I tried switching multiple times as well over the years. Often kept an older computer running linux but wine was a major pain to get working with everything. Steam and Proton has been amazing. I’m running Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04LTS with a GTX1080ti and outside of it being an older gpu it all runs really well.

I was a DOS kid and understand how to move around and do a few other things but feel more comfortable with a GUI for most stuff. FreeBSD feels better to me for command line stuff for some reason but I have been using only open source operating systems for over a year.

My stepson’s computer is running ChimeraOS (an immutable distro) and outside of a networking issue I had to fix by removing the profile and adding it in again it had worked perfectly. He has a RX 7600 GPU however.

It’s worth making the effort and a lot easier now than it used to be. I started trying around 2005.

Honestly depends on what it is. I have four pentium pro’s sitting here that at current value are worth about 100 each.

Some parts can be desired in the retro gaming community.

You may be better off doing what I try to do. Fix them up and install Linux. Then give them to someone who could use it. I left a laptop with a dive operation while I was there so they could give it to a school. I installed linux and a few other things and grabbed a copy of Wikipedia so they could take it to a community without internet and still have some access to the knowledge. I threw in a copy of python and rust to support programming as well as some learning applications and videos. I stuffed a 320GB hdd till therewas only about 10GB of free space. I wish I had more to take down but space was limited.

Sounds like it’s more of a problem with the software in general vs running it on Linux.

Could see if someone else was successful installing and get a copy of their files but that comes with is own risk.

There was something I read about the process stalling on windows and being told to hit resume but never seen windows like that on any version of windows I ever used. https://forums.lotro.com/index.php?threads/stuck-at-88-dat-patch-in-launcher.10223/

I think it’s more about what children see in front of them and what they see as role models. With the internet age we see people making tons of cash fast. Many years ago we had cops and doctors on TV among other things and that is what kids wanted to be.

Simply put kids emulate and want to become what they see. That is part of the reason why some parents want more control over what things their children are exposed to. Many of those parents also want to sit in front of a screen vs actually spending time with and teaching their children.

It doesn’t help that everyone is more worried about making a fast buck vs doing something that will help others lives be better. I just wonder what kind of abuse will be handed out by parents from a generation that is almost completely self centered.

Sorry. I’m just passing the information along. I would suggest contacting the Open Home Foundation. https://www.openhomefoundation.org/

Maybe try spinning up a windows vm. Install lotro and patch it. Then copy the game files over into the lotro linux install directory. Basically bypass the update process and see what happens.

Maybe give this a try.

https://github.com/Faugus/faugus-launcher

For the money the Samsung A9+ is tough to beat IMHO.

11 inch touch screen in a slim package. Get a cheap jelly case run a couple screws into the wall, slip the tablet in place, route a charging cable.

No matter what you buy or build it will eventually be obsolete and need to be replaced. A decent tablet will last around 8 to 10 years as a wall mounted dashboard. The A9+ can be found for around 170 right now and the next prime sale will likely see it around 150. So that’s around 15 to 20 per year of use and all you need to do is either install the HomeAssistant app or setup Fully Kiosk.

It’s more personal preference and use case than anything.

Gaming dedicated versions are nice if you really only plan to game. Bazzite, ChimeraOS, Garuda, along others are available. ChimeraOS is what I installed on my stepson’s pc and outside of a network issue it has worked pretty well. He is happy and since he mainly uses his android tablet for web browsing and whatnot, it’s perfect for me to not need to do a bunch of troubleshooting issues. I’ve tinkered with Garuda but I’m not convinced it’s for me and I dislike anything with a Mac feel.

I use an Ubuntu based system (Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04LTS) with a 5800X and GTX1080TI because I want stability and the ability to edit video, game, manage websites, manage our home services, along other things.

Instead of asking which one you should use go out and try some demos and look at your intended use case.

Made the switch myself about a year ago. Installed 24.04 LTS and it has done very well.

My main issues have been dealing with a few things I run not playing the nicest with ubuntu or when trying to flash ESP8266 or ESP32 boards through the web browser.

Gaming wise everything I have installed via Steam works fine though sometimes needs a reboot.

Overall been happy with it and glad to get off the forced upgrade with bloatware train.

I’m using TP-Link Omada series access points and they are amazing. You can run them off of a power brick or POE (power over ethernet) and put then anywhere that you can run ethernet. They can also work in mesh mode if desired and are not super expensive. Combine them with the OC200 controller or run the controller software on an always on PC and they work flawlessly.

You can pick your preferred wifi version and upgrade to a newer version later on by just changing out the access points and adopting them into the system.