100% I haven’t needed a personal laptop for years but I’m hopeful that getting a framework 12 could open an ARM based upgrade path in the future once ARM based Linux support improves

Air gear

I have plenty of colleagues with their master’s degree - some went back to get a math related degree for actuarial roles, and some finished exams and just wanted more money when they switched companies (already employed as actuaries). The latter usually focus on data related degrees as the market aggressively hunts for folks who can pass new technical skills/knowledge onto their team of juniors.

If you can swing the master’s degree with your personal tolerance for debt, I think it’s a viable option. However, I’d aggressively study for exam P and FM to get at least one passed by the middle of fall semester so you’ll be ready to apply for summer internships. If you snag one, you may be able to work part time during your final 2 semesters if you prove yourself valuable enough.

Also, a huge topic in actuarial science is proving you met regulatory standards, and I presume you’re very familiar with git and/or other VCS, which can be a useful skill (include on your resume).

Actuary of 3.5 years - entry level is also tough in this field. If you have no exams passed, you’ll probably need at least 2 to be considered for an opening. Your CS degree may count at some places but not others, although I’ve seen more openings accept them these days so the trend is in your favor. If you started studying hardcore now, I’d expect you to pass 2 exams by next spring. If you’re interested in the field, I’d recommend trying to also apply to actuarial internships since nearly all are well paid, include room and board, and lead to employment opportunities.

I’d hope mint but it’s probably Ubuntu

FAQ page has your exact question answered - saved you one click from the link above. Clearly a lot of effort has been put into the site because online spaces we’ve enjoyed can’t be enjoyed any further even if we were interested in maintaining them ourselves as volunteers.

Right? It seems like there’s no reason to consider this niche solution except for crossing bodies of water as a last mile connection. Is there some shortage of fiber or just security concerns prompting all this investment?

That’s their playbook. But honestly I think anyone who plays with WSL will either get a taste and begin learning/transitioning to Linux or device to stick with their “safe” windows machine

Nice! I was lucky to have extra drives when I switched to Linux on my PC, haven’t done it on a laptop yet. Do you just back up all your data to an external SSD/HD beforehand or go the partition route?

Yeah, said I had to buy a tpm module for my mobo to upgrade to win11. My steam deck works so well running arch based Linux I searched “gaming arch Linux” in DuckDuckGo and installed CachyOS. Easier and cleaner than installing windows 10 when I built my PC and the constant updates are awesome (they also offer long term support LTS builds). Highly recommend, I have an Nvidia 2070 Super and CachyOS has been a great upgrade from Windows 10.

Glad life is going better for you these days! I’m sure your kiddo is proud of you for moving on

You’re so right about KDE, I didn’t realize just how much great stuff KDE makes until I was looking for a markdown editor this week at work, and KDE ghostwriter nails everything I ever wanted. Cross platform too so I can use it on my personal Linux machine too

First one I remember was a beige tower and similarly beige CRT my dad brought home from his office since he bought a new tower. It ran Windows XP, but barely. Spent a lot of time on homestarrunner.com, addicting games.com, and other flash game sites since I had no money for actual games and I already beat all the games on my Gameboy.

Hanklight D4K for $50 was my first portable enthusiast flashlight. I’m currently 4 hanklights deep and they’re loads of fun out in the country for spotting wildlife and general use with the open source Anduril 2 firmware (yes, flashlights can get firmware updates).

Link to Hank’s Site