After testing out 20+ distros I chose Feren based on its simplicity and mainly because I can turn off all automatic updates so that it will never update again unless manually. No other distros would allow me to do that. Now I know some users will say that its bad to turn off automatic updates and security patches, etc. But in my experiences I think its absolutely the best approach and I've never had a problem doing it in the past 20 years. I turn off all automatic updates on literally everything; OSX, iOS, iTunes, all apps and programs, Windows (if possible) and Feren was possible, so I chose it for that ability.
@osprey, what other live disk boot options do I have? otherwise, I'm about to give up and start calling shops tomorrow to wipe the drive and install Windows XP or something simple back onto it. I use this ACE mini-PC to run only 1 program - Think or Swim for TD Ameritrade/Schwab and that's it. I don't even use it for browsing, no photos, no music, nothing, just the Think or Swim program and that's all. So I don't need any new op system that's going to repeat update patches and flood the drive with nonsense. The constant update issue is why I tried to leave Windows a year ago and embark down this path of hurt with Linux.
I had high hopes for Linux because I hated Windows that much (and I still do) but its far easier to use than Linux. But I don't even use Windows for anything else besides the Think or Swim. Windows 10 kept dumping update patches into my 32gb Asus VivoSticks TS10 with 2gb of RAM and paralyzed those minis with 100 mb's of drive space left. It was impossible to turn off the automatic updates in Windows 10 but with Windows 11 I think it may be more of a possibility. This auto update flooding is what pushed me to look into Linux for those mini-Sticks. But that became even less of a solution, and Think or Swim works terribly with Linux.
There really is no excuse for a 30-year old op system to still be this complicated. RedHat or independents should have focused on making the code smoother, better, more user-friendly, a better version of Windows, wasn't that the purpose of Linux, wasn't that the intent? RedHat management should have stepped up and supported the op for a real consumer market. It seems like coders lost focus along the way and thought it was better to make over 600 distros instead, like that many was really needed. Linux is way more complicated than Windows (which is a total piece-of-shit). Linux should have been easier than Windows, like inbetween Windows and OSX.
It should have been for OSX users that hated Windows and Windows users that hated Apple. But instead it became the opposite, something only for the super-smart A+ computer geek level that doesn't mind spending tons of time constantly tweaking code in a buggy system. But most people don't have days-on-end to waste inside a shell playing around with codes.
I've been using computers daily since 1997. I'm a B-rated computer user on a scale of A to F for school grades rating with the average user being a C level so I know more than most computer users but come on man, Linux is just way too over-complicated even for me and I use 3 different computers and staring at 8 vertical screens all day every day for stock trading and use a 27" inch iMac as my daily workhorse. So I'm not exactly inept when it comes to this computer stuff. I actually started an online data backup software company 20 years ago with a friend of mine that's still active today Steelgate Technologies in Boston. But even still Linux has just beaten me up. I give up. And I don't usually give up easily.
