<![CDATA[nixers - Psychology, Philosophy, and Licenses]]>

<![CDATA[nixers - Psychology, Philosophy, and Licenses]]> https://nixers.net/ Thu, 07 May 2026 06:01:54 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[What are simple Operating System in these days?]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-What-are-simple-Operating-System-in-these-days Fri, 12 Mar 2021 16:25:51 +0000 strawman2511]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-What-are-simple-Operating-System-in-these-days
I can't find any place to put my passion and fun into it. And like it will be forever...

Now, I need to rest and thinking before what I should do next to have fun and get my passion in programming and operating system because Linux world is become a messy place for coperation and the complexity of software.

I really need some simple operating system to play with it. I'm just unsure which one. BSD or Linux? Or both them?

Hope this small and active forum can help me find a way.

Sorry, I am new to this forum so don't know how this place work.]]>
I can't find any place to put my passion and fun into it. And like it will be forever...

Now, I need to rest and thinking before what I should do next to have fun and get my passion in programming and operating system because Linux world is become a messy place for coperation and the complexity of software.

I really need some simple operating system to play with it. I'm just unsure which one. BSD or Linux? Or both them?

Hope this small and active forum can help me find a way.

Sorry, I am new to this forum so don't know how this place work.]]> <![CDATA[Computing As A Geek's Toy]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Computing-As-A-Geek-s-Toy Thu, 05 Nov 2020 16:42:21 +0000 venam]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Computing-As-A-Geek-s-Toy Have you ever felt like desktop computing, or computing in general, especially interfaces be it UI or UX, has taken a turn into convergent thinking?
Have you ever felt like you got bored of the same type of screens all the time, that there was no souls or fun in it anymore?

Well, you're not alone because many of us feel the same way. Many of us are looking back with a nostalgic eye at previous era and the hype and excitement of possibilities that were in it.

From the time were computers barely started having enough resources to run a program. To the time when computing was highly influenced by the gaming world. To an era of digital skeuomorphism and graphical computing possibilities. To the time of the dot-com bubble and the possibilities that the web and interactions could provide.

It's not rare to not feel "positive" about your desktop experience, to want to spice it up. It's no coincidence many people in this community feel like they have to customize their environment to their personal needs so that they can have a connection with it.

Recently on IRC, we've had a go at revisiting software like compiz fusion, and old-school X programs like Xmountains, Xantfarm, Xroach, Xneko, among others. Nostalgia aside, these software are interesting, half between gaming and half between useless-but-human alternatives. They add this touch that is often missing.
This type of thinking is also often found in the demo-scene, inspiring itself from the limitations of the hardware in a frenzy of wonderful demos that shout "hey it's possible". Fun, games, and toys might be frowned upon but this is where creativity is found!

I don't have a real aim with this thread other than throwing philosophical ideas out, but if you've ever felt like these days you are stuck in a box created by layers of "good practices" bump this thread with your opinion. Share your ideas on this topic, let's brainstorm. Share what you think are the reasons why these sort of things happened and why they don't happen anymore. Do you feel like computing is fun and games today?

And here's a bunch of interesting links I've gathered that are somewhat related:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AItTqnTsVjA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5teG6ou8mWU
https://medium.com/@donhopkins/pie-menus-936fed383ff1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neko_(software)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ooSiw83a8
https://www.accursedfarms.com/uploads/mo...3c9e9e.png
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/1...t-once-was
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...re/478167/]]> Have you ever felt like desktop computing, or computing in general, especially interfaces be it UI or UX, has taken a turn into convergent thinking?
Have you ever felt like you got bored of the same type of screens all the time, that there was no souls or fun in it anymore?

Well, you're not alone because many of us feel the same way. Many of us are looking back with a nostalgic eye at previous era and the hype and excitement of possibilities that were in it.

From the time were computers barely started having enough resources to run a program. To the time when computing was highly influenced by the gaming world. To an era of digital skeuomorphism and graphical computing possibilities. To the time of the dot-com bubble and the possibilities that the web and interactions could provide.

