It’s gonna have to be “Linux From Scratch” at this point…starting with the hardware.

I like that idea, although I think we need some simpler guides as to what exactly one might he getting into if they’re setting up an instance that’s not just a domain name. (Costs, potential usage blowing up, legal issues with content, etc…)

Also, I really think there needs to be a smoother way to navigate between instances. I guess, so you’re still aware of “jumping nodes”, but also don’t feel locked in there. (Although maybe I’m just a newb still haha)

Truuue!

I probably engage here a little much too, but I’m glad there’s not a ton of “You also might like based on where your mouse hovered 0.4 seconds longer” panels on every single page!

massive recession. What smart thing do you think were going to do about it?

I remember 2008 like yesterday. “Nobody hiring. Mass layoffs. No jobs.”, and then it seems like that same cycle has just been on regular repeat the rest of our lives up to this point. (Meanwhile, record profits because of course!)

This is what I really worry about. I’m still trying but still on the same treadmill. I’m not a super genius or a heartless grifter, so I don’t really know if I can be clever enough for us to get through this… And that scares the crap out of me.

Had us in the first half, not gonna lie. LOL

Yeah I honestly legit enjoyed my fond time with old Windows machines back when they were fun and user-oriented instead of the user-exploitative SAAS monsters they are now.

Win10 wasn’t even SO bad as everyone says…well, until recently when they started forcing Microsoft Accounts on install and harass you with their ads every 3 forced updates. Ugh.

Now they’re on the Ai bandwagon? Yeah they’re real small in my rearview mirror now.

I think it’s just a different landscape now, and I’m glad Linux was there to jump to after all these companies started losing their collective minds.

“Linux is open source and free! You can do whatever you want with it! It’s our thing!”

Microsoft: “Whatever I want with it?..Free?..Hm…This is my thing .”

XP was totally a wild time, to Dad’s credit though! hahaha

It was that funky era of needing like 4 different anti malware programs, and downloading game patches from various hopefully-trusty file hosts, or nabbing the suspiciously convenient “Linkin-Park-Meteora-FULL_ALBUM.exe” off of Kazaa which would promptly rootkit your whole system.

Routinely running Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware, AVG, and CCleaner to combat constantly-reinstalling spyware.

Heck, I consider myself kinda smart but I still had Bonzi Buddy for a while! …I mean, c’mon, funnee purpl monke. Who could resist?

Like wow, now that I think back on it, you really needed a bit of “street smarts” back then. Nowadays security has gotten a lot better and one can get away with just “Not downloading weird Russian Web3 games off the dark web” and they’ll usually be relatively fine. Lol.

TL;DR: Windows XP was compatible with Bonzi Buddy, Mandriva was definitely a more secure choice, seeing as it couldn’t run Bonzi Buddy unless you were determined with WINE maybe?

… It’s cool you got introduced to Linux so early. Cool dad. :)

That’s defo Broadcom’s fault. Unfortunately when Linux is a second class citizen, hardware vendors will make crappy Windows and maybe Mac drivers, but a lot of Linux support seems like it needs to be reverse engineered or something, if the company itself refuses to play ball. :(

This was the case with NVIDIA for a long while. Still kinda is. Hopefully that’s improving though.

Fair disclosure, I personally run OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, BUT…

Honestly for this situation I think Linux Mint might be your on-ramp. It’s very familiar from a user experience perspective from someone coming from Windows, and everything can be done with GUI apps.

It updates the entire system smoothly through an “app store” so it stays nice and secure. “Cinnamon” is also a highly attractive and smooth desktop environment.

I’ve switched a few people to it who were sick of Windows on older machines, but NOT computer people at all, and they’ve enjoyed it a lot! The nicest thing is it will feel like your computer again, not like you’re leasing it from Microsoft.

Don’t try and “completely switch over” in one go.

Look up how to try Linux in a virtual machine on your existing setup (so you don’t have to risk anything!) and just try it and play around with installing and using it.

