My only comment is I was surprised my work - which uses Windows and has closed source software exclusively - has VLC installed on all workstations and even as the default media player as well. It’s a testament to how ubiquitous and approachable VLC is to be included in such a fashion over just Windows Media Player or some other form.

I heard about this new company called Linux

I thought it was funny at least, so you gave me a good laugh.

I’d say Linux Mint or Ubuntu (you’re familiar with this one) would be good “Out of the Box” options. They run an environment known as “Debian” so they’re super similar and are pretty similar to what Windows offers in all honesty. You just burn them to a USB, run them from your desired computer’s BIOS, and the rest is through a GUI interface you can follow along with. I have no experience with a touchscreen as I’m running Linux Mint XFCE (lightest weight version) on a laptop from the early 2010’s with an Intel N2820 in it, but I’m assuming some workaround can exist to implement that. You also seem somewhat familiar with the alternative programs for different purposes, but rest assured both Ubuntu and Mint come with file explorers (Mint XFCE uses one called Thunar which is pretty effective) and you can easily swap out/install a different file manager to get jobs done as needed.

Plus - any programs you used with Windows which may not have Linux alternatives or versions - can be run through Wine. I’ve encountered a few hiccups when doing this (like a program I needed for school which was unable to pass the initial installation and actually run the program).

I’ve run Linux Mint XFCE as my daily driver for work and school tasks on my laptop for about 2-3 years at this point and it’s been pretty great. Full disclosure: I still run Windows 11 on my main PC at home and have Windows 10 on a HTPC/Server with docker on it (though I’ve been debating switching to Ubuntu for this as well) so I still know there are benefits to a Windows system (while working to remove any and all advertising and AI garbage) but if I were to recommend someone a distro it would be as I’ve said above.

Good luck! Hope you find one that works for you!

The best thing for the Fediverse has been Musk cannibalizing twitter with ever decision he makes it seems.

Twitter imploding -> People finding Mastodon as an alternative -> People discovering federation as an alternative to walled garden social media

Loop Hero! It’s free on Epic right now and I’ve been really enjoying it! A nice blend of procedural generation, deck building, and roguelike allow it to be a very rewarding and engrossing experience overall where I feel I’m consistently progressing.

I still haven’t been able to beat The Lich yet, but little by little I’m knocking his health down that much further to make the loop (heh) feel rewarding!

Isn’t mastodon the federated microblogging replacement? Lemmy & kbin are the forum/news aggregator replacement instead, correct?

I haven’t played it but I heard about it on a podcast I enjoy: Podquisition. One of the hosts - Laura K Buzz - seemed favourable towards it and recommended it to those drawn to that style of quick to understand but continuously engaging games with simple tasks to complete, and after listening it genuinely made me want to give it a shot.

I had the same thought process seeing the software repository on Linux Mint for the first time. It really is set up like a MacOS or general Appstore interface.

Happy for your brother getting comfortable with Linux so quickly! Way to go!

A lot of people have already talked about the onboarding/installation experience, so I’ll just chime in and say a lot of new users are unfamiliar with using a terminal for commands and instead favour a GUI experience solely for their tasks. Most modern and commercially appealing distros are moving in this direction (ie applications running the same terminal commands in the background with an easy to understand UI at the front) but I’d still say the community’s insistence on terminal over all other forms of executing a command may be a turn off for the layman trying it for the first time after Windows and MacOS.

Almost makes me think it would be more ideal to reduce the stigma associated with executing commands in the terminal and find some way to get people more comfortable with using it, both via Linux and also CMD for Windows as well.

Honestly? My old laptop was having issues (not major but not ideal in terms of overall performance) running Windows 10 and it inspired me to try out a few distros. I later learned after trying a few:

• Overall Linux isn’t scary at all, with an abundance of tutorials and documentation provided. (Just be aware of trying not to solve all problems with random hammers, or rather using any tutorial to fix the symptoms you’re having)
• In terms of customization it’s second to none. Privacy wise has been well documented, but even aesthetically via the UI you have a ton of options. (Plug for [email protected] for some inspiration.)
• Finally it’s nice just to tinker with Linux as a project. There’s only so much you can do with Windows or MacOS, while Linux is open and allows for a variety of programs, tools, and more. It allows you to get more comfortable with your computer and by extension more comfortable with technology in general!

Little Kitty, Big City?

People don’t “get” mastodon because they see they have to sign up for another website and their account is tied to there over a centralized “Mastodon.com” (even though mastodon.social is a instance they can use) without realizing all of the separate instances can communicate with each other over activitypub.

They don’t want complicated. They want “hey, this is the thing I liked before everything changed, and it’s attached to my Instagram. Sounds good!”

I’m really enjoying Lemmy to be honest. A decentralized platform rekindles the feeling of internet forums and the excitement of finding something new in each community. Seeing such a candid report from the developers is nice as well and reaffirms my decision to stay, regardless of reddit’s decisions or direction as a platform.

Keep up the great work everyone involved!

It’ll be hard to get people to not only detach from something they’re accustomed to, but also then attach to something unfamiliar.

I tried and am trying again with Mastodon, but a lack of users I wish to follow, a more confusing premise at times, and just overall more enjoyment overall (if that) with twitter as a platform makes it a challenge.

Lemmy however has checked all the boxes. It literally feels exactly like Reddit, and honestly like a fresh start to avoid the various decisions both Reddit admins and the community itself made along the way. I’m hoping more for the latter experience than forming when diving into the fediverse, but my above statement is most likely applicable for a wide sample of people out there.