Veronica Explains

One nice benefit to accepting Flatpak in your life: dealing with dependencies when one piece of software is outside of your usual dependency set. So, like, if I'm on GNOME, and I want a single KDE app (Kdenlive in my case), the Flathub version bundles all of those dependencies neatly in a way that would be zany if I used the native package. Same goes the other way around, when I'm running KDE Plasma, having Flathub for Shortwave or Baobab is something I really appreciate.

@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange "too many" is something I disagree with, in that I think for each distro it looks pretty much the same as Windows or Mac: Some kind of "store" (Windows Store/Mac App Store)Some kind of default software update mechanismSome kind of CLI repo (winget, brew)Independent packages (.exe, .dmg, .deb, .rpm) The ratios of the above might be different in different OSes, but the concepts are shared, I think. Where I think folks get bogged down is thinking of "Linux" as a monolith. Debian is a different operating system than Fedora. They both "are Linux" in family, but they are different OSes as far as how you use them and develop for them.

Just ran into a perfect example of Gentoo being awesome for me as a video maker: ffmpeg. I wanted to handle some goofy conversions of video files. The default ffmpeg wasn't compiled to include that codec. On Debian, this would have involved some weirdness with removing a system package and compiling from source, and then manually tracking ffmpeg versions... forever. On Gentoo? Update a USE flag.

When I write for human beings, I have a brief chance to inspire a fellow human being. That spark might burn out, or it might ignite someone's passion. That's magic. That's why I write. When an LLM ingests my work, I just make a billionaire richer. That's not why I write. To me it's that simple, and I'll carry that mission right through until the end.

Also, ABBA is a rock band and I will always die on that hill.

@PaulaToThePeople@climatejustice.social An account. I don't think you can migrate instances.

@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange @norbipeti@toot.norbipeti.eu "winget and the other tools just download and automate..." it's funny to me because that's what apt does in Debian/Ubuntu/etc: automates the installation of programs distributed as .deb files. I don't think it's all that different but the mindset is different? If you're running a Debian-based distro, for example, you can typically just double click on a .deb file you downloaded and run it. Much like an .exe on Windows? Of course, in both cases, you shouldn't do it unless you know what you're doing.

@FinFangFoomed@mastodon.social I think ABBA has fewer disco songs than Queen.

@bryanredeagle@beige.party I call it a "programming language" because the folks who write with it are engaged in the act of programming- folks working with HTML are "telling a computer how to do a thing", and it's nearly always used in conjunction with CSS and JavaScript. Basically, it's programming not because of the design but because of the application. (Plus there's a history of devaluing front-end work and I like to poke at that)

My most controversial opinions, apparently: ABBA is a rock bandVentoy isn't easier than flashing a USB stickHTML is a programming languageYou don't have to care about systemd

This is sick, and there's nothing I can do about it. EDIT: please don't send me more misinfo about myself, thank you

@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange @norbipeti@toot.norbipeti.eu like what? Genuinely curious, I'm interested in hearing about this particular wriggle. :)

If you have a platform, and someone criticizes you, consider not responding. I know, it's hard. I had a hard time figuring this out myself. It can be challenging to walk away when folks are saying crummy things about you. But you'll never please everyone, and you don't have to be right all the time. Sometimes people won't like you and you just have to live with that.

"We just came across your channel, and we think it's the perfect vibe for our new AI coding assistant" retrain your model, my dudes

@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange Kylie is also excellent!!

Fun fact about Gentoo ICYMI... https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:Council/AI_policy

Every few weeks I get an angry email saying something like "why did you block me on Mastodon?" Folks: quit doing this, it doesn't help

And yes, this feature is "off by default"...for existing sites. I don't like how that sounds. https://ghost.org/changelog/geo/

Today is Bandcamp Friday. That means Bandcamp doesn't take their usual cut of sales of my band's EP, Return From Interrupt. If you like four YouTubers making novelty rock songs about vintage computers - and really, who doesn't - buying our EP today for $5 USD would be a fantastic way to support our work. We're hoping to get together soon to finish up the second EP- a strong showing today would help us reach our goals. https://thestopbits.bandcamp.com/album/return-from-interrupt

@cgudrian@social.tchncs.de Excellent tune, reminds me of some of the lighter-hearted Queen tracks

I am not saying "Arch sucks and Gentoo is better", I am saying "these two well regarded Wiki projects seem to be adopting different philosophies, both of which are valid and probably helpful in your quest to understand a topic better"

I get that not everyone feels like I do about LLMs, but I don't think "make clanker ingestion easier" is the way to encourage more people to write.

