I understand, many reasons exist that make paying rent seem better and you're not wrong, exactly. You are, however, missing my point.

The situations that make us want to pay rent *are* what make us zombies. 🧟 Working the hard fun in order to own our stack *is* what makes us capable and curious.

Notice the reasons why paying rent makes sense and then ask yourself, "Who made that situation? Why is that the convenient path? Does a different choice, no matter how inconvenient, even exist?"

Look around for people living a different way and then modify it for yourself, day after day.

You'll get there. I believe in you.

The best advice I have for new nerds: Refuse to pay rent.

Don't subscribe. Don't lease. Don't use their cloud. Don't slip down the freemium slope. Don't create accounts on their services.

Buy it once. Run it local. Avoid commercial software.

It'll be a huge pain and you'll be an outsider but it'll be endless, interesting, and hard fun that'll pay you back with a curious mind and an understanding of the fabric of our intellectual infrastructure that will make you light-years more capable, useful, and healthy than the "AI" zombies.

@ceejbot It does take a bit of time to fully absorb that info and most folks are distracted.