I’d say you want Linux from Scratch then, but even then the Linux kernel maintainers are making choices for you.

But Linus is very firm in that they never break userspace, so you should never see an issue like this when updating the kernel.

Cisco firmware is also IOS.

Not really, no. If it was about how media platforms in general are used for propaganda then maybe it would be.

It’s not about security. It’s about maintaining a network connection so you can stream Spotify and receive Facebook updates while it’s “sleeping”. It’s fucking stupid.

Yeah. In the Backblaze data, you can see that annualized failure rates vary significantly by drive model within the same manufacturer.

But if maintaining drive diversity isn’t your thing, just buy a cold spare and swap it out when a failure inevitably happens (and then replace the spare).

Most small business doesn’t have that kind of capital reserve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_astonishment

Someone should inform whoever made that change. If a package is split in a new release, the initial state should match the final as closely as possible, in this case by installing the new optional dependencies automatically. (Although I’m not sure why they’d want to split everything out like that anyway; no other VLC distribution does that, so splitting is itself a violation.)

Maybe Manjaro might be an alternative? I haven’t personally used it. I don’t like this kind of surprise, so I stick to boring distros like Debian. I used to use CentOS but it was too boring.

Recover the accounts and close them?

Is that just observational, or did you keep track? Backblaze does track their failures, and publishes their data: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-q1-2025/

The problem is it’s not stupid simple, it’s actually fairly complicated. Each piece of hardware and its driver must be suspended. The GPU is a particularly tricky one. Its processor must be suspended, and the state saved. In the kernel, the driver must suspend its execution, and likewise save its state. Then on resume, each half has to reload and begin execution again. And if there’s any mismatch in the resumed states, the GPU and/or driver crash and probably take the kernel with it.

Now do that for the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound card, USB, disk controller, and every other device.

tl;dr: windows is worse in each of their measures

What’s your budget?

So far, they seem to be right.

This reminds me of the time Putin stole a Super Bowl ring. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-how-vladimir-putin-stole-a-super-bowl-ring-from-the-patriots-robert-kraft/

That’s actually a valid treatment! Although really they’d probably just take a pint here and there. When you do, the body produces new, pure blood.

Apks can be unpacked. There are plenty of offline scanners with high or no size limits too.

There are probably also Android-specific scanners.

Never say never.

If you’re buying used you’re not directly funding Google.

That’ll work great up until the kid finds out about changing the MAC address.

A Chromebook?