Brickfrog

When I first started using GNOME the top bar was a bit off-putting but I got used to it TBH. It’s not something I think about much nowadays.

However, you actually can move it to the side or to the bottom, and/or change it in other ways, with the dash-to-panel extension so definitely check that out if the top bar is bugging you https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1160/dash-to-panel/

Just curious was this a Tuta paid account, or a free one?

Tuta is very strict with the free accounts and flag them for all sorts of reasons. They take their time to “approve” free accounts just to be able to use them. And on top of that they might nuke your account anyway if they think it is being used for spam/illegal activity/whatever or they think it’s not being used.

But I thought those are just issues with their free accounts, presumably their paid accounts don’t get flagged for those things… or so I thought.

Also to echo the other comments - best to buy and own your own domain for your email, that way it doesn’t matter where the email is being hosted in case you need to switch email providers.

Windows To Go was discontinued back in 2019 so it’s not really something that has been maintained or updated for a long time

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_To_Go#Discontinuation

Apps like Rufus (Windows only) are still able to create that sort of boot USB but it’s sort of a non supported feature, wouldn’t be surprised if it just stops working one day.

On Linux Ventoy is often used for this - it does have a persistence plugin but not for Windows https://www.ventoy.net/en/plugin_persistence.html

I haven’t tested this idea, but maybe you can run a Windows VM within Linux, enable USB in it, download Rufus in it, then you can create your non-official Windows To Go boot disk that way? Could be something to try if you never find another solution.

Minor update, I edited my original comment above. The app does seem to work with Jellyfin 10.11.1.

Maybe I’m not the best test candidate LOL… I usually use the Android Jellyfin apps for music so my original test was with a Jellyfin user with only music libraries enabled… Findroid does not like that apparently. Once I logged in with a user with TV/Movie libraries enabled it seems to load and play video.

I don’t normally use that app but I figured I could do a quick test for you - the stable version (0.15.3) does not seem to work on my end. It does connect to the Jellyfin server (10.11.1) but nothing loads after that.

It doesn’t look like findroid has had any stable releases in over a year so it may indeed be showing some incompatibility issues.

EDIT: Re-tested, it does seem to work as long as you have video libraries enabled on the Jellyfin user (e.g. Movies/TV). My earlier test was with a Jellyfin user that only has Music enabled, I did not know Findroid does not play music. (most of my Jellyfin mobile use is for music)

Like some of the other comments, if you really need a DE then maybe give XFCE or LXQt a try. The distro itself won’t matter too much in your scenario.

I do have an old laptop that has run Debian/Ubuntu + Gnome fine, not at all fast but usable for my needs. Mines has 4 GB RAM, get the feeling that going under 4 GB may be a bit much.

Otherwise Linux is perfectly usable without a DE if you’re willing to stick to the terminal for all your usage.

Like Google Fi, it’s a VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service so coverage should be the same as Fi.

Strictly speaking Google Fi is a MVNO. After losing Sprint/US Cellular access a while back nowadays they are a T-Mobile reseller e.g. you’re getting access to T-Mobile’s network and coverage with Google Fi.

For what it’s worth my Google Voice phone number does show up as being classified as a VoIP number so that might be more along the lines of what you’re thinking. The phone number I have on Google Fi does not show up as VoIP.

There is an Linux compatible open source player being developed called fooyin (https://fooyin.org/) heavily inspired by foobar2000. When I tried it out a few months back it was still a bit rough for day-to-day use but it could eventually become a good alternative for people that miss the foobar2000 style player.

Pretty sure Strawberry does everything you are looking for.

re: #1 I kind of had the same issue but with multiple music folders, most of the default music apps only let you use one folder. Strawberry lets you add as many music folders as you like, I’ve been happy with it.

On Windows I used to use foobar2000 which was great, and in theory I could get it running under Linux, but I’d rather just use something coded for Linux compatibility from the start.

Working fine here, the app connects to the Jellyfin 10.11.1 server over the internet without issue.

I’d suggest maybe double-check and make sure you still have a port forward from the internet to your Jellyfin server? Usually for me when the app gets stuck trying to connect it’s because it can’t see and connect to the Jellyfin server for some reason. Also in the 10.11.0 release notes they did mention that they removed the ability for the Jellyfin server to auto port forward so it’s possible that affected you? See https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/releases

Other random idea: Maybe somehow the data for your app got messed up? You can reset it and make it start fresh by bringing up its App Info (long-press the Jellyfin Android app), go to Storage & Cache, once there clear the storage and cache. When you re-attempt to launch the Jellyfin app it’ll start fresh and need you to re-enter your Jellyfin server details.

