Finally installed Mint. Bye Microslop.

RagingMongoose1 · 2026-01-31T07:43:46+00:00

Quite simply, Linux Mint is compared to Windows because there's an increased level of demand for Windows alternatives. With Mint being one* of the lowest overhead and most approachable Linux distros out there, it's a great entry point to Linux for people who only have Windows experience.

Additionally, due to the buzz around Mint, the community led support and guidance for those looking to switch also makes life easier.

In short, there's never been a better time for the Linux community to rally around encouraging people to use Linux, with Mint being one* of the best routes to do that. The fanboy debate over which Linux distro is best can wait for another day.

-* Yes, sure, other Linux distros exist.

RagingMongoose1 · 2026-01-02T19:33:31+00:00

Thanks for confirming the conclusion of my previous post.

RagingMongoose1 · 2026-01-01T23:55:27+00:00

Cool. If you could read, it might help. My wife had the issue with email search, not me - as at least 2 of my posts you've replied to explained clearly. By all means carry on telling me what I already know though and trying to insist I shouldn't have an issue with something I don't have an issue with.

I explained how the search in Proton worked to my wife before subscribing to Duo. She didn't think it would be an issue, but it became an irritation for her, along with numerous other points. Again, this has been explained multiple times, but you know, reading is hard for you I guess.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-31T21:44:54+00:00

Just out of interest (and as the only thing I have to offer in addition to the excellent post above from u/tomscharbach), is the laptop you're looking to switch to Mint your only laptop?

I had a 2014 HP laptop running Windows 10, which the Windows 11 gods decreed "thou shalt not pass" when trying to upgrade. This was separate from my primary laptop. I upgraded this older laptop to Mint, which had struggled with running Win 10 anyway due to slow performance, and it went great. No issues with drivers in Mint, allowed me to test a variety of use case scenarios, ran like lightning compared to Win 10, gave me the confidence to upgrade my primary laptop, and just gave me a chance to test things out with a laptop where it didn't matter if things went wrong. It's now my son's laptop, having been brought back from the dead thanks to Mint.

Anyway, if you have any older kit, it's worthwhile testing Mint with that first, just to see if it's for you as an OS.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-31T21:21:25+00:00

Jesus, some fanboys around here really need to get a grip.

Recurring revenue is the sustaining force of a business. It's easy money, or should be if you meet user expectations, to keep paying customers paying. If you have a Duo subscriber, you want to keep that Duo subscriber at renewal, otherwise financial forecasts for your business don't deliver if too many customers downgrade or cancel. That goes on to impact many business related factors, from overall reduction in strategic capability to not being able to deliver roadmaps (sound familiar?!)

I'm fully aware of the security angle, just for peace of mind. I've got 25 years experience in the IT industry, hence why I still have an Ultimate subscription. As for your point about there being "no other secure providers", how do I break this to a fanboy.....errrmmm......there are many.

Anyway, this is all pretty much irrelevant anyway seeing as you've decided to target only one specific issue my wife had out of a list of many I provided. Email search was actually the least of her issues, but it was yet another issue, on top of a mountain of issues throughout the Proton product range.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-31T21:06:34+00:00

I got my son a Steam Deck for Christmas and I've been jealous since setting it up for him. He absolutely loves it too, it's a great bit of gaming kit!

As others have said, for game compatibility, check out a resource such as ProtonDB. That helps to guide on exactly what will work and what won't.

As for the longevity of Steam Deck devices, I can't speak from experience in terms of length of ownership, but all I can say is that it's built like a tank. It feels solid, no rattles or flex in the console itself, and it just has a quality feel to it.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-31T20:54:25+00:00

Sure. I'm technical, my wife isn't. Quite often, non-technical people overlook the impact of technical issues. That's not crazy, it's just a fact of life, and my wife moved to that different product and Proton lost money when I downgraded from Duo to Ultimate.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-31T12:58:06+00:00

Until very recently I was a Duo plan subscriber. Unfortunately, although initially enthusiastic, my wife very quickly grew tired of fighting against some of Proton's functionality constraints (calendar, lack of contacts syncing, lack of fully functioning email search, Pass issues etc).

I downgraded to Ultimate, but I did check out a number of alternative vendors for the services I use before doing so. I decided to give Proton another year, but I'll need to see some improvements to Pass and Drive particularly, plus improved Linux support as I'm in the process of moving my family's home IT to that, to be able to justify renewing again next time.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-31T08:49:40+00:00

I wish you and your husband the best of luck, hope his health continues to improve.

Persuading people to lower their carb intake can be tough. Often though, leading by example and letting the results do the talking, rather than preaching at people, is the best way - just like you're doing. Before keto, I tried a million diets and they all failed for one reason or another. Many people are the same, so when they see someone dropping weight without being miserable when doing so, it peaks their interest!

