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    • Wake Forest, NC, — 2025-09-20
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1

Saving Public Library Computers With Linux Mint MATE

January 22, 2026January 21, 2026
2

Network Upgrades at Both.org

January 21, 2026January 22, 2026
3

Why I Didn’t Convert My Primary Workstation to BtrFS

January 21, 2026January 18, 2026
4

Create a Linux kiosk at your library

January 20, 2026January 14, 2026
5

Writing a fun turn-based game

January 19, 2026January 7, 2026
6

Converting to BtrFS — Episode 5

January 16, 2026January 14, 2026
7

Why I prefer tar to zip

January 15, 2026January 14, 2026
8

Development isn’t over until it’s packaged

January 14, 2026
9

Tinkering with Immutable Linux: How Fedora Cosmic Atomic Won Me Over

January 13, 2026January 6, 2026
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dwatkins

Linux Moving to Linux Top 5

Best Linux Distros for Windows Users: From Mint to Pop!_OS

When you are new to Linux, it can be challenging to navigate all the options available to users. Choosing a distribution can be difficult, especially...

Don Watkins
October 2, 2025September 27, 2025
Read More
Hardware Linux

Minty Fresh on a Meerkat: My Latest Linux Setup

A trip to Denver and the System76 factory in 2018 afforded me a chance to meet their technology team and look at the products they...

Don Watkins
September 15, 2025September 10, 2025
Read More
Linux Open Source

Using QGIS and MerginMaps for Geospatial Data Work

Recently, a friend asked me if I could help him map his walk around the area where he lives. I use a pedometer to track...

Don Watkins
September 4, 2025September 3, 2025
Read More
Linux Moving to Linux Open Source

Good Reasons for Linux as your daily driver

Linux stands out as a consumer operating system thanks to its unique blend of freedom, performance, and community-driven innovation. Whether you’re on a budget laptop,...

Don Watkins
August 22, 2025August 21, 2025
Read More
AI Linux Open Source

Introducing Jan: A Privacy-Centric, Open-Source GPT for AI Enthusiasts

Are you looking for a locally hosted open source GPT that protects your privacy while allowing you to leverage the latest AI models? Then you need to download Jan. Jan is easy to install on Linux, macOS, and Windows and has excellent documentation to guide that process.

Don Watkins
August 14, 2025August 5, 2025
Read More
Linux

An Open-Source AI Tool for Voice Generation

Are you a scientist, developer or just a tinkerer like me? Are you fascinated with the power of AI to generate and clone a human...

Don Watkins
August 11, 2025August 3, 2025
Read More
LibreOffice Open Source Software Tips and tricks

Bulk Document Conversion Made Easy with LibreOffice

 I have many documents created with Microsoft Office for assignments written for graduate school courses years ago. How can I easily convert those dozens of...

Don Watkins
August 4, 2025August 5, 2025
Read More
Linux Open Source Software

Tips for faster note taking with Joplin

Joplin has become my default note-taking app. I use it for everything, whether short notes on what to pick up at the store to saving...

Don Watkins
July 31, 2025July 24, 2025
Read More
Linux

Nextcloud is a snap

Recently I have been tasked with assisting a local medical office with finding a new way to store medical images securely. The office needed a...

Don Watkins
June 18, 2025June 17, 2025
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KDE Plasma Linux Moving to Linux Open Source

Breaking Free from Windows 10: KDE Plasma Is Your Upgrade to Freedom

October 14, 2025, is a big day if you’re a Microsoft Windows user. That’s the day that support for Windows 10 ends. But what if...

Don Watkins
June 17, 2025June 17, 2025
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KDE Plasma Linux

Fine tuning the KDE Plasma desktop

In the my blog post I wrote about the new Lenovo V 15 laptop I purchased and installed Fedora KDE Plasma 42. One of the...

Don Watkins
May 16, 2025May 16, 2025
Read More
Linux Moving to Linux

Upgrading a Lenovo V15 to Fedora KDE Plasma

I’ve been looking for a new laptop for a couple of months because the one I’ve been using is missing a ‘P’ key. Replacing the...

