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Senin, 30 Juni 2025

Relive the Golden Era: 5 Tools to Get Retro Feel on Linux

Retro techs are no longer stranger things. Just like vinyl records and vintage fashion, retro computing has captured our collective imagination, irrespective of the age group.

I mean, there's something deeply satisfying about amber-on-black terminals and chunky pixel fonts that modern UIs can't replicate.

The good thing here is that us Linux users are perfectly positioned to embrace this nostalgia wave.

No, I am not talking about those ultra-lightweight distros that involuntarily give retro vibes of late 90s and early 2000s. I am going to share a few interesting software that will help you get the retro feel on your modern Linux system.

1. Cool Retro Term

I'll start with my favorite, that is also a functional tool.

cool-retro-term is a terminal emulator which mimics the look and feel of the old cathode tube screens. That's just about it. You do not get any special abilities, just the good-old look.

But here's the thing. You can use it like your regular terminal, it have vintage looks but the modern features still work the same.

There are more than one presets of colors and style available.

Cool Retro Term

Installing Cool Retro Term

You can install it on Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch Linux using the commands respectively:

sudo apt install cool-retro-term #For Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install cool-retro-term #For Fedora
sudo pacman -Syu cool-retro-term #For Arch based distros

Cool Retro Term

2. RSC8

RSC8 is a CHIP-8 virtual machine/emulator written in Rust with no_std core. It is yet another makeover for your terminal. So, if you like to use a retro terminal but built with Rust, give this a try.

RSC8 Chip-8 Virtual machine/emulator

Install it using cargo.

cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/jerryshell/rsc8

To use rsc8, you'll have to download ROMs of your choice from this GitHub repo and then use the following command:

rsc8_tui <your_rom.ch8>

RSC8

3. Retro Pie

RetroPie transforms your Raspberry Pi, ODroid C1/C2, or PC into a nostalgic gaming powerhouse.

It leverages platforms like Raspbian, EmulationStation, RetroArch, and other innovative projects, allowing you to enjoy classic Arcade, home-console, and vintage PC games with minimal hassle.

RetroPie Walkthrough

Since there were multiple kinds of platforms/consoles in the past, there are different emulators for them.

But that's only half of the story. You also need to download ROMs that consist of games of that platform.

For example, if you want to play games that were available Nintendo's NES console, you download the ROM with NES games and then use the NES emulator in RetroPi to load this ROM. It's like inserting a virtual disk.

The problem here is that these ROMs are often deemed illegal to distribute, and hence the websites that host them are often removed.

Playing Super Mario World in RetroPie

Installing RetroPi

Please ensure that you have git installed on your system as you'll have to clone the Git repo here.

cd
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup.git

Run the setup script:

cd RetroPie-Setup
sudo ./retropie_setup.sh

Follow the onscreen instructions for a basic installation.

RetroPie

4. Hot Dog Linux

Hot Dog Linux is an X11 Window Manager with Windows 3.1 Hot Dog Stand, Amiga Workbench, Atari ST GEM, Mac Classic and Aqua UI pre-installed.

HOTDOG is an acronym that stands for Horrible Obsolete Typeface and Dreadful Onscreen Graphics.

HOTDOG Linux

It is built using Objective-C and uses bitmapped graphics, low DPI displays. There are no unicode support here.

Installing Hot Dog Linux:

Download the ISO and install in VirtualBox. Make sure 3D acceleration is enabled.

HOTDOG Linux

🚧

It only worked in GNOME Boxes for me.

5. DOSBox or DOSBox Staging

DOSBox is free and open-source software that allows you to emulate the MS-DOS operating systems from the previous century.

It allows you to play the 8-bit games.

Playing Doom2 in DOSBox

DOSBox also emulates CPU:286/386 realmode/protected mode, Directory FileSystem/XMS/EMS, Tandy/Hercules/CGA/EGA/VGA/VESA graphics, a SoundBlaster/Gravis Ultra Sound card for excellent sound compatibility with older games.

