talkingpumpkin

I'm currently running tumbleweed on my main, mostly because that's what I happened to install last time I rebuilt my desktop. I've been running other distros before, and I must say that (bar a couple bad experiences) I could still be using any of them. Tumbleweed is the first rolling distro I've used for a prolonged time (3 or 4 years now?): before I only did two short experiments with void linux (loved it, but I'd rather have systemd) and manjaro (I was still young and stupid). I don't think I'll go back to non-rolling: tumbleweed never broke on me (and if it did, it has snapshots) and being rolling there is zero update stress (has the new version come out? what's new? should I update now or wait for for the .1?). Next time I install I will probably try nixos (which isn't really rolling - but it's not non-rolling either), which I've been using on servers for a while now and fell in love with (love-hate, that is: the learning curve is steep, the documentation poor, and there are infuriating points - but I feel like it's still more than worth it). As you will have noticed I'm not even considering "immutable" distros: honestly, I don't see the point there (they seem like a lot of effort to solve problems I don't have).

on windows it would be to scan your stuff,make sure its the real site etc It’s the same on Linux (*), with two big differences: you’ll install most (all?) of your software from the repos of your distro of choice, so most of the times you don’t have to worry linux is inherently more secure than Windows (and AFAIK there are less viruses targeting it, either because they are harder to write or because it’s a smaller target), so you are not as likely to catch viruses. If you install niche software from app stores (even reputable ones), you’ll have to make sure to check it’s the real deal (I think both the snap store and flathub had fake cryptowallets?), but if you stick to relatively mainstream software you’ll be fine (I mean, it’s not like you’ll find fake versions of steam or blender on flathub). That said, the risk is there just as with Windows (or your phone, or anything else): a good operative system helps, but ultimately you are the real line of defense. (*) well, IDK about scanning… generally speaking, if you feel like you have to scan something before opening it, just don’t open it :) (yeah I know it’s not possible if - eg - you receive files from customers)

i use an hp printer,and need to be able to use it on linux. Then research if your specific model has compatibility issues (AFAIK HP stuff generally works well, but… it’s up to you to check before buying) i expect to be able to use the laptop and not think about the os too much That will happen, if you are lucky or if you buy hardware that specifically supports linux. Would you expect macos to run on a dell computer? would you expect windows to run on a mac? linux has much broad compatibility but is no different: if it doesn’t work on your PC it’s not linux’s fault. my goal of using linux is being far from malware Just follow basic hygiene and you’ll be fine. Most importantly, don’t install malware yourself (chrome is available on linux too and, sadly, it’s also widely used).

Thanks for checking and reporting back! (I was too lazy to do that)

Doesn’t the AGPL just say that you can’t keep your changes/improvements private? (honest question: I seem to recall so, but I’m not really sure)