The Linux Thread - The Autist's OS of Choice

[The Ugly One]

In which case there is absolutely no point in using vim or the other nonsense as I can use the text editor to copy and paste and manipulate test from command outputs to a file in nano

There is absolutely no point in using nano when I can edit the file in vim
:wq

 

[Aljam]

I broke and fixed my nixos install trying to get oracle virtual box running. With the help of my puppy friend I only had an hour of downtime. Feels good having a puppygirl on demand to fix my issues. Can't believe my grub got borked trying to use virtualbox. qemu worked like a charm

 

[The Ugly One]

Ah you see I have something called a “life” and when you have one you don’t have time to remember a bunch of commands who’s meanings and purposes have become obsolete even before Google launched

Why would I have a life when I can use vim instead?

 

[Dread First]

Feels good having a puppygirl on demand to fix my issues. Can't believe my grub got borked trying to use virtualbox. qemu worked like a charm

You're literally relying on a sexually deviant transvestite to provide you tech support. There's more dignity in using ChatGPT after the tokens run out.

Why would I have a life when I can use vim instead?

Vim users have more of a life relative to Emacs users.

 

[⠠⠠⠅⠑⠋⠋⠁⠇⠎ ⠠⠠⠊⠎ ⠠⠠⠁ ⠠⠠⠋⠁⠛]

My little brother came to me today, asked "Should I try Arch?". He's never in his life even come close to even touching a command prompt. I told him, simply, "Fuck no".

It doesn't change the fact that some GUIs on certain Unix programs suck massive fucking balls and I won't defend shit like Gparted looking like it came from cavemen times.

Doesn't mean there isn't a Linux distribution for him.

ChromeOS Flex will work just fine for many users. Not a command line in sight, unless you're completely deranged.

There's also FydeOS, but while it allows local accounts, there are some very serious downgrades (if you use FydeOS instead of ChromeOS, you are signing over the butthole of your firstborn child to be raped by Lennart Poettring).

 

[Dread First]

It isn't 1998 anymore, where the only thing you have access to is a "Red Hat 7.3 for Dummies" at the local library, some sketchy forums where some dude is trying to tell you that your modem doesn't work because it is a "winmodem", mailing lists, and the best search engine is AltaVista.

For me, it was:

• The old Ubuntu community documentation to get my Ralink USB wireless card up and running on Ubuntu 10.04 and Debian 6.x
• Linux for Dummies that shipped with a KNOPPIX and Fedora Core 7 disc, courtesy of the public library.
• Various UNIX reference manuals, also courtesy of the public library. Probably from like 1992 because I vividly remember discussions involving BSDi and the lawsuit.
• The ArchWiki back when it actually had a full-on beginner's guide and not a bullshit "General Recommendations" page.

Oh, and the time period was mid-to-late 2011. God, I miss those days. Not because life was "better" but because there was still the spark of learning new shit after spending hours troubleshooting some self-inflicted issue. These days, I'm a lazy ass SOB who can barely be fucked to git gud anymore.

 

[Betonhaus]

Doesn't mean there isn't a Linux distribution for him.

ChromeOS Flex will work just fine for many users. Not a command line in sight, unless you're completely deranged.

There's also FydeOS, but while it allows local accounts, there are some very serious downgrades (if you use FydeOS instead of ChromeOS, you are signing over the butthole of your firstborn child to be raped by Lennart Poettring).

or, Linux Mint. it just works, and it doesn't abstract the fundamentals so it allows you to learn how Linux works without having to deal with distro-specific bullshit like immutable filesystems.

 

[acid_ra1n]

??? Wanna add some context? You mean that little inline warning you get when you haven't done guix pull in a week?

i thought that was it cause i hadnt pulled in like a week but my first pull was easy my second pull i put in nerdfont-symbols and some nerdfonts emacs package and that did a full system update

 

[SchizoDaemon]

I didn't know anyone in the space back then, but I imagine there has got to be quite a few nerds who got big into Linux in the 90s and just never stopped fighting their own forever war.

A lot of super nerds (and I include myself in this) have this tendency to assume that basic things they take for granted are understood by the non-technical. I mean really basic. I realised my mental model was very broken when a lot of people I knew didn't even understand Google Search and Chrome were separate (but related) things on their phones.

I don't understand why people can't accept their computer use is not the norm and just get on with doing what they want to do.

This idea that we have to cater for users that honestly have no interest in the platform is holding the platform hostage.
That is why things like Omarchy, Hyprland, Suckless and the like got a lot of attention because they embraced what the platform is.

It was over as soon as Jobs revealed the iPhone at Macworld, though imo it really was appstore integration that sealed the deal. Not that anything I've said hasn't been common wisdom for ages now.

Yep. You would think people would get it after what, 16 years?

 

[Ferryman]

i thought that was it cause i hadnt pulled in like a week but my first pull was easy my second pull i put in nerdfont-symbols and some nerdfonts emacs package and that did a full system update

So I see you're running GNOME. You know, I'm actually on KDE myself. I know this desktop environment is supposed to be better but, you know what they say. Old habits, they die hard.

 

[analrapist]

It isn't 1998 anymore, where the only thing you have access to is a "Red Hat 7.3 for Dummies" at the local library, some sketchy forums where some dude is trying to tell you that your modem doesn't work because it is a "winmodem", mailing lists, and the best search engine is AltaVista.

