Hmm perhaps I should try this then.

One example I have is the university breaking their VPN on Linux. They moved us from an open source VPN to some proprietary crap but I found an open source client that worked on Linux. Then they did something on the config that broke that client, and IT told me to use the proprietary client instead. But the proprietary client crashes if you even so much move the window slightly. So I gave up, and just use my Windows partition instead.

Stuff like this is why my Windows partition still exists. I’ve also thought about getting a cheap Mac Mini for this sort of thing, and for dealing with the MS Office suite when the web version craps out (as it often does).

A lot of the TOCs were already under national control. But the problem is with the system in general; its just broken. You cite ticket pricing as one insanity, but I also hate how poorly connected buses, and trains are. I wish we had a unified ticketing system so I could get a monthly pass to cover both train, and bus.

For example, I’m lucky I can get a direct bus to work. But if I didn’t, I’d have to get a bus to the train station, then to train to a town close to work, then another bus. Now I have to pay for a train season ticket (which costs an absolute fortune), and a monthly bus pass.

Or I could get a car. I’m very reluctant too but public transport is so broken in the UK that I often think it would be so much easier.

The problem we have is trying to get our friends to jump ship to a new alternative. Pretty much any barrier, even small, prevents people from doing this because they already have a working app that does what they need.

I use Wayland at work, and haven’t had any issues sharing my screen on Teams.

I have a Linux work laptop which they let us have but we still have to use the MS crap. Fortunately most of it is accessible through the browser but a lot of the Office apps are broken, or missing features on web.

Why their devs choose to upgrade toolkits this way I cannot say.

I forget the exact details but iirc Evince was a special case because rendering PDFs in GTK4 was so different that they essentially just had to rewrite the whole application. I think Gnome Papers still doesn’t support the full feature set that Evince supported (although it works well for most use cases now). This is why its still not the default for Gnome, although I think Ubuntu has decided to adopt it a little early.

I’m lucky in my job that most of my work can be done on Linux with FOSS software. But I would use Windows if this weren’t the case, and I know for some colleagues who need to work with specific proprietary software, there aren’t that many other options available, and its far easier for them to just use Windows (or perhaps macOS if they have the option).

Our politics are bad, FPTP is bad, but we’re not a 2 party system entirely. The Lib Dems, Greens, SNP, and Reform all manage to have a say in politics and how things are done. They all influence Labour and the Conservatives.

Yes this is definitely true. Although these days unfortunately it seems to be both the Conservatives, and Labour who are influenced by Reform. Even Labour have started parroting some of the same lines about immigration etc. I’m always disappointed about how little talk there is of stuff like cost of living, rent etc since these are often at the forefront of my mind whenever I vote.

Lords in the UK get a tax free allowance of £323 for every day they actually turn up to work. But nothing actually forces them to show up.