As if I didn't learn my lesson the last time I tried it - I've reinstalled Kubuntu 23.10 on my primary daily machine and have been running it for another month and... its had some hiccups but its going better??
For context, I was using 22.04.4 LTS because of the support timeline for it going into 2025. I also attempted to use 23.10 before and for some reason it just... didn't work? Idk how to describe it but the desktop environment would just crap the bed and I could never log in.
During my most recent stint, I installed 23.10 without any issues (And then 24.04 got released, get absolutely pranked loser lmaooo).
The Setup
I learned my lesson pretty well. I saw a youtube video where someone talked about a program called Timeshift which basically creates system restore points of your core operating system files. You can also restore your Timeshift backups via CLI which is RADICAL! Aside from this it was pretty much the same song and dance from before. Lutris, development tools, yadda yadda yadda.
Tragedy?
At some point I was making a Timeshift backup and decided "oh I don't need to do this yet" and cancelled the process. Turns out, it was in the middle of backing up my X Server configuration and completely just. blew it out. kapoof. To top this off, I wiped my external game SSD that I had in fstab and formatted it EXT4.
Rebooted the machine and was greeted with Ubuntu's Emergency mode! Yikes!!
At this point I very narrowly gave back up again, but decided to check the journal which I had never done before and... this was insanely helpful?? I noticed that a log line said "hey idiot, /dev/sda1 couldn't be mounted" and I"m like "oh snap, yeah, i had that in fstab huh"
Turns out not only did I have it in fstab, I had the wrong UUID and it was earmarked NTFS still.
I also went ahead and completely rebuilt my X conf and rebooted. After an hour of poking and prodding, we were SO BACK.
okay and?
All this to say that I'm back on Linux. After the Ads debacle, private VPNs ceasing function (I don't use them personally, but the fact that an OS update can just break a consumer product is shocking. More shocking that it shipped?) and continued push into AI bullshit nobody is asking for, I had my fill and will probably just stick to Linux indefinitely.