Posts by liw@toot.liw.fi
(DIR) Post #AaYgz3pCdDsNFGRl56 by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-10-08T09:27:15Z
1 likes, 6 repeats
I blogged about why #Debian is the way it is.https://blog.liw.fi/posts/2023/debian-reasons/
(DIR) Post #Aaad3cqgLQiVWlyntQ by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-10-09T09:31:09Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Someone should write "Debian: the unauthorized biography".Only partly joking.
(DIR) Post #Aakbbtb6A0X6OwX4Hw by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-10-14T05:15:05Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mjg59 Are they more comfortable than his pillows?
(DIR) Post #AaooNObYLekmluH7WC by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-10-16T05:41:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Being technically correct in a way that makes the end result worse for people is not a good kind of correct.Context: using typographically correct dashes in formatted manual pages instead of the dash people actually type when searching in pages.If I run the man program and can't find the option "--foo", because the formatted version expresses the dashes using a character other than the one I get when I press the "-" key, I"m unhappy.Even if the problems stems from the manpage source.
(DIR) Post #AaooNQp66GmBeUcxuK by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-10-16T05:44:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Yes, this was a reference to the current (and repeated) discussions about manual pages and dashes in Debian.
(DIR) Post #AaopBgLke8m6HorWm8 by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-10-16T06:06:58Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@smallsees I agree that writing good manual pages is difficult. I also say that making it harder by insisting on treating the "-" character in special ways serves no useful purpose.If one i using groff for typography, for writing a book, then, yes, being correct about the various kinds of dashes makes sense.When writing a manual. page, which are mostly read using the man(1) command in a terminal, it's actively harmful. On a terminal, the typographical distinctions vanish.
(DIR) Post #AbAWGpL7LzeGcM05cO by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-10-26T15:57:09Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@joeyh My cloud runs on my watch, and I forgot to wind it this morning.
(DIR) Post #AbAWGsf50EOmv8MZeK by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-10-26T15:58:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@joeyh The watch cloud is shortened to "WC", of course.
(DIR) Post #AbN0riEwTagn3FUswy by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-11-01T17:10:58Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
If your manual page doesn't have an example of the simplest, most basic way of using your program, your manual page could be better.#unix #man #example #rant
(DIR) Post #AbN0rkXRvkgKBEAh4i by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-11-01T17:14:25Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
I wrote a little guide to writing manual pages, link below. I tend to write troff directly, to get formatting details exactly like I like them, but any format and tooling that you like is OK, if the system "man" command can show it.I'd offer some interactive training about this, if someone paid me. (Hint, hint)https://liw.fi/manpages/#unix #man #guide
(DIR) Post #AbTg7Wu1erLtak8NHc by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-11-04T16:45:15Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
I don't like complexity, and I strive for simplicity. However, sometimes simplicity requires compromises I'm not willing to make.Case in point: I prefer the fediverse, which is complex, over any and all commercial, simpler social media, as I'm unwilling to make the compromise of accept genocide and pervasive surveillance to get a little simplicity.
(DIR) Post #AbxoQR0ffxMIpT1Mqe by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-11-19T07:42:40Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Digital computers have existed since at least 1945 (ENIAC). That's 78 years ago. The pace of change in computing is remarkably fast, and it's unusual to have things that have existed for a long time. Here's a few that have been used for at least 50 years (i.e., they existed in 1973), even if they've changed over time and the original version may not be compatible with the modern world:* 3.5 mm TRS audio plug (1950s)* ASCII (1963)* EBCDIC (1963)* C (1972)Can you think of others?
(DIR) Post #AcKH6aWpkOvkhw4W9o by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-11-30T08:05:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mjg59 I note that deleting many files is slow in Linux.fsck is faster.
(DIR) Post #AcUQ4USACrYkSEYr9k by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-12-05T05:30:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mjg59 I'm curious: how does Time Machine do it?(I'm working on an encrypting backup program for Linux, although development isn't going quickly.)
(DIR) Post #AcUqND7lSP411Hbgki by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-12-05T09:26:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
What's a good Linux desktop client for #Matrix that supports the Matrix encryption schemes? I'm becoming less happy with time.
(DIR) Post #AcVgvJvVrquZZySjCa by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-12-05T06:26:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
A healthy open source project or ecosystem sees people working together to make things better for people needing the software. Any group of people is going to have disagreements: it matters how those are handled.When people are unwilling to try to understand other people's point of view, things turn sour and in the long run, there's no hope of collaboration.It's sad, even devastating, to watch that happen.#vague #subtoot
(DIR) Post #AchTmZc46TAuiQcncO by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-12-06T11:27:29Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
Which of these have you personally experienced in your work life?
(DIR) Post #Acm2CSvVl9yea64uI4 by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-12-13T16:31:48Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
"OpenPGP for Application Developers" is now public. I did some proof reading on that, so I'm biased, but I think it's a neat and clear intro to OpenPGP . It's more on the conceptual level than nitty-gritty bit level formats or details of the cryptographic algorithms, but it should help developers using OpenPGP understand what's happening. The site is not quite complete, but a very good start and you can help make it better.https://openpgp.dev/https://fosstodon.org/@hko/111573842808340744
(DIR) Post #Ad4bIOuxRDRNaPsvUu by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-12-22T16:09:37Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
The #Pandoc abstract syntax tree as JSON would make an interesting and interoperable document exchange format, except it's very stable. That'd be fixable, though. With a little effort, it could be specified quite formally.Imagine using that for, say, emails, or instead of markdown. No need to understand badly defined HTML subsets or markdown flavors, except for you local client. Everyone could interoperate. It's not human-readable, or human-writable, but it's powerful.
(DIR) Post #Ad4bIRCOxKaAf63sxs by liw@toot.liw.fi
2023-12-22T16:12:22Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Pure plain text, and markdown, and various other light-weight markup languages, are nice. I enjoy using them.But anything non-trivial tends to end up being an interoperability headache.Imagine a world where "text" could be "rich text", but still easily processed by any software. And also text, not random binary junk.