For the uninitiated

Personally I’m a huge fan of dust

I was like batch 5 of the AMD framework 13 running Arch and Gnome on it.

I did have some problems with suspend/nvme drive that was fixed by replacing the nvme. If you go with their drive you’ll probably be fine (I just grabbed one I had laying around). Ever since then the laptop is perfect. If you do get it check out the Archwiki article that has a lot of helpful tips for tuning your OS to the Hardware

Oh I’ve done some wicked shit with awk that things literally magic

I’ve been using Linux exclusively for ~14 years now. Heavily gaming on Linux only for the last ~8 years.

It was possible (though sometimes headache inducing) to play most games back then (Wine and soon Proton to thank) the biggest change IMHO came with SteamPlay since it turned the headache into one click on most games (thanks to the amazing work of wine/proton developers and the tinkering of the community).

When the SteamDeck released people seemed surprised at the breadth of games that were running on day one. To me it was not really a surprise since I had been Linux gaming with SteamPlay all the time and was almost expecting games to “just work” (though I still would and still am checking ProtonDB before purchase).

What the SteamDeck changed in my view was

1. Showing “everyone” that Linux Gaming is a thing that’s happening and been happening for a while. So maybe check it out?
2. That a Handheld that doesn’t have to work around Windows but uses a purpose built OS just makes a lot more sense

I feel that the SteamDeck with SteamOS has really put Linux, especially Linux gaming on the map. Even though I want to be like “Linux Gaming has been a thing forever, I was doing it before it was cool” ;) I have to recognize that fact. In the past years I’ve seen so many people setting up Linux especially by the way of SteamOS (using HoloISO, Chimera …) just to play/mess with it which is also why I think an Official SteamOS release will make a huge difference.

Tl;dr: Gaming on Linux was a thing before. But the SteamDeck/SteamOS 3 made a huge impact nonetheless.

Started on Gnome 2 for a short stint then used Unity for a while (used to be Ubuntus DM). When I switched away from Ubuntu I was still looking for something “familiar” so switching to Gnome (it was like 3.8 at the time) felt right. Have been using Gnome ever since.

I’ve thought about switching to KDE a few times (when Gnome made some bone headed decision) but the way key combos and workflows are ingrained to me I would just set up any DE to feel like Gnome so why should I switch.

I’m in the lucky position that I always could work with Linux. I was working with people that couldn’t be bothered to run Windows on their Desktops (administering mostly Linux Servers anyway). In my first job we had a “Standardized” Fedora desktop that was actually attached to our AD so you could log in at any desktop with your domain user. However we did have internal tools and some software requirement that only were available on Linux meaning everyone in our department had a Windows VM for using those tools (kinda overkill but ok). My last job we didn’t have any standard other than the system had to be encrypted and had Eset installed other than that we could set it up he was we liked.

Could I work with a Windows desktop? Sure I’m on the Terminal sshing into systems 98% of the time anyway but at the end of the day I love to simply be on Linux having a workflow I’m used to.

Regarding Office I was just using Office online for anything that needed it.

Getting Linux Systems into AD is possible (but of course requires cooperation on the side of the IT department)

Proxy and VPN should mostly be doable (but of course might not be able to be deployed via Group policies)

Moved my sister to Ubuntu a while ago aside from the occasional support call everything works quite well.

As for my mom, I sat her down way back and told her she needed to move off of Windows XP (support was running out). I explained to her that she could learn Windows 7 and eventually 10 (8 was already a known dud by then) or she could switch to a “Traditional” desktop paradigm that resembled XP closely where she’d only had to relearn once and then keep running it forever, so I moved her to MATE.

While most issues she had with incompatibilities could be solved (and often remotely by me just via ssh) there was one MFP that just wouldn’t scan properly (I’ve scoured the web for guides and sane drivers etc.) in the end I set up a Dual boot Windows (with a nice "switch to Windows " script right in the pinned apps) just so she could scan from there (scans automatically saved on a NAS share that was also available in Linux so she could use the scanned documents there). These days the MFP died and she got a new one that will actually scan in Linux but I kept the dual boot just in case (though I doubt she ever uses it).

For files are in git (using stow to recreate) and my documents folder is syncing to nextcloud (selfhosted) and this also to my laptop. This is of course not a “Backup” per se more a “multiple copies” but it gets the job done and also firs my workflow. To be happy with that I want to set up an offsite backup of data from my server to a NAS in my parents place but right now that’s just a to-do I haven’t put any work in yet ;)

The kernel was almost named freax

Did you know that kernel releases have codenames?

My favourite being 4.0: “Hurr durr I’ma sheep” because I remember taking part in that poll.

As many people here have pointed out already, it’s highly dependent on what type of Job you’re looking for and in what industry.

When I was applying for my entry level Job (actually an apprenticeship to become a sysadmin), the fact that I was a linux user (especially daily driving Arch) and that I had set up my own self hosted projects was a factor in me being set up in the department that was actually interesting to me (the Linux/Server department) instead of the Windows/Client department but I probably would have gotten the job either way. My work there set me up deeping my path into Linux sysadminship where I still am today.