Like the others have said, all major distros are fine. Ubuntu is or used to be Valve’s “favourite distro” and the package that you can get from Valve’s website is for Ubuntu. That being said, software on Linux should be installed using the package manager (the Software Centre) and not downloaded from the Web.

You may wish to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS later. This is fairly easy (you can use the Software Updater application) but the newer versions have better drivers and newer GNOME versions which may bring better performance.

Arch is the one thing that should be absolutely not recommended to beginners. Even implying that it is a suitable beginner distro in any way like you have done in this comment is only likely to drive away users when they inevitably get confused.

Existing Windows users mostly are not interested in even knowing of the existence of the Arch Wiki. They will just give up and conclude Linux is shit.

Flathub is almost the perfect distribution system for software on Linux. The only thing it’s missing is a billing system. If it had that, it would probably attract more game developers to make their games available as Flatpaks.

Look no further than the dissent to United States v. Wong Kim Ark (when the Supreme Court ruled that the passage you cited grants citizenship by birthright), written by Chief Justice Melville Fuller, the mastermind behind such legal opinions as:

• Racial segregation is completely legal (Plessy v. Ferguson)
• States can’t regulate workplace conditions or enact maximum working hours laws (Lochner v. New York)
• Income tax is unconstitutional (Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust)

Anyway, he wrote:

the children of Chinese born in this country do not, ipso facto, become citizens of the United States unless the fourteenth amendment overrides both treaty and statute

and

[Birthright citizenship means] the children of foreigners, happening to be born to them while passing through the country, whether of royal parentage or not, or whether of the Mongolian, Malay or other race, were eligible to the presidency, while children of our citizens, born abroad, were not.

So in other words, he was willing to rule that the constitution is optional as long as you are using it against undesirable races in order to get his way.

It’s not just for decoration. You can use it as a legitimate pointing device. Nudging it will move the mouse cursor and tapping it with your fingernail is clicking.

It takes some getting used to but you can definitely use it for normal office tasks if you wanted to. That being said, I still personally prefer a mouse. But I have known some people who like using the nipple.

Those who don’t use it are only mildly annoyed by it, but those who use it will raise holy hell now that it’s gone.

Friday: GoDaddy CEO donates $1,000,000 to Trump’s inauguration fund

Monday: Trump takes office

Tuesday: Senate confirms new FTC chair

Wednesday: FTC announces a settlement with GoDaddy where the FTC will withdraw the case and GoDaddy agrees to a $125,000 penalty paid over the next five years

LegalEagle and Wendover Productions actually beat them to the punch (Nebula) on this. They filed on 29th December 2024, a whole 4 days earlier.

And since the US courts charge money to get these documents, I downloaded a copy of the complaint earlier on my PACER account so anyone who’s interested can read it without incurring the stupid fees. Enjoy

Edit: Devin Stone (the host of LegalEagle) is actually a lawyer on this case. His name and his law firm are listed as a lawyer for the plaintiff on the complaint.

SystemD will consume the entirety of Linux, bit by bit.

• In 2032, SystemD announces they’re going to be introducing a new way to manage software on Linux
• In 2035, SystemD will announce they’re making a display system to replace the ageing Wayland
• In 2038, the SystemD team announces they’re making their own desktop environment
• In 2039 SystemD’s codebase has grown to sixteen times its size in the 2020s. SystemD’s announces they’re going to release replacements for most other packages and ship their own vanilla distro.
• In 2045 SystemD’s distro has become the standard Linux distribution. Most other distros have quietly faded away.
• In 2047, SystemD announces they’re going to incorporate most of GNU into SystemD. Outrage ensues from the Free Software Foundation, which vehemently opposes this move.
• In 2048, Richard Stallman dies of a heart attack after attempting to clone SystemD’s git repo. SystemD engages in a hostile takeover and all resistance within the FSF crumbles
• In 2050, SystemD buys the struggling RedHat from IBM for $61 million.
• In 2053, most world governments have been pressured into using SystemD.
• In 2054, Linus Torvalds, fearing for his life, begins negotiations to merge kernel development into SystemD
• In 2056, the final message on the Linux kernel development mailing list is sent.
• In 2058, Torvalds dies under suspicious circumstances after his brand-new laptop battery explodes.
• In 2060, SystemD agents assassinate the CEO of Microsoft.
• In 2063, after immense pressure from SystemD-controlled human rights organisations, Arch developers discontinue development.
• In 2064, the remaining living Debian developers release the next stable version of their clandestine and highly illegal distro.

What I predict will happen is that Microsoft will offer them Windows for free or bribe the relevant decision makers with free Surface Pro laptops (for “evaluation”) or other Microsoft paraphernalia.

The remote access game is just completely different in Windows versus Linux. Windows has excellent graphical remote control options (RDP, Quick Access) and Linux has a hodgepodge of options that all only half work. Linux has excellent remote terminal capabilities (SSH), whereas remote Windows terminals are a joke. Both of these facts are very fitting, because the Linux terminal is powerful, while on Windows you need the GUI to do anything.

Not a solution.

This not only has a time and effort cost attached to it but selling your used hardware to buy new hardware is always a bad value proposition.

That’s not a solution. It’s a way for you to avoid the problem. It does nothing to help the millions of people who are already deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem.