>>Even my old mom has used it for over 15 years.
>What about your new mom?
>Sorry, had to! :) hardy, har har

>Which distro / desktop is she using?

Started out as Mandrake then Mandriva then Mageia (kept changing names), all in KDE. Then Mint/Cinnamon.

I do believe that with increased "market share", Linux security vulnerabilities would be found and exploited more. I never claimed it is impenetrable or without vulnerabilities, but it has always been generally very good.

>"the reality is that one of the many consequences of this decision will be that, overall, there will be LESS network security. Mom and pop are not about to go out and buy a new computer just because their existing system stopped receiving updates. Microsoft can't disable computers and force them to, because that would be illegal."

^^^ THIS

Not the case for "corporate" or government computers, but for home, student, casual, and many small businesses, which probably account for maybe as many as half of MS-Windows computers, this is often the case.

>"Heck for the most popular desktop Linux you get 9 months of support. MONTHS! Not even a year. And consumers do not usually seek out LTS releases."

Linux Mint is one of THE most popular distros, and there is no short-term version. It has 5 years of updates for each version. And anytime before or after that, you can in-place upgrade to the next version.

And, somehow, Linux desktops do really well with security, without trying to lock the desktop down with TPM.

>"Linux missed this opportunity. It is not usable as desktop for common users."

Wow, tell that to all the "common users" I have set up with Linux and use it just fine as a desktop. Even my old mom has used it for over 15 years.

>"Eat shit and pay up motherfucker.
>"Love, Microsoft

https://linuxmint.com/

>"petitioning Microsoft to reconsider pulling support for Windows 10 in 2025, since "as many as 400 million perfectly good computers that can't upgrade to Windows 11"

Most of the machine *can* upgrade to Windows 11, Microsoft has just chosen to artificially block them as part of their "security" (yeah right) stance.

My advice is to move to Linux, if you can, where your privacy and humanity is respected, where you can fully control your own computer and without "cloud" invasion, where updates/upgrades are quick, easy, and free, where security and performance is great, where your machine can live on for many more years.

I have lots of machines that are 10 to 13 years old running Linux and perform very well, and expect will still do so for many more. As long as it has an SSD and enough RAM (I recommend 6+GB but have many with just 4GB), use for browsing, graphics manipulation, playing/recording audio, playing most video, simple/casual gaming, and office-apps are just fine.

I don't know what to think about this. Does it indicate less monopolistic behavior from Amazon or more? Is this better or worse for the Walmart? For the consumer? Does this mean Walmart is faltering in this space?

I have ordered a lot from Amazon and some from Walmart and really haven't had a problem with either. But there really aren't other solid choices in this now narrow space. Target as a very distant third? I would hate to see it just be one.

>"If I see a Black pilot, Iâ(TM)m going to be like, boy, I hope heâ(TM)s qualified. â" The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 January 2024"

Nice try, picking something out of context, which seems really, really popular now. His discussion was about DEI/Affirmative Action, specifically about airline pilot racial hiring quotas, and how quotas end up lowering excellence by displacing otherwise more qualified candidates. And what effect that can have on people's thinking by casting shadows of doubt. He said, as part of a conversation:

"I mean, like, if you want to go thought crime... I'm sorry if I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified. You wouldn't have done that, that's not who I am. That's not what I believe."

>"The reason most fruit and vegetable harvesting is not automated is that the technology doesn't yet exist.Maybe in a few years or decades, we'll have machines or robots that can pick fruits and vegetables, but likely not anytime soon."

The market will create demand for such technologies, if/when they become necessary. If there is no demand because it can be filled with cheap human labor, then that is what is used. If that supply dries up, labor prices will rise, and companies will be madly developing and competing for creating effective automation. Absolutely guaranteed. And the pricing of that automation will drop rapidly over time as supply increases. And, eventually, it will probably be cheaper and better than the cheap labor it replaced.

We have seen this happen many times, it isn't magic or mystery, it is the free market in action.

Thankfully, I am in the around 50% of people whose homes are not in a HOA. (And I think of the 50% of those that are in HOA are in condos/townhouses, so that is pretty normal/expected/necessary).

An HOA can be a good thing, a bad thing or just neutral. Just depends on the HOA and your needs/expectations. About 60% report positive experiences, 26% neutral, and 14% negative.

In almost all cases, it is voluntary (and hardly a valid comparison to China)- you know what you are getting into when you buy. Of course what you are getting into CAN CHANGE, which is the scary part.

>"People under 18 should not be permitted to enter into contracts without parental permission."

Parents and their agents should not give unrestricted internet-connected devices to their children, or allow them access to such devices, without direct supervision.

It isn't about not allowing a contract with minors, which would encumber every site out there to force every user (adult) to "ID" themselves and then be tracked, striping everyone of their privacy. The parent(s) gave a minor a device on which he could, apparently, load any app he wanted. Or the device was set up with a blacklist instead of a whitelist, which simply isn't enough.

Outside of a very small community (of which I am a member) this won't even register as a problem, let alone motivate a sizeable number of people to do anything about it. Our species lacks the will to even stop literally poisoning ourselves.

Liberals are fairly consistent in defending people's right to their faith while speaking out against people who want to impose their faith on others.