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Cake day: July 22nd, 2023

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  • jasondj@ttrpg.networktoLinux@lemmy.mlThe future of Linux
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    1 year ago

    I’m a big fan of retired systems for every day use. A 14 year old server has more function as a space heater and whitenoise generator than a desktop, though.

    7th-8th gen Intel retired corporate desktops and laptops from Dell/Lenovo/HP are a dime a dozen on eBay man. Lenovos tend to run Linux very well out of the box. And Linus himself sent his daughter to college with a Dell XPS.







  • I never use them but I can see the point. Like when you’re poking around for a log file, not sure what it’s called or where it’s stored and just going on a hunch…but you’re in an SSH session and don’t want to deal with X shenanigans.

    It’s a legit PITA to ls, look for files, cat/tail them, etc. sometimes you just want to ls -alR but your corporate build runs tmux on SSH sessions with no configuration so you can’t scroll back since your shortcuts don’t work so you have to pipe everything to more and it just sucks.




  • Actual reason is system permissions.

    Most the default installation path is Program Files. That needs elevation to write to. Fine when you’re installing something, but not something you want to need just to run the game.

    Writing to %APPDATA% or really anywhere in %USERHOME% is guaranteed to have the right permissions for this user.

    Granted, a lot of home PCs and gaming PCs are single-user environments. The “personal” computer. In that case there’s no reason games and applications can’t be installed in %LOCALAPPADATA%, and in fact, I think windows has an environment variable or registry setting for that.

    It’s no different in Linux. You don’t want users writing to /etc. And you may expect multiple users. So all of that stuff goes to dot files in $HOME.


  • “Lifecycle” is not an apple specific thing. Literally everything has a lifecycle that makes the device obsolete/unsupported before it’s useful age is up.

    Technology in phones (primarily SoCs, batteries, and displays) moves faster then other categories, leading to the one year generations, but again, that’s something every brand does. It’s insane to suggest that companies continue to maintain old platforms that are in comparatively few pockets against discovered security vulnerabilities or leveraging new features beyond the capabilities of their hardware.

    iPhone 8 is now nearly six years old and supports IOS16, with rumors that it may support 17. I’d be surprised if it does, but that’s still a very impressive lifespan for a mobile phone.

    I understand apple hate but this is really one place where it’s undeserved.




  • Because most of these brands offer high-end laptops, the secondhand market is small and the new ones vastly exceed the needs of a lot of users.

    Most people just browse the web, stream media, use productivity apps…these things don’t need much horsepower. The majority of people don’t need to run AAA games or graphics/video editing on their laptop.

    Because of this, there is a great market for secondhand business laptops, and tons of great deals there. And of the big business brands (HP, Dell, and Lenovo), Lenovo tends to have the most compatible hardware (while also usually being very easily serviceable or upgraded).

    I bought a Lenovo T470s with charger and a decent battery at a flea market on Father’s Day for $100 USD and he had a stack of them. Ordered some more memory and a bigger NVMe for $70, and now I have a very useful, practical, everyday laptop for less than $200, and it dual-boots a licensed Windows 10.