With quite a bit of help / guidance from @EricaJoy and @willsmith I'm embarking on a long-wanted but postponed house project:

converting the family's DVD and Bluray collection to digital and storing on a media server.

This tutorial from @willsmith was super helpful in case you're interested:

step 1: installed Ubuntu on a new partition on his harddrive.

It's been years since I've installed Ubuntu. It's both easy and terrifying when you (a) can't quite remember all the particulars of HD partitions and (b) don't want to brick your kid's gaming PC during coronavirus.

But! It works. Successfully booted Ubuntu, then restarted and successfully booted Windows. Huge relief. (Not sure who was more relieved, tbh.)

Next up, Step 2: Installing Automatic Ripping Machine so we can automate this process: https://b3n.org/automatic-ripping-machine/

if this works, this is what will happen when we insert a new DVD or Bluray:

whoops. momentarily used the wrong password when attempting to sudo for the first time. Oh Linux how I've missed you.

Son: "Dad, this just feels like I'm copying and pasting commands into the terminal."

Should I tell him?

Son: "Why couldn't this just be easy?"

Guess we're going to have The Talk about Linux tonight.