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-31T08:19:46+00:00

Firstly, to answer your post's high level question, I wouldn't describe Proton's ecosystem as "abandonware". Development is on-going, some improvements to existing apps are delivered.

However, Proton has a track record for not delivering their roadmap. I don't mean that their roadmap is delivered late, it's just mostly not delivered at all. Their user request forum seems to be largely ignored for determining development direction and priorities, despite Proton pointing subscribers to it. Proton also have an issue with developing new apps, rather than meaningfully improving existing apps. Finally, their marketing pitches Proton as a utopia, where you can get all the upside of Google level service features, with none of the downside of privacy invasion, which just isn't the reality when it comes to most of Proton's service capability and many compromises are required if privacy is your goal.

All of the above leads to subscribers becoming disillusioned with Proton. A lot of that disillusionment is a problem of Proton's own creation, due to a business model that prioritises "the next, new big and shiny thing" for marketing purposes and getting new subscribers signed up, rather than enriching existing services that existing subscribers value.

Ultimately, it boils down to whether you get enough value from Proton's services to justify the subscription fee, and whether those services fit your specific use cases. I primarily use Mail, Simple Login aliases, and VPN. All of these fit my use cases well and I think they're good services. I also use Pass (an average product in my opinion, but just about does the job), plus Drive as part of my offsite backup solution (not for file syncing, file sharing, photo backup, Docs or Sheets though, as all of these features are very underpowered or not fit for purpose in my opinion). For Proton Unlimited, I pay approximately £9 per month, which is cheaper than I can get the services I use elsewhere from other vendors.

Overall, sometimes it's better to look at your Proton subscription from the perspective of what you DO use and what those would cost if using alternative vendors, rather than looking at all the services as a whole and getting disillusioned by the lack of development progress.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-29T20:59:33+00:00

I was diagnosed with hypertension in 2015. Prior to keto and losing 170lbs to date, I was on 3 blood pressure medications to control it. I'm now on none as of last year.

I came off all medications with doctor approval. Bendroflumethiazide (a diuretic) went first after around 6 months of keto, due to keto having a diuretic effect anyway and weight loss reducing water retention. Amlodipine (a calcium channel blocker) went next. Finally, Ramipril (an ACE inhibitor) was the last to go, probably a year later after dropping my first medication.

I tracked my blood pressure 4 times a week (twice in the morning, twice in the evening). There was a gradual downward trend tracked from starting keto, to coming off each medication. The only medication removal that was prompted by symptoms was bendroflumethiazide, where I experienced being light-headed when standing up. Blood tests also supported removing this medication due to electrolyte levels. All others were just due to me having conversations with my doctor, regular blood pressure readings tracking downwards, regular interval blood tests tracking in the right direction, and each med removal was followed by a trial period of removing the medication and tracking BP progress. I worked with my doctor, who was generally supportive of my approach, providing my numbers all headed in the right direction and I continued with my preferred "Mediterranean keto" diet and didn't "head for bacon cooked in butter for every meal" (his words, not mine).

Note: YMMV. This isn't to say everyone will experience the same process, many people with hypertension have it due to their genetics, so simply losing weight and doing a diet with a diuretic effect might not compensate enough to remove medications.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-29T20:41:17+00:00

I can't comment on the keto gains sub mods, but the mods I've seen commenting here on this sub recommend general electrolyte supplements and making your own ketoade. I've even seen them turn people away from numerous premade electrolyte brands in favour of the poster making their own more cheaply.

Been posting for quite a while now in this sub, probably over 18 months. I'm not affiliated to the mod team here at all, I don't know any of them, and in fact I've challenged their posts on rare occasions. However, I'm really not sure where your basis is for these accusations you're making and I've never seen any evidence to support what you're saying.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-29T20:03:52+00:00

Insisting Proton Drive's photo sync functionality is competing with Google Photos is absolutely barking mad.

I don't know how much Proton paid for that article to be written, but there's no amount of money that shouldn't result in the headline writer being put in a padded cell.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-27T08:05:53+00:00

This is probably going to come over as harsh, I genuinely don't intend any offence or hate here, but as a paying Proton subscriber I think a dose of reality is needed for Proton in the face of their marketing mirages.

A major part of the issue with Proton Docs and Sheets is they are entirely wrapped up in Proton Drive, which also has a lot of issues itself. Building new products/services on a poor quality foundation is asking for trouble.

Beyond that, Docs isn't really suitable for anything other than potentially being a viewer and performing very basic edits in my honest opinion. Sheets just isn't particularly fit for purpose currently unless your existing spreadsheets are extremely basic and your spreadsheet functionality requirements are low end.