This narrative really sells short the amount of effort the GNU project put into its online documentation. Most GNU (and GNU-like) software on Linux--especially in the old times--had not only man pages for quick reference but also extensive manuals via the info command.

 

[GoysGoneWild]

In a positive note, a distro that doesn't get enough attention nowadays is Kaos. In their dedication to the Qt toolkit, they have

-ditched systemd, replacing it with dinit, seatd, and turnstile
-ended up ditching KDE itself, replacing it with niri and noctalia

A fully independent distro doing all of this instead of just giving up the ghost and assimilating to the red hat blob is commendable, even if they are still wayland. They're on my list of distros to keep track of. This work being done by them (and Artix) to make systemd less of a hard requirement for a functional desktop is great.

Now if only Vaxry would quit fucking around with hyprland and hit the gas on his dbus replacement.

 

[Hakase Shinonome]

Doesn't mean there isn't a Linux distribution for him.

ChromeOS Flex will work just fine for many users. Not a command line in sight, unless you're completely deranged.

Did I say that then? I always recommend Ubuntu to him. The point is that he keeps choosing some difficult-ass option instead of something standard and beginner.

And, really, ChromeOS? Are you right in your mind? Every single fucking person younger than 23 or so fucking HATES ChromeOS by it being forced upon you in school. It's an active poison against any and all Linux willingness.

Now if only Vaxry would quit fucking around with hyprland and hit the gas on his dbus replacement.

With how stable Hyprland is, I don't even see a reason he should be as active with development as he is. It feels like he should be more focused on development on other things but they're his projects, his decisions. All the love to Vaxry, though.

 

[hog cranking frog]

This idea that we have to cater for users that honestly have no interest in the platform is holding the platform hostage.

Bingo. Sick of constantly "umm guys this isn't a good consumer model" arm chair product designers that pop up in Linux conversations.

I used a Mac for 15 minutes so I'm basically a senior product manager, this whole disk thing being a text file, can someone get on that? Make it more like macos, lemme file a Jira ticket for you. No one will ever buy this free open source software until we sort this out for our customers.

 

[SchizoDaemon]

So I see you're running GNOME. You know, I'm actually on KDE myself. I know this desktop environment is supposed to be better but, you know what they say. Old habits, they die hard.

This narrative really sells short the amount of effort the GNU project put into its online documentation. Most GNU (and GNU-like) software on Linux--especially in the old times--had not only man pages for quick reference but also extensive manuals via the info command.

I know that now. I didn't know that back in 2001. Nobody I knew used it; I saw it in a computer lab next to an IRIX machine and found it interesting.

Bingo. Sick of constantly "umm guys this isn't a good consumer model" arm chair product designers that pop up in Linux conversations.

I drive an old Land Rover. The reason I drive an old Land Rover is because, much like Linux, it is basically fully documented, and you can do pretty much whatever you want with it.
You want to make a huge camper van? Sure, go for it. If you want to have some extreme off-road machine, go for it. The new machines hold no interest at all for me, because I can't do what I want with them.

As an everyday driver, they aren't that great. But it is pretty much besides the point.

Oh, and the time period was mid-to-late 2011. God, I miss those days. Not because life was "better" but because there was still the spark of learning new shit after spending hours troubleshooting some self-inflicted issue. These days, I'm a lazy ass SOB who can barely be fucked to git gud anymore.

It used to be exciting. "I can run this thing and do all this crazy stuff with my desktop, and it is free ... but first I need to get my video working."

 

[Betonhaus]

Did I say that then? I always recommend Ubuntu to him. The point is that he keeps choosing some difficult-ass option instead of something standard and beginner

Well no shit. Ubuntu with Gnome might be vaguely beginner to a macOS user but to a windows user it looks like shit and makes no sense. So he’ll see screenshots of other districts running KDE and see something that appears familiar to him. Did you at least try recommending Kubuntu or Ubuntu Cinnamon? Just use Linux Mint, it’s literally designed to teach windows users how to use Linux.

 

[Hakase Shinonome]

Just use Linux Mint, it’s literally designed to teach windows users how to use Linux.

Stop recommending that fucking garbage OS and please kill yourself.

 

[Betonhaus]

Stop recommending that fucking garbage OS and please kill yourself.

Linux Mint is the best starter distro out there. It has default configurations where everything works and makes sense, a set of in-house utilities that simplify complicated things without abstracting them too much. it even disables snaps something that will add loads of confusion to users new to Linux. it is literally the best distro to learn linux on, while still having a computer you can use daily without constant problems and headaches.

Sure once you learn the fundamentals of linux and learn how to handle conflicting and broken packages and to NOT download malware off the AUR you can switch to something else, but most people never get to that point.

 

[acid_ra1n]

So I see you're running GNOME. You know, I'm actually on KDE myself. I know this desktop environment is supposed to be better but, you know what they say. Old habits, they die hard.

I'm just using gnome because that's what systemcrafters recommended until I switch to exwm
Not sure how comfy emacs is yet there's a lot to remember but I'm getting comfortable with ivy and counsel and learning how to do stuff within emacs instead of from gnome or my terminal

 

[Dante Alighieri]

Stop recommending that fucking garbage OS and please kill yourself.

Mint is the best option for anyone coming from Windows. At least explain why you say it's garbage, and provide an alternative OS.