Mastering the Terminal: Essential Tips to Become a Console Guru

Date: 21/07/2025

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Anyone familiar with Unix systems who has spent a couple of hours learning basic commands and bash syntax knows that the command line is an incredibly convenient tool. However, not everyone realizes just how powerful and efficient the console can truly be. In this article, we’ll explore several intriguing tricks that will enhance your command line skills to the point where you won’t want to return to a graphical interface.
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Exploring Endless OS: A Package-Free Linux Distribution

Date: 18/07/2025

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What does an average Linux distribution look like? Generally, it’s like a system assembled from thousands of packages, with additional desktop interface tweaks, possibly its own installer, and configuration system. In essence, most distributions are quite similar and are built on the same idea: package + package + package = OS. Endless is entirely different—it has no traditional packages. Instead, it features a concept of an atomically updatable core system and uses Flatpak sandboxes for applications.
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Understanding the Linux Boot Process: From Power-On to Desktop

Date: 17/07/2025

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The best way to understand how an operating system works is to trace its boot process step by step. It is during booting that all the mechanisms that get the OS up and running are initiated. This process is complex, multi-layered, and sometimes confusing. Studying it can be fascinating, and the discoveries you make along the way might surprise you greatly.
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Running Android Apps on Linux with Anbox: A Guide to Setting Up Without Emulators

Date: 14/07/2025

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There are plenty of Android emulators for every possible operating system. The worst ones barely function, while the best run smoothly and sometimes even support gaming. The latter are usually available only for Windows, and their performance on Linux is mediocre. However, today is a day of celebration for Linux users: we now have a way to run Android apps directly on Linux without any emulation or lag, each in its own resizable window. Meet Anbox — the best way to run Android apps on your desktop.
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From the Dead in 80 seconds. Bringing the bricked smartphone back to life

Date: 04/06/2025

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Most of the articles in the X-Mobile section are devoted to hacks and tweaks that require rooting, modifying the firmware, or replacing it with a custom one. However, not every reader is ready to subject their smartphone to such operations, fearing that they can turn the device into a brick or lead to instability in operation. Today I will debunk these myths and show that even in the most stalemate situation, it is not so difficult to bring a smartphone back to life.
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Controlling Android. Dangerous APIs enable hackers to intercept data and reset smartphone settings

Date: 27/11/2021

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In addition to traditional permissions, Android has three metapermissions that open access to very dangerous APIs enabling the attacker to seize control over the device. In this article, I will explain how to use them so that you can programmatically press smartphone buttons, intercept notifications, extract text from input fields of other apps, and reset device settings.
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