There’s no surprise then that so many people are considering entering the fascinating world of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience. If you’re among them—or if you just want to look past the hype and understand what machine learning is really about—our selection of the top 20 best machine learning textbooks can help you reach your goals.

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (4th Edition) by Peter Norvig and Stuart J. Russell

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2020
Page count: 1136

Deciding which machine learning textbook to start with wasn’t difficult because Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach is recommended to students by universities around the world. Now in its 4^th edition, the book does a fantastic job of introducing the field of artificial intelligence (machine learning is a subset of AI) to beginners, and it also covers a wide range of related research topics, providing useful references for further study. According to its authors, this large textbook should take about two semesters to cover, so don’t expect it to be a quick read.

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning by Christopher M. Bishop

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2011
Page count: 738

You can think of Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning by Christopher M. Bishop as a gentle (at least as far as machine learning textbooks are concerned) introductory course to the theory behind machine learning. The textbook includes over 400 exercises that are graded according to their difficulty, and a lot more additional material is available on its website. Just don’t expect to know how to apply the theory the textbook teaches when you reach its last page—there are other books for that.

Deep Learning by Goodfellow et. al

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2016
Page count: 800

If you were to ask Elon Musk to recommend you a book about machine learning, this is the one he would recommend. He once says that Deep Learning is the one complete book on this subject. The book covers everything from the mathematical and conceptual background to industry-leading deep learning techniques and the latest research perspectives. We recommend you get the electronic version because Deep Learning is infamous for its poor print quality.

The Elements of Statistical Learning: Data Mining, Inference, and Prediction, Second Edition by Hastie, Tibshirani, and Friedman

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2016
Page count: 767

Don’t let the title of this textbook intimidate you. If you want to truly understand machine learning and apply it to solve difficult problems, you need to get used to reading textbooks that don’t seem very approachable. Even though the textbook takes a decisively statistical approach, you don’t need to be a statistician to read it because it emphasizes concepts rather than mathematics.

Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn, Keras, and TensorFlow: Concepts, Tools, and Techniques to Build Intelligent Systems (2^nd Edition) by Aurélien Géron

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2019
Page count: 856

Scikit-Learn, Keras, and TensorFlow are three popular machine learning libraries, and this textbook focuses on how they can be used to create machine learning programs that solve actual problems. Thanks to the beginner-friendly nature of these libraries, minimal background theoretical knowledge are required to read this textbook, making it great for those who would like to gain an intuitive understanding of machine learning by building something useful.

Understanding Machine Learning: From Theory to Algorithms by Shai Shalev-Shwartz and Shai Ben-David

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2014
Page count: 410

Many textbooks about machine learning are difficult to get through because their authors are unable to put themselves in the shoes of someone new to the field, but not this one. Understanding Machine Learning begins with a clear introduction to statistical machine learning. It then connects the theoretical concepts to practical algorithms without being neither too wordy nor too vague. Regardless of if you want to refresh your knowledge or embark on a life-long journey in the industry, don’t hesitate to grab this textbook.

Machine Learning: A Probabilistic Perspective by Kevin P. Murphy

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2012
Page count: 1104

As the title of this book suggests, this introduction to machine learning relies on probabilistic models to detect patterns in data and use them to make predictions about future data. The book is written in a pleasant, informal style and makes great use of illustrations and practical examples. The models it describes have been implemented using Probabilistic Modeling Toolkit, which is a MATLAB software package that you can download from the internet. Unfortunately, the toolkit is no longer supported because the new version of this book will use Python instead.

Information Theory, Inference and Learning Algorithms by David J. C. MacKay

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2003
Page count: 640

Yes, this textbook was released nearly 20 years ago, but that doesn’t make it any less relevant today. After all, machine learning isn’t nearly as young as the recent hype around it might suggest. What makes Information Theory, Inference and Learning Algorithms by David J. C. MacKay so timeless is its multidisciplinary approach that provides ample connections between different fields. On its own, it’s not very useful because it doesn’t have enough practical examples, but it works great as an introductory textbook.

An Introduction to Statistical Learning: With Applications in R by Gareth M. James, Trevor Hastie, Daniela Witten, and Robert Tibshirani

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2013
Page count: 440

You can think of An Introduction to Statistical Learning as a more approachable alternative to The Elements of Statistical Learning, which requires advanced knowledge of mathematical statistics. To finish this textbook, you should be perfectly fine with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics or statistics. On its 440 pages, the authors provide an overview of the field of statistical learning and present important modeling and prediction techniques, complete with their applications.

The Hundred-Page Machine Learning Book by Andriy Burkov

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2019
Page count: 160

Whereas most textbooks listed in this article are closer to a thousand pages, this thin book, which began as a challenge on LinkedIn, explains a lot on just a hundred or so pages. One reason why The Hundred-Page Machine Learning Book became an instant hit is its plain language, which is a welcome departure from stiff academic papers. We recommend this book to software engineers who believe they could utilize available machine learning tools but don’t know where to start. That said, the book can be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in machine learning because it emphasizes concepts over code.

Introduction to Machine Learning with Python: A Guide for Data Scientists by Andreas C. Müller and Sarah Guido

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2016
Page count: 400

If you’re fluent in Python and would like to get started with machine learning by building practical solutions to real problems, this is the right book for you. No, you won’t learn too much theory, but all fundamental concepts are covered well, and there are many other books that cover the rest. To get the most out of Introduction to Machine Learning with Python, you should have at least some familiarity with the NumPy and matplotlib libraries.

Applied Predictive Modeling by Max Kuhn and Kjell Johnson

Available: on Amazon

Published: 1st ed. 2013, Corr. 2nd printing 2018
Page count: 613

This textbook provides an introduction to predictive models, which use data and statistics to predict outcomes with data models. It begins with data processing and continues with modern regression and classification techniques, always emphasizing real data problems. You can easily implement all models explained in the book thanks to the provided R code, which shows exactly what you need to do to end up with a working solution.

Deep Learning with Python by François Chollet

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2017
Page count: 384

You may already be familiar with the author of this machine learning textbook because he’s responsible for an open-source neural-network library called Keras, arguably the most popular machine learning library written in Python. Given this information and the title of the textbook, it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that it’s the best Keras crash course available. Practical techniques are prioritized above theory, but that just means that you can solve sophisticated machine learning tasks in just a few weeks.

Machine Learning by Tom M. Mitchell

Available: on Amazon

Published: 1997
Page count: 414

Published in 1997, this book introduces all types of machine learning algorithms in a language all CS graduates should be able to understand. If you’re the type of person who needs to have a broad understanding of a certain topic before you feel comfortable diving deep into it, you’ll love how the information in this book is presented. Just don’t expect Machine Learning by Tom M. Mitchell to be a practical guide because that’s not what this book is supposed to be.

Building Machine Learning Powered Applications: Going from Idea to Product by Emmanuel Ameisen

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2020
Page count: 260

It’s one thing to understand machine learning models, and it’s something else entirely to know how to bring them to production. This relatively slim book by Emmanuel Ameisen explains just that, walking you through every step of the process, from initial idea to deployed product. Building Machine Learning Powered Applications can be recommended to budding data scientists and ML engineers who have mastered the theory but have yet to apply it in the industry.

Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (2nd Edition) by Richard S. Sutton, Andrew G. Barto

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2018
Page count: 552

Reinforcement learning is an area of machine learning concerned with the training of machine learning models to take actions in a complex, uncertain environment to maximize the total amount of reward received. If this sounds interesting to you, don’t hesitate to purchase this book because it’s widely considered to be the Bible of the subject. The second edition includes many important structural and content changes, so get it if possible.

Learning From Data by Yaser S. Abu-Mostafa, Malik Magdon-Ismail, Hsuan-Tien Lin.

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2012
Page count: 213

Learning From Data is a short but relatively complete introduction to machine learning and its practical applications in finance, commerce, science, and engineering. The book is based on more than a decade of teaching material, which the authors distilled to a selection of core topics that everyone interested in the subject should understand. It’s great for beginners who don’t have much time to study the theory of machine learning, especially if read along with Yaser’s lecture series on YouTube.

Neural Networks and Deep Learning: A Textbook by Charu C. Aggarwal

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2018
Page count: 497

Neural networks are one way of doing machine learning, and this textbook can help you understand the theory behind them. Just like machine learning in general, this book mathematically intense, so don’t expect to get too far if your math is rusty. That said, the author does a great job of explaining the math behind all provided examples and walking the reader through various intricate scenarios.

Machine Learning For Absolute Beginners: A Plain English Introduction (2^nd Edition) by Oliver Theobald

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2017
Page count: 157

If you have an interest in machine learning but don’t necessarily feel comfortable reading long textbooks on the subject, you might prefer this beginner-friendly book, which provides a practical and high-level introduction to machine language using plain English. By the end of this book, you will know how to predict house values using your first machine learning model created in Python.

Generative Deep Learning: Teaching Machines to Paint, Write, Compose, and Play by David Foster

Available: on Amazon

Published: 2019
Page count: 330

A lot has been written and said about generative adversarial networks (GANs), one of the hottest topics in the field of machine learning today. If you want to understand how they and other generative deep learning models work under the hood, this book by David Foster is a great starting point, as long as you have experience coding in Python.

Those who understand the value of securing a competitive advantage by leveraging modern tools to make the software development process more efficient are always looking for innovative solutions and don’t hesitate to integrate them into their workflow if the benefits they offer are attractive enough.

Promising to empower developers to innovate and ship faster, RedHat OpenShift is one of the leading tools for developing and deploying modern applications across diverse environments, and this article introduces the concepts behind it.

Introducing OpenShift

The goal of OpenShift is to simplify many of the tiresome and error-prone tasks associated with application development, such as deploying applications and managing day-to-day operations. To achieve this goal, OpenShift provides an integrated application platform that allows developers to focus on writing their best code, and it empowers IT operations by providing superior control, visibility, and management.

OpenShift was first released by Red Hat in 2011 after the company acquired Makara, which was a startup focused on providing a cloud platform for Java and PHP applications on both public and private clouds. However, it wasn’t until the release of OpenShift 3.0 when the Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering from Red Hat took its current shape, adopting Docker as its container technology and Kubernetes as its container orchestration technology.

Now, we can say that OpenShift is a PaaS that works around Docker-formatted containers managed with the open-source Kubernetes container orchestration platform. Before we take a closer look at some of its features and capabilities, let’s provide a brief overview of Docker and Kubernetes so that it becomes clear how the individual pieces fit together into an interlocking, coherent, and consistent whole.

Docker

As you may already know, Docker is one of the most popular container technologies for Linux. It enables developers to distribute applications with all dependencies in a portable format for images that run across all systems.

Docker was first released in 2013, and it has since then been widely adopted by developers large and small. With Docker, developers can make more efficient use of system resources, ship software faster, and deal with fewer security issues.

These and other reasons are why Red Hat decided to build OpenShift built around Docker containers. However, there’s only so much one can do with a single Docker container, which is where Kubernetes comes in.

Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open-source solution for container orchestration. It provides the ability to easily go beyond a single container, taking care of load balancing, mounting, and so on. Kubernetes bundles containers into logical units so that applications can be easily managed and scaled on demand.

Although the Kubernetes was released in 2014, its popularity is not limited to the early users. The latest Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) survey revealed that the vast majority (78%) of companies that are using containers in production manage them with the help of Kubernetes.

Features of OpenShift

OpenShift has come a long way since the release of its first version, and it can now offer a large array of benefits and exciting features. Here are five features you should know about:

• Web console: To make application development and deployment as simple as possible, OpenShift includes a web-based developer interface with a responsive user interface design. This interface can be accessed from any modern web browser and used to effortlessly manage applications and related resources.
• Command-line tools: In addition to the web-based developer interface, OpenShift also provides a set of command-line tools. These tools are available and you can download them directly from the web interface. These tools can be used to create and manage OpenShift applications and projects from a terminal. Windows, macOS, and Linux are supported, and a step-by-step tutorial for each platform is available online.
• IDE support: In the spirit of open-source software, OpenShift strives to give developers as much freedom to choose their workflow as possible, integrating with Visual Studio, Eclipse, and JBoss Developer Studio.
• Application templates: Included in OpenShift are pre-created quick start application templates, whose purpose is to allow developers to get started with a simple click, regardless of whether they wish to develop an application using Java, Python, PHP, or any other language.
• Continuous integration: Also known simply as CI, continuous integration is all about frequent merging of code changes into a central repository, and OpenShift makes it easy because it includes Jenkins, the leading open source automation server. Jenkins is easy to set up, and it supports hundreds of plugins and third-party integrations.

OpenShift Flavors

OpenShift is available in three flavors, all of which are powered by the same open-source core component, called OKD:

• OpenShift Container Platform: Until June 2016, OpenShift Container Platform was known as OpenShift Enterprise, which is how some OpenShift users still refer to it. This PaaS is intended for organizations that want full control over their on-premises or public cloud environment.
• OpenShift Dedicated: Some organizations may prefer the convenience of a fully managed solution, and that’s where OpenShift Dedicated fits in, offering the ability to run a single-tenant OpenShift environment on a public cloud.
• OpenShift Online: Developers and teams who build applications in the public cloud can use OpenShift Online to effortlessly build, deploy, and scale containerized apps from any web browser, using their tools of choice.

There’s also OpenShift.io, also known as Red Hat CodeReady Toolchain, a free, end-to-end, cloud-native development environment delivered as a Developer Preview SaaS solution with OpenShift Online. With OpenShift.io, it’s possible to plan, build, and deploy cloud-native applications with ease.

Conclusion

These days, organizations are expected to deliver applications and features an astounding rate across increasingly diverse IT environments. OpenShift provides significant value to organizations of all sizes by enabling developers and IT operations to work more efficiently and deliver more timely and bullet-proof applications and feature

In this article, we’ll walk you through the entire process of building a Raspberry Pi smart mirror step by step and explain how you can customize it to display any information you want.

How to Build a Raspberry Pi Smart Mirror

Building a Raspberry Pi smart mirror wasn’t always as easy as it is today. We should all thank Michael Teeuw for creating MagicMirror, an open-source modular smart mirror platform behind most Raspberry Pi smart mirrors you see online.

MagicMirror is an open-source project maintained by a big group of enthusiasts from all around the world, and it contains API that allows third-party developers to build additional modules that extend its functionality.

Besides MagicMirror, there are several other similar software projects, including DAKboard, Makr Mirror, and mirr.OS, but we would not cover them in this article.

What You’ll Need for Your Raspberry Pi Smart Mirror

To put together your own Raspberry Pi smart mirror from scratch, you’ll need a couple of things:

• Raspberry Pi: Obviously, you’ll need a Raspberry Pi. MagicMirror supports the Raspberry Pi 2, 3, and 4, so you have quite a lot of options to choose from. Since MagicMirror has very modest hardware requirements, it doesn’t matter which version of the Raspberry Pi you choose. You can also run MagicMirror on Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W, but their minimal nature somewhat complicates the installation process.
• LCD screen: If you have an old monitor or laptop lying around, you’re in luck because you can reuse it for this project. With an old monitor, you simply need to remove the plastic frame (don’t touch any of the capacitors inside!), and you’re good to go. To use an LCD screen for an old laptop, you also need to get a matching controller board with an HDMI port. Just search the serial number of the screen on eBay, and you should be able to find the right one in no time.
• Two-way mirror: To create the magic mirror illusion, you need to place a two-way mirror in front of the LCD screen so that only bright text and graphics will shine through. Many businesses will happily cut you a two-way mirror of any size, so just look for one online or in your city. Glass two-way mirrors look nicer, but they are considerably more fragile than acrylic two-way mirrors.
• Frame: You wouldn’t want to just slap a two-way mirror in front of an LCD screen and call it a day. To make your Raspberry Pi smart mirror display-worthy, you need a pretty frame. If you’re handy and have basic woodworking tools, you should be able to create one in under an hour. We recommend you watch this YouTube video by Fix This Build That if you’re not sure how to start (just replace all the power tools with hand tools). Alternatively, you can purchase a suitable frame in the store.
• Keyboard and mouse: To set up your Raspberry Pi and install MagicMirror, you’ll need a keyboard and mouse. Many Raspberry Pi users swear by the Logitech K400 Plus, which is a wireless keyboard with an integrated touchpad and multimedia keys that let you control your magic mirror remotely.
• HDMI cable and power supply: Last but not least, you won’t be able to enjoy your Raspberry Pi smart mirror without a power supply (one for the Raspberry Pi and one for the LCD screen) and HDMI cable.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Do you have everything you need to create your magic mirror? Fantastic! Let’s have a look at the process step by step.

