I can’t think of a single thing I miss. I use Windows for work and it’s a relief every evening when I can switch to my Linux desktop.

Linux Cons:

• there is always some minor thing that doesn’t work quite right, or it takes a lot of searching to find a fix. However this is true on Windows too
• on a fast moving distro things can randomly break here and there, but usually are fixed fast
• some games and apps won’t work. Usually when they’re trying to do something invasive. Be prepared to find an alternative (or dual boot)
• some hardware doesn’t work because the vendor doesn’t provide drivers and no open source version exists. If they are actively blocking foss versions, they’re a good candidate for the never buy list
• no Copilot (/s)
• if you want things to “just work” and you don’t care about personalizing anything and you don’t care about your privacy, you may happier on Windows or Mac because you can just take it to a shop and have them fix it. There are just more resources for an OS that commands 80% of the desktop market

Linux Pros:

• my computer is mine and I can control everything
• I can customize things much more than on Windows
• I can upgrade when I’m ready and opt out of any shenanigans
• Everything I care about works. I switched to open source for photo editing. There was a learning curve, though
• software development, even with Microsoft tools (!), is just much nicer on Linux. You don’t need WSL when it’s already your OS

Workarounds:

• I choose to not buy unsupported hardware
• I choose to not buy unsupported software and games
• I put vendors hostile to freedom on my never buy list (e.g. Adobe)
• I have access to a Windows PC if I need it. But I have not needed it in the last year or so I’ve been full time on Linux

Not saying going full time Linux was necessarily easy (I gave up Adobe Lightroom and I can’t play some AAA games) but I have no regrets. It was actually easier than I had feared.

It’s like diet and exercise: it’s not easy to change but you’ll feel a lot better in the end.

They are most likely referring to the PHQ-9 questionnaire. 25/27 is not great, indicating severe symptoms.

GodOdin

For learning, VMs are fine. Spin up as many as you’d like. Install, duplicate, reinstall, delete at will. I would start there.

Then, while you’re learning, set aside since money to get an SBC or mini pc. That will allow you to keep it running as a server continuously. Phones can work for this, but to act as servers you’ll probably need to root them.

Computers are way more expensive than they used to be but within reach for most people if you can save up for it.

Check thrift stores, Facebook, eBay, the usual suspects. Watch out for PCs stripped for RAM and other shenanigans, though.

Thank you for highlighting that. The example was intended to show the (maybe exaggerated) pathological state of web development and certainly not an example to be followed.

In seriousnes: yes please use a11y friendly markup. It helps your SEO, but more importantly it helps your visitors that use accessibility tools.

It doesn’t have to be hard. I use component libraries that abstract it out and adds the necessary aria attributes and semantic markup for me.

As a bonus my web app development is closer to using the rich component libraries I enjoy in desktop apps. Just be aware of the absolute mess of npm packages that come with it.

That on delete cascade is evil. I love it.

As a developer who has mostly worked with web, but also dabbled in some native app work: It’s not that the web UI frameworks are so much nicer. The native libraries I’ve used, at least, are actually much nicer to work with. I’ve worked with Delphi, Java Swing, various Windows frameworks, etc. React and friends are a chaotic mess in comparison and HTML was not designed for app development. You want a button? Here’s a div, go ahead and style it. Thanks, let me add 500 npm packages to my project.

No, the main reason I prefer to develop web apps is because they’re effortlessly cross-platform and automatically updated and distributed. No maintaining multiple versions. Updates are basically instant and happen across your user base. No code signing or paying to compile code on a Mac. No asking for install permissions on stupidly locked down enterprise workstations. Just deploy and go.

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve needed to create a native app due to some restriction like local file access or device access. Most of the time you’re just entering values into a database, so that can just be a website. PWAs are a pain to develop but they are much easier to deal with once they’re in the wild.

YMMV of course.

Yep. That is the simplest answer. From the link, directing stdout and stderr to a file:

nohup mycommand > mycommand.out 2>&1 &

GNU Screen is an alternative.

You can also use tmux and just disable the mouse by adding this to ~/.tmux.conf

set -g mouse off

I read that they walked it back but only partially. And the fact they tried it tells me they can’t be trusted with my data.

They also make it very difficult to move your data off their NAS once it’s on there, because everything is proprietary.

Your best option remains open source with commodity hardware. Had I known what I know now in 2023, I would have probably just built a low power PC server with TruNAS.

Synology has started enshittifying their products lately by forcing you to only use their hard drives, etc. I have a DS933+, but I’m only using it for file storage and trying not to lock myself into their apps. It works well, but to avoid lock in your only real option is open source.

Earplugs. If those fail, gently poke or push until she turns over, hopefully without waking up.

I read about this previously and I believe the most common criticism was that both humans and LLM only used the EMR for decision making. I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think they only go by the medical record in making decisions in real life.

I world love to hear from actual ED doctors what their take is.

Yes.

Yes, you can get around it that way. You can also just disable it in VSCode settings. I could also just not use VSCode or CoPilot at all. It’s not that can’t be worked around; it’s that we shouldn’t have to. It’s the violation of trust we’re having issues with.

If I copy a solution from SO I usually put in a comment with a link to the answer to cite my source. I don’t mind crediting where credit is due, but claiming co-author for a spelling correction is a bit much.

The bug was fixed, but it still adds itself as co-author by default if you as much as use code completion powered by Copilot.

Combined with the fact that this doesn’t show up in your commit message dialog, and that is nothing but blatant advertising, this is just unacceptable.

I don’t necessarily mind crediting Copilot if it did substantial amount of the work, but it also seems redundant nowadays when AI has become as ubiquitous as using an IDE. Having used it for code completion just doesn’t seem to warrant co-author credit in that context. In other words if I had been able to edit that part of the commit message I’d probably be a lot less annoyed by this.

As it is, it’s just blatant overreach by Microsoft. Microsoft doing Microsoft things. Nothing has changed since the 90s.

Location really matters in Norway, too. On the coast, the climate is pretty temperate with lows just below freezing, whereas up North (with the reindeer), the temperature can drop below -40 in the winter.

I do this if I get sleepy but it’s too early to go to bed. Put my noice cancelling headphones on, close my eyes, and usually nod off.

I wish I could just meditate like you, but my mind is always racing if I’m not sleeping or focused on something.

I just think you’re lucky to be able to tune everything out, not weird.

Married with five kids?

best known for his ability to roll cigarettes with his lips.

I see.

No. You should scrape off chunks but you should not rinse them off completely.

Like others I highly recommend seeking the wisdom of Technology Connections on YouTube, but if you prefer reading over video, here is an article from The Spruce that covers the main points.