That would be nice, as long as the method was cheaper than burning fuel to generate electricity.

And have less than 50% uptime because the sun goes down at some point?

How are they compared to power plants that use boilers and steam turbines? I read somewhere (I don't remember where) that gas turbines are less efficient but have the advantage that thy can start very quickly, - good for peaking power plants, but a boiler uses less fuel for base load.

Most of them are probably used as a backup power source, not running all the time. A gas turbine can start fast. A boiler is more efficient, but you need to run it all the time. Maybe a diesel engine of the same power is too big and heavy?

Well, Microsoft created autorun which is even more stupid, so, nothing new.

So why are countries building the more expensive coal power plants? I mean since solar, wind and batteries are the cheapest option, why countries like Chine are building the more expensive option? I don't think the leaders are unable to count money.

What are/were the good choices? They probably were not as good as you think.

I have a pocket 3 and am happy with it. It has a somewhat normal keyboard, touchpad and can run a standard Linux distribution (I use Ubuntu). Serial port is also useful for configuring a switch or whatever. I have the more powerful model, but do not really use CPU-intensive stuff on it.

I managed to drop and break it once, the screen fell off and tore off the connector from the cable. I wrote to GPD and they sold be the hinge and cable assembly, no problem. So, my experience with them has been great. The only small problem I have with it is that I cannot figure out how to disable the touchpad "tap" function on Ubuntu. Ubuntu sees the touchpad as a mouse and does not offer any options.

There are two parts here.
One part is developer time and effort to create a product. This can be free (as in zero cost) to the user, if the developers choose to not ask money for it. I can download and use Debian for free, because people put it together for free and some people offer to host the files for free. This makes sense.

Running a VPN service, though, costs money, likely more so than hosting Debian ISOs. I doubt that someone is going to do it for free (that is, pay out of his own pocket to run it). So yeah, there may be a catch. Traffic analysis for example.

There are more limits to how Windows can be customized. For example, I could not find a way to make Windows 8 or 10 look like Windows 2000 (or Windows 7 "Classic" theme). OTOH, it is possible to make KDE look like it, it's not exact, but good enough.

The sports engines do not last very long. The rules for various sports specify how long the engine should last and they do not last longer than that.
I do not want an engine like that in my car. I want one that lasts very long even if it is bigger, less powerful and less efficient than the alternatives. Filling up the gas tank does not take a lot of time. Rebuilding an engine does. Even if the less reliable engine used enough less fuel to save up for the rebuild (and repairs of the additional components that are there to increase efficiency), it would still be a massive inconvenience.

The manufacturers choose to not meet the regulations probably because they think that most of their customers do not care about that. I am sure there are people who care about fuel efficiency and emissions, but most people care only up to a point. A cheaper car that uses more fuel may be a better deal. Someone may want a more powerful car and so on. If people cared only about fuel efficiency and emissions, everyone would be driving tiny cars (gas powered or electric).

Linux is good, especially the recent versions.
However, not all software that people want to use runs on it. Sure, some of it has Linux versions, some can run on Wine, but not everything.
Similar with games, Valve has done a great job making games run on Linux, but not all games do (especially the ones that use anticheats).

So, the choice is this:
1. Use Linux which can run 99% of software you want.
2. Use Windows which can run 100% of software you want
3. Use Linux for the 99% and then have a second PC, dual boot or a Windows VM for the remaining 1%.

Dependency is normal. Dependency on a potential adversary is not normal. Dependency on Russian oil and gas has bit Europe in the ass. Sure, you can trade with a potential adversary during peace time, but you always have to have alternatives and not be like Germany in 2022.

The order is to block access only in the country, so no problem for others. Probably no problem for Belgians too, at least the ones who use a VPN.

I don't think the internet Archive is so widely used that it refusing all access from Belgium will make people vote for different candidates.

It means the AI won't be forced on everyone.