Step 1: Set Up Your Raspberry Pi

We recommend you start by setting up your Raspberry Pi if you haven’t done so already. To avoid difficult-to-troubleshoot bugs and other nasty surprises, make a clean install of the latest version of Raspbian. The official installation guide explains everything you need to know, so we won’t go into more detail here.

Boot into Raspbian and connect to the internet. Since you most likely want your Raspberry Pi smart mirror to hang on a wall somewhere, you should connect to your Wi-Fi network by clicking the Wi-Fi symbol in the top right of the screen.

Step 2: Install MagicMirror2

There are two ways to install the latest version of MagicMirror: you can either do it manually or using an automatic installation script. Both of these options are described in great detail on the official website of MagicMirror, but we recommend you make things easier for yourself and go with an automatic installation script.

More specifically, we recommend the automatic installation script created by Sam Detweiler. To execute this script, all you need to do is paste a single command into the terminal window:

The script will ask you a few questions during the installation, so make sure to check on its progress once in a while. Don’t’ forget to restart your Raspberry Pi once MagicMirror has been fully downloaded and installed.

Step 3: Configure MagicMirror2

What’s so great about MagicMirror is that you completely change its look and behavior. By default, MagicMirror2 ships with the following modules: Clock, Calendar, Current Weather, Weather Forecast, News Feed, Compliments, Hello World, and Alert.

You can customize the default module by editing the following configuration file:

If you mess something up, you can simply copy the default configuration file:

Keep in mind that you need to restart MagicMirror2 each time you make changes to the configuration file. To do that, either restart your Raspberry Pi or use this command:

Step 4: Assemble Your Smart Mirror

Now that you’re Raspberry Pi magic mirror is configured to your liking, you can go ahead and assemble it. Make sure your frame completely covers the bezels of the LCD screen otherwise you would see an unnecessarily large black border, and don’t forget to make holes for power cables.

Step 5: Enjoy It!

Congratulations! You’ve just created your first Raspberry Pi smart mirror. You can now hang it on a wall, connect it to power, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

A Raspberry Pi smart mirror can become a useful information hub for your home, or it can become a handy dashboard for your next project. Remember that you can always save your current configuration file and start from scratch to give your Raspberry Pi a new life.

Top 10 Best MagicMirror2 Modules

Most MagicMirror users take joy in trying out different third-party modules and tweaking their Raspberry Pi magic mirrors to be even more useful and awe-inspiring than they already are. To help you get the most out of your new smart mirror, we’ve selected the top 10 best MagicMirror2 modules that you should give a try.

MagicMirror2 modules come with their installation instructions, which typically involve downloading the module from GitHub and then adding it to the modules array in your config.js file.

1. MMM-Admin Interface

Even with a wireless keyboard and mouse, it’s not exactly easy to make changes to your Raspberry Pi smart mirror once it’s been deployed. This module lets you control and configure your smart mirror remotely from any modern web browser, allowing you to use your wireless keyboard and mouse for something else. The admin interface module is pretty simple to configure as long as you know the IP address of the devices you want to access the mirror’s settings from.

2. MMM-PIR-Sensor

As you may know, the Raspberry Pi uses very little power, and you can leave it on around the clock without running up a huge power bill. Still, why waste electricity when you can equip your Raspberry PI smart mirror with a PIR motion sensor and put your mirror to sleep if nobody uses it by turning off HDMI output or by turning off the mirror via a relay? If this sounds interesting to you, make sure to check out this useful module.

3. MMM-SmartTouch

This module can make your Raspberry Pi smart mirror even smarter by transforming it into a touchscreen interactive experience. With a simple tap on the screen, you can hide all magic mirror modules, reveal shutdown and restart buttons and more. To use this module, your Raspberry Pi smart mirror must support touch input or be equipped with an IR frame.

4. MMM-Voice

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could control your Raspberry Pi smart mirror with your voice? Well, with this module, you can! What we love about this module is that it works completely offline, which means that your data isn’t beamed to servers of some corporations and analyzed for advertising purposes. Since analyzing voice data is a computationally expensive task, it’s better to use this module only with the latest version of the Raspberry Pi.

5. MMM-CoinMarketCap

If you’re interested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, you’ll probably like the idea of displaying cryptocurrency information on your magic mirror. As its name suggests, the MMM-CoinMarketCap module collects cryptocurrency information from the Coin Market Cap website and displays it in multiple different formats.

6. MMM-GoogleMapsTraffic

Who doesn’t hate being stuck in a traffic jam? Using the MMM-GoogleMapsTraffic module, you can display a map of any area with current Google Maps Traffic information and see at a glance just how good or bad the traffic situation is. To use this module, you’ll need to obtain an API at Google Developer’s page, and you’ll also need latitude and longitude coordinates from Google Maps.

7. MMM-AirQuality

In densely populated urban areas, poor air quality has become a major issue, causing terrible respiratory issues in people of all ages. Using this MagicMirror2 module, you can display the current air quality index of a certain location and use this information to decide if it’s a good idea to leave your house without a face mask.

8. MMM-AfterShip

Waiting for packages to arrive is no fun, but you can make the wait a bit more tolerable with this MagicMirror2 module and use it to display all parcels from your AfterShip account. To set it up, all you need is your AfterShip API key, which can be found here.

9. MMM-IPCam

It can be surprisingly useful to display a public IP camera on your magic mirror so that you can see the current traffic situation or weather in real-time, and that’s exactly where this module comes in. However, there’s no reason to limit yourself to public IP cameras because the MMM-IPCam supports password-based authentication.

10. MMM-Reddit

If you’re an avid Reddit user, you don’t want to miss this module because it lets you show top posts from your favorite subreddit right on your magic mirror. It supports two display types, and you can configure how many posts you want to display.

Is the Raspberry Pi Smart Mirror Worth It?

We think that building a Raspberry Pi smart mirror is worth it! From crafting the frame to configuring the smart mirror itself, the entire process is a wonderful learning experience that lets you use your Raspberry Pi to create a useful conversational piece that you can hang on your wall and enjoy every single day.

If you already have some of the more expensive parts needed for this project, you can have your futuristic mirror for next to nothing. Should you ever get tired of your Raspberry Pi smart mirror, you can easily repurpose it by using it as an external monitor and using your Raspberry Pi for some other project.

The situation is relatively fine when it comes to mainstream distros like Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora because their developers have gone to great lengths to make audio work right out of the box, but the same can’t be said about Arch Linux, Gentoo, and other minimalistic distributions that expect users to configure everything from scratch.

This article won’t make you an expert on Linux audio, but it will, hopefully, explain the basic technologies responsible for making sound come out of your speakers when you open a video on YouTube or play a game on Steam.

Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA)

Let’s start with the most important layer of the Linux audio, ALSA. Created in 1998 by Czech software developer Jaroslav Kysela, ALSA is responsible for giving a voice to all modern Linux distributions. It’s actually part of the Linux kernel itself, providing audio functionality to the rest of the system via an application programming interface (API) for sound card device drivers.

The original design of ALSA was largely inspired by the Linux device driver for the Gravis Ultrasound sound card, which was made by Canada-based Advanced Gravis Computer Technology and became very popular in the demo scene during the 1990s.

ALSA support for all types of audio interfaces thanks to fully modularized sound drivers, can manage up to eight audio devices at the same time, access hardware MIDI functionality, perform hardware mixing of multiple channels, and more.

Users typically interact with ALSA using alsamixer, a graphical mixer program that can be used to configure sound settings and adjust the volume of individual channels. Alsamixer runs in the terminal, and you can invoke it just by typing its name. One particularly useful keyboard command is activated by hitting the M key. This command toggles channel muting, and it’s a fairly common fix to many questions posted on Linux discussion boards.

Open Sound System (OSS)

The official website of ALSA mentions support for Open Sound System, or OSS for short. Until Linux 2.5, OSS was actually the main and only sound system for Linux. ALSA was designed to overcome its various shortcomings, such as the fact that it didn’t allow more than one application to access the hardware at a time. In Linux 2.6 ALSA replaced OSS as the default sound system.

When the developers of OSS announced that OSS version would have a proprietary license, a decision was quickly made by Linux developers to replace it with ALSA. It’s worth noting that OSS became free software again with the release of the version 4 in 2007. Today, OSS is distributed under four different licenses (BSD, CDDL, GPL, Proprietary).

Most Linux distributions these days don’t even bother activating the OSS emulation layer present in ALSA because almost nobody needs it anymore, making OSS a relic of the past.

PulseAudio

If you don’t remember the last time you interacted with ALSA when changing your audio settings, that’s probably because the user-facing layer of the Linux audio system in most modern distributions is called PulseAudio.

PulseAudio was initially released in 2004, and it’s now included and enabled by default in Ubuntu, Linux Mint, openSUSE, and other major distributions. The job of PulseAudio is to pass sound data between your applications and your hardware, directing sounds coming from ALSA to various output destinations, such as your computer speakers or headphones. That’s why it’s commonly referred to as a sound server.

At first glance, it might seem that PulseAudio doesn’t really add anything critically important to Linux audio, and many of its critics share the same opinion. In reality, there are actually many things that would be impossible or difficult to accomplish without it, including mixing several sounds into one, transferring audio to a different machine, or changing the sample format or channel count.

PulseAudio also brings cross-platform compatibility (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Linux, Illumos, Solaris, macOS, and, in a limited fashion, Microsoft Windows). If you want to control PulseAudio directly, instead of interacting with it through a volume control widget or panel of some sorts, you can install PulseAudio Volume Control (called pavucontrol in most package repositories).

If you feel that you have no use for the features provided by PulseAudio, you can either use pure ALSA or replace it with a different sound server.

PulseAudio vs. JACK

PulseAudio isn’t the only sound server for Linux. There’s also JACK, which is a recursive acronym for JACK Audio Connection Kit. Whereas PulseAudio was developed with the needs of general Linux users in mind, JACK is intended for DJs and audio professionals, providing real-time, low-latency connections for both audio and MIDI data.

Because JACK lets you connect the audio inputs and outputs of each and everyone one of your applications together, you can do some pretty cool things with it, such as monitoring your own voice, adding effects to it in real-time, and more. In fact, the name of this sound system was inspired by the cables used in real recording studios to build intricate connections between instruments, synthesizers, MIDI controllers, and multitrackers.

Arguably the biggest downside of JACK is that it usually either works perfectly or horribly, owning to the fact that its chief goal is to provide low-latency audio. It also requires considerably more CPU power compared with PulseAudio, which is why you’ll find it mostly on professional workstations dedicated to audio editing.

Checking Pulse Audio and ALSA

You may be wondering, how do I tell which audio software my computer is using? To check if both Pulse Audio and ALSA are present on your system, use the following two commands:
 
Checking for PulseAudio:

 
Checking for ALSA:

Conclusion

Audio on Linux seems complicated because it really is. Untangling the web of legacy technologies and layers of abstraction can be a real challenge even for seasoned Linux users who know the ins and outs of the operating system by heart. Hopefully, our article helped you better understand the most important components of the Linux audio system, including ALSA, OSS, and PulseAudio.

This article is aimed at Linux users who would like to become game developers but don’t know where to start, introducing some of the most popular game engines that Linux game developers can use to turn their ideas into full-fledged games compatible with major operating systems—not just Linux.

Why Develop a Game on Linux?

If you’re a long-term Linux user, you can answer this question easily since it makes sense to develop a game on an operating system you use on a daily basis. But even if your experience with Linux is limited, there are several reasons why it’s the right choice for aspiring game developers:

• It’s free and open-source: When developing a game on Linux, you don’t need to worry about licensing and software fees. The operating system is free and open-source, and so are the applications that ship with it.
• Low-level control: Linux lets you fully customize how it looks, feels, and works. If there’s something bothering you about your distribution of choice, you can simply change it and be as productive as possible.
• Helpful community: The Linux community is made up of geeks and enthusiastic hobbyists who are always willing to lend a helping hand. Many Linux users have interest in programming and game development, so you’re always guaranteed to find someone knowledgeable willing to help you.
• Native programming tools: Included in most Linux distributions is the GNU toolchain, which provides a set of native programming tools for software development. Additional development tools and libraries can be easily installed using a package manager.
• Low system resource requirements: There are many Linux distributions with low system resource requirements. Such distributions make it possible to develop games even on aging computers that would struggle to run Windows or macOS.

Getting Started with Game Development on Linux

As a game developer, you can take two different approaches when developing a game: build everything from scratch or use existing development tools and resources to build the framework of your game.

If you’re reading this article, it means that you have limited or no experience with game development. In that case, we highly recommend you choose the latter approach and pick one of the five game engines listed below.

A game engine provides the necessary set of features to allow you to build games quickly and efficiently. It takes care of everything from physics to input to scripting and artificial intelligence, so you can spend more time creating your game and less time reinventing the wheel.

There are dozens of game engines for Linux, each offering different features and technologies. Let’s take a look at five popular Linux game engines that you can use to create anything from a 3D shooter to a text adventure.

Unity

Suitable for making: 3D & 2D games of all genres

Unity is the most popular game engine in the world. It works on Linux, Windows, and macOS, and you can use it to create 2D and 3D multiplatform games. Some of the most popular games made with Unity include Escape from Tarkov, Monument Valley, Hollow Knight, and Cuphead.

The main programming language supported by Unity is C#, which was developed by Microsoft as a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language. Most Linux developers who use Unity write code in Visual Studio Code (VS Code).

Because of how immensely powerful Unity is, getting started with it can be a challenge. Fortunately, there’s a wealth of learning resources available online, including YouTube video courses and community tutorials.

Godot

Suitable for making: 3D & 2D games of all genres

Godot is a versatile open-source game engine suitable for making both 3D and 2D games. It was first released in 2014, and it has already been used to create several popular games, including Project Kat, Genomix, Ludum Creare, Lurking in the Dark, and Keep IT Fed.

Because Godot is completely free and open-source, licensed under the permissive MIT license, you don’t need to worry about royalties or subscription fees. Even if you use it to create a hit AAA game, your creation will be 100% yours to the last line of code.

To get started with Godot, we recommend you read the official documentation, which is available in multiple languages.  The getting started section provides a novice-friendly introduction to all important concepts.

RPG Maker

Suitable for making: role-playing games

If you love role-playing games (especially old-school JRPGs like The Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy) and would like to create your own, RPG Maker is an excellent game engine for the task. This engine was created specifically to simplify the development of RPGs by handling everything from crafting to inventory management to quests.

There’s a chance that you’ve played at least one RPG made with RPG Maker, such as To the Moon, Finding Paradise, Corpse Party, LISA, or Skyborn. The latest version of this game engine, RPG Maker MV, runs flawlessly on Linux, and you can even download it through Stream.

If you decide to create a game in RPG Maker, you may want to purchase professionally designed tilesets, characters, animations, and music from the RPG Maker online store. Of course, you can also create everything yourself and give your RPG a unique look.

Ren’Py

Suitable for making: visual novels

Ren’Py is a game engine for visual novels. It was used to make games like Doki Doki Literature Club!, Analogue: A Hate Story, Long Live the Queen, Dissolving, and Butterfly Soup. Games made with Ren’Py combine an engaging story with captivating visuals to create games that place storytelling above gameplay.

Ren’Py supports its own scripting language as well as Python scripts, and you can freely combine them to create everything from branching stories to complex simulation games. The quickstart does a great job of walking new Ren’Py users through the process of creating a simple game, so make sure to check it out.

Twine

Suitable for making: text adventures

Twine is an open-source game engine for interactive stories. To create a game with this engine, you don’t need to write any code whatsoever. All you need is an idea for a story and the ability to tell it in a captivating way.

That said, Twine games can be extended with variables, conditional logic, images, CSS, and even JavaScript, so you really have nearly limitless creative options. Another thing that’s great about Twine is the fact that the games created with it are published directly to HTML and playable in any modern web browser.

Conclusion

Developing a game on Linux isn’t any more difficult than developing a game on Windows or macOS. In fact, Linux users benefit from easy access to countless native and third-party programming tools, most of which are free and open-source. To embark on your own Linux game development journey, all you need to do is pick a suitable engine and let your creativity flow. Some Linux game engines require no programming skills whatsoever, allowing anyone to experience the magic of game development without having to first spend hundreds of hours buried in books.

To this:

Even though we’re using the Ubuntu Terminal in our examples, most information in this article isn’t Ubuntu-specific, and you should be able to achieve the same or similar result regardless of which Linux distribution you use.

Warning: By customizing the terminal, you can make it more visually appealing and functional, but you can also screw up word wrapping and prevent terminal applications from displaying correctly, so always back up all configuration files before you modify them.

Customize Terminal Colors

It doesn’t matter if you love the movie Matrix or just want to ease the strain on your eyes when using your computer late at night, changing the appearance of the terminal can be as simple as selecting a new theme.

The good news is that many terminal emulation applications, such as GNOME Terminal or Konsole, come with a decent selection of themes, and all you need to do is go to Preferences and pick the one you like the most.

In Ubuntu, you can easily customize text and background color and select a corresponding color palette:

As you can see, we selected the Solarized dark theme and the Solarized palette, making the terminal very easy on the eyes without sacrificing readability. While you’re at it, you can also check the remaining tabs and make any modifications you desire. We changed the shape of the cursor from Block to Underline.

If you use a lightweight terminal that doesn’t have an equivalent of the Preferences window, such as xterm or URxvt, you can change its colors by modifying the Xresources configuration file, which is typically located in ~/.Xresources.

You can easily generate the desired Xresources configuration file using terminal.sexy, which is a handy web app that lets you design, edit, and share custom terminal color schemes and export them to a wide range of terminals.

Set Bash Prompt Variables

Most Linux distributions use Bash as the default shell. Bash has four customizable prompts, but only the primary prompt (called PS1) is worth customizing because it’s displayed before each command. The remaining three command prompts are displayed only on special occasions, such as when a command needs more input or when debugging bash scripts, so you can safely ignore them.

This is what PS1 displays by default in Ubuntu:

To see the default value of PS1, use the following command:

You should see something like this:

This seemingly random sequence of letters, numbers, and special characters consists of the so-called Bash prompt escape sequences and values used to specify colors. This is what it means:

Since PS1 is a Bash variable, you can modify it on the fly straight from your terminal:

That’s how easy it is to make PS1 display only the username. Here are some other useful Bash prompt escape sequences:

Changing the color of the username, or any other part of the command prompt, is also pretty straightforward. This is how you can make the username red:

The color red has the value of 31, and it’s enclosed in the following tag: \[\033[COLOR]m\]

Here are some other colors and their corresponding values:

Now you have all the information you need to recreate the Bash prompt you’ve seen at the beginning of this article:

The only thing left to do is edit the .bashrc file (usually in ~/.bashrc):

There’s no need to edit the else clause because it serves only as a fallback in case you use a terminal emulator that doesn’t support colors.

If all this seems like too much work to you, you should know that there are easy-to-use web applications that let you generate a PS1 prompt with a drag and drop interface, including this one and this one.

Conclusion

Equipped with the information provided in this article, you should be able to customize the appearance of your terminal to fit your personal preferences. Remember that less is sometimes more, so avoid excessive customization and keep things simple and functional.

Select a capable machine, and you’ll be rewarded with a reliable companion that you can take with you anywhere and use it to turn your ideas into full-fledged projects. But if you choose a laptop that’s not fully compatible with Linux, you may soon regret your investment.

To help you make the right choice, we’ve put together a list of the best Linux laptops for programming that you can buy in 2020.

How to Select a Linux Laptop for Programming?

There are several factors that you should consider when selecting a Linux laptop for programming:

• Performance: To write code, you don’t need a powerful laptop. In fact, you could write an entire application on an old typewriter if you didn’t value your time and wanted to earn a few likes on social media. However, programming isn’t just about writing code. It’s also about prototyping, debugging, testing, and optimizing. All these activities are much easier to perform if you have plenty of processing power, which means getting a minimum of 8 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor or its equivalent.
• Screen size: Do you want a portable laptop that you can easily carry with you for the entire day, or are you looking for a desktop replacement? If the former, you should focus on laptops that don’t have a screen larger than 14 inches. Of course, resolution matters as well since a 15-inch Full HD screen can display the same amount of information as a 17-inch Full HD screen.
• Graphics card: Most programmers can get by without a dedicated graphics card. You should purchase a laptop with a dedicated graphics card if you’re developing games or just software applications that benefit from hardware acceleration. A graphics card can also be used to perform certain computations, such as those used in machine learning.
• Ergonomics: You’ll appreciate a laptop with a comfortable keyboard and a responsive touchpad after coding for 8+ hours. The sad truth is that even high-end laptops that cost over $1,000 often leave a lot to be desired in this department, so don’t simply assume that a steep price tag equals excellent ergonomics.
• Battery life: The biggest advantage of laptops over desktop computers is their portability. Ideally, you should select a laptop that can get you through a day of school or work with plenty of battery power left. Keep in mind that battery life decreases over time, so a laptop that can last 8 hours on a charge when brand-new may last only 4 hours after several years of daily use.

Top 7 Best Linux Laptops for Programming

1. Dell XPS 13

You won’t find another 13-inch laptop that’s more suitable for programming on Linux than the Dell XPS 13. It’s also one of only a few laptops from a major manufacturer that you can get with Linux (Ubuntu) preinstalled.

There are many things that make the Dell XPS 13 a great buy, and its vivid InfinityEdge display is definitely among them. The display has an impressive 80.7% screen-to-body ratio, allowing for 13.3” screen in an 11-inch form factor. Its 400-nit brightness and 1500:1 contrast ratio make it easy to work outside even when the weather is sunny.

The Dell XPS 13 is powered by a 10th generation Intel Core processor, and it has up to 2 TB of solid state drive storage and up to 16 GB of memory. You might think that having so much processing power in such a compact laptop would make it difficult to keep its temperatures under control, but that’s not the case. Unless you really push the laptop for hours on end, you should be able to easily get by without a cooling pad.

When it comes to running Linux on the Dell XPS 13, you can expect a completely problem-free experience right-out-of-the-box with most Linux distributions.

2. Lenovo ThinkPad T480

The Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is one of the most frequently recommended laptops for Linux users who are interested in programming. Why? Because it prioritizes functionality over aesthetics, although there are many Linux users who love its utilitarian design.

The Lenovo ThinkPad T480 comes standard with built-in Power Bridge technology, which lets you swap out the battery and replace it with a fully charged one while the laptop is running. If swapping out batteries doesn’t sound too appealing to you, you can get a 6-cell 72 Whr battery for up to 29.0 hours between charges. The ability to hot-swap the battery and easily replace it with a larger one comes at a price, however, and that price is the laptop’s above-average weight.

As you may know, higher-end Lenovo laptops are known for their fantastic keyboards, and the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is no exception. Coding on the laptop is a delightful experience, and the red TrackPoint that sits in the middle of the keyboard helps you keep your hands in the optimal typing position. Besides the quality of the keyboard, this laptop will also impress you with its selection of ports, which include the lightning-quick Intel Thunderbolt 3 port and full-sized RJ45 Ethernet connector.

3. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

ThinkPads have a reputation for being bulky and not exactly aesthetically pleasing laptops. While we agree that some ThinkPads (especially older models), aren’t for everyone, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is anything but ugly. By successfully blending portability with durability and performance, Lenovo created what can only be described as a software developer’s dream laptop.

The latest version of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon comes with a 10^th generation Intel Core processor, up to 16 GB of RAM, and up to 512 GB of PCIe SSD. All models have a 14-inch display, but they differ in terms of resolution and brightness. The most affordable model has a Full HD display with 400 nits, the top model has a 4K display with 500 nits, and the model between them has a 2K display with just 300 nits.

Even though the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a fairly large battery, the 4K display can deplete it fairly quickly, especially on maximum brightness. Fortunately, the RapidCharge technology provides 80% capacity after just one hour of charging.

Regardless of which model you decide to buy, you’ll always get a 720p front-facing camera with a physical privacy shutter and a match-on-chip fingerprint reader, whose operation is isolated from the host operating system for added security.

4. Asus ZenBook 14

The Asus ZenBook 14 is an elegant laptop with a nearly borderless display an innovative touchpad. The laptop has an aluminum body that meets the ultra-demanding MIL-STD-810G military standard for reliability and durability, so you can be sure that it’s not just an expensive showpiece that doesn’t hold up to daily use. The Full HD 14-inch display has a screen-to-body ratio of 92%, and it looks just as impressive as it seems on paper.

The display has a special lip at the bottom, which automatically tilts the keyboard to a more comfortable typing position when you open it. By slightly elevating the rear part of the laptop, Asus has also managed to optimize system cooling and deliver superior audio performance.

As impressive as the display is, the highlight of this compact laptop is the touchpad. With a single tap, the touchpad lights up and turns into a fully functional numpad that you can use for speedy data entry. Unfortunately, Linux users can’t enjoy this cool feature just yet because there are no drivers that support it. The good news is that the touchpad itself works great, so at least there’s that.

5. Purism Librem 15

If you use Linux because you believe in open-source software and the principles it embodies, the Purism Librem 15 might just be the right laptop for you. This unique machine was designed chip-by-chip to respect your privacy and freedom without standing in the way of your productivity. It features the open-source coreboot BIOS, and uses a decently powerful 7^th generation processor from Intel with 4 threads and a maximum clock speed of 3.5 GHz.

The Purism Librem 15 is equipped with two physical hardware kill switches. One of the switches lets you deactivate the entire webcam/microphone module, while the other switch turns off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Interestingly, Bluetooth doesn’t work out of the box on this laptop because there are no freedom-respecting drivers that its developers could use. Fortunately, it doesn’t take much effort to get it to work.

If you’ve been burned by cheaply made open-source devices before, you should know that the Purism Librem 15 is a premium laptop through and through. It has a gorgeous 15.6-inch matte display with a resolution of up to 4K. Its chassis is made from anodized aluminum, and both the multi-touch trackpad as well as the backlit keyboard feel great to use.

6. Google Pixelbook

The Google Pixelbook is the best Chromebook ever made. Whereas most other Chromebooks on the market are suitable mostly for casual users and use cases such as web browsing and document editing, the Pixelbook features 7^th generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage, allowing it to easily handle even more performance-demanding tasks.

With its 12.3-inch display, the Google Pixelbook is the smallest laptop featured in this article, but it uses its compact size to let you work in four different modes: laptop, tablet, tent, and entertainment. If you plan on frequently using the Google Pixelbook in the tablet mode, you should consider buying the Pixelbook Pen for natural drawing and jotting.

Just like all newer Chromebooks, it can run sandboxed Linux applications alongside Chrome OS applications, allowing you to enjoy the best of both worlds. Just know that Android Studio is not yet supported, including Emulators and USB debugging, and the same goes for hardware acceleration. Google has promised to fix these issues, and we have no reason to question its promise considering how much praise the company received for enabling Linux applications on Chromebooks.

7. Huawei MateBook X Pro

Huawei may be known mostly for its smartphones, but the MateBook X Pro deserves the attention of all Linux users who are looking for a new laptop for programming. It features a truly impressive display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, 100% sRGB color gamut, 450 nits maximum brightness, 1500:1 contrast ratio, and a remarkable 3000 x 2000 resolution. A display like this is perfect for productivity because it lets you see far more information at the same time compared with display with a more cinematic 16:9 aspect ratio.

We should also mention that the display is touch-enabled, allowing you to comfortably navigate with the tough of your finder. Thanks to its anti-fingerprint coating, smudges aren’t as big of a problem as you might expect them to be. What’s also not a problem is performance because the Huawei MateBook X Pro comes with a powerful 8^th generation Intel Core processor.

On a single charge, you can expect the MateBook X Pro to last up to 14 hours when programming and up to 15 hours when browsing the web. When you’re done programming and want to relax for a while, you’ll appreciate the quad speakers, which deliver surprisingly deep bass, crisp highs, and detailed mids, making both movies and music sound great.

What Is Minecraft?

Most Minecraft players would agree that the secrete to the game’s success lies in its creativity-inspiring design. Players are free to explore a large, procedurally generated world made of blocks, each of which can be interacted with, moved, or transformed into resources for crafting.

This blocky world is occupied by AI-controlled monsters, friendly villagers, and, in multiplayer mode, other players. Minecraft can be played either as a survival game or sandbox, and players are free to modify its gameplay mechanics and create new assets for it.

Because Minecraft is written in the Java programming language, it runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS. Keep in mind that there are several versions of Minecraft, and this article is about Minecraft: Java Edition.

Install Minecraft on Ubuntu and its Derivatives

Thanks to the official .DEB package, installing Minecraft on Ubuntu and its derivatives is a breeze, and the whole process won’t take you more than a few minutes.

Step 1: Download the Installation Package

The first thing you need to do is download the Minecraft .DEB package from Minecraft’s official website. You can either open the alternative download page in your favorite web browser and download it from there, or you can use the following command and download the package to your home folder using wget:

https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.deb

Step 2: Install Minecraft

We recommend you use a small tool called gdebi to install the Minecraft .DEB package because it automatically resolves all dependencies.

Install gdebi:

Use gdebi to install the Minecraft.deb package:

Step 3: Launch Minecraft

To launch Minecraft on Ubuntu and its derivatives, simply search for the Minecraft Launcher and run it. If everything goes right, the Minecraft Launcher should start right away, prompting you to enter your email address and password.

Once you’ve logged in, click the Play button and enjoy Minecraft—there’s really nothing more to it!

Install Minecraft on Other Distributions

Because Minecraft was programmed in Java, you can get it to run on just about any Linux distribution with the Java Runtime Environment installed and working 3D graphics drivers.

Step 1: Install Java Runtime

The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) provides all the necessary components to run Java applications. Most Linux distributions offer multiple options when it comes to executing Java programs:

• Headless JRE: This minimal version of the Java Runtime Environment is intended for running Java applications that don’t have a graphical user interface. As such, it can’t be used to run Minecraft on Linux.
• Full JRE: This version of the Java Runtime Environment depends on the headless version, and it includes everything you need to execute Java applications with a graphical user interface, including Minecraft.
• Java Development Kit (JDK): Intended for Java developers, the JDK includes a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and other resources necessary to develop Java software applications.

The most popular open-source implementation of Java is called OpenJDK. There’s also Java SE, which is Oracle’s implementation of JRE and JDK. Starting from Minecraft 1.12, Java 8 is required to run Minecraft, but it doesn’t really matter if you choose OpenJDK or Java SE.

To check which version of Java is installed on your Linux distribution, enter the command “java -version” in the terminal.

Step 2: Install Graphics Drivers

To enjoy Minecraft on Linux, you need working 3D acceleration. You can test 3D acceleration using a popular OpenGL test called glxgears, which is part of the mesa-utils package.

First, install the mesa-utils package (it should be in your distribution’s repositories) and then enter “glxgears” in the terminal. A new window with three spinning gears will appear, and you’ll be able to see the number of rendered frames in the terminal. Because glxgears requires very little processing power, any decently powerful Linux computer with working 3D acceleration should be able to render hundreds of frames every second.

If the gears appear to be choppy, your 3D acceleration isn’t working, and you need to install the correct graphics driver for your graphics card.

Step 3: Install & Launch Minecraft

To launch Minecraft on a distribution that’s not based on Ubuntu, you need to download the Minecraft.tar.gz archive from the alternative download page.

