No problem, I love when people show curiosity, and I’m happy to help where I can

(Why are there % signs)

Good question, here’s the explanation man sudoers offers:

The definitions of what constitutes a valid alias member follow.

       User_List ::= User |
                     User ',' User_List

       User ::= '!'* user name |
                '!'* #user-ID |
                '!'* %group |
                '!'* %#group-ID |
                '!'* +netgroup |
                '!'* %:nonunix_group |
                '!'* %:#nonunix_gid |
                '!'* User_Alias

       A User_List is made up of one or more user names, user-IDs
       (prefixed with ‘#’), system group names and IDs (prefixed with ‘%’
       and ‘%#’ respectively), netgroups (prefixed with ‘+’), non-Unix
       group names and IDs (prefixed with ‘%:’ and ‘%:#’ respectively),
       and User_Aliases. Each list item may be prefixed with zero or more
       ‘!’ operators.  An odd number of ‘!’ operators negate the value of
       the item; an even number just cancel each other out.  User
       netgroups are matched using the user and domain members only; the
       host member is not used when matching.

TL;DR % lets the system know the following word is a group name, instead of a username

If you’re referring to the youtube thumbnail trend, it’s because it helps people choose videos without reading channel names. You know who it’s from just by looking, you see the title, you’re more likely to click.

In other words, the office nerds at Mr. Beast Inc. crunched the numbers and discovered that they get ??% more viewers by putting Jimmy’s face in the thumbnail, and every other youtuber took that as gospel.

Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?

No*, with options like Wine and Proton (and Lutris and Steam), it’s almost a non-existent problem.

*allegedly some games that rely on kernel-level anticheat won’t work no matter what workarounds you use. I haven’t played these games, so I cannot vouch for it. The games I have played that use anti-cheat have worked fine

Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?

Freely, yes. Easily… depends. E.g. Nexus now has a standalone application that automates installing mods. Setting up this to work with the different games is a bit of learning how Wine works, but it’s not terribly frustrating if you have someone helping you understand.

If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?

There are always workarounds, but a very small subset are still unusable. The best option is always to find Free Software alternatives, which there are many more available than there are for windows. Even when that’s not an option, there’s always Wine, or virtual machines.

Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?

See previous answer.

How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?

Depends on the OS, but most beginner-friendly distros that are also good long-term distros have an update program like Windows. There are other methods of updating if you go for an immutable distro (like Nix or Guix), but those distros entail less transferable knowledge than distros like Debian or Manjaro.

How does digital security work on Linux?

Same as it works on windows: the weakest link is the user, and the changes they make to the system without understanding the security implications. Which is to say, the strongest security you can have is picking a distro like Debian or Fedora, making no changes to system configuration, and staying up to date on all your updates.

Don’t run code you find online without knowing exactly what it’s doing behind the scenes, don’t follow guides you found online without understanding exactly what each step is doing to your computer.

Is it more vulnerable due to being open source?

No. Why would you think it was?

Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?

Yes-ish. There are security program that work to protect you in the background (e.g. App Armor and SELinux), but there’s no program that actively scans for and detects “malicious activity” like Defender does.

I tend to recommend against these types of active scanning software, as they negatively impact system performance, and they’re really only necessary if you’re running software from random websites or opening random email attachments or plugging in random usb drives or running random commands you found online.

I can get more in-depth on this, because my job involves setting up systems and maintaining their security, but that’s only if you’re interested.

Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?

Yes, but most people have better experience with AMD than Nvidia. They both work, AMD is just a little less finnicky.

Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?

No.

Other people may say otherwise, but that’s because it’s technically possible on all OSes. It just requires so much special knowledge to even unlock the ability to do so, the odds are astronomically against you ever figuring out how to do so, and you will be warned the entire way down.

And also, what distro might be best for me?

I recommend getting Virtualbox or VMware on windows and setting up and messing around with a few distros people mention as virtual machines to see which one works best for you. The nicest thing about FOSS is the utter freedom you have, so exploring always pays off more in the long run than sticking to a step-by-step guide.

I use Debian: it’s easy, it’s secure, it’s reliable, it’s not failed me yet. It’s what distros like Linux Mint and Ubuntu are based on. Fedora is also a great mix of reliable, secure, and easy.

I’m happy to get more in-depth on these questions, or really any computing questions you have, I just didn’t want to overload you if you weren’t looking for a thesis. Feel free to ask me to elaborate though.

Do you have a source for that?

That origin is apocryphal, and likely based on a misunderstanding of a text that simply used the original phrase

litehtml looks promising, but I can’t vouch for it

I’m not saying I won’t buy high end. Just not new. There are so many used parts in circulation, and some of them in pristine condition. They’re cheaper, work almost as well (if not just as well), and keep e-waste out of landfills/being stripped for precious metals. I get to pat myself on the back and save some money, what could be better?

It’s a crap shoot, but as long as you can verify the supplier (or at least ensure return/refunds) it’s been okay.

