With computers and smartphones its always function over form, not the other way around.

For me at least, is sad to see many people pick their computers more on for form rather than function. Even worse, when they expend way more than they should on Pro computers that they won't actually use to that system full potential.

While most of the time I see this happening on the Apple ecosystem, with people going for the MacBook Pro when a MacBook or MacBook Air would have been far better matches for their needs, I've seen people going for gaming systems like Alienware when a Asus ZenBook would have been far better for their use case. This ends of people feeling like they were ripped off, or with the feeling that the sales person lied to them.

There are two main reasons why people fall to these pitfalls. One is that they don't know much about computers, and they don't ask around enough because they simply are ashamed to let others know they don't know much about computers. Also, this can lead to people don't researching enough about their options, and come with a shortlist of computers that actually fit their needs.

This problem could also mean they can buy a computer that's under rated for their needs. Which means that they'll see a lot of systems clashes, or simply their computer will be slow to be usable.

The other pitfall is getting a certain computer as a status symbol, that ends up becoming a symbol of your computer illiteracy. All because you got a computer to impress a certain people, but in ends up broadcasting your ignorance to those people instead. Don't get me wrong, it's okay to get a computer as a status symbol, but at least get one that you can actually show the status you want to project while it fits the use you need it for.

The same could be said about the smartphone we carry around with us. Specially since it could be argued that our smartphone is also an extension of our personality, and how we relate to others. While form and function are both important, is time to put function over form.

Linux Mint should stay.

A couple of days ago while on YouTube, I came to couple of videos that made reference to an article at TechRepublic arguing that Linux Mint should go.

As a Linux Mint user, I agree with Joe Collins and Switch to Linux. All the issues on the TechRepublic's article are actually nonissue, either because those issues don't mean much to the end user or have been solved in a timely manner.

Linux Mint is the Linux distro that just works for me, and in a way that it doesn't gets in the way of getting things done. Most importantly, I don't have to constantly having to figuring out why a part of the system broke and having to fix it. And while I've become more proficient on doing things on my system under the hood, its not something I want to do regularly.

And let's face it, most the people want just that. They just want to focus on their regular job, and not have to figure out why their system stop working they way they want it to every so often. That's why many user have left Windows, because it got in their way by braking their workflow.

For me, Linux Mint bring that to the Linux community. Is one of those distros people can go to, when they want a OS that just lets them focus on their every day computing without worrying that an update will brake their computer.

One of the best things about Linux, is that if you don't like a distro for whatever reason you don't have to use it. Yet, that you don't like it, or it doesn't fits your need, it doesn't mean that it doesn't have an audience that find it useful.

At the end of the day, if we want more people to make the jump to Linux, and to open source software in general, we need to start to be more welcoming as a community to those new users. And that includes giving them the software they need, and find useful, to actually make the jump.

Microsoft integrating the full Linux kernel could be great news.

The news that Windows 10 will soon ship with full Linux kernel with Windows Subsystem for Linux 2(WSL 2) has the potential to be either a really good, or really bad, for Linux. While it can be considered a victory for Linux in particular, and for the open source community at large, we'll have to wait to see how it actually plays out in time.

That it becomes something great for Linux not only depends on how Microsoft behaves, but also how all big players on the Linux community react to the situation. In many ways, things need to be made in such a way so that its on Microsoft's best interest to play nice with the rest of the Linux world. That means that some people will have to get used to work with Microsoft at some level, and its on their best interest doing so.

Let's face it, Microsoft has come to be a player to stay. As such, we better act in such a way that makes Microsoft do as much as possible to play nice with the Linux community at large. By doing so, we can ensure that the influence that Microsoft has is the best it can be for most of the Linux sphere.

At the end of the day, its better having one of the biggest software companies out there working with us.

Linux is set to a contender on the desktop.

As someone who likes reading, and viewing, tech related subjects, I've started to see mainstream people actually saying that some Linux are real options for the casual user and for some professional ones.

It seems that distros like Linux Mint, and Ubuntu, have become more than polished enough to used as the daily OS for a wider set of users. As a user of Linux Mint on my personal laptop, I couldn't agree more.

