totally this!!! Most users just need a browser and an email client at best. They couldn’t care less about the OS that’s sitting on top of. If they could go to a store and see a $1000 laptop with Windows and $800 laptop with Linux being sold side by side, majority would pick the cheaper one if they could still get online with it.

It seems that the JBDC driver has a requirement for having 2 JAR files (JDBC driver and BLOB object) which I have but can’t figure out how to specify the path.

I’m trying to connect to an existing DB hosted on IBM Informix Dynamic Server. Using Postgress is not an option in my case. I have not tried SQL Alchemy yet, but I suspect it’ll have the same issues as it appears to be just a way of accessing other libraries (such as JDBC), which I am already having problems with.

Here’s a good guide: https://fedecan.ca/en/guide/get-started

There is a DM system, but that’s not really what Lemmy is for. It’s basically a reddit alternative. So blogging in various communities. Find topical communities based on your interests, read what people are posting, comment or post your own.

Follow communities and hashtags to get started

Steam Deck is a step in the right direction, but the manufacturer does not highlight the fact that it runs Linux.
Most people don’t realize that they are probably using Linux daily already. If they have a fire TV stick, or Android phone, or a smart speaker, etc.

Exactly!

Unfortunately, there needs to be a commercial/financial effort behind the mass adoption of Linux. The average person has no idea that an alternative to Windows or MacOS even exists because they have not seen it advertised on TV or mainstream social media.

These conversations on Linux communities on Lemmy and Mastodon are just us nerds yelling into our own echo chamber. The average person needs something that “just works” without having to read a book about how to set it up.

If you had to install Windows every time you bought a PC you’d think that Linux and Windows are comparable. That is the issue, tbh. It’s not the RTFM; its because the average PC user had NEVER NEEDED to install an OS. Windows just comes preinstalled on 99% of consumer PCs! For the “year of Linux” to be a reality, there needs to be an easy way to get a retail PC with Linux preinstalled. When I show my Windows-only users my Linux laptop, how quickly it boots up, how many apps I have installed, how easy it is to install and update apps, etc., most say: “Oh wow! I can use this”. But when I demonstrate having to choose the boot loader, partition setup, etc., they say, “Nah! I’ll just go buy a laptop with Windows!”

There are plenty of ways to configure Linux to circumvent sudo. I’ve even seen people who log in as root by default. I do not, however, advise anyone to do that even if it’s just, as you put it, a Molly Guard. It has prevented me personally from doing catastrophic things to my system on a number of occasions.

This would literally render sudo utterly useless. Sudo is meant to require password to accomplish admin tasks. In your scenario anyone using your computer can do anything without knowing the password.

I suggest setting up Timeshift so it can backup your drive daily and keep several days worth. This way when you or an update screws up your system, you can simply restore to the last working version.

Have you tried Waterfox? It satisfies most of your requirements, I believe.