It's not rare to not feel "positive" about your desktop experience, to want to spice it up. It's no coincidence many people in this community feel like they have to customize their environment to their personal needs so that they can have a connection with it.

Recently on IRC, we've had a go at revisiting software like compiz fusion, and old-school X programs like Xmountains, Xantfarm, Xroach, Xneko, among others. Nostalgia aside, these software are interesting, half between gaming and half between useless-but-human alternatives. They add this touch that is often missing.
This type of thinking is also often found in the demo-scene, inspiring itself from the limitations of the hardware in a frenzy of wonderful demos that shout "hey it's possible". Fun, games, and toys might be frowned upon but this is where creativity is found!

I don't have a real aim with this thread other than throwing philosophical ideas out, but if you've ever felt like these days you are stuck in a box created by layers of "good practices" bump this thread with your opinion. Share your ideas on this topic, let's brainstorm. Share what you think are the reasons why these sort of things happened and why they don't happen anymore. Do you feel like computing is fun and games today?

And here's a bunch of interesting links I've gathered that are somewhat related:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AItTqnTsVjA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5teG6ou8mWU
https://medium.com/@donhopkins/pie-menus-936fed383ff1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neko_(software)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ooSiw83a8
https://www.accursedfarms.com/uploads/mo...3c9e9e.png
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/1...t-once-was
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...re/478167/]]> <![CDATA[Minimal Computing Principals]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Minimal-Computing-Principals Sun, 19 Apr 2020 00:10:10 +0000 Steph]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Minimal-Computing-Principals Long (long) time no see.

I stumbled upon this [1] site the other day and wanted to get some input from the wise wizards of nixers. It's a community of humanities academics espousing a philosophy pretty close to the general sentiment here. If you are pressed for time and want a brief rundown of what they think see this [2].

What do you think?

1. http://go-dh.github.io/mincomp/
2. http://go-dh.github.io/mincomp/thoughts/...0/03/tldr/]]> Long (long) time no see.

I stumbled upon this [1] site the other day and wanted to get some input from the wise wizards of nixers. It's a community of humanities academics espousing a philosophy pretty close to the general sentiment here. If you are pressed for time and want a brief rundown of what they think see this [2].

What do you think?

1. http://go-dh.github.io/mincomp/
2. http://go-dh.github.io/mincomp/thoughts/...0/03/tldr/]]> <![CDATA[GUI pipes]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-GUI-pipes Mon, 20 Jan 2020 04:41:01 +0000 eduarch42]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-GUI-pipes This is just a brainstorm thread, answer with ideas or leading questions.]]> This is just a brainstorm thread, answer with ideas or leading questions.]]> <![CDATA[Teaching Unix]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Teaching-Unix Fri, 01 Feb 2019 16:46:57 +0000 venam]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Teaching-Unix This thread is about sharing ideas and thoughts on the methods to gradually teach Unix.

These days I'm more often faced with a situation where I have to explain a Unix related topic to someone. However, this sometimes lead to a rabbit hole of ideas. Most of the time I slowly get used to finding a better and simpler way to approach the concept than to link to an online article or throw them off with the RTFM type of reply.

I've seen so many books supposed to be introduction to Unix, yet they're more advanced than what I would see the beginners I'm interacting with would be able to handle. Not to count university courses that plunge way too fast into things the students are expected to memorize instead of understand.

Thus the reason for creating this thread. I'm intrigued by how the members of this community would handle those kinds of situations. Have you ever been faced with one?

Personally, I find it better to start from an anchor point that is already well known to the person and then continue in a story-like manner. I can't access how efficient this is but it does seem to make it less boring. Moreover, lots of overview graphs seem to help. Same as with metaphors, but metaphors hit the limit pretty soon.

The question that remains is how to handle the teaching from scratch and how to move from one topic to the other.]]> This thread is about sharing ideas and thoughts on the methods to gradually teach Unix.

