[Post-Install] A few noob questions

[KarlDall]

I'm evaluating Kubuntu 26.04 LTS to decide if I can recommend it to a "normal" user who isn't interested in CLI or editing config files. I have experience with quite a few KDE distros (Fedora, Aurora, MX Linux, Debian, Kionite, Suse....). Obviously general use of Kubuntu is familiar and easy.
I do like it so far, and unlike most other distros, internal drives are auto-mounted oob. Very good!

I installed the most plain version (no browser etc.) and used btrfs. I only installed flatpak to keep things easy. I set it up easily like all my other Linux PCs and all works fine.

A few questions:

• Why is the firewall disabled by default? Most distros have that enabled oob, but Kubuntu (and Ubuntu) have it disabled by default?
• When starting up, the grub menu sits there for a few seconds waiting for input. How can I disable that with GUI? I found some ways to edit some config files, but that will be too cumbersome for normal users
• What will be the upgrade method to switch to 2028.04 LTS? Will it just be a simple "upgrade" button in Discover (like in Fedora)? Or does it require any CLI or more complex methods?

[claydoh]

1)
The firewall is not disabled. iptables/netfilter is using a default config that works for most, and ufw is enabled by default.

What isn't running automatically is the GUI and any custom configs.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UFW
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Firewall

Most people are behind a router of some sort, as well.

And it is too easy to eff up your networking.


2)
There is no official GUI tool. There is at least one third party tool for this, but imo and ime it is a little too easy to eff up your boot with it. But it is easy to get and use.

I disagree that editing a number or text and running a command is more cumbersome here. But I do get the sentiment.

At least Grub-customizer seems well supported by it's devs.

3)
When upgrades are officially available, there will be a desktop notification, and a gui tool is used.

For LTS upgrades this happens approximately six months after initial release.

[KarlDall]

Thanks for the quick response.

To clarify on the firewall, when I started the GUI tool, the slider it has was on "off" or disabled and i slid it to "enabled". Are you saying this slider is just to enable the GUI tool, but the actual firewall was already running?
On Ubuntu it was the same. but most other distros show the GUI tool as "enabled" after OS installation.

For the GRUB settings there actually is a GU, but only in MX Linux from what I know. I can't upload an image, but this article describes the MX tools which include the "MX Boot options"
https://www.howtogeek.com/the-unpopu...pular-distros/

Anyway, all other distros don't seem to have a tool and if it bothers me I have to edit the files. The goal here is that I can point a new user to a distro that is as easy as possible. And any sort of non-GUI way will be a hindrance. I myself (begrudgingly) can edit a file. But ideally I avoid such friction for others.

Glad to hear the upgrade will be easy.

Thanks so much for the help!

[claydoh]

To clarify on the firewall, when I started the GUI tool, the slider it has was on "off" or disabled and i slid it to "enabled". Are you saying this slider is just to enable the GUI tool, but the actual firewall was already running?

Correct. Test it on a website that can probe for open ports, such as Shields Up. There will only be two common ports detected, but not open, the rest will be "stealth"
if you have a default set of iptables rules out of the box, I guess the GUI tool does not need to be enabled unless you need to change them. My KDE Linux box does not have it enabled either, and appears to have a similar default config.

Grub-customizer is the popular tool available In *buntu.

But my take is that after my 25+ years on desktop Linux, there are so few GUI tools for this, and none of the truly "popular" distros, even Linux Mint iirc, which tells me that it is either a pain to manage and prone to problems, and/or few are interested in the task. Volunteer efforts and all that.

[Virginio Miranda]

Thanks for the quick response.

To clarify on the firewall, when I started the GUI tool, the slider it has was on "off" or disabled and i slid it to "enabled". Are you saying this slider is just to enable the GUI tool, but the actual firewall was already running?
On Ubuntu it was the same. but most other distros show the GUI tool as "enabled" after OS installation.

For the GRUB settings there actually is a GU, but only in MX Linux from what I know. I can't upload an image, but this article describes the MX tools which include the "MX Boot options"
https://www.howtogeek.com/the-unpopu...pular-distros/

Anyway, all other distros don't seem to have a tool and if it bothers me I have to edit the files. The goal here is that I can point a new user to a distro that is as easy as possible. And any sort of non-GUI way will be a hindrance. I myself (begrudgingly) can edit a file. But ideally I avoid such friction for others.

