The Democrats, a broken clock like most political parties, happen to be landing on one of their twice daily “right” slots?

But how do you get the average user, for whom the cost of licensing the OS is completely opaque, to even think about cost at all? The computer they bought comes with Windows or MacOS on it already. Neither of which currently has any additional recurring monetary cost to the user.

You’d need mass-market laptops and desktops coming with a Linux distribution tuned well enough to run Microsoft Office and Adobe products without any more work for the user than running them on Windows. It needs to come pre installed and work so well at the “prosumer” use cases that they aren’t constantly thinking about how much easier it was to run Windows. Doing that means the OEM has to do much more unit testing and compatibility checks to ensure that when the customer opens the box and goes to install Steam and Apex or whatever that it just works without any terminal work necessary. Add to that that the OEM will want support from the company that manages the OS, and suddenly the cost to license tried and true Windows vs almost any Linux distribution for end user workstations is nearly moot.

And to make a dent in gaming, there is still an ocean to cross in terms of driver readiness and ease of use. It’s coming along, no doubt, and Valve investing as heavily as they are in Linux gaming is sure to move the needle, but it will still be an area of difficulty for some time because the user experience needs to accommodate completely custom builds with unexpected hardware configurations and box-built gaming PCs that can be OE tested and configured and everything in between.

This is fair. But at that point the same could be said of a Chromebook for her needs, which I’d venture is true for most people’s computing needs given entire swaths of the world do everything on a phone or tablet.

The Linux vs Windows debate is peculiar, because it really only applies to users who are more advanced than the average, arguing about problems that only arise when you want to do more demanding things with your machine like development and gaming. Your average user doesn’t care about any of the anti-monopolistic / FOSS reasons to use Linux, which makes the argument for them essentially “you should use this operating system that takes more work to use because it’s better for you for reasons you don’t care about.”

In order for Linux to become more mainstream, it needs to be able to exceed Windows’ performance and ease of use for gaming and productivity - which is challenging since when most users think of productivity apps, they only think of Microsoft products. It’s not enough to be equal in order to compel people to switch from what they’re accustomed to.

The same could be said of Trump debating a seasoned Junior High Debate Club member.

You’re on to something. He must get some kind of satisfaction out of proving that he really doesn’t have any scruples or integrity. I’m sure it’s a bonus that he knows it’s very difficult for anyone to force him to stop what he’s doing. He’s “owning the libs” by just being out and out corrupt and a crappy person without even trying to maintain appearances. It’s fucking weird.

My favorite part about modern republicans is that they made me look back fondly on former republican leaders who I used to despise. “Ahhhhh… binders of women. Those were the days.”

Influencers are paid product shills. Most have no scruples or real positions. They produce whatever content will attract followers so that they can maximize their sponsorship dollars. These aren’t serious opinions anyone should pay much mind to.

She, in particular, does seem to be earning more rebuke from her Republican peers of late. Some of them have recognized that the antics on display by Greene and her ilk are beginning to wear on constituents more and more by the day, and are attempting to distance themselves in acts of self preservation.

While I hope that it doesn’t work and that these folks also lose their voice and seat, it does seem to bode well that at least a minor course correction is happening in the GOP, if not far too late. I’m not completely optimistic, though, because the constituency hasn’t suddenly become less divided - we’ve just seemingly found the bounds of the caricature the right wing of this country is comfortable with being publicly represented by.

As a longtime (read: older) Star Wars fan, I feel like completely eschewing Jedi is a mistake. What I’d love to see is more exploration of the world from the perspective of people who aren’t Jedi and aren’t directly involved in the mystic struggle, but are present to bear witness to what happens when literal gods play politics around them.

The Jedi should always be a central theme to Star Wars. They’re what make the universe what it is. Without them, it’s just another space opera, and sci fi needs its MacGuffin. But it would be super interesting to see stories told from outside of that central narrative, reacting to, interacting with, and otherwise existing around the Jedi.

I know this has been explored to some extent with Mandalorian and Andor, but the latter - while a great show - still felt like it would be improved with more direct involvement of the central theme of the universe.

And yet people are considering withholding votes for, or voting against Biden. As a Jew who believes in Israel’s right to exist, I guess I now hate Israel and my Judaism. It’s okay. Self loathing is something most stereotypes declare we’re comfortable with at this point.

A lot of the hype for Flash had to do with Keaton’s reprisal of Batman. Comparing Miller’s lead billing versus Heard’s role in AM2 being reduced is a bit farcical, no? The only way to reduce Miller’s role in Flash would have been to cancel the film.

And those pesky federalist papers that explicitly clarified the intent significantly closer to the context of the period.

Gets downvoted for decrying bad people and wishing for peace. Damn.

Do you feel that “left” as you’ve defined it means democrat?

In principle? No. In practice? The US’s elections are governed by first past the post voting. Until we reform how politicians are elected by enacting more sensible term limits, make lobbying illegal and remove other moneyed interests from public service, and institute ranked choice voting or something similar, the only responsible party to vote for winds up being the Democratic Party despite them not aligning with my preferences on either end of the spectrum.

Ultimately, I think I’m something like a Libertarian who supports taxes for the betterment of society. I think centralized government’s responsibility is to provide services for the constituents they represent and to ensure that our laws are centered on maintaining as much individual liberty as possible.

That guy may not, but I do. So, yes to recognizing the validity of the 14th Amendment’s applicability to Trump thereby rendering him ineligible for office, and to all gun laws being an infringement. If you go left far enough, you get your guns back.

He looked like Arab Steve Harvey.

I don’t disagree from a purely American standpoint, but I’d caution against calling a war where Ukrainians are being so heavily impacted daily and Ukrainian soldiers are fighting and dying “cheap”. It’s an inexpensive investment in the security of the region and the world on the US’s part, but no war is cheap.

Axis? Really? That’s the word? 🤦🏻‍♂️

I think the point most non-youth are making is that when the choice is between being kicked in a sensitive nether region and literal fascism, the only answer is to request a second kick. I would love for the democrats to be more progressive, but there are bigger worries and frankly, whomever the Dems put forward MUST win the presidency. Your feelings literally do not matter.

I think that Netanyahu’s rhetoric has been clear that the hostages are not the his primary concern. His focus is on eliminating Hamas entirely. I don’t disagree that releasing the hostages needs to happen if there’s to be any hope of a deescalation, but I think it’s a longer road to the conflict ceasing than Hamas doing what they should’ve done as soon as Israel retaliated.