Huh. Now that you mention it, all the linux-focused manufacturers seem to be using Nvidia for dedicated graphics. That is so weird.

It looks nice, the specs are great, and I want one, but seriously… Nvidia? Why?

I don’t want to be rude, but recommending Arch to a newbie who wants to dip their toe in is just mean. Why not tell them to set up an OpenBSD desktop while they’re at it.

And the laptop they’re using is from 2015. Why would you need the latest drivers for that?

To be fair, Fedora has opt-in telemetry. It’s 100% anonymized, though, and helps with development. I always say yes when I’m running a beta (like now).

That having been said, you should always check the privacy policies of any given distro. They tend to all be pretty up front about it (kinda hard to lie about it when anyone can check your source code…).

AFAIK, though, neither Mint nor Elementary collect telemetry by default, although they might have opt-in like Fedora. Both are based on Ubuntu LTS, but they also both scrape out so much stuff that they’re devoid of most of the Canonical junk.

You know, I had a big long thing about my local grocery store obfuscating the peanut butter, but I deleted it. I think I’m just gonna let this one go.

Look, dude, I think we probably caught each other at a bad time or something. I’m not generally this confrontational, and I kinda doubt you are either. I’m sorry I dragged it out so far, and I’m sorry I responded the way I did to your expression of frustration.

I’ll try to be better. Have a great day, yeah?

It’s not obfuscated if it takes less than a minute to find the answer, dude.

I liked it better the old way, but the feature isn’t hidden.

ETA: My point is you don’t get to complain when people reflect back the energy you put out.

Yes. It is. And so was doing a big complainy rant without doing any research.

Again: if you want polite discourse, you have to open with that, not rant and get mad about it later. You set the standard, I just went along with it.

TL;DR: Don’t lay this one on me, buddy. You walked in here looking for a fight.

I didn’t much care for the direction you started in. If you wanted an actual discussion, then opening with hostility and claims that could be refuted if you’d bothered with less than a minute of research is the wrong way to go.

If you want a civilized discussion, you have to start with a civilized post. My responses have been no more hostile than your opening salvo.

As it happens, Google’s influence over Mozilla is of massive concern to me. And I agree that the change was not needed. But it’s not obscure, it’s not hard to find out how to do what you wanted to do, and your hostility to responses suggesting DuckDuckGo only confirmed my suspicion that you didn’t want an answer, you wanted a fight.

So I gave you one.

Here’s the deal. If you walk into a place with guns blazing, you don’t get to act all surprised and indignant when someone fires back.

Rclone does AFAIK. It’s just not set up in this app yet.

Dear god, don’t use free VPNs. If they’re not charging you,.they’re making money somehow, generally by selling your personal data.

This is neat! Now we just need One Drive and Mega on there…

Aren’t Flatpaks containerized? Am I misunderstanding what containerized means, how Flatpaks work, or both?

Maybe. But even if that was the case, the way it is now isn’t obfuscated. It’s not difficult. It’s not hard to find out how to do it. You made a big long post to complain about an “obfuscated” feature that I found in under a minute.

Next time, either do a search or ask for help, instead of whinging like a n00b. Or worse, some kind of Google FUD-spreading parasite.

FFS, Jesus Wept. I finally understand those blokes over at FreeBSD telling me to RTFM twenty years ago.

Edit: Apparently, the synonym for complain I used before was offensive. It was not the “B” word, which I only use in reference to female dogs. Just wanted that to be clear.

What are you talking about?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/add-or-remove-search-engine-firefox#w_add-a-search-engine-from-the-address-bar

That took me like two second to find. You can also use addons, like this one for Qwant:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/qwantcom-for-firefox/?utm_source=addons.mozilla.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=search

Which I like. But none of this is hard or “obfuscated”, and it’s literally identical to changing or adding a new search engine on Waterfox.

I have a lot of issues with Mozilla, not least of which is their reliance on Google for income. It’s like hiring a dingo as a babysitter. But c’mon, man.

The first thing I check for is if a game is Terraria. If it isn’t, I play Terraria instead.

All kidding aside, I tend to enjoy games that involve exploration, character development, and pleasent visuals. Good sound design is also a must, and I prefer games to be at least somewhat action oriented.

None of these things are hard and fast rules for me, of course. I like a lot of different games.

Not gonna lie, it looks cool as hell. But if I get a handheld it’ll be a Steamdeck. I might be more tempted if it was Linux based, though.

Honestly, this is kind of a weird question. It’s Google. They collect all of it. Every picture, every note, every keystroke. All of it.

The answer to "what information does GOOGLE SERVICE collect is always all of it.

Oh dear god it’s hideous, at least on mobile. Yuck.

Many of the major distros with graphical installers would work. Fedora, Ubuntu, Endeavor, OpenSuse… it’s really the Desktop Environment and the default set of apps that’s going to make the difference for you, since that’s what determines how you interact with the computer on a day to day basis.

A lot of folks feel more comfortable with an interface like their old OS and simple graphical tools. If that’s what you’re after, it’s hard to beat Mint with its default Cinnamon desktop. It is very Windows-like in its workflow except just better. It’s got great gui system tools, a good community, and it’s super easy to install.

If that’s what you’re after - easy to install and just daily drive to browse the web and use google docs - then stop reading now. Mint is my recommendation. If you’re wanting to dive in and learn more about Linux along the way, keep reading!

I don’t agree with the “acts like my old desktop” philosophy, personally. I think it tends to make people expect the system to work like their old OS, and everything is different under the hood. It’s like putting a car’s dashboard and steering wheel into a tank. The vehicles are similar in a lot of ways, but they’re fundamentally different.

So, as a constant reminder that you’re using something fundamentally different from Windows, a Desktop Environment like Gnome or KDE is a better choice.

Gnome is very different from the Windows workflow. I’m told it takes people a bit to adjust to it, but I wouldn’t know. For me, Gnome is the most intuitive DE I’ve ever used. I had the basics down in seconds. I recommend Fedora Workstation if you want to try it out. It’s up to date, has a great set of default apps, and has a strong community. I use Fedora, and I’m very happy with it.

KDE can work like Windows, if that’s what you’re after… but it can also work nearly any way you want it to because it’s so amazingly flexible that it’ll knock your socks off. The number of settings and things you can tweak, rearrange, and modify to your liking can be a bit overwhelming, but it can also be fun. I’ve spent literal hours having fun tweaking my desktop (although I always end up with something that imitates the Gnome workflow lol). It does a great job showing you how adaptable Linux can be, and how it’s all about your choices as a user. I love it, even if it’s not my DE of choice. If that sounds like your kind of fun, then KDE Neon or Fedora’s KDE spin ate worth a look.>

Yes.

Next question.