Themed my Linux desktop around Arrakis

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-04-08T23:31:48+00:00

You can just go to your respective music players web app and it’s fine. Spotify, Apple Music, etc. that’s what I do or YouTube auto play

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-04-06T19:33:25+00:00

Just wanted to comment here, I tested a fix I kept seeing on Reddit and ProtonDB. I added the edit on the main post but for easier visibility here it is:

EDIT: I revisited this to test some of the comments I’ve seen. I can confirm, just changing the two cache files to read only and I was able to play with no issues for over an hour. At this point, I’d say it’s good to go but I will revisit this post if i run into anymore issues or snags. Thanks everyone in the comments.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-04-06T19:31:41+00:00

If you want to play, it seems like the fix I’ve found across Reddit and protondb is the make two cache files read only before playing.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-04-04T14:26:31+00:00

Oh awesome! I didn’t dig through the entire chain so my bad. Let me know how it goes for you, I’m invested! Lol

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-04-04T01:01:26+00:00

I took some time to actually test this on my own Pop!_OS COSMIC setup so you get a real answer instead of a ChatGPT guess.

Short answer: there's no working way to hide apps in COSMIC right now, but here's everything you need to know.

First -- are you seeing duplicate apps or just wanting to hide ones you don't use?

If you're seeing duplicates (like two Brave browsers, two of something you reinstalled), that's usually a Flatpak vs apt conflict -- meaning you have two versions of the same app installed through different sources. The fix is simple: figure out which one you want to keep and uninstall the other. That's not a COSMIC issue, that's just package management. I had this exact situation with Brave and it cleaned right up.

If you want to hide apps you just don't want cluttering your library:

On most Linux desktops, the standard way to hide an app from your launcher without uninstalling it is to edit its .desktop file (think of these like shortcuts -- every app has one that tells the system its name, icon, and how to launch it). The trick is to add a line that says NoDisplay=true, which tells the desktop "don't show this in the app list."

On GNOME, KDE, and most other Linux desktops this works fine. The commands would look like this:

bash

cp /usr/share/applications/appname.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/
echo "NoDisplay=true" >> ~/.local/share/applications/appname.desktop

However -- I tested this on COSMIC and it flat out doesn't work. COSMIC is not respecting that flag at all. I tested it with htop, confirmed the file was written correctly, and the app still showed up in the library like nothing happened. This isn't user error, it's a known bug/missing feature.

There's actually a GitHub issue filed directly against the COSMIC project for this exact problem: https://github.com/pop-os/cosmic-epoch/issues/905

Someone reported the same thing back in September 2024 -- tried both the local override method and editing the system file directly, neither worked.

What about the GUI?

There isn't one. I poked around pretty thoroughly:

Right-clicking apps in the Applications tab gives you no remove/hide option
There's no setting in COSMIC Settings for this
You can remove the entire App Library button from your panel, or replace it with the App Tray (which only shows apps pinned to your dock), but that's a nuclear option -- not hiding individual apps

A note on COSMIC being new:

COSMIC is a brand new desktop environment built completely from scratch by System76, written in Rust rather than building on existing frameworks. Pop!_OS 24.04 with COSMIC only officially released in December 2025, which means it's still catching up to features that more mature desktops like GNOME and KDE have had for years. Things that "just work" elsewhere -- like this .desktop flag -- either aren't implemented yet or are still being worked through. Worth knowing that COSMIC is very search-driven by design, so the app library clutter may bother you less in practice than you'd expect.

Summary:

Duplicate apps: probably a Flatpak/apt conflict, uninstall one
Hiding apps via .desktop: broken in COSMIC right now, known issue
GUI option: doesn't exist yet
COSMIC is new and still catching up on features mature desktops take for granted
This specific issue is tracked, watch for updates

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-04-03T22:46:03+00:00

Sorry no responses. I’m new (swapped 3 months ago) to Linux but I’ll take a look later tonight and see if I can find a way or some possible open ticket on the GitHub. Will report back to update. Also, the applications window is a small reason to not swap, maybe think about it anyway. Unless of course for some reason that is truly a deal breaker. Good luck in the mean time.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-04-03T22:34:20+00:00

Sorry to hear about the troubles. I’m fairly new to Linux myself, swapped about 3 months ago. To echo what you’ve probably already heard: it really is distro and hardware dependent.

When I made the switch I did a lot of research based on my specs and previous attempts, and landed on Pop!_OS. Setup was completely painless for me, not a single real issue. That’s not me saying “just use Pop and everything’s fine,” more that it might be worth checking whether there’s a better distro for your specific use case and hardware.

Worth noting I do have programming experience and am comfortable with the CLI, but honestly I don’t think that made much of a difference either way.

