True, though I believe the Packman repo is still needed for access to patent encumbered codecs, so it’s hard to avoid. It also used to be needed for Nvidia drivers and Steam (and the Flatpak steam is usually not recommended, can have issues over the standard package), though I’m unsure if that’s still the case.

From what I recall, that way isn’t recommended on Tumbleweed/Slowroll. Looking it up now, the openSUSE website still appears to recommend using either the terminal or Myrlyn.

For openSUSE Tumbleweed, zypper dup and Myrlyn is the only recommended way to update the system. Other tools like Plasma Discover or Gnome Software cannot resolve package conflicts which may arise by using external repositories.

I assume Packman would be considered an external repository, which I suspect most people will want to use.

However I wasn’t familiar with Myrlyn until now. It looks a bit like Synaptic (which could be intimidating to newbies due to how old/enterpise-y it looks), but at least there is now a recommended GUI way to do updates.

Do you happen to know if Tumbleweed/Slowroll now mention in a welcome screen anywhere to use those update methods instead? From my time with it there wasn’t any good new user info presented, ya kinda had to dig to find out that sorta stuff.

Do be aware that I don’t think that blogs can be encrypted or made private, I think they’re viewable to any movim user (I haven’t experimented with that feature).

Also, it is possible to disable the chat encryption on Movim, so if you’re going to have any non-tech savvy people using it who may accidentally disable it without knowing, and that could be dangerous, then you may need to opt for a platform where it’s enabled by default instead, like Delta chat (though it does not have any blog-like features, multi-room channels, nor any voice call ability, unlike Movim.

I’m personally a bit hesitant to recommend Slowroll (despite really liking the idea of it), since it’s still considered experimental by openSUSE, and I personally had some issues with it borking the Nvidia driver from an update.

OpenSUSE also comes with some… odd design choices, like the package patterns that can trip people up when they uninstall things, and the lack of a GUI updater for tumbleweed/slowroll (unless that’s changed?).

One of those spray-can extension poles would probably work pretty well.

Movim allows you to host a blog as well as private and encrypted chat channels like Matrix, that might be a good solution.

Saving that link, looks super handy. Thanks for sharing it!

I thought perhaps Ubuntu’s LTS point releases might update it, but after checking, it appears they do not. Kubuntu seems to suggest that they use PPA’s for users who want a newer KDE on an LTS, though I’m unsure how stable that method would be in practice.

Overall it does seem that LTS distros tend not to bother updating KDE, unlike Gnome (which Ubuntu does seem to update in their point releases).

Some KDE devs have spoken about someday making LTS versions of KDE that line-up with major LTS distros release schedules (KDE once had an LTS release but dropped it since none of the distros used it for it being out of sync with their schedules, IIRC), but I haven’t heard any news on that front.

Ehh, the start-up costs would be pretty insane, and it would likely be a financial loss if the AI bubble popped and prices came down. It’d be a very risky move.

Only downside is Debian 13 will likely forever be stuck with KDE 6.3.6, which has some noticeable bugs on my hardware that won’t be fixed until Debian 14.

KDE really benefits from distros that keep it more up to date, to the point where even the KDE devs suggest avoiding KDE on Debian.

Thanks for the info, I’d heard mixed things about Xero, but based on your experience it sounds like they’re probably not worth considering over other options.

Heck yeah :)

Also, I just need to mention that you have a fantastic username.

At this point, if Israel was a nation in a civ game, their perks would be no civilian unhappiness penalty for annexing foreign cities, and negative opinion from other leaders for warmongering reduced by 90%.

You’re quite right, though I’m being a bit more uncharitable personally, and assuming they are only marketing it as 99% since they are explicitly blocking very popular utilities as a selling point. Were they not doing that, I get the feeling they would’ve just said it is fully Android compatible despite it not being true for the reasons you outlined.

The C64 Ultimate, the new production model that Commodore sells, has Wi-fi built in.

It apparently will be able to remotely control some aspects of the C64 ultimate.

You could perhaps contribute to their documentation if you can’t contribute code. Or simply help spread awareness (where appropriate) that it is our best long-term alternative.

I think they gave Tramiel’s son an honorary role in the company.

Bitwig included a version of their DAW with a midi keyboard I bought that’s restricted to 8-tracks (called Bitwig 8-track) and a limited amount of plugins. I had been considering their paid versions in the past, but I found I enjoyed the limitations, so I’ll likely not upgrade it. Works a treat on Linux, too.

They actively hardcoded all web browsers and most social media (except WhatsApp) to be blocked from installing, hence the 99%.

The social media I understand, but the web browser block is going to severely limit market appeal.