s20

Aren't Flatpaks containerized? Am I misunderstanding what containerized means, how Flatpaks work, or both?

Maybe. But even if that was the case, the way it is now isn't obfuscated. It's not difficult. It's not hard to find out how to do it. You made a big long post to complain about an "obfuscated" feature that I found in under a minute.

Next time, either do a search or ask for help, instead of whinging like a n00b. Or worse, some kind of Google FUD-spreading parasite.

FFS, Jesus Wept. I finally understand those blokes over at FreeBSD telling me to RTFM twenty years ago.

Edit: Apparently, the synonym for complain I used before was offensive. It was not the "B" word, which I only use in reference to female dogs. Just wanted that to be clear.

What are you talking about?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/add-or-remove-search-engine-firefox#w_add-a-search-engine-from-the-address-bar

That took me like two second to find. You can also use addons, like this one for Qwant:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/qwantcom-for-firefox/?utm_source=addons.mozilla.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=search

Which I like. But none of this is hard or "obfuscated", and it's literally identical to changing or adding a new search engine on Waterfox.

I have a lot of issues with Mozilla, not least of which is their reliance on Google for income. It's like hiring a dingo as a babysitter. But c'mon, man.

Good.

Honestly, this is kind of a weird question. It's Google. They collect all of it. Every picture, every note, every keystroke. All of it.

The answer to "what information does GOOGLE SERVICE collect is always all of it.

Many of the major distros with graphical installers would work. Fedora, Ubuntu, Endeavor, OpenSuse… it's really the Desktop Environment and the default set of apps that's going to make the difference for you, since that's what determines how you interact with the computer on a day to day basis.

A lot of folks feel more comfortable with an interface like their old OS and simple graphical tools. If that's what you're after, it's hard to beat Mint with its default Cinnamon desktop. It is very Windows-like in its workflow except just better. It's got great gui system tools, a good community, and it's super easy to install.

If that's what you're after - easy to install and just daily drive to browse the web and use google docs - then stop reading now. Mint is my recommendation. If you're wanting to dive in and learn more about Linux along the way, keep reading!

I don't agree with the "acts like my old desktop" philosophy, personally. I think it tends to make people expect the system to work like their old OS, and everything is different under the hood. It's like putting a car's dashboard and steering wheel into a tank. The vehicles are similar in a lot of ways, but they're fundamentally different.

So, as a constant reminder that you're using something fundamentally different from Windows, a Desktop Environment like Gnome or KDE is a better choice.

Gnome is very different from the Windows workflow. I'm told it takes people a bit to adjust to it, but I wouldn't know. For me, Gnome is the most intuitive DE I've ever used. I had the basics down in seconds. I recommend Fedora Workstation if you want to try it out. It's up to date, has a great set of default apps, and has a strong community. I use Fedora, and I'm very happy with it.

KDE can work like Windows, if that's what you're after... but it can also work nearly any way you want it to because it's so amazingly flexible that it'll knock your socks off. The number of settings and things you can tweak, rearrange, and modify to your liking can be a bit overwhelming, but it can also be fun. I've spent literal hours having fun tweaking my desktop (although I always end up with something that imitates the Gnome workflow lol). It does a great job showing you how adaptable Linux can be, and how it's all about your choices as a user. I love it, even if it's not my DE of choice. If that sounds like your kind of fun, then KDE Neon or Fedora's KDE spin ate worth a look.>

Really? Huh.

Yeah, that kinda tracks. Thanks!

The Greater Good.

I used to love Peppermint back when all I had was a shitty old laptop. Great, lightweight system by default without a bunch of extra crap you don't need.

I'm extremely wary of Manjaro in general. I don't personally care for their approach to package management (delaying the Arch core repository but still relying heavily on AUR seems like a recipe for instability to me), and the Manjaro team have shown themselves to be less than reliable.

All that said, if you're mostly happy with Manjaro, then Arch or Endeavor might be the way to go. They use the AUR (Arch of course is where the AUR started, and Endeavor is based on Arch, but doesn't delay or muck with the Arch repositories the way Manjaro does).

Endeavor is super easy to install. Cinnamon is one of the available DEs on the installer image, and their system tools are good. They also have an active community and haven't (to my knowledge) accidentally DDoSed the AUR with an update, so they seem more competent than the Manjaro team.

Arch, of course, is the forerunner to Manjaro. It's slightly more difficult to install than Endeavor, using either the archinstall script or the Arch Method, but kind of worth it for the level of control it gives you over your system. Since you make your own post install scripts, I don't think you'd have much issue here. Cinnamon is (of course) available, and the community is extremely knowledgeable, although they do expect you to be able to RTFM and perform basic troubleshooting on your own. As an added bonus, you get to say "I use Arch BTW" with a sense of either irony or smug superiority. Both are good.

I use Fedora, BTW. It has Rawhide for bleeding edge, Copr for expanded packages, and a Cinnamon spin. I don't think it's a good match fr what you're looking for, but it might be worth looking at.

An up side to all three of these is that you usually don't need to reinstall your whole system multiple times a year to keep it clean and running smooth. That was my experience with Manjaro back in 2016 or so, though, so I can see why you do it.

Is "good bot" a thing on Lemmy?

"It has a cool default theme for Gnome, and there's a colored bash prompt."

The "cool default theme" in Fedora is the default Gnome theme. There isn't a "colored bash prompt." Fedora is a major distribution on par with stuff like Arch and Debian, so news about Fedora is news about linux.

Love Fedora, hate Fedora, I couldn't care less. But at least do a little research.