These days I'm more often faced with a situation where I have to explain a Unix related topic to someone. However, this sometimes lead to a rabbit hole of ideas. Most of the time I slowly get used to finding a better and simpler way to approach the concept than to link to an online article or throw them off with the RTFM type of reply.

I've seen so many books supposed to be introduction to Unix, yet they're more advanced than what I would see the beginners I'm interacting with would be able to handle. Not to count university courses that plunge way too fast into things the students are expected to memorize instead of understand.

Thus the reason for creating this thread. I'm intrigued by how the members of this community would handle those kinds of situations. Have you ever been faced with one?

Personally, I find it better to start from an anchor point that is already well known to the person and then continue in a story-like manner. I can't access how efficient this is but it does seem to make it less boring. Moreover, lots of overview graphs seem to help. Same as with metaphors, but metaphors hit the limit pretty soon.

The question that remains is how to handle the teaching from scratch and how to move from one topic to the other.]]> <![CDATA[How much do you actually care about your ideologies?]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-How-much-do-you-actually-care-about-your-ideologies Thu, 10 Jan 2019 18:17:11 +0000 d9a]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-How-much-do-you-actually-care-about-your-ideologies
For example if you saw my introduction thread (I'm new here. o/), you saw I'm trying to figure out what OS to settle on (again). I believe that free software is the way to go. I want complete control over my system, and I believe using proprietary software restricts that. I haven't had the usecase yet of needing to modify a program I use at the source code level (except programs like st and dwm where that's the only way to configure it), but I want the option. If shit hits the fan, I want the option to maintain my own fork of the software. Additionally, I care about privacy and think free software is the only way to go with that so you can verify what programs are doing in the background.

I'm trying to figure out how much I care. Right now, my only computers are a Thinkpad T420 and a Thinkpad X201 Tablet. The T420 is my main workstation and the X201 Tablet has laid dormant for a while (going to use it for ebooks soon). Both require proprietary drivers for their Intel wireless NICs. For the X201, this isn't too big of a deal since I can just use ethernet since I'm only going to use it to read. However, the T420 is a bigger issue since I will use it for everyday stuff. I eventually would like to flash the BIOS and use an Atheros NIC (I also could use a USB NIC); however, I don't trust the modified BIOSes that people have written and Coreboot still has some thermal issues which kinda scare me, but maybe they're not as big of a deal.

Other philosophy I really care about is the Unix philosophy of a program doing one thing and doing it really well. I think it makes it so that programs are easier to understand and extend. It's great how I can combine programs to accomplish things instead of waiting for a feature to be added, etc. I'm also a minimalist, so this follows that I think. If I don't need a feature, I just don't have the package installed. It's pretty easy to follow this if you choose the right user programs on pretty much any GNU/Linux distribution. However, as y'all know, systemd does not follow this and is on most GNU/Linux distros.

So let's get to the point of this post: I'm trying to determine how much I care about the above philosophies in the end to get stuff done. Like I said, my Thinkpads use Intel NICs. Until I can get a librebooted X200, I will always be using proprietary software in some form or another because of firmware even if I use Atheros NICs or no wireless on them because of the BIOS. This also extends to if I care about using Linux-libre or another deblobbed kernel or if I'm satisfied with what ships with whatever distribution I pick like Void Linux or Arch even with using a completely free system like my future X200. RE: Unix philosophy, I'm trying to figure out if I care enough to not use systemd. I haven't had a point where systemd has really hindered me. With my future X200, it'd probably be beneficial to just use Parabola since it guarantees I won't use proprietary software. If I do that though, it'd be great for my T420 and X201 Tablet to run Arch (or Parabola if I don't use the Intel NICs) so that my systems are uniform. However, all of that would mean stepping away from the Unix philosophy a bit due to systemd. With Void Linux, the main distro I've been looking at recently, I'd have to either be ok with proprietary blobs in the kernel if I'm not using them or compile Linux-libre myself.

