utopiah

To consider related to evaluation of said hardware, cf https://lemmy.ml/post/20849010/14003579

I mean it's very complex and very expensive for "just" a key but if you want something fully auditable maybe Precursor.dev is a good fit. It's more than a key but the point is that it's as open as it can be. Honestly I'd consider it more a learning adventure that an tool at this point but still, see https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/2022/towards-a-more-open-secure-element-chip/ for the philosophy and https://github.com/betrusted-io/xous-core with Vault for the key aspect specifically.

Yep, already happily running on my PineTab2 thanks to DanctNix!

Just yesterday I pinned VLC on my KDE Plasma Task Manager. Why? Because this way I can directly open "Recent Files" from it. I discovered about this functionality just last week with Libre Office Draw. It's so efficient, it absolutely changed how I use my computer daily!

but... why do I bother with this long example? Because IMHO that's from KDE, not Debian. When a distro improve the UX, as I also wish, it can be mostly by selecting the best software in its packages to maintain (e.g. here KDE but yes could indeed be their own custom made package, even though it requires a lot more resource AND other distro could also use them back assuming it's FLOSS) but arguably the UX is mostly of the distribution itself is limited to the installation process.

more cutting edge than Debian

In what aspect? How about Debian Unstable?

I'm personally on Stable but I do also have some AppImages (and recently discovered AM https://github.com/ivan-hc/AM thanks to someone here), my own ~/bin directory and quite a few tools. I feel that there are very few things from an end-user standpoint that needs to done only through the distribution package manager. I believe having a stable OS but "cutting edge" specific apps (say Cura, Blender, etc) is a good compromise. As you mention Firefox over a PPA (which is also have I have) is such a good compromise. So I'm curious (genuinely, not trying to "convert" you to Debian on desktop) what is better on that front on Ubuntu rather than Debian.

Edit: to clarify I both pay my bills (literally, and work too) and play (including recent VR Windows only games) on my Debian stable on desktop.

Seems Snikket container behind proxy isn't a properly documented setup despite https://snikket.org/service/help/advanced/reverse_proxy/ so I didn't manage either.

a shortage of meaningful innovation

Well... a distribution IS a selection of packages and a way to keep them working together. Arguably the "only" innovation in that context is HOW to do that and WHICH packages to rely on. For the first, the "latest" real change could be considered immutable distributions, as on the SteamDeck, and declarative setup, e.g. NixOS. For the second... well I don't actually know if anybody is doing that, maybe things like PrimTux for kids at schools in France?

Anyway, I agree but I think it's tricky to be innovative there so let me flip the question, what would YOU expect from an innovative distribution?

Funny, exactly what I mentioned in another thread https://lemmy.ml/post/21238446/14210360

Well... I started a GitPod instance few minutes ago and... it's still not up so that's not a great sign, cf https://github.com/RocketChat/Rocket.Chat/issues/33537 .

Trying Snikket on my server now. Curious to read about suggestions from others.

That's why I moved back to Debian few weeks ago. I'm checking this thread and article precisely to see what I'm missing and... arguably not much. If it's "just" updates of some applications without any meaningful change, I don't really see the appeal anymore.

I'd happily give technical advice but first I need to understand the actual need.

I don't mean "what would be cool" but rather what's the absolute minimum basic that would make a solution acceptable.

Why do I insist so much? Well because installing a distribution, e.g. Debian, takes less than 1h. Assuming you have a separate /home directory, there is no need to "copy" anything, only mounting correctly. If it is on another physical computer then the speed will depend on the your storage capacity and hardware (e.g. SSD vs HDD). Finally "configuring" each piece of software will take a certain amount of time, especially if you didn't save the configuration (which should be the case).

Anyway, my point being that :

• installing the OS takes little time
• copying data across physical devices take a lot more time
• configuring manually specific software takes a bit of time

So, if you repeat the operation several times a week, investing time to find a solution can be useful. If you do this few times a year or less, it's probably NOT actually efficient.

So, again, is this an intellectual endeavor, for the purpose of knowing what an "ideal' scenario would be or is it a genuine need?

Depends entirely what they are doing with it. If they are using services with DRM, e.g. Netflix or Disney+ I bet you will be out of luck because that pulls out an entire ecosystem, driven by Google, which is based on selling ads.

"not realistic to propose rpi and more complex systems"

If they have to install it, probably not. If they have to plug it on the HDMI port, power and optionally Ethernet honestly things like LibreElec or Kodi are pretty well done. Heck even a very young kid (talking not even 5y/o) can manage that (I've seen it, repetitively) or even start VLC to connect to DLNA server as long as it's properly setup.