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Your Computer Isn't Yours

sneak.berlin

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Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#321

Post by michael-ax »

GuB-42 wrote: post #294
pdkl95 wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I worry for Gen Z because they're tiny-mobile-device native. And the only usable tiny mobile devices are walled gardens. Without the ability to grow up playing with system level software, combined with the software industry's unwillingness to pass on institutional knowledge to younger generations, I fear we are already on a path towards a civilization that loses a lot of the technological capability we currently en…

Gen Z can get real general-purpose computers with a development environment for cheap. The new Raspberry Pi 400 is a modern take on home computers like the C64, but 15 times cheaper. Pi 400 full kit: $100, C64: $595 (1982) / $1576 (inflation adjusted for 2019). The computers are not just getting cheaper, educative material is easier than ever to find. Because modern computers are much more complex and do much more th…

So you see the non-free-and-open Raspberry Pi as a real development environment. That's nice.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#322

Post by 29athrowaway »

arcticbull wrote: post #124
est31 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are totally right that Linux is only a single digit percentage in user share if you look at all computers deployed world-wide. However, in the developer sphere, GNU/Linux is way more represented. In the Stack Overflow 2020 survey, 26% of people said they were using a Linux based OS [0]. This number has been gradually increasing over the years so further growth is expectable. It's less than one percent less than t…

Every company I've worked at for the last 10 years has developed exclusively on macOS. Linux is fine, but it doesn't just work, and it needs to in order to gain a foothold not just in the developer community but with the general public -- that's the lesson Android has taught us. Until it does it will not budge the numbers. It just won't. The real apologism here comes from the Linux community, who believes that by vir…

I think Ubuntu 20.10 with Gnome 3.38 is a viable alternative to macOS, for developers.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#323

Post by anonymousse1234 »

aembleton wrote: post #183
brnt wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even so, I install Ubuntu on a wide range of machines, laptops included, and I can't recall having any hardware related issues since, oh, 2005 or so? Parent must be very unlucky, or in fact not realise it is their tweaking and tuning that causes issues.

Agreed apart from fingerprint scanners on laptops.

And LTE modems. And sleep and suspend. Oh there is also this bug with screen locking that shows your desktop for few seconds. Oh and with dual graphic chipsets too.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#324

Post by indymike »

novok wrote: post #7

Thanks for summarizing a bunch of changes that make me depressed about modern computing. Now Android, 'privacy apple' macOS, iOS & Windows all act in similar way. The only thing left is bad user experience linux.

"The only thing left is bad user experience linux."

I'm not so sure Linux is that bad of a user experience anymore. I just switched back to Kubuntu from MacOS and Windows 10. The only app I really need that I can't run on Linux is Xcode for building iOS apps. I can't really think of one hardware feature that doesn't work better under Kubuntu than Windows or MacOS: printer works, bluetooth works way better, multiple displays work, sleep/suspend works, sound works better, USB works better (Linux will mount and connect to stuff that Windows and MacOS won't) and that's before we even talk battery. The biggest surprise is that I'm getting 4-5 hours of battery with Kubuntu out of a Dell XPS-15 (i7 w/ Radeon graphics and 4k display) when Windows would kill the rather large battery in about 35 minutes. Honestly, I've been pleasantly surprised, and I have to go do command line config stuff about as often as I did on the Mac.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#326

Post by ovi256 »

pydry wrote: post #296
eznzt wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what do you expect us to do, install Linux and spend days configuring the touchpad? Computers are a tool we use to do our work. Setting up the computer cannot become a job by itself.

I've spent far more of my life trying to getting development environment shit working on a Mac than I ever have getting touch pads working on Ubuntu. For example, the latest version of Mac OS broke docker - literally today we discovered this.

>latest version of Mac OS broke docker

That's wrong, Docker will run fine on M1/Big Sur after an ARM release and probably some patching. Not too different what you'd expect on any major OS release.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#327

Post by indymike »

microtonal wrote: post #106
fyfy18 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched back (after a Mac stint for 12 years) to Linux a couple of years ago, and although hardware support is much better there are still some very sharp edges you could easily bleed out on if you briefly touch. I have a ThinkPad T470s running Arch Linux (I also tried Fedora and Ubuntu and saw these there too): - Desktop performance is too poor to run at 4K, even though it works fine in Windows. I'm not talking p…

Desktop performance is too poor to run at 4K, even though it works fine in Windows. I have used 4k with Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA GPUs on Linux (both Wayland and X11) and it is a smooth as it is on macOS. My only data point is GNOME though, because I am happy enough to never try another DE. I fully agree with Bluetooth problems. I just gave up and use a wired headphone with mic now :(. But yeah compared to macOS or Wind…

"I think the more serious problem is the lack of applications like Microsoft Office, the Adobe Suite, the Affinity Suite, OmniGroup applications, etc."

I'd buy Affinity again if I could use it on Linux. I'm hoping that MS does port Office as it will make me stop wondering why I pay for Office Live (365 or whatever they call it this week).

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#328

Post by crististm »

zepto wrote: post #59

For most people, if there computer was ‘theirs’, it would be that way for about 10 minutes until it was pwned by a bad actor. The general issue of other people (I.e. Apple et al) having a lot of control over your computer, is entirely valid even if some of the points in the piece are exaggerations. The problem is that people want it that way. They are in fact correct that computers are scary and too complex for them…

"Stallman [...] really didn’t do much to solve the real problems" - I beg your pardon but when was he appointed with this responsibility?

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#329

Post by kristianpaul »

I feel it never was mine anyway anyway: - The proprietary firmware blob to make gpu/video work - Whatever happen on wifi/modem module that i cant control/know - The Embedded Controller that i cant control or inspect either - That code that allows the cpu to boot and initialize

That list could easily keep going.

At the end for me its about having alternatives what matters so i can pick what to trust and what to control fully, probably thats part the Freedom that software can give to a material/physical world that isn't ours anyway.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#330

Post by scns »

29athrowaway wrote: post #322
arcticbull wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every company I've worked at for the last 10 years has developed exclusively on macOS. Linux is fine, but it doesn't just work, and it needs to in order to gain a foothold not just in the developer community but with the general public -- that's the lesson Android has taught us. Until it does it will not budge the numbers. It just won't. The real apologism here comes from the Linux community, who believes that by vir…

I think Ubuntu 20.10 with Gnome 3.38 is a viable alternative to macOS, for developers.

I'd say Mint with Cinnamon, since you can install the 20.10 Kernel from the Update Manager.
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