This doesn’t surprise me, given how messy Facebook has become. What does disturb me is people not being able to recognize that they are AI-generated. Now, this could be due to the AI becoming so sophisticated that it can actually generate life-like images, or it could be due to humanity’s inability to question what they’re viewing and whether it is true or not. Either way, this is very concerning, and if it can happen on Facebook, I’m sure it’s also happening on other social media sites as well.

Speaking of which, how can we stop something like this from happening on Lemmy and other federated sites?

If you want something that looks and behaves much like the Windows desktop environment, use Linux Mint. If you want something closer to the macOS environment, use Pop OS.

An excellent choice to use Linux Mint! If my parents allowed me to switch their computers to Linux, I would’ve chosen Linux Mint as well for them. But, I probably wouldn’t give them the Windows 10 look.

Arch Linux has two online stores for purchasing merch:

Freewear

HelloTux

The Bottom Right

You’re absolutely right about PeerTube. However, given the recent decisions made by YouTube and its parent company on adblocking, I think we might see a surge in PeerTube content and development soon.

One thing I have noticed in the past year is that whenever Big Tech services become compromised or make controversial decisions, the Fediverse equivalent starts to bloom. I joined Mastodon and Lemmy earlier this year because of the controversies surrounding X and Reddit. Now that YouTube has done the same, I think we will soon see a “great migration” to PeerTube.

Just my two cents.

Linux Mint with a secondary partition running EndeavourOS

I made the switch to Linux about 1.5 years ago. Never looked back. I started with Linux Mint and have been happy with it ever since. Now, I’m learning about Arch Linux and trying to make that my primary driver.

FYI, you don’t have to get a Steam Deck to try out gaming. I’m sure your current distro would support that quite well. But, if you’re looking for something that is portable, then I definitely recommend the Steam Deck. Now is a good time to get one, since they released a refresh with an OLED screen. Also, the Steam Deck runs on Arch Linux, so if you’re ever interested in checking that out, then definitely get a Steam Deck.

It’s not my primary driver, but I would gladly choose KDE over Windows.

Definitely yes! Pop OS is one of the best distros for starters, along with Linux Mint. Basic tasks like web browsing, playing games, and writing docs all work well on Pop OS. If you have familiarity with macOS, you’ll notice that Pop OS is very similar when it comes to layout and certain multi-touch gestures.

Don’t forget about the Firefox forks like LibreWolf!

I personally do not think it is conflicting, especially when you consider how hard or impractical it is to completely avoid the non-free/proprietary software. Services like Gmail, YouTube, and Facebook, to name a few, have been around for a long time, and they have become so entrenched in our daily lives and social circles that avoiding them completely and all at once may be too disruptive. I’ve been using Facebook since I was in high school, and that’s also the platform I use to communicate with my closest friends. To suddenly jump away from that and expect my closest friends to follow me to the next major platform (e.g. Mastodon) is going to take a lot of effort and convincing, especially if my friends have people they connect with on Facebook and are not likely to move to another platform.

The same can be said for YouTube, even with their ridiculous anti-adblocker stance. People have become so invested in it that completely breaking away from YouTube would be almost impossible. Thankfully, that’s where services like Piped and PeerTube come into play.

I think what really matters is that people at least make the effort to utilize FOSS whenever and wherever possible. Whether that be a Linux distribution over Windows and Mac, or a FOSS alternative to one of Google’s or Microsoft’s products, or a federated platform like Lemmy and Mastodon, there are so many ways we can demonstrate our love and support for FOSS, and utilizing a non-free/proprietary service does not make us any less committed to FOSS.

Anyways, that’s just my two cents.

I’m already following The Linux Experiment. It’s great that there are other channels to consider!

A wise decision! Welcome, and I hope you continue to have fun with Linux! Linux Mint is a great starting distro. If you ever get around to installing VirtualBox, I recommend you also try Pop OS. I personally prefer that distro on laptops.

I’m on Linux Mint, and I installed the default fonts used on Pop OS, which are Fira and Roboto Slab

Oh yes, Flatseal is also a good tool to have! Thanks for adding that!

Have you considered Pop OS from System76? Pop OS has a GNOME-like DE where the dock is fully displayed. It’s very much like the macOS DE. The current stable release uses a GNOME-like DE, and the developers at System76 are working to make it into their own DE called Cosmic.

Linux Mint

I personally recommend LibreWolf over Firefox. It is a fork of Firefox, but it includes some additional settings for better privacy.

Flameshot is a pretty useful screenshot tool that functions similar to the Snip tool on Windows.

If you’re going to be installing apps via Flatpak, I recently learned of an app called Warehouse that allows you to view all the Flatpak apps you installed, the user data associated with each app, and their file location.

If you want another option for LibreOffice, you can try OnlyOffice, but I personally prefer LibreOffice.

If you’re looking for a text editor that’s like Notepad++, I recommend checking out NotepadQQ.

Finally, if you want a notebook app similar to Microsoft OneNote, I’d like to recommend Joplin.

I think Pop OS might work on that model, and if it does, I would highly recommend it, as the DE is very similar to macOS. If I recall correctly, that distro also has multitouch trackpad functions that behave similar to those on the MacBook.