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How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

gnu.org

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Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#151

I remember back in the old days there was a whole stack of this sort of joke. It started with "How many electrical engineers does it take to change a lightbulb?" "We'll fix the problem in software!" "How many software engineers does it take to change..." All the way through to "How many Microsoft executives does it take to change a lightbulb?" "Darkness. The new standard from Microsoft!" Bonus points for those who co…

"The dark side of the lightbulb is a pathway to many abilities that some consider unnatural."

Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#152

1 user to suggest running the bulb in the cloud and call it "lightning" 1 user to swear by bulb-as-a-service or BaaS

The cloud-based light-as-a-service product is called "The Sun." It is prone to frequent outages but they are almost always resolved within 24 hours.

I don't trust the Sun or light-as-a-service, I want to live completely self-sustained without relying on external light sources whose terms of use may or may not change next year.

Sure, the Sun is free now, but that will change once they figure out how to monetize it.

Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#153
post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cloud-based light-as-a-service product is called "The Sun." It is prone to frequent outages but they are almost always resolved within 24 hours.

I don't trust the Sun or light-as-a-service, I want to live completely self-sustained without relying on external light sources whose terms of use may or may not change next year. Sure, the Sun is free now , but that will change once they figure out how to monetize it.

Originally, Sol offered open core with a premium "cult" option, but the support was nonexistent and eventually most of the customers cancelled.

Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#154
That last part... so this is a real incident that happened to me: I am originally from Ukraine. I came to the US a long time ago but was in Ukraine as a teenager. My father and his father also live in the US. One day my father asked me to come over and help him finish building his fence so I did. When I got there the two of them were working on it and it turned out that my help would consist of driving them to Home Depot with my slightly larger than my father’s car to bring some wooden planks and hardware back. So the three of us go and pick out the planks (that could have probably easily fit into my father’s car but whatever) and then we hit a crisis: they needed to pick a gate latch as the final bit of hardware. We go to the correct aisle and the two of them start looking for the correct kind of latch. My grandfather who was born in a small village not too much prior to WWII immediately goes to the very end of the section and picks up the cheapest latch that costs $0.49 and says “this is clearly the best choice.” My father goes next to him and picks out a $0.79 latch that is 30 cents nicer and says “I don’t want a cheap latch. I want this fence and gate to look nice.” My grandfather counters with “this is just a latch. Who cares how nice it is?” My father counters with “this is my fence and I don’t want to be embarrassed about how it looks. Quality matters.” My grandfather responds with something like “it’s not the latch that matters it’s how you build it.” They went on like this for about 15 minutes. Eventually I came up and grabbed a $1.19 latch and said “how about I just buy you this one and we can get out of here?” to which both of them responded with “you can’t do that. You don’t know what you are talking about.” To which I said “it’s my money and this thing costs so little that why would it matter?” My grandfather countered with “then you are clearly not good with money, spending too dollar on something like a latch. They are all the same, so why pay more?” This is when a Home Depot employee approached us to ask if we needed any help and was told by my father that no we were all set and we found the latch we needed (the one he was holding). The employee walked away clearly knowing we were far from all set but also knowing full well that this was a family matter. After 15 more minutes my father put his foot down and went to the checkout and bought the $0.79 latch. The ride home was very tense and silent though my grandfather did help him install the latch when we got back.

I am still not sure what the moral of the story is but since then I have been fortunate enough to not need to advice anyone on gate latch choices.

Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#155
post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't trust the Sun or light-as-a-service, I want to live completely self-sustained without relying on external light sources whose terms of use may or may not change next year. Sure, the Sun is free now , but that will change once they figure out how to monetize it.

Originally, Sol offered open core with a premium "cult" option, but the support was nonexistent and eventually most of the customers cancelled.

Yeah, some users weren't ok with human sacrifice... bunch of freeloaders!

Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#157
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be aware you need to pass: lightctl --user --room # command Per room session otherwise you'll control all the lighting and annoy other users.

Single-user deployments are fairly common in the gnu lightblub crowd.

Very insecure to run all your light bulbs in the same user context. I use SELightBulb to isolate light bulb actions. If you add PAM and pam-fingerprint you can require a fingerprint to alter lightbulb state for better security. Advise two-factor unless you really don't care for electricity at all.

Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Single-user deployments are fairly common in the gnu lightblub crowd.

Very insecure to run all your light bulbs in the same user context. I use SELightBulb to isolate light bulb actions. If you add PAM and pam-fingerprint you can require a fingerprint to alter lightbulb state for better security. Advise two-factor unless you really don't care for electricity at all.

If electricity isn't your worry, might I suggest installing your lightbulbs in a complete virtual environment?

Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#159

> 1 to remind everyone that the right name is GNU/Lightbulb it still cracks me up everytime I read it :D

I always wanted to port a BSD userspace to Linux just so I could counter-correct someone who corrects me to GNU/Linux.

Busybox or Toybox should cover that :D

Re: How many GNU/Linux users are needed to change a light bulb?

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Darkness. The new standard from Microsoft!" Thanks, you owe me a new keyboard... and incidentally, a new cup of tea :D

"Darkness. The new standard from Microsoft!" TBH, this line is more likely to said by Apple these days.

There will be significant difference in marketing and pricing.

Hello, and welcome back. I am really excited for today and the news we have to share with you. I present to you the incredibly capable and affordable iDarkness.

iDarkness - the most magical way to live and be environmentally friendly at the same time. Starting at only $999. Lightbulb not included.

iDarkness Air Max - live free from light with a maximum air around you. True liberating way to live without any fear. Just breathe and smile. Only $3599. Lightbulb not included.

iDarkness Air Max Pro. Be a professional at any time and place. Don't think at all. Just scream. Siri will think for you and automatically subscribe to all iServices. iDarkness Air Max Pro is the future of personal Darkness reimagined. Starting from $9999. Telemetry included free of charge.

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