Then, extract the archive and launch the executable file called minecraft-launcher using the following command:

If this seems like too much work, you can also install the Minecraft snap package on any Linux distribution that ships with Snap preinstalled (any recent Ubuntu release, most recognized Ubuntu flavors, Solus 3, and Zorin OS):

How to Uninstall Minecraft on Linux

Minecraft creates a hidden folder (.minecraft) in the home directory. The folder is used to store information about your Minecraft profile and progress in the game. To delete it:

1. Open the terminal.
2. Enter the following command: rm -vr ~/.minecraft/*

Conclusion

Even though the length of this article may make the installation of Minecraft feel somewhat intimidating, we can assure you that there’s nothing difficult about it at all, especially if you’re using Ubuntu or some distribution based on it.

When selecting a new mechanical keyboard for gaming or work, there’s a lot you should pay attention to, such as the type of switches the keyboard comes with, its size, ergonomics, and extra features such as backlights. To make the selection process easier for you, we picked the top 10 mechanical keyboards available in 2020.

1. Razer Huntsman Elite

The Razer Huntsman Elite is an impressive mechanical keyboard that features Razer’s proprietary opto-mechanical switches. Whereas traditional mechanical switches register a keypress when two metal parts touch each other, opto-mechanical switches have an optical light sensor that sends an electrical impulse as soon as it registers the stem descending. As a result, the Razer Huntsman Elite provides unprecedented responsiveness and durability (up to 100 million keystrokes).

In addition to its innovative switches, the keyboard features several other technological innovations that put it into a league of its own. Located in the top-right corner is a multi-functional digital dial that lets you easily control everything from media playback to volume to brightness. You can fully customize it through Razor’s Synapse 3 software, which is also used to modify the 4-side underglow and 38 RGB customization zones.

To ensure that you won’t have to reconfigure the keyboard every time you unplug it from your computer or reinstall your operating system, Razer equipped the Huntsman Elite with onboard memory capable of storing up to 5 profiles. Included with the keyboard is a comfortable magnetic wrist rest that also features customizable RGB lights.

2. Ducky One 2 Mini

Not everyone has a use for a full-sized mechanical keyboard with dedicated multimedia keys. If you never use the numpad and don’t remember the last time you needed the arrow keys, the Ducky One 2 Mini might be just the right choice for you. Its 61-key design saves you a ton of space on your desk, allowing your mouse to roam more freely and helping you avoid shoulder pain due to incorrect positioning of your arm when holding the mouse.

Hidden under PBT double-shot seamless shine-through keycaps are Cherry MX switches (Blue, Brown, or Red), which effortlessly handle any number of simultaneous key presses and have a lifespan of up to 50 million presses. All switches are individually backlit, and the keyboard supports 10 RGB lighting modes and several levels of brightness.

The Ducky One 2 Mini connects to your computer using a detachable USB Type-C cable. The ability to disconnect the cable comes in handy when traveling with the keyboard, and it also means that you can easily use a longer or shorter USB Type-C cable to improve your cable management.

3. Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT

You can always count on Corsair to offer sensibly priced high-end products, and the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT proves this yet again. From a distance, it may look like a fairly standard full-sized gaming keyboard with customizable RGB lights, but a closer inspection quickly reveals that it’s more than that. On the left are six fully programmable keys, which you can use to execute custom macros to increase your productivity or gain an in-game advantage. If you’re a streamer, you can swap the G-caps for the included S-caps and use Elgato Steam Deck software to program special streaming commands.

The top part of the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT is dedicated to multimedia controls and LED status lights. The dedicated aluminum volume roller arguably deserves the most attention because it provides a very enjoyable and novel way of adjusting the volume. The multimedia keys are the only keys on this keyboard that don’t have Cherry MX switches. Alongside more usual Cherry switches, Corsair sells this keyboard with two hard-to-find MX Speed options.

What makes typing on the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT even more comfortable is the included detachable plush palm rest with a soft texture. Just keep in mind that the palm rest makes the already large keyboard even larger, so make sure you have enough space for it on your desk.

4. Logitech G Pro

The Logitech G Pro is a great option for all gamers, programmers, and other Linux users who are looking for a compact mechanical keyboard that doesn’t stand in the way of productivity. As a tenkeyless keyboard, the Logitech G Pro is essentially a standard full-sized keyboard without the numpad section. For most users, it’s the ideal size because numbers can still be easily entered using the numerical row.

To meet the requirements of professional gamers, Logitech developed its own mechanical switches, called GX Clicky. Similar to Cherry MX Blue switches, GX Clicky deliver performance, responsiveness, and durability, with a tactile feedback bump. All keys are backlit, and you can customize lighting and animations with G HUB software to make the keyboard match your computer.

On the rear is a unique slot for a Micro USB cable. The slot has two deep holes on its sides, which are intended for the included three-pronged Micro USB cable, and their job is to ensure an extra safe connection and prolong the life of the cable. The built-in rubber feet can be adjusted to three different angles, making it easy to find a comfortable position.

5. Das Keyboard 4 Professional

So far, we’ve listed only gaming-oriented keyboards with RGB backlights, but what if you’re looking for something a bit more productivity-oriented? In that case, the Das Keyboard 4 Professional deserves your attention. As its name suggests, this keyboard is intended for professionals who don’t have time to individually configure the color of each and every key. Its down-to-earth design highlights   every fine detail, and its rugged construction makes you feel that your money was well spent.

The Das Keyboard 4 Professional is available with Cherry MX Brown and Cherry MX Blue switches. The former switches have a soft tactile bump in the middle of the key press for precise but relatively quiet typing experience, while the latter switches have significantly more noticeable tactile bump, which reduces the need to push the keys all the way down.

A new keycap font ensures excellent readability while underscoring the keyboard’s professional appearance. If you often Skype with your colleagues, you’ll appreciate the oversized volume knob and dedicated media controls. There’s even a handy sleep button that lets you instantly stop what you’re doing and go grab a quick snack.

6. SteelSeries Apex Pro

The SteelSeries Apex Pro is a feature-packed mechanical keyboard with a Series 5000 Aircraft grade aluminum frame and detachable soft touch magnetic wrist rest. One of its main attractions is the built-in OLED display, which delivers information from compatible games and apps, such as CS:GO and Discord.

Another attraction are the OmniPoint Switches, the world’s first adjustable mechanical switches. Unlike traditional mechanical switches, which have a fixed attenuation point, OmniPoint switches have a variable travel distance (0.4 – 3.6 mm), allowing you to adjust each key individually to the exact point you want to register a key press. For example, you can make the keys more sensitive when playing games and turn their sensitivity all the way down to eliminate typos and accidental key presses when working.

As one would expect from a gaming keyboard, the SteelSeries Apex Pro has RGB backlighting and USB passthrough for the mouse or any other USB device. The bottom side features cleverly designed channels that let you route the USB cable coming out from the keyboard in three different ways so that you can keep your desk tidy.

7. Kinesis Freestyle Pro

The Kinesis Freestyle Pro is designed to provide maximum comfort during long typing sessions. Because each half of the keyboard is completely independent, both of your hands can be in the ideal ergonomic position regardless of how narrow or wide your shoulders are.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not a good idea to lift the back of your keyboard for increased comfort. Instead, you should keep your wrists as flat as possible, and the Kinesis Freestyle Pro allows you to do this with its zero-degree slope form-factor. You can, however, take advantage of its three easily adjustable slope settings (5, 10, and 15 degrees) to reduce forearm pronation.

Ergonomics aside, the Kinesis Freestyle Pro is a fairly regular mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches. It supports custom macros and shortcuts, but the application through which you can configure them (SmartSet) is compatible only with Windows and Mac.

8. Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO

Many mechanical keyboards are guilty of simply using readily available Cherry MX switches to offer more or less the same functionality, durability, and typing experience. The Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO stands out because it brings to the table its own switches, called Titan. According to Roccat, its switches are more consistent, reliable, and precise than Cherry MX and other mainstream switches. Their clear housing maximizes the effect of RGB backlighting, and it also protects the contacts against water and dust.

The Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO is definitely built to last. The aluminum plate at the top eliminates flex and makes the keyboard feel premium to the touch. Its brushed finish does a great job of hiding fingerprints, so you don’t need to worry about the keyboard looking dirty after every gaming session.

The dedicated mixer-style media keys let you pause, play, or skip songs with a single button press, and the oversized volume knob makes it easy to find just the right volume level for any occasion. Completing this high-end mechanical keyboard is a large detachable palm rest.

9. Obinslab Anne 2 Pro

The Obinslab Anne 2 Pro offers a lot of features in a very compact package. For starters, it’s the only wireless keyboard on this list. Because it uses Bluetooth 4.0, it works with all popular operating systems, including Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Its built-in 1900 mAh battery can power it for up to 8 hours, long enough to get you through the entire day of work. Of course, you can easily use it in wired mode because the keyboard is equipped with a standard USB Type-C port.

To make up for the limited number of keys, the Obinslab Anne 2 Pro has a few clever tricks up its sleeve. You can press one of its two Fn keys to access F-keys, multimedia functions, and more. Arrow keys can be accessed directly without pressing a modifier key thanks to the so-called tap functionality. When enabled, this functionality makes certain keys behave differently when quickly tapped or help.

Believe it or not, but the Obinslab Anne 2 Pro can store up to 16 offline macros to make your work easier. The keyboard is available with virtually all popular switches, including Cherry MX Blue, Brown, and Red.

10. Koolertron Macro Pad

The Koolertron Macro Pad isn’t a full-fledged keyboard. It’s a programmable macro pad with 48 keys, each of which can be programmed to execute a complex macro. Because the device has its own memory, it doesn’t matter that the official configuration software isn’t compatible with Linux. You can simply use a Windows computer to set up your macros and then connect the Koolertron Macro Pad to your Linux machine. All keycaps are blank, so you can mark them with a pen or do some DIY laser carving.

Thanks to the hard work of some talented developers, there are now multiple ways to run Android apps and games on Linux, and we describe seven of them in this article.

Why Running Android Apps Don’t Run Natively on Linux?

Considering that Android and Linux share the same kernel, one might assume that it would be easy to run Android apps natively on Linux, but it isn’t. That’s because the kernel is just the core of an operating system, and it takes a lot more software than just the kernel to run the applications you interact with on a daily basis.

Furthermore, Android APK files are not straightforward executables (like .exe files on Windows). They are essentially installer packages whose purpose is to extract files to certain specific locations. When executed, the extracted files call certain functions of the Android operating system to access the file system, hardware components, and so on.

Popular Linux distributions make no effort to be compatible with Android apps, so Linux users have to simulate Android devices on their computers using Android emulators or use an operating system that’s compatible with Android apps.

1. Anbox

Anbox is conceptually similar to Wine (a free and open-source compatibility layer that makes it possible to run Windows applications on Linux) because it abstracts hardware access and integrates Android applications with the Linux operating system.

The entire project is open source and licensed under the terms of the Apache and GPLv3 license. The goal of its developers is to make it so that every Android app and game can run on Linux. Because Anbox runs without hardware virtualization, it offers decent performance and tight integration with the host operating system.

Because Anbox is distributed exclusively as a snap (its developers claim that snaps make their lives much easier and allow them to frequently release updates without the need to customize them for multiple distributions), you can install it only on supported distributions unless you install Snap manually, which takes just a few simple commands, all of which are described in detail on Snap’s website.

With Anbox installed, you can add APKs using the Android Debug Bridge (adb). Afterward, you can launch your applications via the host system application launcher and manage them just like all other applications running on your system.

2. Arc Welder

If you’re a Google Chrome user, you can run Android apps on Linux using ARC Welder, also known as App Runtime for Chrome. This Chrome extension is actually intended to let Android developers test and publish their Android Apps to Chrome OS on other platforms, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it for your personal purposes.

Because Arc Welder is a tool for developers, it doesn’t provide access to apps published in the Google Play Store. In order to run an Android app, you first need to find and download its APK file and then open the file using Arc Welder. Fortunately, there are many websites that let you easily download APK files, including APKMirror, APKPure, or APK Store.

Unfortunately, Arc Welder was last updated in June 2018, so bugs are to be expected. Still, you would be hard-pressed to find and easier way to run Android apps on Linux.

3. Genymotion

Because this is the year 2020, we can’t recommend the once-popular Android emulation solution called Shashlik anymore. The last version of Shashlik was released in 2016, and its developers have been quiet ever since. However, we can recommend something even better: Genymotion.

This cloud-based Android emulator is a boon to all Android developers who would like to streamline app testing and enjoy virtually unlimited scalability thanks to the computing power of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Alibaba Cloud.

Genymotion can emulate over 3,000 Android device configurations and simulate every imaginable scenario thanks to its full set of hardware sensors. The only problem is that you get only 60 minutes of use for free, and then it’s 5 cents per minute.

4. Android-x86

Android-x86 is a project whose aim is to port Android to the x86 instruction set. Because Android-x86 is a complete operating system, you need virtualization software like VirtualBox to run it inside your Linux distribution.

When setting up a VirtualBox virtual machine for Android-x86, Set Type to Linux, and Version to Linux 2.6 or newer. Allocate at least 2 GB of RAM and create a new hard disk image with 8 GB of storage space or more. Load the Android-x86 installation image and follow the official installation instructions.

When running Android-x86 inside a virtual machine, you can’t really expect great performance because Android-x86 is meant to run on bare metal.

5. Android Studio IDE

Android Studio IDE is Google’s official integrated development environment for Android. It’s built on JetBrains’ IntelliJ IDEA software and runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and Chrome OS. Included with Android Studio IDE is an Android emulator intended for running and debugging apps in the Android studio.

To install the emulator, choose the Android Emulator component in the SDK Tools tab of the SDK Manager. Open the app you want to run and click the green play-like button in the menu bars at the top. When asked to choose a device, click the Create New Virtual Device button and specify its properties. Once you’re finished, select it from the list of available virtual devices and click OK. The virtual device should start up right away and automatically open your application.

The Android Emulator inside Android Studio IDE doesn’t exactly amaze with its performance or usability, but it gets the job done when you just want to run a single Android app on Linux without installing it on your smartphone.

In 2020, your choice of a text editor for programming is not limited to venerable command-line editors. You can also choose from multiple modern text editors developed using frameworks such as Electron and web technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

1. Vim

For nearly 30 years, Vim has been the text editor of choice of many Linux programmers. Despite its notoriously steep learning curve, unintuitive editing modes, and text-based user interface, it continues to convince a new generation of Linux programmers that old-school open-source software applications still have a lot to offer.

In particular, Vim can offer rock-solid stability, powerful search and replace functionality, support for all common and not-so-common programming languages and file formats, extensive customizability, plugin support, extreme portability, and minimal hardware requirements.

The only problem is that Vim is one of the most difficult text editors to learn. If the idea of learning a text editor sounds daft to you, we recommend you select a different text editor instead. But if you find the required time investment acceptable, go ahead and fire up vimtutor in a terminal. This interactive, built-in tutorial explains everything you need to know to use Vim for programming in 2020.

2. Neovim

The original Vim text editor is a brainchild of Bram Moolenaar, a Dutch computer programmer who has been working in Google’s Zürich office since 2006. Just like Linus Torvalds has the ultimate authority when it comes to deciding which features will be included in a new version of the Linux Kernel, it’s up to Bram to steer the development of Vim.

Wanting to remove barriers to entry and make Vim usable and easily extendable so that new generations of users are encouraged not only to use it for programming but also to contribute, Neovim is a Vim-based text editor built for users who want the good parts of Vim without the bad parts.

Neovim comes with sane defaults, several new features (including Lua scripting, remote plugins, and embedded terminal), and it delivers a consistent user experience across all platforms. Most Vim plugins are supported, and there’s a growing number of Neovim-specific plugins that take advantage of its unique features.

3. Emacs

Some Linux programmers like to describe Emacs as a great operating system, lacking only a decent text editor, and there’s some truth hiding behind this joke.

The fact is that Emacs, which was first released in 1976 and later ported by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project as GNU Emacs, is an immensely complex and infinitely extendable text editor that can do basically anything you configure it to do, including web browsing or playing Tetris.

The good news is that Emacs is extremely well-documented, and there’s an enormous number of online tutorials, guides, and other learning resources created by its users. Just know that it takes a lot of time to learn Emacs shortcuts, and even more time to customize it to fit your needs. It’s easy to waste an entire day on Emacs customization and program nothing at all.

