Winux experiment.
Okay so I have a horrible Win11 laptop. The BIOS is locked to Windows: you change the settings to 'boot from usb' and there's one that reverts on boot-up so it absolutely will not boot from usb. This is a con made possible by an illegal agreement between the manufacturer(s) and Microslop to limit competition and force people to use the worst OS ever.
In other words, doing what I did before and wiping Win11 off into oblivion where it belongs isn't possible. To get a Linux machine these days be prepared to pay $1,000 - and still have Win11 to deal with while replacing it. Or spend more and get it pre-installed. Ironic considering Linux is open source and 'free', designed for limited resource machines, et cetera. Welcome to the world of Computer Newspeak.
However, Windows comes with "wsl": Windows Subsystem for Linux. It's meant to be a sort of VM for Linux developers to create code while using the worst OS of all time instead of a good one that the code is actually intended to be used on. Go figure.
When you first try to use wsl in W11/S you're told you can't do that 'cuz it ain't an MS product, even though it is. They mean down the road you will not be using an MS product (DUH! Who the hell would want to?) and they really should say you need to go to the 'non-safe' (not unsafe) version to operate wsl.
So far I've managed that step (it ain't easy as the crap OS tosses garbage at you while you're trying to work and you never seem to be able to get it all to shut the hell up). That means Ubuntu is installed. Next I have to fire it up and do the whole name/password thing which after almost 50 years of working with computers I'm really sick of. No matter; need to install a driver (under W11) too, because I want the GUI functionality. Yeah, it ain't simple. Not at all.
Moreover, I know that my intended end use is probably not viable so this whole thing will fail. I don't care. I'm bored right now so I'll mess with it when I feel like exercising my futility. Even if it does eventually work the way I want it will probably be as slow as a punch tape reader because it's operating under W11.
It will be interesting to see if it frustrates me into buying a better computer even though I can't afford it. Or maybe it will drive me mad. er. Madder.