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Using computers more freely and safely

akkartik.name

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Re: Using computers more freely and safely

#11

Post by fractalnetworks »

pjc50 wrote: post #9

This is the "just eat less" dieting advice applied to software. I understand the desire to grow your own food and bake your own bread, as a response to the onerous, distressing complexity of the systems we live inside, but you have to accept the cost of that being more work and less connection.

The move towards "growing your own food" or "baking your own bread" in the software sense does not necessarily equate to more work and less connection. On the contrary, it can lead to a deeper understanding and mastery of technology, fostering a sense of empowerment and self-sufficiency. Developing one's software or systems can provide tailored solutions to meet specific needs, which could result in less work in the long run because the tools are perfectly designed for their intended use.

Not to mention platforms like the one we develop makes deploying free software based self-hosted solutions push button, so there really isn't any excuse for sticking to the faceless "crowdware" providers.

Re: Using computers more freely and safely

#13

Post by II2II »

nickelpro wrote: post #4
forgotmypw17 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to crap on something, but I'm pretty happy with this system. I use: Trisquel GNU/Linux IntelliJ 2019.3 Perl, PGP, and text files About 20 different web browsers My own web-based information manager And yes, I sometimes use Word 97 for writing. And I'm pretty happy with it.

Every single thing on your list (except the info manager and maybe more obscure web browsers) has tens of thousands into the hundreds of millions of users. Except for the web browsers, none of the things you listed are the result of or otherwise benefited from meaningful forks. You will never understand, much less be able to make meaningful edits in afternoon to, the entire Linux kernel. Likely much the same for Perl…

It is probably best to say the author's advice is not practical and, for most people, not desirable. It is also worth adding the solution is problematic in the sense that being able to understand software from top to bottom is a skill set that few developers even have, even for the most trivial of applications. Most developers build their software on the shoulders of others.

That said, the author's point about the trustworthiness of software is valid. In most cases software is more complex than individual users need it to be (and it is like that to serve a wider audience since software development is expensive). The complexity makes the software more vulnerable while making it easy to hide malicious intent.

Re: Using computers more freely and safely

#14

Post by halicarnassus »

While the premise of the post is interesting, I've stopped reading it when reaching "a computer from 2015 is 2-5 times slower than an Apple 2e from 1986 just at reading a keystroke and displaying it on screen" and only scanned the rest.

If oversimplifications are being used to prove a point, the argument becomes weak.

I actually read it some months ago, because I'm interested in the smol net, and I use and like the Gemini protocol quite a lot.

Unfortunately this post rants against perceived software obesity quite unreflectedly.

Re: Using computers more freely and safely

#15

Post by jacquesm »

nickelpro wrote: post #7
leroy-is-here wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you missed the point.

I read the whole thing, they have a section called "the punchline" that restates those bullet points. If the point isn't "the punchline", and the text certainly supports that is indeed the point, I'm not sure what is. What do you think the point is?

The point is: systems that are used by smaller numbers of people can have some intrinsic benefits that you may not be aware of.

Re: Using computers more freely and safely

#16

Post by jacquesm »

halicarnassus wrote: post #14

While the premise of the post is interesting, I've stopped reading it when reaching "a computer from 2015 is 2-5 times slower than an Apple 2e from 1986 just at reading a keystroke and displaying it on screen" and only scanned the rest. If oversimplifications are being used to prove a point, the argument becomes weak. I actually read it some months ago, because I'm interested in the smol net, and I use and like the G…

Pity you stopped reading there because that point has some pretty solid support:

https://danluu.com/input-lag/

Re: Using computers more freely and safely

#17

Post by Roark66 »

forgotmypw17 wrote: post #3
nickelpro wrote: post #2

[flagged]

It's easy to crap on something, but I'm pretty happy with this system. I use: Trisquel GNU/Linux IntelliJ 2019.3 Perl, PGP, and text files About 20 different web browsers My own web-based information manager And yes, I sometimes use Word 97 for writing. And I'm pretty happy with it.

I collect old computing equipment and I have a number of machines that run old software. The biggest problem with old operating systems (mostly Windows, but others too) is that modern web is unusable without TLS3 and back porting that to old browsers is pretty much impossible...

How many times "I just wanted to download one file" on a windows 98 machine. The only "solution" is to maintain a proxy running a modern OS that renders modern web as image maps.

As for Word 97,I remember when it was new. I also remember when Microsoft went to the "new" ribbon interface (it was much later, 2016 perhaps?) I hated it, my users hated it... Fast forward a decade and last time I tried to use pre-ribbon office product It was extremely inconvenient to use. I don't know if it is due to high dpi screens or something else. This and lack of good dictionaries is the main reason why I continue to pay for MS office instead of using Libre office (or one of ancient office products I own) for example.

Re: Using computers more freely and safely

#18

Post by forgotmypw17 »

nickelpro wrote: post #10
iinnPP wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You don't have to do all this. Their benefits are additive, but acting on even one of these suggestions is better than nothing."

forgotmypw17 doesn't appear to follow any of these points except incidentally (most modern web browsers are forks of one another for complexity reasons, their preferred document editor is an EOL closed-source product therefore doesn't get updates)

If you look closely, each of them has a place in my regimen.

Re: Using computers more freely and safely

#19

Post by forgotmypw17 »

Roark66 wrote: post #17
forgotmypw17 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to crap on something, but I'm pretty happy with this system. I use: Trisquel GNU/Linux IntelliJ 2019.3 Perl, PGP, and text files About 20 different web browsers My own web-based information manager And yes, I sometimes use Word 97 for writing. And I'm pretty happy with it.

I collect old computing equipment and I have a number of machines that run old software. The biggest problem with old operating systems (mostly Windows, but others too) is that modern web is unusable without TLS3 and back porting that to old browsers is pretty much impossible... How many times "I just wanted to download one file" on a windows 98 machine. The only "solution" is to maintain a proxy running a modern OS…

Half the browsers I use are still compatible with HN despite being 10+ years old. The other half I mostly use on my own websites, which allow plain HTTP.
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