4. Visual Studio Code

In case you haven’t yet noticed, Microsoft is now the open-source community’s greatest champion, and the Visual Studio Code is the best text editor the tech giant has ever developed. Visual Studio Code was ranked the most popular developer environment tool in the Stack Overflow 2019 Developer Survey, with 50.7% of respondents claiming to use it as their text editor of choice.

Because it’s based on Electron, an open-source framework for building desktop applications with web technologies, this multi-platform text editor runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS. It features smart code highlighting and autocomplete, includes support for debugging, and makes it easy to work with Git and other SCM providers.

You can add additional features via third-party extensions, which run as separate processes for better stability. All Visual Studio Code extensions can be conveniently installed from Visual Studio Code MarketPlace even if you don’t have a Microsoft account.

5. Sublime Text

If you’re looking for a straightforward text editor that you can use without any configuration right after you install it, Sublime Text is a great choice. The editor was first released in 2008 by Jon Skinner, and it quickly became popular among software developers, Linux users, and even prose writers.

Users like its native support for many programming and markup languages, powerful API and package ecosystem, support for split editing, and customizable key bindings, macros, and just about everything else.

You can download Sublime Text for free to evaluate it, but a license must be purchased for continued use. That said, there’s no time limit on how long you can use Sublime Text, so it’s really up to you to decide if you want to purchase a license and support its developers.

6. Atom

Developed by the people behind GitHub, Atom is another popular text editor built on Electron. It has become somewhat infamous for its high memory usage, but some see it as a small price to pay for portability and hackability. As long as you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can customize Atom to your image and make it do whatever you want.

The official documentation for creating Atom plugins is comprehensive and easy to follow, which is one reason why there are around 9,000 third-party plugins for Atom at the time of writing this article. You can install any Atom plugin from the web or via apm in the terminal.

In the past, Atom used to report various data to external servers without the explicit consent of its users. The packages that were responsible for the reporting now display an opt-in dialogue at the initial launch.

7. Brackets

Brackets is especially popular among web developers because it allows them to connect it to a web browser so they can see all changes made to CSS and HTML on screen in real-time. With a single keyboard shortcut, you can open an inline text editor and work on a CSS file that applies to a specific ID without opening a new tab. Brackets can use Quick Edit and Live Highlight with your LESS and SCSS files to make working with them easier than ever.

This open-source text editor is written in JavaScript, and so are its extensions, all of which can be found in the Brackets Extension Registry. To install an extension, you need to open the Extension Manager in Brackets and click on the Available tab. For web developers who can live with its higher memory usage, Brackets provides a pleasant text editing experience.

Last year, at Google I/O in Mountain View, Google announced its intention to ship all future Chromebooks with Linux support right out of the box, making it possible for users to run just about any popular Linux distribution in a container, in parallel with Chrome OS.

There’s also GalliumOS, a fast and lightweight Linux distro for Chromebooks built on top of Xubuntu to provide a fully functional desktop. It integrates Google’s mouse driver to offer a touchpad experience similar to Chrome OS and features multiple Optimizations that improve responsiveness and eliminate system stalls.

As you can see, Chromebooks have a lot to offer to Linux users—not to mention their ability to run Android apps. To help you spend your money wisely, we’ve compared dozens of popular Chromebooks, and here’s our list of the best Chromebooks for Linux in 2020.

1. Google Pixelbook

Key features:

The Google Pixelbook is arguably the best Chromebook ever made, and it makes for a fantastic Linux machine. Google created it to show to the whole world that Chromebooks don’t have to necessarily be made cheaply and priced accordingly.

With a price hovering around $1,000, the Google Pixelbook is anything but affordable, and it’s completely natural to experience a sticker shock when seeing its price for the first time. However, the initial shock quickly transforms into admiration as you learn more about what this premium Chromebook has to offer.

The most popular version of the Google Pixelbook is powered by 7th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and equipped with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Its long-lasting battery supports fast charging technology, allowing you to get about 2 hours of use in just 15 minutes. The 12.3-inch 360-degree touchscreen display boasts an ultra-fine resolution of 2400 x 1600 pixels, resulting in a supreme multimedia experience.

Because the Google Pixelbook is aimed at power users, Google outfitted it with a comfortable backlit keyboard that’s a joy to type on. As an optional accessory, you can purchase the Pixelbook Pen, and use it to write, draw, and design naturally.

2. Google Pixelbook Go

Key features:

The Google Pixelbook Go is our favorite Linux-compatible Chromebook for on-the-go productivity. You can get it with an m3, i5, or i7 processor from Intel and up to 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. The m3 version offers the most impressive battery life, but it doesn’t have enough performance for more demanding Linux apps—at least not if you’re a heavy multi-tasker.

Regardless of which version of the Google Pixelbook Go you choose, you’ll always get to enjoy a 13.3-inch Full HD display with wide viewing angles, high maximum brightness, and realistic color reproduction. The display is complemented by dual stereo speakers for uncompromising multimedia experience.

If you often use a laptop in quiet public places, such as the library, you’ll appreciate the backlit keyboard with the so-called Hush Keys, which barely make any noise despite being their precision and a surprisingly long key travel distance. And since the Google Pixelbook Go is completely fanless, there’s no reason to worry about it making noise either.

3. Asus Chromebook Flip C434TA

Key features:

If you’re looking for a relatively affordable Chromebook that doesn’t look and feel cheap, the Asus Chromebook Flip C434TA is a solid choice. It’s powered by the Intel Core m3-8100Y processor, which is capable of up to 3.4 GHz despite consuming very little power. You can get it with 64 GB of storage space and either 4 or 8 GB of RAM. We highly recommend you splurge on extra RAM because the additional 4 GB really make a difference when multitasking and using Linux applications alongside apps for Chrome OS.

What really makes the Asus Chromebook Flip C434TA stand out is its 14-inch Full HD display with ultra-narrow bezels (just 5 mm). For us, a Chromebook with a 14-inch display represents the perfect balance between productivity and portability. You can comfortably use two applications side-by-side without straining your eyes or maximize a single application with DPI scaling set at 100% to see more information without scrolling.

Thanks to its 360-degree hinge, the Asus Chromebook Flip C434TA can instantly transform into a large tablet so that you can enjoy your content any way you like. Two reversible USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C ports make it possible to connect a broad range of devices, and there’s also one legacy USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A (Gen 1) port, as well as a microSD slot for storage expansion.

4. Acer Chromebook Spin 13

Key features:

Why spend your hard-earned money on a laptop and a tablet when you can purchase the Acer Chromebook Spin 13, an affordable 2-in-1 convertible with enough processing power to run Linux and a cleverly integrated stylus for drawing, writing, and jotting in tablet mode.

Many affordable convertibles are powered by a low-end processor with insufficient performance for serious multitasking, but not the Acer Chromebook Spin 13. With the Intel Core i5 8250U processor, 8 GB of memory, and 128 GB of storage, this allrounder has what it takes create large spreadsheets, develop software applications, and edit video. Because a powerful processor naturally consumes more power, the Acer Chromebook Spin 13 has a large battery that lasts up to 10 hours—more than enough for a full day of use.

Displays with a 16:9 aspect ratio are great for multimedia, but they leave something to be desired when it comes to browsing the web, writing documents, coding, or doing any other activity that benefits from more vertical screen real-estate. That’s why the Acer Chromebook Spin 13 has a 13.5-inch touchscreen display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and stylus support. Once you experience what it’s like to work a display with this aspect ratio, you won’t look at 16:9 laptops the same way ever again.

5. Samsung Chromebook 4+

Key features:

In many ways, the Samsung Chromebook 4+ embodies the very essence of Chromebooks by blending modest hardware specifications with a build quality that punches way above its league. If running Linux on a Chromebook isn’t your top priority (just something you would like to try), this might be the right device for you.

We say this because the Samsung Chromebook 4+ has the Intel Celeron N4000 processor, whose limited performance isn’t suited for anything but the most lightweight Linux applications. That said, Chrome OS apps run just fine on this Chromebook, which is great news because the 15.6-inch display really makes them come to life.

Included with the Samsung Chromebook 4+ is a fast USB-C charger capable of charging the Chromebook even with the processor running at 100%. When charged to its maximum capacity, you can use the Chromebook for up to 10 hours. If only were the keyboard backlit, this would be any budget-minded student’s dream Chromebook.

6. Lenovo Yoga Chromebook C630

Key features:

Everyone knows that Lenovo can make a fantastic laptop capable of satisfying the needs of even the most die-hard Linux users. With the Lenovo Yoga Chromebook C630, the company is applying its expertise to create a Chromebook capable of rivaling Windows laptop.

Lenovo outfitted this brilliant Chromebook with the 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U (beat i7-7500U) quad-core processor (1.6 GHz up to 3.4 GHz, 6 MB Cache), 8 GB DDR4 of memory, and 128 GB eMMC flash storage. The 15.6-inch IPS display features a 360-degree design, and its impressive maximum brightness makes it easy to comfortably work and relax outside.

As a premium Chromebook, the Lenovo Yoga Chromebook C630 rocks an aluminum chassis and offers wide connectivity options, including two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, one USB 3.0 Type-A port, one headphone/microphone combo jack, one RJ-45 connector, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet, Wireless-AC, and Bluetooth.

7. Acer Chromebook 715

Key features:

Acer is known mostly for its budget-oriented laptops, but the Acer Chromebook 715 proves that the company can make a truly premium device. In fact, this Chromebook received multiple prestigious design awards, including the iF Design Award and the Red Dot Award.

The Acer Chromebook 715 has a 100% aluminum chassis, so it’s both light and durable. Because the aluminum isn’t painted but anodized, you don’t need to worry about paint chips and scratches. Anodization also improves heat dissipation and corrosion resistance, so overheating isn’t an issue.

The Acer Chromebook 715 is one of only a few Chromebooks with a numpad that we would recommend. It’s powered by an 8^th generation Intel Core i processor, so apps and games load instantly and run without lag. Even demanding users who frequently edit video and do other processor-intensive tasks should be more than happy with its performance.

8. Samsung Chromebook Pro

Key features:

There’s no denying that the Google Pixelbook (our favorite Chromebook for Linux) is an impressive machine, but not everyone is willing to spend around $1,000. That’s where the Samsung Chromebook Pro comes in, offering similarly jaw-dropping specifications for a fraction of the price.

Specifically, the Samsung Chromebook Pro is equipped with a power-efficient Intel Core m3 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage space, and a 12.3-inch display with a resolution of 2400 x 1600 pixels. Because the display has an aspect ratio of 3:2, you can enjoy both widescreen viewing and the portrait tablet experience. The display is without a doubt the star of the show here. Its 360-degree hinge lets you flip it all the way around for use in tablet mode with the included stylus.

Because the Samsung Chromebook Pro weighs just 2.38 pounds and measures 11.06 x 8.72 x 0.55 inches, you shouldn’t have any trouble carrying it around for the entire day or holding it in your hands for a long period of time.

9. Dell Inspiron 11 Chromebook

Key features:

The Dell Inspiron 11 is a great Chromebook for casual users who are looking for durability, speed, and simplicity in a portable design. Its textured black composite chassis is resistant to fingerprints and smudges. Because the Chromebook has generously rounded corners, it can easily resist all the bumps and drops it encounters during daily use.

Thanks to the Intel Celeron processor, it also handles Chrome OS apps with ease, even when you open several of them at once. Heavyweight Linux applications are, unfortunately, a challenge for this laptop, but you must keep in mind that portability is by far its most important feature. The 11.6-inch display makes the Dell Inspiron 11 so compact that you can throw it inside any bag or pouch without any issues and its advanced anti-glare coating makes it easier to use the Chromebook outside.

For such a compact Chromebook, the Dell Inspiron 11 offers an impressive selection of ports, including a full-sized HDMI port, two regular USB ports, a microSD card reader, audio jack, and Noble lock slot.

10. HP Chromebook 14

Key features:

The HP Chromebook 14 is one of the most affordable Chromebooks on this list, and you need to keep this in mind to understand where its value comes from. This is not the right machine for power users or demanding professionals who are willing to spend extra money to enjoy smooth performance and premium build quality.

This device is aimed at budget-minded people who don’t want to spend more money than necessary just to browse the web, send emails, and do schoolwork. That’s why the HP Chromebook 14 comes with a low-end processor (the AMD Dual-Core a4-9120) and just 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage space.

Fortunately, HP understands that even people who don’t need outstanding performance can appreciate a long battery life, great build quality, and comfortable input devices. To make this budget-friendly Chromebook even more attractive, HP decided to connect the 14-inch display to the chassis with a 180-degree hinge, making it easier for its users to watch movies in the bed or share the screen with others.

What Are the Differences Between macOS and Linux?

To start with, Linux is just an operating system kernel, while macOS is a complete operating system that comes bundled with a large number of applications. The kernel at the heart of macOS is called XNU, an acronym for X is Not Unix.

The Linux kernel was developed by Linus Torvalds, and it’s distributed under GPLv2. XNU was originally developed by the American computer and software company NeXT, which was purchased by Apple in 1997. XNU is developed under the Apple Public Source License 2.0, which allows only limited modification of the code by a licensee.

To create complete operating systems (Linux distributions), developers bundle the Linux kernel with third-party open-source applications. This open and flexible approach is one of the biggest strengths of Linux, and it’s also the reason why it can meet the needs of everyone from data centers to home users.

The Linux community has been working tirelessly to support all kinds of hardware, including devices that have been labeled as obsolete by their manufacturers. On the other hand, Apple is actively preventing users from installing macOS on non-Apple hardware, forcing them to purchase expensive Macs.

Apple wants macOS users to install applications only from the App Store, which is inaccessible without a user account. Most Linux distributions that look like macOS come with their own “app stores” packed with free, open-source applications that can be installed with a simple click and without registration.

Top 5 Best macOS Alternatives

Our selection of Linux distributions that look like macOS includes only active projects with a decent number of users. We ranked the distributions according to their similarity with macOS, general usability, and popularity.

1. Elementary OS

Elementary OS presents itself as a privacy-respecting replacement for macOS. It takes just a few minutes to realize that its developers understand what macOS users like about Apple’s operating system. All parts of the Elementary OS—from the familiar bottom dock to individual applications—are designed with ease of use in mind. As a user, you never feel overwhelmed with options because everything just works.

The Pantheon desktop environment, which the developers created from scratch, is arguably the main reason why Elementary OS is so cohesive. In addition to Pantheon, Elementary OS comes with its own heavily curated app store for free and paid applications, called AppCenter. At the moment, there are only 170 applications in the AppCenter, all of which have been reviewed to ensure a native, privacy-respecting, and secure experience.

You can download, install, and use Elementary OS without paying a single dollar, but users are encouraged to make a small donation to support the development of this beautiful and powerful operating system.

2. Deepin Linux

Deepin Linux is based on Debian, and it features its own desktop environment, called the Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE). This desktop environment is written in Qt and is clearly inspired by Apple’s operating system.

The China-based developers of Deepin Linux, Wuhan Deepin Technology Co., Ltd., don’t limit themselves to open-source software. WPS Office, Skype, Google Chrome, and Steam are just a few examples of proprietary applications included in the distribution.

Most basic applications that you would expect to find in any Linux distribution were created by the Deepin development team, and they include Deepin Installer, Deepin File Manager, Deeping System Monitor, and others.

3. Xubuntu

Xubuntu is a derivative of the Ubuntu operating system, one of the most popular Linux distributions in the world. Instead of Ubuntu’s GNOME desktop, it users the Xfce desktop environment, which shares the same basic layout with macOS.

One of the main goals of Xubuntu is to run well on low-end hardware and older computers. If you have, for example, an aging MacBook with a limited amount of RAM, replacing macOS with Xubuntu will allow you to extend its lifespan by a couple of years.

To work well on older hardware, Xubuntu had to sacrifice some features, and the same can be said about Xfce. Even the included applications can, at times, look a little basic and dated, but they get the job done and don’t consume too much resources.

