The problem. In thunar in xubuntu 24.04, the selected file name becomes impossible to read when the thunar window goes into the background (is no longer the front most window). You see the following:
Adjusting the text selection and background
Latest from Linux Attorney
The growing problem of AI scams
ArsTechnica has a follow-up to a Wall Street Journal piece about polymarket’s false advertising. Essentially, the old saw of “on the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog” has become a business model for a new kind of
Wallpaper contest winner for Xubuntu 26.04
A photo I took when paddling and portage through Quetico in September 2023 is a winner for the Xubuntu 26.04 wallpaper contest.
I will be getting some stickers.
CUPS configuration error and fix
Basically, a corruption of the CUPS policy file stops CUPS from running until the corruption is removed.
My printing stopped working after a late November 2025 update. Basically, only Airprint drivers would appear in a print dialog, and those drivers
Text fragments in Firefox
Firefox 131 released in October 2024 gained the ability to link to a specific text fragment inside a web page by including #:~:text= followed by the text fragment to link to.
But, that feature is turned off by default.
Fix for using Webex on Linux
Webex does not work on Ubuntu 24.04/Noble systems.
Thanks to Michael Heilmann, the error is related to a missing apparmor profile.
I did fix this bug by adding a apparmor profile for Webex into a new file here
Setting up Airplay on Xubuntu
Ubuntu handbook has instructions on how to get Airplay up and running on a Linux box.
With these instructions, here is what I did for my desktop.
$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH
Upgrading to Xubuntu Noble — 24.04 from 22.02 — and a review
Frequent and recurring errors in log files
Given the breadth of hardware and operating system wrinkles at play with Linux, it is all too common to see recurring and minor errors pop up about some setting or hardware snafu that really does not matter.
For my desktop
Browser speed tests
With the new speedometer 3.0 speed tests, I ran some tests with various browsers on my System76 2018 Galago Pro laptop.
Current specs are (via the inxi terminal command):
System:
Host: Hrothgar Kernel: 6.6.10-76060610-generic x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Xfce
Host: Hrothgar Kernel: 6.6.10-76060610-generic x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Xfce