I use the XFCE version, it’s around 400 MB idle, fluxbox should be even less I think.

I work for a big enterprise, we have RHEL on all our Linux servers save for a few that are SuSe for SAP.

Microsoft Teams is the official communication tool for business where I work, no need to use whatsapp tho a few colleagues use it for fluff, as for personal/family, some of my family use whatsapp but I don’t (I use Discord), if we want to talk to each other we use “good old-fashioned” phone calls :D

The concept of having to compile something yourself is basically foreign to me

There’s no need to, what software do you need that you can’t find on Mint repositories?

having to basically rely on a built-in app database/store to easily install apps… Kinda stinks to me, and not being able to simply download an installer from a website and having the program, whatever program, up and running reliably within a minute, the concept seems ridiculous

Having an app repository is way more secure than downloading software from random websites, it’s also way faster.

But it’s fine if you don’t like it, each person has its own preferences.

I don’t because no antivirus can protect you from yourself, I learned that the hard way while I was still using Windows many years ago.

I had antivirus and antimalware on Windows and I kept them updated and ran scans regularly, almost religiously, than I got a malware that antivirus couldn’t detect (they take a while to be updated with new viruses/malware that constantly come out) and the only way to remove it was a blank new install following a specific procedure to clean it all.

That day I understood that no matter how attentive you are about your antivirus, you’re never really protected until it’s you who learns what to do and what not while accessing the web, so I did a bit of research about how to better configure my PC, how to better recognize phishing/scamming, using adblocker, don’t download random software, stuff like that.

I basically learned “how to behave”. I stopped using antivirus/antimalware on Windows and I didn’t catch a virus since, then I switched to Linux and I still apply the same principles of “good behavior”.

That’s not to say I’m immune to viruses, I’m certainly not, but my mindset now is that if I ever catch a virus, it will be my fault for doing something I shouldn’t have done, and I’ll do my best to learn from it instead of relying on software to do that for me.

Overwhelming beginners with more than they can chew is not the best way to welcome them to Linux, giving them the chance to learn a bit at a time is instead.

There are distros that need little to no intelligence to set up and maintain

It’s not a matter of intelligence but prior knowledge, Arch wiki is the best thing ever for everyone, even if you don’t use Arch, BUT you need some Linux knowledge - at least Linux “lingo” - to be able to understand it.

That’s something a Linux newbie doesn’t have yet, exactly the reason why Arch is not recommended for newbies.

Being lightweight or not doesn’t depend on the distro but the desktop manager (the graphic interface). Unlike Windows, the graphic in Linux is separated from the system so you can use different desktop managers on the same distros.

The lightest DE is LXQT but it’s pretty barebone, XFCE has more features while still being very light, avoid GNOME and KDE.

That being said, I suggest you try Linux MX XFCE or Mint XFCE first, if that’s not light enough for your liking, try Lubuntu, that’s Ubuntu with LXQT as default DE.

I used it a lot years ago, I can confirm it’s extremely easy, both using it an customizing it, I haven’t seen another editor making it so straightforward and easy to setup your own color coding for example (I used that a lot for dokuwiki pages), but I thought that project was abandoned at some point so I switched to codium.

I see by your post that it’s still being actively developed, I’ll give it another shot, thanks for sharing.

I’m doing it exactly like I was doing it on reddit, that is, build up my personal home page with all the communities I want to see then I changed my settings to default to subscribed when opening Lemmy instead of All.

Every now and then I check the list of all communities to see if there’s something new worth following, that way it’s also easier to avoid communities that do a lot of spamming, overwhelming the smaller (more interesting IMO) ones.

Very well said, it must have not been easy at all with the huge and sudden influx of people, but everyone did (and is still doing) a fantastic job in keeping lemmy a beautiful place to be.

That’s if you use opensource drivers, good for AMD but not so much for NVIDIA.

I’m a fringe case then lol, I keep them until they actually break, they do last 4-5 years for me, sometimes more, I don’t make intense use of my phone, I much prefer using my PC for basically everything.

There’s not a “best” distro for gaming, it very much depends on what games you play.

If you want to play latest releases, a rolling release is most probably the best option for you, I hear Suse Tumbleweed is very good if you don’t like Arch.

If you want less “aggressive” updates but not exactly a stable, you can try Solus, it’s a sort of middle-ground between the 2.

If your games are not the latest ones, a Debian-based distro is a very good option, rock-solid, updated enough and without any “extra fluff”.

I personally use Linux MX XFCE and I’m very happy about it.

True, I bought an ipad more than 7 years ago to read because e-readers are too small for my liking.

I don’t use it much anymore since I have an e-writer now, but it still receives updates regularly, whatever comes to my phone comes to it as well, it’s impressive.

Happy to hear companies are finally getting it.

Well, Google isn’t famous for being reliable in the long run with their services, Apple is proven at this point, tho who knows, I’ll wait a few years and see if Google is still at it with their Pixels.

That’s the reason why I switched to iPhone after many years of Android, security updates are vital nowadays with all the sensitive data and apps we use on our phones, Apple is the only one that guarantees al least 5 years, iPhones are not too expensive if you don’t buy the latest models and I’d rather avoid supporting companies that don’t understand the importance of security.

They’re not telling (rightfully so) and hopefully won’t until all instances are fixed.

There is no way someone can link your username to who you are in person, unless it’s you who write it out.

Laws don’t protect people from themselves.