somedude

not arguing, but what do you use instead (other than your local book store)?

Tangential question for people browsing this post: would you recommend a different Linux distribution over Debian and Ubuntu for OP? If so, which one and why?

Sure, if there’s a free trial (Kagi has one). Though if it’s from you, probably not 😉

Fair. By similar logic, don’t discredit the whole paid ecosystem, when you’re used to getting something for free. Kagi has no ads, no trackers, and listens to their users. Their search results and feature set is better than DDG.

What, to try things before you dismiss them as dumb?

If you’re not paying for it, you are the product. Don’t knock it til you try it.

If you’re not paying for it, you are not the customer, but the product. You most likely fit into the $5 or $10 plan. Here’s the page you’re looking for: https://help.kagi.com/kagi/why-kagi/why-pay-for-search.html

I’ve switched over to a paid search engine, kagi.com. There are no ads and the results are better than DDG.

Get Wipr for ad blocking on Safari

An email client isn't exactly something that's self hosted. But Apple Mail works perfectly fine on iOS and Mac OS. Fastmail has push support too.

I’d argue it’s perfectly fine for beginners with time and desire to learn. The Arch Wiki is a great resource.

Hey, if you're comfortable and happy with Windows, and don't feel the need to switch, then don't feel pressured. If you want to try Linux for fun, try a distro like Arch, that gives you a lot of control and a lot to play with.