I’ve found my new go-to OS in EndeavourOS. I’ve been in this quandry (well, really since the late 90’s) of wanting to bring Linux into my life the same way M$ was by default my life on PC and eventually M$ environments is where I thrived professionally (starting in 2007 officially for moneys). I’m glad I can finally say I’ve taken Linux off of the back burner and it’s now the forefront of my daily driving PC. I’m AMAZED at how much I’ve been able to get running that isn’t Linux-native (mostly a bunch of games from Windows). There’s a few that are still broken, but they’re obscure and hopefully I’ll get those working some day, too. In the meantime, aside from the WINE/Lutris/Steam shenanigans, I’m also SO grateful to the Open Source community at large. There are SO MANY options for productivity that cost mega $$ in the closed source world. Audio apps, video apps, programming apps, an absolute BONANZA of self-hosted solutions for just about everything you can imagine and then some. It’s a GREAT time (and maybe has been the whole time, sorry I’m late to the party lol!) to be a PC tinkerer in the Open Source world. YEAH-HOO! 
As for EndeavourOS specifically, I started this effort to exile M$ from my life (yes I know they own GitHub and a bunch of other “technically you can’t exile M$ completely” points, stay with me here 
) a little more than 2 years ago. I have dabbled with Ubuntu, ZorinOS, LinuxFX, Linux Mint and Fedora. ZorinOS and LinuxFX were attractive because, coming from 20+ years eating/sleeping/breathing M$ UI’s, these seemed to offer a power user like me to quickly get deeply familiar with Linux as it provided sort of an interpreter type of situation where I could convert “how M$ does things” concepts to “how Linux does things” concepts much more quickly. There is an argument to be made that, if one has learned and become deeply familiar with Android in this day and age, then something like Ubuntu would be like learning a new Android and no need for all of the illusory M$ cosmetic shenanigans. I totally agree that’s viable for some, and I even tried it! It just didn’t go well for me.
So I do have to give some acknowledgment and appreciation credit to ZorinOS and LinuxFX. My life in ZorinOS was going decently well until I broke something with the display driver and could never get back into the GUI. In the Linux world of system recovery, I’m sure you simply just boot to CLI, go into “something something config, delete something something, save, reboot” and the OS would re-detect display hardware and/or I could then install the driver package, reboot once more and be back in business. I just didn’t get around to engaging community help and it got tossed aside. There was a bunch of other crap I was not completely satisfied with in terms of feeling like I had place for “all my stuff” and “had all my creature comforts and habits” entirely accommodated to my liking anyway, so I gave it a break. Yes, just a break. Not gave up!
The main thing for me is trying to get the DE with enough features already built out for me to move into. I know GNOME has been around forever, and KDE Plasma appeared to me as the latest cool kid on the block with the most potential for the latest/greatest pizzazz of the cutting edge of technology so that was where my initial efforts went. I may eventually end up back in KDE Plasma land, but for now GNOME is home. I’m also most interested in the account integrations GNOME offers out of the box that KDE Plasma is severely lacking, as an example. But I’m here for the long haul and can give it time. Heck, I may end up developing some of what I want and sharing that with the FOSS community. That’s what this is all about, anyway! 
I’ve been a M$ consultant for SMB’s for 10 years or so and it has been quite rewarding. Eventually, I’d like to expand my offerings into Linux-based solutions because some businesses could really be much more empowered not having licensing restraints and costs to deal with. This especially goes for the business desktops. Since so much is being dumped on the cloud, it seems less and less necessary to pay for a Windows desktop license in the business environment when the user just needs a secure, updated web browser. And that’s just the beginning of that journey. So while I adapt myself to the new life in Linux, I’m also keeping a mind toward adapting my M$ consulting skills to Linux equivalency so that, WHEN IT’S APPROPRIATE TO DO SO, I can present FOSS solutions to my clients that include a viable roadmap of current and future support resources especially if I get hit by a bus and then they suddenly need someone else to step in and take over the administration/consulting of said FOSS solutions. With the M$-based work I provide, that’s what I do (document, document, document, provide alternative support resource contact information if absolutely necessary (like if I die, or they simply want to change to a different MSP, etc.)) and keep everything as organized, complete, simplified and industry viable and industry verifiable as possible. While I like keeping loyal business associates, I can’t imagine leaving them in a bind with no information about their solutions and and not leaving them some kind of guidance that will help them maintain their infrastructure lifeblood so their business and all of the lives that depend on that business operating successfully won’t be put into total doomsday jeopardy. Sure, having so much neatly packaged and documented could easily allow new management to tell me to hit the road cuz “they have a guy” that’s going to take over. That happens all of the time in business, and the possibility of that happening doesn’t deter me at all from earnestly giving my best while I’m the one being called upon. If it ever does happen (and it should be quite uncommon if you’re actually providing good, knowledgeable service) call it a “plot twist” in the book of life and move on is my take on that.
OK, I ran you all through the weeds plenty. Love EOS. Love the outpouring of love I’ve seen in this community in such a short while. Glad to be here. Hugs and cookies and punch for all! <3
Enjoy the purple ride 
