Gotcha. That’s a fair point. I kind of jumped to the end because the typical response is to “just use libre office” and OP is clearly a power spreadsheet person where that’s not gong to work.

That’s my point. There are lots of spreadsheet options, but if they don’t meet all the needs then they really aren’t alternatives. Maybe it’s semantics, but I find that definition to not be misleading and keep expectations in line.

There is no Excel alternative. It sucks, bit its the reality. I run a VM specifically for a couple windows apps and 90% of that is excel.

I use version 2019 and manipulated the installer to only install excel and none of the other office suite apps.

You can also do the same in a docker container instead of VM (winboat) if that’s more your jam.

If you want more info on any of that I’d be glad to give you more details.

I have a similar view as you where I don’t have the time to really learn the intricacies of ensuring it’s all set up properly and securely.

I’ve recently started self hosting more things and found tailscale as a very adequate solution for secure connections in a simple fashion.

The other thing is that if it doesn’t need outside access you don’t need to do it which is an extra security step you can take.

Right, but as an update I now have vaultwarden running myself. Still testing implementation but the technical part is done.

I’m aware of vaultwarden and am considering self hosting my password manager. I literally almost installed it this weekend.

I’m also aware of the shifts bitwarden has made to their open source roots that might change the future of the product. I do think they will focus on enterprise for profit and that leaves the consumer base in limbo, but I’m not necessarily convinced that will be “soon”. I still think today bitwarden is one of the best out of the box solutions.

But to your point, yes I think that path is the one most orgs take as they grow.

I vote for bitwarden. I’ve used it for years and think its one of the best password managers.

At my work we use roboform. Its functional and not a bad choice, but bitwarden is better IMO.

One of the things I appreciate about the prequel is that it ends seamlessly into the first movie. It actually builds that tension that leads from the originals beginning. One of the best moments of the movie.

Secondary comment. Linux aside, I appreciate your Thing video. Yes, that’s exactly the difference with the original vs the prequel. I enjoyed the prequel much more than most (and you give it a nod at the end) but it’s far from the original.

Disclaimer, I did not watch the video other than the intro.

I intend to scrub through it, but its very long for an basics video. Maybe this should be broken up into a series.

Looking at the topics, it seems odd to including gaming for Grandma. Again, if it was a series you could do an offshoot gaming focused video for non grandma.

Though to be constructive and positive, I love your intent here. When you know nothing about Linux there’s a lot of information to process and understand (even for non grandmas). You cover a lot of important topics and how to get going.

The problem with tech support in general is that people want to have a trusted source. If you are successful in your endeavour, then you are that source. Therefore you will be called for everything. Absolutely everything.

Suddenly all people forget how to search online themselves or to actually look at the problem before reaching out. Not even a turn it off and on again mentality. You are now their source and will do everything for them.

Then it degrades from there. Problems become vague descriptions of “acting funny” and you spend far too much time trying to get accurate descriptions and scenarios to understand the problem before even being able to try to troubleshoot it.

All this jaded negativity is just me making a point that reasonable charges won’t get you very far. You will need to charge more to cover the time (yours or help) and then you will be deemed too expensive and people won’t call.

They’ve got nothing so they have to reboot and remaster a 30 year old IP. OK fine. They want to make it ongoing…meh, but I get it. They say Annual…proving why they haven’t been a player in the industry for decades.

I agree. Linux has come a long way, and I love using it. But its definitely not for everybody.

Many times I just don’t want to do something because I don’t want to invest the time. I also get that there’s a GUI that is very capable, but then why is the terminal easier sometimes?

I also need to look up everything I do. That’s probably me just being a noob but I can never look through the system and figure out how to do something. Everything I do is an internet search first, then an implementation. Again, probably just lack of knowledge on my part but comparing that to the average Windows user, I can see the allure of adding AI to just do things you ask it to. Time is valuable and if you’re not invested into your system then its not worth it to most.

Oh yeah, hardware prices are what’s preventing HL3 from coming out. Sure.

Oh its fantastic. How’s the money from the competition?

I probably agree with that, which is why it seems scammy. I’m not sure you can get a true understanding of what is being done or not done either on the effort or the results. I don’t know, maybe these companies have a way of reporting that, but I doubt it.

Anther issue I see is that this seems like a one and done process. Scrubbing your old data when you didn’t realize how much was being out out there and shared is a process, but eventually it ends. If you’re privacy minded enough to use them, then you aren’t continually putting your data out there, so there’s no need for an ongoing subscription.

In that regard you should buy a mini PC that has 2 network ports. You get the simplest out of the box hardware, modern and power friendly, and just run the LAN to a switch.

Note: I didn’t do this. I use an old PC with a NIC added for 4 ports. Gives me everything I need (and Intel NICs are better supported than Realtek ones). The “power hungry” isn’t really an issue. It is wasteful and inneficient technically speaking, but its not large dollars annually. It would take years to add up to the cost of buying a new machine.

while you’re probably looking for some very tangible reasons in a bullet list of how its better, there’s really one foundational reason and everything else is a distant second.

Linux (mint or otherwise) is your OS that you use on your hardware. Period. It’s not going to tell you how to use it, what is allowed, what is right, or anything of that nature. It’s yours. Have at it.

They are a legitimate service. Whether you should use them or not is something you need to decide for yourself.

One of the biggest things they are good for is not giving all of your information away. A lot of these privacy companies simply spam out all of your information and request for the company to delete anything that matches that.

So for instance, if you signed up to a website newsletter with your email, they have your email address. And that’s it. Then comes a “privacy” company that send them your email address, name, home address, etc and asks them if they have any of this data then they need to delete it. That’s asinine and backwards.

DeleteMe doesn’t do this. They are more specific with how they process the data removal requests.

I’m not advocating for them, I don’t use them and probably never will. I have no idea if they are a good company or decent at what they claim to do. I just know they don’t do the spam technique.

Personally, any company that is a mass sponsor of YouTube channels is something I won’t trust myself. But that’s just my weird litmus test.