Also while I've used Void before, I would have to learn a lot (which I'm willing to do. It's a matter of if it's worth the time) about it. It's also smaller than Arch, so there's the potential of it dying or not having a resource I need to fix my system if something happens. I basically want a community distro that's all free software while being big enough to sustain itself. I've also considered BSD, specifically OpenBSD, but I would have even more learning to do before I could even use it, and I want to get stuff done right now like actually coding which I've neglected for a while.

I hope I've written this well enough for you to understand. I'm trying to figure out what I care most about in which areas to balance following them with practicalities. Part of me wanting to write this post is maybe external processing. This might've just ended up being just a flow of thoughts onto a page that is not coherent. This is also my first forum post outside of my introduction, so I could be completely off base as to what you guys what on nixers.

What do you guys do? Do you use systemd even though you prefer the Unix philosophy? Do you use a blobbed kernel even though you are a strict free software user? Are you neither of these for some reason or another? I want this to be a discussion in general and not just "what should d9a do?". Thanks for reading if you got this far!

Edit: I've also had the thought that if I'm willing to use non-free wireless drivers, should I install the Intel microcode updates because of Spectre and Meltdown...? So much to decide on.]]>
For example if you saw my introduction thread (I'm new here. o/), you saw I'm trying to figure out what OS to settle on (again). I believe that free software is the way to go. I want complete control over my system, and I believe using proprietary software restricts that. I haven't had the usecase yet of needing to modify a program I use at the source code level (except programs like st and dwm where that's the only way to configure it), but I want the option. If shit hits the fan, I want the option to maintain my own fork of the software. Additionally, I care about privacy and think free software is the only way to go with that so you can verify what programs are doing in the background.

I'm trying to figure out how much I care. Right now, my only computers are a Thinkpad T420 and a Thinkpad X201 Tablet. The T420 is my main workstation and the X201 Tablet has laid dormant for a while (going to use it for ebooks soon). Both require proprietary drivers for their Intel wireless NICs. For the X201, this isn't too big of a deal since I can just use ethernet since I'm only going to use it to read. However, the T420 is a bigger issue since I will use it for everyday stuff. I eventually would like to flash the BIOS and use an Atheros NIC (I also could use a USB NIC); however, I don't trust the modified BIOSes that people have written and Coreboot still has some thermal issues which kinda scare me, but maybe they're not as big of a deal.

Other philosophy I really care about is the Unix philosophy of a program doing one thing and doing it really well. I think it makes it so that programs are easier to understand and extend. It's great how I can combine programs to accomplish things instead of waiting for a feature to be added, etc. I'm also a minimalist, so this follows that I think. If I don't need a feature, I just don't have the package installed. It's pretty easy to follow this if you choose the right user programs on pretty much any GNU/Linux distribution. However, as y'all know, systemd does not follow this and is on most GNU/Linux distros.

So let's get to the point of this post: I'm trying to determine how much I care about the above philosophies in the end to get stuff done. Like I said, my Thinkpads use Intel NICs. Until I can get a librebooted X200, I will always be using proprietary software in some form or another because of firmware even if I use Atheros NICs or no wireless on them because of the BIOS. This also extends to if I care about using Linux-libre or another deblobbed kernel or if I'm satisfied with what ships with whatever distribution I pick like Void Linux or Arch even with using a completely free system like my future X200. RE: Unix philosophy, I'm trying to figure out if I care enough to not use systemd. I haven't had a point where systemd has really hindered me. With my future X200, it'd probably be beneficial to just use Parabola since it guarantees I won't use proprietary software. If I do that though, it'd be great for my T420 and X201 Tablet to run Arch (or Parabola if I don't use the Intel NICs) so that my systems are uniform. However, all of that would mean stepping away from the Unix philosophy a bit due to systemd. With Void Linux, the main distro I've been looking at recently, I'd have to either be ok with proprietary blobs in the kernel if I'm not using them or compile Linux-libre myself.

