So I use Linux Mint 20. Uh. It's been a whole thing to switch, but I would encourage anyone who is interested to try making a WINE ("Wine is Not an Emulator") bottle on their current system or download their preferred distribution of Linux onto a blank USB and run it off of that USB on their main system to try it relatively risk-free. Otherwise, if they're able to shell out around $135 USD to purchase a Raspberry Pi computer, it runs a version of Linux that I rather like so far. Just don't expect to be playing big, online games on it as the graphics card is limited.
The Rambling Part
On my Dell Inspiron laptop, my partner and I erased the Windows 10 OS and installed the Linux Mint 20 OS from a USB drive. I greatly prefer the desktop environment Linux Mint uses over whatever Windows has become. I have so much control over personalizing it and setting it up how I like to work. One of the first things I did was download and install Audacity to rip some sounds and music from the 90's school girl anime Card Captor Sakura to use for my boot up and boot down sounds.
This image does not belong to me, it belongs to NIS America. I took it from this page about the series.
I watched the American cut as a kid. They altered and/or removed the queer content, as well as the implied relationship between a student and a teacher. My perspective or wish about that relationship is that it was an unrequited crush that the student harbored. The N*tflix version left these elements in. In general, it is a tender, relaxing, domestic comfort laced show. I don't know if it was true to life for Japan at the time, but in the series all of the students regardless of their assigned gender learn how to cook and bake at school. Most American schools don't have home economics classes anymore, and many of them are doing away with their shop classes. The schools in the state I live in are literally auctioning off the equipment in these rooms. I think instead of forcing a gender binary on who took home economics and who took shop, requiring both for everyone the way fundamentals are required for high school graudation may have better preserved these skills. I like to imagine a society where we all have basic skills in many unrelated areas.
I egregiously digress, but my qualm is in the same vein as why I switched to Linux. The tools to learn about computers and related topics have been removed from the Big Operating Systems targetted at working adults, and several layers of wall have been put in their place between the user and the operations. I don't like bloatware. I don't like things you can't opt-out of. I don't like pop-ups you can't turn off from the company that made the computer or the OS. I don't like must-permanently-opt-in-to-use-with-your-email-and-credit-card. I don't like auto updates. I don't like mandatory subscription services--I paid for the device, why do I need to pay to use the buggy word processor that should have come pre-loaded on it? I don't like how everything has been app-ified. I don't like the creepy feeling of targetted ads based on stereotypes about me or groups I have been lumped in with by whatever firm is crunching and storing my data.
I want to struggle through learning a task or program on my own, instead of giving up my digital agency for the excessively-streamlined version of something so that monopolies monopolize harder on my ignorance. I want to learn how to write my own crappy programs. I want the option to use a terminal. I want to pick and choose what to update within my system. I want a system that lets me learn about how it works, and actually invites me in and asks me to get comfortable.
The Actual Linux Part
I have no formal computer or technology education or training. Someday I would like to, but I'm not really sure how to acquire that knowledge or experience aside from self study as I have become pretty debt-shy (and college is mighty pricey here now). So, please take my point of view as an enthusiastic layperson with a grain of salt: I have preferences but no real expertise.
Raspberry Pi's are a delight if you are not a technologically-forward person or particularly well-versed in computers but you want a solid, functional alternative OS and hardware to the giants. They also make great gifts for children that *are* technologically-forward people that need a friendly introduction to coding basics and computer science. If you get the kit, it comes with the computer--which is roughly the size of an Altoids tin, an activities book, all the cords you need, and free digital copies of their magazine pre-loaded on the system (a great value to be sure). You do need your own screen with an HDMI port (unless you have the cords to set up otherwise), a mouse, and a keyboard. If you don't want the case and you already have cords laying about, you can purchase just the computer hardware with the OS pre-installed for even cheaper. It comes with many great tools and programs pre-installed, and the Linux software library boasts many wonderful free and open source programs that you can install from your terminal. I like Audacity, Pixelorama, Gimp, Virtual Midi Piano Keyboard, Muse Score 3, mu, IDLE, Godot Engine...
I like LibreOffice--Linux's answer to Microsoft Office--a lot. LibreOffice Writer reminds me of word processors from the mid 2000's to the early 2010's. It's fully-loaded and the editting menus feel more intuitive to me. There is an HTML editor that allows you to toggle between seeing what the page would look like in a browser versus the raw code. I would be editting my Sauer Zone entries in LibreOffice Writer now, except that I want to utilize the suggestions Neocities makes while I use their editor. Eventually when I am more seasoned, I'll switch over. I used LibreOffice Calc, the Microsoft Excel analog, to make a plant watering chart with a cute stationary look recently. It is friendly and seems to have all of the functions and equations that Excel or Google Docs have if you need it for purposes that are more school or work-oriented.
I have *absolutely no experience* with Photoshop or Photoshop-like products and honestly they stress me out yet. That said, Gimp works well for my simplistic uses so far. Whenever I have trouble finding something or I assume the program may not have a function I've thought would solve my particular problem, a quick internet search has not failed to show me how powerful this program can be to a curious or clued-in user.
I have used a couple different Integrated Development Enviroments (often refered to with the acronym "IDE") for coding in Python 3 so far. I like mu because it is beginner-friendly: it has suggestions, it gives a detailed explanation in the error report if your program produces an error, it's color-coded if you like color-coding, and it highlights where else variables or functions show up in your code if you select one iteration of the variable/function. I also like IDLE (also short for "Integrated Development Environment", but specifically referring to Python's version). It's like a stripped down, more serious version of mu. When I *think* I know what I'm doing, I go straight to IDLE to edit what I am working on.
Anyway, those are some of my relative-newbie perspectives on Linux. As I learn and experience more, I'll share more. Thanks for reading! Seeya next time.
P.S. I read a piece by Emilie Reed on their Zonelet Hotel Paintings about their experiences with computers growing up and what they're doing technologically now. I really enjoyed it and I would highly suggest a read. They started a fun project to repurpose a one use device and I look forward to reading updates on it! The post reminded me of what computer labs were like in school for me growing up. My K-8 school had a mix of out-of-date Macintosh and Windows computers. I enjoyed the old desktop environments that were less dynamic and less polished.