I’ve gotten 2 GPUs and 4 CPUs through eBay, and only one of the GPUs was a scam—still got my money back within the day when it didn’t arrive on schedule (the lister had already deactivated their account)—the RX 6600 is working great so far, and the CPUs have held up in some office workstations and server for a few years now.

I’ve also gotten tons of used ram and used ssds and hdds. I’ve had a few times in my workplace where a few sticks of OEM ram and HDD failed, but haven’t had that issue with any of the used stuff (work or home).

I may be really lucky, or I may be the right amount of cautious (or both), so YMMV—definitely check with others for their experience before you decide to take the risk. Just keep in mind that if you go looking for scams and horror stories, it’s gonna seem like that’s all that happens, and the reverse holds if all you look for is success stories.

$1500 on an all new parts DIY PC complete with a Windows license. Nowadays everything’s outdated and these same parts would be like $800 max. Even back then I could have saved at least a couple hundred just by swallowing my pride and buying used.

I haven’t bought brand new tech since, and I have not regretted it yet.

What really is going on in the US right now?

Fascism

Is this worse than the first term?

Yes

Why’re legal people being kicked out?

Fascism

When is it time to really consider leave?

November 6th, 2024

So people don’t think I’m just fearmongering, here’s an in-depth explanation: the Republican party learned from their mistakes during Trump’s first term, and not only figured out how to use him, they had a plan for dismantling the government from day one. Unfortunately, their plan was to keep people focused on survival while they took away any public services, leaving only the parts that could be abused to enrich the billionaires.

As usual, they utilized divide and conquer techniques to keep the working class fighting amongst themselves about irrelevant issues like gender and immigration and the price of everyday goods. Now they have to make good on those promises to keep their supporters from turning on each other, but since they cannot control the price of goods through sheer will alone, they have to focus on purging the scapegoated groups.

They achieve this by attacking anyone and everyone who is an immigrant or visitor, documented or not. They are not trying to enforce the law, they are abusing the paramilitaristic forces they have control over (ICE) to see how much they can get their will done through sheer force.

The reason this works is because everyone in ICE “just follows orders” assuming if anything they did was out of line, someone else would stop them/clean up their mess. Our society operates on one big ethic of “that’s Someone Else’s Problem™.” But here’s the thing: you need enforcers willing to enforce the law, the system of checks and balances, at every level. Right now, there is no one arresting Trump for violating court orders, and everyone’s unsure if they even can because the Supreme Court ruled Presidential Immunity (the president can break most laws if he believes it’s “for the good of the country”).

On top of all that, the bureaucrats who would usually stand in the way of such gross misconduct are being purged. The red tape is being burned to the ground. The peons are keeping their heads down, “just following orders” as aforementioned, and the high ranking officials with weight to throw around are either following their duty of office—resigning if they refuse to follow orders—or being replaced with sycophants. The sum total effect is that there’s no one within the hierarchy who will stand up to abuse of authority.

As such, the presidency is free to do whatever he wants.

And he has. The other lesson The Party learned was to just unleash a constant barrage of policy. No matter what doesn’t pass, there’s a flood to hold back, so some is guaranteed to get through—and every bit that does is that much more power centralized in his office… And the dam will break eventually.

Meanwhile the liberal “opposition” will continue to waffle for three reasons: one, they’re still trying to play by the rules which have long since been discarded by the GOP; that only serves to benefit their opponents who use that against them. Two, they are easily manipulated by rhetoric, thinking they can bring GOP over to their side by engaging in the same rhetoric as the fascists (e.g. “so much for the party of ‘Law and Order’”); what they fail to comprehend is that the rhetoric fascists engage in is meaningless to the fascists, it is just a smokescreen: to a fascist, everything is about power, and words are just empty containers that you use to manipulate people into doing what you want (a form of power). Three, ultimately the Democratic Party is also in the pocket of billionaires, their interests are the same as the fascists: concentrate power into the hands of the wealthy, privatize the government.

If you can, leave. It doesn’t get better until after the fascists are violently deposed. They will stop at nothing less. Unfortunately, they have all the people who bekieve in doing that kind of thing on their side, so it’s only going to get worse.

And by worse, I mean that they’re already making plans for camps. They will market them as firstly “work retreats to heal lost souls,” or some similar rhetorical mixture of corpo-jargon and christianity (the 2 major ideologies) to justify rounding up anyome they deem a useless eater. Or maybe it will juat be called “Prison Labor” (which is really just constitutionally allowed slavery) and they will find whatever excuses to criminalize people they don’t like.

First it will be “illegals,” then it will be the homeless, addicts, the mentally ill, terrorists, or anyone else that is labelled a threat to society. And collateral damage will be acceptable (and encouraged) this whole time; so sometimes legal immigrants will get scooped in, or trans people who are clearly mentally ill by virtue of being trans, or anti fascists because antifa is a terrorist organization (because big brother tells me it is), or people who express leftist ideals publicly, or gun owners who haven’t pledged allegiance to The Party, or PoC with non-european names, or autistic people, or disabled people (because their secretary of Health and Human Services has “proven” that that disability is fake) or anyone else they believe they can “fix” by forcing them into labor.

