Okay so I'm using Kubuntu and I went to update it and then of course it needs to restart after. Nothing unusual. However instead of restarting normally it's now just on a black screen with the cursor (like text cursor not mouse cursor) blinking in the top left. It's been like this for at least 15 minutes. I can type into the command line and up arrow to see previous commands. I've never had this happen and I'm not tech savvy so would it be okay to just hold the power button to turn my laptop off or should I run a command to make my computer restart? And if so, what command? I just don't want to break my laptop by turning the power off

Also, as for why this happened, could it be bc I just hit update all instead of doing the system update first then updating everything else? Is it best practice to do updates in a certain order? I want to understand why this happened for future troubleshooting if possible

Edit: okay I tapped the power button and it immediately turned off. I waited 30 sec to a minute then turned it back on. Everything seems to be working fine. I would still like to know if the order I update things matters?

Short version: if I get a used google pixel from eBay that already has GrapheneOS on it, is there a serious danger of malware also being added (by the seller, not graphene)?

My iPhone is at the end of its life and I decided a while ago that I’m not getting another iPhone. I was gonna get just a normal android phone (probably a Samsung thought I did check out the Motorolas) but when I was trying them out they all shove that stupid Gemini ai shit down your throat. I was already aware of GrapheneOS but initially I was thinking I’d get an android, wait for that Motorola GrapheneOS phone to come out, and see if it looks worth switching to that since I’d prefer to not give google my money. Now though, I think I’ll just switch to graphene immediately for my own sanity

Since I don’t want to give google money by buying a new pixel tho, I was considering getting a pre-owned one on eBay that already has graphene installed on it. My question is if that’s dangerous. Like, can the person that puts graphene on it also add other dangerous stuff? Or is that not really a concern? Or should I just get a new pixel bc realistically me buying one phone, while not perfect to my values, is still not the end of the world? And that way I know it should last me for a good 4-5 years at least before I need a new phone. Also realistically, I will be running the sandboxed google play services for at least some apps so I’ll still sort of be “supporting” google in that sense

Also, if anyone has any advice/tips about graphene, I’d love to hear them! I’ve been watching videos about it and reading through the website’s documentation but hearing from actual users is always helpful!

Side note: I like how my brief lemmy post history is just me getting advice/support on my journey of switching to Linux/open source/user centric alternatives since I don’t know anyone irl that knows about this kind of stuff. Y’all have really helped so much in improving my life so thank you <3

Hey sorry if this has been asked before. I checked and didn’t see any posts, but basically is the kagi search engine worth it? I’m gearing up to cancel Hulu/spotify so I’ll have a little more money in the monthly budget and Kagi is one of the things I’m considering

Currently I use DuckDuckGo and it’s pretty good for me, but the main thing that makes me interested in Kagi is the ability to rank websites so they appear more or less often and the filter by type like academic sources or Reddit only.

I don’t really like ai stuff (not inherently, it’s just shoved into everything so I’ve come to hate it) but it seems pretty unobtrusive in Kagi?

I want to hear from people who actually pay for and use Kagi. Is the 300 searches a month enough for you or do most of you need the unlimited search plan? I know about the free trial but I want to know about the long term user experience

Edit: Thank you to everyone who responded!! I learned a lot about Kagi and I think I’m gonna end up getting the 300/mo plan and see if it’s enough for me. Thanks again! <3

Hello! I'm getting a new (windows) laptop that I'll mainly be using for writing text documents, surfing the web, and basically doing studenty things. I thought I'd use the chance to give linux a try since I'm too scared to jump in head first and trying to move everything over on my main computer. I'm not tech savvy at all but after watching a lot of videos explaining the basics and reading the guides here to help beginners pick a distribution, I think I've narrowed it down to either Linux Mint Cinnamon or Ubuntu (leaning towards Kubuntu because it looks a lot like Windows).

The two big things for me are 1. I don't want to use the command window for everything, or really much of anything, at least at the start. and 2. I currently use Proton VPN and I'd like to use it on this new laptop too. Unfortunately, based on what I saw on the Proton website, if I want to use it on linux it looks like the only way is to get it on Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora using the console. I don't really want to switch away from Proton VPN right now, so while I'm sure there are other vpns that are more linux-friendly, that will have to be something I consider in the future. So, does this mean I should use Ubuntu? And will Kubuntu work or would I have to use a different version of Ubuntu? And is there no way to get Proton without using the console?

A few less important considerations for me are if I'm able to change to a custom mouse pointer (I currently use a cute one that I'd like to also use on the new laptop) and if keyboard shortcuts like alt-tabbing work or are easily configurable. If none of the beginner friendly distros support those then it's fine, but they would be nice.

Also, I'm kind of confused about how updating things works on linux. Will I be able to easily update to a new version of whatever distro I'm using? Do I even want to update to the newest version? And is there a way to be notified and set auto-updates for some applications? I've seen quite a few threads and questions about having to manually update things, but if I get an application from the software manager then will it be as easy as a clicking a button?

I know I'll have to adjust and just learn-by-doing some things no matter which distro I pick, and I'm willing to try out some other distros in the future. I just want to ease my way into things. So based on all that, should I just go for Linux Mint like most new users? Or would you recommend a completely different distro?

Just for reference, uhhh how easy is it to fuck up the process of trying and then installing a linux distro? Like completely-make-the-computer-unusable fuck up? Because that's my biggest fear

P.s. I'm sorry to make another "what distro do I use" thread, but I had some questions that I didn't see answers for in the other threads. And honestly, I'll feel a lot more comfortable with switching if I feel like I've actually talked it out with people who know what they're doing.

Edit: Hello! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who responded! I read them all, but literature cafe was down and I could edit the post from my alt acc. After trying out a couple distros from usbs (and panicking during the installation) I ended up on Kubuntu! I’m liking it a lot, and I’m gonna slowly learn to use some basic commands. Thank you to everyone for being so encouraging! I literally would have given up without you all <3