General updates and ramblings...

Still on Pop!_OS.  I recently tried (in live mode) Manjaro Openbox, Mabox, Manjaro Deepin... and I just cannot get into them.  MX Linux is still out there as one of my favorites though.  But I don't know... Pop has just been THERE and out of my way.  It isn't super special in any way.  It just has enough tweaks and conveniences that set it apart from Ubuntu.

I really like XFCE and distros that use it.  I am not a huge fan of KDE even though I did use it for a year a number of years ago.  Openbox seems usable... but I remember when GNOME 3 came out I really did not like it.  I have bounced around Mac OS, Linux and Windows for awhile now but when Windows 7 came out I moved to that and stayed on it for years, through to Windows 10 (I even own a copy of Windows 10 Pro now).  But I have always preferred unix-like, posix-standard-meeting systems over Windows or OS/2, etc.

I am rambling.  But where I was going with that previous paragraph was that perhaps getting used to Windows 8 and then Windows 10 interface along with the more recent versions of Mac OS X, GNOME is no longer a "shock" to my system.  I don't know.  But I even like it now.

I think that Fedora puts out a decent GNOME 3 workstation but it is more difficult (ie. I am lazy) to configure graphics drivers and to get Steam working the way I like it.  Manjaro GNOME is also very good.

I could hunt around for the "best G3 linux" and see what else is out there, but so far Pop!_OS has been very good.

I really want to like Deepin.  I have tried Deepin OS, I have tried Manjaro Deepin, but I just can't bring myself to stick with it.  It has some gorgeous design elements but...  it just feels a little rough to me.  Maybe I will play with a few more distros over the rest of my vacation.

Vacation is almost over and then it is back to work.  Of course I developed an ear infection (again) over the holidays.  :)  Alas.  Didn't really slow us down though.  We got to hang out with family and do some other fun things.  Sandi and I went on a short trip with some other Mini Cooper enthusiasts.

We joined a local Mini club and they did a run up to Prescott via Wickenberg and Peeples Valley.  The city center is all lit up.  There was also a gingerbread house competition at the local casino.  While we were there Sandi and I ate at a somewhat famous restaurant (we've eaten there before) and enjoyed the evening before heading back down to Phoenix.

That's all I have for now!  Shall write more soon.

Oops! I did it again...

I can't believe I used that as the title to this post...

Anyway, so I ran MX for a total of a few hours and realized... I've actually become attached to GNOME.  I can't believe it really.  When GNOME 3 came out I was totally turned off by it.

Now I have actually become fond of it, even though it sucks up RAM like crazy.

Sooooo... I am running Manjaro 18 Gnome version.  Closer to Pop!_os.  Still have the latest Pop!_os image downloaded and ready to burn... just in case.  :D  I am thinking of poking around for "the best gnome implementations" for linux distros.

But I like Manjaro because it has some pretty huge repositories, allows for the latest drivers (MX is still behind on Nvidia drivers), and it generally looks nice.

So we shall see... if anyone has any recommendations let me know.

Another general update

My son's play finished, my wife's has begun.  Always busy here.

Work has been super duper busy.

I have distro hopped back to Manjaro... but this time I opted for the GNOME Beta 4.  Not RC yet, but wow it has been very stable.  And their implementation of GNOME is pretty well thought out and as unobtrusive as possible.

Performance is also quite good for such a heavy UI.

So!  I have already decided what my next build will be... even though I imagine it will be spotty for awhile:  ARM.  Supposedly ARM will be coming out with a desktop CPU designed to compete with AMD and Intel and they claim competitive speeds/throughput.  So I am very much looking forward to that.  How can anyone NOT want a RISC machine?  :D

Been plugging away at Borderlands 2... I am so not a good first person shooter gamer.  I was screaming at the computer the other night because I had just about killed the boss that kidnaps Roland and he started firing out turrets like it was popping corn in an open pan.  I was a couple shots from beating him then the turrets came out so fast I spent all my time picking them off (my life was low) that he was able to target me with one of those flying things... I was so mad.  So then I leveled up again and went to the Hyperion prison and took him out there, in his home base.  :P  Felt good.

Now onto whats-his-face...  I forgot the robot's name... eh.  Anyway off to face him.  There's another one who rejoices in spitting out other robots to distract you.

So far, in game, I have not gotten past the eagle, again forgot his name, but I am trying a new build and hoping I will be able to take him this time... Bloodhawk?  I think that's his name.