• 2 Posts
  • 22 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
cake
Cake day: June 18th, 2023

help-circle




  • Ideologically Ubuntu makes me cringe, but I also use Google and a host of other technologies that fuck my privacy, so I guess I have accepted the world we live in.

    In the same way that I think it’s noble when people try to live waste free, I think it’s noble to use things like GrapheneOS, or selfhost all your services, or de-Google your tech. But it’s unrealistic for all of the world to live waste-free or customize their tech so as to be private. In the end, the government needs to step in and force these giant-ass companies to behave better, because they are the primary forces pushing forward the destruction of the environment and personal privacy.



  • jwiggler@sh.itjust.workstolinuxmemes@lemmy.worldSeen this countless times
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    Hate saying it, but Ubuntu just works for me. I’d rather focus my computer configuration and maintenance efforts on clients rather than my own laptop. If I have to reinstall for whatever reason, its pretty easy because I’m already very familiar with the (shitty) installer, and I don’t do much customizing because I’d rather not have to go through that every time I reinstall.

    Granted I’ve never even bothered to run Arch, or any really other desktop distro for that matter. Ubuntu + Gnome looks nice, seems to just work, all I need to do is apt install nvidia drivers and firefox post-install and I’m up and running. I don’t want to do work on my laptop, I want my laptop to enable me to do work.


  • Dude. I found a working baratza preciso at savers for $11 a couple days after I realized the same thing and decided I’d start hunting for an espresso grinder.

    It was the perfect confluence of timing, interest in making different style coffees, and unwillingness to spend a fortune.

    Undoubtedly my best thrift store find.

    Now I can get pretty much like 75% of the way to real espresso (won’t get crema, but whatever) with my free secondhand aeropress and my $11 grinder. It’s amazing. Another $15 for a milk frother and I’m making yummy cappuccino style drinks easy peasy



  • Hell yeah. I just read Guards, Guards! by Pratchett and I’m working through LotR again. Dune is amazing, but I haven’t continued past the original so maybe I’ll read those next.

    If you’re into history, I’ve been listening to The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, it focuses on each major historical event from the perspective of the regular individual person rather than focusing on the people who happened to be in power during them, and it’s pretty good so far. I also read Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky, and that was life changing. Those are two pretty political ones, though.

    In terms of fiction Id recommend Cormac McCarthy – either The Road or Blood Meridian – The Road is a post apocalyptic story about a father traversing through the ashen environment with his son, while Blood Meridian is a brutal Western set in the 1800s. With both of these, it’s not as much about plot as it is about the poetry of the writing.

    I haven’t read a scifi book in a minute, but I haven’t seen a lot of people recommend A Canticle for Leibowitz. It’s three separate-but-connected short post-apocalyptic stories that follow the gradual resurgence of humans after a nuclear event. It’s really subtle in that it doesn’t slam you with like a whole universe and systems like Dune, but it’s expertly written and hits some pretty thought provoking topics. Def underrated.





  • jwiggler@sh.itjust.workstoLinux@lemmy.mlUbuntu or pop! os
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    11 months ago

    I’ve been using Ubuntu for the past 6 years, haven’t tried another distro because I’m so comfortable here. Could you tell me why you think others are so much better?

    Maybe I should switch, but I think my experience in Ubuntu might outweigh the negatives that it has ie I might just know how to deal with it’s peculiarities and I don’t even realize



  • I’m listening to wages of rebellion right now. It’s so infuriating being reminded of the shit we live in the US.

    It’s good, and I’ll definitely finish it, but so far hasn’t scratched my itch. I guess I feel like most of the atrocities perpetuated by the corporate state are already apparent to the public, but accepted. The idea of freedom of privacy, freedom of speech, they’re just illusions. People just accept that radical political speakers, even if they are non-violent, are locked up. They just accept that the corporations and state lull them into placidity with consumerism and entertainment. It feels good and is convenient.

    I mean, me too. I really like the convenience of being able to turn on and dim my houselights with my voice. I really like being able to keep in contact with my friends and family using my smartphone. But these things are at the cost of my privacy. An everyday individual does not have a choice to opt out of being tracked short of using a dumb phone and never using the Internet, which simply is not realistic, and still does not ensure complete privacy, as I understand it. It’s insanity.

    I’m gonna continue on, maybe with Blackshirts or Why Socialim? by Einstein, but I’m also interested in reading some Chomsky (maybe not necessarily about Socialism? but seems like an interesting dude)

    Thanks for the recommendation!


  • I work IT doing linux administration stuff for a research company. I’d say its a 7-8/10. Some days are difficult. I know a good amount, but don’t really have anyone to guide me, which is difficult. I’m the most experienced Linux person here, and I have ~4 years experience, so…

    What’s nice is it’s a really relaxed environment and pay’s not bad. Just not a great place to learn/progress in my linux administration skills