And I still use it at work, and will continue to until I take the time to test out the things I need to make sure I can get them to work correctly.
I don't remember exactly what the tipping point was, but I just got so sick of every little issue, and the copilot crap certainly contributed. Basically got tired of my computer that I paid for being treated like they own it instead of me.
I came very close to switching back around 2009/2010, but Windows 7 and PowerShell got me to stick around and they really seemed to be turning things around for a while. Other than the start screen, I even really liked Windows 8, and 8.1 fixed the worst parts of the start screen.
I've used Linux for servers and just messing around since about 2005.
A few months ago, I rebuilt my PC desktop and got two nvme drives so I could put Linux on one and Windows on another (I know I can put them on the same drive but I knew if I did that deciding how to slice it up would lock me up and risk me never being willing to actually take the plunge)
Installed Linux on the first one. The second one is still unformatted and I'm now planning on using it for additional space for my games. I have no desire to go back. Only just yesterday figured out my graphics driver was not working right/was operating at a very basic level and even with that everything just felt so smooth overall (and got even better after fixing that)
Unless I'm missing something, Plasma is the KDE desktop, there isn't a separate desktop environment just called KDE... In fact, it's full name is KDE Plasma, it's just frequently shortened to either KDE or Plasma
No, because they're not apt packages. You can, however, flatpak update them, and you don't even need sudo since they're installed in the user context rather than system.
I've started putting mine into my Bitwarden vault as well as Google auth, mainly because I'm a bit paranoid I'll wind up locked out of something by trusting a second factor too much
Sure, but does that also cover accusing someone of inserting their politics into things when they suggest a change? Especially one that has nothing to do with politics at all?
Looking forward to it... Been meaning to switch to pipewire for a bit hoping it'll fix some sound issues I've been having but never getting around it to, and wanting to try KDE 6+ to see if it improves running stability/crashes (and again, haven't gotten myself around to doing it myself)
Probably even switch back to Cinnamon for a bit and see if it fixes the issues I was having with it
If you've got an external USB drive bigger than the laptop's, and are willing to take the time, you could back it up by making a disk image with Clonezilla so you're sure you have a backout option if you run into too much trouble getting Linux working
Did Matt try putting the regular build on a newish machine? That's what I did with my current and was struggling until I put the latest kernel on it, should have gone with Edge, but had little trouble after)
I don't get them putting Mint down either, and I've built multiple Gentoo systems... I don't need an easy distro but still use Mint and like it for what it brings (basically, it's Green Ubuntu, what Ubuntu was supposed to be before they lost their way)
On your last point, there's also Flatpak which is available right from the baked in software center... That's not without its issues too, but they've been an overall smooth experience for me so far
Honestly, that's what I thought too, and wanted to check that out