That’s a cool looking handheld, but… that button naming is cursed. Who puts A and B across from each other?!

This is probably the best way to go. You won’t be able to beat the flexibility for the price.

Not as far as I’m aware. The Linux community is largely cooperative, the idea is that everyone can choose the DE they like best. I don’t remember seeing anything about Cinnamon trying to bring back an older GNOME version - you might be thinking of MATE (though I’m not aware of ANY friction there either) considering MATE is a fork of GNOME 2.

Baldur’s Gate
Lords of the Realm 2
Descent (1, 2, and 3)
Sim City 2000

Ah, gotcha. I kinda figured that was out there, but didn’t have names to associate with them.

I guess I’m wondering how a VoIP number would differ significantly from a burner phone. Obviously the burner is more private (assuming you pay cash, there’d be zero way to trace it anywhere). Signing up for a VoIP number with an alias seems almost as untraceable, assuming the VoIP company isn’t selling your data?

Through data profiling? Not sure what you mean.

Honestly, if you don’t want a separate device, I’d sign up for a VoIP number. I use voip.ms, it’s a dollar or two a month for the number, and you pay per minute and per text (about a penny each, IIRC). You can forward calls to your primary number, or set up a SIP app (I’m using one called ZoiPer). I usually load it up with $20 per year or so.

I’d recommend Mint. Cinnamon is a great DE, and everything works out of the box. It’s a Debian-family distro, which means it can install DEB packages. Overall a great experience, and my personal favorite.

Mint isn’t well done, it’s full on congratulations