4. Zorin OS

Designed to be easy to use and feature-complete, Zorin OS is an increasingly popular Linux distribution that directly targets users of macOS who would like to break the chain that binds them to Apple’s expensive hardware.

The distribution is available in over 50 languages and comes with many open-source and proprietary applications. Additional applications can be installed from the built-in app store, and Zorin OS even allows its users to install many Windows apps using the Wine compatibility layer.

Only the most basic version of Zorin OS is free. To unlock a macOS desktop layout, you need to pay €39 for the Ultimate version, which also comes with professional installation support and additional apps and games.

5. Voyager Live

Voyager Live is a French Linux distribution that ships with Voyager-branded computers and tablets. It’s based on Ubuntu and includes excellent support for 2-in-1 convertibles (namely the Voyager PC Tablet).

macOS users will appreciate the familiar layout, with a dock at the bottom and a menu bar at the top. Voyager Live makes heavy use of Conky, a popular desktop system monitor capable of displaying all kinds of information directly on the desktop, including network speed, CPU utilization, tasks, and application shortcuts.

If you’re not afraid to try a less popular Linux distribution (whose website hasn’t even been translated into English), then you might be pleasantly surprised by Voyager Live and its polished version of the Xfce desktop environment.

Note: The Windows log key that sits between CTRL and ALT on most PC keyboards is referred to as the Super key in this article.

General Linux Shortcuts

GNOME Keyboard Shortcuts

KDE Keyboard Shortcuts

Xfce Keyboard Shortcuts

LXDE Keyboard Shortcuts

Cinnamon Keyboard Shortcuts (Linux Mint)

Bash Keyboard Shortcuts

Ubuntu Keyboard Shortcuts

Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts

ChromeOS Keyboard Shortcuts (Chromebook)

As a Linux user in 2020, you can choose from multiple mature alternatives to MS Office. Most MS Office alternatives for Linux can be downloaded and used free of charge to open, edit, and create documents in a variety of file formats, including .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx.

1. LibreOffice

LibreOffice is easily the most popular alternative to MS Office for Linux in 2020. It was first released in 2011 as a fork of OpenOffice.org, another MS Office alternative featured in this article. Because LibreOffice has always embraced a collaborative development process, inviting developers from around the world to join the project and contribute, it quickly gained enormous momentum, and the rest is history.

LibreOffice consists of the following applications:

• Writer: A word processor with the ability to create anything from a five-paragraph essay to a novel.
• Calc: A spreadsheet software application with professional features, multiple-user support, built-in integrations with corporate databases.
• Impress: A presentation program that makes it easy to create slides with text, images, animations, bullet points, drawings, and other elements.
• Draw: A diagraming and flowcharting tool with a maximum page size of 300 cm by 300 cm.
• Math: A formula editor that integrates with other LibreOffice applications and makes it possible for users to insert perfectly formatted mathematical and scientific formulas into documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
• Base: A desktop database front-end with native support for MySQL/MariaDB, Adabas D, MS Access, and PostgreSQL

All LibreOffice applications should be instantly familiar to all users of Microsoft Office 2003. If you like the ribbon in newer versions of MS Office, LibreOffice will most likely seem somewhat outdated to you, but give it a few days, and you’ll get used to it.

What makes absolutely no time is getting used to is the fact that LibreOffice is completely free in both senses of the word.

Pros:

• Free and open source.
• Complete functionality.
• Great compatibility with MS Office file formats.

Cons:

• Outdated design.

2. WPS Office

Previously known as Kingsoft Office, this MS Office alternative for Linux is developed by Zhuhai-based Chinese software developer Kingsoft. If you want to use WPS Office for personal purposes, you don’t have to pay any money for it. Online business customers are required to purchase a commercial license.

For a free alternative to MS Office, WPS Office delivers an exceptional level of polish. Its user interface leaves LibreOffice in the dust, and many of its features are so innovative that you won’t find them anywhere else.

WPS Office 2019 introduced all-in-one mode, which supports opening different types of files within a single application window. This mode is especially great for people who use WPS Office on laptops with limited screen real estate.

The latest version of WPS Office also comes with a comprehensive suite of PDF tools that let you comment, annotate, and edit your PDF files. Just like the rest of WPS Office, you can use these tools free of charge for personal purposes.

Pros:

• Beautiful user interface.
• Advanced features.
• PDF editing tools.

Cons:

• The free version of WPS Office has ads.

3. Apache OpenOffice

Not long after Oracle Corporation acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010, most developers who worked on OpenOffice.org left the company. A year later, Oracle halted the development of OpenOffice.org and laid off the remaining development team. Fortunately, the company also decided to contribute the source code and relevant trademarks to the Apache Software Foundation, which is how Apache OpenOffice came to life.

Today, Apache OpenOffice is in version 4, available in 41 languages for Linux, Windows, and macOS. It shares many similarities with LibreOffice (after all, they are both forks of the same MS Office alternative), but OpenOffice lacks some important features and capabilities, namely the ability to save .docx Word documents.

It also uses the Apache license, whereas LibreOffice uses a dual LGPLv3 / MPL license. Because Apache OpenOffice uses the Apache license, LibreOffice can freely “borrow” its features, but Apache OpenOffice developers can’t do the same.

Even though the popularity of Apache OpenOffice has been steadily declining since 2013, it still remains a great alternative to MS Office for all Linux users who avoid proprietary software like a plague.

Pros:

• Familiar user interface.
• Uses the Apache license.
• Extensive list of supported languages.

Cons:

• Limited support for MS Office file formats.

4. ONLYOFFICE

This open source alternative to MS Office is developed by Ascensio System SIA, a company with headquarters in Riga, Latvia. It includes everything home users and small businesses need to be productive and grow.

With its advanced document management capabilities, ONLYOFFICE makes it easy to go paperless and stay highly organized. Users can share documents with a simple click, collaborate on them online, and manage access levels to keep sensitive information under control.

As a complete MS Office alternative, ONLYOFFICE includes an easy-to-use email management tool that you can use to access any email account. There’s also a complete toolkit for sales managers, a project management solution, a full-featured calendar app, and a community platform with blogs, forums, and chat.

ONLYOFFICE boasts the highest compatibility with MS Office formats, and you can verify this claim by installing ONLYOFFICE on your own server or desktop computer.

Pros:

• Reliably opens/saves .doc and .docx files.
• Free and open source.
• Can be delivered as SaaS.

Cons:

• Slower document loading.

5. SoftMaker FreeOffice

SoftMaker is a German software company, and FreeOffice is its flagship product. The latest version of this multi-platform MS Office alternative consists of the word processor TextMaker, the spreadsheet PlanMaker, the presentation software application SoftMaker Presentations, the scripting language BasicMaker, and a modified version of Thunderbird.

The greatest strength of FreeOffice is its great compatibility with MS Office file formats, but the list of features to enjoy doesn’t end there. With FreeOffice, it doesn’t matter if you prefer traditional menus and toolbars or modern ribbons because you can switch between them at any time. A dedicated touch mode optimizes the user interface of FreeOffice for touch devices, so you can do more on your 2-in-1 convertible.

Unfortunately, FreeOffice is a proprietary MS Office alternative, and you have to register online to use it. If you’re willing to spend some money, you can upgrade to the Professional edition and enjoy a better spell checker with multiple dictionaries and support for Windows Group Policy.

Pros:

• Solid compatibility with MS Office file formats.
• Feels like an MS Office product.
• Special touchscreen mode.

Cons:

• Requires an online license activation.

CONCLUSION

With these various options you should be able to find a suitable alternative to MS Office to get your work done on Linux.

Despite their seemingly simple nature, some console games for Linux are surprisingly complex and more than capable of sucking you in for hours at a time. Yes, you will need to use your imagination to fill in the blanks created by their rudimental graphics, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

In this article, we review and demo the top 7 games you can play on the Linux command line.  Enjoy!

1. NetHack

NetHack was first released in 1987, and the game has been in development since then (version 3.6.4 was released on 18 December 2019).

In many ways, it can be seen as the grandfather of all roguelike games, which has seen a massive surge in popularity in recent years, with titles such as FTL: Faster Than Light, The Binding of Isaac, Rogue Legacy, Crypt of the NecroDancer, or Darkest Dungeon becoming top-sellers in their category.

The gameplay revolves around exploration and survival. You start the game by creating your character, taking on a traditional fantasy role like a knight or wizard. You’re then introduced to your main objective, which is to find the Amulet of Yendor at the lowest level of the dungeon, and the rest is more or less up to you.

2. Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress is the only game on this list that’s not open source, but we think that it doesn’t deserve to be disqualified just because it doesn’t make its source code public—its influence and popularity are too great for that.

In Dwarf Fortress, you’re either in charge of a dwarven output, or you play as an adventurer in a large randomly generated world populated by distinct civilizations, thriving capitals, villages, catacombs, labyrinths, bandit camps, and much more.

Managing a dwarven output involves everything from crafting resources to trading with your neighbors to defending your output against enemies, while adventuring relies on traditional roguelike gameplay mechanics, but with far more depth than games like NetHack can offer.

3. Frotz (Zork)

Frotz isn’t a game. It’s an interpreter for Infocom games and other Z-machine games, such as Zork, one of the most popular text adventure games of all time. Unlike other text adventure games released in the 1980s, Zork could interpret fairly complex text commands (“open the door with the crystal key”), which significantly improved the gameplay and made the world feel more alive.

Zork is split into three games (Zork: The Great Underground Empire – Part I, Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz, and Zork III: The Dungeon Master), and you can download them all for free directly from Infocom’s website.

To discover even more interesting Z-machine games, we recommend you browse the Interactive Fiction Database. Here are five games you shouldn’t miss:

• Lost Pig: A fun game with moderate difficulty where you follow an orc who must retrieve an escaped pig. The game was released in 2007, and it placed first in the 2007 Interactive Fiction Competition.
• Spider & Web: This self-published Z-machine game puts you in the role of a captured spy, and your goal is to tell a plausible story to your interrogators. However, that’s no easy feat because everything you say in the game is questioned to the last detail.
• The Witness: Created by Infocom, The Witness is a murder mystery text adventure game that takes place in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles. You play as a detective assigned to investigate a rich man named Freeman Linder, who’s afraid that his life might be in danger.

4. BSD Games

When waiting for a program to compile or for an update to download and install, it’s helpful to have a few simple games to pass the time. The BSD Games package includes a sizable collection of command-line Linux games that were originally distributed with some BSDs.

BSD Games includes adventure, arithmetic, atc, backgammon, battlestar, boggle, canfield, cribbage, dab, fish, gomoku, hack, hangman, hunt, mille, monop, phantasia, quiz, robots, sail, snake, tetris, trek, worm, and wump.

Additionally, there are several fun non-games: banner, bcd, caesar, rot13, countmail, dm, factor, morse, number, pig, pom, ppt, primes, rain, random, wargames, worms, and wtf.

To launch any package included in BSD Games, simply enter its name in the terminal and hit enter. Besides worm (which is displayed above), we also recommend phantasia (a Middle Earth-themed multi-user dungeon) and hack (the predecessor of NetHack).

5. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

Set in a procedurally generated post-apocalyptic world, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is a turn-based survival game where a few lucky survivors must fight to see another sunrise because zombies, killer robots, giant insects, and other deadly enemies are lurking everywhere.

The game begins in a fairly typical roguelike fashion: You wake up without your memories, and your immediate objectives include securing food, exploring your surroundings, and not getting killed in the process.

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead can be played either in the terminal or with a graphical tileset. In addition to Linux, it also runs on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

6. 2048-cli

When Italian web developer Gabriele Cirulli released 2048 in 2014, the internet instantly fell in love with its simple yet addictive gameplay. The objective is to move numbered tiles so that two tiles with the same number touch, which causes them to merge into one. You continue playing in this way until you create a tile with the number 2048, but the game lets you keep on playing even after you’ve completed its objective.

2048-cli is a recreation of the original game for the terminal. One version of the game (see the screenshot above) is rendered only using ASCII characters, but there’s also a more colorful version that uses ncurses.

The instructions on how to download and install 2048-cli are provided on its GitHub page, but you really need just two commands:

7. SSHTron

Inspired by the original coin-operated arcade video game, SSHTron is a multiplayer command-line game for Linux that plays a lot like Snake, except that there are up to four snakes on the screen, and each is controlled by a human opponent.

If you have SSH installed on your system (and you most certainly do), you can start playing just by entering the following command in the terminal:

The game is controlled with WASD or vim keybindings, and you can press Escape or Ctrl+C at any time to exit it.

Some Arch Linux derivatives make the distribution more accessible to inexperienced users, and some were created in reaction to various key system design decisions made by the developers of Arch Linux. Listed below are the top 5 best Arch-based Linux Distributions you should know about in 2020.

Top 5 Best Arch Based Linux Distributions

1. Manjaro

Manjaro (named after the Kilimanjaro mountain) is by far the most popular Linux distribution based on Arch in 2020. Its first version was released in 2011 with the goal of combining the bleeding-edge nature of Arch Linux with a focus on user-friendliness and accessibility.

The result is a Linux distribution suitable for beginners and experienced users alike. Because Manjaro features a simplified, user-friendly installation process and comes with pre-installed desktop environments, graphical applications to easily install software and update the system, and also codecs to play multimedia files, the distribution is completely usable right off the bat.

If you decide to give Manjaro a try, you’ll need to choose which edition you want to download. There are three official editions with a desktop environment (XFCE, KDE Plasma, and GNOME) and one minimal edition that you can use to build your own Manjaro-based system from the ground up. Additionally, the Manjaro community is responsible for several unofficial editions.

If you own an ARM-based single-board computer like the Raspberry Pi, you will be happy to know that there are multiple ARM editions supported by the Manjaro team, including one based on KDE Plasma.

2. Anarchy Linux

Many Linux users who want to try Arch Linux feel intimidated by its manual installation process, which is described in great detail on the Arch Wiki. Anarchy Linux is an easy-to-use Arch Linux installer that attempts to make the installation process far more accessible.

The installer reduces the effort required to install Arch Linux into a series of simple steps that end with a fully functional system with a desktop environment, graphics drivers, optional software, and AUR support.

The developers of Anarchy Linux provide five completely customized desktop environments and windows managers (Cinnamon, GNOME, Openbox, XFCE, and Budgie), but you can also install the generic versions of other DEs and WMs.

When you finish the installation, you can continue with post-installation tutorials published on the Arch Wiki, but your system should be largely ready for use.

3. Artix Linux

In October 2012, systemd, foundational software that starts the rest of the system, became the default on new installations of Arch Linux. The decision was preceded by a heated exchange between the members of the Arch community, many of which were convinced that systemd doesn’t align with the simple nature of Arch Linux.

Most Arch Linux users eventually accepted the change, but a small fraction stood by their belief that PID1 must be simple, secure, and stable. This small fraction created Artix Linux, a rolling-release distribution based on Arch Linux that uses OpenRC, runit, or s6 as init.

The installation of Artix Linux is described in detail on its website, and anyone who has ever successfully installed Arch Linux shouldn’t have any issues with it.

As an Arch Linux derivative, Artix Linux is intended predominantly for advanced users who see systemd as a serious security risk. Regular users have absolutely no reason at all to avoid systemd, especially considering that it has been used by most other major Linux distributions for some time now.

4. Chakra

If you enjoy the KDE desktop environment, you should check out Chakra because it focuses exclusively on KDE software, minimizing the use of other widget toolkits.

This distribution started as KDEmod packaging project, which was created by a group of dedicated Arch Linux users to improve and simplify a standard KDE installation with Arch Linux. Eventually, the group decided to release KDEmod as a custom ISO and integrate it even closer with KDE software. In 2010, Chakra 0.2 was released as the first independent version, ending the development on KDEmod.

Chakra blends the rolling-release model used by Arch Linux with its own core packages, which are frozen for a certain period of time and updated only when serious security issues are discovered. This half-rolling release model offers excellent stability while maintaining access to cutting-edge software applications.

The Chakra live ISO features a bootable environment that allows you to try out the system before installing it using the included Calamares distribution-independent installer framework, which you may be familiar with from distributions such as Manjaro, Lubuntu, or KaOS.

