Okay I think for first attempt getting Linux running I'm just going to sigh and install Ubuntu 23.04. If it works ok and I establish a /home on the other drive I'll consider pop!_os later as an experiment in learning (or living without) kernel signing.

My goals:

- Fit on 37 GB spare partition
- Get Vulkan running and execute one webgpu program in Rust
- (win condition) Successfully support a sound card with 16 channels of IO
- (stretch goal) Get Wayland running

I guess I'm going with GNOME rather than KDE based on looking at the current state of both on Google Image Search (possibly not an accurate source) and feeling less repulsion when I look at GNOME. I don't understand why the titlebar and the "dock" with the launcher icons are 2 different things in GNOME now. Couldnt u just put the launcher icons in the titlebar I only ever run 3 apps anyway

Last time I ran desktop linux was 2016, I tried to use a late beta of KDE Plasma and it never worked right

Current status: Lobster

Ok so installation of Ubuntu was smooth and it seems fine now I'm inside. I'm experiencing one problem, and it is totally baffling: Both in the installer and in the OS itself, a giant banner pops up about once every three minutes saying there is no Internet. This despite the installer downloading from the Internet fine, me running Firefox without problems, etc.

EDIT: This is really irritating actually lol
EDIT 2: It's resolved. Apparently Ubuntu HATES intranets

@mcc It's probably trying to activate a second connection of some type. Does your machine have both wired and wireless connections?
@mcc It is supremely annoying that this message does not tell you *which* connection it was trying to activate...
@kevin I tried going into network settings and disabling connection 2 but the error just popped up again a moment later like I'd done nothing
@mcc Ugh.
@kevin Wait, it does appear to be fixed now. Maybe it just wanted to print one more popup for the road
@kevin It has two ethernet connections. The second one is a USB ethernet dongle for a private network which I absolutely do not want it trying to talk to.