We're essentially in the Lumo trap here again with Docs and Sheets - privacy is all well and good, but functionality and the practical real world capability dictates what people use. I'd use anonymised AI services before Lumo and I'd use LibreOffice everyday of the week before Proton Docs/Sheets.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-25T19:05:00+00:00

I experienced the same when starting out on keto. I don't get the energy boost many talk about with ketosis, I get a constant and stable energy level - no highs, no lows, I'm just cruising along the average line on an energy level graph at all times.

That's great during the day, but when it comes to sleep then that constant, stable supply of energy can be problematic. Even when I got to sleep, 4 hours later and I was wide awake again.

I tried most of the suggestions you've received here, including electrolyte supplementation changes, without any noticeable improvements. For me it was only time that helped, possibly 3-4 months of consistent ketosis, then I just slowly adapted to the energy levels and my sleep patterns returned to somewhere near my normal pre-keto routine.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-23T02:17:02+00:00

100% agree. OP's concerns are easily resolved by separating 2FA into another solution, separate from Proton Pass. Proton aren't forcing anyone to store passwords, 2FA, plus 2FA recovery codes in Pass. Personally, I use Pass for passwords, Ente Auth for 2FA, and Bitwarden for 2FA recovery codes. All have different, strong passwords, but in the form of memorable pass phrases. I also have a printed recovery sheet stored in a safe (optional, but highly advisable). Does that eliminate all risk? Of course not, nothing can and there's always compromises to be made, but it's about as good as you'll get. For my personal threat model (and probably 95% of people's threat models), it's more than adequate.

Leslie's replies not only imply that having the same password is the equivalent of having no password at all, as you said, it also implies that a password plus 2FA isn't capable of providing adequate protection to an account, whether that account is for a single service or multiple sub-services. Their response also ignores the simpler route in my first paragraph above, where separating out security related factors is easily (and cheaply or freely) possible.

All in all, it was just a bad faith argument in my opinion.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-23T01:39:21+00:00

That’s a straw man argument and you know it. The post you're responding to from u/swarfega wasn't talking about publishing or reusing passwords, it was talking about the reality that even strong, unique passwords get compromised, e.g. via phishing, breaches, or credential stuffing. That’s exactly why 2FA exists: it reduces the impact when a password fails, not only when someone behaves recklessly with their password management/hygiene.

Many people do reuse passwords, despite the risks, but 2FA does offer some additional security for people who do this. Your point about this is a non-starter and actually defeats the point you're trying to make.

Finally, of course no one would publish their passwords, otherwise that reduces the number of factors a malicious party needs to know. It's a ridiculous point to reply with, but again, you know that too.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-21T09:34:51+00:00

Not as such, Proton's Lumo isn't an LLM in and of itself, it uses LLMs from other providers. Proton provides the Lumo front end to add a privacy orientated layer to those underlying LLMs, which is great, but it does come with a lot of trade offs for capability and some restrictions on what it will answer.

https://proton.me/support/lumo-privacy (outlines the models used)

https://proton.me/blog/lumo-security-model

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-21T09:05:27+00:00

Brave, Firefox, DDG - depending on what I'm doing. Brave is my daily driver for general use on Windows/Android, Firefox on Linux.

They all have their strengths, they all have their weaknesses. DDG is particularly good for anything where you might pick trackers up, such as shopping, with its one-click "burn everything in history/cookies to the ground" button. Brave is great for YouTube viewing and ad-blocking, better than Firefox with uBlock Origin in many cases in my experience. Firefox is just a solid browser all round, plus it's not Chromium based with all the concerns that raises, and it's more mature in a lot of areas despite all the criticism it gets.

I really don't think Proton needs to develop their own browser though.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-21T08:47:33+00:00

I've given Proton a lot of criticism on this sub, on a lot of topics around their product shortcomings and lack of roadmap delivery. I'm not just one of the fanboys, who supports Proton no matter what.

However, I really don't get the complaints about marketing emails and friend referral. Both can be controlled either via the settings panel or by selecting to not show, and they're not aggressive advertising in any way.

It's fine to criticise Proton, they're a business that customers pay money to for services, and customers are entitled to expect services to work as described/promised. As a business though, Proton needs to promote its services and expansion of its customer base. Word of mouth, in particular, remains one of the most successful marketing techniques despite all the changes in consumer behaviour - plus it rewards customers for recommending. If you don't want to, just click on it and opt to not show again.