5. Velt/OS

Google’s Material Design has influenced many user interface designers, teaching them how to use responsive animations and transitions, grid-based layouts, padding, and depth effects to make software more usable and more visually appealing. Velt/OS is an experimental Material Design-themed desktop environment that can be installed on any existing installation of Arch Linux or easily tested through an Arch Linux-based ISO.

The development of Velt/OS has been steadily progressing for half a decade now, and its developers seem to be onto something truly great. The layout is clearly inspired by Windows, but Material Design gives Velt/OS a unique look that’s a welcome departure from mainstream desktop environments.

Unfortunately, the two main people behind this exciting project, Aidan Shafran, Stefan Kwiecinski, seem to have a lot on their place because progress has been quite slow. But even if Velt/OS won’t ever become a mainstream desktop environment, it will continue to serve as a proof-of-concept, demonstrating the merits of Material Design to future open source developers and users of Arch Linux.

But how do you transfer a downloaded disk image to a USB flash drive? In this article, we provide three solutions to help you create a bootable Linux USB flash drive on Linux, Windows, macOS, and even Android.

Create a Bootable Linux USB with Etcher (Linux, Windows, macOS)

Written in Electron, Etcher is a cross-platform open source utility for flashing disk images to USB drives and memory cards. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux and provides an approachable graphical user interface that reduces the process of creating a bootable Linux USB to just three simple steps.

Unlike other similar software tools, Etcher prevents users from accidentally wiping their entire hard drives, which is something you’ll definitely appreciate if you’ve never created a bootable USB before and understandably feel anxious about the process.

To create a bootable Linux USB with Etcher:

1. Download Etcher from its official website.

• Etcher offers precompiled binaries for Linux, Windows, and macOS).

2. Launch Etcher.

3. Select the ISO file you want to flash to your USB drive.

4. Specify the target USB drive if the correct drive is not selected already.

5. Click the Flash! button and wait for the process to finish.

• You may be asked to enter the admin password.

Create a Bootable Linux USB with dd (Linux, macOS)

dd is a command-line utility for Unix-like operating systems whose primary purpose is to read/write data from/to device files, such as USB flash drives. Because dd is bundled in GNU coreutils, you can find it on virtually all Linux distributions, as well as on macOS.

To create a bootable Linux USB with dd:

1. Open your favorite terminal emulator.
2. Issue the following command (replace /dev/sdx with your drive and path/to/ubuntu.iso with the actual path to the ISO file you want to flash):

3. Wait for dd to finish.

The version of dd included in GNU coreutils doesn’t provide any progress indication. If you’d like some reassurance that the transfer is progressing as it should, you can use the following command (replace dd-pid with the process-id of dd, which you can find using htop):

dd for windows

There’s actually a version of dd for Windows that provides all the functionality you need to transfer an ISO file to a USB flash drive. To install it:

1. Download the latest version from its official website.
2. Extract the downloaded archive to a new folder on your hard drive.
3. Open Command Prompt and navigate to the folder with dd for Windows.
4. Use dd for Windows just like you would the version included in GNU coreutils.

Unfortunately, dd for Windows was last updated in 2010, and many users have reported issues when using the utility in Windows 10. Considering that dd for Windows doesn’t even support data conversion, such as byte order swapping and conversion to and from the ASCII and EBCDIC text encodings, you’re probably better off using either Etcher or Rufus, which we describe in the next chapter.

Create a Bootable Linux USB with Rufus (Windows)

Before the release of Etcher in 2016, Rufus was the best way to create a bootable Linux USB in Windows. This bootable USB flash drive creator is much faster than all of its Windows competitors, and it can create live USB drives for systems with both BIOS and UEFI. Rufus has been translated into several dozen languages, and it’s compatible with Windows 7 and newer, both 32- and 64-bit.

To create a bootable Linux USB with Rufus:

1. Download Rufus from its official website.
   • You can choose between an installer and a portable version.
2. Install it if you’ve downloaded the installer. Otherwise, you can just launch it.
3. Select the target USB device.
4. Click the SELECT button next to the boot selection dropdown menu and specify the ISO file you want to flash.
5. Choose the correct partition scheme for your system.
6. Click the START button.
7. Wait for Rufus to finish.

In addition to creating live Linux USB flash drives, Rufus can also flash Windows disk images.

Create a Bootable Linux USB with EtchDroid (Android)

The last utility we want to describe is called EtchDroid, and its purpose is to write OS images to USB drives on Android smartphones and tablets.

Why would you want to use your Android device to create a bootable Linux USB? Well, imagine you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and your laptop stops working after a botched system update. Without another computer to use, your only option on how to create a bootable Linux USB to fix the issue is your Android device, and that’s where EtchDroid comes in.

To create a bootable Linux USB with EtchDroid:

1. Download EtchDroid from Google Play or F-Droid.
2. Connect a USB flash drive to your Android device using a USB OTG adapter.
3. Launch EtchDroid and select the Write raw image or ISO option.
4. Select your ISO image.
5. Select the USB flash drive.
6. Tap Write to write the image to the USB flash drive.

EtchDroid has been tested with Ubuntu and its derivatives, Debian, Fedora, Arch Linux, and Raspberry PI SD card images. It doesn’t work with Windows, macOS, and old GNU/Linux distros. Support for Windows installation ISO files is on the developer’s to-do list.

1. RimWorld

Genre: Simulation
Developer: Ludeon Studios

Inspired by legendary Dwarf Fortress (also available for Linux), RimWorld is an intricate sci-fi colony simulation game about colonists trying to build a colony on a frontier world at the rim of known space.

The game was first publicly released on November 4, 2013, and its developer, Ludeon Studios, has been steadily improving it since. To help colonists survive, you must fight hostile creatures and machines, craft structures and weapons, tame and train pets and farm animals, trade with passing ships and caravans, research new technologies, and more.

The faith of your colony is in part in the hands of an AI Storyteller, whose purpose is to analyze your actions and create dramatic events that provide the foundation of memorable stories. The AI also gives RimWorld virtually infinite replayability, so you can be sure that you’ll get a lot of value for your money.

2. Cities: Skylines Deluxe Edition

Genre: City-building
Developer: Colossal Order

Cities: Skylines takes the city-building genre to the next level by introducing countless new gameplay elements and providing extensive modding support.

From a fully realized transport system to a day and night cycle that actually affects the gameplay to a realistic simulation of a city’s economy, Cities: Skylines is like a massive toybox for gamers who enjoy pretending to be city planners.

The base game was released in March 2015, and over 10 expansion packs have been released since. While the Deluxe Edition doesn’t include any of the expansion packs, it comes with a bunch of in-game extracts that can’t be found in the base version of the game.

3. Stellaris 

Genre: 4X grand strategy
Developer: Paradox Interactive

Linux gamers have always had a thing for 4X grand strategy video games like Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, FreeOrion, X3: Reunion, and others. Developed and published by Paradox Interactive, Stellaris is a well-received entry in the genre, which revolves around exploration, resource management, diplomacy, and space warfare.

The game’s visuals are stunning, and its gameplay provides enough depth and variety even for the most hardcore fans of 4X games. If you want to, you can create a futuristic utopia that solves intergalactic conflicts through diplomacy. Those who prefer brute force over diplomacy can research deadly weapons and make other races bow to their command.

To enjoy Stellaris in all of its real-time glory, you should have at least an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 4 GB of memory, and a decently powerful graphics card.

4. Stardew Valley

Genre: Simulation, RPG
Developer: ConcernedApe

Sometimes, all you need is to unwind with a video game after a draining day at work or school. Stardew Valley lets you escape the hustle and bustle of modern urban life and spend your time on a virtual farm. You start your farming career with just a few tools that allow you to grow your first crops from seeds. From there, you craft additional items, befriend your neighbors, look for treasures deep underground, and even get married.

Stardew Valley may look like a simple indie game at first, but it offers hours and hours of gameplay that’s so addictive that you’ll stop paying attention to time. Thanks to its retro-inspired pixel graphics, the game runs amazingly well even on older computers without a dedicated graphics card. In addition to Linux, Windows, and macOS, you can also enjoy Stardew Valley on your Android or iOS smartphone, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Vita, Xbox One, and Wii U.

5. Rise of the Tomb Raider

Genre: Action-adventure
Developer: Crystal Dynamics and Feral Interactive

Released in 2015 as the sequel to the 2013 video game, Tomb Raider, this game lets you experience Lara Croft’s first adventure and discover how she became the badass action-adventure hero we know and love today. You will visit some of the most mesmerizing and deadly places on the planet, uncovers an ancient mystery, and fight a ruthless organization known as Trinity.

In Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft isn’t some overpowered action hero. She’s a vulnerable survivor who has to battle the nature itself to live another day. Fortunately, there are many resources just waiting to be discovered and turned into weapons and useful equipment.

The 20th Anniversary edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider lets you experience what it’s like to be in Lara’s shoes via VR. The supported headsets include Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift.

1. Use Linux on Your Personal Computer

Using Linux on your personal computer is by far the simplest project you can embark on. You will be forced to find alternatives to your favorite Windows and Mac applications, figure out how to get older or more obscure hardware devices to work correctly, and stop being afraid of the terminal.

If you’ve never used Linux as your main operating system before, we recommend you start with a beginner-friendly distribution. Here are three popular options:

• Ubuntu: Out of all Linux distributions, Ubuntu enjoys the largest market share because it’s both easy to use and powerful. Its community is extremely active, so finding advice online is no problem.
• Linux Mint: Based on Ubuntu, Linux Mint offers out-of-the-box support for common audio and video codes. There are several editions of Linux Mint to choose from, and the most popular edition features a desktop environment, called Cinnamon, that should feel familiar to all Windows users.
• elementary OS: Inspired by the look and feel of macOS, elementary OS is a beautiful Linux distribution that provides a cohesive experience, a pay-what-you-want app store for indie developers, and a level of polish you might not expect from a free operating system.

2. Build Your Own System from the Ground up

With Linux, you get the freedom to build your own operating system from the ground up, choosing each and every individual part based on your personal preferences and needs.

You can start with a lightweight and flexible distribution like Arch Linux, whose installation is well-documented on its official wiki. In its basic form, Arch Linux doesn’t even contain a desktop environment, but you can install any desktop environment you want using Pacman, a package manager that combines a binary package format with a flexible build system.

When you learn how to install, administer, and use a lightweight Linux distribution like Arch Linux, you can graduate to something even more exciting: Linux From Scratch.

Linux From Scratch is a learning project that provides step-by-step instructions for building your own Linux distribution from source code, which can teach you a lot about how a Linux system works internally. Linux From Scratch can theoretically be installed on just about any computer, but it’s convenient to install it in a virtual machine so that you can easily create backups and recover from them when you mess something up.

3. Create a Smart Magic Mirror

The problem with most DIY projects is that they look like, well, DIY projects. But that’s not the case with this smart magic mirror. Based on an open source modular smart mirror platform called MagicMirror² and the Raspberry Pi single-board computer, this elegant Linux project lets you create a mirror so smart that even Tony Stark would envy you.

While the project may look complicated, there’s no reason to feel intimidated by it at all. You simply need to hook up a display to a Raspberry Pi, install MagicMirror², and configure everything to your liking. You then put a sheet of two-way mirror glass in front of the display to create the illusion of text and images coming directly out of the mirror itself.

If you don’t have a spare display laying around, you can purchase a laptop screen on eBay for around $50 and use a compatible controller board to connect it to the Raspberry Pi. This YouTube video by DIY Perks does a fantastic job of explaining how to put everything together.

Of course, it helps a lot if you already own some basic hand and power tools, but you can create a magic mirror (or at least a smart display) even without them.

4. Set Up a Linux Home Entertainment System

There are many Linux-based home entertainment center distributions with support for all common and not-so-common multimedia file formats, streaming, visualizations, retro game system emulation, and many more exciting features.

Most Linux-based home entertainment center distributions feature Kodi, a free and open source media player software application developed by the XBMC Foundation. Kodi is designed to look and feel great on large TVs, allowing users to play videos, listen to music and podcasts, view photos, and play content from local and network storage media as well as the internet.

Some of the most popular Linux-based home entertainment center distributions with Kodi include OSMC, OpenELEC, and LibreELEC. It doesn’t really matter which distribution you try first because the differences between them are not huge.

What matters a lot more is your choice of hardware components. The Mini-ITX form-factor is especially popular for its compact size. It’s typically best to avoid ultra-high-performance components because of the amount of heat they generate. You can even buy a used laptop and turn it into a power-efficient home entertainment center.

5. Set Up a Web Server

If you aspire to become a Linux server administrator, setting up a home web server is the best learning experience you can get. Unless you choose to do everything from scratch, you should be able to get your first web server up and running in less than a day because running a basic web server on Linux boils down to four components (the so-called LAMP stack):

• Linux: the operating system itself.
• Apache: free and open-source cross-platform web server software.
• MySQL: an open-source relational database management system.
• PHP/Perl/Python: a server-side programming language.

You can follow our tutorial for setting up a Debian 10 LAMP server for PHP web development and adapt it to your distribution.

Once you have a functioning web server, you can set up port forwarding on your router to access it from anywhere. From there, you can install a content management system like WordPress or choose from our selection of self-hosted software development tools. ]]> https://linuxhint.com/best_open_source_games_2020/ Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:15:17 +0000 https://linuxhint.com/?p=54144 There’s no reason to spend $60 on a new AAA release just to bring some variety into your gaming diet when there are many fantastic open source games that are completely free and just as engaging as their big-budget counterparts.

It’s true that open source games seldom give you the graphical fidelity you may be used to from the most technically advanced games of this console generation, they give you something many best-selling titles today desperately miss: captivating gameplay.

1. The Battle for Wesnoth

Available for Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS.

The Battle for Wesnoth is a fantasy-themed turn-based strategy game inspired by the Heroes of Might and Magic series of video games developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing. The game features a huge variety of single-player campaigns and multiplayer maps created both by the game’s developers and its players.

Creating new content for The Battle for Wesnoth is surprisingly easy thanks to the fully-featured map editor and the Wesnoth Markup Language (WML), which was written specially to work with the game.

So far, The Battle for Wesnoth has been translated into 30 different languages. You can download it directly from its official website, but it’s probably faster to grab it from your distribution’s repositories. As long as you have 2 GB of RAM and a processor with at least two cores, it should run without any performance problems.

Who should play it? Do you enjoy exploring detailed fantasy worlds and engaging in nerve-wracking turn-based battles? If so, The Battle for Wesnoth can provide you with endless hours of fun.

2. Xonotic 

Available for Linux, macOS, Windows.

Xonotic is what happens when fans of Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 grow older and learn how to program. This arena-style FPS will test your gaming skills as it pits you against surprisingly cunning bots and ruthless players from around the world alike.

Regardless of if you prefer the cooperative nature of Capture the Flag or the thrill of Deathmatch, Xonotic has just the right gameplay mode for you. Matches take place on 25 official maps and hundreds of community-made ones. There are even maps converted from Nexuiz and Quake 3, so you will feel right at home if you’ve played either of those two games.

To enjoy Xonotic without any lag on the highest settings, you should have at least 4 GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5 processor, and GeForce 9800 GTX+.

Who should play it? This fast-paced online first-person shooter is for players who don’t get excited by loot boxes and endless visual customization options because they enjoy old-school arena action.

3. OpenTTD

Available for Linux, macOS, Windows.

Based on Transport Tycoon Deluxe, OpenTTD is the one game on this list you should absolutely stay away from if you already don’t have enough free time. Once you get past its steep initial learning curve, this game will suck you in and keep you playing until you collapse on the keyboard, unable to play any longer. Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but you get our point.

The two main things that make OpenTTD so addictive are its replayability and depth. The game lets you create much larger maps than Transport Tycoon Deluxe, so you can really get crazy and see just how far your infrastructure-building skills can take you.

Even though OpenTTD was first released in 2004, the game is still in very active development, and you can follow its progress on GitHub. If OpenTTD seems like the perfect game for you, we recommend you also check out Simutrans, which takes things to the next level by getting rid of the map size limit.

