Easter Linux thoughts

Discussion
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We are always renewing things
Change is the way our society and our world functions

No OS lasts forever
Linux today differs from the early releases of 25 years ago
What will Linux be tomorrow?

We all have confidence that things will survive
But in a changed form, embodying some of the better things of today
That applies to us too
And that, we all know, is what Easter is all about
A celebration of renewal
tuxeaster

Change follows disaster
It is almost a universal law
The inverse of “aint broke dont fix it”
So take advantage of Linux trouble spots
They are an opportunity
frisun

slightly early but
Happy Easter everyone.

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I had to check the dates because it is indeed a bit early :wink:

Happy Easter

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Yes, next week is Holy week.
I like to get in ahead of the crowd.
Easter week in Australia is almost an institution. We live in a holiday area, and it is always busy with visitors at Easter.

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Hi Neville, :wave:

Thanks a lot. I wish the same to you and your family. :heart:

Many greetings from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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Sorry, but too many changes are too rapid, and designed to upset people who are too old to adjust or perhaps simply not as clever as we think we are.

Just one trivial example: in the Windows file explorer you can no longer copy, paste etc with a right click; you have to click on stupid icons that you didn’t see because they were not there before, and are so incomprehensible to many. If those geeks really had to fix that thing that was working, they could at least have kept the old while providing their useless new.

As I’ve already said, the solution should be to to provide an OS that’s stable with respect to maintaining a choice of established UI and applications, the stability being ensured by the availability of an independent second source. Regarding other branches of technology, state authorities refuse to adopt anything that isn’t second sourced: we see every day that anyone and any organisation can suddenly go mad with unfortunate consequences.

To conclude, “personal” computers were introduced more than forty years ago; perhaps it would be time now to stop fiddling around and settle down a bit.

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I turned 78 recently. I use rolling release distros. That sort of change does not bother me. In some ways it is gentler than occasional drastic new releases.
But there are other sorts of change

 the Windows file explorer you can no longer copy, paste etc with a right click; you have to click on stupid icons

That is exactly the sort of disaster I am referring to. It should be followed by a renewal. Most users deal with it by deciding to use something else that is more suitable. … another app or a whole new OS.
That is what I am saying… enjoy the opportunity to renew things
but noone wants that happening every day


[quote="crl, post:5, topic:10371"]
, “personal” computers were introduced more than forty years ago; perhaps it would be time now to stop fiddling around and settle down a bit.
[/quote]

The best example of that is Android. You have to give Google credit. They took all the good bits out of Linux and froze it. Android is the most successful OS ever… because they did exactly what you indicated above. It is stable and friendly and everyone uses it. It is also very restrictive and non-experimental. Some renewals are just like Easter Sunday.

We see all the time in itsFOSS forum , users encountering some annoying Linux issue. That is their Good Friday. Mosty they come out of it by making some change and get to enjoy their new configuration. That is their Easter Sunday. If you dont like my analogy, that is fine, but you cant escape the truth… renewal follows disaster.

Regards
Neville

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Thankfully I stopped using it 11 years ago - and - the last 5 or so years, didn’t use my employer issued Windows 10 laptop, I brought my own Ubuntu laptop in and docked it…

Linux (pointing the finger at YOU Gnome Developers) removed slow double click rename from the file manager (Nautilus)… they not only removed it - they didn’t even offer it as a configuration toggle! WTF? In Thunar and Nemo is a configurable (it’s off by default).

I loved MacOS 6 and 7 (slow double click to rename) - and then Microsoft plonked it in Windows 95 (amazed Apple didn’t try to sue them - maybe they stole it of Xerox or even X Windows) and it was a feature (or a toggle on / off option) in most Linux desktop DE’s - even the files app (Nautilus?) in Ubuntu Unity - then - it disappeared, and wasn’t even configurable…

Did they even ask anyone???

