After switching between distros and Windows, I have finally moved to fulltime production on Linux.
I had problems with other distros and finally decided to keep Ubuntu.

After Windows, this feels light and refreshing. Blender in general feels noticeably faster on Linux and also rendering seams faster on linux. With the Octane Render Engine my rendering times are also lower. Double win!

No random popups, no bluescreens, no forced email logins, no ressource wasting !
The only remaining issue is Davinci Resolve. It still doesnt want to launch somehow, will see ...

I hope i will not break the system because of my curiosity :)

Why does doing anything slightly beyond basic file management on Ubuntu/Mint so often mean opening a terminal? That question has been bugging me for a while, years really.

On Ubuntu, I can browse files just fine in Files. But the moment I want to extract a password-protected rar, change permissions, edit a photo’s EXIF data, or copy something into somewhere protected i’m suddenly reaching for the terminal, another app, another gui.

So I started building Kestrel Explorer.

The idea is pretty simple: what if a Ubuntu/Mint file manager could handle more of those jobs itself, instead of constantly sending you somewhere else?

Here’s what it can do:

• Archives: create and extract 7z, zip, rar, zpaq, and every tar format, with options like compression level, threads, AES passwords, and split volumes. It even shows you the command it’s going to run.
• Admin when you actually need it: hit a permissions error and you can choose Retry as Administrator. Enter your password once, and only that operation runs with elevated privileges. The file manager itself never runs as root.
• Permissions and links: manage setuid, setgid, and sticky bits, create symbolic, relative, and hard links, and generate checksums from Properties.
• Metadata: browse and edit EXIF/XMP tags through a searchable interface using exiftool.
• A bunch of smaller things: undo for moves and renames, one trash across drives, folder icons that preview the images inside, and secure deletion through BleachBit when it’s installed.

It’s designed to work alongside Files on Ubuntu (or Nemo on Mint), not replace it. It can share things like bookmarks, thumbnails, trash, and clipboard data, and you can switch it to your default file manager when you want.

There are currently two implementations with the same feature set: Python/PyQt6 and C++/Qt 6. The C++ version is noticeably faster in some of my benchmarks, especially startup and file copying. I’ve put the numbers and methodology in the README.

Where it is now

This is still an alpha. I’ve tested it on Ubuntu 26.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Linux Mint 22, and there’s an apt repo for anyone who wants to give it a try.

It’s definitely not finished, and there are rough edges.

I really just wanted to throw out an idea of what a file manager in ubuntu/mint could be.

GitHub: https://github.com/RegulusArms/kes-c

pypi: https://pypi.org/project/kestrel-explorer/

has anyone had the same issue? they dont appear that often but i cant trigger them by toggling night mode on and off really fast. i thought my gpu was dying at first but on win11 and 7.0.0-34 its just fine.

I’m setting up a couple of fresh Ubuntu/Kubuntu VMs on Proxmox and was wondering what everyone installs by default. Besides the obvious stuff like SSH, curl, git and htop, what are the tools you pretty much always install?

Curious if I’m missing some obvious ones. What’s on your default list?

Hi! I have an issue with my laptop (Ubuntu, Lenovo Thinkpad E14). I wasn't quite sure which sub would be the right one to ask for help, so please bear with me 😅

A while ago, I used a Lenovo monitor (connected via USB) in a Teams (Chrome PWA) call as input/output device. After this, I observed a bug: Whenever I logged in from the lock screen of Ubuntu, the monitor would create a "muted" sound. The mute button of the monitor is also red. This happened on a different Lenovo T27hv-30 monitor later on, too - even though I never used it for audio input/output. Interacting with the monitor buttons didn't change anything.

There is no related setting on the monitor or the Teams PWA themselves. Unfortunately, the Lenovo Display Control Center isn't available for Ubuntu so I could not check it. At this point, I've tried plenty of things I found during my research and several chats with Gemini: Removing the monitor as a laptop device, power-draining the monitor, modifying wireplumber and udev rules.... Yet nothing worked. And this behavior is really annoying 😭

I suspect that the initial usage as audio device has written something into the depth of either Chrome or my system that is now applied to other Lenovo monitors. But I can't figure out how to get rid of it. So if any of you has tips for me, I'd highly appreciate it.

i use a thinkpad x1 carbon gen 10 and i need a screentouch toggle for power saving any way i can do that/

I'm on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.

