Even though “tinkering” is often used disparagingly against open-source software, I don’t see it so negatively at all. It can be a lot of fun to build your system and software exactly the way you want it. It can be fun, but it doesn’t have to be. And it costs valuable time.

As you know, I’ve been on Linux for a year now, have a highly customized Android on my smartphone, and my own server. Linux has been replaced by Windows 11 again, Android will soon be replaced by iOS, and luckily I don’t have to administer the server alone. Still, my email and calendar management are with Google. But why the U-turn?

The short answer is: time. Even though I don’t have kids yet, I have a girlfriend and other hobbies. On top of that, I want to start exercising regularly again. I get up for work, work, and finish around 5:00 PM. At least when I’m working from home. Once a week, I’m not home from 2:30 AM to 9:00 PM. Then there’s exercise, cooking and eating, followed by household chores. It quickly gets to be 9:00 PM. All my other hobbies are now fighting for the last two hours. Girlfriend, reading, gaming, series/movies, YouTube, blogging. And I’d actually like to do much more, which is only possible at the expense of other hobbies.

If I were to also fiddle around with my IT systems, I would have to carve out time from other hobbies for that as well. That’s why I decided a few months ago to take the easier path. In doing so, I’m still being a bit cautious. Windows 11 is only used with a local user account, and with O&O ShutUp10++, everything possible is turned off. I’m just still stuck with Google. Protonmail might be an alternative here, although the switch still daunts me. Not because of me, but because of my parents. Unfortunately, they are also on my domain.

Even though I do enjoy tinkering, I don’t have more fun with it than with my other hobbies. In the end, it’s a cost-benefit analysis; ideology is secondary to me. And time is valuable to me, too valuable to spend it on IT administration.