Ubuntu actually. I hated Ubuntu for a long time, until there was a game which only ran on Ubuntu. And now, after installing it, I’m actually pretty impressed and like it a lot. Yaru is a very good-looking theme, and the customizations Ubuntu made to stock GNOME are actually pretty logical (like adding windows buttons). It has among the best documentation and package support in the whole Linux universe. I’m a guy who likes to tinker, but for whom it is more important that the PC runs well, and I haven’t encountered a single problem with Ubuntu yet - no kernel panic, no weird Bluetooth stuff, no apps which don’t run for some reason,…

Everything just works. And that makes me happy. So Ubuntu it is.

Yes, exactly - it is the idea of “well, you can gain life experience and serve for the state”. However, it is (rightfully IMO) criticized as just a cheap way of gaining labor forces. I think that German culture is generally more connected with respecting authorities, rules etc., so this attitude of " you need to return something to the community who raised you up" is still prevalent.

Since 2011 the service was not enforced anymore (but not abolished - in German it’s called “ausgesetzt”), but now there is a debate again to reintroduce it in light of the war. I personally am highly skeptical of it, for the exact reasons you outlined. A year ago I have went through the process of refusing to serve in the military in a defense case. We have something here called Kriegsdienstverweigerung: you can refuse to be drafted and serve under arms if it is incompatible with your conscience. I am glad to have went through the process, but I wouldn’t have done so if I were younger; in fact, I probably would’ve been absolutely okay with serving in the military. So instead of training people to shoot, I advocate for providing opportunities for people to learn medicine and science and stuff and leave war to professional soldiers, who aren’t 18- or 19 year old enscripted boys. It is also widely known that lots of guys cheated their way out of serving (e.g. drinking a lot the evening prior, so they make a bad impression on the recruiting officer), so the system was weird anyways. So I think the current debate is between “Russia and China are a threat, we need to get ready to fight, let’s pump up our military production” and “War is no option, our infrastructure is in a state of disrepair, we need to invest into schools and hospitals instead of arms, and drafting teenagers can’t be the solution of the problem”.

I think we have a different view in Europe on it - Germany had a model of national military service until 2011 (with the option of civil service), the Nordic model includes military service etc. So it isn’t completely unimaginable - we just have a different view on the topic.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c988jdxl02vo

That changes my perspective on them a lot. Well, another lesson taken - don’t jump too quickly onto conclusions.

It was a difficult wordle - I wouldn’t have figured it our without my gf.

Spoiler: It is

Great meme :))

Gnome, hands now. Before coming to Linux, I was an Apple user. I was a fan of their design philosophy - minimalism, clarity and simplicity. Well, I can’t tolerate Apple as an enterprise, and there are also a lot of very weird design desicions which I discovered while using their devives - but the core principle is something I stand by. Gnome in my opinion is exactly that - KISS, and all the options are really polished.

I’ve tried KDE as well, and have a lot of respect for the developers of it. But after using it for a few days, there are just a lot of inconsistencies in the KDE applications which don’t make sense to me.

Gnome for the win!!!1!1!1!1!1!

True, hood point. I remember to have read a study according to which a disproportionate amount of people at the top (aka CEOs) display narcissistic behavioral traits - so it can make sense to suspect the same applies to other personality disorders. It just feels ahhh to me - that these people dont utilize their talents and itelligence to improve the world, but to build up ways to monetize every last bit of your time. Like come on :/

Am I the only one who gets the feeling that this is kinda dystopic? Like come on, this just gets crazy. It amazes me that some people think this is an ethically acceptable way to earn money.

… And Fedora Silverblue. Perfect for tinkering. I love how I can always install apps and remove them at my leisure, without leaving traces ;)

The urge to comment “I use Arch btw” is overwhelming

Yes! I like it a lot as well :)

I think you raise a good point, I agree. Especially that the problem is very systematic.

Okay, makes sense - I fully agree. Just wanted to clarify :)

I dont think so, that isn’t necessarily the case. I think people in capitalist economies can also contribute out of their own free will, because they have fun with the project. To put it so that they only do it not to starve is, in my opinion, too harsh. I do lots of things in this economy because I have fun with them, not because I dont want to starve. However, I think that of course the aspect “I need food” is always a factor and an influence. Just very often not the only one.

I am using Fairphone (great company, they make ethical phones) together with /e/ OS, a fork of LineageOS. The great thing about Fairphone is that they officially support /e/ and offer a waranty of 5 years. In the past, they offered their Fairphone 2 a support of 7 years, including Software and Android version updates , which is absolutely mind-blowing. Also their phones are highly modular, you can switch basically everything (Battery, camera, speakers,…), they actually make an effort to improve production and manufacturing processes by e.g. using Fairtrade certified Gold, they obviously like Open Source,… And /e/ basically goes the route of “degoogling without making life inconvenient”. They have an App Store preinstalled (Aurora Store), with which you can access Google Play apps. They include MicroG, if you wish to, which makes using apps depending on Google services a lot easier. Also they offer their own ecosystem with e.g. Mail, Calendar, etc. And they are nonprofit! So seriously, if you want to get a degoogled Phone, I’d recommend the Fairphone (5 or 4 both are okay, although 5 would probably be better) together with /e/ OS combo without any doubt. The phone is amazing and hasn’t let me down, and although it has been quite a journey, I wouldn’t want to have chocen otherwise.

Just my take :)

Seriously, is that how far we came?

laughs in LineageOS

But seriously folks, you can survive without Google Play Store. While it definitely is sometimes not easy and there are obstacles put in your way, after a certain time you learn to accommodate. And I have a peace of mind knowing that no one is selling my pictures to data foraging companies God knows where.

Uhhh, that sounds really nice! I think that also explain why I personally dont have the feeling that it is completely derailing, like a lot other companies. In the end, while I’m not the biggest fan of Valve, I’m more than willing to recognise the impact they made, especially for Linux gaming. Without them, we would be in a completely different spot now. I’m sure that these kind of decisions, which oftentimes turn out to be industry-changing, are facilitates by this organisational structure.

So yeah, thank you Gabe for not making the company accountable to shareholders and actually not completely driving your user base against the wall. It is highly appreciated.

Ah, okay - that explains it :D