They have to be paid for one way or another.
Florida has no state income tax. So would you rather pay at the toll booth or out of your paycheck?
By charging at the toll booths, tourists pay for much of the road construction.

Whatever works out best for you, remember: nothing is for nothing.

Is clear cutting forests and burning trees the most environmental friendly way to create energy?

If there is one app that somebody needs, and that app does not run on Linux, then Linux is a non-starter. And many such apps do not run on Linux.
Governments, and corporations, are comfortable using something standard, and corporate supported. For them, the expense of Windows is not a big deal. Governments, and corporations are not concerned with the idealistic aspects of foss. What is a big deal, for them, is the labor pool that understands Windows applications. They wants standards, they don't care about nickel and dime saving, or any kind of ideals. They don't want to defeat "the man" they are "the man."
Government and corporations are a huge part of the desktop/laptop market, and as such, set the standard.

I am about to switch from Linux to FreeBSD. I have used FreeBSD before, and I really liked their package management, among other things.

The memory requirements for Windows 11 are absurd. Linux works fine with 4GB of RAM.

It's time for businesses and government to give up on Microsoft.

Supposed, the phone is unlocked after 90 days, but it's not, and Verizon refuses to fix it.
I did not think it was worth a lawsuit, but I am glad that somebody did.

> "War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope." -- General Smedley D. Butler

Equipping both sides is totally normal. The US does this all the time. So do other nations. It has been going on in the mid-east for ages.

If you have not heard the Bob Dylan song "Masters of War" in a while, you should listen to it again.

I wish MS just with Win 2K and incrementally upgraded. Made it solidly 64-bit, increased the file system capacity, and so on. By now, it would be awesome.

Do you for Microsoft?

MS forces you to spend time, money, and effort, on "upgrades" you don't want.

The solution? Spend more time, money and effort, to fix the crappy useless "upgrades."

Just stay with Win 10, or switch to Linux.

Lots of people use phones as their "desktop."

Technically, phones and tablets are not desktops, or laptops, but lots of people use phones, or tablets, as their primary, or only, computer device.

China has been acting very aggressively lately. They act like a bully. I believe China is committed to bringing down the USA. I am not sure I want to buy pharmaceuticals from them.

I have never used Jellyfin. Put I am not fond on the new Plex UI.

A big nation like China can have HSR. A tiny nation like Java can have HSR. France, Switzerland, everywhere else can have HSR. But it will not work in the USA.

How is the USA so different than every other nation on earth?

I felt the same. I am glad people are trying Linux, but I see nothing special about Zorin.
I suppose it looks like windows, and it was marketed well.
IMO: MX Linux looks more promising.

It may be hard for California, but not for anywhere else. High speed rail is all over the world. Even the tiny nation of Java has high speed rail.