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How VPNs Help – And Where They Don’t
Introduction You’ve undoubtedly heard the promise from VPN providers that they keep you safe and private online. The reality, however, falls short of the marketing hype. Below is what I’ve learned about what a VPN can realistically achieve for me and, just as importantly, what it cannot. What a VPN Can Do 1. Block Your ISP…
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Technology, Progress, and Tradition
There’s a sentiment in the tech world that newer is inherently better. There are also many people and companies that re-release something, proudly claiming they “started all over and wrote the code from scratch.” When I see such statements, I usually sigh and shake my head. I’m not a programmer. We’ll get that out of…
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Why I Prefer Ubuntu
For years, I’ve been a huge fan of Linux Mint. Clem and the team have worked tirelessly to build an operating system that is free, easy to use, and genuinely helpful for people transitioning from Windows to Linux. Much the same can be said for Zorin OS. But I’ve been off Windows for several years…
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10 Ways to Make Linux More Secure
By default, many of the popular Linux distros are fairly secure out of the box. Here I want to offer ten tips to keep your system running smoothly. Most of these directions are aimed at the everyday Linux user, not the highly technical person who wants to run a customized and hardened version of Arch.…
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Make Mint Look Great in Less than Five Minutes
For those of you who follow this blog, you know that I highly recommend Linux Mint while also feeling that its default appearance is dated. I’ve tried numerous Linux distros, and I keep coming back to Mint because it works without being buggy. So, I decided it was time to dress it up and make…
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Deepin – the Most Beautiful Linux Distro
I recently experimented with Deepin and was impressed. It’s by far the most well-polished Linux distro that I’ve used. Its appearance has hints of macOS, Windows 11, Gnome, and KDE. It, in some ways, takes the best of those things, and makes a new OS out of them. Very modern looking! It’s a Chinese-made Linux…
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Review of iodeOS
I switched to iodeOS in August 2025 with my Pixel 6 after CalyxOS hit the pause button on further releases and updates. I liked Calyx and would have stuck with it, but since they won’t be providing any updates for at least the next several months, and their system after that is likely going to…
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4 Linux Apps that Make My Life Easier
In this entirely subjective article, I’ll give what I find to be among my four favorite Linux apps that make my life easier. Many of these are available for Windows, so if you’re still on Windows, you can download and start learning them. I won’t be reviewing extremely common apps like Brave, Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice,…
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The Best Linux Distros for Beginners
In this article, I want to explore three of the best Linux distributions for beginners, and which ones should be avoided. I wrote a VERY long article with detailed reviews of about a dozen distros, but instead of posting that, I’ll provide a summary. Unfortunately, you’ll often find very bad advice on the internet about…
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One Year with a De-Googled Android and What I Learned
UPDATED (August 31, 2025): Google has changed the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) with Android 16, which includes omitting Pixel device-specific source code. That complicates custom ROM development for groups such as CalyxOS and GrapheneOS. Because Android is significantly changing, two key developers are leaving CalyxOS (my previously recommended de-Googled system), and all developments and…