Jackie's Fridge

Like anything else, the interface can be learned. However, I don’t have the time to give it (and the other FOSS Adobe alts) the attention I need in order to learn them as well as I already know the Adobe software. It feels like doing the same homework a second time for less reward.

Yeah, I’ve dabbled in Inkscape, GIMP, and KdenLive as Adobe alternatives, and I can use them for smaller projects but you’re right: they are clunky. Scribus is actually frustrating after all the time I’ve spent in InDesign.

Use a popular distribution like Ubuntu or Linux Mint. There’s a lot of resources online that will walk you through any weird setup issues (many with code to copy/paste).

There are also plenty of articles that have “top 5” type lists for what sort of things you should install right away (like multimedia codecs if you want to consume a variety of media).

I’m only basically techy, and I very much enjoy Linux Mint. It’s snappy and comfortable and does everything I really need to do with no fuss. It took me a few nights of Googling (Duck Duck Go-ing?) to get over a few hiccups, but it wasn’t difficult with the walkthroughs, just a little time consuming. Once set up, the system has been rock solid.

I daydream about my laptop when I’m at work and my Win11 work computer suddenly decides I don’t actually need to click anything in the upper third of the screen. Again.

Another vote for the T480. I have a T480s running Mint and it’s been lovely. No driver issues and for office/light media creation/consumption it seems to work without a hitch.

Rockbox is a bad benchmark due to its insane versatility. Just because modern players “should” support something doesn’t mean the manufacturer put the work in to do so, or even do it well.

That said, when I buy a portable music player the decision is always based on whether or not there’s a Rockbox port for it.

I haven’t seen anybody mention failing systems. These consoles are all old enough that some TLC may be required soon to replace failing capacitors, etc. If you’re good with that and the (light) headaches involved in connecting old consoles to new TVs, there are solid recommendations in this discussion.

If you’re okay with emulation, the Anbernic RG351MP (or the newer 353) will play games from Atari 2600 through PlayStation 1, including arcade machines and old DOS games. The Anbernic hardware is very nice and exceptionally portable.

Steam Deck and Nintendo New 3DS are also phenomenal emulators for old games, but require some setup.

Rockbox *is…

It’s still going.

'Tis the east, and Julicat has knocked a glass of water off the shelf.

Upvoting because I also have a black cat named Cheese. No other reason.

I started with stick comics. XKCD still draws stick comics. If the story is compelling, people can get invested in your creation. If you want to do action sequences, etc. do 'em with a sense of humour (and stick people) and the right audience will be on board.