One Linux Tip To RULE Them ALL!

[@TheLinuxCast]

I put out a weekly, patron only podcast! I you want access to some more awesome content, it's available here to all levels of supporters: patreon.com/thelinuxcast

[@DiegoTarragonaCovers]

This is an incredibly good tip, i learned this practically by accident trying to figure out something with steam and launching it from console, seeing all the things it does right there during launching, after that every time I had a problem launching anything like this was a huge big step

[@panininavghare]

I recently learned that this is a trick for figuring out issues since I mostly work on troubleshooting servers. If i had realized this and learned it earlier i would have been less frustrated at start of trying linux desktops. Thank you and please keep making these videos.

[@ArniesTech]

Super cozy desktop wallpaper, Matt. Really soothing and relaxing 🙏💪

[@thingsiplay]

Some programs have an option `--verbose` in example, which will spit out more information when running through terminal. And one can show error messages only, without the gibberish from stdout, by just redirecting stdout to /dev/null.

[@scottb4029]

As an OG ms dos user . The command line in linux feels like an old friend. I discovered this trick by accident when trying to get a program to execute that I could not find on the desktop. It is still a great tip and it is surprising how many users do not know it. Thanks Matt. Great job again.

[@thingsiplay]

Running from terminal also can be a different current working directory and the reason why it works now. So one should make sure to run the program the same way it would run otherwise, to get a consistent environment.

[@Winnetou17]

Yup! Also, maybe it's running as a different user.

[@chrispop99]

Log files are so useful that the developers of MX Linux have recently enhanced their Quick System Info tool with a drop-down to select from a number of potentially useful files in /var/log. A text file of that log is created in the user's /~, pre-configured with code tags to paste into a forum post. It's much better than telling a user to look for a log file in /var/log; new users will often not understand what is then required of them.

[@swayamshree5951]

I always use this. saves a lot of time when installing and configuring new apps or running custom scripts.

[@skelebro9999]

Yo the new camera looks so clean :o

[@MrAndrewKeyboards]

Your neofetch is 🤯 I loooooove it!

[@jamesb2877]

try piping error to file 2> errors.txt or piping stdout > file name you get a sort of error log and you know where to look for it.

[@michadybczak4862]

I use that method as well, when it is available. Unfortunately, you can't just run system components or a deep system processes that way, or when you don't know what the issue really comes from. So for example, when you have issues with system suspend process, or maybe the wayland itself has problems and crashes - this method won't work and logs are the only way to look for the root of the issue. There are also issues that doesn't fall into the category of "running program". For example, when you want to compile an application, and it fails, it often shows some very obscure error, that for non-specialist or anyone who didn't write the app, won't understand. So there are a lot of system issues that you cannot solve that way. Even if you can run an app in a terminal, oftentimes the error is obscure (Steam) and it requires a lot of digging and help of others to figure out what is going on, but at least, we get some solid data to hang on, and it's more likely that someone will know the solution.

[@WispOfSoul]

if I knew this the first time I tried a Linux distro, it would of gone very differently...

[@bstar777777]

I'm assuming when you run/restart DWM it's either running as a different user/group or executed via bash context, not zsh. You probably have different pathing set so you are getting a different result. One thing to try is type "bash" in the zsh terminal and try running slstatus there. You might need to set paths in your bashrc that you already have set in zshrc.

[@TheLinuxCast]

Maybe the user part. But slstatus runs it just doesn't run the scripts. Idk. It is probably a path problem.

[@bstar777777]

@@TheLinuxCast To be honest, I have this problem too and have not figured it out 100%. My usual hacky fix is to explicitly call the script/app, so calling it with the full path. So I usually have to do something like "which node" to see where the node binary is (I write my scripts in js) and use that full path to invoke the script.

[@BenjaminWheeler0510]

I JUST did this today! I am running Xilinx Vivado on Fedora 37 (which is not officially supported) and performing a specific action caused the GUI to freeze. Running from CLI showed me it was a DLL that was missing!

[@XH13]

Fun fact : this works well on MacOS too

[@anon_y_mousse]

You would not be surprised how often this works. Although I live in the terminal most people do not. So I'm thinking there should be a simple way to run something and log the output. Maybe a shell script called "log" that just redirects stdout and stderr to files, possibly on the desktop, would be a useful tool. Let's say you use the run dialog to open an app, just add log at the start. Could have options to set the run directory and user to run as. I'll have to pastebin this.

[@OcteractSG]

Many programs have a verbose mode, which you can use in the terminal to get even more information.

[@m0r4ag]

Nice vid Matt, thanks

[@rsb762]

Good video quality.