DOSBox

Installing DOSBox

On Ubuntu, and Arch, you can use the following commands respectively:

sudo apt install dosbox #For Ubuntu/Debina
sudo pacman -Syu dosbox #For Arch

DOSBox Staging

Fedora ships with DOSBox Staging, a modern continuation of DOSBox. DOSBox Staging is also available in Flathub.

For Arch, it is in AUR. And, for Ubuntu and Mint, add the following PPA to get it installed:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:feignint/dosbox-staging
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install dosbox-staging

DOSBox Staging

Wrapping Up

Linux enables users to have a godly amount of customization options. Whether you want your desktop to look clean, and contemporary, or you want to give it a retro look, there are certainly a few tools for that.

Come to think of, I should do a tutorial on how to give a retro makeover to your Linux distro, somewhat like the modern makeover video of Linux Mint.

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Linux makes it easy to bring the retro vibe back to life. Whether it’s an old-school terminal, a full-blown vintage desktop, or classic games from the 90s, there’s a tool for every kind of nostalgia.

What is your favorite tool that we missed listing here? Let me know in the comments below.

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Rabu, 25 Juni 2025

FOSS Weekly #25.26: Torvalds-Gates Showdown, Hyprland Premium, Fedora's 32-bit Debacle, Xfce Themes and More Linux Stuff

In an interesting turn of events, Linus Torvalds and Bill Gates meet each other for the first time at a dinner invite. What would have they talked about? Any guesses?

This photo also made me realize how quickly Torvalds has aged in the past few years 😔

We have 71 new lifetime members, just 4 short of our original target of 75. Would you help us achieve this?
To recall, you get the lifetime Plus membership option with a reduced pricing of $76 instead of the usual $99 along with a free Linux command line eBook. If you ever wanted to support us with Plus membership but didn't like the recurring subscription, this is the best time for that 😃

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

Kubuntu also dropping Xorg support.
Hyprland working on a paid plan and not everyone being happy about it.
KDE's new setup tool.
Void Editor with open source AI to tackle Cursor supermacy.
And other Linux news, tips, and, of course, memes!

📰 Linux and Open Source News

Kubuntu is also set to drop Xorg in favor of Wayland. Fedora, Ubuntu and now Kubuntu. I can see more distros following this trend in the near future.
KDE plans a new setup tool to welcome users after a fresh installation.
Hyprland is planning to launch a paid premium tier and that decision has led to heated discussion in the communities.
Murena Find launches as a Qwant-based search engine.
Zed Editor's new debugger has arrived with multi-language support.
Kingfisher is MongoDB's new open source real-time secrets scanner.

Fedora plans to ditch 32-bit support completely. This will impact Steam and Wine.

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

Accessibility on Linux is being taken for granted.

It’s True, “We” Don’t Care About Accessibility on Linux

What do concern trolls and privileged people without visible or invisible disabilities who share or make content about accessibility on Linux being trash without contributing anything to projects have in common? They don’t actually really care about the group they’re defending; they just exploit these victims’ unfortunate situation to fuel hate against groups and projects actually trying to make the world a better place. I never thought I’d be this upset to a point I’d be writing an article about something this sensitive with a clickbait-y title. It’s simultaneously demotivating, unproductive, and infuriating. I’m here writing this post fully knowing that I could have been working on accessibility in GNOME, but really, I’m so tired of having my mood ruined because of privileged people spending at most 5 minutes to write erroneous posts and then pretending to be oblivious when confronted while it takes us 5 months of unpaid work to get a quarter of recognition, let alone acknowledgment, without accounting for the time “wasted” addressing these accusations. This is far from the first time, and it will certainly not be the last.

TheEvilSkeletonTheEvilSkeleton

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

What’s a shim file, and why does your Linux distro need it when dealing with UEFI secure boot?
You can easily beautify Xfce desktop with these themes I suggest.
Did you know you could tweak the file manager in GNOME desktop and extend its features?
Quick tip on using dark mode with VLC.

Fast, pretty, and actually helpful. Btop++ nails system monitoring.

