Proton is built on top of Wine in order to make sure games specifically work well.
You can check https://www.protondb.com/ before buying a game (with Steam or otherwise) to insure it works as expected. A lot will work with 0 tinkering but some might next extra command line parameters.
You might get the same result with Wine directly but Proton it doing everything it can to "hide" away those (hopefully small) challenges away from the final user, a gamer (like me) who wants to just sit down and play.
So... the heuristic is basically :
games? Proton
not games but Windows applications that somehow do not have a better open-source equivalent running on Linux? Wine
Edit: for the anecdote I wrote this reply on my SteamDeck, the gaming console by Valve coming with Steam, and Proton, and running Linux to... just play BUT I also use it to work while traveling. So yes, works like a charm!
Meanwhile me as a barbarian installing Debian and copying my ~/.bashrc file (and a few others) if not just remounting /home/ in the new installation every few years.
A good example to "play" with could be https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/ which does highlight the idea of "bits of identifying information" namely :
"A “bit” is a basic unit of information for computers. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values, often represented as "1" or "0", for example. In your results from Cover Your Tracks, some metrics may be listed as “1” or “0”, or “true” or “false”, indicating whether a setting is enabled or disabled. While each individual metric’s details may seem like a small amount of information, when combined with your browser’s other metrics, they can uniquely identify your browser. Your results are measured in “bits of identifying information,” which is a combined summary of all these metrics."
Point being, not all behaviors, conscious or not, explicit or not, lead to the same amount of bits. Some are VERY valuable, others are basically pointless. Knowing the difference means not spending a lot of energy fighting without making a difference.
If you are into that could be interesting to learn about metadata, e.g EXIF data, and how anything can be used for fingerprinting. What's interesting IMHO is to pragmatically know how valuable a specific piece of data or metadata is useful for fingerprinting, namely how identifying it truly is. For example knowing if a file comes from Android or iOS is too generic to be useful whereas timestamp with geolocation data segments the potential space a lot more.
Indeed, IMHO what's important here is precisely WHY the question is asked, namely is it to evaluate agency, passion as a proxy for skills potentially, or the opportunity to exploit.
Indeed hence my warning. I'm only sharing this alternative because in practice it works and it's secure (AFAIK).
Edit :
black box security fob
IMHO that's a feature, namely I do not want to OS to mess with this specific part of my setup. I do also have NitroKeys and FPGAs to tinker with but that's different. FWIW if there is an OSHW&FLOSS alternative to the YubiKey Bio please do share.
I mean again my initial reaction would be that indeed ... BUT it depends. If they genuinely offer say 3x rate, it's on demand from MY side (not the client), double vacations, etc then maybe. Again it has to be something that's actually interesting.
Sadly this is not even .001% the case, usually companies consider the weekend an extension of the week and such cases, they can absolutely go get fucked.
Absolutely... it's like when during job interview the recruiter ask if you code on the weekend. Some people treat that like the absolute worst question ever. Yes, in most cases I would argue it's to probe if you can be abused by working over time for free... but maybe you are into that or rather you do have found a way to make it work, e.g. NOT work during some weekdays. The point is that the question itself is a way to discover BOTH ways, for them AND for you. It is perfectly fine to stop right there and then if any of you is now aware that it's a show stopper because of whatever difference. The entire purpose of dating or interviews is to engage in a more involving relationship ONLY if it's worth it for both. It's a discovery phase, not a "let's close the sale" phase.
FWIW because you do so professionally I'd factor in the time you spend too versus buying hardware (e.g. USB dongles) or even laptop, ideally reselling the old one. I don't know your rate or how much you can buy VAT free or your income at the moment, only that in your context this is also a business decision so you have to consider the ROI of "just" moving on with another hardware, selling the old one and with the time earned (if work is available) get another paid task instead of tinkering.
external cam haha. I use the laptop cam daily to video call family
I actually did that on desktop recently and I enjoy being able to unplug and physically remove it as I don't use it daily. Same for the large external microphone, it's only on my desk when I'll have meetings planed. Maybe you could also use a mobile phone as camera.
Anyway kudos on leaving Google! It's a great step.
If you mean interoperability there is https://libimobiledevice.org/ but honestly compared to what KDE Connect can offer with Android phones it's just ... lame.
There were and still are into quantum computing.
They are absolute champions of tech-washing and green-washing.
It's literally anything to say, do and spending money on to make people forget that their core business is actually advertising.