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Blocklist-Update.sh

Blocklist-Update.sh is a script that I wrote to manage blocklists from bluetack etc to be used in conjunction with Transmission torrent downloader in Linux/MacOS. The script can be taylored to work with Qbittorrent as well, but the placement of the blocklists means you'd have to redirect the blocklist to go somewhere locally manageable as Transmission uses its own blocklist directory in .config. I believe there are about 10 lists there now. It works well for my needs. It can be ran weekly using crontab in standard user profile.  To download:  blocklist-update.sh To download the others:  Github
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SOLUS: A GREAT DESKTOP FOR NEW USERS?

Solus, a descendant of SolusOs, is a Unix-like operating system focused for newer users who want a truly rolling release model. Being independent now(was previously forked from Debian), it offers an Arch-like experience having to only be installed once for most users. It aspires to be a one stop shop for its user base and promises to not constantly have major point releases to get the latest software like in other distributions. The current version is 3.9999 at time of writing this. Solus uses the Adapta-gtk theme by default with Papirus as the icon set. Users who wish to change this in Gnome will have to go into Gnome-tweaks which is readily available and installed on the Gnome desktop version by default. It should also be noted that the default desktop is Budgie and Budgie itself is a derivative of Gnome.

Solus uses current packages at least up to the last point version. I noticed on a recent Arch build that I was using kernel 4.20.3 whereas this build was using 4.20.2. Also Gnome is at version 3.28. Having ran Epiphany in other desktops, I can say that it does resemble Safari in a lot of ways, including its lack of more modern web features and desktop integration with anything but Gnome as Safari works best in Mac. Running the application in this Gnome desktop it integrates well and feels responsive, something it never did in other desktops. Google-Chrome users will be pleased as the Google web browser is in the third-party repository by default. Which leads me to my next point.

Software is rather sparse as has been stated before in other reviews. Most people assume it is because Solus is a smaller entity right now and some software is harder to build and requires more developer time. Solus has come a long way despite the smaller number of packages and is continuing on with its lead developer having stepped back from the project last year. Ikey Doherty worked with Intel before moving to the Solus project full-time. After having left the project in the hands of the rest of the developers aboard the project, we have yet to see major changes they will no doubt make in the future. Solus works well post installation as it has a mass amount of software already available at the users’ fingertips. I’m sure this trend will only increase in future releases as further development in Flatpak, another way of installing software that Solus now has access to by default, will continue.

Fun Fact: Solus was code named after a river in Ireland and it is said that this will be a continual thing with the developers.

Solus uses their own installer, their own Software Center and many of their own tools for doing things right now. This is not a bad thing as diversity is a great thing in Linux, my only issue was that the installer thought my Crucial SSD was a HDD instead. Manjaro also seems to install to SSDs in a way that Fdisk or Parted will say that the partitions are misaligned. I covered in a previous article how this might eventually wear a drive, but this is a seemingly trivial thing for desktop users as most new users probably won’t notice a significant performance loss from not worrying about this. Otherwise, Solus seems to work like a charm. For its code name’s sake, it was blessed with the luck of the Irish. I should also point out that the team behind Solus is also planning to add KDE Plasma in the future as they move towards Qt development. This may improve another issue I had within Budgie, the resizing of panel icons.

Final Thoughts: Solus performs well despite being a smaller project at the moment; It doesn’t appear to lack anything as the developers build on an already strong Linux community, however, the initial update hung up the graphical Software Center which took a terminal session to remedy, and the installer seems to install preferably to regular Hard disk drives, yet again, I doubt anyone would notice a serious issue from this under normal conditions, still, power users might wish to fix this with a live disk and Gparted later. 5 out of 5 stars for ease of use, good selection of software installed by default, and clever outside the box thinking on the part of the development team.

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