I just want to write stories again and haven’t been able to at all since 2025 due to…2025 and all that has entailed. I no longer feel safe or secure using any of my current devices. I feel surveyed and watched 24/7. I’m absolutely not okay with things as they are currently. (.-.) For more context, I have pre-existing mental disorders and this year has just done me in.
I’m striving toward switching out at least one device with something that I can install linux on. I was thinking either a lenovo or a dell, and will start probably with linux mint, they say it’s a good beginner distro.
Not being able to write is killing me. I love writing so much even though it’s not anything special. It just felt good.
I’ve never used linux but want to learn and I will learn, because you have to if you want to use it. You can’t just hop in a car and hope it will work without knowing how to drive it. I will learn the commands. I’ll fail at it a couple times but learn. It’ll be great. Bring it.
I appreciate you taking time to reply.
Edit: You guys are amazing. My hope for the future is restored. Thank you!
Whatever you decide to do, make sure to keep backups. You don’t want to lose years of work because of a hard drive failure.
Oh yes, absolutely. Already covered. I have two beautiful sandisk external hard drives. I got two, because the first one did in fact stop working in 2023 when one day I accidentally knocked it over. The replacements have silicone armour on them…might be safer but I’m also handling them like crystal. Losing everything on the first hard drive was devastating.
I’m sure you’ll hear this elsewhere, but hard drives degrade over time no matter how nice you are to them. Make sure you rotate your backups and potentially keep some up in the cloud as a tertiary measure.
(Or also print them out to something that’ll last)
People are answering the technical side already, so I just want to say: you are valued and valuable, and I hope you’re talking to a health care professional sometimes.
Linux is perfect for that.
Mint is great, I use it myself.
They collect no secret data, but do obviously know, line, when you download an update from their servers, etc.
They don’t keep track of anything as part of the OS itself. Mint doesn’t “phone home” like windows phones home to Microsoft, just to keep tabs on you. Any time any data would be sent to them, it has a clear purpose, and is stated upfront, and it never includes user files, anyway. They don’t want or use your files and would actually prefer not to have them, based on this.
https://www.linuxmint.com/privacy.php
Other distros have similar policies, too. Linux is open, so a given distro COULD do this kind of thing, so if you go another direction besides Mint, double-check, but I’d honestly need to try to find a distro that did snoop.
Linux source code can be checked, and shitty behaviors can be noticed.
Linux is safe. Linux minds its own business.
That is amazing. That’s all I needed to hear, thank you. I’m feeling a lot better about this!
If literally all you want to do is write, with no distractions.
There’s a Linux distro for that, this is an article about it.
And here’s a direct link to their site.
Yes, linux is a great OS for writers. For writing applications, you’ll have access to LibreOffice, NovelWriter, and even an old free Linux version of Scrivener if you prefer it.
Omg that is awesome. Yes, all the writing apps. I can’t wait. _ I currently do use Scrivener on this device and I love it. I am down to try the older Scrivener app for linux. I saw a video on how it was installed, a bit of a finicky process but I’d say it’s worth it. Thank you!
This particular version is in an app image package, which requires no install, it just works after double clicking it :)
Pretty sure Linux apps have “Save” functions, and as of 2025, they even have “Save As”!
