What’s the use case? Is there a reason that the disk is not unlocked at boot/login?

I think any distro will do really. I’d go for something that is friendly to new users, if you’re not very familiar with Linux in general. For example: Linux Mint. Here is an example on how you can get your installation setup easily: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyT4wfz5ZMg

Regarding your Valve Index. It will likely work, but don’t expect it to be very easy to get it running well. I’m currently on Arch Linux with red team hardware and a Valve Index. For example, you will need to ensure the udev rules are set properly: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-devices. New issues occasionally arise, see: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues. Currently, it’s not switching audio devices automatically, so I use pavucontrol (with PipeWire) to switch that manually.

Love it. Too bad it’s missing the eating sound we all know so well

Jullie brengen goede punten naar voren. Ik mis zelf vooral hetgeen dat de bestaanszekerheid zou moeten garanderen in wat ik heb gelezen in de plannen. Daar ging deze verkiezingsronde toch juist over?

Bezuinigen op zaken betekent ook dat er weer mensen ander werk moeten zoeken, en ik zag zo snel geen beter vangnet of iets dergelijks voor de middenklasse en ‘lager’.

I think Duolingo is a great place to start learning. I recommend joining a course, which has helped me immeasurably more than Duolingo with learning Swedish. Interacting with a native speaker (or someone closer to that level) is a great way to develop the skill, as they will be able to pick up what you are struggling with. Getting engaged in some video content is also nice, but I guess what would be good for you greatly depends on your interests and current skill level.

There are plenty of resources that help new speakers. I think a great start would be to search for keywords like ‘eenvoudige taal’ (easy/simple language), ‘nederlands voor kinderen’ (Dutch for children), and the like. I think it’s great learning language from stuff that is meant for (Dutch) children, like https://www.dutchforchildren.nl/gratis-nederlands-lesmateriaal/.

An example of ‘eenvoudige taal’, weekly Dutch news: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO72qiQ-gJuFzpCgQcsdd4lkulqeeBMC3

When you’re at about A2-level (and live in NL) you might like to try something like this: https://iwcn.nl/work/my-local-friend/. It’s an organization that connects native speakers with non-native speakers to hone the Dutch of the non-native speaker in a way that works best for them.

Dutch people will often switch to English as soon as you start struggling/they hear something out of place/etc., a nice trick to keep things in Dutch is by saying: “Ik spreek geen Engels” (“I don’t speak English”, who cares if it’s a lie!)

Personally, I never do it. I like to invest quite a bit into a world. The idea of having that being taken away because I do something silly feels awful.

To each their own of course. I can imagine it gives it that more of a thrill.

Could be a good idea for you to determine why you would want a hardcore world and what you’d feel if that ends.