advice to “lurk” for a while - read the group without posting - to learn the rules, norms, and tone of the community. Every Usenet group had its own etiquette, usually unwritten, and failing to follow it could lead to a “flaming.” These public scoldings, were often harsh, but they reinforced the importance of respecting the group’s culture.

For groups like comp.std.doc and comp.text, lurking was essential to understand the technical depth and specificity of the conversations. Jumping in without preparation wasn’t just risky - it was almost a rite of passage to survive the initial corrections from seasoned members. Yet, once you earned their respect, you became part of a tightly knit network of expertise and camaraderie - you belonged.

Usenet and the birth of Linux

One newsgroup, comp.os.minix, became legendary when Linus Torvalds posted about a new project he was working on. In August 1991, Linus announced the creation of Linux, a hobby project of a free operating system.

Usenet's structure - decentralized, threaded, and open - can be seen as the first demonstration of the values of open-source development. Anyone with a connection and a bit of technical know-how could hop on and join in a conversation. For developers, Usenet quickly became the main tool for keeping up with rapidly evolving programming languages, paradigms, and methodologies.

It's not a stretch to see how Usenet also became an essential platform for code collaborating, bug tracking, and intellectual exchange - it thrived in this ecosystem.

The discussions were sometimes messy - flame wars and off-topic posts were common - but they were also authentic. Problems were solved not in isolation but through collective effort. Without Usenet, the early growth of Linux may well have been much slower.

A personal memory: Helping across continents

My own experience with Usenet wasn’t just about reading discussions or solving technical problems. It became a bridge to collaboration and friendship. I remember one particular interaction well: a Finnish academic working on her doctoral dissertation on documentation standards posted a query to a group I frequented. By chance, I had the information she needed.

At the time, I spent a lot of my time in groups like comp.std.doc and comp.text, where discussions about documentation standards and text processing were common. She was working with SGML standards, while I was more focused on HTML. Despite our different areas of expertise, Usenet made it easy for the two of us to connect and share knowledge. She later wrote back to say my input had helped her complete her dissertation.

This took place in the mid-1990s and that brief collaboration turned into a friendship that lasts to this day. Although we may go long periods without writing, we’ve always kept in touch. It’s evidence to how Usenet didn’t just encourage innovation but also created a lasting friendship across continents.

The decline and legacy of Usenet

As the internet evolved, Usenet's use has been fading. The rise of web-based forums, social media, and version-control platforms like GitHub made Usenet feel clunky and outdated, and there are concerns that it is largely being used to send spam and conduct flame wars and binary (no text) exchanges.

On February 22, 2024, Google stopped Usenet support for these reasons. Users can no longer post or subscribe, or view new content. Historical content, before the cut-off date can be viewed, however.

This doesn't mean that Usenet is dead; far from it. Giganews, Newsdemon, and Usenet are still running, if you are interested in looking into this. Both require a subscription, but Eternal September provides free access.

If Usenet's use has been declining, then why look into it? Its archives. The archives hold detailed discussions, insights, questions and answers, and snippets of code - a good deal of which is still relevant to today’s software hurdles.

Conclusion

I would guess that, for those of us who were there, Usenet remains a nostalgic memory. It does for me. The quirks of its culture - from FAQs to "RTFM" responses - were part of its charm. It was chaotic, imperfect, and sometimes frustrating, but it was also a place where real work got done and real connections were made.

Looking back, my time on Usenet was one of the foundational chapters in my journey through technology. Helping a stranger across the globe complete a dissertation might seem like a small thing, but it’s emblematic of what Usenet stood for: collaboration without boundaries. It bears repeating: It was a place where knowledge was freely shared and where the seeds of ideas could grow into something great. And in this case, it helped create a friendship that continues to remind me of Usenet’s unique power to connect people.

As Linux fans, we owe a lot to Usenet. Without it, Linux might have remained a small hobby project instead of becoming the force of computing that it has become. So, the next time you’re diving into a Linux distro or collaborating on an open-source project, take a moment to appreciate the platform that helped make it all possible.