Desktop Linux is mostly neglected by the industry but loved by the community. For the past 13 years, It's FOSS has been helping people use Linux on their personal computers. And we are now facing the existential threat from AI models stealing our content.

If you like what we do and would love to support our work, please become It's FOSS Plus member. It costs $24 a year (less than the cost of a burger meal each month) and you get an ad-free reading experience with the satisfaction of helping the desktop Linux community.

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👷 Homelab and Hardware Corner

Abhishek boosted his Raspberry Pi's performance with this simple tweak. However, this is not a trick you should use often.

Spotted this 'glow bot' smart AI assistant on Kickstarter. A cool desk companion with a futuristic vibe, only if you have money to spare. It is not open source. I hope someone starts a similar open source project soon, as this is an interesting concept to have customized pixel animation that reacts according to interaction.

✨ Project Highlight

Don't like Cursor's proprietary nature? You can try Void instead.

📽️ Videos I am Creating for You

A rare Linux game review from us in video format. There is a text version, too. If you like it, we will cover more indie games that can be played natively on Linux.

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🧩 Quiz Time

Can you guess all the Shell Built-in commands?

💡 Quick Handy Tip

In the Konsole, you can view file thumbnails. To accomplish this, first enable "Underline files" in a profile you use in Konsole via Menu → Settings → Configure Konsole → Profiles → Your Profile → Edit → Mouse → Miscellaneous → Underline files.

Now, perform Menu → Settings → Configure Konsole → Thumbnails → Enable thumbnails generation. Also, set an activation key to hold while hovering your cursor, I used the Shift key to demonstrate below.

That's it. Now, when you press Shift and hover your mouse over a file, a thumbnail will appear!

🤣 Meme of the Week

I feel like a mentor 👨‍🏫

🗓️ Tech Trivia

Microsoft was incorporated on June 25, 1981, in the state of Washington, following its founding by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975.

One more fun fact, Linus Torvalds and Bill Gates recently met at a dinner hosted by Microsoft Azure's CTO, Mark Russinovich.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

Hotmail is a name I haven't heard in quite some time now. One of our FOSSers is not happy with it.

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

Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

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Linux Jargon Buster: What are Secure Boot & Shim Files?

If you’re a Linux user, you might have found yourself tangled in boot issues while installing your favorite distro especially if "Secure Boot is" in the picture.

Secure Boot is meant to add an extra layer of protection to our systems, preventing unverified software from running at boot. Sounds like a win, right?

Well, not always. For Linux users, Secure Boot can often feel like more of a hassle than a help, leading to issues, failed installations, and troubleshooting headaches.

Take, for instance, the Ubuntu 21.04 release fiasco, where the latest shim files (used to enable Secure Boot on Linux) had compatibility issues with early EFI firmware, causing some users’ systems to become unbootable after an upgrade.

Ubuntu eventually released a fix, but not before many users found themselves troubleshooting or even downgrading to older shims just to get their systems to boot.

But what exactly is Secure Boot, how do shim files play a role, and when should you consider disabling it?

In this guide, I’ll break down Secure Boot in simple terms and explain how it affects Linux installations, including what you can do if it gets in the way.

What is Secure Boot?

Imagine your computer as a castle with a strong gatekeeper who checks the ID of anyone trying to enter.

Secure Boot is like that gatekeeper, making sure only trusted, safe programs get to run during the initial phase of starting up your computer, also known as the What are Secure Boot & Shim Files?boot process.

Secure Boot is a security standard developed to keep your computer safe from malware that could sneak in and start doing harmful things even before the operating system (OS) fully loads.

It is part of what's called the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), which replaced the older BIOS system. UEFI is a modern way for your computer to boot up and check everything is working as expected.

When Secure Boot is turned on, your computer will only load software/operating system with a special signature or “stamp” of approval.

If something without this signature tries to load, Secure Boot stops it, protecting your computer from potential harm.

How does Secure Boot work?