Glad to hear the upgrade will be easy.

Thanks so much for the help!

1- For the Firewall: try to not use a GUI. It is better to use a terminal and line command. It is more compreensive that a GUI.

This is a good how to:

https://www.digitalocean.com/communi...-ufw-on-ubuntu

2 - For a GRUB GUI: i have been using GUI for a long time and in this case i think it is much more compreensive than using editing the respective file.

- Open a terminal ( Konsole ) and add the repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer

- do an update:

sudo apt-get update

- add the program:

sudo apt-get install grub-customizer



This image was made with GRUB - Customizer:

[skyfishgoo]

[*]Why is the firewall disabled by default? Most distros have that enabled oob, but Kubuntu (and Ubuntu) have it disabled by default?[*]When starting up, the grub menu sits there for a few seconds waiting for input. How can I disable that with GUI? I found some ways to edit some config files, but that will be too cumbersome for normal users[*]What will be the upgrade method to switch to 2028.04 LTS? Will it just be a simple "upgrade" button in Discover (like in Fedora)? Or does it require any CLI or more complex methods?[/LIST]

most distros are installed behind a router that does the firewall duty, i've never touched it.

grub is not GUI friendly, but then it's not supposed to be... it's what appears BEFORE the GUI.
changing the timeoiut is a one time edit and rebuild grub command line operation that you could do remotely if you had to or walk them thru the steps (it's not difficult).

i would NOT recommend grub-cutomizer to anyone as it scrambles the grub directories and makes it more difficult to for troubleshooting when it goes tits up... that's a recipe for turning someone off to linux, imho


the LTS upgrade is an orange upgrade button that appears when the new LTS version is stable enough for migration... there is a long list of recommended actions to take prior and those should be followed.... it's also a good idea to take a time shift snapshot (or btrfs) prior to doing the upgrade so you can roll back and try again if things don't work out.

[KarlDall]

So, I tried to edit the grub file to eliminate the grub menu or limit it to a shorter time. I tried all that Google told me to no avail.
Timeout was already set to "0" and the grub menu was already set to "hidden" out of the box.

I also tried setting timeout to "0.0" or "1" since i read this can overcome some buginess. I also did the "sudo update-grub" after saving the grub file.

Does 26.04 require a new method, or is there a bug, or what? Right now I recalled Ubuntu introduced some new sudo-rs thing.

Edit: It gets even weirder. Currently timeout is set to "1" and the result is inconsistent. Sometimes there is no Grub menu. i basically turn on the PC, and have a black screen for 20-30 seconds and then there is the login screen. But sometimes there is the grub menu. Again, I'm not changing anything in the grub file. IS this a bug or something?

When it doesn't show grub, it is weird that the screen is all blank and there is no feedback at all that the PC is booting up (except the power LED being on)

Does 26.04 use a different method to control this and not the grub file in etc? All my other distros (Fedora, Aurora, Kionite etc.) by default just start up with no grub (but show something, like the distro name) and boot quickly into the login screen. I didn't have to do any grub editing, Those just worked like that out of the box. The only distro i recall that had the grub menu, was MX Linux. but they have the GUI that can control the grub menu successfully.

[jlittle]

IIUC you installed to btrfs, and grub lacks write support for btrfs, so its "recordfail" mechanism is always triggered which sets the timeout to 30, ignoring the GRUB_TIMEOUT variable.

There is the undocumented (AFAICS) GRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT variable, did you try setting that?

[KarlDall]

IIUC you installed to btrfs, and grub lacks write support for btrfs, so its "recordfail" mechanism is always triggered which sets the timeout to 30, ignoring the GRUB_TIMEOUT variable.

There is the undocumented (AFAICS) GRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT variable, did you try setting that?

Oh thanks. I added the "GRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT=0" to the grub file and ran "sudo update-grub".
Then I shut off, then back on, and the PC starts as expected:
- after BIOS I see the black screen, but with "Kubuntu" written in blue on it (so the user knows "something" is happening unlike just a black screen)
- relatively quickly I end up in the login screen (without grub menu)

Obviously I keep an eye on it if it stays that way.

Edit: so far it still works. But I have one more question so that I can give proper advice:
Is it then better to use ext4 and will the grub-skipping then work out of the box?

The only real advantage of btrfs I can see here is, snapshots are supposed to work better (or use less space?). And it also seems to be the default for Newer distros, which is why I chose it.

