I tried doing a TimeShift restore last week for another software issue, and nvidia drivers crapped the bed (again). Decided it was time to bite the bullet and swapped out my 1080 Ti with a 7700 XT. Did a clean install of Manjaro, and it was eerie how simple it was to get everything including Wayland to work. Should’ve done it two years ago.

Great article and explanation on why Proton and its components are such a game changer. Thanks for sharing!

Ironically, Nier Automata is only listed as “playable” on Steam Deck.

Command line stupidity, not Bad Dragon stupidity.

I just hated that Windows had become a privacy cesspit and I wasn’t afraid of breaking things in Linux. Also, I accept that sometimes you just have to format and reinstall your sins of stupidity away.

• middle aged cishetguy

PS - You Lemmy bastards did get me into Star Trek though. Maybe it has begun…

I certainly had to fiddle with it a bit to start, but once it’s up and running it’s seamless and less prone to issues than torrenting IMO.

It’s likely faster - no waiting for seeds to connect and ramp up. I routinely see 900+Mbps from my provider from start to finish.

You aren’t at risk of exposing your true IP or downloads list to anyone but your Usenet provider.

Zero seeding required.

Older content is more likely to still be available in my experience (and not just with 1 dial-up seeder).

On occasion I have to go to private trackers when something never made it to Usenet, but it’s almost always something niche like an obscure out of print album. It cuts both ways though, and I’ve found some buried gems on Usenet that weren’t on any tracker.

The biggest downsides are the monthly cost of a Usenet provider, and a bit more technical expertise to host the NZB grabber.

See my reply to the parent comment.

No expert, but here’s my quick and dirty version:

1. Find an unlimited Usenet provider that works with your budget and location. Plenty of debate out there on which are best, and if you need a second pay-per-GB provider for filling in missing parts or not.

2. Spin up SABnzbd+ or a similar Usenet client on a local PC/NAS/etc.

3. the hard part - find a quality private Usenet indexer site that you can get an invite or has open registration.

4. Download the nzb files for the Linux ISO that you want from your indexer and open it with your Usenet client. (There are ways to feed the nzb file directly to your client, but that’s for next lesson).

5. Client looks for all of the parts listed in the nzb file on your Usenet provider, then downloads and unpacks them.

6. Et Voila - Linux ISO appears in your downloads directory.

A VPN is probably unnecessary, as most Usenet providers don’t log who downloads which files. Also, you can often hit your ISP’s max download rate from your Usenet provider, and there is no “seeding” to worry about.

Good luck!

Almost every TV is a perfectly good dumb TV when it doesn’t know your wifi password.

Time to test out that 8 year old thermal paste!

A heads up if you have a G-Sync monitor from that same era: it may not do variable rate with Freesync. I was ready to pull the trigger and upgrade my 1080 Ti to an AMD card when I caught that detail. So now I need to justify the cost of a new main monitor as well if I want to have smooth variable refresh. Good luck!

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I settled on Memmy early on as the least buggy app, but I like Voyager quite a bit as well. I might switch if they let me change the color of upvote/downvote arrows to what my brain expects.

My brother in doppelnamer!!

I share a name with a fairly famous actor with a very uncommon name. After the “wait, is your name really XYZ?” comment I just say “yep, no relation.” with a laugh. I get it about once a week. It used to irritate me but it’s a good icebreaker, and they never forget my name.

I am just grateful he keeps himself out of trouble. Michael Bolton is rough, but no one wants to be the other Jeffrey Epstein.

City of the Sun is some fantastic Latin-inspired instrumental post-rock. (That’s probably drivel, idk what genre they are).

Their cover of Young Folks is how I found them, but their self-titled album from 2020 is probably one of my favorites of the last several years. It’s a good balance of calming serenades and powerful melodies.

Hon. mention - The Samuel Jackson Five - Easily Misunderstood is another old favorite of mine. Angrier and edgier, but still haunting in its own way.

The Beastie Boys also have a couple fantastic instrumental jam albums - The In Sound From Way Out, and The Mix-Up.