An old laptop or something is also a great way to try it out.

You can always dual-boot if you want. I sure did for a while until Win10 started BSODing for no discernable reason, and refused to let me “refresh this PC” because “Sorry, can’t. Goodbye.”

I still have it, just in case, but it’s been most of the year since I’ve even bothered logging into it.

If you game: you’ll want Heroic Launcher for your GoG/EA stuff, and Steam of course, and maybe Bottles to run your old CD/DVD games maybe. :)

Sometimes things take a little tweaking, but Mint’s community is fantastic and helpful. You really will start to learn a lot about computers just by using Linux a little and trying things, while Windows makes every effort to hide things from you. (“wE’rE gEtTiNg ThInGs ReAdY” who’s “we”?!)

As you start to get comfortable with it, it will grow with you. You can start trying to get the hang of the terminal, or jump to another distro once you learn why you might prefer to.

But you really can’t go wrong just trying Mint out. It’s overall just a pleasant OS.

ProTip: You’ll be asked about a file system when you install any distro. I spent COUNTLESS HOURS on researching this question. BTRFS can be a bit of an advanced file system, but if you just “set it and forget it”, it has the ability to take incremental snapshots without taking a ton of space! So if something really goes south, you can use an app called “Timeshift” to just roll back.

This is great for your root drive / partition, but I wouldn’t suggest it for your home folder. :)

(Just like Windows rollback used to do, but…more reliable lol)

Lol sorry for the ramble but I hope this might help you feel a little less lost at the grocery store. ;)

I love Roller Coaster Tycoon. It’s absolutely crazy how he managed to write a game in a way many wouldn’t even attempt even in those days, but it’s not just a technical feat, it’s a creative masterpiece that’s still an absolute blast to play.

It still blows my mind how smoothly it gives the illusion of 3D and physics, yet it can run on almost anything.

OpenRCT brings a lot of quality of life and is often the recommended way to play today, but the original RCT will always deserve a spot on any “Best Games of All Time” list.

If your job can be replaced with GPT, you had a bullshit job to begin with.

This one’s funny to me, because the people who WILL try to replace you with GPT don’t care if they CAN replace you with GPT. They just will.

Look at how it’s haphazardly shoved into everything for no reason whatsoever already.

Cosmo? Isn’t that Pop_OS’s new DE coming out? :D

Seriously, Ubisoft.

ONE MORE ALARM AND LAMBERT’S PULLING THE PLUG ON THIS MISSION!!

Wow those waves are GORGEOUS for N64 graphics. Dang! I remember I loved Blue Storm on the GameCube. I spent a while just moving that little bubble around the main menu hahaha. It’s still gorgeous!

Is it possible the display controller was broken? N64 joysticks weren’t the most resilient and hoo boy did kids abuse those demo setups 😂

That’s actually a really cool thing we won’t see anymore: I remember those demo stands everywhere. Target, Best Buy, Toys R Us, whatever.

It was kinda cool walking up and just trying something… in my experience for like, 30 seconds before Mom was like “C’mon we have to go.” and I’d be hoping we passed by it again before trudging down the paper towel aisle or something… 😂

I’m still mad that Microsoft is deciding to just brick WMR devices. It’s such a scum move. They should require unlocking and open-sourcing the firmware at that point.

“But muh companee seecrets :(” Clearly you’re done with them, M$ / HP / Samsung / Asus and friends!

I’m happy Monado is a thing but right now it just feels like a very big “if” for these devices, and I refuse to give facebook any money for any reason.

At least there’s hope with possibly lightly used Vive kits or something? Idk…

That was the “kismet” config right? I remember you could still aim and shoot with the second controller during cutscenes…so it was possible to kill Bond or other characters during the short scene after beating a mission. 😂

Kinda funny seeing that “Bleeding Cowboys” font on the back, on a commercial product out in the wild. Maybe it just looks similar haha.

I legit thought it was making the cursor “closer” because windows were layered on top of each other and it was doing weird depth scaling or something LOL.