This week in our forums…
Key Stats
In the past week, our Linux forums had the following activity and key statistics:
- Total New Posts: 147
- Total New Topics: 8
Top Contributors
- @Brian_Masinick: 30 posts, 88 likes received
- @ericmarceau: 22 posts, 68 likes received
- @jmarkus: 8 posts, 33 likes received
- @Itachixkurosaki: 7 posts, 24 likes received
- @andreas: 6 posts, 24 likes received
- @Jymm: 5 posts, 22 likes received
- @ugnvs: 5 posts, 21 likes received
- @Bombilla: 12 posts, 19 likes received
- @tkn: 5 posts, 19 likes received
- @system: 3 posts, 10 likes received
Interesting Topics
In General Discussions, @ugnvs invited everyone to think about language design in What would make a programming language better?. The thread quickly turned into a rich compare‑and‑contrast of C, Python, Go and more. @tkn argued for strong backward compatibility and less bloat, while @Itachixkurosaki focused on predictable behavior and good tooling, using Rust and Go as positive examples. Others, like @Brian_Masinick, reflected on Go’s growing role for scalable and secure systems and how it compares to long‑lived C workflows.
Also in General Discussions, Let’s talk about web browsers by @ClaudioDC used a meme about “every browser being Chromium” as a springboard to discuss engine monoculture. @andreas highlighted how much engineering it takes to maintain a modern browser engine and why that pushes many vendors toward Chromium, while stressing the importance of Firefox for diversity. @Jymm and @tkn shared their own browser stacks, with a clear preference for Firefox‑based options like LibreWolf and Mullvad, and @Jymm gave a practical explanation of Firefox’s powerful about:config.
In #help, @ericmarceau opened Editing of EPUB files - Mass correction - Removal of mid-word breaks to look for tooling that can intelligently fix broken words such as excel lence in ebooks. Suggestions from @benowe1717 and @Itachixkurosaki explored combinations of Calibre, Python NLP libraries, and utilities like dehyphen and pd3f, along with discussion of tradeoffs between shotgun automated fixes and more “finesse” approaches that propose manual joins only where context makes sense.
Over in mate, accessibility and visual ergonomics were front and center in MATE Themes Advice or Reccomendations from @jmarkus. Dealing with vision loss and diabetic retinopathy, they described how darker themes and careful color choices make systems usable. @ugnvs shared a tweaked Human/TraditionalHumanized theme, larger fonts and low LCD brightness, while @ericmarceau suggested exploring specialized assistive software and even formalizing a highly customized setup using PolicyKit. The thread is a solid reference for anyone tuning MATE for low‑vision use.
Still in mate, @jmarkus also contributed some visual flair in Ubuntu MATE Resolute Raccoon Wallpaper?. They created and shared a custom 1920‑pixel wallpaper based on one of their own photographs for Ubuntu MATE 24.04 “Resolute Raccoon,” giving MATE users a polished community‑made background option.
In #linux-support, @ericmarceau started Local capture of entire discussion topic as a single PDF, documenting an extremely handy Discourse trick. By using the browser’s print dialog with Ctrl+P, you can have Discourse render a whole topic as a single page and then “print” it to PDF. @Norm24 noted using this method to preserve useful discussions from the old Ubuntu MATE site, and @ericmarceau suggested it could be used for building curated “choice topics” archives.
In #security, @DeLinuxCo published Sync your Passwords - No Cloud!, linking to a detailed tutorial on pairing KeePassXC with Syncthing. The guide walks through setting up an encrypted password vault that syncs across devices over your own infrastructure, removing the need for any hosted password service. It is a practical blueprint for users who want portability and redundancy without giving up local control.
Within desktop, the long‑running Dual-Boot Linux and Windows: 5-Minute Install Guide saw timely updates on dual‑boot decisions. @hydn shared that once Windows 11 hits EOL they will likely stop using Windows, and explained why a dormant Windows installation still lives on their system for GPU tuning and occasional testing. @andreas and @Norm24 contrasted that with their own setups, from retiring dual‑boot entirely to keeping a separate Windows machine for rare tasks like Garmin updates.
Also in desktop, 10 Best Linux Desktop Environments in 2026 (My Picks) got new perspective from @67Steve, who has spent years “DE hopping.” They explained why Xfce remains their home, especially for how easily it lets you create panel launchers via the GUI. @hydn agreed and pointed out how dependence on brittle GNOME extensions can hurt stability compared with simpler, long‑lived panels and applets.
