To add to the arch management, after a while you learn the golden rule - set it and don’t fiddle with it too much. Nowadays there is very little maintenance to it. I run an update followed by shutdown. Once every 2-3 months there is some issue, that takes a forum search to fix and once a year it breaks to the level where I need about half an hour to an hour to fix it.

But … its already simple?

I disagree. You are normal if you have social media and not if you don’t?

Dunno man, if people need IG to interact with you and you are not comfortable with it, maybe they are not your people, you know?

Why should one go into uncomfortable territory for others, people should interact from positions of comfort, otherwise its a stretch for one side and just a bad time all round.

One thing is for sure @[email protected] , you will have a harder time, make less connections, but I’m pretty sure the ones you will make, will be solid.

One word of advice as a fellow non-socialmedia-person. If you want to meet new people, make sure you are in the same place at a certain time on certain days. That way people know where you might be during certain hours and that is also a way to make connections. Just be sure you like said place.

Mullvad dns.

I haven’t heard that one before, gonna use it :D

If you haven’t tried dietpi on your sbc’s, try it, it is much better than the usual default, its glorious.

Its all fun and games until the power bill arrives. Performance per watt is important, please look at that first. Don’t be me.

Bazzite is probably a safe bet.

When I first installed linux I set up a dualboot because I still had data on windows. A week passes, I get cocky, I customize the grub loader, somehow nuked the windows install in the process because (unbeknownst to me, I was installing a new bootloader on the linux drive) I ran some commands off the stack exchange. When I went to my windows drive the C part was gone-gone, I had documents on that C drive. Said to myslef “I guess I have a free drive now” and never looked back.

Those documents were important, no backups. Time, nerves and money consuming to get them again.

Because the grifting is more tolerated nowadays. Its like the slow boil of the frog, they kept doing it for years and years, until people got more and more used to it, because we didnt push back enough at the right time.

So now we deal with this enshittification.

Personally I think its like a pendulum effect, it will swing back in the other direction, but it will take a long time.

Choose what you use carefully.

Assumption on your end. I dont trust the ground I walk on.

As good as tailscale is, I do so loathe it. It does make things easy, but I have to trust a 3rd party with my traffic and for me thats just no bueno.

For that style of laptops give aurora a try, its basically fedora, but polished for ultralights. I have a surface pro from 2018, still works great, had a harder time with other distros. Good luck.

I had a managed switch from mikrotik, returned it. Skill issue. Its good, but the tplink that replaced it worked just as fine for the sameish price and one tenth the hassle.

Awesome, best of both worlds! Have fun!

Yes, I have a surface pro5, I have been installing iterations of linux on this thing for the better part of 3 years now. Custom kernels, drivers, a pain, a real pain.

Until i came across aurora. Holy shit, I installed it and poof, all the efort of custom kernels, matching drivers just evaporated, I know I sound like one of those nuts that found a distro that he thinks is good, but I swear for the surface pro, this distro works excellently and I have tried ALL OF THEM.

Just know that you are saying goodbye to your cameras. Below I have linked the aurora ISO, the aurora install guide for surface and the linux-surface initiative, in case you strike out with aurora. Best of luck and if you have questions feel free to PM me.

https://dl.getaurora.dev/aurora-dx-hwe-latest.iso

https://docs.getaurora.dev/guides/surface-install-guide/

https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface

Mwahahhahaaaa!

I’m running aurora on a surface pro5 for ages, the thing works like a charm out of the box.

Nope. Dont do it. Google yourself, search your email inbox, start doing it by hand. It will take months. Why not do it through a company? Here: https://youtu.be/iX3JT6q3AxA

Florisboard is also amazing. One of a very few that dont actually track what you type. The other one i know of with no tracking is anysoftkeyboard.

I’m sorry for being a dick, but without seeing what the ones and zeros are doing I’m just not touching it with a ten foot pole. Good luck to you.