Brickfrog

Like some of the other comments, if you really need a DE then maybe give XFCE or LXQt a try. The distro itself won’t matter too much in your scenario.

I do have an old laptop that has run Debian/Ubuntu + Gnome fine, not at all fast but usable for my needs. Mines has 4 GB RAM, get the feeling that going under 4 GB may be a bit much.

Otherwise Linux is perfectly usable without a DE if you’re willing to stick to the terminal for all your usage.

Like Google Fi, it’s a VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service so coverage should be the same as Fi.

Strictly speaking Google Fi is a MVNO. After losing Sprint/US Cellular access a while back nowadays they are a T-Mobile reseller e.g. you’re getting access to T-Mobile’s network and coverage with Google Fi.

For what it’s worth my Google Voice phone number does show up as being classified as a VoIP number so that might be more along the lines of what you’re thinking. The phone number I have on Google Fi does not show up as VoIP.

There is an Linux compatible open source player being developed called fooyin (https://fooyin.org/) heavily inspired by foobar2000. When I tried it out a few months back it was still a bit rough for day-to-day use but it could eventually become a good alternative for people that miss the foobar2000 style player.

Pretty sure Strawberry does everything you are looking for.

re: #1 I kind of had the same issue but with multiple music folders, most of the default music apps only let you use one folder. Strawberry lets you add as many music folders as you like, I’ve been happy with it.

On Windows I used to use foobar2000 which was great, and in theory I could get it running under Linux, but I’d rather just use something coded for Linux compatibility from the start.

Working fine here, the app connects to the Jellyfin 10.11.1 server over the internet without issue.

I’d suggest maybe double-check and make sure you still have a port forward from the internet to your Jellyfin server? Usually for me when the app gets stuck trying to connect it’s because it can’t see and connect to the Jellyfin server for some reason. Also in the 10.11.0 release notes they did mention that they removed the ability for the Jellyfin server to auto port forward so it’s possible that affected you? See https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/releases

Other random idea: Maybe somehow the data for your app got messed up? You can reset it and make it start fresh by bringing up its App Info (long-press the Jellyfin Android app), go to Storage & Cache, once there clear the storage and cache. When you re-attempt to launch the Jellyfin app it’ll start fresh and need you to re-enter your Jellyfin server details.

I still use Virtualbox, configuration is way easier with the GUI

To be fair you can pair KVM/qemu with any GUI manager and have a similar interface to VirtualBox/Hyper-V/VMWare/etc. virt-manager (https://virt-manager.org/) is a popular one for example, I just started using it and it seems to work well for what I need.

Normally I’ve been using VirtualBox but for whatever reason it asks me to recompile the kernel on Debian 13 just to launch. Meanwhile qemu just works.

One thing you may want to update - listing Tor’s logging policy as “No Logs” is a bit misleading, that’s really more of a voluntary recommendation for individual Tor exit relay operators.

Tor exit relay operators absolutely can store logs of outgoing connections if they choose to. And technically they could even snoop on non-secure traffic if they choose, there’s a reason you should be using HTTPS if you’re going to use Tor for clearnet browsing.

Of course most Tor exit relay operators aren’t going to do these things but it’s all voluntary, seems incorrect to claim all exit relay operators follow no log principles.

EDIT: Also AFAIK you can’t forward a port from the clearnet through a Tor exit relay’s public IP address back to your own Tor client, Tor doesn’t do port forwarding like that. It’s definitely not needed to run Tor Browser (and Tor VPN I think) but that isn’t needed for any of the other VPNs either, a bit confusing how you listed that one.

Agreed, if OP is going to add Tor in a “VPN” list then may as well add I2P. I2P + outproxies are pretty much the same thing as Tor + Tor Exit Relay. It’s not the best way to utilize I2P but the option does exist.

Then again neither Tor nor I2P should be in a “VPN” list, the whole thing seems more of a VPN provider topic.

Everything normal here. Granted I’m not on a network that blocks Tor so the Tor Browser’s normal startup/connecting routine has always worked fine.

All good answers, one thing not mentioned is that there are smart/managed switches where you can toggle PoE on/off per port on the network switch. Could be useful, sometimes it’s best just to never provide power on any network ports until you know you need it.

Depends on what you’re building. If you’re looking for an overpowered SFF type of platform then yeah those AI Max+ builds may be what you want. Just keep in mind a lot of those are integrated motherboards (non-upgradable parts) and usually have minimal storage options and slots for add-in cards.

The other reason those AI Max+ PCs get a lot of press is that there’s still not a whole ton of CPUs with capable NPU built-in aka Windows Copilot+ compatible. AI Max+ happens to be one of those. (whether NPU is actually useful right now beyond Copilot+ is a whole other discussion)

So if you actually want a more extensible build out and don’t care about this Copilot+ stuff then traditional builds / non SFF builds are probably still more in line with what you want.

