The good things in the current age in tech

Post by high_5 » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 7:44 AM UTC

DethNinja wrote: post #42

I don’t want to dox myself but I’m currently solo developing an application that would’ve took a company of minimum 100 to build just 15 years ago. People are amazed when they see the stuff I solo built and imagine there is a huge company behind it. It is all because of advances in DevOps, cheap server infrastructure, and good quality open source libraries. It is actually scary to see this first hand because human pr…

Post by hellbannedguy » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 7:52 AM UTC

tapan_jk wrote: post #50

kaycebasques wrote: post #13

My unfiltered additions: * SpaceX. I have lots of reservations about the company but the fact that they are consistently doing things previously thought impossible is very important for humanity in general. * The new Dune movie was downright amazing. The CGI was believable and an important part of the story. * AI-generated art. Fascinating. * Wikipedia. Wow. * I can invest in lots of different assets relatively easil…

> Our civilization will make the transition. It will be messy and could have been much less painful but we will do it. I wish to see this kind of positivity around me more often. I have worked with a colleague or two in the past who viewed problems as something that needed to be solved, and were a step or two ahead of the rest of us in terms of finding solutions. Lately, I see that the default reaction to problems is…

Post by jart » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 8:13 AM UTC

jrumbut wrote: post #53

jart wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because the distribution is being controlled by central entities, e.g. distros, app stores, etc. People mostly gave up trying to distribute release binaries on their own. Independent distribution now happens primarily by sharing the source. So the whole not working aspect is still very much alive for source builds, which rarely work; at least, not unless you run them inside a Docker container that's exactly th…

That's very true, and those central distribution channels are a mixed blessing. The Docker containers are beneficial though! At least now I have an example of a system where the software works to dissect and if my use case is a one-off I can run it in the Docker container then move on with my life.

Post by KronisLV » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 8:49 AM UTC

qPM9l3XJrF wrote: post #35

>Debian has been an extremely reliable distro that i've used in a number of scenarios and has largely avoided the problems that Ubuntu or even CentOS (RIP) have run into. What problems are being referred to?

  - Ubuntu introduced snaps as an alternate way of packaging software, however in practice this sometimes means that certain packages migrate over to snaps only
  - not only is this challenging from the perspective of wanting to pin specific versions of packages to be used, but also sometimes presents problems in regards to how the software runs and how it uses the file system
  - in regards to server software that shouldn't matter too much, but when you're trying to install a browser for something like automation (say, Selenium), i've found that the count of moving parts is directly proportional to the chances of things breaking (e.g. Java --> Selenium library --> Gecko webdriver --> local browser and how it's installed --> the actual site that you want to test)
  - Debian is also known for including slightly older (and sometimes better tested) software in its releases, so even though they will usually be behind Ubuntu, they can be good for when you want things to "just work" (e.g. how many pick CentOS over Fedora for particular setups)
  - as for CentOS, i rather enjoyed its longer life cycle, however towards the end of its life, i found some packages breaking without clear reasons
  - for example, a regular update once ruined my install of xrdp, so i could no longer graphically connect to the server (needed it for a niche use case)
  - now, this is perhaps more of a nitpick rather than an outright problem, but there's a divide between DEB and RPM distros and how they do things, for example, how Apache2/httpd has both different names and different configurations on those distros, for seemingly no good reason
  - also, depending on what you're doing, SELinux can have missing policies and cause issues with the software you're trying to run (there was this kerfuffle a few years ago about Docker (maybe Swarm) not playing nicely with the firewall on CentOS; i still remember that because someone actually suggested turning it off!)

  - the worst problem by far was GRUB breaking and preventing startup after an unattended update: https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/debian-and-grub-are-broken
  - Debian's older software also meant that for a while Ubuntu was a better choice for using WireGuard: https://blog.kronis.dev/tutorials/how-to-publicly-access-your-homelab-behind-nat

Post by makapuf » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 9:14 AM UTC

beebeepka wrote: post #51

musicale wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> keyboards have improved massively Features such as RGB lighting/doubleshot keycaps, Bluetooth, and USB are nice, but for me the massive improvements have been retro features from the 1980s (or earlier), such as electromechanical switches, tactile feedback, keybed curve/sculpting, and well-made, swappable keycaps (including ones made from PBT as well as ABS plastic.) And excepting Apple laptops (I still have the "bu…

My mechanical keyboard allows you to adjust actuation point per key. Never tried this specific feature as it requires installing their software but I do change the global actuation when playing games and coding. Remember old mice? Remember having ps/2 being stuck to 85 Hz, or when you had to trick windows into clocking usb to 250hz, even 500hz and that 1khz was outright impossible? This Quake player remembers