Wanting to be able to walk?

Also the kids mom (my co-parent) is now on Aurora which is basically the same as Bazzite just less gamer centric. Both are really slick modern Linux experiences so far imho.

Check out Aurora for all your friends and family members you want something really awesome, low maintenance and pretty indestructible for. We’ve not used it for long but it seems really fantastic. Like the distro I would dream up for mainstream (desktop non gamer) users. Or Bazzite if they are gamers. Easy!

That’s three less Windows machines I’m responsible for… whoopee! (Mom was previously using Mint.)

2026 is the year of the Linux desktop! ;-) ;-) ;-)

I’m sticking with LMDE myself because it’s been perfect for me for 15 years already.

Cope alot.

It’s fuckin great, my kids are using it!

Aye! I’ve grown, foraged, planted, farmed, fermented, brewed, baked, butchered and eaten roadkill, skipped (dumpster dived), mass catered and mass washed up many many times. :-)

Edit: But I could always do more of all that!

I repeat, it’s not about money at all. It’s not about virtuosity either (no chance). Neither is it about competition, fuck that noise. Music is just what I do. It’s not my hobby, it is life, like breathing. That is the artist’s struggle - it’s in you and it’s got to come out. It’s not an optional activity!

Of course I do lots of other things too and have grown food - though not currently, got burned too many times from having to leave rented properties after I set up the garden. I will do more growing for sure.

I spend most of my time alive looking after other people, which also doesn’t help me afford to eat. I cook and clear up most days.

Pro tip: don’t have disabled family members! /s

Exchanging time alive, or art, for money is a fucking scam which we’re deliberately artificially pushed into. We’re not supposed to be able to make it - I’ve given up on anything like that but I still have to make music.

I didn’t mention virtuousity. Practise is just forever, because creativity is practical, in the doing. It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday. Breathing yesterday won’t keep me alive today.

I wish I had time to jam with friends but unfortunately it’s rare. I guess I appreciate it more when it happens.

But it could be every day, alongside growing food and looking after each other in a community. This is legal but effectively impossible under capitalism unless someone is well-off and able-bodied to begin with.

Anyway I sense we’re on the same team and not arguing over much. I’m just a permanently frustrated musician because there could never ever be enough time alive for it. That’s the struggle, and it used to be manageable but increasingly is not. Fascism kils art.

Thing is, it literally takes forever to create art. I’m a musician. How much time do I spend making music? All of it that’s available. One lifetime isn’t enough. Infinite lifetimes wouldn’t be enough - there’s no end to creativity, it’s never done. You can’t just dabble in it for fun - it’s not about fun, though it can be enjoyable. Practising is every day forever.

I don’t care about money at all beyond meeting my basic needs, but there’s no way to support my family from any of my creative activities (which I do sometimes get paid for) under capitalism.

You can’t imagine how much practise is required. I can’t imagine it because it’s impossible to fully comprehend, like trying to tangibly imagine infinity.

Capitalism wants people like me to be the full-time servants of the wealthy. Capitalism and art can’t coexist, not ultimately. You can’t understand this unless you’ve spent your life making art. Have you? Sorry, I doubt it.

For a few weeks a year I participate in some events where I get to be fully a musician for the benefit of a community who support the musicians who make the events happen. That’s the way. It’s not about money, just that art takes forever and people gotta eat.

There’s no reason not to be living like that all the time except capitalism says get back to Real Work™.

But… making art is infinite work already!

No wonder a lot of artists and musicians go crazy and end themselves.

Bitwig on Linux is amazing and was the final thing which let me ditch Windows for good after years of using Linux for everything else.

You won’t regret it!

Who wants a computer which might not work after an upgrade and not because there’s an actual problem but because a corporation says no? It’s more stress and more work out of nowhere. Corporations should never be allowed to brick devices, but since they are, I choose “not corporation” as my permanent fix. It’s a good move!

With Linux systems we never(?) have to deal with defaults decided by the profit motive. The computer might not instantly do everything I want but I don’t have to fight a multinational corporation as part of the solution. That’s what swung it permanently for me. I’m not in corporate IT but as a fixer of hundreds of people’s personal computers over decades, Windows is horrific and nowadays I have started just refusing to become responsible for trying to sort it out, even for pay.

Plot twist: It’s a trick, both rooms are full of wasps!

Damn, no way… I just randomly found these DVDRs tonight while clearing out some boxes. My original LMDE install discs… 15 years whaa!

I use Arch btw.

LMDE is excellent and I’ve been running it since it first came out… whenever that was! Very underrated distro!

The Donald J. Trump and Jesus Christmas.

They’re absolute pussies and dipshits, trying to cover for what they lack - bravery, heart, empathy, intelligence, true strength and wisdom.

They haven’t even got a cunning plan.

All they’ve got is bullying and ganging up with other little dipshit bullies and wannabe bullies in large numbers. They are not The Majority, though they need to believe they are.

They operate on false information and are afraid of things which aren’t happening or don’t even exist. They are afraid of their own shadows - they are afraid of everyone, they don’t trust anyone. Their relationships are transactional and their love is conditional.

They boast about how strong they are because they doubt themselves… as they should, being a bunch of sad, scared, paranoid, foolish fascist idiots.

They do not accept themselves - they hate themselves most of all. The veneer is very thin and they know how many people can see right through it straight away.

All they’ve got is bullying and ganging up with others in transactional arrangements where they can’t trust anyone because they’re all in it for themselves against everyone, including each other.

Don’t mistake posturing for strength. Even the image they choose to portray gives away their weaknesses.

An “alpha” wouldn’t need the approval (or disapproval) of anyone else at all - it’s all self-delusion and cope.

They are so, so weak!

Well yeah that’s true. I’m driving an 18 year old second hand VW myself… the fuckers do keep running.

I could never afford a Tesla anyway even if I wanted one - I’m glad to say I always hated them as cars.

But ugh… Musk literally did the Hitler salute, twice to make sure, on live TV, and he is responsible for the real-time deaths of millions of people.

We can’t always do much about politicians but when it comes to business fucks like him, we can dismantle that bastard and his companies everywhere they exist… including in space!

Yes I guess I should say I’m hugely pro Open Source tech but absolutely disillusioned with corporate tech. Which makes me dislike the majority of tech around.

Fuck Musk and Fuck Swasticars!

There’s no excuse left for driving one except having bought it before this year.

Buying Tesla is funding fascism and corruption. All Musk companies need breaking up!

“The Reds are playing at home this week”… British sports euphemism.