Yikes! Yeah if the SSD storage isn’t easily accessible then it’s not worth the disassembly headache.

If that is the case then OP’s only option is to try writing the bootable ISO onto a second partition on the current drive while in Windows and boot off that partition… assuming getting the USB port repaired is a no-go.

Does the Surface Go have a SSD in it? And/or can you install a SSD into it? The specs do imply that it supports SSD so you should at least have a port in there for that. If so, as long as you have a spare machine you can install the Surface’s SSD into another system, then install Linux Mint normally there, then re-install the SSD back into the Surface Go.

I’ve never done that but it’s been mentioned a few times in the Linux Mint forums so apparently that is a roundabout way of installing on a machine without working USB ports. e.g.

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=388243

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=361542

Not sure how well Mint works specifically on Surface Go but it’s worth a try, most likely you’d use the same steps to install other distros on there.

EDIT: Without a spare system you might be able to download then write the Mint ISO onto a second partition inside Windows and boot from the Mint installer partition afterwards. Not sure how well that would work but someone else in the forums mentioned it https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=369154

Thanks for the share! It’s not something I’d need to use but I’m all for people sharing their scripts with the community for this stuff :)

One suggestion, you may want to look at re-writing your script to move away from the VBScript (.vbs) dependency since Microsoft is moving towards disabling and eventually removing it from Windows 11 and onward. It’ll likely be disabled by default in 2027 so you have plenty of time.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/vbscript-deprecation-timelines-and-next-steps/4148301

OP’s example use case in the post was with the internet still being up. Building off of that yes, I’d log into the power switch remotely via the internet where I can then power cycle anything plugged into it - for me it was just to restart unresponsive desktops or whatever was plugged into it.

But you wouldn’t need internet to power cycle the internet router itself by using scheduled tasks. e.g. the power switch can check that the internet router is responding to pings every x seconds/minutes and power cycle it if stops responding. (it has other checks/conditions it can use besides simple pings)

That said my own equipment rarely/never needs a reboot so in the case my network loses internet access it usually means the internet is actually down, nothing I can do about that aside from maintaining backup internet if I needed.

if the primary internet router goes offline but the internet isn’t out (ie a router reboot would fix the problem)

Maybe you just need to give it a simple power cycle remotely? There are devices that do that sort of thing, I have a Digital Loggers Web Power Switch Pro that I’ve used on-and-off over the years for this purpose.

https://www.digital-loggers.com/

At one point I had to relocate for half a year while needing to remote access a slightly unstable desktop that wouldn’t always reboot cleanly and get stuck at the BIOS, it sometimes needed a couple of power cycles to come back online. The Power Switch was perfect for that, I’d log into it remotely and power cycle anything that was plugged into it.

It should work for routers too e.g. it can automatically power cycle something plugged into it based on different conditions like maybe it stops responding to pings or whatever. Or I guess if you had multiple IPs / multiple internet connections the switch itself can stay online and accessed remotely without needing to schedule anything automatic.

Pretty sure there are more pro-level (and more expensive) types of devices to do this sort of thing if you look around

Seems to be hardcoded, not something that can be configured.

https://discourse.gnome.org/t/how-to-reduce-system-shutdown-count-down-time/28589

But just FYI you don’t have to wait the entire 60 seconds, the prompt does have a button you can click if you want to continue without waiting 60 seconds. (unless we’re talking about a different shutdown/power off prompt)

I have a bit of a dilemma with my DIY NAS rig.

Does your setup have any way to do noise insulation? I suspect the answer is no but figured I’d throw it out there, surprisingly noise insulation helps more than you’d think. I have a bunch of drives inside a desktop case with insulation panels built in and the drives themselves are in there with rubber anti vibration screws/mounts. Barely ever hear anything from the drives (granted my WD Reds are probably quieter than your current Seagates).

Just something to think on whether it’s an option for your current NAS rig or a future configuration.

It’s been a thing, not specifically just Canada

https://www.wired.com/story/phone-searches-at-the-us-border-hit-a-record-high/

That said I don’t personally know any canadian citizens that have traveled in/out of the U.S recently. Not too sure if it relates to OP’s question, OP never mentioned canadian citizens only that they has a GF that goes to school in Canada.

Are they looking at the files on her MacBook or something?

If the apps are logged in yes, that’s what they do. The agents have a lot of discretion so it’s sort of up to them how much they want to search around on a phone/laptop/whatever but I assume they would look at every single social media app for starters. Essentially any app currently logged into an electronic device would be fair game for an agent to review. And since CPB can ask for your phone/whatever password (or ask you to unlock it for them) that will give them access to basically any logged in app on the device.

I don’t know if OP is referring to a U.S. citizen or something else so the specific rules that apply may be different but that’s the general idea.