Posts by petejones@hcommons.social
(DIR) Post #Ax81ZZLn9U2LY7gnjs by petejones@hcommons.social
2025-08-13T13:10:39Z
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The two types of AI critics...
(DIR) Post #Ax88EJRbnLotobDmaW by petejones@hcommons.social
2025-08-13T14:46:33Z
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@futurebird For sure, you're adding some of the nuance that doesn't fit in a Drake meme, and I think we agree 😄My point is mostly that, for those of us who see the stealing of training data and the environmental costs of the computing needed as obvious deal-breakers that are enough to make us want nothing to do with it, the "it's not very good" complaint just completely misses the point. How good would the models need to be to justify the theft or the environmental damage? From this standpoint, people for whom being anti-AI means dunking on the quality of the models' output sound a bit like someone saying they don't eat meat because they don't digest it well in a room full of vegetarians.
(DIR) Post #AzNFPhdgpsUKKvA3Pc by petejones@hcommons.social
2025-10-19T15:02:40Z
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If you're a new Linux user or are thinking of being one (e.g. if you're a current Windows 10 user that doesn't want to turn their perfectly good computer into e-waste), here are some opinionated tips for a beginner-friendly experience:- Choose your distro based on what you know about the way you use computers. If you're a tinkerer, you're going to want a very different type of distro than someone who just wants their computer to work out of the box and stay the same all the time.- Ignore most of what you read online if it's dated to more than 1-2 years ago, or if it's the opinion of someone who used Linux in the past and left. Almost all of the common cultural conceptions of Linux are completely wrong and relics of another time.- Separate the concept of your desktop environment from your distro. Most of the look and feel of Linux desktop environments is highly customisable, so think of your distro mostly in terms of its intended user, release model and package manager.
(DIR) Post #AzNFPieR4ag9TWWADI by petejones@hcommons.social
2025-10-19T15:13:15Z
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More specific advice about distros:If you're a "I don't want to spend my time interacting with the base system or tailoring the experience to my preferences" type of user, I recommend Linux Mint. You won't have the latest and greatest software as soon as it's ready, but your experience will be great out of the box and plain sailing thereafter. It's the most fuss-free way to get up and running with Linux without having to learn a lot of new ideas if you're coming from a commercial OS (Windows in particular). Sub-point: don't use Ubuntu. There are lots of distros that use Ubuntu as a base but improve on its many flaws, including Mint. Use one of those.
(DIR) Post #AzNFPjUtvWe86F43zU by petejones@hcommons.social
2025-10-19T15:18:15Z
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If you're a "I like setting up my environment just how I like it" type of person or you want to have the latest software, use Fedora. Fedora is at the cutting edge, but uniquely among such distros it's extremely well tested and stable. Due to Fedora always using the latest software it's the distro that, in my experience, is the best at providing an "it just works" experience on any hardware. Also, the DNF package manager is absolutely great. Sub point: If you're worried about instability, try one of the Atomic editions, which treat the whole system (everything below your home folder) as read-only and "immutable". This image-based approach makes it very unlikely for your system to break, and very easy to fix if it does. It's Linux with guardrails. Just be prepared that package management is more complicated in the atomic paradigm, especially for system-level software, and you'll have to learn to work around that (it's super doable, but there's a learning curve).
(DIR) Post #AzNFPkDZFSNKKlxjc0 by petejones@hcommons.social
2025-10-19T15:52:17Z
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I was going to keep going with distro tips but in truth, I recommend Fedora for almost all users, so I don't have much more to add.I've been using Fedora for years now and I can't find any reason to change. I've seen some scary headlines about Red Hat (the company behind Fedora) wanting to push more AI bullshit into the OS, so maybe the equation will change if that actually comes to fruition. For now, all is well. And one of the nice things about the Linux world is that when one actor does something bad, there are plenty of forks and alternatives to move to.
(DIR) Post #AzNFPkpqx704FVsJHs by petejones@hcommons.social
2025-10-19T16:03:17Z
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Some other things to consider:- If possible, pick a distro that ships with a Wayland-based desktop session by default. You'll have to change to Wayland eventually, so best start out there.- If possible, try a few desktop environments (e.g. in a live image, or a virtual machine) and see which one you click with. It's the main surface with which you'll interact when using your computer, so it should feel right for you. I can't stand the look and feel of GNOME / GTK for example, so I would have had a worse experience with Linux if I'd started out using it as my desktop environment.- Arch is not a good distro for beginners, but the Arch Wiki is an extremely useful resource for all users, including beginners. Many of its articles are explaining things that apply to users of any distro, so it's a good idea to get to know it. https://wiki.archlinux.org/