There’s nothing wrong with a DE, those are great for the people who want an experience that “just works”. But I switched to Linux because I was tired of someone else deciding to install hundreds of packages I’ll never use, and start up dozens or hundreds of services in the background that I never asked for.
Part of the feeling of owning my machine has been looking at the list of packages installed, and the list of processes/services running and knowing why each one is there.
If you want an OS that lets you own the machine you bought, Linux is the most viable option. Conversely, Windows is not an option. I don’t consider an OS where you are the product to be one that works for me at all, much less one that “just works”.
Linux users seem to enjoy problem solving and tinkering for fun
Like with any OS, those are a subset of users, but not all. The thing is, Linux users spent the last 30y building a set of tools that enable you to use as little effort as possible to do very powerful things with your hardware, and yes, with great power comes great ability to break everything. But in the last 15y, there are distros designed for people who want an OS that “just works”, that don’t require you to know or use the risky tools that could break things, and they’re getting better every day.
Why did you switch
I wanted to use Linux for the last 15y, but gaming was a sticking point. Around 5y ago, thanks to valve, it is no longer a sticking point. I do all my gaming on Linux.
what was your process like?
I first switched to fedora on my laptop about 12y ago. I didn’t do a lot of gaming on my laptop, so this was fine. Eventually I switched to Manjaro. Around 5y ago I put Manjaro on my desktop. Then eventually switched both to endeavor.
I’ll admit, I create problems for myself by refusing fully featured Desktop Environments. But I always learn something more about my machine in the process. As a result, I believe I can now simply do more with less effort on Linux than I could on windows. I have bash scripts on keybinds that open custom UIs for various things. I can seamlessly access multiple servers on my network running various services. I don’t ever have to worry about some update overhauling my UI and sneaking an AI in the background. Any experimentation I do with AI is on my own terms, and none of my data gets shipped off without my consent.
What made you choose Linux for your primary computing device, rather than macOS for example?
I used a Mac 20y ago. It was solid. But eventually the cost outweighed the hardware capabilities. And then they deprecated every graphics API but Metal. Now there’s relatively nothing in the way of gaming on Mac. On top of that, it’s just as bad as windows when it comes to doing what some company wants it to do rather than what I want it to do. So I don’t consider it an option that works for me.
I am really having a hard time understanding what OP is describing. Does anyone have a video example of the phenomenon?
Ahhh I see. That’s really neat, I’ll have to try that.
Does sway have the feature OP is asking for, or are you just suggesting a different tiling window manager, and they would still be left solving the same problem?
Idk if I follow. I believe the default keybinds in hyprland allow you to switch between windows using super+J/K/L/;, and between workspaces using super+number. Hyprland, like all tiled window managers, are specifically designed to be used exclusively with a keyboard.
Are you asking for something more like alt+tab on windows? Where it shows a little preview of all the windows? I think that’s kind of obviated by the concept of a tiled window manager.
Fair enough lol, can’t argue with that.
where we didn’t have to assume every single god-damned connection was a hostile entity
But you always did, it was always being abused, regularly. That’s WHY we now use secure connections.
I think I’m just not picking up whether you’re actually trying to pitch a technical solution, or just wishing for a perfect world without crime.
While it may seem to be a smart money move, it can result in a costly productivity and innovation lag for the economy.
For the love of god! Won’t somebody think of the economy?!
Because they know the “party of anti-regulation/anti-nannie state” will never trust people to take care of themselves and someone will be forced to do it. They acknowledge either they will have to do a bunch of work and be liable when it fails, or some middle man will. So they choose the middle man.
If they were required to leave all meta platforms, then what would the experiment show? It sounds like the intention was to see where people shifted their time when they stopped using one meta product. If FB users primarily went to IG and vice versa, then it would indicate they held a monopoly. But it sounds like IG users primarily switched to TikTok and YouTube, not FB, indicating they are different products from each other and have different competition.
No, we think it’s great, keep going.
If sufficiently advanced malware can break out of a VM, then it’s only a matter of time before an AI breaks out of a measly container 🍿
If it just looks like a stream of TLS packets, so the content is encrypted, what would DPI be able to see? I feel like if it could detect it as a VPN, that’s just a bug that needs fixing, not an inherent weakness in the protocols involved.
But on closed source drivers, right?
Hold up, what did I read into it? I directly quoted you and asked for clarification on whether you currently believe that is the state of AI, or whether you’re saying that’s what automation used to be.
If you’re saying that’s what automation used to be, then we agree. But if you believe that modern AI can only do the “tedious bullshit no one wants to do”, that’s literally not the case.
Sora 2 is generating realistic video of anything you want given just a text prompt, rivaling the best VFX artists.
Hollywood is currently clamoring to “work with” AI celebrities who don’t exist, with a synthetic voice, singing songs no one composed with lyrics generated by an LLM. Why give a cut to a pop artist or band if you can synthesize it from nothing?
The education system has been completely upturned because every assignment can be completed by an AI, and there’s no way for the teacher to detect it. And it’s having a measurably damaging effect on students’ intellect.
A popular quote floating around right now is, “I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes.”
And right now I literally can’t know if someone is running an AI with the prompt: “respond to this comment as though you are an out of touch older American who still thinks the capabilities of generative AI are limited to simple automation of tedious tasks no one wants to do anyway.” And you don’t know if I’m an AI with the prompt, “respond to this comment like a condescending tech literate young adult who is afraid of the impact that generative AI owned and funded by an oligarchy is going to have on every aspect of their future.”
I honestly feel stupid even bothering to type any of this out. I’m surely being had.
And it’s worth noting that you can’t automate the interesting parts of a job, as those are creative. All you can tackle is the rote, the tedious, the structured bullshit that no one wants to do in the first place.
Are you saying that this used to be the case and acknowledging that it’s no longer true with modern AI? Because it’s demonstrably not true for modern AI and is the entire reason people are fearful.
Honestly, this post is so far out of the loop, part of me is wondering if it’s AI generated.
The ability to fork is core to the FOSS movement, and I certainly don’t trust any govt to decide how all browsers should be made. I don’t consider FOSS or competition to be a workaround, I consider that to be the best possible solution to this problem.