wish they would say what the "old intel CPU" refers to and which ate the modern ones that don't need the hack.
I have no idea what this challenge is (I automatically assume it's some cringe when I read "challenge" also that pic is... what?), but you don't run Mint/Debian/Ubuntu if you have super-fresh hardware, like AMD 7000-series or Intel 14th gen and so on. in that case you have to go with Fedora or one of its derivatives (Nobara, Bazzite, etc.), because they have the newest kernels that allow this hardware to run OOB.
if you have a bit older hardware (like 2-3 years old), Mint or Debian is your best bet; Ubuntu if you have to, and only as a stepping stone. it's a solid base and if you use flatpak for everything (Firefox, Chrome, Lutris, Steam, etc.) you won't have issues with old packages and you'll get the best of both worlds - stability and supported hardware.
coupla blogs and lemmy subscribed ordered by top day; once I'm done with it, that's it, no doomscrolling no more. all news and sports are filtered out, along with memes and similar stupid shit.
if im really craving something, read a book (thanks Anna!), reinstall one of the cheap laptops I got, go for a run/walk/bike ride etc. works most of the time.
weeell you kinda misrepresented the stated point, creating what's commonly referred to as a strawman.
the subject isn't a random sandwich that might or might not have contaminates in it; the subject is a shit sandwich. therefore it's pointless to argue exactly how much shit is in a shit sandwich, as its essence and genesis preclude it from being considered nourishment.
now there's copious propaganda out there convincing you it isn't that bad, lotsa people do it, memba the sandwich from decades ago you loved... but we're in the wrong community for that.
does it matter how bad it is? does it matter how much shit is in a shit sandwich?
I'm not having it however little there is.
I do without.
no way am I bothering with installing windows, in a VM or elsewhere.
you're not mentioning which Pixel you're getting for $200 and also that's only twice the stated budget. anyhow, the cheapest Pixel 7 I have locally available is $310 ("lighty used"), which I think is the lowest rung; sixes are like three years old and that's a no bueno for phones with fixed batteries. as an aside, if I'm buying something someone rubbed their face on, spat on, and rubbed all over, I'm paying half price max, not 15% less than NiB ($355 here).
last week I bought a Poco F1 (SDM845/6GB) in not great condition for $60; excellent LineageOS and PostmarketOS support though and easily replaceable batteries. a month or so prior, a Mi 9T Pro (SDM855/6GB) for $80. those are on the high side, there's a ton of LineageOS supported Xiaomi devices for $50 or less if you go down to SDM6xx/4GB, which is plenty for everyday use. they can be had on the cheap because their MIUI operating system is bloated and hella slow so people just upgrade, whereas unlocking the boot loader and flashing an alternative nets you a super useable device.
I'm not saying any of those is as good as a modern Pixel device, but for my use cases they are more than enough.
it was pretty bad. the "protagonist" was as irritating as they come. evacide, doctorow and co. were super-underutilized, I imagine a huge chunk was cut out to make enough room for mr. annoyance and his forced parables and non-sequiturs.
I understand some things had to be dumbed down, but this was really, really bad from every angle you look at it.
although just a cursory look at the drama surrounding it is reason enough, my real reason is pretty simple: the hardware costs just way too much.
a phone should cost like $100, max. that's an easily breakable thief magnet and you should put in as much effort as possible to treat it as a fungible device. you break or lose one - no big deal, it's encrypted, restore from backup and keep on truckin'.
I can lose/break/gift like 6 or 7 competent devices (SDM680/845/etc, 6 GB RAM) before I even get close to the price of one used Pixel. hard, hard pass.
looking for "privacy issues" in iOS is like wondering if the sandwich you found in the sewer has healthy and organic salami, as if that's the only issue preventing you from eating it.
you're being spied on from the moment you activate it, including when it's "off", so does it matter if there are seven or actually nine things invading your privacy?