Awesome! I haven’t had a need for it, but Winboat supposedly uses actual Windows code and not just translation layers; since it’s new, it’s not yet suitable for gaming, but it’s supposed to be a good option for problematic Windows software.

Another thing you might look into is Cooler Control for managing your fans. Heat seems like it’s a bit more challenging to manage on SFF builds, so it’s handy to be able to control how and when fans are active.

My first issue to tackle was the positioning of the fans included in the CPU Cooler, as they needed to be positioned in a certain way so that air could flow correctly; I admit I was extremely confused at what I read online, and it took a while for me to finally get how it worked, so I thought it was fair to explain it to you in the easiest way possible (this is also valid for every other fan that has a logo, not just the CPU ones):

• If your fan has its logo pointing outside of the case, then hot air will be pushed out of your computer;
• If your fan has its logo pointing the other direction, inside your case, then fresh air will be introduced from the outside into your computer.

I’m not sure what you mean by logos being pointed a certain direction. Some fans have logos on the blade side, some have it on the opposite side (where the wires and motor are mounted), and some have a logo on both!

Perhaps a better way to think about it is:

• Most fans pull air from their open, bladed side and push it towards the opposite side (the side that’s not as pretty, where the fan wires and motor actually sit).
• On CPU coolers, manufacturers will sometimes include a fan that works in reverse, pulling air from the motor side and pushing it towards the pretty side.
  • This is primarily for aesthetics, and there’s probably some reason why it’s not the default config, but it’s for the sole purpose of making CPU coolers look prettier, especially when they have RGB.

Looking at the two pictures with fans you provided, it looks like your CPU fan (the one I can see) is pulling air from the back of the case (outside to case), and the black case fan is pulling the opposite direction (case to outside), so they are likely fighting each other. Assuming the other CPU fan is working in the same direction, there’s probably a negative pressure envelope that’s starving your CPU fans, sucking some of the waste heat from your GPU through your CPU cooler, or both.

If you want some help with that, I also have an SFF PC, so feel free to hit me up in my DMs! For installing Windows programs, look up Bottles and Winboat. Hope you’re loving Linux!

It looks like silly fun, but as they say on their own page, they don’t recommend it as a daily driver, specifically because it was designed with humor in mind, not maintainability.

Could be worth spinning up in a VM or giving away on an old laptop, though…

Meanwhile, I read stories from other users here on the Fediverse who had grandparents who got fed up with Windows and installed Aurora; they just figured things out as they went.

So like you say, don’t go too crazy right out of the gate. Get used to the new system, and learn a new way of doing things.

Can’t seem to find the actual article, so I’ll just engage with this small paragraph here.

Capitalism needs to be regulated (or better yet, replaced). Given that the US is currently experiencing the effects of unfettered capitalism (fascism, bribery, oligarchy, price gouging, monopolization, market collusion, just to name a few), I’m for more oversight.

However, the current administration and current Congress are both generally disinterested in actual regulation and, in my opinion, unqualified to implement something like AI-powered guardrails. It’s just the whole “blockchain everywhere” debacle all over again.

Furthermore, who would develop and maintain such a system? There would almost certainly be bids from the usual suspects (i.e. billionaires) who would “definitely develop it in good faith, trust me bro.” They definitely wouldn’t use that kind of access to hamstring the bot that’s supposed to be regulating them. /s

Rather than just putting a bot in charge, how about we just make the wealthy pay their fair share? How about strong legislation that prevents fraudulent transactions and mergers? How about meaningful punishments that deter bad actors, rather than slaps on the wrist that are just “the cost of doing business?”

We don’t need robots and software, we need sensible legislation.

Dunno if you are familiar with this. Supposedly it was resolved, but I’m not familiar with how or who conducted the investigation.

https://www.dexerto.com/tech/linus-tech-tips-reveals-allegations-ex-employee-were-false-following-investigation-2737147/

The gist of the allegations is in the last couple paragraphs.

Prime95 using the memory testing option might be sufficient to test RAM stability, too. When I was doing manual RAM overclocking, 30min was enough for a safe pass, but my errors typically appeared within 15min or less.

Hmm, sounds like a “Freeze Updates” option should be available per game. I don’t do much modding, but I’ll see if I can suggest that idea somewhere or +1 any existing similar suggestion.

Yes, I checked recently, and cycling widths is the only option, currently. Furthermore, there’s no way to set a default initial size, so some of my windows, like my Terminal emu, start at a small size. They’re not unusable, but it sometimes cuts info off, and it would be nice to have them start at a specific size without forcing them to stay that size (i.e. as it does with winprops).

Y’all are doing a good job selling it!

Nyarch Linux

I’m really considering switching. I’m currently using PaperWM with Gnome, and since this is the spiritual successor to that (honestly amazing) project, it has some more modern decisions versus Mutter.

If your games are breaking on update, isn’t that the game devs’ faults?

artificially incompetent

Borrowing that: AI = Artificial Incompetence

CachyOS is great, and it’s my daily driver on my main rig, but I put Bazzite on a laptop specifically so that anyone in my household could use and maintain it. It’s not for everyone, but it’s a good use case for anyone who wants to set it and forget it.

I have a laptop with almost those exact specs. I maxed out the RAM (just because I’m a memory goblin), and I’m currently running Bazzite, Nvidia version. Runs everything great!

Feel free to DM if you have questions.

ETA: I opted for the KDE version, since it has better multitouch support than Gnome.

Man, Douglas Adams was a real one.

I’m waiting for it to be inverted.

Once again, the community claws back features from the grip of capitalist enshittification.

Hot take: don’t buy Apple products, specifically because they gatekeep functionality for the crime of…checks notes…using your own hardware on platforms not made by Apple.

Absolute kudos to the folks who figured out how to free their AirPods, but you shouldn’t have to fully buy into Apple’s ecosystem to get a full featureset, and they won’t care to fix things unless and until their behavior affects their bottom line.

As far as I know, Private Internet Access will continue to offer .ovpn files.

I am still currently a customer, and I’ve had no issues with them, however be warned: they have a bit of a sordid history regarding who eventually bought them (Kape Technologies). Also, they’re based in the US, which has been sliding towards Digital ID enforcement and fascism.

If it doesn’t work, try going into reading mode, then reloading the page. Often times, that catches many of the problematic sites that try to block Reading Mode