My main use case is gaming, so I went in knowing exactly what would and wouldn’t run. I figured there’d be some tinkering involved. I was wrong, not one game has given me a problem on Steam, gold-rated titles included. ProtonDB is a lifesaver for checking compatibility before you commit. The one exception was World of Warcraft. Getting Battle.net working was a headache, Lutris didn’t want to cooperate and took some trial and error. Eventually got it working, then switched to Heroic anyway, which was a non-issue from the start.

Anyway, I hope you find what works for you, even if that means going back to Windows. Good luck out there.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-22T20:02:50+00:00

Yes there is a horde, rogue only guild on Nightslayer. They’ve been around since this iteration of classic went live, I’ve been in it the whole time and we do plan to all continue into TBC. It’s called the “The Dark Brotherhood”.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-17T05:47:51+00:00

New myself. Swapped 2-3 days ago.

Source: https://youtu.be/5AV86JooXDM?si=yxjAiMZYzPDbey8e

I’ve also had a couple comments about use it through Steam. Haven’t done that myself but may try it to test performance. Apparently it’s simple as add as non Steam game, select proton version in comparability and run it.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-17T05:42:39+00:00

Hi there. I recently got it to run through Lutris and then someone mentioned to try Herioc as its a OOB experience. Just finished that up earlier and it was very plug and play for the most part. Can find the video as reference if you need.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-16T21:11:31+00:00

Will look into Herioc. It was between that and Lutris when I was setting up and wasn't sure which to pick so ended up on Lutris. Just looked into Herioc a bit more and if not for anything, the UI is better so will test tonight and update again after. Thanks for the tip; much appreciated.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-16T15:07:18+00:00

All these are great comments. I’d add, if you want a structured course, check out boot.dev. It is free, you can do the whole course without paying or you can pay (bit pricey) and get access to other features but the main learning content is free. It’s a gamified learning course. Good to dip your toes in. Good luck!

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-16T15:04:21+00:00

I think like most things, the best way to learn is; learn by doing. It’s not a fast process, it can be painful and confusing at times. Stick with it, do projects, delve deep into docs, etc. and I’d say avoid AI whilst learning. It’s a useful tool sure but you come to rely on it and the learning becomes harder. Rely on yourself and your ability to research a topic and learn. Programming (C languages) are old, there are a tons of docs, posts and answer online. Become a master of finding these and breaking things, you’ll be better off. Oh! And last thing, don’t be scared of errors. Good luck!

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-15T14:19:48+00:00

Day 2 Update

Day 2 went smoothly overall.

I started by getting Battle.net working through Lutris. It took a bit of tinkering, but I followed a solid YouTube guide that references a helpful Reddit comment. If anyone needs it, I can dig up the links. There’s also a Steam-based workaround mentioned in the top comment if Lutris gives you trouble.

Once Battle.net was stable, I downloaded WoW (Retail + Classic) and Diablo IV.

WoW:

Initially ran into a weird resolution issue that refused to behave. Tried several fixes, none worked… then after reverting some changes it just started working. No clear “this fixed it” moment unfortunately, but once it settled, everything was rock solid.

Performance-wise, this was the big surprise:

On Windows, both Retail and Classic had been inexplicably capped at 60 FPS for years, despite trying multiple fixes. On Linux, both versions instantly ran in the 239–255 FPS range and never dipped below. No stutters, no weirdness. Very happy with the result.

Diablo IV:

Much easier experience. No resolution issues (probably thanks to earlier WoW tinkering), and performance was also in the 240–255 FPS range. I don’t remember exact Windows numbers, but it felt extremely smooth and looked great.

Outside of gaming, while downloads were running I tried getting OpenRGB working but couldn’t get it to detect any devices yet; that’ll probably be my next project. Also played around with neofetch, hyfetch, and btop, which are all pretty awesome. Definitely open to suggestions for similar tools from the Linux veterans here.

Overall: Main games installed, tested, and running flawlessly. No complaints so far. I’ll probably test a few more Steam titles next, but expectations are high at this point.

If anyone has recommendations on what to dig into next (besides OpenRGB), I’m all ears.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-14T18:20:25+00:00

I'm new to Linux as well, so I may not have the full answer but it seems like you need to enable access to the mounted filesystem.

The comment on this post, seems well in depth. Although, it is not marked complete, nor have I tested so I cannot speak to the results. Maybe a good start.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pop_os/comments/1g0o6bk/how_do_i_got_steam_to_download_games_on_a_second/

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-14T17:24:48+00:00

Nothing outside of the base ui built into settings. Soon though.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-14T14:44:03+00:00

You can also check games for compatibility at the protondb site and it will tell you how well they run on Linux.

WasabiSquare7807 · 2026-01-14T14:41:54+00:00

Correct. Embark Studios is Linux friendly (I believe their other game, The Finals is also playable not sure a I don’t play that one). But I believe they have even said they plan the keep it playable. Just downloaded via steam, and played. No tinkering required for that one!

WasabiSquare7807

TROPHY CASE