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The Joy of Slow Computing

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Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#21

Post by agumonkey »

teekert wrote: post #15

This article puts into words how I have always felt but never could explain. Slow computing, a nice term. It is indeed about awareness, and very much about taking ownership. When I got Nginx running HTTPS with a valid cert, or sent my first mail with postfix/dovecot/roundcube it felt like I did it and that I owned the server and the software. Getting it all working taught me a lot about the fundamentals of the intern…

Spent 10+ years trying to grok music on my own, I understand the bliss of finally seeing the big picture. I wish it was mentioned more often, but things are mostly what they should be.

Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#23

Post by icebraining »

superuser2 wrote: post #18
mark_l_watson wrote: post #3

As much as I enjoy playing with my Linux, OS X, and Windows 8.1 laptops, I have thought of going the free and privacy enhanced mode of Linux, running my OwnCloud, etc. The thing that holds me back is that I really rely on my Android smartphone for being able to SSH to a server anytime, write, and generally work on most stuff, only slower. The problem is that smart phones track us, even with custimization and are not…

>smart phones track us How do you imagine participating in a network such that it isn't tracking you? - Identifying which port/antenna it's receiving you on (i.e. switching tables, tower pings) is tracking. - Tagging your traffic with your unique identifier (i.e. MAC and IP addresses) is tracking. - Figuring out where to send replies to your requests is impossible without extensive, persistent tracking. How do you ha…

You can't transmit things without facilitating the tracking of where you are transmitting from.

True, but cellphones are constantly checking in to the network, even if they aren't transmitting any actual data. In theory, a cellphone could remain passive, waiting for a pager-like signal indicating there's an inbound connection waiting, and then iff the user wants to accept it, indicate its current position to the network.

I suppose a poor-man’s version could be achieved by carrying both a pager and a cellphone (turned off or in airplane mode), and having a gateway that would retransmit your SMSs and missed call notifications to the pager.

Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#24

Post by NeutronBoy »

icebraining wrote: post #23
superuser2 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>smart phones track us How do you imagine participating in a network such that it isn't tracking you? - Identifying which port/antenna it's receiving you on (i.e. switching tables, tower pings) is tracking. - Tagging your traffic with your unique identifier (i.e. MAC and IP addresses) is tracking. - Figuring out where to send replies to your requests is impossible without extensive, persistent tracking. How do you ha…

You can't transmit things without facilitating the tracking of where you are transmitting from. True, but cellphones are constantly checking in to the network, even if they aren't transmitting any actual data. In theory, a cellphone could remain passive, waiting for a pager-like signal indicating there's an inbound connection waiting, and then iff the user wants to accept it, indicate its current position to the netwo…

> waiting for a pager-like signal indicating there's an inbound connection waiting, and then iff the user wants to accept it, indicate its current position to the network.

So you page the entire network globally to find the device?

Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#25

Post by PaulRobinson »

I'm not sure I like the idea of calling the use of open source tools "slow computing", and connecting it up in people's minds the way we think about a middle-class fashion.

Or maybe I'm just concerned about the middle class hipsters choosing open source tools ironically or without thought. It might give it an air of exclusion it does not - can not - deserve. I don't want open source tools to become equivalent to a mini penny farthing.

But if it makes people sit up and think the way Whole Foods and the organic food movement has, well, maybe it could work.

Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#26

Post by radoslawc »

Article however good, and making valid points (I'm so to speak "slow computerist" myself) is a bit chaotic.

"with Ubuntu, a free-and-open operating system managed by a U.K.-based company and a large network of volunteers. It’s one of the more user-friendly variants of Linux, which first appeared in 1991 when a student at the University of Helsinki wrote his own version of a then-popular operating system invented at AT&T in the 1970s."

what appeared first? Linux or Ubuntu? Linus "wrote" Ubuntu? Can't really tell from this mess. And it's GNU/Linux or Linux distribution not version btw.

"Emacs, a program first developed in the mid-’70s that runs on a text-only terminal screen."

Well back in the days sure, for past I guess 20 years it has GUI version.

"There are no fonts or wizards. But it displays multiple files side-by-side and plays Tetris."

No fonts?

Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#27

Post by mauricemir »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #25

I'm not sure I like the idea of calling the use of open source tools "slow computing", and connecting it up in people's minds the way we think about a middle-class fashion. Or maybe I'm just concerned about the middle class hipsters choosing open source tools ironically or without thought. It might give it an air of exclusion it does not - can not - deserve. I don't want open source tools to become equivalent to a mi…

Especially as 99.99% of HPC clusters are running Linux or some unix variant.

So this dual Xenon 72 Core system is slow - Subs are so cute just like 6 year olds pretending to be like mommy and daddy

Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#28

Post by jcbrand »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #3

As much as I enjoy playing with my Linux, OS X, and Windows 8.1 laptops, I have thought of going the free and privacy enhanced mode of Linux, running my OwnCloud, etc. The thing that holds me back is that I really rely on my Android smartphone for being able to SSH to a server anytime, write, and generally work on most stuff, only slower. The problem is that smart phones track us, even with custimization and are not…

My 2c.

I host my own mail server, owncloud, RSS reader, bookmarker, blog and a bunch of other stuff.

I don't particularly like sysadmin tasks or having to update stuff and then hope that nothing breaks, but I love the fact that I'm in control of my data and my computing experience.

On my phone I've been using Android without a Google account and I use the F-droid app store.

There are definitely still ways I'm being surveilled. That's just life in the 21st century I guess.

However, what I love about FOSS is that the software is not exploitative or antagonistic. So much closed-sourced software or Saas apps use sleazy, user-hostile tactics.

This is just not a problem with Free software. Yes, the UIs are sometimes bad or lacking and there might be bugs, but the whole spirit behind the software is, for me, so much more positive. I don't feel like I'm constantly fighting against software designed to exploit me.

Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#29

Post by msh »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #3

As much as I enjoy playing with my Linux, OS X, and Windows 8.1 laptops, I have thought of going the free and privacy enhanced mode of Linux, running my OwnCloud, etc. The thing that holds me back is that I really rely on my Android smartphone for being able to SSH to a server anytime, write, and generally work on most stuff, only slower. The problem is that smart phones track us, even with custimization and are not…

Why would your smartphone hold you back from securing other parts of your computer experience?

Just because your smartphone is insecure it dont mean that there are no value in securing the rest of your computer enviroment.

Re: The Joy of Slow Computing

#30

Post by chriswarbo »

> The May First team has a record of resistance to snooping law enforcement agencies; over the phone, McClelland told me about the security system they’d built around the servers, which relays its data outside U.S. borders.

Hmm... If I remember correctly, sending data outside the US will cause the US security agencies to treat it as "foreign", and hence a legitimate target for surveillance.

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