Sorry to be that gal but other slow hardware not software

Ehhhhhh I wouldn't say brand new hardware. A lot of times Linux still needs a few months to properly support a new Gen of graphics cards or processors

Though it generally at least works which is a huge improvement over back in the day

My primary laptop is a Lenovo T495s. I'm a big fan because my requirements for a laptop aren't particularly demanding, but while a 5 year old Ryzen 7 is a bit aged, I'd hardly consider it underpowered, at least for my (and many others) needs. Laptops like this can easily be found in great condition and under $200. I spent a little more after a new nvme and maxing out ram.

Wiggly windows in compiz probably converted like 10 thousand 12 year olds to linux… I know from experience!

Cloud infrastructure engineer at 12 years old? Damn son!

Rejoice brother as you are amoung friends.

My mother is very happy now. Bonus points she doesn't call me up and have me dismiss the Microsoft upsell every other update.

She says she doesn't want to break anything but I think she wants me to do it so she doesn't have to give it a nanosecond of a thought. Also she doesn't throw a fit every time she has to wait for updates to finish anymore!

Your tech illiterate friend is not so tech illiterate

now I gotta become an astronaut and be the first to install gentoo in space

Doesn't the ISS run Debian?

Edit: Yes, they introduced Debian on user devices back in 2013

It's not about paying for Windows, usually it's included in the device you buy. The real reason why Linux helps broke people is because bloated Windows can't run on the budget PCs they have (and they can't just buy a faster computer)

I mean you pay for Windows on preinstalled computers, too. There are Laptops sold without OS and they are cheaper than the same model with windows installed.

I did once. I built a pc. I hated the watermark. Y’all hadn’t enlightened me yet

The watermark annoys me so I grab one of those £20 fell of the back of a truck keys.

I think the point is you can put a fully updated new Linux on a decade old ThinkPad but with windows you'd need to buy a whole new laptop to run modern stuff also it would be unusably slow

I keep hearing stories like this but all I see in thrift stores are like busted DVD players and other grimey old stuff that was second-rate even when released. In that awkward valley where it's not vintage, and newer stuff is objectively better.

I think people caught on and the good finds are pushed to their auction sites and stuff now. =\

I'm happy with my X230 I got for $200 off eBay though, like 5 years back.¯_(ツ)_/¯

All they had to do was to allow me to move the taskbar to the side and I'm only partially joking.

can't fix whats broken by design

Free cost and free as in freedom to understand and modify the code. I also think it's a beautiful way of doing things. We also have Wikipedia and Openstreetmap. The internet has a tremendous potential for collaboration, people doing things because they want to, for the benefit of everyone.