In #our, the evergreen Welcome! Introduce yourself thread continued to bring in new members from around the world. This week saw introductions from @Abcin, @SatoriSatyriasis, @Bekah1573, @TheBigRedLimo, @Meeaver1111, @Dantonav, @goatherd, @mateusbacral and others. Regulars like @Brian_Masinick, @andreas, @Bombilla, @ericmarceau and @hydn kept the welcome wagon rolling, often tailoring advice to each newcomer’s interests, whether that is Python, homelabs, charity IT setups or choosing a first distro.
Finally, in #help, @ericmarceau shared a small but valuable productivity tip in Copying Files Between Linux Machines, where the discussion resurfaced about USB filesystem choices. @Jymm noted that formatting removable drives as ext4 led to confusing permission issues and that switching back to FAT solved cross‑system portability problems. The thread is a useful reminder to match filesystem choice with how you actually share media between Linux and non‑Linux systems.
Activity by the @staff Group
Staff were active across both community‑building and support topics this week.
In #our, @system published the previous Weekly Forum Summary, highlighting last week’s key stats and standout discussions. This automated roundup continues to serve as a reference point for members who want a quick overview of what they might have missed.
In the infrastructure space, @hydn posted an update in Scheduled maintenance—September 20th, 2026 about running Discourse ESR v2026.7 for a week without issues and enabling new mandatory features. The post walked through backend changes and showed front‑end examples, including the rollout of Whispers for @staff and trust level 3 and above. It keeps transparency high around platform changes that affect how conversations work.
Staff also spent time in welcome and support threads. In Welcome! Introduce yourself, @andreas, @Bombilla and @hydn each greeted new members and drew out extra detail, such as asking @Bekah1573 about preferred distro and desktop combinations. This kind of engagement helps quickly connect newcomers with relevant areas of the site. In Linux haqqinda sualim var, @Bombilla replied bilingually to guide @zhrabunyatova859-cmd toward using translation tools so they can get more help in English, while @ericmarceau followed up with a Turkish explanation about how English functions as the community’s working language.
On the help and troubleshooting side, @hydn dropped a useful upstream link in Problem with zoom 7.0.0 for @NullVoxPopuli, pointing to a likely Zoom regression affecting performance on some Arch‑based systems. In Dual-Boot Linux and Windows: 5-Minute Install Guide, @andreas added context about Windows licensing and how they eventually removed their Windows partition once gaming on Linux became good enough, offering a practical path away from dual‑booting.
In General Discussions, staff presence was felt around broader ecosystem questions too. @andreas joined Let’s talk about web browsers with a thoughtful explanation of why Chromium has become the default engine for so many vendors and why that concentration is worrying, reinforcing support for Firefox as a strategic choice. Staff also contributed to distro and DE conversations, with @hydn sharing long‑term impressions of KDE and GNOME extensions in 10 Best Linux Desktop Environments in 2026 (My Picks) and giving practical reflections on Windows 11 and dual‑boot longevity in Dual-Boot Linux and Windows: 5-Minute Install Guide.
Finally, @system curated the latest Saturday Showcase: Built & Shared by Members This Week roundup. The post spotlighted @DeLinuxCo’s KeePassXC + Syncthing tutorial, @Itachixkurosaki’s Kubernetes homelab notes, and updates on tools like scx-manager and kernel-manager, which helps surface member projects to a wider audience.
Best Reply or Topic of the Week
Featured reply: @Itachixkurosaki in the programming‑languages discussion
This week’s standout contribution is @Itachixkurosaki’s detailed reply in Editing of EPUB files - Mass correction - Removal of mid-word breaks. The post breaks down why traditional spellcheck tools fail on split words like excel lence, surveys real options such as LanguageTool and symspellpy, and outlines how to approach the problem with NLP and dictionary‑based heuristics. It balances practical tool suggestions with clear explanations of underlying limitations, making it useful to anyone dealing with messy text data, not just EPUB editing.
Top Contributor
Congratulations to @Brian_Masinick on earning this week’s Top Contributor badge! 
Thanks for reading. See you again next week! 
Our community remains free of banner ads thanks to our partnership with Better Stack.
Better Stack offers infrastructure observability services, uptime monitoring, logging, incident management, and a free tier worth checking out. Visit Better Stack
Important: Avoid replying to this topic. Instead, reply to the topics linked within. Or, if you have questions or comments related to this weekly summary, please post them in the #site-help or Our Community forum category.