O, that is a real cool feature. So you just lose space then as they fail, not redundancy.

If two are dead, you probably should get at least one of them replaced. I’m assuming you are running a RAID 6 with zero redundancy at this point.

When the bubble bursts, used computer components are going to be real cheap. Even just a few liquidated data centers will provide a ton of used supply. Even if they don’t part them up, that is still a bunch of supply that won’t be drawing on new supply.

Hmmm, now that is not something I’m qualified to answer. Hopefully someone else speaks up.

Debian and Mint are both good. The former is aimed at servers and the latter is aimed at desktop use. They are otherwise very similar under the hood.

That explains why I kept getting lost.

Anything specific I could help out with?

Got it down to Ubuntu or Mint

Mint is good. Avoid Ubuntu; snaps just make your life hard. You don’t need to know what those are, and if you avoid Ubuntu you never will need to know.

• This assumes latency between one’s current location and the remote location is almost non-existent. It isn’t.
• This assumes we have fast and available internet all the time. I sure don’t.
• This assumes we can use the remote computer in every way we use our current computers. No way.
• This assumes, as you point out, they won’t be greedy once they control everyone’s machines. They will be.
• This assumes they won’t censor ‘dangerous’ sites on these machines. They will.

I will happily pay more for freedom from the corporation.

Russia has repeatedly came up with initiatives to build a new, reliable and just architecture of European and global security - Putin

Followed closely by Russia blowing up ambulances…

Use a 97%+ isopropyl alcohol wetted cloth or cotton ball, don’t immerse the phone.

Tor is a browser that bounces your connection through several points before heading off to it’s destination. The point of this is to destroy the ability of one to track communications back to a person. It’s heavily used in places with a censored internet or with authoritarian governments.

The mid-point and exit nodes that make this possible are run by volunteers.

Mid-point nodes are also important and are easier to run. If you aren’t familiar with the difference, start with a mid-point node.

Absolutely need more exit nodes though. They are damn important.

Same. I don’t even check if a game works before buying it now. That said, I also don’t buy crap from EA, which seems to be one of the largest offenders.

It’s weird your flight sticks don’t work in Linux. I have used several (I play a lot of DCS) and they have worked out of the box for me.

Ah, had never heard of that before. Sounds like we both learned something. <3

REALLY wish citrix and epic worked on Linux

Epic games work on Linux via Heroic. GOG, Amazon, and Epic games all work through it.

Does it have the Windows GUI?

Linux Mint’s Cinnamon GUI is very similar. Has a start menu, task bar, tray, etc. It was one of the reasons I chose Mint, as it feels familiar.

Is the file architecture the same (C: Drive, Documents, Program Files, etc.)?

“File System” works the same as “C:” in Windows, it is your root drive. Your personal effects live in the “Home” folder. This is like My Documents in Windows. Everything else is in various places under File System.

Can I migrate my files over through One Drive

Microsoft doesn’t make a Linux GUI for OneDrive. That said, you can get your files through the OneDrive website (simplest) or though a third party GUI people have made for this exact purpose.

Can I use my Word/Excel 2024 there

Microsoft doesn’t make software for Linux (with some exceptions). However, LibreOffice works well on both Windows and Linux (meaning you can try it out right now), and it works well with your spreadsheets and documents.

What’s the alternative to Windows Defender

Unneeded. Viruses are 99% a Windows issue. It’s the only OS that needs active defense like that. There are some options, but I wouldn’t bother with them.

Can I run all my Steam games on it

All of mine do. Check out ProtonDb. Anything rated Gold or higher will just work. Things marked silver will work after some tinkering. And I wouldn’t bother with Bronze.

Yeah, if 90% of that is movies/shows, then you really don’t need a backup of that as you can always re-download it. Then you have a 5TB backup problem which is much cheaper to solve.

My suggestion: Buy 3x 28TB drives. Mirror the data to them. Then move them off site.

The off-site location could either be a family member’s home where you can then sync to the drives over the internet. Or in a PO box nearby that you retrieve them from time to time to re-sync the data.

It is. My solution was to go to an OS that has both security updates and isn’t AI infested. Neither Win 10 nor Win 11 meet those criteria.

Depends on the program. But, for 90% of them it is just: “wine programname.exe” in terminal and it just works. If it is an installer, it will be in your start menu like normal and you can just open in from there after. For the other 10%, I lookup the error online and it will need you to add a component via winetricks.

There is a contingent that just won’t work. For those, it’s easier to just find an alternative.

As a rule, I use a Linux native program first. Then fall back on a Windows program if I can’t find what I want. Many programs build for both now. Things like OBS, LibreOffice, Firefox, Chrome, Discord, Dropbox, Steam are the same in Windows and Linux, just install and use it as they are built for both OSes.