Mint is Ubuntu with the icky proprietary Canonical stuff removed and with an extra layer of polish.

Mint Cinnamon even has a windows-like desktop/taskbar-like setup out of the box. I don’t know of any reason I might recommend somebody replace windows with Ubuntu rather than Mint.

They probably care less about whether it is true, and more about whether they can get their buy in before everybody else.

That’s such a nice thing about Linux and FOSS in general. The issues you run into are different than what you may be used to with Windows, but at least the system and its developers aren’t working against you.

Heck yeah. Once in installed Mint on my PC at home, it was only a matter of weeks before I double checked my backed up files and nuked my windows partition.

I still have the windows partition at work that I never use, and I have heard some bad stories about machines getting wiped when IT upgrades people to win11, so it might just have a little accident in its sleep.

Yeah, work is where they get you. I’m fortunate to be able to use Linux at work too, but the company is still paying for my M365 account which I use in a browser for meetings and communication.

This year presents a big opportunity for many of us to get user friendly Linux distros on family members’ PCs that are currently running win10 and not able to upgrade to 11.

I’m already a Linux Mint fan so that’s right where I’m headed.

Yeah of course, it is by definition coping. Zero disagreement from me. But from my perspective of trying to find practical ways to achieve a fulfilling existence, good coping strategies can be a very positive thing. Bad shit will always be there, and we all have our own unique collections of it and unique internal reactions to it.

And the spirit of this from me is to encourage others to explore what’s possible, not to say “you should X.” We all have unique minds going through unique life experiences, so it would be silly for me to try to lay out some kind of roadmap to happiness like I know you (or any other people who might read this).

It took me several years to get my head to where it is now, and that includes ongoing medication. My goal is to help others however I can, so whether that is by providing possible techniques or just convincing them that a better existence might be possible, I will take whatever I can get. Incremental improvements are a good thing, even if tiny.

And indeed a big part of that is to explore what restrictions and burdens we place upon ourselves. If people in way worse conditions than us are happy, and people in way better positions than us are miserable, there must be some wiggle room where we can find a better outcome given our own unique inputs.

I found a lot of inspiration in the philosophy of the stoics and Buddhists, plus Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. That doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you to be stoic and control your emotions, because that would be some ignorant shit. But I think there’s a general idea there that’s worth encouraging others to consider, that you may be able to pilot your brain through the craziness of life in a way that suits you better.

And like I think I said before, the “decide to be happy” platitude is important but it is only the first baby step of a long journey. Genuinely changing your emotional state is not just a simple decision, but it may be possible over an extended period of time if you are consciously working towards it and making small beneficial decisions over and over.

If I may end with another platitude that is way easier said than done, we have to play the hand we’re dealt. Not because there’s anything good about that plan, and not because that is fair, but because that is reality. I found it difficult to find contentment with my life while also wishing my life was something else. And I know that probably sounds negative and discouraging as text on a screen, but think of it more like putting your effort towards practical improvements and not wasting your energy dwelling on things you cannot change or on the inherent unfairness of life. That includes acknowledging your privilege along with accepting your burdens.

I hope something in there made sense to somebody!

That’s one reason I threw in “to the extent that you can control it” because sometimes bad shit just happens.

But for what it’s worth, between 2019 and now I’ve had three financial disasters and my financial picture is way worse than it was. Debt free with emergency savings, used that up on a mess with the house, then lost my job twice over the Covid years after having been at the same place 15 years. But I’m also on the other side of it all where I have a job I like and I can start to rebuild.

But I also have a family and a ton of animals, so I’ve been holding all of that close. I wish you well!

Insert “that’s the neat part” meme.

I think of it like a positive nihilism. Nothing inherently matters, but existing and being self-aware is such a crazy thing that just being able to consider the question is an extremely lucky state to find yourself in. So to the extent that you can control it, why not actively choose to live a positive and fulfilling existence and be a source of positivity in the experiences of others?

After working through my personal shit for several years, the stereotypical circular platitudes you might expect to hear from a monk like “to be happy, choose to be happy” make sense in a whole new way. That kind of thing isn’t the single magic step to finding fulfillment like it might sound in the surface, but it is a critical first step that informs a million future small decisions.

Mint is ubuntu with the icky stuff removed and given an extra layer of polish. Still loving it here.

I have a lifetime Plex pass.

I tried out Jellyfin last month.

Now Plex is uninstalled.

Even if we ignore the differences when it comes to matters of FOSS, cost, corporate control, privacy, etc, Jellyfin’s performance is just so much better.

Setting it up to run over https while fully self-hosted was a learning process for somebody who isn’t a web dev, but holy crap was it worth it.