Also while I've used Void before, I would have to learn a lot (which I'm willing to do. It's a matter of if it's worth the time) about it. It's also smaller than Arch, so there's the potential of it dying or not having a resource I need to fix my system if something happens. I basically want a community distro that's all free software while being big enough to sustain itself. I've also considered BSD, specifically OpenBSD, but I would have even more learning to do before I could even use it, and I want to get stuff done right now like actually coding which I've neglected for a while.

I hope I've written this well enough for you to understand. I'm trying to figure out what I care most about in which areas to balance following them with practicalities. Part of me wanting to write this post is maybe external processing. This might've just ended up being just a flow of thoughts onto a page that is not coherent. This is also my first forum post outside of my introduction, so I could be completely off base as to what you guys what on nixers.

What do you guys do? Do you use systemd even though you prefer the Unix philosophy? Do you use a blobbed kernel even though you are a strict free software user? Are you neither of these for some reason or another? I want this to be a discussion in general and not just "what should d9a do?". Thanks for reading if you got this far!

Edit: I've also had the thought that if I'm willing to use non-free wireless drivers, should I install the Intel microcode updates because of Spectre and Meltdown...? So much to decide on.]]> <![CDATA[Interfaces of the future]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Interfaces-of-the-future Fri, 30 Nov 2018 15:15:36 +0000 z3bra]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Interfaces-of-the-future Context: I'm starting a new thread here to sum up (and continue) discussing what started as an innocent introductory thread, and ended up in an intense philosophical debate about computer interfaces, as in defined standards VS. obsolescence of these standards.

At the very beginning, computers where huge, slow and had scarce resources. The geniuses at that time came up with what's currently considered the base of computing: the Unix operating system.
This system used plain text as its unique input/output system, taking input from a keyboard, and printing output on paper sheets, one line at a time.

A lot of water flowed under the bridge since then, and even if peripherals greatly improved, this textual interface is still at the core of most the derivatives of Unix.

There are now two main ideas:

One is that this proves the good design of Unix, as its interface went through the years efficiently without needing any change:

(29-11-2018, 12:13 PM)z3bra Wrote: Text is still a good human-to-machine interface (IMO, better than sound for example, or pictograms), and POSIX defines its standards around this interface.

(29-11-2018, 04:34 PM)z3bra Wrote: I guess the CLI is better at letting people express what they want to the computer, rather than GUI. You have to learn how to "speak" your computer language, which is tedious, but in the end it is easier to bind your computer's will by explaining what you want to do, rather than miming it through the GUI

The other, is that the interface was defined in a restrictive environment, and should evolve to fit better today's technology:

(29-11-2018, 12:33 PM)jkl Wrote: POSIX follows a hardware standard that was outdated thirty years ago. "My" perfect interface would be a sane mixture between (a visually more appealing) Plan 9 and dwm, I guess. I learned to make my peace with the mouse. (However, the default Plan 9 lacks hotkeys, rio's missing ability to spawn a terminal without drawing a window manually can be annoying. I guess Windows has spoiled me.) Imagine an operating system that was built upon a graphical interface instead of wrapping the graphical interface around a text-based system. Many of the architectural problems of Windows "9x" came from the DOS base which couldn't just be replaced.

And as modern server hardware is incredibly powerful, nothing would stop us from using graphical remote control instead of 70s-style ssh. I understand that editing configuration files is mainly a text-only task - but using a computer should not.

Of course, the answer to this topic is not black or white, so please share your opinion!
And please, don't start a flamewar (even though this topic would be a perfect fit for it!)

]]> Context: I'm starting a new thread here to sum up (and continue) discussing what started as an innocent introductory thread, and ended up in an intense philosophical debate about computer interfaces, as in defined standards VS. obsolescence of these standards.

At the very beginning, computers where huge, slow and had scarce resources. The geniuses at that time came up with what's currently considered the base of computing: the Unix operating system.
This system used plain text as its unique input/output system, taking input from a keyboard, and printing output on paper sheets, one line at a time.

A lot of water flowed under the bridge since then, and even if peripherals greatly improved, this textual interface is still at the core of most the derivatives of Unix.