What have I done?

I'm looking for "how to spot LLM-generated writing", but aimed toward a middle-school-aged audience. Does anyone have any suggestions so that I can share them? Boosts welcome!

I really think that the one thing that makes folks see ABBA as "not rock" is that you're hearing women sing. Most folks see pop, I see a glam rock band.

The internet is largely made up of two groups of people: PedantsFolks who are tired of pedants

I think the thing that Ghost is grossly missing here is that folks don't ask a chatbot "find me a publication". They ask a chatbot "how do I do this thing?" I have no way to stop ChatGPT in its tracks and ask it nicely to just give them a link to my blog. They're all going to tear my work apart, blend it with other people, and obfuscate the sources. And that deprives us of recognition. It doesn't help our discoverability. Adding tools to make ingestion easier? It just feels anti-writer.

"But Veronica! They take up so much space!" Do they? I wouldn't do this if I only had 16G of storage but on a modern machine I can't say I'm too worried about it. Besides, I value time more than efficiency. flatpak install example.software.Software is far easier than navigating dependency hell. And I say that as a sysadmin with 20+ years of Linux experience.

If you're running Debian, take the update right now. https://lwn.net/Articles/1097401/

The LLM position is IMO a good one, but I don't even think it's the best reason to give Gentoo a try. I switched to Gentoo because in a world that's increasingly trying to do things for me, I wanted to reassert control over my tinkering. Gentoo has proven to be really good at that. My mistakes are all learning opportunities, and it's been amazing getting to make mistakes over the last few months of dailying Gentoo.

@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange I can see that. I think we (Linux folks like me, not newcomers) need to stop thinking of "Linux" as an "operating system" and more like a "family of operating systems". Of course, saying that doesn't help new folks. I'm reminded of how "just because something runs on OS/2 doesn't mean it runs on Windows 3.1". Similar DNA, but different underpinnings. "Linux" still has that: Debian isn't Fedora isn't Arch isn't openSUSE. They all do different things and I think that for many newcomers, they just think of it all as "one big Linux", but it isn't. Basically, if you're searching for something to install, avoid "install X on Linux" and think "install X on Linux Mint" or "install X on Fedora" or "install X on Ubuntu" and everything narrows down.

I would prefer the opposite, TBH. "We will help you jank up your site in every way possible to make it useless to LLMs"

Here's an example of that documentation difference: Arch Wiki's GNOME page is written in a way that's really helpful when I'm struggling with a specific issue, like color profiles or a touchpad bug. Gentoo Wiki's GNOME page is a guide. It's designed around Gentoo. It covers much of the same topics but when you read it from start to finish, you'll understand GNOME on Gentoo a lot better.

Blog post about migrating from Mastodon to GoToSocial incoming

Anyway, I think 80% of the issues folks have with Linux, both as the developer and the user, have to do with navigating packaging across distros. For every user or dev who said "Linux is too hard because there's so many distros to choose from", I genuinely think Flatpak is the best shot at solving those problems. It's not perfect and everyone can find something to pick apart, but IMO Flatpak makes this stuff accessible to more folks, and that's my goal.

Me: installs Gentoo Also me: installs GNOME and systemd, removes cron and does everything with timers 😈​

I just pissed off everyone. Happy Saturday

@0x4d6165@transfem.social I make YouTube/PeerTube videos, so... all of them?

I'm only a few hours into successful Gentoo running, so bear with me, but I'm seeing a clear documentation difference with Arch that I think is worth mentioning. Arch Wiki is written like a wiki. It's very full of great information! You can look at a page, read a part of it, and understand a lot about a package! That's a great thing. Gentoo Wiki is written like an owner's manual. When you go to a page, you'll want to read it from top to bottom. But at the end, you're going to know soooo much. That's also a great thing.

Someone asked me if I'm still writing my own scripts, now that "AI can do all of that". Yes, I am still writing my scripts. I enjoy writing. No machine can stop that. No machine can take away the joy in creating something that didn't exist before. I won't cede that to robots; I couldn't if I tried.

I should write a book: I picked up a new toslink cable in order to avoid having my TV perform firmware updates which force data collection from me: the 2026 story

@goofpunk@wetdry.world listen to them! The song I mentioned is a perfect example. They're a rock band. The only reason ABBA is considered "pop" and ELO is considered "rock" is because "women don't front rock bands". There's nothing ABBA was doing that KISS or Queen or Led Zeppelin weren't also doing around the same time.

ABBA's "Ring, Ring" sounds (and looks!) like it could have been tracked during Ziggy Stardust. This is a rock and roll band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL0EoXdpOqg