Oh, the stick is how I did it. It’s definitely great for the Test drive.

In my specific situation, I had A lot of files I wanted to move from the window system to the Linux system, and at that point in time, I did not have an external that had enough room to put them all on. I was also unsure if everything I needed would be compatible, so I wanted to save the windows SSD to be able to use as an external and boot from if needed. That did not end up being necessary, but I did plug it in as an external in order to recover some of those files that I wasn’t able to move to an existing external (mostly my ROM library and all my saves tbh, lmao)

All power to the User

Mint is also the one I use (Mint MATE specifically), and it rules. The learning curve is very manageable.

What I would recommend is either getting a new hard drive and swapping it with your current drive, or creating a back up disk image of your current computer on an external drive. That way your old computer is safe if you mess anything up. (You probably won’t need it tho, it’s not as hard/scary as it initially seems).

Linux has very recently become much easier to use. The current version of WINE (a program which allows you to install and run Windows programs on a Linux PC) is incredible, so you really shouldn’t lose anything capability-wise in the switch either.

If you just add a Windows partition on your current disk, Windows 11 will randomly delete the entire Linux partition (I’ve read about this happening to multiple people). So you’d want a clean installation of Linux to avoid Microslop’s spyware and malware.

I still have the old hard drive with my Windows 11 system on it, but I never needed to use it, and I’ve been switched for long enough that I would not use it now… I should wipe that drive and put it in an enclosure to be an external

That’s why it’s important to educate people, it doesn’t have to remain normalized, once they know they usually understand how fucked up it is.

Each one teach one

That’s the cool part, you don’t have to lose out on internet connectivity, you just want to control the transmissions that are going out.

I have my computer plugged into the TV, that’s how I do the small amount of streaming I do, watch my files, play most of my video games, etc. I just use the inputs like an old school TV, which means no waiting for apps to load, or any of that shit.

• VCR
• Sega
• Computer
• PS5

That’s my setup, and just about everything I need

It has all the benefits of a TV that is connected to the internet, and then some (my computer loads things much quicker than the TV itself could, for example), and it has none of the drawbacks because I fully control the OS and the browser, and everything else… and my mouse works better than my TV remotes ever did, lol.

If you use a Windows computer you’re still getting spied on tho. You could take preventative measures to stop that, but it’s easier to just switch to Linux. It’s not too difficult to learn, and you’ll appreciate the logical construction of the system.

Microphones are their typical method of choice. Typically embedded in the remote (which can be replaced or removed), but they’ve also found hidden microphones inside the TVs from certain companies (I think Samsung got caught doing that one?)

It’s also not uncommon for a TV to secretly take screenshots of whatever is on your TV (computer, PS5, home movies, you name it) every 30 seconds or so, and then transmit the screenshots back to HQ (mostly to be sold to data brokers).

I haven’t heard of one with actual cameras in it (yet).

So yeah, if you get a TV, do NOT connect that shit to the Internet, do NOT accept the user agreement, and don’t trust these MFs.

All media enters my TV through my (secure) Linux computer, or my Sega

Yup, and that’s why many of us don’t hook our TVs up to the internet