[barfly]

My two bob's worth. There are some issues using btrfs. For ease of installation and use by newbies I would advise you stick with ext4. I have used Grub-Customiser for years with no problems, then bam - out of nowhere no boot or just the grub black screen of death with terminal input that nobody has a clue how to use.

I therefore have mixed feelings about Grub-Customizer. In your situation I would leave it alone, the last thing you want is your uncle Fred calling you to say he has a black screen and no boot. You have to decide if the remedy you seek, reducing the grub screen timeout is worth the hassle of editing files yourself or taking a chance on Grub-customizer.

I change the default 30 seconds to 6 and the "quiet splash" to a code snippet that returns the mangled moniker that changes my "eth0" to something unrecognisable. You don't need that. The quiet splash just gives you a logo instead of showing all the boot processes as they occur, if you want to see the boot processes just delete the "quiet splash".

The actual edits are quite simple. This is my present grub file on my HTPC. Then just do a shift-o to write the changes and shift-x to exit the nano editor. Don't forget to do an "update-grub" in a terminal afterwards to write your changes to the system. That's all there is to it.

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

[vanadiumboy]

I'm evaluating Kubuntu 26.04 LTS to decide if I can recommend it to a "normal" user who isn't interested in CLI or editing config files. I have experience with quite a few KDE distros (Fedora, Aurora, MX Linux, Debian, Kionite, Suse....). Obviously general use of Kubuntu is familiar and easy.
I do like it so far, and unlike most other distros, internal drives are auto-mounted oob. Very good!

I installed the most plain version (no browser etc.) and used btrfs. I only installed flatpak to keep things easy. I set it up easily like all my other Linux PCs and all works fine.

A few questions:

• Why is the firewall disabled by default? Most distros have that enabled oob, but Kubuntu (and Ubuntu) have it disabled by default?
• When starting up, the grub menu sits there for a few seconds waiting for input. How can I disable that with GUI? I found some ways to edit some config files, but that will be too cumbersome for normal users
• What will be the upgrade method to switch to 2028.04 LTS? Will it just be a simple "upgrade" button in Discover (like in Fedora)? Or does it require any CLI or more complex methods?

Kubuntu is pretty good (My opinion). The best part is that if you have a nVidia card or some Wifi cards with closed source drivers, there is a GUI to install the drivers.

I don't like the command line either. As the months and years go by, eventually, someone should make a GUI. That's the thing that would distinguish one distro from another.

If you plug in extra hard drives, they are not mounted automatically. This is one of those long standing features of Linux. You can open Dolphin, click on the 2 nd HDD and it will mount under your username. If you log out and someone else logs in and tries to click on the 2 nd HDD, it will fail and say it is already mounted by another user. If you want to avoid that case, you would have to edit the fstab file.

I tried BTRFS on one PC. I liked the fact that it shows 0 KB for empty folders. Then it turns out that running disc scans from a booteable DVD is a headache. The scanning tools are not by default present on the Kubuntu disk.
You might need things like
sudo btrfs check -b /dev/sda2
sudo btrfs check -E /dev/sda2
sudo btrfs check -p /dev/sda2
sudo btrfs check --repair /dev/sda2 //THIS ONE IS SAID TO BE DANGEROUS



Also, at boot up, the GRUB menu stays for 30 s. I asked about this but I don’t know where I stored the solution. There is some compatibility issue between BTRFS and GRUB apparently. There is a way to force it to off. Sorry, looks like I lost that info.


EXTRA STUFF
On mine, I changed
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

to
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash mitigations=off"
since I don’t think spectre and rainbow and blue brothers is a problem.

[KarlDall]

Would it be possible to add the line "GRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT=0" to the grub file out of the box? That way there won't be a grub menu by default for either file system, wouldn't it? How would one propose that to the maintainers?

Regarding ext4/btrfs: all newer distros default to btrfs and Kubuntu being all new, I assumed this is not a bad choice. This definitely something a noob could choose. And if the distro maintainers offer multiple options, all should work, or not being offered. If btrfs causes problems on Kubuntu, why offer it? Or there should be a disclaimer to not use it. btrfs also seems to be better for system snapshots.

I had tried Kubuntu beta a month ago already and had used ext4. I had issues with an error message telling me all the time I'm running out of memory (not true, since I use 4/16GB only). I don't feel like re-installing now with ext4 just to see if this is resolved and if the grub disappears out of the box.