I still use Virtualbox, configuration is way easier with the GUI

To be fair you can pair KVM/qemu with any GUI manager and have a similar interface to VirtualBox/Hyper-V/VMWare/etc. virt-manager (https://virt-manager.org/) is a popular one for example, I just started using it and it seems to work well for what I need.

Normally I’ve been using VirtualBox but for whatever reason it asks me to recompile the kernel on Debian 13 just to launch. Meanwhile qemu just works.

Not quite what you’re asking but if you buy your music on Bandcamp (or just have a Bandcamp account) you can “Follow” artists there. That tells Bandcamp to send you email alerts every time that artist releases an track/album on Bandcamp.

It’s one of the main ways I find out that new music gets released and it sort of works since I was probably going to buy it at Bandcamp anyway.

One thing you may want to update - listing Tor’s logging policy as “No Logs” is a bit misleading, that’s really more of a voluntary recommendation for individual Tor exit relay operators.

Tor exit relay operators absolutely can store logs of outgoing connections if they choose to. And technically they could even snoop on non-secure traffic if they choose, there’s a reason you should be using HTTPS if you’re going to use Tor for clearnet browsing.

Of course most Tor exit relay operators aren’t going to do these things but it’s all voluntary, seems incorrect to claim all exit relay operators follow no log principles.

EDIT: Also AFAIK you can’t forward a port from the clearnet through a Tor exit relay’s public IP address back to your own Tor client, Tor doesn’t do port forwarding like that. It’s definitely not needed to run Tor Browser (and Tor VPN I think) but that isn’t needed for any of the other VPNs either, a bit confusing how you listed that one.

Agreed, if OP is going to add Tor in a “VPN” list then may as well add I2P. I2P + outproxies are pretty much the same thing as Tor + Tor Exit Relay. It’s not the best way to utilize I2P but the option does exist.

Then again neither Tor nor I2P should be in a “VPN” list, the whole thing seems more of a VPN provider topic.

Everything normal here. Granted I’m not on a network that blocks Tor so the Tor Browser’s normal startup/connecting routine has always worked fine.

All good answers, one thing not mentioned is that there are smart/managed switches where you can toggle PoE on/off per port on the network switch. Could be useful, sometimes it’s best just to never provide power on any network ports until you know you need it.

My Sony Trinitron served me well back in the day - But no, I don’t miss the CRT era. Just too huge and heavy. And honestly I don’t remember the generic non-Trinitron CRTs being anything special, they were kind of shitty.

Anyways I thought the CRT thing is just collectors/old school gamers looking to display older media on a proper CRT? Obviously people with a lot of space, garages, basements, etc… people in tiny rooms and apartments need not apply LOL.

This whole article seems a bit off.

Depends on what you’re building. If you’re looking for an overpowered SFF type of platform then yeah those AI Max+ builds may be what you want. Just keep in mind a lot of those are integrated motherboards (non-upgradable parts) and usually have minimal storage options and slots for add-in cards.

The other reason those AI Max+ PCs get a lot of press is that there’s still not a whole ton of CPUs with capable NPU built-in aka Windows Copilot+ compatible. AI Max+ happens to be one of those. (whether NPU is actually useful right now beyond Copilot+ is a whole other discussion)

So if you actually want a more extensible build out and don’t care about this Copilot+ stuff then traditional builds / non SFF builds are probably still more in line with what you want.

Yikes! Yeah if the SSD storage isn’t easily accessible then it’s not worth the disassembly headache.

If that is the case then OP’s only option is to try writing the bootable ISO onto a second partition on the current drive while in Windows and boot off that partition… assuming getting the USB port repaired is a no-go.

Does the Surface Go have a SSD in it? And/or can you install a SSD into it? The specs do imply that it supports SSD so you should at least have a port in there for that. If so, as long as you have a spare machine you can install the Surface’s SSD into another system, then install Linux Mint normally there, then re-install the SSD back into the Surface Go.

I’ve never done that but it’s been mentioned a few times in the Linux Mint forums so apparently that is a roundabout way of installing on a machine without working USB ports. e.g.

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=388243

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=361542

Not sure how well Mint works specifically on Surface Go but it’s worth a try, most likely you’d use the same steps to install other distros on there.

EDIT: Without a spare system you might be able to download then write the Mint ISO onto a second partition inside Windows and boot from the Mint installer partition afterwards. Not sure how well that would work but someone else in the forums mentioned it https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=369154