Secure Boot uses a chain of trust with different types of cryptographic keys (think of them as digital ID cards) to verify each step of the boot process. Here’s a simple breakdown:

Platform Key (PK): This is like the master key, usually held by the device maker (like Dell, HP, etc.). It’s the root of the verification process.

Key Exchange Key (KEK): This key confirms whether other keys can be trusted, acting as a bridge between the platform key and bootloaders.

Allowed Database (DB): Contains a list of approved signatures for software that’s allowed to load.

Forbidden Database (DBX): Stores signatures of known, unsafe programs. If something tries to load from this list, Secure Boot blocks it.

During startup, Secure Boot checks each program that tries to load against these keys and databases. Only programs that have valid, signed keys will run, making sure your system stays secure.

What are Shim files?

Now, let’s say you’re trying to run Linux on a Secure Boot-enabled computer. Linux doesn’t always have the same pre-approved signatures as Windows, so that’s where Shim files come in.

A Shim is a small program that acts like a translator between Secure Boot and the Linux OS. The Shim file is signed with a key that Secure Boot recognizes (often by Microsoft), so it’s allowed to load.

The Shim then verifies the signature of the Linux bootloader (like GRUB) and passes control to it if everything checks out.

This process creates a “chain of trust” from Secure Boot to Linux, so the OS can load securely even on a Secure Boot-enabled system.

Why Secure Boot is important?

Secure Boot is crucial because it provides a defense against one of the most dangerous kinds of malware: bootkits and rootkits.

These are malicious programs that try to hide themselves in the boot process, allowing them to run before the OS is fully up and running. They can be hard to detect and even harder to remove.

With Secure Boot:

Bootkits and rootkits are blocked from loading by the signature check.
Tampered or unauthorized programs are prevented from affecting the boot process.
Users are alerted if something is wrong, so they can address potential issues before they become serious problems.

When you might need to disable Secure Boot

Secure Boot is great for security, but there are times when it can cause issues:

Installing unsigned operating systems: Some operating systems, especially certain Linux distributions, may not have the required signatures to pass Secure Boot verification. If your OS isn’t recognized, Secure Boot will prevent it from loading.
Using custom drivers or bootloaders: Certain drivers or bootloaders might not be signed, which can cause compatibility issues.
Advanced Configurations: For power users who want to customize their systems, Secure Boot’s restrictions can feel limiting. Disabling it allows for greater flexibility, especially in homelab or development environments.

However, turning off Secure Boot also removes that extra layer of security, so it’s essential to proceed carefully.

Which distros support Secure Boot?

While Secure Boot has posed compatibility challenges for Linux, many popular distributions have adapted to work smoothly with it.

These distros include signed bootloaders and shim binaries that allow them to run without issues on systems with Secure Boot enabled.

Most major Linux distributions now support Secure Boot. I can think of these at least:

Ubuntu
Fedora
openSUSE/SUSE
Zorin
Linux Mint
Debian
Red Hat

🚧

This is not an extensive list of all distros with secure boot support. There are many more distros out there that support secure boot. Please check their official websites for information.

Not all distributions offer Secure Boot support, so it’s worth verifying before installation if you plan to keep Secure Boot enabled.

For distros that don’t support Secure Boot directly, you can still disable it in the BIOS settings or manually add a trusted bootloader, though it requires some technical knowledge.

How to disable Secure Boot (and why you should be careful)

If you decide that you need to disable Secure Boot, here’s a simple guide:

🚧

Disabling Secure Boot makes your system more vulnerable to boot-level attacks. Ensure that you have other security measures in place, like keeping your OS up-to-date and using antivirus software.

Restart your computer and enter the UEFI/BIOS settings (this usually involves pressing a key like F2, F10, or DEL during startup).
Find the Secure Boot option: In the settings, look for “Secure Boot” under Security or Boot options.
Disable Secure Boot: Set it to “Disabled.” Be sure to save changes and exit.

Final Thoughts

The discourse around Secure Boot is polarizing, and for good reason.