Who should play it? Just like the original Transport Tycoon, OpenTTD is guaranteed to appeal to players who enjoy creating intricate systems and simulated digital worlds.

4. 0 A.D.

Available for Linux, macOS, Windows.

Open source games don’t often impress with their visuals, which is just one of many reasons why we decided to include 0. A.D. on this list. This real-time strategy game is set in the Roman Empire, focusing on the years between 500 BC and 1 BC. Your goal is to build a functional base, gather resources, train soldiers, and research new technologies. You start off with just a few villagers and gradually expand your settlement and might.

1. A.D. features multiple factions, each with its unique in its appearance and gameplay. Just like the game that inspired it, Age of Empires, 0. A.D. doesn’t place historical accuracy too high on its list of priorities, but the game is still full of authentic historical details that reflect the developer’s passion for the project.
2. A.D. is fully moddable, which means that you can do everything from adding your own civilization to editing the behavior of individual units. To enjoy 0. A.D. in all of its Roman glory, you should have a decently powerful computer, but you definitely don’t need an expensive gaming rig. Any modern laptop with a dedicated graphics card should be able to run the game just fine.

Who should play it? If you grew up with Age of Empires and have been craving a similar strategy game that you could play on Linux, you should definitely download 0 A.D. and give it a try.

5. SuperTuxKart

Available for Linux, macOS, Windows, Android.

Some games are best enjoyed with friends, and SuperTuxKart is among them. This arcade racing game is all about silly characters, even sillier vehicles, and crazy tracks. It doesn’t matter if you’re 10 or 100, SuperTuxKart is fun for all.

Not too long ago, SuperTuxKart developers implemented one of the longest-awaited features, online racing support. With it, players across the world can compete in several multiplayer modes for a place in the global ranking list. Creating a SuperTuxKart server is really simple, and even the latest Raspberry Pi is powerful enough to run it.

Who should play it? SuperTuxKart is a must-play game for all fans of Mario Kart. Call your friends, grab a bottle of your favorite beverage, and enjoy hours of fun. ]]> https://linuxhint.com/5_cheap_raspberry_pi_alternatives/ Mon, 27 Jan 2020 18:25:39 +0000 https://linuxhint.com/?p=54116 The Raspberry Pi is the king of single-board computers because it offers decent performance packed into a convenient form-factor for an attractive price. But its competition hasn’t been asleep while it’s been sitting on the throne.

In 2020, there are several cheap Raspberry Pi alternatives that you should consider for your projects, each offering a unique set of features and capabilities. So, without further ado, here’s our list of the best cheap Raspberry Pi alternatives in 2020.

1. Arduino Uno R3

The Arduino UNO R3 is a popular microcontroller and an affordable alternative to the Raspberry Pi for projects that don’t require a lot of processing power or wireless connectivity. Because it consumes between 20 mA and 80 mA, you can power it with a single 1000 mAh battery for around 3 hours.

Just like the Raspberry Pi, the Arduino UNO R3 features multiple input/output pins (of which 6 provide PWM output) that you can use to control actuators, lights, switches, or just about anything else you want.

To tell the Arduino UNO R3 what you want it to do, you can use either the Arduino Web Editor and save your code in the cloud, or you can download the Arduino IDE and run it on your favorite Linux distribution. There’s a wealth of learning resources online, so getting started shouldn’t be a problem for you.

2. Le Potato

Created by the Libre Computer project, Le Potato is a clone of the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, offering pretty much identical form-factor, port layout, and features, with one major exception: HDMI 2.0 support. That’s right, Le Potato can output 4K. It can also effortlessly play H.265, H.264, and VP9 video, making it suitable as the brain of a budget home entertainment center.

As far as software compatibility goes, Le Potato supports the Android 9/TV, upstream Linux, u-boot, Kodi, Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic LTS, RetroPie, Armbian, Debian 9 Stretch, Lakka 2.1+, and more. Because the board mirrors the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ in size and layout, you can use any cade or accessories made for the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+.

The biggest downside of Le Potato is the lack of documentation and community support. While the company has published the schematics and source code for Le Potato, it has yet to create any beginner-friendly tutorials.

3. Orange Pi Zero

If you’re looking for an alternative to the Raspberry Pi Zero, you need to take a look at the Orange Pi Zero. While not cheaper (after all, the Raspberry Pi Zero costs just $5), the Orange Pi Zero is more powerful and offers a full-sized Ethernet port (limited to 100 MB/s) as well as a Wi-Fi module with a connector for an external antenna. As such, it flawlessly satisfies the needs of those who are working on IoT projects.

There’s also a full-sized USB 2.0 port, 26 expansion pins, 13 function interface pins, and a slot for microSD card. Despite all these connectivity options, the Orange Pi Zero measures just 48 mm × 46 mm and weighs only 26 grams.

The most popular operating system for the Orange Pi Zero is Armbian, a Debian and Ubuntu-based computer operating system for ARM development boards, and you can download it directly from its official website.

4. PocketBeagle

The PocketBeagle is a tiny USB-key-fob computer built around the Octavo Systems OSD3358 SoC, which includes 512 MB DDR3 RAM, 1-GHz ARM Cortex-A8 CPU, 2x 200 MHz PRUs, ARM Cortex-M3, 3D accelerator, power/battery management, and EEPROM.

Despite measuring just 56 mm x 35 mm x 5 mm, the PocketBeagle has 72 expansion pin headers with power and battery I/Os, high-speed USB, 8 analog inputs, and 44 digital I/Os. All Raspberry Pi users will appreciate that a Debian-based distribution is provided for it on the official website. All you need to do to get started is download it and transfer it to a microSD card.

The owners of PocketBeagle have used this tiny Raspberry Pi alternative to create robots, drones, DIY Alexa, funny wearable hats with LEDs and built-in speakers, arcade machines, automatic irrigation systems, and much more. Since so much has already been done with the PocketBeagle, you can simply pick up an interesting project and learn by replicating it.

5. BBC micro: bit

The BBC micro: bit is the best Raspberry Pi alternative for learning. It measures just 4 x 5 cm and comes with an integrated compass, accelerometer, as well as light and temperature sensors, so you can immediately have fun with it without spending money on accessories. In addition to the two sensors, the BBC micro: bit is also equipped with 25 individually programmable LEDs, 2 programmable buttons, physical connection pins, radio and Bluetooth, and one USB port.

You can use the LEDs to display text, numbers, and even primitive images, trigger code on the device with the two physical buttons, interface with other electrical components with the physical connection pins, create a Rock, Paper, Scissors game with JavaScript that takes advantage of the built-in accelerometer, or use the radio to send messages to other micro:bits.

The BBC micro: bit can be programmed either directly in Python or with the help of the MakeCode Editor, which works with pre-created blocks of code that you can simply drag and drop to tell the device what you want it to do. Many fun programs for the BBC micro: bit published and explained on the official website. Unfortunately, the company behind this innovative single-board computer seems to have abandoned it.

What Is Google Cloud?

Launched in 2008, Google Cloud is a comprehensive cloud computing suite running on the same powerful global infrastructure Google uses for its central products, including Google Search and YouTube.

Google Cloud provides secure storage, powerful compute, and integrated data analytics products that can satisfy the needs of everyone from individual home users to larger enterprises.

Some of the most noteworthy use cases of Google Cloud include web hosting, deployment of globally available apps, fully managed cloud data warehouse, machine learning, shared gaming experiences, and automation of repetitive tasks, just to give a few examples.

With Google Cloud, anyone can easily spin up a virtual machine in seconds and use it as a worry-free alternative to a physical server. Because all resources are virtualized, it’s possible to effortlessly add more processing power or storage on demand, so you always pay only for what you use.

Best of all, all new Google Cloud users receive a $300 credit that can be  used with any Google Cloud service. To be eligible for the bonus credit, you have to be a new Google Cloud customer and set up a billing account by providing your credit card information, which is required to verify that you’re not a bot.

Setting Up a Google Cloud Server from Scratch

Google has made it very easy to set a new Google Cloud server from scratch, and the whole process shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes from start to finish.

Step 1: Sign In to Google Cloud

First, you need to sign in to Google Cloud with your Gmail account. Head over to Google Cloud’s website and click the blue “Get started for free” button located in the upper-right corner of the page.

If you haven’t provided your credit card details to Google before, you will be asked to do so now. Don’t worry: Google won’t start charging you until you spend the $300 bonus, which you can do within a year. Furthermore, you have to manually upgrade to a paid account for Google to start charging you.

You will know that you’ve received $300 in credit if you see the following pop-up window after sign-up:

Simply click “GOT IT” and proceed to the next step of our tutorial.

Step 2: Create a New Google Cloud Server

To create a new Google Cloud Server, select “Compute Engine” from the navigation menu on the left and click on “VM instances.” The purpose of Compute Engine it to allow users to create and use virtual machines on Google’s infrastructure. Wait a minute or two until Compete Engine finishes getting ready. You will be able to tell that it’s ready because the blue “Create” button will become clickable.

When that happens, click on it and configure your server’s settings.

You have several decisions to make:

• Name: Give your server a memorable name that starts with a lowercase letter and is followed by up to 62 lowercase letters, numbers, or hyphens. Keep in mind that the name is permanent, so you can’t change it later.
• Region: A region is a specific geographical location where you can run your resources. If you’re creating a Google Cloud server for learning purposes, choose the region closest to you. If you’re creating a Google Cloud server to, for example, host a website, choose the region closest to your customers.
• Zone: A zone is an isolated location within a region that determines where your data are stored. You don’t need to worry about it.
• Machine configuration: Google Cloud offers virtual machines for common workloads as well as large-memory machine types for memory-intensive workloads. You can choose how many cores and GB of memory you want and change this setting later.
• Boot disk: This is where you choose the operating system for your Google Cloud server. Debian 9 Stretch is selected by default, but you can change it to Debian 10 Buster, CentOS, Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, and more. Google even lets you upload your own custom image.
• Firewall: If you want to connect to the web from your Google Cloud server, make sure to allow both HTTP and HTTPS traffic.

Once you have everything configured to your liking, click the blue “Create” button on the bottom of the page.

Step 3: Use Your Google Cloud Server

With your server created, you can now easily connect to it from the Google Cloud management console by selecting the “SSH” option under connect. A new browser window will open with a fully functional terminal inside of it.

If you would like to connect to the server from your Linux distribution, follow this guide from Google, which explains how to provide a public SSH key to the instance and establish a secure connection using a third-party tool.

When you’re done using your Google Cloud server, make sure to select it and click on the Stop icon located in the toolbar at the top of the VM instances page. Next to the stop button is a handy reset button, which allows you to restart the server should anything go wrong with it.

Conclusion

The cloud is the future, and Google allows everyone to join it in less than 15 minutes with its Google Cloud suite of storage, compute, and data analytics services. To get started, all you need is a Google email address and the ability to follow our step by step guide. Because Google gives all new users a $300 sign up bonus, you can spend a lot of time testing what it has to offer without having to reach for your credit card.

Lenovo ThinkPad Linux Compatibility

Determined to maintain its position, Lenovo joined the Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS) in August 2018, which means that many different Lenovo devices can now get automatic firmware updates through fwupd or in GNOME Software.

In addition to providing automatic firmware updates to Linux users, Lenovo has also shipped a number of ThinkPads with Ubuntu or Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and you can find hardware compatibility information for each Linux distribution on Lenovo’s official website.

For a detailed breakdown of individual hardware components found in Lenovo ThinkPad laptops and their Linux compatibility, we recommend the Lenovo page on the ArchWiki. The only ongoing source of compatibility problems is the fingerprint scanner, but new drivers are in the works.

How to Install Linux on a Lenovo ThinkPad

To install your favorite Linux distribution on a Lenovo ThinkPad:

1. Create a bootable USB drive with your Linux distribution of choice.
   • We recommend you create the USB drive with balenaEtcher, an easy-to-use, multi-platform, and open-source image burner.
2. Restart your laptop.
3. Press F1 at the ThinkPad logo during bootup to enter BIOS.
   • If F1 doesn’t work try F2 or Enter.
4. Navigate to the boot menu.
5. Select the USB drive.

From there, follow your distribution’s installation instructions.

Best Lenovo ThinkPad Laptops for Linux

As we’ve already explained, ThinkPads, in general, are Linux-friendly machines that typically work great with most major Linux distributions. However, some ThinkPads that have become especially popular among Linux users thanks to their impressive performance, value, reliability, and, of course, Linux compatibility.

1. Lenovo ThinkPad T480

The Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is arguably the best productivity laptop you can get, offering dependable performance, impressive battery life, and wallet-saving durability in a highly portable package thanks to its 14-inch display.

Unlike many other 14-inch laptops, the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 won’t force you to carry an assortment of dongles with you everywhere you go because it provides a wide range of convenient ports, including a full-sized RJ45 Ethernet connector and a Thunderbolt 3 port.

Except for the laptop’s fingerprint reader, everything works right out of the box, including the 720p webcam and the Intel Dual Band 8265 Wireless AC adapter with support for Bluetooth 4.2.

2. Lenovo ThinkPad E590

The ThinkPad E series from Lenovo is aimed at small businesses and self-employed individuals who need a reliable laptop for work. With its 15.6-inch display, the ThinkPad E590 is one of the larger members of the E series, making it suitable primarily for stationary use and as a portable desktop replacement.

Lenovo understands that not all work happens in clean offices, which is why the ThinkPad E590 is able to pass strict thermal, vibration, and shock tests and function in extremely hot, dusty, and otherwise demanding environments.

When deciding which model of the ThinkPad E590 to buy, we recommend you avoid models with a spinning hard drive because it really holds the laptop back. Regardless with which model you go with, all hardware components should work flawlessly except for the fingerprint reader.

3. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 7th

If you desire to own an ultra-portable Linux machine with enough processing power and battery capacity to keep you productive wherever life takes you, then you shouldn’t hesitate to add the 7^th generation of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon to your shopping cart.

This lightweight laptop weighs only 1.09 kg and is 14.9 mm thin despite lasting around 18 hours on a charge and rocking an 8^th generation Intel Core processor with up to 16 GB of memory. You can choose between an impressively fine 4K display with HDR support, a touch-enabled Full HD display, and a Full HD display with PrivacyGuard technology, which narrows the display’s viewing angles to prevent strangers on a plane from seeing what you’re working on.

If you decide to go with the Full HD display with PrivacyGuard technology, you should keep in mind that it’s supported only in Linux 5.4 and newer.

4. Lenovo ThinkPad P53

For the times when regular laptops don’t cut it performance-wise, and desktop computers don’t cut it portability-wise, there is the ThinkPad P-series, whose members can only be described as mobile workstations characterized by desktop-level performance, military-grade durability, and expedition-grade battery capacity.

The ThinkPad P53 is a full-fledged desktop replacement with a stunning 15.6-inch display with 4K resolution, HDR, and DCI-P3 100% color gamut. The laptop can be equipped with the 9^th generation Intel Core i7-9750H processor, Nvidia Quadro T1000 or T2000 graphics card, fast SSD storage, and ample memory.

The ThinkPad P53 can be purchased with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (running the 4.15.0-1053-oem kernel), but it also works great with the latest version of the Linux kernel.

5. Lenovo ThinkPad X220 (Refurbished or Used)

First released in April 2011, the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 has aged gracefully, remaining one of the best ThinkPads for Linux. It stands out with its compact 12.5-inch display, which makes it a fantastic travel companion or network administrator’s best friend. Because the display has a relatively modest resolution of 1,366×768 pixels, the laptop is able to last over 20 hours on a charge if you really make every instruction cycle count.

Since this is a ThinkPad we’re talking about, you can look forward to a full-sized DisplayPort, RJ45 Ethernet connector, VGA output, combo audio jack, and three USB 2.0 ports. There’s also a docking connector that replicates all ports and lets you easily use the ThinkPad X220 as a desktop replacement at home or work with the Thinkpad X220 Ultrabase Docking Station.

The ThinkPad X220 has been around for a long time, so hardware manufacturers and the Linux community have had plenty of time to sort out even the smallest issues, resulting in a problem-free Linux experience.