>"For the most part, Windows just works without effort. Linux? Not so much."

That is a nonsense and inaccurate generalization. I can easily put a Linux machine in your hands that requires no more, or even less effort, to use/maintain than MS-Windows. Or are you comparing some pre-loaded and pre-configured MS-Windows machine to a random machine you loaded with some distro X years ago? Please compare apples to apples.

>"provided they log in with a Microsoft account."

Gross. We see what you are doing, there.

>"whose hardware is incompatible with Windows 11"

Translation: "For those whose hardware probably IS compatible with MS-Windows 11, but does not meet our artificial requirements."

Thank goodness I don't have any MS-Windows machines to deal with.

>"To ensure the web remains open and thriving, we're giving website owners a better way to express how companies are allowed to use their content."

Yeah, that is quaint. The problem is that many of those scrapers don't give a damn what is in your robots.txt. I know, I see a site I manage site attacked continuously from thousands of different IP addresses, requesting every possible page, despite robots.txt disallowing EVERYTHING. The site has gone "down" many times because it doesn't have the resources to do that, until I starting blocking huge segments of the Internet.

This race to the bottom will mean nobody but the largest of corporations will have the resources to continue the battle, and nobody will be able to actually/fully own control their own sites without signing up with some third-party service (who can then decide who can or can't access or is or is not worthy to have a site).

>" quasi-moon near Earth"

It isn't ANY type of "moon". A moon orbits a planet, regardless of what size, shape, or how erratic the orbit. This object orbits only the sun.

According to the paper:
"Meet Arjuna 2025 PN7, the Newest Quasi-satellite of Earth"
"Out of the Arjunas and NOT COUNTING those which can be temporarily captured as mini-moons of Earth, quasi-satellites are our closest companions. Here we show that 2025 PN7 is a quasi-satellite,[...] engaged in a 1:1 mean-motion resonance with our planet, but they are not gravitationally bound to it. "

Clearly, they say it is NOT a moon because it was NOT captured by Earths gravity into any type of orbit, much less gravitationally bound AT ALL, and they call it a "quasi-satellite." But it isn't even that. It is just an asteroid in roughly the same orbit as Earth around the Sun.

>>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.