It’s a frustrating time. The atrocious Russian aggression against Ukraine drags on painfully, Palestinian civilians continue to suffer deeply, and unnecessary trade tariffs are being imposed everywhere. But I’ll keep this post personal, and on a much smaller (and insignificant) scale.

When I made the switch to Linux full-time almost six years ago, my first daily driver was Linux Mint. The experience was so smooth and user-friendly that I stuck with it for over a year—it just worked, and that was exactly what I needed back then.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago: I built a brand-new main PC. Shiny new hardware, but there was a catch—my go-to distro, Debian, didn’t have the drivers or firmware to support it out of the box. Trust me, I tried everything to get my Ethernet and Wi-Fi cards working in Debian. After days of tinkering and failing, I had to admit defeat (temporarily) and test out other distros while waiting for Debian to catch up with a newer kernel—hopefully something beyond version 6.13.

It's been over a week since I got my new computer, but I still don’t have a stable operating system running on it. So, what’s the hold-up? Well, my OS of choice is Debian, which I've been using since December 2021. Debian is a rock-solid, reliable Linux distribution, but there's a catch. Unlike some other Linux distros, Debian prioritizes stability over cutting-edge software, meaning it doesn't always include the latest releases.

After more than five years with my trusty Ryzen 5 3600 setup, it was time for an upgrade. After careful research, I picked out a set of new components, with the plan, just like so many times before, to assemble them into a sleek new workstation. This time, however, I wanted more than just a performance boost; I aimed for a system that would be quieter, more power-efficient, and future-proof for years to come. Choosing the right balance between raw power and thermal efficiency took some deliberation, but in the end, I settled on a build that felt like the perfect evolution of my setup. Now came the fun part: unboxing, assembling, and, of course, hoping everything would POST on the first try.