You do both.
As you've noted, we've unfortunately entered the era of "hard work" in defense of our own liberty. But as you've also noted, there's few champions. So you can vote conscientiously, support grassroots efforts when you find them, but also maybe clip a camera pole with the work truck while you're going about your day.
The pen seems to work fine so far.
They show fairly decent compatibility with newer models: https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Supported-Devices-and-Features#feature-matrix
Looks like the SP5 - 7 are the sweet spot however.
I put Mint on my Surface Pro 5, it works quite nicely so far. Granted I do "typical" stuff on it like web browsing, email, basic picture editing, and some chats, but for those things everything's working fine.
The only different part of the install was installing the Surface kernel after the fact: https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface
Pidgin was good; it did what needed to be done and wasn't that bad at it.
The last service I was using it for was a self-hosted XMPP server for a small group of friends that were all refugees of other defunct services. We ended up finally moving to Slack or Discord (the group bifurcated along game-playing lines).
Now I've got to find something new yet again!
Little guy. :( I feel you, buddy.
Yeah I'd like to know what part of inalienable is messing with his (Bovino's) head...
"I can't put my arms down!!"
I'm sure they did read the content in the links. The point they are making is exactly your final line. There's this refrain of "Boomers are ruining everything!" but the reality is it's a small number of people with a lot of money using that money to do what they please at everyone else's expense.
When the last "boomer" dies, the problem will remain. If we collectively fail to address it, then it's just going to change up to "Dang GenYs ruining everything!"
According to this article, average payment is $745 new / $521 used on a 6 year note. So they either have a nicer used car or slightly below average new car.
$1,400 for rent in a managed apartment complex in a US suburban area also doesn't raise an eyebrow, especially in a northeast state like Connecticut.
So yeah, this is "normal" in America.
I drive a '96 Jeep Cherokee and yeah, I do the same. Haha!
I am a confirmed reptile when it comes to the weather, but I braved Toronto in winter to see them play Lee's Palace... no regrets.