I just want to write stories again and haven’t been able to at all since 2025 due to…2025 and all that has entailed. I no longer feel safe or secure using any of my current devices. I feel surveyed and watched 24/7. I’m absolutely not okay with things as they are currently. (.-.) For more context, I have pre-existing mental disorders and this year has just done me in.

I’m striving toward switching out at least one device with something that I can install linux on. I was thinking either a lenovo or a dell, and will start probably with linux mint, they say it’s a good beginner distro.

Not being able to write is killing me. I love writing so much even though it’s not anything special. It just felt good.

I’ve never used linux but want to learn and I will learn, because you have to if you want to use it. You can’t just hop in a car and hope it will work without knowing how to drive it. I will learn the commands. I’ll fail at it a couple times but learn. It’ll be great. Bring it.

I appreciate you taking time to reply.

Edit: You guys are amazing. My hope for the future is restored. Thank you!

  • tentaclenumber3 [she/they]OP
    1·
    5 days ago

    You’re probably right. I have a feeling my paranoia is more amplified and it’s not quite as bad as I’m making it out to be. I got incogni to clear my data from being used by advertisers. I was sad to have to do it but I left Youtube as well because they are tied with google and it was getting unsettling. Every video I clicked on seemed to make intimate references to me, my interests, everything, and it was awful. It felt like watching someone read a page torn out from my journal or something. However I have a mental disorder that runs in my family and this may not have been how I perceived it. It can be frustrating to not know what’s real and what’s not. And now with how the tech companies are behaving, it’s even harder to know at times.

    …I’m ashamed to admit I only recently learned what data encryption is. :')

    The reason I worry about being surveilled is because I draw and write, and I’m hearing more incidents of people’s work being stolen without their knowing. AI art theft is a huge problem. It’s stealing not just art but people’s identities, people’s writing, everything. It’s not okay.