Don Watkins
May 15, 2025May 9, 2025
Read More
LibreOffice Linux ODF Open Document Format

Celebrating 20 Years of ODF: The Backbone of Open Standards

LibreOffice is a free and open-source office productivity suite developed by The Document Foundation (TDF). It originated as a fork of OpenOffice.org in 2010. I...

Don Watkins
May 13, 2025May 5, 2025
Read More
Linux

Mastering Screenshots with KDE Spectacle:

Writing blog posts that share my experiences with Linux and open-source software often requires screenshots of accomplishing a task or an expected outcome. Over time,...

Don Watkins
April 29, 2025April 24, 2025
Read More
Linux

Learning to use System Settings in Fedora KDE Plasma

I have been using Fedora with the KDE Plasma desktop environment for almost three months, and overall, it’s been a wonderful experience. However, I’ve encountered...

Don Watkins
April 28, 2025April 23, 2025
Read More
Linux

Using Linux on Apple Silicon

I bought an M3 MacBook Air last fall to experiment with AI tools and LLMs that were available for use on Apple Silicon.

Don Watkins
April 7, 2025April 7, 2025
Read More

Posts pagination

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ATTENTION — System Maintenance January 23 — 25

Starting Friday morning, January 23, I’m having Google fiber installed. It’s 3Gb symmetric, which is 3x my ATT fiber, costs less, and gives me more control.

I’ll be upgrading the firewall and Both.org server with new NICs and replacing the slower Gb switch as part of this upgrade.

So the web site will be down at various times Friday and through the weekend as I upgrade my network to take advantage of that speed.

I’ll try to choose low traffic times for upgrades, but they’ll probably require an hour or more of downtime. You may experience one of those outages. Please try again later if you do.

Your patience is appreciated.

David Both ATO Interview

Last October at All Things Open (ATO) I was interviewed by Jason Hibbits of We Love Open Source. It’s posted in the article “Why today’s AI isn’t intelligent (yet)“.

Random Quote

Any given program costs more and takes longer.

— Laws of Computer Programming

Links: Moving to Linux

  • 7 Reasons Fedora Might Be a Better Windows Replacement Than Linux Mint
  • 7 Reasons Why Windows Users Avoid Linux (Which Aren’t True Anymore)
  • Best Linux distros to try before Windows 10 support ends
  • How to switch your Windows 10 PC to Linux Mint – for free
  • I replaced my entire Microsoft Office subscription with free open-source apps
  • Isn’t It Time to Switch to Linux? 12 Reasons to Abandon Windows
  • KDE for W10 Exiles
  • Linux: A true story
  • Why Denmark is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for LibreOffice and Linux
  • Why I Switched to Linux From Windows

“systemd for SysAdmins” Now Available

May 13,2025

My latest book — a #1 New Release on Amazon — “systemd for Linux  SysAdmins” is now available from my publisher, Apress, and on Amazon.

Technically We Write — Our Partner Site

Our partner site, Technically We Write, has published a number of articles from several contributors to Both.org. Check them out.

Technically We Write is a community of technical writers, technical editors, copyeditors, web content writers, and all other roles in technical communication.

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  • About Us
  • End of 10 Events
    • Wake Forest, NC, — 2025-09-20
  • Linux
    • Why I use Linux
    • The real reason we use Linux
  • My Linux Books
    • systemd for Linux SysAdmins
    • Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin: 2nd Edition
    • The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins
    • Linux for Small Business Owners
    • Errata
      • Errata for The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins
      • Errata for Using and Administering Linux — 1st Edition
      • Errata for Using and Administering Linux — 2nd Edition
  • Open Source Resources
    • What is Open Source?
    • What is Linux?
    • What is Open Source Software?
    • The Open Source Way
  • Write for us
    • Submission and Style guide
    • Advertising statement
  • Downloads

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