Foster Hangdaan

I recommend Peer Calls as an alternative. Peer Calls uses peer-to-peer communication similar to Jami. You can check out Peer Calls on Github for more info.

So, in short, the things I really like about it:

• Simple to selfhost - Only one Docker container with no dependencies (database, storage, etc.) and you only need to forward HTTP/S traffic.
• Lightweight - You get voice and text chat; screen and file sharing. All of it directly P2P.
• Private - Selfhosting the signaling server will grant you control over the only step which requires a central server during the WebRTC connection process.
• No accounts - Just start using, no accounts are involved.

Just bookmark the repos you like; no Github account needed.

Definitely best to get that done ASAP. Forgejo being a drop-in replacement for Gitea won’t be guaranteed ever since the hard fork:

To continue living by that statement, a decision was made in early 2024 to become a hard fork. By doing so, Forgejo is no longer bound to Gitea, and can forge its own path going forward, allowing maintainers and contributors to reduce tech debt at a much higher pace, and implement changes - whether they’re new features or bug fixes - that would otherwise have a high risk of conflicting with changes made in Gitea.

I’m in the same boat and also looking for a privacy-respecting platform for communicating with family and friends. So I’d also like to add items that are not yet mentioned to the list of suggestions:

• Jami
• Peer Calls - can be selfhosted; you can try it out straight away using their flagship instance located here.

If you want a similar editor on Linux, then I suggest Kate. If Vim and Emacs didn’t exist, I’d be using Kate.

Notepad++ is a fabulous software program that had no complete alternatives on Linux. I used it for scripting, text manipulation, note taking, dumping and editing thoughts. Scintilla-based equivalents Geany, SciTE exist, but do not come close.

Really? No alternatives on Linux? Have you tried Emacs? I think Emacs with Org mode blows Notepad++ out of the water in all the uses you just mentioned.

That would be nice but what other alternatives are there? It’s either Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, or clones of these browsers.

Probably or probably not. The only way to find out is to try. I’ve installed RetroPie on a number of old laptops; the oldest one being a 2002 Toshiba laptop. I got to play GBA games just fine with it.

You can try turning it into a retro gaming station by installing RetroPie. Some have got it working on as little as a Pi Zero. Of course, that laptop won’t be able to run the more demanding emulators.