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Is Linux safe to write and save stories on? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I just want to write stories again and haven't been able to at all since 2025 due to...2025 and all that has entailed. I no longer feel safe or secure using any of my current devices. I feel surveyed and watched 24/7. I'm absolutely not okay with things as they are currently. (.-.) For more context, I have pre-existing mental disorders and this year has just done me in.

I'm striving toward switching out at least one device with something that I can install linux on. I was thinking either a lenovo or a dell, and will start probably with linux mint, they say it's a good beginner distro.

Not being able to write is killing me. I love writing so much even though it's not anything special. It just felt good.

I've never used linux but want to learn and I will learn, because you have to if you want to use it. You can't just hop in a car and hope it will work without knowing how to drive it. I will learn the commands. I'll fail at it a couple times but learn. It'll be great. Bring it.

I appreciate you taking time to reply.

Edit: You guys are amazing. My hope for the future is restored. Thank you!

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Once you get a little more comfortable with Linux, there’s some cool things you can do, such as convert an old laptop into a 100% pure writing-only device using a couple pieces of software, a simple startup script, and a barebones Debian installation. One such project has been created to help automate that process: tinkerwriterdeck What’s cool about something like this is that it doesn’t have a typical desktop experience, it’s exclusively used for writing and nothing else. Use a USB drive to save / load files, and it becomes a modern typewriter appliance with no internet to distract.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

Holy crap, I'm sorry if I sound over-enthused but that is genuinely awesome to hear. I didn't know this either. I'm learning a ton here. I'm saving this information. This is something I would absolutely love to do.

I wanted a word processor so badly that I got an alphasmart neo word processor 2 this year. It's great. However, I would prefer if I could write on something more familiar. Turning a laptop into a writer's deck would be amazing.

I've watched videos of people build their own writer's decks. They were small computers though but it was really cool. And I have also seen a video where a guy took an old macbook and overhauled it so that it was all new hardware and only ran linux. It was incredible stuff. I want to try that myself as I do also have an old macbook just sitting untouched and I actually kind of love that old thing. It was great and seems like a shame to have to toss it. So it's definitely something I dream of doing one day. Only thing is I cannot for the life of me access tools to open up a computer. I tried looking on ifixit but they don't have all the tools needed. So, it will be a slow journey to get to that but I look forward to tinkering.