While it’s designed to enhance system security, it often imposes limitations on Linux users, especially those who rely on proprietary drivers or use less mainstream distributions.

The need for Microsoft-signed shims raises valid concerns about vendor lock-in and compatibility.

In my experience, especially with a dedicated graphics card on my gaming laptop, keeping Secure Boot off is almost a necessity.

With Secure Boot enabled, proprietary drivers tend to fail during installation, as I’ve seen firsthand on Pop!_OS. It’s a compromise I choose for compatibility, though it shouldn’t have to be this way.

This article is for those interested in understanding Secure Boot’s quirks and why your favorite distro might not boot up smoothly.

The debate is nuanced: is it a crucial security layer or an unnecessary barrier for Linux users? I’d love to hear where you stand on this discourse, let me know in the comments!

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Sabtu, 21 Juni 2025

Btop++: Linux System Monitoring Tool That is Definitely Better than Top

The omnipresent top command is often the first tool that comes to mind for system resource monitoring in the Linux command line.

Btop++ is a similar Linux system monitoring tool that shows usage statistics for processor, memory, disk, network, and processes.

It is a C++ variant of the popular bashtop from the same developer. In fact, the developer states that Btop++ is a continuation of bashtop and bpytop.

What makes Btop++ interesting

0:00

/0:10

Btop++ default

Here are a few things that make btop++ a better choice than the top command:

Full mouse support, with clicks and scrolling
Function for showing detailed stats for selected process.
Fast, easy to use user interface.
Ability to filter processes.
Shows IO activity and speeds for disks.

Installation

Btop++ is available in the official repositories of most Linux distributions.

In Ubuntu 22.04 and above, you can use the following command to install it:

sudo apt install btop

If you are using Fedora, here is the command for you:

sudo dnf install btop

And, for Arch Linux users, you can use this:

sudo pacman -Syu btop

🪛 Troubleshooting tip: No UTF-8 locale detected

When I first ran btop++ on an Arch Linux system, I encountered a "No UTF-8 locale detected" error.

ERROR: No UTF-8 locale detected!
Use --force-utf argument to force start if you're sure your terminal can handle it.

To solve this, either run:

btop --force-utf

Or, edit your ~/.bashrc file to add the following line and fix it permanently:

export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Running btop++

To run btop++, open a terminal and run the command:

btop

In desktops like GNOME, there will be a menu entry for btop++ as well.

Explore btop++ interface

While running it, you can see that several letters appearing in the title portions of the interface appear in a different color.

You can press these keys on the keyboard to access the related settings. For example, pressing the m key in the above screenshot will bring a menu screen.

Here, hover over Options and press enter. This will bring up the GUI Settings dialog for btop++.

Btop++ settings

Navigate through the settings using the arrow keys and highlighted characters. The above video shows some settings changes using this btop++ menu.

📋

To keep things simpler, Btop++ is also referred to as Btop at times.

Some essential Btop functions

In this section, we will take a look at a couple of important usage of Btop as a system monitor and process manager.

Terminate a process

While you are in Btop, press the down or up arrow key to move through the list of processes. When you are above a process you want to terminate, press the t key on your keyboard.

Terminate a process

Get more details for a process

You can press the enter key on top of a process to open it in a separate section. This will then give more insight about that process like status, CPU, elapsed time, etc.

Send more signals

If you want to send a different signal to a process, Btop can do that as well. Hover over a process and press the s key on your keyboard.

From the list of signal, enter a number. That's it!

Send more signals

Configuring Btop++

All options in btop++ are configurable via the TUI menu. Still, btop++ provides a text-based configuration file as well.

You can find this autogenerated config file at ~/.config/btop/btop.conf.

Edit this file in any of your favorite text editors to modify it.

Changing the theme

You'll may come across some themes that are specifically created for btop++. For example, I am a fan of Catppuccin theme these days and I was glad to see a btop theme in this color palette.

Here's what you should do for changing the theme. Get the .theme files. For Catppuccin, go to their release page and grab the latest themes.tar.gz file.