And why would a normal user need a grub menu? It seems for ext4, the default is set to not show the Grub menu. This is good. Fedora, W11 etc. all don't need to show a grub menu.
Maybe make the grub menu only show up if there is a boot issue?

With the above modification, Kubuntu is really good and starts up very fast. Sounds like a no-brainer to make that the default.

So far Kubuntu 26.04 is extremely good and from a user perspective on par with Aurora. Except this one thing where a user for some reason has to find an undocumented command to enter. I know people think it isn't a big deal, but ot a normal user, that is where they go back to Windows, or just live with the 30 second delay. Normal users shouldn't sudo anything. My example shows, Google tells the wrong commands.

[vanadiumboy]

According to
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kubuntu/Bugs/Reporting
Feature and policy discussions (including suggestions to change defaults) should be discussed on the kubuntu-devel mailing list.

By default, the GRUB menu s not shown since in the file
/etc/default/grub

GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0

When the system detects a problem, it shows the GRUB menu for 30 s. I don't know why it doesn't show you an error message.
So if you use the BTRFS filesystem, it shows it for 30 s even if you have. It shows it everytime you boot up
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden

Would you like to know how to turn on the Numlock at boot time for Kubuntu?

You have to edit the (empty) file /etc/sddm.conf by writing "Numlock=on". Then it should work.
In my case, on Kubuntu 22.04, the file did not exist.
Open Kate, on the first line, write
Numlock=on
and save it to /etc
and name the file sddm.conf
Enter your admin pwd.

If the sddm.conf exists, it might show
[Autologin]
Session=plasma

Change it to
Numlock=on <========add this line. If you put this line elsewhere, it doesn’t seem to work.
[Autologin]
Session=plasma

[KarlDall]

According to
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kubuntu/Bugs/Reporting
Feature and policy discussions (including suggestions to change defaults) should be discussed on the kubuntu-devel mailing list.

By default, the GRUB menu s not shown since in the file
/etc/default/grub

GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0

When the system detects a problem, it shows the GRUB menu for 30 s. I don't know why it doesn't show you an error message.
So if you use the BTRFS filesystem, it shows it for 30 s even if you have. It shows it everytime you boot up
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden

Would you like to know how to turn on the Numlock at boot time for Kubuntu?

You have to edit the (empty) file /etc/sddm.conf by writing "Numlock=on". Then it should work.
In my case, on Kubuntu 22.04, the file did not exist.
Open Kate, on the first line, write
Numlock=on
and save it to /etc
and name the file sddm.conf
Enter your admin pwd.

If the sddm.conf exists, it might show
[Autologin]
Session=plasma

Change it to
Numlock=on <========add this line. If you put this line elsewhere, it doesn’t seem to work.
[Autologin]
Session=plasma

I found this site to sign up for an email, but wouldn't that spam everyone's inbox?
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-devel

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, and maybe my request is silly. I just didn't want to create an email for hundreds of people. And it says, that page is for "developers".

For the num-lock, the Plasma "Settings" already have that as a GUI. Does that not work, or why would I edit a file?

and as jlittle said above (and I confirmed), the standard grub commands don't work if btrfs is used. What seems to be necessary to cover btrfs, is to add the line: GRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT=0

Maybe I wasn't clear to begin with. I don't want a user to have to use CLI or edit config files. I want to tell them: "here try this distro, here is a simple guide, and everything a normal user needs, can be done with GUI" and hopefully they have a nice Linux experience without having to trial and error CLI commands.

So far I found "Aurora" to be like that. That is immutable and based on Fedora, so it refreshes often. Kubuntu (except this Grub issue) seems to be equal for ease of use and would be a good compliment (LTS and mutable).

I myself can "begrudgingly" edit a file. But this shouldn't be necessary and is an unneeded friction point for 99% of users. And it only is a friction point in btrfs, not ext4. But a user installing an OS, doesn't know in the beginning that using a file format will require editing field later...

Oh, another thing that will make a noob fail is that the Terminal cannot use paste Ctrl+V. It needs Ctrl+Shift+V. Most new users wouldn't know that (and it is inconvenient to use three fingers). Another reason to keep normal users away from terminal.

[claydoh]

Tip 1: edit the file in Kate, not the terminal. You'll be promoted for your password when saving.