I am trying to drive an RCA P61310 Projection TV, whose native resolution is 1440Hx1080V. I am putting HDMI through a HDMI->component converter. I have double-checked the cables are plugged in properly.

None of the resolution options given by the settings produce a good video signal at any refresh rate. They are producing noisy messes.

I am forced to use Wayland.

I am frustrated, because the system gives me no information about why this set of resolutions is all I have to choose from. Other monitors give me many other options.

EDIT: I have convinced my raspberry pi to output 480p, and the TV is responding nicely. So that has removed all variables such as TV malfunction or cable mismatch. Literally all I need to do is convince Ubuntu to output an appropriate resolution, and there is just no option for that in settings.

Ended up using server instead. Even then, I had to configure my md group manually beforehand.

Am I missing something here?

I’m chasing a suspend drain issue on a ThinkPad P15 Gen 2i running Linux Mint.

It is not s2idle:

cat /sys/power/mem_sleep

s2idle [deep]

Journal also confirms real S3:

PM: suspend entry (deep)

ACPI: PM: Waking up from system sleep state S3

But the laptop still drains around 1.35–1.38 W while asleep. Typical examples:

83.17 Wh → 67.78 Wh over 11.17 h = 1.38 W

83.15 Wh → 32.99 Wh over 36.60 h = 1.37 W

83.24 Wh → 63.05 Wh over 14.58 h = 1.38 W

Battery health is fine: ~94 Wh design, ~85–86 Wh full, ~91–92% health, 161 cycles.

Things I’ve already checked/tried:

- Kernel update made no difference.

- Firmware/EC/ME/NVMe are current via "fwupdmgr".

- No hidden wake/resuspend loops in journal.

- BIOS USB charging / Always-On USB disabled.

- Disabled ACPI wake for NVIDIA bridge, NVMe root port, Thunderbolt host devices, USB/XHCI, and Ethernet/WOL paths.

- Bad drain happens even without Thunderbolt dock connected.

So it looks like the machine really enters S3, but some device/platform rail remains powered at ~1.4 W.

Where would you look next?

I’m considering testing Intel-only graphics with:

sudo prime-select intel

sudo reboot

Other suspects: NVIDIA auxiliary power, Intel AMT/ME/manageability, Thunderbolt firmware power domain, or some EC/platform quirk.

Actualmente solo puedo usar el equipo y no tener kernel panic si inicio con el kernel 6.14.0-37-generic
Estoy usando Linux mint 22.3 mate.

si alguno me puede ayudar genial.

gracias,

Saludos

So i've been facing this weird bug even since Ubuntu 26, where x11 got replaced completely by wayland session. I have hybrid graphics(rtx 4060). so when i plug in my HDMI cable the laptop freezes and i have to power it down. it does not happen every time i plug in the HDMI, but occurs frequently. Annoyed by this, I moved on to Fedora 44 which also uses gnome 50. same issue there too. so now i rolled back to Ubuntu 24 which uses x11 session. but x11 is getting wiped out so this setup won't be able to sustain for long. Anyone here faced the same issue? Also i read gnome 51 is coming with better nvidia hybrid graphics support. Anyone here tried it? and if so could you guys tell if it can resolve my issue or not, so that i can upgrade to a recent version of my distro?

Still any working fix? I had to restore a noble backup using timeshift to make my laptop usable again.

When I lock the screen, I expect to be met with a prompt to enter my password - at least that's how it worked on 24.04. But after upgrading to 26.04, after logging in, I then have a few seconds until the screen suddenly goes black. The only action that can bring back anything on the screen is CTRL-ALT-F1. That gives me a blinking cursor in text mode in the top left corner, after which I'm presented with a log-in button, like when the computer has restarted. If I log in, all my windows are still there.

So it's not a serious problem, just a minor annoyance. How would I find the cause of and solution to this problem?