And when those people don’t magically get “fixed” by labor, well… they’re just taking up too much space, aren’t they?

And the public will largely have one of three reactions: 1. “He can’t do that, that’s illegal! Someone (other than me) should really do something about that! I hope they do sooner than later… Anyhoo, better get back to struggling to survive in the worst recession since the Great Depression”; 2. “Well, business as usual, as long as it doesn’t affect me”; 3. “Hahaha FUCK YEAH, FUCK THOSE [bunch of slurs] AND ESPECIALLY THOSE [more slurs].”

If you can, leave. If you can’t… Well, read up on your rights and practice as many as you can.

- sent from the concentration camp I’m now fated to because writing all this will probably labelled an act of treason by The Party.

Not any moreso than learning any other OS. I’d just argue that it’s the case if you’re averse to research, reading, listening, watching, or just generally learning from others… or if you’re delving into unknown territory

Personally, i’m a learn-by-doing type of lady, so I’ve fucked up my share of devices (I’m allergic to reading unless it’s fiction), but I have yet to mess around in the kernel (it’s on my todo list, for my LFS build which is TBD)

Can someone please guide me into installing it the safest way possible?

1. Get the installation image you want to use. Fedora has a lot of different flavors, I think they call them “spins,” so it’s important to know the difference and choose the right one for you.

2. Install it on a VM in VirtualBox. Play around with it, figure out what all the installation steps do, don’t be afraid to break the VM.

3. Play around with the VM in fullscreen just to get a feel for it. Don’t blame the OS for performance issues, that’s probably just the resource limitations of a VM.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 as necessary to find an OS that is comfortable enough to be your daily driver.

5. Use a program like Rufus to make a bootable USB out of the installation image.

6. Run the installer like you practiced. MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE CORRECT HARDDRIVE, DON’T OVERWRITE YOUR WINDOWS DRIVE. Otherwise, besides MAKING EXTRA SURE ABOUT WHICH HARDDRIVE YOU INSTALL IT TO, use defaults for settings you aren’t sure about.

I want to install Fedora on a separate drive and keep my windows drive completely intact (Need it for work).

I cannot stress the above warning enough: formatting the drive is the one step in installation that cannot be undone. If you format your windows drive, you cannot ever recover that data anymore.

Since it’s work related hardware, I have 2 pieces of advice; you should follow one or the other:

1. Don’t. Don’t fuck around with work hardware. It should be a separate PC that you literally only ever use to get work done. Whether it’s owned by a company or you’re self-employeed, mixing your hobby/leisure/gaming/tinker/daily driver with your work computer is a baaaaaad idea. You will get something all fuzzed up, you will try to fix it by reinstalling the OS or otherwise doing disk formatting/partitioning, and you will end up corrupting windows.

2. Okay, so you decided not to heed my warning because you like gaming (or whatever) too much and can’t afford a separate desktop/tower rn. i get it, I did the same once and lived to tell the tale (i do have separate machines now, fwiw). In that case, before you install fedora, simply disconnect the Windows drive. Yank it right out and don’t reinstall it until you’ve got linux up and running just how you like it. Not just after the installation, but after the configuration. Then there’s no chance you accidentally format/corrupt your drive.

Preferably I would like GRUB to ask which boot option I want to use if my linux drive is set to be my boot drive and to boot straight to windows if its my windows drive set to boot.

If the installer gives you the option, simply install Grub on the same drive as Linux. When you select the linux drive in your BIOS’ boot options, it will run grub, which will give you options, including booting into windows if you want. When you select the windows drive in your BIOS’ boot options, it will use the windows bootloader (which boots straight into windows, unless you have multiple windows installations).

Yes, I switched back in 2023 and noticed it was already better than google.

All major search engines feel like they’re either filled with AI slop results, or just only returning major corporations’ sites anymore, though. DDG just falls into the latter, while Google is mostly the former.

You should act your age

Looks like an OS native dialog, which makes me think this is the app? Have you tried doing it directly on the website instead?

I lived in a small city (~30k) in the middle of rural texas growing up, and our main wildlife was deer, squirrels, possums, foxes, armadillos, javalinas, and birds, although we also had the occasional ratsnake or raccoons or skunks.

We didn’t really have fruit trees, but we did have plenty of pecans and several gardens of all kinds of veggies, a fig tree that never seemed to bloom, and some assorted berrying bushes.

We never experienced these plagues of infrastructural damage and diseases and hurt pets (4 cats and 2 dogs in total) that you describe. Idk where people get these horror stories from.

I suppose it can happen, but that’s probably in areas where such a yard is the only safe space for wildlife and people don’t live with nature as a daily part of their lives.

I s2g cityfolk act like getting brushed up against by a non-domesticated critter will give them an instant prion disorder.

You think we own shit? Lawns are the landlord’s landscaping equivalent of white paint: inoffensive but dull and useless

Here’s the study directly in PDF form

Yet another micro-celebrity whose 3 section wikipedia page has one third of it dedicated to “Sexual misconduct allegations”