mpblack

Thanks for the tip - I'll check out the AMD Acer laptops. You thinking of Nitros, in particular?

Looks like a nice selection. A sensible approach, and one I may end up taking: getting a Windows laptop for good value and then installing Linux myself.

Good points all round, thanks - and I did think the Linux installation cost seemed high. I might be willing to pay a premium for good support. I've heard good things about System76's customer service (but they're US-based). Installing a distro on an old laptop doesn't scare me - I've done it before. It's more the hardware/driver issues that might arise. And then I'd love to discover an "out of the box" solution that I could recommend to my friends and family, who have little appetite for tech tinkering. Maybe that's where Tuxedo comes into the picture...

Can't seem to find refurbs on their website - and judging from the original announcement, they may only be available in the US and Canada (I'm in the EU).

That's helpful, thanks. I'm guessing they charge a premium because they provide a service. I'm not afraid to tinker a bit, but my interest in Linux is not tinkering - it's to switch to a freer, more sustainable OS. So I'm curious about services that offer support.

For that reason I've also looked at Tuxedo computers, but I'm worried that I'm locking myself into another company's OS again (from Microsoft/Apple to Tuxedo) rather than having the freedom to choose my own distro. But I guess with support comes a price: less freedom.

Right now I'm deeply locked into the Apple ecosystem. Apple makes wonderful hardware and apps, but it's still a straitjacket, even if it's a designer straitjacket. 😀

These do look nice 🤩 Thanks!

How do you get a terminal app that’s cool and user-friendly? Any recommendations?

Cities without cars sound wonderful. My personal utopia. 🤩

I'm not an urban planner, and know little about such things. But I imagine 20th century city planning plays a part in today's tensions between status quo car-centered policies and pro-pedestrian policies. I mean, I look at how cars dominate cities like Brussels, cutting though the medieval foundations of the city, or how much of Copenhagen was turned into parking lots in the 20th century (now, thankfully, the trend is being reversed). Drivers depend on getting from A to B in the city by using their cars; pedestrians (really, everyone) suffer the resulting air and noise pollution, not to mention the sheer amount of space dedicated to blacktop and parking.

I'd prefer a city exclusively dedicated to pedestrians and bicyclists. But seeing this from the car owner's perspective, I can appreciate that, for some, there are no viable alternatives. Public transport might take 2 hours vs 30 minutes driving. Then what do you do? In some cases, I'm guessing we'd need A LOT more investment in public transport, bike-lane super highways, etc. before it would be politically viable to completely eliminate cars, and even then, it would have to be gradual. After all, old habits die hard.

I hear a lot of pain in what you say, friend - I wish you every kind of goodness and hope you find ways to ease your suffering. 💜

It sounds like you've done a lot to minimize your digital dependence. I'll throw some ideas at you - take 'em or leave 'em.

For music, you may want to consider an MP3 player (e.g. https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-r1?variant=49507556720856) so you're not streaming music. I find e.g. Spotify invasive and overstimulating in how it constantly pushes "content" at me. I'm transitioning back to MP3, and have dusted off my old MP3 backups and CDs from ye olden days.

For books, maybe even consider getting off a device - or at least increase your use of paper books, if you can. Use your local library, if possible. Libraries can also be good spaces to enter. Humane non-digital spaces. If you want an e-reader, make sure it's one that doesn't lock you into proprietary formats. Use Calibre to manage your ebooks. I would suggest avoiding Amazon's Kindle. I have a Kobo. I bet there may be even better options out there. But again, prioritizing physical books might be healthy. I use my library a lot, and got myself a really nice book light so the reading experience feels nice at night.

If you still need to use a PC - eg for work - can you install apps that limit your access to certain sites or apps? For example, the Freedom app: https://freedom.to/

I'll keep thinking of ideas. If I have any, I'll come back to add them. Best of luck!

This is promising. But I assume this means Mastodon has a long, hard road ahead. Raising money as a non-profit can be tricky and slow compared with tech VC money. I'm hopeful they'll find ways to get get large, long-term funding that can support their continued evolution.