Extract it and you'll see four variants of the theme. Either copy all of them or the one of your choice (you can see what it looks like on the GitHub repo) to ~/.config/btop/themes folder.

Next, edit the file ~/.config/btop/btop.conf and change the color_theme = "Default" line to:

color_theme = "catppuccin_macchiato"

The above will change the theme to Catppuccin Macchiato.

Getting help

The best way to get help in btop is by using its TUI menu. While running btop, press the ESC key.

Now, from the list, select HELP.

This will print the help window with necessary keys and their functions.

Wrapping Up

For many Linux users, htop is the better top. However, Btop++ is a pretty nice system monitor too. If you do not like to use GUI resource monitors, and want something fast, this is a nice option to have. Alternatively, you may also explore glances.

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Rabu, 18 Juni 2025

FOSS Weekly #25.25: Nitrux Hyprland, Joplin Tips, Denmark Ditching Microsoft, Tiling Moves and More Linux Stuff

You probably have noticed a lack of new articles this week. And there is a 'good' reason for that. I have been busy with the arrival of my second child 🚼

That is also the reason why there was a slight delay in lifetime membership activation. But it's done for all the 43 new members so far (of the set goal of 75 new lifetime members).

Things are getting back on the track as the mother and baby duo have been discharged from the hospital. You should start seeing more tutorials, I promise 😸

The 13th anniversary offer is still going on. You get the lifetime membership option with reduced pricing of $76 instead of the usual $99 along with a Linux command line eBook. If you ever wanted to support us with Plus membership but didn't like the recurring subscription, this is the best time for that 😃

Get It's FOSS Lifetime Membership

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

A new Kali Linux release.
ONLYOFFICE 9 with more modern features.
Nitrux Linux offers Hyprland by default.
Linux Foundation launching a package manager.
And other Linux news, tips, and, of course, memes!

📰 Linux and Open Source News

Kali Linux 2025.2 release is packed with many visual buffs.
A cheaper variant of the Linux-powered Liberux NEXX is here.
The Linux Foundation has launched FAIR Package Manager for WordPress.
Apple has introduced an open source tool for running Linux containers on macOS.

ONLYOFFICE 9.0 release brings modern new features to the open source office suite.

Nitrux has moved to Hyprland, ditching NX Desktop and KDE Plasma in the process.

🧠 What We’re Thinking About

Denmark has set out to replace Microsoft Office with LibreOffice in its Ministry of Digital Affairs.

🧮 Linux Tips, Tutorials and More

You can master Joplin with these handy tips.
Here are 9 major annoyances with Linux that aren't an issue anymore.
Here's a fix for the continuous buzzing noise from your desk speakers on Linux.

Using Tiling Assistant on GNOME is an easy way to speed up your workflow.

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👷 Homelab and Maker's Corner

The SAKURA-II looks like a nice addition for the Raspberry Pi AI enthusiasts in the house.

✨ Project Highlight

If you ever wanted to relive classic games, then RetroArch is the way to go.

📽️ Videos I am Creating for You

Use terminal like a pro with these terminal shortcuts.

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🧩 Quiz Time

Do you know other shells beyond Bash? Prove it.

💡 Quick Handy Tip

If you are using Vivaldi, you can rename tabs by simply double-clicking on the tab title and entering a name. Before doing that, ensure that double-click tab rename is enabled in the settings.

Open Settings and go to the Tabs section. Here, check whether the double-click action is set to "Rename tab".

This is useful when the tab names are taking up too much space, this way, you can give a nickname to easily identify the tab.

🤣 Meme of the Week

It's still going strong thanks to Linux! 💪

🗓️ Tech Trivia

On June 14, 1822, Charles Babbage presented a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society proposing a design for a machine he called the Difference Engine, the first significant example of a mechanical computing device.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 FOSSverse Corner

There is a long-running discussion surrounding the bias against Ubuntu. Do you have insights to add?

❤️ With love

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

Share the articles in Linux Subreddits and community forums.

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Enjoy FOSS 😄

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