There are now two main ideas:

One is that this proves the good design of Unix, as its interface went through the years efficiently without needing any change:

(29-11-2018, 12:13 PM)z3bra Wrote: Text is still a good human-to-machine interface (IMO, better than sound for example, or pictograms), and POSIX defines its standards around this interface.

(29-11-2018, 04:34 PM)z3bra Wrote: I guess the CLI is better at letting people express what they want to the computer, rather than GUI. You have to learn how to "speak" your computer language, which is tedious, but in the end it is easier to bind your computer's will by explaining what you want to do, rather than miming it through the GUI

The other, is that the interface was defined in a restrictive environment, and should evolve to fit better today's technology:

(29-11-2018, 12:33 PM)jkl Wrote: POSIX follows a hardware standard that was outdated thirty years ago. "My" perfect interface would be a sane mixture between (a visually more appealing) Plan 9 and dwm, I guess. I learned to make my peace with the mouse. (However, the default Plan 9 lacks hotkeys, rio's missing ability to spawn a terminal without drawing a window manually can be annoying. I guess Windows has spoiled me.) Imagine an operating system that was built upon a graphical interface instead of wrapping the graphical interface around a text-based system. Many of the architectural problems of Windows "9x" came from the DOS base which couldn't just be replaced.

And as modern server hardware is incredibly powerful, nothing would stop us from using graphical remote control instead of 70s-style ssh. I understand that editing configuration files is mainly a text-only task - but using a computer should not.

Of course, the answer to this topic is not black or white, so please share your opinion!
And please, don't start a flamewar (even though this topic would be a perfect fit for it!)

]]> <![CDATA[The role of distributions &/or Unix flavors, where does pkg management stands]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-The-role-of-distributions-or-Unix-flavors-where-does-pkg-management-stands Tue, 06 Mar 2018 07:53:48 +0000 venam]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-The-role-of-distributions-or-Unix-flavors-where-does-pkg-management-stands This thread is about launching one of those discussion podcast.

The topic this time is: What's The role of distributions &/or Unix flavors, where does package management stands in all that?

EDIT: It has finally been posted here.

Link of the recording [ https://github.com/nixers-projects/podca...3?raw=true http://podcast.nixers.net/feed/download....07-221.mp3 ]

We'll try to schedule it for next week, so hop on the scheduler interface and put all the hours you might be available so that we can choose the best common denominator: https://podcast.nixers.net

If you don't have a key you can PM me anywhere for one.

Relevant threads and articles for your personal research might be found in:
Issue #63 of the newsletter ( https://newsletter.nixers.net/entries.php#63 ) and this week issue #65
the thread "pkg management, what do you expect, what you wished you had" ( https://nixers.net/showthread.php?tid=1883 )
"GoboLinux and Package Management" https://nixers.net/showthread.php?tid=2049
And, obviously, much more, like all https://nixos.org/ or other type of package management or distro management.
More questions to think about:
What is expected from a distro or Unix-flavor
The "from scratch" approach, advantages?
What's the role of package manager?
What's the role of maintainers?
What is the current issue, containers, mini-language-specific-modules, etc..?

Keep your ideas to yourself before the discussion actually take place in the podcast.

EDIT: It has finally been posted here.]]> This thread is about launching one of those discussion podcast.

The topic this time is: What's The role of distributions &/or Unix flavors, where does package management stands in all that?

EDIT: It has finally been posted here.

Link of the recording [ https://github.com/nixers-projects/podca...3?raw=true http://podcast.nixers.net/feed/download....07-221.mp3 ]

We'll try to schedule it for next week, so hop on the scheduler interface and put all the hours you might be available so that we can choose the best common denominator: https://podcast.nixers.net

If you don't have a key you can PM me anywhere for one.

