Some years ago, after a few failed attempts, I made the switch from Windows to Linux. I used Gentoo Linux on my computer for a few years. After that, I ended up switching to the Apple lands, and a couple of years ago back to Windows. Been thinking of switching back to Linux for a while, and thanks to the nonsense and sense that this year has brought, I am back to using Linux.

At first, I wanted to see how gaming is on Linux, and specifically on my machine. Figured the easiest way to do that is by installing Linux on an external SSD drive. I chose Linux Mint for that installation. Turns out, gaming is great on Linux nowadays. I haven’t had any issues with the few games I have played. I was chosen into a closed beta of a game, and even that game works perfectly - even though it isn’t even released yet. On Mint, I only had some audio problems outside of games.

I bought a new larger NVMe drive from Goodram IRDM (European manufacturer, btw) to install Linux on. I chose Artix, an Arch derivative, as my flavor of Linux. So far, I haven’t had any problems with it. Windows still resides on my old drive in case I happen to need it for something, but I haven’t used it after I installed Mint on that external drive.

There’s a segment for Lemmy starting around 9:30.

You lose nothing by installing Linux on your old computer before buying a new one. If you don’t like it, then go ahead and buy that new machine. Just remember to back up your files before you install Linux.

Quite a few distros use systemd.

Good to know. I guess I managed to only look at their Android offerings.

PocketBooks use Android, which can be a positive or a negative. It gives you access to Play Store, but it’s also Google.

Calibre can also convert between various file formats, and with DeDRM plugin, it can also remove Amazon and Adobe DRM.

Also subscription services typically pay the actual authors only pennies. If you want to support the authors, buy the books or use libraries.

There are stores in many European countries that sell DRM-free e-books in local languages. They might use the term watermarked instead of DRM-free. See if you can find one in your country. Because they are DRM-free, you can use any device to read them.

Many libraries also lets you rent audiobooks and e-books. Many European libraries have moved to using Readium LCP DRM for e-books. You will probably have to use their own app to read them, which means you can’t use e-readers, such as Kobo to read them.

At full operation, ITER is expected to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power from only 50 megawatts of input heating power, a tenfold gain. At this level of efficiency, the fusion reaction largely self-heats, becoming a “burning plasma.”

That 10x gain would be pretty huge, if they can make it to work. I believe the record so far is only 1.5x.

The Fascist States of Trumpistan

They recommend Galaxus over Amazon, but many of the product links lead to… Amazon.

Or Tim didn’t say thank you for being allowed to join the inauguration.