this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2026
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I have no idea what any of those words mean and that makes me want to stick to Windows.
You absolutely don’t need to know what that means, and you don’t have to wait for it either. Those are specific things some users want on one desktop environment/window manager, and not necessary to run Linux.
Jumping if you want to and experience it for yourself. I’ve been happily gaming on Linux for 3 years now.
Luckily you don't need to. I didn't know either until I read their next comment. And I've been using various Linux Distros for 15 years or so.
xx-zones allows windows to place themselves
dbus_annotations allows menu items (like file, edit, etc) to be searchable by other apps
ext-tray allows tray icons to display things other than text in their menus (like sliders or whatever)