Also - despite being a lifelong (and even diehard) atheist, I enjoy the odd chocolate googie (Aussie for egg) and hot-cross-bun - so happy Easter…

Also - my birthday always falls around Easter - it’s on next Monday - I spoiled myself after a shitty fortnight (someone stole my latest e-scooter from my carport in the space of 45 minutes when my daughter went out and either left it roller door up, or it re-opened itself [very occasionally does that]) - I found out it was only going to cost me $350 to pay for my mate getting my Harley running again (after not being started for 3-4 years - I expected to pay $2000-3000 or so) - so I had a bit of cash left in the kitty - got a NEW scooter to replace the stolen one…

That scooter that got stolen had an Apple Airtag on it - proved to be UTTERLY useless locating my scooter! Eventually found the AirTag about a 5 min walk from my house, 6 days after it was stolen, hacksawed through the steel cable…

And that prompted / nudged me to do my own investigation of my old old previous e-scooter - which was basically a non-goer - the shop I bought it from wanted to slug me $990 to repair it 3 months out of warranty (for something that cost just over $1000!). I reckon I can actually fix my old scooter! Either as a spare, or for my other daughter to use, or sell and recoup some of my losses. It just looks like burned out cables between the controller and the motor - the controller looks fine to me - capacitors not blown… and even if it’s still fails, I can get a new controller for $40 on e-bay… and if that still doesn’t fix it - I can get a new motor / wheel off e-bay for $150 (and 500W to replace 350W!)…

Also - got myself an off-road e-scooter… I was going to also use that to commute sometimes, but have since discovered these are only legal on public land in Queensland (cops here in WA seize and destroy them). But there’s plenty of bush nearby and a huge vacant open area across the road from my house…

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You need to deface the new scooter . eg carve a message “stolen from daniel” into the frame in a visible position.

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That reminds me somehow a short story:
A man in the pub had to go to the toilet, but was afraid, someone will drink his beer he just ordered, and the pint was almost full.
So he decided to put a label onto it, and wrote onto that label: “I spat in it.”
And went away.
When ha came back, an additional script was on the label:
“Me too!”.

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An athiest thinks that the Universe’s operating system has no creator and no maintenance team. A theist thinks that there is at least one creator of the UOS, opinions vary on maintenance. A monotheist thinks there is exactly one. A polytheist thinks there is a whole team of maintainers
“Physics is the universe’s OS”… I forget whose quote it is

So Linux, or at least GNU/Linux is polytheistic… there are many maintainers, and many creators. There may be some OS that is monotheistic, but it is rare. Too big a job for one brain.

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Forgive my ignorance, but exactly what is an e-scooter? We have public scooters on the streets of Portland that are battery-powered, and Harley is close to marketing an electric motorcycle, but I haven’t heard of an e-scooter. My imagination conjures something along the lines of an electric Vespa but haven’t seen those either.

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Get a bit of hi-tensile steel chain and a padlock with hardened shank. Only thing that will cut that is an angle grinder or an oxy.

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An e-scooter is exactly that : i.e. “public scooters” with battery-power, for hire, are e-scooters - they’re a bit of a menace, because any idiot can come along and ride one, and they cause more e-waste than the carbon they’re intended to replace. They also cause the rest of the responsible private scooter owners / users to be tarred with the same brush (and yes, there are idiots out there on highpowered e-scooters travelling at motorcycle speeds on footpaths and cyclepaths).

Note also : Harley Davidson do have an electric motorcycle. Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman rode a pair of pre-manufacture ready for production prototypes from Chile up the Andes to California in their most recent doco (with electric RV / SUVs as road crew) : 2020 : “Long Way Up” - the Livewire - nearly the price of Tesla car in Australia ($50K AUD for the bike!) - I’d still like one.

Note also there are “Vespa” style scooters with electric “engines” too… My favourite one is a hybrid looking beast by BMW :

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These days thieves carry around battery powered angle grinders… But yes - I had a proper “D-Lock” on my scooter with a cable loop which I used when riding to the shops, or at the lockup facility at work - but - I DIDN’T USE it when parked at home, with the carport roller door shut - all the time (but not “all the time” apparently) - I didn’t think I needed it at home…

I’ve seen footage of thieves with battery powered angle grinders stealing valuable bicycles from secure lockup facilities…

Portland? That’s where some of the best music comes from! Brian Jonestown Massacre! YOB! Red Fang! Lord Dying! The Dandy Warhols! Also haven’t finished watch all seasons of Portandia, must do something about that… Pike VS the Automaton! Blackwater Holylight… so many…

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When I bought an oxy set, I had to register with the police and provide 2 witnesses. More strict than gun registration. So how come today anyone can buy an oxy set or a portable angle grinder? Have we abandoned trying to control b&e tools?

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That’s a pretty good looking machine, Dan. Highly stealable!

[after looking it up] but I think I can find a better way to spend $14K (US), to say nothing about the flak that would be coming from the other side of the bed.

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