Reddit death > installing mint on my second PC > realising I can run most of the games I play and installing mint on my main PC > start learning Rust as a first foray into programming in a long time > realise I want to go back to uni and study info tech to get out of my shitty marketing job > get a shitty second hand laptop off my parents that struggles to run windows and install endeavourOS to try something different.
It really is a slippery slope. When does it end???
Your post couldn't be more true. Decades ago I was sold on MythTV, this PVR software but it only ran on Linux and you had to compile it yourself. So I gave Linux and MythTV a shot. As it turned out, both MythTV and early desktop Linux were a buggy, frustrating mess. X broke all the time. Incomprehensible, ungoogleable compile errors all the time.
I spent so much time troubleshooting MythTV and compilation problems that I ended up learning Linux inside and out and the C programming language to be able understand the compile errors. I went on to lead a major open source project and have had a long career as a programmer, using all the knowledge I gained that started with fighting MythTV.
I don't run Linux (though I'm admittedly more interested in it than I used to be) but the reddit API stuff definitely made me learn more about foss, and value it more.
I got pissed off at Google Photos, which led me down a self-hosting rabbit hole. Ended up installing Linux everywhere, even my "gaming" one eventually (I do development, and WSL was a resource hog).
The hardest thing to degoogle has been email - I've used the same address for years. But I use Thunderbird so at least I don't have to see ads in my fucking inbox
Now you just need to remove snaps. And then when Canonical still forces them on you, you move to Linux Mint, but then Linux mint won't be updated as often as you'd like. So then you move to Arch. Then you'll really be one of us
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname SOMETHINGNORMAL
git clone https://github.com/popey/unsnap
cd unsnap
./unsnap
The first one will set the name behind the @ sign to something not that long. I recommend just usint "PC" for privacy reasons. Often nobody needs to know your device model.
The second one removes snaps and snapd and installs installed apps as flatpak instead. Flatpak is a universal format, similar to snap, came out a bit later but not only Ubuntu uses it. Snap also works on multiple Distros but people dont like it, it is still slow (now just slowing down boot) etc.
It's the path of many of us here, now you will hate linux if you come from windows, give it a couple of months and you'll ask yourself how the fuck you could be on windows till now.
Same thing happened to me. Moved to pop!_os.I have zero regrets. I've learned a ton. I use tons of apps off f-droid and foss Ubuntu apps. I have degoogled most of my life. I'm also developing an Firefox addon for lemmy. It's usable as a user script addon now. It's called lemmytools. It's my small contribution. All because Reddit got stupid. I don't even browse reddit for answers usually about tech/programming stuff anymore because they block my VPN.
Congrats! Your laptop will be even happier with a lighter but still nice-looking desktop environment like Xfce and you even have an Ubuntu flavor around it: Xubuntu.
it really is comforting to know you can do 99% of stuff you want with PCs without a license from Microsoft. FOSS has its own headaches but at least you don't have to wade through a PR swamp to fix stupid bugs
Welcome. I just started using linux recently myself and have been loving it. I would Definitely recommend checking out all the desktop environments to see what works best for you! I've done a bit of shopping and I think I've landed on KDE, myself.
Good luck with the transition!
I started using Linux more last year due to work, so the exodus from Reddit to FOSS land has been perfectly timed for me. I think I have 4 different distros in VMs right now.
It's a good reminder of how influenced we are by our surroundings, even when we try to be aware of the effect. Or maybe especially when we try to be aware.
I was staying strong until I saw they were already sundowning windows 10. 10! They just came out with that shit. I have no intention of upgrading to the latest advertising package.
I also started with LTS assuming they would be more usable, but the extremely outdated package have later driven me away from linux for a while.
Now I realize I can just run normal Ubuntu to get reasonably up-to-date packages. But I like the latest (non-graphical) software that is offered by fedora.
Lol, saaaaaame! I've run plenty of Linux servers over the past 30 years with only occasional attempts at desktop Linux, but never got it to graduate past a secondary box or dual-boot. All of the happy Linux desktop users I've run across on Lemmy convinced me to give it another go. I tried Ubuntu for a month under the mistaken assumption that it was still a relevant, stable, easy distro (10-15 years ago, it was the distro to use if you just wanted a no-fuss Linux desktop). Snaps made me want to end myself, but not quite give up on Linux altogether, so I pivoted and now I'm on month 3 of happily maining Arch!
If you like ubuntu and you want to remove amazon and junk that ubuntu has you can go to debian. But in the future, just familarize yourself with everything first
Google EOL'd my beloved Asus C302 Chromebook, and now it runs Fedora with KDE. I'm super happy with it ❤️
Now tentatively working on turning my 2009 Mac Mini into a Fedora server/homelab.
So far it's running Fedora desktop/KDE, and I'm slowly trying to figure out how to get Docker to work so I can run stuff like Audiobookshelf. If I manage to get it working, I'll try going full Fedora Server instead of the desktop version.
Ubuntu GNU/Linux is not entirely FOSS, as it ships with non-free software by default. If you're committed to FOSS principles, I would recommend Debian GNU/Linux instead.
However, it's important to note that Debian GNU/Linux is not recognized by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as a completely FOSS distribution. This is because Debian includes non-free firmware packages for those who need them.
From a security perspective, this is acceptable, as the Linux kernel won't load these packages unless the corresponding hardware is available. Debian ships with Free Software by default, and I would suggest giving it a try if possible!
It's essentially the same as Ubuntu, but more freedom-respecting.