Old hp notebook series laptop with 4gb ram and 1 tb hdd, intel i3 7th gen. Tried ubuntu, mint and 2-3 other i don't even remember the names. Currently on mint xfce for two months. It's not that good but i just use Firefox for classes so it doesn't lag upto using 4 tabs but there is serious issue with its realtek network adapter i can't use bluetooth and wifi at same time if use both the wifi remain connected but speed drops from 25Mbps to 100Kbps but when i boot back to windows (which is disaster on this pc ) both works fine. Need help to switch to any other distro

Btw a linux noob just used gemini to try other distro

So I’m going to be a freshman in college this upcoming year and I’m trying to pick laptop to buy. I think I’ve narrowed it down to either a Mac or a think pad. I’m studying astrophysics so I want something with coding capabilities etc. I’ve become interested in Linux and want to install it on a think pad of if I were to get one. So I guess what I’m asking is should I get a Mac and try and get an older thinkpad down the road and mess around with it then or should I get a newer thinkpad right out the get go and just learn that first? Money isn’t a problem, but I’m very new to coding and modifying operating systems and all this computer science stuff so any suggestions or advice helps. Thanks!

I feel like I must be missing something. How does one use a classic wired headset with a PC? A good 3.5mm jack microphone input seems rare.

So I want to be able to use a good headset, something like Audio-Technica ATH-G*, Beyerdynamic MMX* or Sennheiser PC* series. These are classic mid-tier hi-fi/studio headphones with a microphone attached, and a 3.5mm jack connector (as opposed to XLR on respective professional models). I suppose the same could apply to the often recommended solution of hi-fi headphones + ModMic.

The respective headphones would normally get plugged into either a dedicated "audiophile" DAC&amp, or an audio interface for recording (with XLR inputs).

What is there with the 3.5mm jack for microphone input though?

• On-board audio isn't always adequate.
• There are plenty of $1-20 USB dongles from various/no-name brands, typically with a C-Media chip, and their quality is hit or miss in my experience.
• Asus Xonar and Creative Sound Blaster, yes, but after trying multiple models, I'm disappointed by the state of Linux support (or lack thereof). They're always doing weird things with volume controls or switching line-in and microphone input (or line-out and headphone output) in firmware. (Alas, EPOS/Sennheiser GSX* might fall into this category too, based on my cursory search.)

Is there anything I'm missing?

Am I condemned to cheap-dongle lottery?

Hi everyone, before I actually start the post I just want to say that I'm still a bit of a beginner in linux, so if you have any questions about the OS try to keep it simple please.

Recently I wanted to make a minecraft server for me and my friends with an old desktop I have. I tried using the wifi card it already had but it was broken, so I bought an wifi usb adapter (dual band AC 1200) that I wasn't able to make it work, I tried installing the driver that came with it on a CD but for some reason ubuntu just couldn't read the sh installation file, I also tried to follow this github but still couldn't make it work. In the end, I ended up selling it to my friend that needed one.

That being said, does anyone know a usb wifi adapter that has official or easy to install drivers which works on ubuntu server version 26.04?

any help is appreciated :)

I'm deciding between two wifi adapter, the Alfa Network Alfa AWUS036AXML

And the ACH v2, the AXML is 10 euro's cheaper right now. I'm using Kali on a thinkpad T470

pcmag released four "DYI builds" to get something comparable to steam machines, but they don't discuss the operating system at all.

Taking their "AMD DIY Mini-ITX Steam Machine" as an example:

(on pcpartpicker)

How well would this configuration supports Linux? I'm particularly interested in support for bazzite, and as far as I can tell it's all good, but I'd like external validation.