Currently I’m working on a Plasma Bigscreen build that still gives some privacy and 1080p Netflix/Disney+/Crunchyroll etc by using extensions/WebApps and getting S-Tube and other android apps (including tv web browser) via Waydroid + Flauncher, all controllable through a simple IR controller.

If you pm me I’ll set it as a reminder for when I finish to share the package. It’s designed for an Odroid C4.

As for dumb tvs or more privacy friendly tvs, you can find them if you know where to look. Here’s some options from LG:

https://www.lg.com/us/business/digital-signage

They had a dumb 65" 4k OLED too but it’s currently out of stock.

Just look at some of the comments.

A lot are still “the OS is great you’re the issue” (nvm that clean installs sometimes have these issues) or “git gud scrub” or “just post some error logs” even though that gets a reply maybe half the time (which gets again into expecting something the average person wouldn’t know how to do btw, which is a problem if you want better adoption) or “but Windoze does has problems111!”.

The reality is that Linux still can’t be stably used for a lot of standard things: new(and newish) hardware, printing, lack of good UI design in many programs, and to a degree gaming (it’s been massively improved there though thanks to Proton).

Yeah, Windows has problems. But those arise more typically for advanced users (and that’s including Windows 11 being more and more broken over time).

If you just want to browse the internet and use some office apps, with no dual booting, it’ll just work. That’s the reality of it, and it makes sense considering it’s supported by a multi billion dollar company.

I know Linux for desktop has come a long way (I remember the Slackware days). But until the more boring stuff gets worked out, it’ll still be hard for it to be used more commonly, and thus harder for it to get more funding and usage as well. That’s why I think Linux is stuck in the 4% rut - sure it looks pretty now, but there’s still a lot of under the hood tinkering required to just do basic things on standard hardware.

Despite the venting it’s still a great thing it exists and I love Linux. But I think that’s what makes me wish it could work better in some cases.

Idk, maybe it’s just Debian based distros these days and I’m behind in the curve. Fedora based ones like Bazzite haven’t given me issues so far at least.

I’ll figure it out eventually.

Just wanted to vent, but it’s also frustrating because I really do wish Linux could be more widely adopted. But the tech heads here show why it won’t be any time soon, even with Microsoft making a nightmare OS in terms of privacy.

Well at least someone here got the point

This is nice to know. Cinny looks beautiful from a UX perspective, wish they made an app too. Not enough good UX in open source stuff.

Neither was that YouTube video 🤷🏻‍♂️

That just results in an image of JSON Bourne.

Can vouch for their routers.

I do want to say though, they technically use their own version of OpenWrt, but you can just as easily install pure OpenWrt too.

It just sounds like an old school operating system, like OS/2.

I’m not saying everyone needs an iOS circa 2015 interface.

But I am saying something like KISS would never work, because the general public will just outright reject it.

What needs to exist is something in between: something simple and easy to use at stock, but with high customization ability that ranges from novice to advanced users.

Unfortunately, it seems most of the GUI experts work in the private industry and rarely do FOSS.

There’s a quote that goes something like this: “imagine the average dumb person, and then realize half the population is dumber than that”.

Having worked tech support, Arch is basically alien tech wizardry, a terminal is “hackerman” leet thing, and using Google to figure out an error code is “being tech savvy”.

Granted, it’s nowhere near as bad in Finland as it was in the USA, or Central America, but what you and I think is “super easy custom set up” is “⬧︎◆︎◻︎♏︎❒︎ ♏︎♋︎⬧︎⍓︎ ♍︎◆︎⬧︎⧫︎□︎❍︎ ⬧︎♏︎⧫︎◆︎◻︎” for a very significant portion of the population.

It’s easy to forget how hard something is when you’re used to it. Sure I might know what idiopathic glomerulonephritis is without looking it up but that doesn’t mean you might know what glomeruli are.

Likewise I might know what an EGR valve is but it doesn’t mean I know how to fix a Tesla.

You must come from a tech literate family.

If it was the default Android launcher, Android would die.

Which is a bit ironic for people that make UX/UI software