I've read articles that were clearly created using ChatGPT, there was no extrapolation to add context/details to illustrate their points, and parts of it read like it just pulled from a Wikipedia page. The tone felt more robotic than pieces they published 6~8 months ago.

ChatGPT can be useful when it's part of a larger writing process, but I have a feeling that sites that create prompts and paste the output as their articles will slowly die-off because the quality isn't there.

I never recommend Manjaro, even for experienced users. Multiple times, they've let their ssl certificats expire, and renewing those has been easy to automate for a number of years at this point. There have been a number of cases where they ship work-in-progress versions of software as part of their default install, and there was an open letter posted calling this out: https://dont-ship.it

So in my opinion, Manjaro leaves much to be desired from a project governance standpoint.

Now, using an Arch-based distro that does the install process for you doesn't absolve you from learning what it takes to maintain an Arch install; at some point, something will crop-up that requires manual intervention to get back up & running again after an update.

If that is what you're looking for, I suggest EndeavourOS.

In general, I prefer quality over quantity. I never joined Reddit, and only visited under duress (i.e. troubleshooting Linux install & Reddit was the only place w/the info I needed).

For some reason, using Lemmy feels like I'm using old-school forums like EZBoard (I know...dating myself). I don't think that it needs to "become the next Reddit" to be an effective community platform.

Kind of a weird analogy, but it's like Mallrats...practically NOBODY saw it in theaters, but over time, it found its audience.

Just focus on quality community interactions, and the user base numbers will find the right level.

Right or wrong, the line I draw is "will I need to use this if I'm away from my home network?" If the answer's "yes," then I go with a VPS. I'm sure lots of people are angrily pounding their keyboard telling me to use Tailscale, but I have no interest in hacking/tweaking my home network's infrastructure.

I really like emerge/portage, even w/out the "candy" feature enabled. Great color highlighting, and verbose messages about any config change(s) needed.

I definitely prefer it over Snaps or appimages. Straight-forward to update, and Flatseal provides a nice GUI to control permissions (if needed). Themes may not work properly, but whatever, not a big deal for me.

The distro's repo is always my go-to. If it's not available there, then flatpak, and I'll use appimage under duress. If that doesn't work, I'll figure out a different solution.

This doesn't surprise me. Most people don't have the time or desire to keep up with tech news, and they just want to feed their addiction. It'll be interesting to see what happens 1~2 weeks after the new API rules are active, and people realize the app they use no longer works.

I never created a Reddit account, and only visited under duress, so I'm not really affected by this. So I'm just cooking up popcorn & watching the show.

Having not read the article (I know, breaking Rule #__ of The Internet ;-P)...

It doesn't surprise me that some autists are drawn to doing stand-up. Having seen the documentary "Misery Loves Comedy," comedians often use stand-up as a way of processing chronic mental health issues or other forms of divergence.

I could never do it myself, I have to stim like crazy just to (barely) make it through a phone/video call, without the pressure of actually being funny...not to mention that anytime I say something that I think is funny, I'm often the only person that actually laughs. lol

...and of course, this news is getting mixed reactions from the Linux nerds...

Back when I used Windows, I remember the BSOD's being about as useful to me as someone pointing in opposite directions saying "he/she/they went that way." So long as the new Linux blue screens provide info that's actually useful in diagnosing the problem(s), I see no issues with this. [shrugs]

Yeah, I can't relate to this at all...

[Tries to hide the look on his face that this is a flat-out lie]

Seriously, though, my partner handles my obsessions in the best way. She lets me go off & ramble about them, and when I've reached a kind of pause, she cuts in with:

"Ryan, your autism is showing," in an endearing tone of voice that's short for "I love that you do this, I want you to keep doing it, but I have no idea what you're talking about." lol

First off, I'm sorry that this happened to you.

If it were me, I'd drop that " "friend" " (extra quotes added for emphasis) like a boulder off a cliff. People that are actually friends listen & make amends when told their words caused pain & invalidation.

If it were me (I'm not familiar with your life situation outside of this post), I wouldn't contact her in any way/shape/form, and the only words I would say if she contacted me would be:

"Actions have consequences," and walk away.

I know that some of what I've wrote may come across as harsh & nuclear, but I have no patience for people that do this. Life is too short to keep people like around.

In spite of the negativity & pain being spewed out of our screens, there are plenty of people that do care & empathize.

Can't say that I've really used any of the features mentioned in this list, so doesn't really affect my experience negatively. Also, updating some icon sets to fit with the overall theme would provide a more unified experience. So two thumbs-up from me for removing code that, by & large, wasn't getting used, should help maintaining it in the long run.

Never joined Reddit, and only visited under duress. Really enjoying using Lemmy, I'm kinda getting nostalgia of the old-school forums. Nice to see more activity.

Yeah, other people adding hierarchical connotations to what we call people we're romantically involved with really rubs me the wrong way...so if some of what I say comes off as harsh, that's why.

Use what you & the people you're in a relationship with decide on...period. You decide what meaning(s) that word carries, and you're the ones that have to live with this decision.

I'm sorry, but whoever scolds someone for choosing a certain word to call people they're romantically involved with needs to back the f off.

I totally get why this is being put forth. Watch Brodie's videos on the Wayland portals (after binging on LUS, of course ;-) ), and notice which DE is more actively helpful in making the portals better...I guarantee you it doesn't start with a "G." They actually mention this in the change proposal, and I doubt that Red Hat is blind to this difference.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays-out.

First off, congrats on making the jump!

I know switching OS's can be jarring & feel like you're having to turn your head inside-up & outside-down to figure stuff out. So be patient, long-time Linux users didn't get it right the first time, either.

One place that helped me early on, was alternativeto.net. It lists alternatives to a specific program, and lets you filter by OS. If you're not sure about alternatives to [insert program] that run on Windows/MacOS, but not on Linux, this is a decent place to start.

If you want a rolling release, I suggest going with openSUSE Tumbleweed. The installer allows you to pick & choose what you do/don't want/need, and has a great rollback system in case an update causes problems.

Otherwise, I would suggest Fedora. Stays very current, and the in-place upgrade process is very seamless at this point.

I second raptir's note about running zypper dup in the terminal to do system updates. Zypper's a bit slow because it lacks parallel downloads, but it provides good info if there are any issues.

If you plan to use flatpaks, add the flathub repo with the --user option, and use that one to install. If I didn't go that route, it prompted me to enter my password for every flatpak app with an update. I'm also a deplorable Plasma user 😜, I don't know if the same behavior happens with Gnome software, it may be a weird Discover thing (shrugs).

Also, if you need the non-free multimedia codecs, run the following commands:

zypper install opi

opi codecs

Automates adding the Packman repo & switching the relevant packages.

Those are the main quirks I learned with Tumbleweed.

Yeah, I've been using dark mode for everything for at least 2 years. I also use night shift to adjust the screen to a warmer color temp. I've dealt with chronic migraines for years, and light was a big trigger.

The biggest one for me was difficulty getting jobs. I've lost count how many times my parents had to deal with me venting frustrations at falling short in the interview phase.

I can't "read between the lines." Like at all. If it's not spelled-out to me in nearly granular detail, it gets lost in translation. This has definitely contributed to my romantic difficulties.

The only other thing that comes to mind is random social interactions that just turned really awkward because I don't really have that much of a "socially appropriate" compass. lol That happened more often when I was younger.