[@Bruces-Eclectic-World]

Being I am Window Manager old nerd, I know this trick/tip... Try again! 🤪 Sorry, Matt it is useful Tip for those that do not know this. You can even test parts of a scripts in the terminal to see if they work or give a error. The Big Scary Terminal is very useful for trouble shooting a issue... Thanks for the video! LLAP 🖖

[@joshua_lee732]

You emoji icons need to be installed system wide for the icons to work. Then you should put scripts in .local/bin not .config

[@TheLinuxCast]

They are installed system wide. And the scripts are in /use/local/bin

[@geezergeek1637]

Great tip. Thank you, Matt.

[@stevedodd295]

Very good tip

[@aMartianSpy]

in the Land of Redcore, where the Shadows lie

[@CodeEnthusiast78912]

thanks, and if you know anything about it, can you tell us about how good or bad battery life using linux on a laptop is ? I'm looking for a laptop but i don't know if I should continue using the same distro i have on that laptop because i want the best battery life possible, even if it is windows, because that is what you need on a laptop, good battery life.

[@wyfyj]

Thanks for the content Matt. How would you keep track of sports teams in the terminal? For example, if one was let's say an Eagles fan, Cubs fan, Lakers, you get the point... I want to live in the terminal more and have no clue where to even start with looking for tui applications. Ranger, neovim and tut-tui have been helping. Or do you think Ben H. has all the answers?

[@TheLinuxCast]

Not sure. Someone has probably made a script for that tho.

[@rickrick6216]

I cannot run slstatus on linux mint xfce, tried to install bu unable to locate package slstatus... ?

[@TheLinuxCast]

Slstatus needs to be built from source. And Ubuntu based distros have several dependencies that you'll need to have.

[@vfletes1]

My Linux mint 19.4 got stuck on a logging loop... I've tried everything I've seen on KZbin.. no luck. Thinking of just buying another laptop and going back to Win. I thought Linux was stable etc yet 6 months later down hill.

[@TheLinuxCast]

Why on earth are you still on 19.4? Maybe try one of the newer Linux Mint versions and you'll have better luck?

[@hillbillylinux]

Ive been having the same problem with slstatus for the past few days. Running killall slstatus and slstatus & from the term fixes it but then after another reboot it's borked again. I think it has to do with one of the dwm patches I installed as it doesnt do this on an unpatched dwm. I hope if you get it figured out you will post another video of the fix.

[@TheLinuxCast]

Which version of slstatus did you use? I chose the systray patch of slstatus for the first time. My guess is, that's what the problem is, but I haven't started over again to try to fix it yet

[@hillbillylinux]

@@TheLinuxCast I downloaded the git yesterday to try and same thing . Not sure what version i was on to begin with. I tried to install aslstatus also which is a different fork with the same results. going to try dwm patch by patch tomorrow to see if thats the problem.

[@hillbillylinux]

@@TheLinuxCast This isnt a real fix but I was running the autostart patch for dwm. After taking everything out of my .dwm/autostart and putting it into .xinitrc every thing works even after reboot. Now to just figure out the autostart problem. Are you running the autostart patch by chance?

[@RESPEKTOS]

I auto backup my important files to my encrypted google drive and then when it breaks if I cant be bothered wasting hours trying to search for how to fix it, ill just reinstall a different distro then restore my files, for all intents and purposes, linux still sucks.. it just sucks less than windows

[@GWFO]

Hey bro what do you suggest as a daily driver currently user mabox but idk I miss nobara but it gave me an annoying cable unplugged error so I was forced to distro hop ,my choices were catchy and mabox and I chose mabox but I'm not really satisfied any recommendations, consider ing Zorin

[@TheLinuxCast]

If you're fairly new to Linux, then Mint is a good idea. If you're not so new, then something like Fedora may be good. If the rolling release idea is something you like Fedora is almost there.

[@GWFO]

@@TheLinuxCast I'd say I'm more advanced since I'm familiar with Ubuntu, Debian,arch,I tried fedora ,through nobara but it let me down when I got an cable unplugged issue ,basically disabling my wifi and I couldn't find fixes for it, most people are recommending I try zorin,I'm scared of fedora since that happened ,any other recommendations perhaps ?

[@MENTOKz]

Nice Tip Matt the noobs who are on linux should thank you bro

[@sandeepvk]

_I think this is all a big waste of time. I want my system to work out the box. I can then do something with it like train my data models through a back propagation engine and find out the stochastic gradient decent of the function curve, which can help companies find patterns in a complex data driven world. The OS is like a car to me, it should just work when I insert the key_

[@TheLinuxCast]

Yes. Because nothing bad ever happens to cars. It's almost like there's not a whole industry for fixing automobiles. Oh, wait. Mechanics.

[@sandeepvk]

@@TheLinuxCast If like to tinker you would love NixOS. No trouble shooting business, just roll back to the previous version.

[@masteringlife404]

Did you update your cam ?

[@TheLinuxCast]

Using my phone.

[@masteringlife404]

@@TheLinuxCast what phone do you use ?

[@TheLinuxCast]

@@masteringlife404 pixel 7 pro

[@noel_curray]

what happen to your video? its clear now.

[@noel_curray]

is it because of the droidcam?