Out of the options you mentioned, Pixel with a custom rom (GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, etc.) is probably the best bet. Seconded by any Samsung that could run a custom rom, though I agree with others here that the hardware is better on the Pixels. Plus they have extra security hardware features that will be better. Of course, if things are weird with your telecom, that might effect things (trust me, been there with an Ubuntu Touch phone before.)

Another option you could look at depending on where you are is Murena’s phones. They have a bunch of options pre-flashed with their de-Googled rom /e/ os. Not my favorite rom, but still not bad! And of course those can be flashed with another rom if you want as well!

Thanks for the heads up, didn’t know this!

I used to self host some stuff on an old 2011 iMac. Worked fine, actually

Kinda, yeah! These kinda remind me of some of the icon packs I used on my jailbroken iPod Touch!

That’s why I never got why TPUSA people go around “debating” people on college campuses. They never actually want a debate, they just want to tell you you’re wrong.

You might be able to find a super lightweight desktop distro out there (I think Damn Small Linux can run on those specs?) or you could repurpose it as a basic server of some sort like you mentioned. Unless you wanted to invest in some cheap old ram to throw in there and maybe make it a bit faster, then I think those would be your best options.

I’ve been using it on my Fedora laptop for the past week or so and it’s really nice, even in alpha 1! Can’t wait to see how it turns out fully finished!

I was so happy about this! Been using it on my work MacBook and have been excited to use it on my main laptop!

Windows 10 before I used Linux full-time, though I did try out Windows 11.

Imagine being so against people using certain programs on their computer that you straight up deny them software updates.

My only major complaint is their free-tier is a bit lacking compared to what Skiff had (or I guess has, but not for much longer.) I think their platform is great, and definitely worth paying for, but given I’m a broke college student that’s not much of an option. Also their support for third party clients (or lack thereof) isn’t great, though I don’t use those as much. Otherwise I like it quite a bit!

Generally I have when I use Gnome or KDE on Linux, though I have started to prefer MATE, which doesn’t have Wayland support yet afaik. I also started using FreeBSD on one of my computers a bit more, and I believe Wayland support is still a bit wonky on that right now. But as soon as Wayland support is there I’m definitely switching to that on the daily.

For something with fitness tracking, I’ve been using the Garmin Forerunner series for years. Recently though, I’ve been using the Pine64 PineTime as my main smartwatch. It doesn’t have much for fitness tracking, but if you’re looking for a basic smartwatch it’s pretty nice!

While I get your point about not expecting all software to have the same workflow, keep in mind that learning a new one isn’t always in the cards. The reason people don’t complain when learning Adobe is because they are probably starting with it. But if they complain when switching to GIMP it’s because they have to spend the time to learn a new system instead of getting their work done. And especially in a professional environment, that just ends up causing problems.

While I get your point about not expecting all software to have the same workflow, keep in mind that learning a new one isn’t always in the cards. The reason people don’t complain when learning Adobe is because they are probably starting with it. But if they complain when switching to GIMP it’s because they have to spend the time to learn a new system instead of getting their work done. And especially in a professional environment, that just ends up causing problems.

I name mine after different places or ships from anime shows I watch. My laptop is Bebop from Cowboy Bebop, my desktop is goingmerry from One Piece, my Kali VM is senku1 from Dr. Stone, and my NAS server is amaterasu from Fire Force.

As someone who has been plagued by broken, hard to repair laptops before, I went for the Framework Laptop. Of course, your needs and wants might be different.

System 76 laptops are probably a bit better for Linux considering they were built specifically for it. They also have more variety in what kind of laptop you can get, whereas the Framework only comes in a 13 inch “ultrabook” form factor and a future 16 inch gaming laptop. And battery life I believe is a bit better than the Framework.

However, Framework still works really well with Linux (I use Linux Mint on mine, and it works great.) And the flexibility in being able to repair, upgrade and customize your laptop is really nice. Plus, the battery thing is slowly but surely getting fixed, and while it’s still not entirely great, it has gotten me through the day as a computer science student.

I feel like it has gotten better for sure. I use Linux Mint on mine, and while I don’t think it’s quite been “fixed” yet, it’s improved enough to be noticeable.

I would love it if there was a smaller company like Framework or System76 that made printers that weren’t enshittified. Something with open firmware and hardware that also could be easily repaired. Or at the very least an open standard that existed for printers to use. I know companies like HP or Epson wouldn’t buy in, but maybe some smaller players could join in with that if there was.

I haven’t, but I’ve seen it in my Spotify recommendations. I also subscribed to the newsletter, though I haven’t had much time to read it much.