No! I recently started going back to the office, so the Google One VPN was an easy way for me to bypass the restrictions on my company’s Wi-Fi network.

I no longer use Linux Mint, but I really enjoyed the decade I spent on it. The kernel change seems like a good move considering Mint is targeted towards desktop users.

I use OpenWRT on my Linksys WRT3200ACM because I used to have a cable connection that suffered from bufferbloat. The SQM feature made a huge improvement. I eventually switched to a fiber connection from a different ISP which does not suffer from bufferbloat, but I kept OpenWRT on my router.

I’m not the person you’re replying to, but I’m guessing it’s for Google Photos storage. It’s the reason I pay for Google One.

I wanted to do some stress testing on a gaming laptop a while ago and many people recommended OCCT. The laptop was still running Windows at the time, so I tried it and it seems like a good tool. It tests the CPU, RAM, GPU and power supply. I wasn’t able to find an equivalent in Linux.

I am fascinated by your user friendliness experiment and I often daydream about conducting one myself. I would be interested in reading a more detailed write-up of the advantages and disadvantages of each option.

For Debian, did you consider setting up unattended upgrades?

Would you consider adding an RHEL/CentOS derivative such as AlmaLinux to the mix? The current version of AlmaLinux is supposed to be supported until 2032. The EPEL repository brings the software selection a little bit closer to Fedora.

I love Linux and I think a lot of my non-technical family members would benefit from it, but I am not as brave as you. The danger with messing around with someone’s computer is that you are basically taking ownership of all tech problems the person may run into. It’s like the “You break it, you buy it” rule. The person may seek help from another tech geek, but as soon as that geek finds out they’re dealing with a “weird” Linux system, they’re going to run away from it. You are effectively volunteering to be 24x7 on-call tech support for the people whose laptops you’ve installed Linux on.

APM is Advanced Power Management. I’m having trouble finding an official explanation for it, but it basically allows the hard drive to park the head when the OS thinks it’s idle. My hard drive makes a loud “click” every time that happens. APM is too aggressive, so my hard drive is constantly clicking unless I disable APM.

Recently, I’ve been changing distros about once a year. These are the things I install every time:

• hdparm - I use this to disable APM on my HDD which makes annoying sounds when it’s enabled. (Yes, my computer is old and still uses an HDD as the system drive.)
• KeePassXC - My preferred password manager.
• VeraCrypt - My external drives are encrypted with this.
• Joplin - I store my setup notes in here.
• Lutris/Steam/Wine - I’m a gamer.

As for the config files, I always start fresh.

“Compact powerhouse” caught my attention. Unfortunately, “compact” is a 6.36 inch screen.

Unlike apt in Debian-based distros, zypper in OpenSUSE does not have an autoremove command that removes the unneeded dependencies of packages that were removed. To keep your system clean, use the --clean-deps option when removing packages.

I will never forget the time I saw my classmate clean his glasses by licking them. It wasn’t a small lick. The lenses were covered in his saliva afterwards. 🤮

FYI, the translation feature is available in the current stable version (v117), but it’s disabled by default. To enable it, go to about:config and set browser.translations.enable to true. I tried it earlier on a German website and it worked well.

Reference: https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/27/how-to-enable-firefoxs-native-translate-feature-in-firefox-117/