I’ve been off of WhatsApp for about 7 years. My only communication options with everyone else are phone calls or Signal, and for those that will not use at least signal, we’ll, you can always call me.

I have arcane chat, but only 1 friend of mine from church uses it with me.

Last windows I used was 10,and I’ve always found it lacking in the screen capture arena. Full disclosure, I had no idea Flameshot had a windows version.

Gnome has an extension called GSConnect which is their re-implementation of KDE Connect. I have in my tablet and phone, and it’s flawless.

But don’t change yet, give me until the weekend, I’ll spin Fedora with KDE in my laptop, and come back with my experience with FlameShot.

No need to change if that’s what you like and it ends up working.

Flameshot does require some tweaking to work anyway, so I’ll need check if it’s the same in KDE.

I honestly haven’t tried on KDE, but I can give it a shot this coming weekend and report back. I’m up for a distro hopping round anyway.

But in Gnome, dual screens, it works like a charm, also on Wayland.

Absolutely. And they update pretty quickly when YouTube breaks something.

Yeah, but this is about self hosting and it’s costs, so the comparison is relevant.

How are the Chinese data hoarders providing government your information to the government any worse than the US ones doing the same? VPNs are only a small part of the full arsenal needed for obfuscating your identity, and the nationality of any of them is irrelevant, as pretty much all governments are gathering data from them.

I don’t trust Chinese VPNs, and I don’t trust American VPNs, or Russian, or Israeli. I feel somewhat safer with Mullvad or Proton VPNs, and even then, they are worthless if you’re relying only on VPNs.

FlameShot. In my opinion, the best and most versatile screen capture app for Linux distros, especially if you use Gnome as your DE.

Glad this is happening. These are the same news outlets that provide Google with your information and pay Google for ads.

They can all bust for all I care.

I get it, but GrapheneOS is meant to “disallow” those things precisely because they invade our privacy.

Genuinely curious here, I but what restrictions?

https://media.tenor.com/j3956YuKDZsAAAAM/look-what.gif

Lol, I was thinking the same thing. “plug it in, OK, done”. No drivers and none of that shit.

Agreed. However, more users (personal, institutional or business) equals more devs focused on the OS.

All I need is a sudden jolt of “I need to test other distros”, distro hop for a day or 2,and then end up back in my distro of choice. This happens every couple of months give or take.

Where are you? From your comment, I’m sure you live in my house 🤣

Hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m sick of one clueless idiot posting something and then a whole crowd of brainless followers jumping on the bandwagon just to smear someone’s name (like what’s happening with Proton and Andy Chen, for example).

Honestly, I couldn’t care less if Andy was Trump’s biggest fan. Proton’s track record on privacy is rock solid. I spent two years digging into Tuta, Proton, disroot, and a bunch of others until I finally settled on Proton for my family—and I’ve never looked back. My wife, who used to throw money at Google like it was cash to burn, finally got an email service she could actually trust. That’s what matters here.

Now, I get it—Proton’s not perfect, and yeah, they’re a business with their own quirks and maybe some shady stuff waiting to surface. But we need to stop blindly following one crappy post without doing our own homework.

And sure, I hate a lot about Trump (not to mention Musk, who I honestly think is even worse), but let’s be real: the alternative of having Kamala Harris at the helm could’ve been a total nightmare. When I imagine her running the world’s most powerful economy and military, I’m picturing a hot mess that would plunge everyone into chaos. You think you’re safe from one disastrous trainwreck, only to replace it with an even bigger one!

Trump is pure asshole material, and you could probably say that about 90% of his cabinet and most Republicans too. So yeah, if you just skim the last bit, you might think I’m a Trump supporter. But if you read the whole thing, you’ll see I’m simply saying that, given the choices, staying on this crazy rollercoaster was the lesser of two evils. We need to weigh the bigger picture rather than jump on every outrage train without doing any actual research.

Ex-Google fan boy here. Been riding the fuck Google wagon for about 7 years now, no regrets, and certain I’m missing out on absolutely nothing. Moving away from all these self-serving BS “tech giants” is the smartest and healthiest move anyone can do.

Well, let’s break it down with a little humor and a nod to the inevitable AI email overlords!

Sure, the article points out that the premium Google Workspace users get a special treatment—like being offered champagne instead of soda—but if you’re part of the 90% rolling with regular Gmail, you’re still enjoying your familiar, free soda pop (for now). However, don’t get too comfortable: whether you’re sipping premium champagne or pop, Google’s AI is always lurking in the background, ready to “swallow” your emails and extract insights like a digital detective. In other words, even if you’re not part of the fancy club, your emails are still part of the grand data buffet.

So while the article might claim it’s all rainbows and free soda for most, the truth is that Google is perfecting their AI trick regardless of your account type. It’s like distinguishing between first-class and economy on a flight—different levels of service, but everyone’s still on the same plane, and the in-flight entertainment (that is, AI data crunching) is serving up free snacks to all!

I wanted to offer some friendly corrections and context on a few points:

1. Google using Ubuntu on MacBooks
     While there have been rumors and isolated internal reports over the years of various corporate users trying out different Linux setups on Mac hardware, there’s no verified evidence that Google officially used Ubuntu on MacBooks as a standard environment. Google’s internal usage tends to be quite varied and often kept under wraps, so the claim might be more anecdotal than fact-based.

2. Canonical and Ubuntu’s direction
     You mentioned that “not everyone likes what Canonical is doing anymore.” While Canonical’s moves (like the snap ecosystem and various design choices) have sparked debates, many users still appreciate Ubuntu’s focus on ease of use, hardware compatibility, and community support. It’s all about personal preference and the tradeoffs between innovation and long-term support.

3. Fedora’s complexity and documentation
     Saying Fedora is “weirdly more complex” might be an oversimplification. Fedora often targets users who appreciate the latest upstream software and development practices, which can feel more hands-on. Its documentation is actually quite robust and maintained by a passionate community—even if the style and depth might differ from Ubuntu’s more streamlined guides. It comes down to what learning experience you value more.

4. Arch Linux and its learning curve
     Your take on Arch is fair: its wiki is indeed one of the best resources out there, which is why many users swear by it as a learning tool. However, while it’s true that Arch offers a very pure, “vanilla” GNOME (or any desktop environment you set up) experience—similar in spirit to what Fedora might provide—it’s also worth noting that Arch’s philosophy means it won’t hold your hand. For newcomers, that means more risk of “breaking things,” but also an invaluable hands-on learning curve for those willing to dive in.

5. Starting with Ubuntu for hardware compatibility
     The suggestion to use Ubuntu to test hardware support is a practical one. Since Ubuntu has a broad driver base and a large user community, it’s often a good first check for MacBook (and other hardware) compatibility. However, sometimes even if Ubuntu exhibits some quirks, other distros might work just as well or even better depending on the kernel versions, desktop customizations, or community-contributed fixes. A USB Wi-Fi adapter can indeed be a good temporary workaround for connectivity issues if they arise.

In summary, each Linux distribution has its own strengths and challenges. It really boils down to your priorities—whether it’s stability, a polished user experience, cutting-edge software, or a chance to learn more about the inner workings of a system. All these distros contribute to the vibrant, diverse Linux ecosystem, and exploring them is part of the fun!

Hope this helps provide a clearer picture, and just enjoy tinkering with Linux!