Neko

This gets its own section because if I'm known for one thing, it's encouraging people to install Linux, e.g. this tumblr post (archived from my old blog) that apparently got a few people to switch (yay!!)

Why am I so passionate about this? Windows 11 is uncooperative, bloated with features and processes that are impossible to use, eats up far more memory than it needs to so the performance is far worse, harvests your data, leaves you dependent on a giant corporation that can alter terms or features without warning....

EndeavourOS is my daily driver on my laptop. My OS progress has been Win11 (always worth abandoning) → Ubuntu → EndeavourOS. I'll probably be staying here unless I decide it's time for pure Arch.

I use my laptop for web browsing and drawing, but also gaming, and I know games are a lot of people's biggest concerns about switching to Linux. So far, I haven't had any issues using Steam's Proton compatibility layer for games that don't have a dedicated Linux build, including for games I had to manually register in my library because they weren't bought on Steam. (Or bought anywhere, for that matter :P )

Unfortunately it's quite difficult to completely remove Google from your life, but there are some changes I've made to cut them out as much as possible.

Searches: I use Duckduckgo and Ecosia. I sometimes last-ditch switch to Google with all privacy settings as high as they'll go + various anti-tracking extensions if I'm really digging for something specific.

Email: Proton Mail.

Drive: Proton Drive. Don't use cloud services as your primary/only form of backing up data! I use it for convenience between devices.

Android: GrapheneOS, as mentioned previously. I like the granular controls over data access and privacy per-app, and the sandboxed Google Play is useful for when apps want to use the integrity check.

Backups: I try and use a 3-2-1 backups system for anything that would feel like a crisis if I lost it, which is mainly photos. This is at least 3 copies; on two different types of storage media; with at least one copy in a different location. I love my hard drive!

Digital media preservation: In a world of lost media and subscriptions over permanent access, I am very passionate about 'piracy' as digital media preservation. I have a jailbroken 3DS that I use for all games that got a pre-Switch Nintendo console release; these games can't be bought in this format anymore! Torrenting is cool, and qbittorrent makes it far easier than you'd think (make sure to use a VPN). So is getting your own copies of PC games. ROMs for old console games are also easy to come by, and there's a massive emulation community around them.

Physical media: I've been building a physical music collection since I was about 16, primarily vinyl records. I upgraded my setup by lowballing someone for an old Technics record player on eBay with my first paycheck :P I also have a lot of books, and especially love getting them second-hand. If I start having the energy to read more often again, I might get a refurbished e-reader, but I do really like reading physical books.

Self-hosting: I really want to start, to further remove my dependence on third-party cloud storage. My main roadblocks are 1. The money for the server, yes even a cheap refurbished laptop 2. I live in a shared house, so adding to the electricity bill has consequences outside myself when we've been in a cost of living crisis for many years 3. The time and energy to learn how to set it all up. One day...

Cyberdeck: This isn't something I 'need' to do, I just think it would be cool. Again, time and energy as a disabled person with a full-time job means I don't really have time for any of my existing hobbies.