Relevant threads and articles for your personal research might be found in:
Issue #63 of the newsletter ( https://newsletter.nixers.net/entries.php#63 ) and this week issue #65
the thread "pkg management, what do you expect, what you wished you had" ( https://nixers.net/showthread.php?tid=1883 )
"GoboLinux and Package Management" https://nixers.net/showthread.php?tid=2049
And, obviously, much more, like all https://nixos.org/ or other type of package management or distro management.
More questions to think about:
What is expected from a distro or Unix-flavor
The "from scratch" approach, advantages?
What's the role of package manager?
What's the role of maintainers?
What is the current issue, containers, mini-language-specific-modules, etc..?

Keep your ideas to yourself before the discussion actually take place in the podcast.

EDIT: It has finally been posted here.]]> <![CDATA[What would the world be without Unix]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-What-would-the-world-be-without-Unix Sun, 22 Oct 2017 14:19:55 +0000 resk]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-What-would-the-world-be-without-Unix https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/wha...x.1364158/ ,and seeing the conversation didn't start I'm calling dib on this thread.

What would the world be without Unix?

I think this implies what you would personally be doing and what the world would look like, as in what tech would be affected.
For sure the mobile world would be different.]]> https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/wha...x.1364158/ ,and seeing the conversation didn't start I'm calling dib on this thread.

What would the world be without Unix?

I think this implies what you would personally be doing and what the world would look like, as in what tech would be affected.
For sure the mobile world would be different.]]> <![CDATA[Ubuntu philosophy]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Ubuntu-philosophy Sat, 08 Apr 2017 16:23:25 +0000 josuah]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Ubuntu-philosophy
Ubuntu is a philosophy, coming from Africa. I discovered this from a friend's video (french, sorry). There is a wiki page about it as well, but it's not /wiki/Ubuntu.

Well Ubuntu is *also* a linux distro, and they used the word along with its original meaning, and even made promotionnal videos about it.

This at least explains the african nature-looking themes of the early releases:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_vers...se_history

And releases names using animals present in Africa:

- 4.10 (Warty Warthog) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phacochoerus
- 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_African_hedgehog
- 5.10 (Breezy Badger) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_badger
- 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_black_duck
- 6.10 (Edgy Eft) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt
- 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_stag
- 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) - NOT IN AFRICA (East Asia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbon
- 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-backed_night_heron
- 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boer_goat
- 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) (fictionnal) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope#Origins
- 9.10 (Karmic Koala) - Australia! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala
- 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) - Cold northern regions!
- 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) - good. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkat
- 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) - Cold seas! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narwhal
- 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) - South america! - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocelot
- 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) - good. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin
- 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) - South america! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzal
- 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring-tailed_lemur
- 13.10 (Saucy Salamander) - America and tempered regions! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamander
- 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahr
- 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) - meh
- 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vervet_monkey
- 15.10 (Wily Werewolf) - MEH!
- 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_ground_squirrel
- 16.10 (Yakkety Yak) - Himalaya! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_yak
- 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) - North America! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapus

I loved ubuntu up to version 9.10 roughly. By using it, you could tell there was a message along with the product. Something like "we do not want to dominate the world, but to help people make their way". I saw it in public places, and I wondered what was this thing. It was my first step into Linux, and free software.

I do not mean being technically a free software, I mean having a message that you do not make programs for money, no endless marketting, not doing the impossible to please the custommer, but giving what people need.

Then they drifted away, starting to care about being competitive, adopting marketting strategies, like Windows, like Apple, like Coca Cola: They started to focus on how to market their product... Oh, sure! with the message still present, "computer for human beings" or whatever, but all companies have a catchy slogan.

Canonical, you do not deserve to market a product called Ubuntu anymore. Do you remember what does this word even means? How different are you from Google? You promote your softwares, operating systems, free of charge, and just like any company, you contribute to some free software.

http://ubuntu.com does not even one word on the meaning of "ubuntu", and here is your about page:

Quote:About the Ubuntu project

We believe in fast, effective computing for everyone. Created by the open-source community and Canonical, Ubuntu is free to use and share, at home and in business.

Shame on you. The closest of your original project is:

Quote:Open-source software ›

Ubuntu is created by open-source developers because we believe that everybody should have access to the best possible technologies.

