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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: February 13th, 2025

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  • Like how can it be fun?

    So many cool utilities are Linux native first, today.

    When I finally switched my work computer to Linux, various little tools I had been using were suddenly trivial to install, instead of maybe an hour each. I had restored my full favorite toolset in less than 30 minutes, and moved on to exploring things that never worked on Windows, for me.

    The combined feeling, for me, is like when my father user to hand me $5 to shop at our local 10¢ candy store. “I can just have as much of this as I want.”







  • Wanna remove the only way to boot into the computer?

    That example is particularly on point, since I’ve done it (removed the boot bits - oops!) for a few of these, and each time I used a Linux Live boot CD to recover.

    Even if I needed some other tool to repair things, the Linux Live CD went in first to do some backups.


  • One of the levels this joke works on is that ducks and dogs and fish and birds are all among the best adapter to their own niche.

    Some people just need what Microslop, Apple or Google aree peddling, at some moments.

    Another way the joke works is because Linux is still the best, for anyone with a choice. Lol.


  • Yes. Linux can be frustrating too.

    Your post history indicates you’re pushing Linux in some (very!) interesting directions, and impatient for it to work. Linux is (usually) free, and free Linux solutions do move at the pace of free.

    I get it, it can be frustrating.

    It comes across as entitled to be angry at others for enjoying how nice a stock install of Linux Mint can be, while you’re fighting to get Steam to recognize controllers on headless Fedora.

    Heck, I haven’t seen a headless release of Mac or Windows in almost 30 years? I guess I could get my hands on a relatively new headless Windows Server edition meant for automated testing…maybe?

    I’m curious if there’s a community doing what you’re doing on some other OS? It all sounds fascinating, honestly. Any links to resources would be welcome.

    Anyway. What you’re up to sounds hard and interesting! I hope you will share your solutions with the community!

    Linux is a community, and when you’re doing something really interesting, there may not be many members of the community doing the same thing, yet.

    Lots of people surf the web and check email, and yes, we’re having a moment, because many versions of Linux are really nice for surfing the web and checking email, finally.




  • What’s wrong with the MIT License?

    Good question.

    Failure to copyleft contributes to “embrace extent extinguish”, which many of us feel is a constant threat to the ecosystem of our favorite tools.

    For example, Google can make a better expanded XMPP client, and keep extending it until the open XMPP clients are no longer compatible - drawing most of the userbase away from the free open ecosystem. (Source: I fell for that shit, and I lost track of dear friends who I used to regularly chat with over XMPP.)

    MIT license also risks security patches being written by big corporations for their own use, and not getting contributed back to the commons.

    I’m not really sure these risks particularly apply for a ‘cp’ variant, honestly.

    But I’m onboard now with not making anything unnecessarily MIT license.



  • Runs… 95% of my games and emby.

    Nice! Last year, I would have assumed this was hyperbole!

    But I just setup Steam on my new gaming rig recently, and sure enough - at least according to Steam - I have better than 95% compatibility with Linux in my Steam Library.

    I’m sure having a SteamDeck for a few years affected this %, of course.


  • Interesting. I have a Bluetooth headset, but I haven’t used it in months. I may give it a try next week and see if I can make myself late for a meeting I don’t want to attend.

    I try not to wait for a patch on Linux, because many packages move at the speed of volunteerism. Although, I find that Microsoft generally moves at a speed of “well fuck me”, which is…different, at least.

    That doesn’t mean I’m stuck waiting, though. I’ve generally been able to roll back to a version before the bug.

    Searching for “libwireplumber mic crash” brings up a number of solution discussions across a surprising number of OSes.

    As you said, it seems widespread!

    If you share your OS versions, someone here may be able to help with your specific path to relief.

    The arbitrary weeks and months thing is good feedback. Thank you. I often recommend Linux Mint, and I think people like me need to amplify the message “don’t wait, roll back” for new Linux adopters.


  • Yes.

    I’m always nervous about those little black-box mysterybadapters, but I have used them and had them be fine.

    I don’t really know enough about how HDMI works to say if it helps as much as native DisplayPort at both ends.

    I suspect it might help, since some DRM will fail open when it can’t negotiate a restriction. And I imagine those dongles require keeping things simple.

    My use of the adapted setup has been rare - mostly due to not having many such adapters on hand when I’m setting things up.

    Anyway, I feel a little bad passing on my superstition; but it seems to have helped me.

    Worth a shot, I guess.




  • I can’t get the monitor to stay off…

    This is just a shot in the dark, but:

    I recently learned enough about the differences between HDMI and DisplayPort to boil them down in my mind to “HDMI Bad. DisplayPort Good.”

    Wild oversimplification, I know.

    So now, whenever I have display issues of any kind, the first thing I do is upgrade the cable to a DisplayPort cable.

    I mention this specifically because I have felt like my monitor wake and sleep behavior became more predictable.

    Sorry, this idea really is mostly vibes. (Informed by my perception that HDMI has a crazy amount of control signaling which itself is proprietary and inconsistently implemented.)

    But for the cost of an $8 cable, I feel like swapping in a DisplayPort has led to better display outcomes for me.