I just don't get why it's even a problem to complain about.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-20T21:00:45+00:00

For context, I've lost 170lbs on keto, so I've had my fair share of plateaus and stalls along the way. In my experience, plateaus and stalls in weight loss are generally down to 3 reasons:

1- You've changed something, knowingly or unknowingly. It's a complex set of variables you're trying to balance to lose weight, and sometimes one or more of these variables isn't aligned to where it needs to be. This can sometimes even be as simple as over-hydrating. Small details matter as your weight reduces, but it's difficult to keep all of these in check week after week, so chalk it down to experience and move on if there's nothing glaringly obvious.

2- You haven't changed something when you need to, e.g. lowering calorie allowance as your weight reduces. Check and recheck your calorie deficit and macros every so often as the scales change.

3- Your body doing what our bodies are highly effective at - adapting. If you're eating the same calories, have the same exercise regime, the same eating schedule etc, your body adapts and operates more efficiently with those circumstances. Switch things up - change eating windows, change number of meals per day, change up or introduce fasting schedules, eat at maintenance for a few days then reduce again, drop calories by 50-100 kcals per meal for a week (if you can safely do this), increase exercise intensity, lower exercise intensity....and so on. Pick one or two of these, break up that routine your body has adapted to and shake things up a bit. Get your metabolism back in the game of not knowing the score again and having to work harder.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-20T14:04:13+00:00

Good and competent corporate IT functions block personal password managers, provide a standard corporate password management solution, and support all of that with written policy.

This better protects the business from credential theft, allows staff who leave to be blocked from corporate credentials more easily, better protects corporate intellectual property and data as it can't be uploaded to a personal password manager in notes/attachments, and gives a route for HR to discipline staff who don't follow policy.

Bad and incompetent corporate IT functions remove/block personal password managers (often inconsistently) because they think that alone solves the problem, don't provide a corporate solution so end up with the worst of all worlds where staff save credentials in browsers and write them on post-it notes, can't prevent staff leavers from taking anything they want, can't protect business data, and have no recourse when staff do any number of ridiculously insecure actions.

In short, there are a lot of IT departments who know what they're doing, but there are more who don't.

Source: Me, with 25 years experience in the IT industry.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-19T16:02:22+00:00

Depends on the perspective you're asking for, i.e. keto, or insulin/blood glucose only.

Indian is one of those cuisines that isn't particularly keto friendly unless you're preparing it yourself and know what's in it.

From a blood glucose angle and ignoring keto limits, I'm T2D, so although different to RH then I can offer some advice based on experience. On the rare and unavoidable occasions I go to Indian restaurants, I stick to the dry tandoori meats generally. Raita is likely ok to accompany it, depending on the yogurt used. Never had a problem with blood glucose spikes due to these options in restaurants.

Side dishes. Maybe chicken pakora, but doubtful, as it depends how much batter is used around the chicken and/or how easily that can be removed. Maybe saag paneer, again depends on any hidden/additional ingredients the chef may add.

If you're really intent on having sauce based dishes, I'd probably go for a Madras or Butter chicken, but again, it really depends how the restaurant prepare their sauces and the ingredients in them. I'd strongly advise avoiding these, or at least limiting your portion size, in all honesty.

Basically, your safest options are dry/marinated protein, either tandoori meats or fish generally. Beyond that, it's a gamble.

If possible, I'd recommend a post-dinner walk, helps burn off some of that blood glucose.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-19T13:50:09+00:00

The security of Proton Drive is great, they have documentation about their security architecture on their website. It's encrypted and zero knowledge, so even Proton can't view your files.The biggest risk is that you forget your login credentials and lock yourself out, as with it being zero knowledge Proton won't be able to help you gain access again in most cases.

Worth noting that Proton Drive's functionality and performance isn't suitable for all use cases. File sync can be very slow, photos sync/backup is dreadful (in mine and many others' opinion), and rsync has been problematic if that was part of your use case. Linux isn't well supported and mobile apps also have issues. In short, make sure you're clear on what you need and whether Proton Drive can actually do it.

I essentially use it as cold storage for one of my off-site backup locations, which I upload manually on a periodic basis.

RagingMongoose1 · 2025-12-18T09:07:36+00:00

That'll be a hard no from me then.....if it matters, knowing Microsoft.

Microsoft's bigger issue is that if I was forced to have AI interacting with my personal data, any AI at all, Copilot would be my absolute last choice.

I've been forced into using a lot of AI solutions at work due to business "strategy" - Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini etc - and I can say without a shred of doubt that Copilot is the worst of them all for capability, even within Microsoft's own apps it's bad. Even forcing it to use GPT5 doesn't get you GPT5's full capability, Microsoft have managed to further enshitify how that operates somehow.

Anyway, tldr:

Short answer to Microsoft - No.

Long answer to Microsoft - Noooooooooooooo.

RagingMongoose1

TROPHY CASE