In my early teens, I got really into computers, built my first PC when I was about 13, started learning Windows batch scripting and using GameMaker to make goofy PC games.

Along the way, I found Trinity Rescue Kit and was also introduced to Fedora Core by a nerdy guy who worked at my local YMCA.

I didn’t actually enjoy it too much back then, so I left it alone for years until about 5 years ago when I started to get back into the free software movement and related interests.

I’ve been 100% on Linux for about 4 years now and never looked back.

You’ve taken your first step into a larger world.

Yeah, and it’s free for a basic account + up to 100 devices, so plenty for most home lab needs.

Have you looked into Tailscale or an equivalent solution like Netbird?

You could set up a tailnet, create unique tags for each machine, add both machines to the tailnet, and then set up each machine’s network interface to only go through the tailnet.

Then you just use Tailscale’s ACLs with the tags to isolate those machines, making sure they can only talk to whatever central device(s) or services you want them to, but also stopping them from talking to or even seeing each other.

If the government collapses, you’re gunna have much worse things to worry about than taxes.

IMO, there are three “levels” of economic hardship:

1. Severe recession: Where the economy shrinks, many small/medium businesses go bankrupt, unemployment hits around 7-10%
2. Legit depression: Numerous core institutions in most or all sectors of the economy go bankrupt. Even highly skilled people cannot find work and are reduced to charity, begging, or stealing. Unemployment hits 15-25%
3. Total economic collapse: All major institutions in all sectors fail, or cease having any legitimacy. The country’s currency becomes worthless due to either hyperinflation or governmental collapse. All people except the super wealthy elite, become destitute.

The last time the US experienced the second level was the Great Depression, where during the depths of the dust bowl and the depression, unemployment hit about 25%

If you genuinely think we are in for anything worse than level 2, you should flee the country now, or buy a gun and stockpile ammunition, food, and medicine.

Realistically, level 3 isn’t going to happen. Level 1 very likely will, level 2 I would give a 5% chance personally, but that is based only on vibes.

Have some savings in cash, a few hundred bucks mostly in small denominations should be alright. Don’t do more than that.

Buy cheap bulk foods. Beans, chickpeas, lentils, raw oats, rice, four, potatoes. Buy several of those big 24 packs of bottled water. Most large retailers have them for 4-6 bucks a pack. You need A least 5-6 bottles a day to stay minimally hydrated. That’s roughly 4 days of water per 24-pack. You should have at least a week of water per person.

Other folks here have good advice. Connect with a local community. If not your direct neighbors, then a group that meets nearby. You need other people for support. If you’re in a really bad place, they will be the last line of dependable aid.

Quit your vices. Cigs, alcohol, excessive caffeine, and junk food all cost a lot of money, aren’t healthy, and will make you much more vulnerable to economic upsets. It also allows others to take easier advantage of you, because of your desperation to get a fix.

Magic Earth. Organic Maps as a backup. I’ve found that Magic Earth is the happy middle ground of map apps.

Closed source client, but uses OSM for its map data. European company, so better on the data front.

I tried using Organic Maps as my main navigation app, but there were slightly too many times where it couldn’t find the address, or the navigation got stuck, etc.

My IT job requires me to get to places quickly if they need on-site support. I have to be able to depend on my map app to get me there reliably. Magic Earth does that, Organic Maps is very good, and I keep it around to use in case I have issues with Magic Earth, but at least in my region of the country, it just isn’t quite up to snuff.

As an IT person, I’m consistently amazed at what people will do on their work computers if allowed.

People log into all their social media accounts, save credit card info for online shopping, save personal passwords, make doctors appointments, etc.

As for weirdest? I was working on a woman’s work PC years ago and her desktop was filled with a bunch of boomer-style pro Trump memes. She was logged into her Facebook account on the PC and was downloading them onto her desktop and then presumably posting them to FB. It was stuff like, “I’m a proud Trump girl!” With a picture of a Minion in front of an American flag. Classic cringey boomer stuff.

Another weird one: In college, I once saw a girl using one of the library color printers to print an entire recipe book. Like with full color pictures and everything. The whole thing looked like it was several hundred pages thick, absolutely huge. The library had a sign right above the printers that requested students not print more than 20 pages in full color, so RIP to their toner on that one lol.

Oh yes, I know that experience well. I’ve had to excuse myself to discretely take another pill many times.

Yep! And I can’t direct it either, which is also super frustrating. If I’m productive, it’s always in a direction my brain wants to go, not where I actually need to be productive.

It isn’t just “struggling to focus.” The same way that depression isn’t just “being sad” and anxiety disorder isn’t just “getting nervous.”

When my ADHD is at its worst, I literally become almost illiterate. As in, I read a single sentence, and by the time I finish the last few words, I have completely forgotten the rest of the sentence.

I have to read that sentence 4-6 times over and over before I actually comprehend what the meaning is. The words are being sounded out in my head, but my brain doesn’t store them in short term memory, and certainly not into long term memory.

My brain is too busy processing random other things to dedicate enough attention to the thing I am trying to read. And I’m not taking about Shakespeare or Tolstoy, I’m talking about trying to read a basic email from my manager.

Imagine the feeling you had when you were in school struggling with your toughest subject. Maybe it was math, maybe chemistry, whatever. Remember what it was like when you were focusing as hard as you could to solve a problem on an exam or a homework assignment. Remember that feeling of mental exhaustion? Where it felt like your head actually hurt, you were physically tired from how hard you were focusing? Maybe for the next hour, perhaps even the rest of the day, you couldn’t think hard about anything else?

Well that’s how I feel doing the majority of trivial tasks I have to do all the time. Getting dressed, brushing my teeth, making breakfast, getting my work bag together, remembering to cash a check or pick up a few groceries. Working out, texting back a friend, responding to emails, scheduling a doctor’s appointment, etc.

I start the day mentally exhausted and foggy, and I end the day even more so. And most of the things that nuro-typical folks do without hardly a thought, I have to expend final calculus 3 exam effort to do.

The most frustrating part? Sometimes, seemingly at random, my brain will just kick into gear and I will be able to focus on something for hours without any effort at all. I can’t seem to cause it to happen, I don’t know where it comes from. But on those rare days, I am a god. It actually makes me depressed, because I always think, “if I could be like this just 25% of the time, I would be unstoppable.”

Learn Linux TV. Great educational channel for all things Linux.

Thanks for the info!

I’ve been on Nobara for a few years and have generally loved it. Lately I’ve been thinking about switching to Cachy.

I’ve just been a little annoyed with Fedora in general recently, and I am nervous that Nobara is not only based on Fedora, but also is maintained by only one person.

How has gaming been overall on CachyOS? Any issues with Steam, Proton, Lutris, or any other gaming-related software?

I’ve been enjoying void on an old Thinkpad just to mess with. How’s the gaming experience been on it? Any issues with Steam/Proton running well?

Default terminal -> Kitty

I’ve really been enjoying Fish on my personal laptop.

Donated a few days ago, thanks for making some of my favorite FOSS software!

The penguin is merciful.

Had basically the same exact scenario with my parents earlier this year.

Installed Linux Mint with the default Cinnamon desktop, installed a “Windows” theme. Put icons on the desktop exactly where there old ones were, and never looked back.

It’s been great for them, does everything they need and took minimal effort from me to set up.