I'm on an unique position, since I use Windows at work and Linux Mint on my laptop. While the user experience is not exactly the same on both OSes,to be honest my experience on Linux Mint hasn't have anything to ask for to the Windows one. To be honest, in most cases it has been better.

For the casual user, there no real reason not to move to Linux Mint. Even some more advance users would feel right at home using it, specially since nowadays the ones who wouldn't be able to make the move are becoming more the ones who need specific apps that have no analog on the Linux side. And whit each passing day, those apps are becoming fewer and harder to find.

On the hardware side, vendors like System79 are making systems not only have great specs, but that look great too. Dell are also making some great systems. As a matter of fact, most systems made by mainstream vendors is likely to support the most popular Linux distros out there. The ones that not, are becoming more of the exeption than the rule.

Finally Linux has become a real option not only for the geek, or tech savvy. It's finally an option for everyone's computing needs.

Linux Mint has become great OS.

I've been using Linux Mint continuously for 6 months now on my daily driver, and it has cemented itself as my go to OS. It has worked for me, and haven't had issues with it so far.

And the best thing for me, it that it lends itself to my needs flawlessly. Linux Mint is a really mature OS, and one that users with any skill level can use on daily basis without running into any problem. The only reason for not recommending Linux Mint, is that the person in question needs an app only available for other OS. And more often than not, the pool of this apps is growing thin.

Yet, for casual users Linux Mint is quite a good option. All mayor apps run on Linux Mint, or have an equivalent than is at least as good or better than the app they are replacing.

At work I use both Window 7 and 10, and neither is superior to Linux Mint. On the user experience side, most people wouldn't really miss much of what Windows has to offer. With time, Linux Mint has become a solid OS that can give Windows a run for its money any day of the week.

The Linux Mint team has really stepped up their game since the Linux Mint 18 "Sarah", and each new version feels that brings some more polish and performance to the system. Currently I'm running the 19.1 "Tessa", and it has run great so far.

With each release, their motto of "from freedom came elegance" feels true. And its not an elegant OS, is quite stable and easy to use.

The geek community is diverse.

As a geek, one of the most frustrating thing I've to face on daily basis is being told that I can't be one because I don't look the part. Most of the time, the main reasons given is that I don't look the part either because of the way I dress, or because I'm not socially awkward.

It seems that most people don't realize that most geeks don't fall into either those negative stereotypes. While there are people who are socially awkward, and don't know how to dress well(sometimes both), it doesn't make them necessary means they are geeks. I do realize that there are some geeks out there that fall into the stereotype, they don't represent the community as a whole.

Many of us, who identity as geeks, do so because its what better represents the interests we choose to pursue. We are inclined to video games, comics, manga, and intellectual subjects. Many of these things, don't really interest many outside the geek community.

Yet, we do have a wide range of interests other than in things that are considered to be geeky. As such, this means that we do sharpen the social skills that allow us to mingle with people outside the geek community with ease while maintaining a strong geek identity.

It seems that most people outside the geek community don't seem to be aware of how diverse geeks really are. We have different backgrounds, beliefs, and ways to express ourselves. There are many overlapping areas that give geeks a sense of community, but are many ways we are differ. If you look closely, you can see that within the geek community, there are several subgroups that serve different interests.

As with many things with people, there is no single way to be a geek or how we look.

2 out of the 3 top OS, power mobile devices.

With the raise of the smartphone, and with some help of tablets, Android has come to have the largest user base of any operating system. While Microsoft Windows is still has the second largest user base, iOS has the the third spot with quite a lead over the macOS at fourth place.

I find it interesting, that 2 out of the top 3 OSes used by people at large are used to power our mobile devices such smartphones and tablets. It means that we have shift the way we use computers, from desktops and laptops, to smartphones that we carry with us most of the time.

It all happen in a relative short time, compared with how long personal computers took to become as common as smartphones have. Nowadays, people are more likely to own a smartphone than they are to own a desktop, or a laptop, in most of the world.

What makes it all more impressive, is that in such a small package smartphones have more than enough power to do much of what can be done in a computer with quite an ease of use. Smartphone have become more than adequate for most uses that most people have for a computer.

While I doubt that desktops, and laptops, will disappear, they certainly will become more of niche products. Tablets will also find niche markets, while smartphones will continue to dominate the consumer market.