Fecundpossum

A good thing to keep in mind is, is Linux asking me for a password right now? It will ask for a password whenever changes to the system are made. It’ll ask when you update, it’ll ask when you mount a drive, etc. basically what it’s asking you, is “do you know what you’re doing?

If all you’re doing is something like an update, installing a new piece of software, yeah, it’s fine, type the password for authorization and you’re good to go. But if you’re tinkering, just make sure you know what changes you’re making and why. Mint actually guides you through setting up a utility called Timeshift that creates restore points to revert to if something gets messed up.

What if something does get messed up? Well, keep backups of important files. Either in your cloud storage of choice, or physically on something like a thumb drive. Also keep a thumb drive with a Linux mint install bootable (also called an ISO). That way if something does go wrong, you can just wipe the system and reinstall mint, and not lose anything important.

Those are called Zerks. Zerk fittings. My god if I called them nipples at work I’d never live it down.

Linux mint is a fantastic choice, and to be quite honest, there isn’t much you’ll need to learn. The software center allows you to install anything you need securely, updates are applied with a click and a password prompt, and day to day navigation of your system is not so different from windows.

If I may make one hardware suggestion. It doesn’t sound like gaming is a big priority for you, but I would avoid laptops or desktops that have an Nvidia GPU. They can work fine, but while AMD and intel have open source drivers built into the Linux kernel, Nvidia unfortunately refuses to open source their drivers, and their driver as a result doesn’t always play nice.

If you do run into any issues, forums and search engines will usually provide you with plenty of advice, and the community is very supportive.

Worth noting that digging into the PC Linux reviews, very recent posts, in the last week, are claiming that while the game used to run fine, it now won’t launch in Linux due to the addition of Kernel level anti cheat. Time to put it in the trash next to pubg and valorant.

Conversely, I have sent a steam deck in for repairs twice. The first time the shoulder button broke. They didn’t ask questions and fixed it for free. The second time I broke it, and paid for the repairs. Both times steam support was helpful and easy to deal with. I can’t recommend the steam deck enough, it’s worth every penny.

Yep, I guess I should have lead with that, but I’ve been on an AMD GPU for so long I almost forgot what a pain closed source Nvidia drivers can be.

Fedora works perfectly with secure boot and I keep it enabled when I’m using fedora. It’s worth noting, that if you require any software in the form of a kernel module (for instance, openrazer, a Linux tool for controlling razer devices) it won’t function with secure boot enabled because it isn’t registered at boot. You’d have to reboot to bios, turn off Secure Boot, log in and set your configs, then reboot and turn secure boot back on.

Or you could just leave it off.

A long time ago, republicans needed an easy way to get voters to vote against their own interests and instead vote in the interest of the corporate overclass. Abortion. It’s genius. Make the preachers ultra wealthy by getting them to preach about something the Bible never seemed concerned about. Abortion. They’re murdering babies, you just have to get out and vote.

Eventually that strategy brought diminishing returns. They overturned Roe and the issue doesn’t have the same bite that it once had. They needed a new plan. Wait, I’ve got it. Trans people existing. Trans people bad, and they’re trying to assimilate your children by existing. They’re trans animals now, pooping in litter boxes at school. How long until you have to refer to your children by neopronouns under the threat of incarceration?

Seriously. This is how trump won the election. This issue is the issue they chose and it works. I hear it from my rightoid coworkers all the time. The GOP creates boogeymen to get idiots to the polls and it works, and the democrats have nothing to counter it.

Don’t you mean Hillary in 16’

Oh wait. They did it twice.

Yeah I don’t know as far as the coating is concerned. I have personally had great luck with Asus products, but even by manufacturer I feel like there’s hits and misses as far as build quality. Wish you luck in your hunt.

There’s SO much more going for thinkpads than just the trackpoint. I would count durability as the highest point on the list, beyond the rubberized coating, the frame, the hinges, the serviceability (even in newer models with part of the RAM soldered) far exceeds most other offerings.

I dont currently own because I have a desktop that meets all of my needs, and my partner has a MacBook that I can use when a laptop is helpful. But if I was planning to buy a laptop, maybe as something to take out of town for work, it would likely be a thinkpad.