Holy crap, I’m sorry if I sound over-enthused but that is genuinely awesome to hear. I didn’t know this either. I’m learning a ton here. I’m saving this information. This is something I would absolutely love to do.

I wanted a word processor so badly that I got an alphasmart neo word processor 2 this year. It’s great. However, I would prefer if I could write on something more familiar. Turning a laptop into a writer’s deck would be amazing.

I’ve watched videos of people build their own writer’s decks. They were small computers though but it was really cool. And I have also seen a video where a guy took an old macbook and overhauled it so that it was all new hardware and only ran linux. It was incredible stuff. I want to try that myself as I do also have an old macbook just sitting untouched and I actually kind of love that old thing. It was great and seems like a shame to have to toss it. So it’s definitely something I dream of doing one day. Only thing is I cannot for the life of me access tools to open up a computer. I tried looking on ifixit but they don’t have all the tools needed. So, it will be a slow journey to get to that but I look forward to tinkering.

Thank you so much for the tip about Nvidia. I didn’t know this. And I’m really glad to hear Mint is so easy! That’s perfect. I have a fear of pressing the wrong button and accidentally breaking something. I’m sure that’s a common anxiety for beginners. So Mint seems like a perfect starter then. Yay! Yes, it’s true, I’m not much of a gamer. I wish I could play games more. There’s a ton from different genres that intrigue me and I love watching playthroughs and reviews, but it’s just not feasible for me right now. In the future hopefully.

I will most certainly check in online if ever an issue crops up. Everyone here has been really helpful and I’m deeply grateful. Thank you so much! :)

That’s okay, my reply is also late! ^_ It’s all good. I’m grateful to hear from a writer on these topics. This is very encouraging to hear. Forgive me that I can’t say it more effectively, but I’m truly grateful. Oh then this is perfect. I’m a low needs user as well. I care only about the browser, email, pictures, word documents and music files. The fact your Mom has no issues with it is fantastic. I feel good hearing this!

As a side note, I feel you. The last few years have been brutal. We’re all feeling some degree of stress from it, but those of us with preexisting issues end up a notch higher than we should be. It ain’t easy, but none of us are really alone in the struggle.

That means a lot, you know. It’s just nice to have any sort of regular human contact. It feels real here. And you’re right, we’re all going through it. We will get through this.

Alright, awesome. Thank you. I’m grateful for all the feedback here, everyone is really helpful. I’m a complete novice, so any info is appreciated! ^_

You’re probably right. I have a feeling my paranoia is more amplified and it’s not quite as bad as I’m making it out to be. I got incogni to clear my data from being used by advertisers. I was sad to have to do it but I left Youtube as well because they are tied with google and it was getting unsettling. Every video I clicked on seemed to make intimate references to me, my interests, everything, and it was awful. It felt like watching someone read a page torn out from my journal or something. However I have a mental disorder that runs in my family and this may not have been how I perceived it. It can be frustrating to not know what’s real and what’s not. And now with how the tech companies are behaving, it’s even harder to know at times.

…I’m ashamed to admit I only recently learned what data encryption is. :')

The reason I worry about being surveilled is because I draw and write, and I’m hearing more incidents of people’s work being stolen without their knowing. AI art theft is a huge problem. It’s stealing not just art but people’s identities, people’s writing, everything. It’s not okay.

That’s really kind of you. Thank you. I will be honest it’s been a rough year but I’m happy to have found this place. I hope you’re doing okay too.

Aw that’s great. Yay! ^-

Heck yes I want to join smolnet. - Making the migration slowly but surely. Oh that’s what they’re called. I did not know about the gopher and gemini protocols. Thank you!

This is awsome. Thank you! :)

Thought about it it. I do have a neosmart word processor but I still want to save it onto a computer, not just have it on the machine. I decided against getting an oldschool type writer for now because it requires maintenance I may not be able to keep up with. Like you need to replace the ribbon sometimes and other parts. But I have no issue with computer maintenance.

Yes, definitely. I’ve heard of disc rot. There’s some cloud alternatives mentioned here that I will check out.

He’s had it up to here!

That’s awesome. Omg that is great. ^_

Omg that is awesome. Yes, all the writing apps. I can’t wait. ^_ I currently do use Scrivener on this device and I love it. I am down to try the older Scrivener app for linux. I saw a video on how it was installed, a bit of a finicky process but I’d say it’s worth it. Thank you!

Oh no man, I won’t go on there. No Chrome, no Facebook, none of that. I spit in their general direction. They are unworthy. Yes, I’ll likely be using it to write in a regular word processor. I have Scrivener on this device, and it’s absolutely amazing, however I hear it’s a bit finicky to install on linux but not impossible. So I’m up to the challenge of that. If you write stories and like to world build, I highly recommend it. It’s amazing. You know what I’m going to miss though is Livejournal. I hear not even they are safe anymore. That is awful. The whole internet is being ripped up. Fuck this year.

Oh yes, I got Tor, but I was thinking maybe I don’t need it as it works a little too well. I’m curious about librewolf browser though. I may give that a shot as well. If only I was interesting enough to have classified government intel. Or a darknet drug lord. I am pretty paranoid, but not The Borne Supremacy levels of paranoid hehe. I’m learning about the different browser alternatives. I only know about Tor, Librewolf, and I was today years old when I learned about Debian. So I will check that out. Thanks so much! :)

That’s amazing! Okay, will do. I can’t wait to try it. Thank you. :)

What softwares do you use? What services do you use?

I use Apple devices right now. I’ve heard the stories about Windows as of late. Damn. But Apple is not much better.

If you use Google anything, you gotta seek to de-google. Replace Google Docs with Nextcloud, replace Google with some other search engine, switch to a privacy respecting browser, etc.

Oh absolutely degoogling. I’m on it. For now I’m using ecosia search engine but I just found out they are still kind of sketchy, so I will keep looking for a good search engine. As for the browser, I got Tor. It’s great but only problem is when I try to go on some online spaces with Tor, I get blocked because they think I’m an intruder. So, it works VERY well, perhaps too well. But that is reassuring! I got a tutamail account. I still have gmail but have plans to ditch it soon and go all in on tutamail. I will definitely check out nextcloud, this is the first time I’ve heard about it. Not discouraged at all, this is great. :)Thank you!

That is amazing. That’s all I needed to hear, thank you. I’m feeling a lot better about this!

Oh yes, absolutely. Already covered. I have two beautiful sandisk external hard drives. I got two, because the first one did in fact stop working in 2023 when one day I accidentally knocked it over. The replacements have silicone armour on them…might be safer but I’m also handling them like crystal. Losing everything on the first hard drive was devastating.