This is why I moved to Linux Mint. Then, when I got tired of having to reinstall the entire OS every time thereâs a new version I moved again. Spare a thought for the poor saps who feel stuck with an OS from a single vendor. And sometimes even paying for the privilege. That being said fund open source. Freedom isnât free.
Mint has an auto-upgrade tool so you donât have to reinstall each time. It used to be only for minor version upgrades but now you can auto-upgrade to a new major version as well. In any case there are plenty of great distros to choose from.
And yes! whatever distro (and other FLOSS software) you use, support them with a donation if you can! When you consider the value you are getting for free vs. what youâd be spending on proprietary software, itâs not so hard to do and feels good too.
Also⊠the amount of money Iâve saved by being able to revive old hardware! I havenât bought a new computer in 11 years. My computer before that (and still working) was a gift in 2006⊠that bitch is old enough to vote.
I have other computers that people have given to me because they were âjust too old,â but for me, it was an upgrade. I revived a windows 98-era HP a few years ago, just so I could use the 9-pin connection to fix my bricked OG Xbox that I was modding.
Granted, I donât game on PC or require heavy lifting (though I am saving for a personal build, because thereâs some hobbies I just canât do without a good desktop), but for everyday use, I have more than enough.
I currently have 4 âworkingâ computers. Two of them are my main, one still needs to be âreinvigoratedâ (itâs 18 years old), and one is my server.
I have a 5th desktop that was given to me (because it was too slow/old), and it just recently crapped out on me (either because of windows bullshit, or a bad hdd. But I have my hunches). So itâs about to be revived when I have time.
Hardest part was getting my wife onboard with switching to Linux, instead of buying a new computer. But now sheâs getting ready to switch her Mac to Linux because itâs been struggling. And I think sheâs starting to realize that a brand-new computer isnât really ânecessaryâ, if all youâre doing is email, browsing web, and editing docs. Shit, our phones can handle most of that; you donât need a $1k+ computer for that, or pay for windows software that will barely work on the hardware you have.
So yeah⊠end rant. Absolutely love how much Linux has breathed new life into my old hardware. Has saved me time and time again, as well as a bunch of money. I definitely need to throw a donation at a distro, cause they have saved me more than just money at this point