This passionate global community works together to continually evolve the best systems in the world and then make them available to everybody, absolutely free.

"Best possible technologies". I do not care about having "Best possible technologies" if I have no funds to afford an expensive computer. But what you care about is to "evolve [into] the best systems in the world".

https://www.ubuntu.com/about/about-ubunt...philosophy

"Our Philosophy", is only talking about pedantic details about Licences. But this is the "Philosophy" page of Ubuntu.com! People that heard about the Ubuntu philosophy will come to this page.

They even removed the wiki page about the origin of the name (404). The about page used to give the meaning of ubuntu.

The founder, Mark Shuttleworth seems to follow the same evolution. Started out as a Debian developer, but in 2013:

Quote:On 25 October 2013, Shuttleworth and Ubuntu were awarded the Austrian anti-privacy Big Brother Award for sending local Ubuntu Unity Dash searches to Canonical servers by default

Quote:About the Ubuntu project

We believe in fast, effective computing for everyone. Created by the open-source community and Canonical, Ubuntu is free to use and share, at home and in business.

Shame on you. The closest of your original project is:

Quote:Open-source software ›

Ubuntu is created by open-source developers because we believe that everybody should have access to the best possible technologies.

This passionate global community works together to continually evolve the best systems in the world and then make them available to everybody, absolutely free.

Quote:On 25 October 2013, Shuttleworth and Ubuntu were awarded the Austrian anti-privacy Big Brother Award for sending local Ubuntu Unity Dash searches to Canonical servers by default

venam (7:20-9:40)

MUSIC: https://dexterbritain.bandcamp.com/track/from-truth

If you want to contribute check this thread.]]> podcast discussion extension)

Future

Link of the recording [ https://github.com/nixers-projects/podca...3?raw=true http://podcast.nixers.net/feed/download....12-041.mp3 ]

Let's play futurists.
What do you think will happen in some years?
Long and short term predictions.

What do you think will happen in some years?
What do you think will happen in the future if you open your unix box?
What do you see?
What do you do?
Let's take some assumptions and imagine what could happen in the world or
around the world of Unix in some years.
Or even in the tech world.
Let's play futurist and have short and long term predictions.
From the crazy ones to the ones anchored on our current knowledge.

What changes do you think will happen.

-----

We're the 4th of December 2016.
This episode will be a bit special, I need your help to build it.
As usual the episode will be pushed on Github.
But I'll leave it open ended for anyone to add his or her prediction to it.

All you have to do is:
1) Say your nick
2) Say if it's a short term or long term prediction, the more precise, the
crazier
3) Continue on with your prediction
4) Do a pull request on github ( https://github.com/nixers-projects/podcast )

Everything will be linked in the show notes.

Here are some example of things you can talk about:

1. The year of the Linux desktop (not Unix), when can you put a date on that?
2. How will nodejs take over the Linux kernel?
3. Will sentient machines run on Unix? Why?
4. Plan9 will strike back someday, but how?
5. Will there ever be a Unix like system that works fine on mobile devices or
anything that differs from the current keyboard+screen combination type of
interaction, how and why?
6. When will Google buy all Unix trademarks and then buy Microsoft? How will that
happen?
7. Will there ever be a new game changing type of UI that will be initiated by
Unix before any other OS, what would that look like? Why would it discover
it before others?
8. will this decentralization trend continue, micro services to which
point or why will it stop

So let's go,
I'm looking forward for your imagination to run wild.

Whatever changes are gonna happen.
Someday, we'll have to face them otherwise we'll be outdated old folks.
As developers and system administrators knowing whatever tech is in trend is a must.

Barbarians at the gate.
The cycle continue, new vs old.

We had a previous un-recorded podcast episode regarding what will happen in
5 years (now it would be 4 years) in the Unix world.
I would consider those as short term preditions.

https://nixers.net/showthread.php?tid=1885

Let's recap a bit.
And then I'll add my own prediction.

List of predictions:

venam (7:20-9:40)