This week in our forums…
Key Stats
In the past week, our Linux forums had the following activity and key statistics:
Total New Posts: 35
Total New Topics: 2
Top Members
@hydn: 12 posts, 12 likes
@J_J_Sloan: 4 posts, 9 likes
@sfrias: 3 posts, 7 likes
@Brian_Masinick: 3 posts, 4 likes
@slowasscivic: 1 post, 3 likes
@DeLinuxCo: 1 post, 3 likes
@Chatrughan_Prasad: 1 post, 3 likes
@shybry747: 1 post, 2 likes
@Powder: 1 post, 2 likes
@wtfrank: 2 posts, 2 likes
Interesting Topics
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In Showcase, @J_J_Sloan shared results in Benchmarking Linux Filesystems: ZFS, XFS, Btrfs, vs. ext4. The dbench-based tests suggest ZFS leads throughput under heavy load while ext4 keeps latency low, with Btrfs leading lightly loaded desktop-like scenarios. The thread picked up solid critique from @wtfrank about visualization and methodology, and @hydn encouraged more environment details to help readers reproduce the results. @DeLinuxCo weighed in with observations about ext4’s consistency.
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@sfrias started a discussion in Showcase with a compact recap of Jetson experiments in Jetson-Based AI Project. They described using TX2, Xavier, and Nano modules for supervised models, small LLM training and inference. @hydn jumped in with a clarifying question about whether it was a demo lab or a single defined project.
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In General Discussions, @shybry747 chimed in on workflow balance in Fedora-KDE-43 review. The conversation with @hydn and @Brian_Masinick centered on real-world tiling usage versus workspace switching. Several of you echoed that keyboard-driven workspace management often yields greater productivity than pure tiling.
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Over in Articles & guides, @Powder reflected on CPU pinning, live updates, and bootable environment choices in Immutable Linux Distros: Are They Right for You? Take the Test. The post connects immutable distro ideas with practical home lab considerations, building on earlier feedback from @Brian_Masinick.
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In Articles & guides, a newcomer story resonated in Windows 11 vs Linux: A Year Later, I’m Switching Back. @slowasscivic shared the move away from Windows 11 toward Linux due to privacy concerns and hardware compatibility research, earning a warm welcome from others.
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In General Discussions, @Chatrughan_Prasad offered a concise perspective in What is your favorite Linux FileSystem?. They favored ext4 with LVM for reliability, noted Btrfs snapshots can impact performance, and called out XFS as a solid alternative.
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A timely update landed in Community with @hydn’s note in What is Linux iowait? (Explained With Examples). The post explains how fast NVMe storage changes the meaning of elevated iowait and why it must be considered alongside latency, queue depth, and app-level metrics.
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In Community, practical printer advice surfaced in Finding Linux Compatible Printers. @SteveTF suggested using glass cleaner to recover clogged inkjet nozzles in old printers. It follows on @Pat’s experience that long-running Brother devices can be economical with aftermarket ink.
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For home networking enthusiasts in Articles & guides, the thread Choosing a Network Switch - 6 Essential Tips added two more lessons about switching capacity and licensing tiers. The takeaways emphasize reading the backplane specs for non-blocking throughput and watching for feature limits in firmware or license tiers.
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In General Discussions, editors and workflows came up in What Code Editor do you use?. @Brian_Masinick shared an intro resource for Doom Emacs while @J_J_Sloan noted they tend to land back on vim for scripting and occasional C work despite trying other editors.
Activity by the @staff Group
- @hydn encouraged clearer methodology in the filesystem benchmarks and asked for test environment specifics in this reply.
- Welcoming new members stayed active, with @tmick greeting a newcomer in the Windows vs Linux thread in this post.
- Our automated @system account published last week’s digest in Weekly Forum Summary.
- In the immutable distros conversation, @hydn acknowledged feedback on the test’s usefulness in this note.
- Practical considerations on printer costs came from @hydn in this follow-up.
- @hydn also posted a quick reference link on classic kits in Which was your first computer? Which memories do you have?.
- Additional KDE workflow discussion continued with @hydn asking about tiling versus workspace switching here: Fedora-KDE-43 review.
- Beyond the above linked items, @shybry747 added helpful perspective in the KDE thread about real usage patterns around tiling and workspaces.
Overall, staff were active across benchmarking, immutable distro guidance, and on-boarding new members with replies and context-setting posts.
Best Reply or Topic of the Week
- Best Reply: @wommy’s tuning-heavy comment in I was wrong! zswap IS better than zram. It offers specific, reproducible steps for more aggressive zram usage in mixed workloads and calls out practical kernel and memory tuning details.
have you tried adding a swap device with a low priority in addition to zram
have you tried overprovisioning zram? i usually set between 150-200%
The combination of actionable configuration and workload context makes this a highly useful contribution for anyone optimizing memory on Linux.
Thanks for reading. See you again next week! 
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