Subj : Re: Computer operating system of choice?
To   : tenser
From : boraxman
Date : Thu Feb 10 2022 09:54:22

 te> If that's what you're into, go for it.  I used to be very into
 te> configuring my environment, having for instance, lengthly X11
 te> startup scripts and resource files, elaborate shell configuration,
 te> etc.  Now, I mostly don't want to have to care: the interesting
 te> thing for me is what I get to do _with_ the computer, not what I
 te> do _to_ the computer.
 te> 

I've seen some Linux YouTubers who seem to spend a lot of time on their set up, and have scripts to manage their set up.  It is easy to get lost in "administration".  The kind of configuration I have, is simple FVWM guis that
let me select a link, press a key config and download the audio, or one where
I can download a link using ARIA2, or a simple form where I can initiate a
backup, press a button to do common tasks, etc.

Few other automated time saving things.  You do have to weigh up the cost/benefit otherwise you'll spend your time scripting and editing for nothing.

 te> If by, "we never really did have control at the CPU level" you mean
 te> that you were constrained by the ISA, then I guess that's true, though
 te> FPGAs have been available for a long while now.  Most machines you've
 te> used have probably been microcoded as long as you've used them.
 te> Indeed it has.  So much so that the "operating system" is actually in
 te> charge of a pretty constrained slice of the machine.  Timothy Roscoe's
 te> OSDI'21 keynote nicely illustrated this very nicely.
 te> 


I might have to check it out.  I'm not a fan of such complexity, it just becomes costlier and costlier and more difficult to maintain a baseline.

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