@peachymist Thank you! Best wishes to all of you.

@bardmoss Oops, sorry - I just realised this was meant to be a continuing conversation! I think I need to recharge my brain

@sully007 Welcome, Mike!

@bardmoss Hi, thanks for the welcome :). I like the look of your page and in general how inclusive it seems to be around here.

@Mimsybean Ooof, haha, yep! Lots of *learning*...

@ratcatcher @TheBreadmonkey @greem Am not beans, no monch!

@OrionKidder Thank you! That's really kind - and it's lovely to hear from so many lovely people who are either neurodivergent or who don't seem to have neuro...normative? expectations of people?

@DonChacale I went for Mint, too

@AlsoPaisleyCat Thank you!

@CppGuy Oh brilliant! Thanks

@4mc Hi 4mc :).

For me, really I just jumped in one day, but I looked on YouTube a lot for video tutorials where instead of reading advice on forums (which I found confusing) I could watch exactly what they were doing.

On Linux, there are different...Distros? which are like different versions or operating systems. I chose Linux Mint because it's like Windows which I was using before, and I found it very easy to set up the basics. You can also I think run the distro from whatever you're using to install it before you actually commit to installing, so you can play around and see if you like it.

Ooh. Erm - if there's any specific software he relies on now, especially for work etc, maybe check whether it's Linux-compatible or if there are suitable alternatives. There are ways to get e.g. Windows software running on Linux but as a beginner I found that a bit tricky.

I hope your son does try it! I'm not techy but I've found it easier than I thought I would and it's sooo liberating.

@OneInterestingFact One for the politics, one for the Bloomscrolling?

@dilmandila All sorts! But my favourite thing is when I get to be a harmonic dinosaur with my choir

@anne_twain @effinbirds @owlsintowels @smolrobots :O! Owls in towels!
Thank you

@bananamangodog That's so lovely! Now I have a side quest to go and look up dinosaur sounds(/singing?!)

@nomenloony @saxifraga Oh here's hoping!!

@Hedgewizard @independentpen The *lichens*? What did they dooo?

@Hedgewizard Oop! A friendly Hedgewizard. Hello!

I hope you'll forgive my asking such a purrsonal question - you're a very handsome cat, but are you a familiar or representative of the wizard or are you the wizard himself?

I'd rather not have to choose a tribe but it'd better not be sourdough because I tried one once and forgot about it and then it just got smelly and I threw it away so I'm afraid the little yeasts that live in the air will gang up on me if I ever try it again.

As for lichen vs. cats, I'll have to think carefully about this. I do like my new lichen friends but I don't want to end up embroiled in gang warfare. I'll have to seek specialist advice.

@gparenti My *ownnnn* algorithm!

@bardmoss Thank you. That'd sure be a relief - and it'll be good to make some new friends.