Like others here, I dumped Reddit and moved here (and to Mastodon) full time. I also moved to Linux full time on my home laptop and haven’t missed Windows one little bit. I’m looking forward to experimenting more with a couple of other distros of interest (currently Pop_OS) and am having actual fun using my computer again. Heavy emphasis on adopting as many FOSS alternatives as possible in ‘24, and starting to separate myself from the big G.
Sounds like a great experience! Congrats.
I switched from full-time windows to full-time Linux with Pop_OS and haven’t looked back. I’m very happy with it and enjoy finding FOSS alternatives to my former go-to apps. So far so good. I’m also keeping an eye on Vanilla OS as that sounds like a very cool project that is headed to beta by summer.
Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but if you know of a program that already does the thing you want, you can search for a variety of alternatives on alternativeto.net. It lists paid and FOSS alternatives.
I used to be responsible for the app portfolio in a 1000+ user company, and every 3 years or so I would go back out to the market and try hard to replace Adobe, just for PDF operations. Couldn’t do it because so many products were integrated with them, often in ways we could not reproduce with other products. The best we could do would be to pay for a different product for 1/3 of the cost for Adobe, and then still end up having to carry a significant number of Adobe licenses for cases when integration failed with the other product. No-win situation, and just easier to stay with the evil we knew.
I hate them.
Very much yes, on the “does it help” question, but you get results in direct proportion to what you are willing to put in. The great thing is that a therapist is someone you can be completely honest with, but it takes time and effort (and courage) to show up like that.
I wanted to point out that some health plans seem to be offering CBT (computer-based therapy) options since Covid, and these are often complementary to other psychology coverage. (I live in Canada, so ymmv.). They may be a good way to “try out” therapy to see if you can gain any insight, but remember they are not much like talking to a live therapist.
My experience is that you will know when you need to go. It may be a while after that when you actually do go, but it takes what it takes. Pain is a pretty persistent motivator.
Even if you are not in crisis, your awareness of your situation and your need for help in dealing with it are really positive and a great starting point. Follow your instinct and try to find someone you feel safe with. I would say that one or two sessions with someone are usually enough to tell if you can work effectively with that person, and it’s fine to decide they are not working and you need to keep looking. There are good and less good therapists, just like in every other career and walk of life.
Good luck to you! I hope you find what you are looking for.
You beautiful bastard! I had one of these and thought it was one of the coolest bits of tech I ever owned. Your post generated so much nostalgia over having to hold my watch in just the right aspect to complete the data transfer. I remember people watching me sync and being shocked (although that was perhaps at how much of a nerd I was to have one). I like to think they were reacting to the tech.
Very nice work! Now I just need to find my old watch…
Thanks for the summary. I signed up for it just in case, but don’t think I’ll end up using it. I have a similar experience with Mastodon, but then I was never really into Twitter, either.
I share your feelings on the importance of open platforms. While reddit may have been shitty for a while, the whole third-party apps thing was an eye-opener for me, and started me thinking about (and moving toward) open source.
My next big challenge will be to de-Google, but I’m increasingly up for it. Problem is I have a ton of site identities associated with my email address there, so we’ll see how that works out.