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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • Wow, asbestos pipes, that’s something new I learned today…

    Total genius move by whomever designed it and the organization that approved/certified it for human potable water use.

    How am I still surprised by these things, long ago we once thought lead pipes were perfect for moving/transporting potable water (apparently, one of the many things that contributed to the collapse of the Roman Empire).

    Nowadays, high density polyethylene pipes are selling like hotcakes and certified for potable water use. Will we find, in a few decades, that micro-plastics are more prevalent than expected and cause innumerable long term health issues? Hence, the new thing to avoid like the Black Plague.

    What is wrong with plain old copper pipes, outside of just being expensive due to low supply vs huge demand? (I may have missed the news on how they too affect health)





  • I regularly “deep freeze” or make read-only systems from Raspberry Pi, Ubuntu, Linux Mint LMDE and others Linux Distros whereas I disable automatic updates everywhere (except for some obvious config/network/hardware/subsystem changes I control separately).

    I have had systems running 24/7 (no internet, WiFi) for 2-3 years before I got around to update/upgrade them. Almost never had an issue. I always expected some serious issues but the Linux package management and upgrade system is surprisingly robust. Obviously, I don’t install new software on a old system before updating/upgrading (learned that early on empirically).

    Automatic updates are generally beneficial and helps avoid future compatibility/dependency issues on active systems with frequent user interaction.

    However, on embedded/single purpose/long distance/dedicated or ephemeral application, (unsupervised) automatic updates may break how the custom/main software may interact with the platform. Causing irreversible issues with the purpose it was built for or negatively impact other parts of closed circuit systems (for example: longitudinal environmental monitoring, fauna and flora observation studies, climate monitoring stations, etc.)

    Generally, any kind of update imply some level of supervision and testing, otherwise things could break silently without anyone noticing. Until a critical situation arises and everything break loose and it is too late/too demanding/too costly to try to fix or recover within a impossibly short window of time.


  • I attempted to try Garuda Linux (cinnamon) on a mini PC (Ryzen 5800H based APU), but graphic artefacting was a constant issue as soon as the install started.

    After several tries I had to abandon ship and wait till a new release to maybe try again, if I remember. Not exactly “Nope, this one’s not for me” as I had yet to properly try it.

    Otherwise, I tried Crunchbangplusplus and just gave up for being a bit too minimalist or not yet ready for prime time as I kept geting issues after issues and did not have the patience to wrangle the whole OS for everything from getting network working to audio and screen issues on my system.

    Anyways, it is always fun to try new systems/apps/protocols and see where thing are headed towards.


  • Xavier@lemmy.catoLinux@lemmy.mlBut Windows 11 is so good!!11!1!
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    7 months ago

    I have a single windows 11 system while everything else is on some form of Linux distro.

    That windows system has never been connected to the internet, and it has been great without ever causing any of the typical update issues (although I update applications/components manually over an isolated NAS link).

    It’s sad to see that everyday users have gotten habituated to these constant workflow braking updates. No wonder many people I know are jumping to the Apple ecosystem after getting a taste with a M2.


  • That reminds me, some time ago I tried installing Garuda on a Ryzen 5800H based mini PC but there where so many issues (namely worrisome graphical artefacting, which has never occurred with other distros on the same mini PC) I had to abort and abandon trying it until maybe the next or a future release.

    I simply wanted to check out Garuda (arch based, if I recall well). I used the Cinnamon iso with Ventoy (not sure where the issue arose from).


  • Man, is this seriously going turn into into the Iraq has WMD boondoggle/fiasco:

    “Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a presentation to the UN on February 5, 2003, in which he detailed false intelligence gatherings provided by the Israeli government regarding Iraqi WMD.”

    Source 1: Senate Report on Iraqi WMD Intelligence

    Source 2: Israel knew Iraq had no WMD, says MP

    I forgot it was Israeli Intelligence source back then 🤔. I only remember Bush insisting there are WMDs and Colin Powell’s declaration at the UN. All of it was proven fake of course, and 20 years later it has become the biggest and most expensive Intelligence blunder.

    Hopefully, I am wrong and we were smarter to verify everything before repeating the same reckless mistake.

    I try to not comment on controversial issues particularly when I don’t have any qualification or first hand knowledge/experience, however this is looking more and more like an unmitigated overreaction.


  • All these first-past-the-post voting systems (here in Canada too it’s a problem) need to be relegated to a bygone era, it’s so bad that even placings names on a board and throwing darts blindfolded for every MP positions would probably give a better and more representative outcome.

    Welp… it will probably be after something akin to world war 3 that we (the ones luckily still alive) would all sit down and set out to fix the many obvious and perhaps not so obvious issues with governance, lack of immediate consequence to lying, independently peer reviewed education system absent of political/religious/vested/private interest or influence, broken taxation system enabling billionaires, the lack of thorough independent study of environmental or health concerns before even granting any permit (problems tend to always be discovered long after it was commercialised/contructed/).

    Sad to see the state of affairs in every country 😰😱, nevertheless just as we can see/imagine/iterate/improve our ideas of what each one of us would consider better systems, we should implement, test, cross pollinate, evaluate (scientifically, quantitatively and qualitatively) and keep what works better than before and reject/shun/disqualify what obviously causes issues or collateral damages.




  • I think it is too late to avoid the workforce and demographic squeeze.

    Considering the following simple thought experiment:

    1. Even if every abled, capable and freely willing women in China were immediately given:
    • 1.a. unlimited financial support

    • 1.b. complete freedom in choosing their partner

    • 1.c. flexible maternity leave (2 to 5 years)

    • 1.d. readily available at home cleaning and at home cooking/cartering services

    • 1.e. best in class psychological and medical services and follow ups

    • 1.f. excellent daycare and world class education;

      1. the first children born the following year won’t be able to work and contribute to the economy until 18 years later (or whenever they enter the workforce; at best 14 and ideally at 23-25 after university).

    Hence, I am inclined to suppose that, at best (least controversial), the Chinese Com·unist Part.y could do is to try and attenuate the economic slowdown and decay. How? I do not know.

    At worst, they implode on themself and/or start a looks-like-we-are-doing-something war.