Wine is a compatibility layer, it works as a translator to let windows programs run on linux. You can think of it like having a translator who allows two people with different languages to talk to each other and work together.

WinBoat is completely different, this is actually running full windows in the background, and then only displaying the apps you want from it. There will be significantly more system resources used, and you won’t be able to run windows apps until the windows VM has started in the background, adding a startup delay. However the advantage is that it will support more software than wine does, with fewer issues.

Wine will always be the better option when it works, but for stuff that doesn’t work this is a decent option.

Unfortunately I haven’t used it either, so I can’t answer your questions on this. I don’t have a personal need for any windows apps on my machines, outside of steam games.

WinBoat or WinApps might work for you. They’re very similar in function afaik, they both run a windows vm hidden in the background and integrate the windows apps alongside your Linux programs. It’s supposed to be fully compatible with all windows program except kernel anti-cheat.

WinBoat is newer and I think offers a nicer interface and a lot easier setup, WinApps is older so may be easier to find support/documentation on. I’d probably recommend starting with WinBoat first.

Most models now are .safetensor files which are supposed to be safe, but I know in the past there were issues where other model filetypes actually could have attack payloads in them.

Distrobox is also a good option for installing stuff without flatpak.

Yeah, I had mostly stayed away from arch based distros after having a really bad time with Manjaro. But hearing the Steam Deck’s version of SteamOS was switching to an Arch base got me to try Endeavour on my desktop, and I’ve been using it ever since.

https://github.com/ryanrudolfoba/SteamOS-Waydroid-Installer

Not disagreeing with your point, but at least for waydroid there’s a specific SteamOS installer available.

Desktop experience is just KDE, only part that I’m worried will trip people up is it being immutable. Usually that’s fine, but occasionally you run into an issue where something doesn’t work because of flatpak sandboxing, and it can be confusing how to overcome it.

It’s working, I know people who don’t even own a steam deck who are considering swapping to SteamOS once it’s available for desktops.

I’ve told them they don’t need to wait and can get a similar or better experience with distros that are already available, but steam’s name is gold for a lot of people and it seems like the only option they’re really interested in.

“Sorry I got rid of windows 10 years ago. I can help you install win 7 but nothing newer than that”

Every different part of computer setup/OS/resolution/extension/etc is a data point that can be used to uniquely identify you and track your web browsing. Generally any desktop computer will have a unique fingerprint, the only hardware setup I’ve heard of being common enough to avoid fingerprinting is something like using safari on a modern iphone.

Yeah my first thought was just keep running dd commands, and sooner or later you’ll have the hdd wiped.

I’m not sure. Some posts legitimately seem like Linux users making fun of themselves. Others really seem like people who have an actual grudge against it.

Some of those posts are decent jokes to be honest. Some are just desperate/scare tactics though.

I learned a lot by using a less common distro (solus). When I would have a problem, the solutions I could find on forums or arch wiki wouldn’t apply to my distro directly, and I would have to look into the solution for long enough to understand what needed to change in order for the solution to work.

You can probably do this on any distro, just by not using commands you find online until you understand what they’re doing and why that might fix your problem. Arch wiki is a great resource for any distro, even though it won’t always be accurate for the distro you’re on.

Wait this is in the US? How, this is even more expensive than Hawaii, and they have obvious reasons for power to be more expensive there

That seems really high, I think power where I live is about 12-14 cents per kilowatt hour. What makes it so expenses where you live?

Yeah, I think a good approach to any type of government powers is considering that future presidents/parties you don’t like will also have access to these powers.

I would absolutely love it if the threat of the future Trumps is a limiting factor on government overreach.

They want access, they just don’t want china to have access. Of course, when you add a backdoor it’s best to assume everyone will use it sooner or later.

One of my biggest pet peeves with corporate websites. It’s like they’re afraid that clearly stating what they do will prevent them from growing and doing other things as well. So instead they refuse to say anything coherent.