It just occurred to me that Pathfinder is to D&D what Linux is to Windows. More technically complex, less moral baggage, less mainstream and its fans won't shut up about it.

I can feel the blank stare that this correction would elicit in the vast majority of people. To normies it’s like saying you eat fruit rounds instead of fruit loops.

if you need to… 😉

Stop, stop, you've already proven their point

Gods! I used to love playing GURPS Autoduel!

It’s easier to tell someone you play D&D than it is to say you play Pathfinder, get the “… what?” question and then say “it’s for people who think D&D doesn’t have enough rules”

We prefer the term "species" nowadays.

I think the text is cut from a longer form document. The author may have been declaring the abbreviation for use in the rest of the text.

The or in this context refers to also known as. Like when you say what the fuck or WTF for short.

Some acronyms have many definitions, like CBT.

Well, it said "geeks" not "nerds" so you're fine.

there's actually great resources for getting started online. There's a site called start playing games dedicated to matching new people to a DM. Note that services like that cost money. There's also the virtual tabletop roll20 which has a group finder for you to find a game. It will have a mix of free and paid games. Alternatively, you can crowdsource that such as on r/lfg on reddit (unfortunately the LFGs here on lemmy don't seem to be active enough to find games), or through various discord servers, including the official D&D discord. Another that has reasonably active LFG type sections to try is the Fantasy grounds (another VTT) discord.

For in person play, you can also look in to local gaming stores that might run adventurer's league, which is the sort of 'official' play wizards of the coast sanctions at local stores and at conventions.