Setup was easy, it just works, its stable, and if you want the regular updates, just get the lifetime model on sale. I bought it becaue I didn’t want to spend time screwing with setup and just wanted to get my data moved snd running.

I have not kept up with their raw disk lineup to be honest, they may be garbo but I am not sure. I have been using toshiba and seagate drives for the last 8 years which have been great.

The WD devices also offer very limited long term support. The MyBook Live had a software exploit found a couple years after launch that allowed remote access to your files and enabled third parties to wipe your drives. Wd said “wow, that sucks, here is a $15 coupon for a new one. No, we aren’t gonna patch it. Buy a new one” I will never buy another wd device except for the raw discs.

I am a big fan of my xperia 5v. Yes, its not current but its still a great size, great battery, removable storage, ip rated, and has a headphone jack. You can probably get them cheaper now too. I think I paid $500 a year ago for mine when I was shopping it vs the 10vi.

Unrelated but did you know that Libraries oftentimes have cd’s, dvd’s, and even audiobooks available to borrow?

I really like Emby. The media recognition has been better/more accurate than plex in my experience.

Not op but Bazzite is excellent.

I am using syncthing to directionally sync my music from my server to my phone. I like having the local copy on both devices so I don’t worry about losing cell service/internet.

Once I got it up and running, it has been like you described, way better than windows.

No, the generic usb driver wouldn’t work for me. I only was able to get it to print a test page weirdly.

Brother. Weirdly, the scanner setup was completely painless and even easier than in wondows.

As a recent linux convert I found printer drivers and setups to be a pain and getting java runtime working was a process but everything else was about a days worth and it just works. Hell, even hitting the windows key on the keyboard and typing the ms name for stuff pops up the relevant linux program. If you didn’t know you were looking at something different, it wouldn’t be obvious for the most part.

The only game I have not been able to get work has been pubg. Everything else has been great and run fine once proton was up and running. I am using bazzite 41 as my current distro.

I bought one as the VIs were coming out because it still fit better for my needs than the newer hardware. Long live my 5V.

There is a good Patagonia short film about dam removal if you want to burn an hour or so. DamNation

I’m so glad we are both from that one town. How do you spell it again? I always get it wrong.

What program are you using for your rpg campaigns?

Minecraft server is fairly universally supported.

We must eliminate the strategic tomato gap, this communist threat cannot be allowed to stand unchecked. /S

Yeah the docs are not good, I have been lucky to have a friend with lots of experience in their ecosystem who has been schooling me up on it. Once I got the basic configuration setup its been fine.

I may regret saying that in a bit when I go to add my other components, like my adguard/pi-hole, vpns, ip cameras, and other networked devices but the basic test setup I have now seems to be stable enough to deploy.

I have not seen the connection loss issues but I will keep an eye out for it.

The op mentioned wanting open source. Just providing information and it got me curious.