>"That's complete bullshit. I have been using it [Linux] as my daily driver for years as have a number of people I know who aren't particularly technical."

Yep. Classic 80/20 rule. I estimate at least 80% of MS-Windows users could do everything they need in Linux.

>"Unless your jam is just computer gaming"

Even that is now not a barrier. Linux is "gaming" just as well or better than MS-Windows, thanks to Steam.

>"or you have an application that you MUST use that only runs on Windows"

That is a legit problem. But many will not consider alternative apps that work just as well or almost as well. Yet some users will have specific needs that, understandably, require staying on MS-Windows (and where tricks like WINE don't work, or are too unstable/complicated).

>"Linux will do pretty much anything Windows can without the licensing merry-go-round."

And while using less RAM, less storage, less CPU, on far more machines, with way more autonomy, far better privacy, and better security as well. But MS-Windows has a long and entrenched stranglehold in most organizations.

>"They should wipe the drive and install Mint, and take MS up on their promise for a refund, as stated in their license agreement between them and the purchaser."

Agreed. Although getting a "refund" is probably folly. Some companies now allow you to omit the MS-Windows while buying and offering a discount. That would be the better way. Most get kickbacks from forced bloatware, so they are happy with the status quo...

In any case, I have hundreds of machines running Mint (and some other Linxen). All are machines that never paid MS at all, and continue to not do so each year with updates and OS upgrades. And the vast majority are considerably old (10+yrs) and run just fine with older processors, less RAM, and less storage. Because Linux uses far fewer resources.

This horrible situation with RAM and storage pricing and availability can be and should be a great boon for Linux adoption. And that is on top of the extreme hostility and disdain Microsoft has for its customers. Plus system autonomy. And privacy. And security. Home users and companies can extend the life of their existing machines for many years to come, if they are finally willing to put some effort into switching.

>"I speak of Twitter/X like it is a weapon. It is but one that destroyed trust, empathy and identity"

Twitter was a weapon, destroying those long before Musk bought it. A lot of the stuff going on just wasn't noticed (at least by the main-stream).

None of these companies have any great morality. Their motivation is primarily "engagement" and nothing engages more than stirring up conflict.

>"X algorithm changed in July [2024] to boost right-wing accounts, study finds [cybernews.com]"

How quickly we forget the down-ranking and bans on right-wing accounts. Or did you agree with that?

https://nypost.com/2022/12/08/...

>"Cambridge research confirms rude, disrespectful, and false content sees greater amplification."

I don't participate in social media. But what I do see is just as much rude and disrespect from the "left" as the "right". And "false content" is often based on the eye of the beholder, applies across the board, and is a red herring.

>"The platform isn't just allowing extremism. It's designed to promote it."

Welcome to social media. Again, I am glad I never participated.

>"I'd not trust them to actually give you the complete real deal and there's no way whatsoever to validate that the code they release is really it."

Oh, you mean kinda like Chrome?

You know, that popular browser by Google.... the one that is binary and you don't really know what they are doing. They release the code as Chromium. And don't really let the community steer it in any meaningful way, they have 100% control over the code. Then they take it and do mysterious stuff on/in it and produce a binary that people run.

So yeah, run Firefox, where you can compile it yourself, or run a trusted binary by a third party, or run a fork like LibreWolf, Waterfox, or Palemoon.

At least what X is doing is a zillion times more transparent than what Twitter was doing. And infinitely more transparent than Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Shapchat, Pinterest, Threads, Discord, Twitch, or TikTok. And they promise they will accept feedback and will be releasing more code as open.

I proudly have never even had an account on any of those. (Technically my Android account is an account on YouTube, but I have never used YouTube as "logged in"). I suppose Slashdot is the closest I have ever come to "social media."

Let me guess, you saw the word "model" and got triggered into thinking they were talking about scientists modelling climate change, despite those models having being insanely accurate on a global scale, instead of the localised weather models actually being discussed and which are wildly more complex and have improved continuously over the past 5 decades?

Do we need to explain to you that local weather != climate like a 5 yearold, AGAIN? Pay attention in school kid.

Actually in some cases, bad, animals exist because of our worst efforts. This is one of those cases where climate change causing severe weather has once against changed animal behaviour in this case to an extent where a jellyfish bloom has occurred.

We don't celebrate all existences of plants and animals. Extensive fertiliser run-off into oceans from our farming causing blue-green algae blooms are not a good thing (they are though very much animals, bacteria specifically).
The wide spread of lionfish in the Caribbean caused by human carelessness is not a good thing, despite being very much animals (and pretty ones at that, but insanely destructive).

Jellyfish swarms have happened all over the place and have often been directly linked to climate change, overfishing, ocean eutrophication (that is farming run-off reducing dissolved oxygen in the ocean causing animals to die and jellyfish to thrive), and even our construction (jellyfish grow and thrive around flat cement constructions).

None of this is "good".

Yes. Oh sorry was that you just stating facts based on the acts of the people, or were you trying to stupidly mock this position while presenting no counter argument of your own?

Give the people what they want. And people want rage bait. This isn't a twitter problem by the way, not only do all platforms amplify rage bait, so does the media, with entire publications predicated on the principle of enraging the readership to drive engagement.

People seem to crave being angry.

In two weeks (Aug 30) SpaceX will launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2). In about half a decade, we're going expand knowledge about extrasolar planet population in this galaxy to an extreme degree using this instrument.

My statement was about water levels as well. At no point in 2018 was shipping completely stopped. Showing a measurement at a point along a 1230km just emphasises how stupid you are.

The person who opposed Orban blames things on Orban? No shit sherlock. That doesn't mean that it's Orbans fault that a power plant that was desgned when Lazar was in power couldn't handle a water level outside of its design considerations back 30 years before Orban became prime minister. Are you really that stupid that you don't understand that ${current_admin} always blames ${former_admin} regardless even when the crisis of the day a literally unprecedented case (and before you spitle shout something about 2018, the water level wasn't low enough that any nukes were shut down back then and it didn't cause an energy crisis, so I hope your own points emphasise how dumb your arguments are).

Orban was an abject piece of shit and the worst thing to happen to Hungary across a generation, but this is not on him. Get your news from somewhere other than TikTok before it rots your brain even further than it already has.

We are very much talking about a few weeks, which is why its trivial to cope with without AC. Your old vulnerable grandpa (the people who are actually dying) is not going to get off his mobility to modify his window for a week to install a portable AC, not without a lot of help from others, and those with help are largely not the vulnerable ones. This is a non-starter.

I listed this out in another post, much of Europe has a social and an education problem. At no point were people taught the importance of drinking or seeking shade. People here see a 35deg day as an excuse to roast themselves rather than protect themselves. Ask a random Australian what the signs of heat stress are and they'll probably rattle it off to you in detail. Ask a random European and they'll stare at you blankly.

It was 36C outside 2 days ago. It was 36C in my neighbours house 2 days ago. It was under 30C in my house. They opened all their windows during the hottest part of the day instead of relying on insulation to do its thing. People here are taught, open windows when it's warm, close them when it's cold. No one mentions to close them again when it's hot.

If I could make a logical comparison between the installation of two pieces of software why should you not make a stupid reductio ad absurdum argument?

It does not. None what so ever. Permissions are not managed through installation processes anywhere on Android, and a single permission "install from 3rd party sources" popup is the only Android level permission that is required for app stores, and this will only happen on first download and is not actually the process which anyone here is talking about. That permission is also levied and required for the use of software that Google currently does not apply additional hoops to. So even if you are right (which you're not), the fact of the matter is that app stores are being treated inconsistently.