Heh…it’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it?

It’s about a year since I shut Linux Gaming Central down. And to be quite honest, I’m glad I made the move. I figured I would take the opportunity to reflect on what’s changed since then, what the benefits have been, as well as some of the drawbacks.

Sanity-Preserving Measures

I’m just sitting here at my desk on a Thursday morning, casually sipping my coffee. That in of itself has been great, because I don’t feel pressured to quickly write up a news post like I did with LGC. So my life has been a lot less stressful.

The lack of stress has afforded me an opportunity to enjoy nature. I get to go on walks, and take my time. I’ve also been exercising regularly, practicing intermittent fasting, and I actually have the time to cook my food now as opposed to getting take out. The result? I’ve lost 30 pounds. No, that’s not an exaggeration. Physically and mentally I feel so much better now, and I feel better able to tackle problems whenever they arise.

I also don’t have these weird, awkward relationships with some of the so-called “friends” that I had during LGC’s lifetime. Some of them did support me, but as soon as something bad happened, they just sort of abandoned me. Trying to reach out to them resulted in fruitless results. But now I don’t have to worry about it. Life has moved on, and fortunately it’s been for the better.

With the absence of LGC has also been the absence of social media use. I don’t have this anxiety of, “Did this person stop following me? Why did this person block me?” I’m no longer reading people ranting and complaining about their lot in life, or brag about how much better they are than everyone else. I don’t have political crap shoved into my feed anymore. I don’t have people rubbing off their accomplishments to my face, or how materially rich they are. I don’t have Elon Musk profiting off of my use of X.

Some of my sanity has been restored, since I’m not doing research on things related to the Steam Deck and Linux gaming in general. That research would point me to sites that I despise. Now that I no longer see those sites anymore, or the people that run them, that has been a blessing for me.

The Outcaster’s Notebook has given me opportunity to talk about other things than just gaming. It felt pretty gratifying roasting a piece of crap that deserved it. To this day I chuckle over an email that I got from an acquaintance who actually thought the story was real. Fun fact: it’s not.

The Drawbacks

That being said, however, no longer maintaining LGC has had a somewhat bittersweet ending. For one thing, I miss the community I had built. It was a small group of people, but to me it felt pretty tight-knit. I miss the ChimeraOS guys who hung out in my Discord and chimed in from time to time on our discussions. I miss the comments that I got from long-time readers, who always had something kind to say and lifted my spirits up. I don’t get those things anymore, and it’s a bit sad.

Other than that, though, that’s pretty much been the only drawback. There has certainly been a lot more advantages shutting LGC down as opposed to keeping it around. And some of you are still in touch with me to this day, which I appreciate. I had received a few kind emails from some of you last year, and I still have them starred in my inbox so I can read them again from time to time. Thank you for your words of encouragement.

Where To?

Some might be asking themselves whether or not I still want to be a content creator. Truth is, I’m not sure. Maybe I will, but not in the Steam Deck/Linux gaming space. Maybe I’ll be a content creator in a different area of interest. Maybe I’ll use The Outcaster’s Notebook to write short stories. Who knows.

I’ve also thought about compiling some of my favorite articles from LGC and putting them into a magazine. Kind of think of it like the Greatest Hits album of your favorite musician. Because, as some of you had told me a while back, it’d be a shame throwing out all that work I had put into the site.

In the meantime, come hang out in my Discord. Keep me some company. Talk about games, the Steam Deck, whatever’s on your mind.