Vanadium is what works best for me in this area.

Last windows I used was 10,and I’ve always found it lacking in the screen capture arena. Full disclosure, I had no idea Flameshot had a windows version.

Gnome has an extension called GSConnect which is their re-implementation of KDE Connect. I have in my tablet and phone, and it’s flawless.

But don’t change yet, give me until the weekend, I’ll spin Fedora with KDE in my laptop, and come back with my experience with FlameShot.

No need to change if that’s what you like and it ends up working.

Flameshot does require some tweaking to work anyway, so I’ll need check if it’s the same in KDE.

I honestly haven’t tried on KDE, but I can give it a shot this coming weekend and report back. I’m up for a distro hopping round anyway.

But in Gnome, dual screens, it works like a charm, also on Wayland.

Yeah, but this is about self hosting and it’s costs, so the comparison is relevant.

FlameShot. In my opinion, the best and most versatile screen capture app for Linux distros, especially if you use Gnome as your DE.

All I need is a sudden jolt of “I need to test other distros”, distro hop for a day or 2,and then end up back in my distro of choice. This happens every couple of months give or take.

I wanted to offer some friendly corrections and context on a few points:

1. Google using Ubuntu on MacBooks
     While there have been rumors and isolated internal reports over the years of various corporate users trying out different Linux setups on Mac hardware, there’s no verified evidence that Google officially used Ubuntu on MacBooks as a standard environment. Google’s internal usage tends to be quite varied and often kept under wraps, so the claim might be more anecdotal than fact-based.

2. Canonical and Ubuntu’s direction
     You mentioned that “not everyone likes what Canonical is doing anymore.” While Canonical’s moves (like the snap ecosystem and various design choices) have sparked debates, many users still appreciate Ubuntu’s focus on ease of use, hardware compatibility, and community support. It’s all about personal preference and the tradeoffs between innovation and long-term support.

3. Fedora’s complexity and documentation
     Saying Fedora is “weirdly more complex” might be an oversimplification. Fedora often targets users who appreciate the latest upstream software and development practices, which can feel more hands-on. Its documentation is actually quite robust and maintained by a passionate community—even if the style and depth might differ from Ubuntu’s more streamlined guides. It comes down to what learning experience you value more.

4. Arch Linux and its learning curve
     Your take on Arch is fair: its wiki is indeed one of the best resources out there, which is why many users swear by it as a learning tool. However, while it’s true that Arch offers a very pure, “vanilla” GNOME (or any desktop environment you set up) experience—similar in spirit to what Fedora might provide—it’s also worth noting that Arch’s philosophy means it won’t hold your hand. For newcomers, that means more risk of “breaking things,” but also an invaluable hands-on learning curve for those willing to dive in.

5. Starting with Ubuntu for hardware compatibility
     The suggestion to use Ubuntu to test hardware support is a practical one. Since Ubuntu has a broad driver base and a large user community, it’s often a good first check for MacBook (and other hardware) compatibility. However, sometimes even if Ubuntu exhibits some quirks, other distros might work just as well or even better depending on the kernel versions, desktop customizations, or community-contributed fixes. A USB Wi-Fi adapter can indeed be a good temporary workaround for connectivity issues if they arise.

In summary, each Linux distribution has its own strengths and challenges. It really boils down to your priorities—whether it’s stability, a polished user experience, cutting-edge software, or a chance to learn more about the inner workings of a system. All these distros contribute to the vibrant, diverse Linux ecosystem, and exploring them is part of the fun!

Hope this helps provide a clearer picture, and just enjoy tinkering with Linux!

He’s probably referring to just Chromecast without the Google TV module. Jellyfin works great for me as well on the Chromecast w/GTV

Didn’t dig in too far into the options, but those prices are crazy low. Thanks for pointing us there.

Because it would have gone unnoticed if it was posted in a thread about how good windows is (those exist, right? Eh, right?) and wouldn’t have gotten all this attention.

I will never understand this need for being noticed.

Absolutely. Maybe I’m a bit biased. I can’t stick to anything immutable (other than my Steam Deck, and believe me, I’ve tried many times), and always come back to distros I can have absolute control over.

However, I have all my employees running Silverblue (mostly because none of them even know what CLI means 🤣).

I like you. Your brain works in the right frequencies.

Chances are that, if you do break something, it’ll be on the Windows side.

Bazzite is very solid for new users as it’s very convoluted to access and modify anything system related.

Having said that, if you have any intention to learn how to use Linux distros, and eventually remove Microsoft from your life, immutable distros like Bazzite will limit you dramatically, so I suggest you start with a regular “mutable” distro. Now, if your intention is just to have something that works, scape Windows every now and then, and come back to Windows, it’s hard to beat an immutable distro.

My name is none of your business, and I approve this suggestion.

For most of us using Linux distros for years, we already have a preferred distro that is highly unlikely to be Ubuntu or even Debian based, but for first-timers, I honestly believe Mint is the way to go. But seeing how mint has been a flop for you (as another poster said, it’d be great to know what went wrong) an immutable distro (like Bazzite) would fit your current needs better, but these distros are not the best way to start learning about Linux and eventually migrate from Windows entirely.

Awesome. I’m very curious about your findings. Looking forward to it.

That’s a good idea, and maybe even Henry from Techlore.

Done. Are you going to be sharing the results here? That would be cool.

Yeah, I would think so, but again, I’ve never had hardware fail to work out of the box in Linux, and since I don’t use internal capture cards, I guess I will not be affected any time soon.

I have yet to see the devices that don’t work in Linux (evidently, there are a few, but I’ve never used them, so there’s that).