• Re: TERMinator

    From Nightfox@21:1/137 to nblade on Fri Mar 27 17:19:00 2026
    Re: Re: TERMinator
    By: nblade to Nightfox on Sat Mar 28 2026 10:10 am

    I am glad that Linux is working out for you. I always try to recommend that people try Linux. I do however think that everyone is different and for some Linux does not work for them. My recommendation is to try all the OS you can and find one that does work for the person in question.

    Yeah, for me, I think being familiar with computers helps with Linux. I think a lot of Linux distros have gotten easier over the years, but it still helps to know how to use command-line tools, edit configuration files, etc.

    Also, I think a lot of people might not have the time, or might not want to, try a lot of different OSes, as it takes time to install one, configure things, and use it for a bit. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time installing and using various operating systems on my computer at home, and I'm not entirely sure it's something I'd want to spend a lot of time doing now.. though I do still enjoy it - Sometimes I download the latest Haiku OS and try it in a VM, or try another Linux distro in a VM. It doesn't really take long to install an OS these days, so it's easier to install one (especially in a VM) and give it a try for a bit.

    Nightfox
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
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  • From Nightfox@21:1/137 to Mike Powell on Fri Mar 27 17:20:45 2026
    Re: Re: TERMinator
    By: Mike Powell to Nightfox on Fri Mar 27 2026 11:20 pm

    One things I would warn about with an ubuntu machine... when a new version comes out, you will want to upgrade to it sooner rather than later. They have (or at least did have!) a strange, not-so-debian way of messing about with apt and their software repositories that results in packages missing and/or just being skipped. If you are like me, it will turn out to be packages the system needs to boot and be functional.

    With debian, if you get more than a version behind, you can always upgrade to the next version, and then the next. I have never had a problem doing so. But ubuntu will break your system if you are not careful.

    Yeah, I generally try to update a Linux distro to the next major version fairly soon after it's released, to avoid problems. I've been running Linux Mint on a secondary PC for 10+ years and have been upgrading it that way and generally haven't had a problem. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, so I imagine Mint may have the same possible issues. I was originally also using Linux Mint on my main PC before I decided to switch to KUbuntu.

    Nightfox
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  • From Mike Powell@21:1/175.6 to Nightfox on Fri Mar 27 23:20:28 2026

    I've uesd Linux for years on other systems, but since using KUbuntu on my main PC, I've started to feel some of that fun in using my PC again. For one thing, I think Linux GUI environments tend to look better than the rest (Windows, Mac, iOS, & Android) - GUI themes work a lot better in Linux GUI environments (and there are a lot more themes to choose from), and you can have a look & feel with depth in the GUI elements; on the other hand, the other major operating systems on the market have gone mostly all flat with their GUIs, which I don't find very appealing. Also, the level of customizability you get with a Linux distro and the lack of (or lower level of) things that bug you (such as update nagging, ads, etc.) are a lot less in a Linux distro. It feels like I can just do what I want more than I can with Windows.

    One things I would warn about with an ubuntu machine... when a new version comes out, you will want to upgrade to it sooner rather than later. They have (or at least did have!) a strange, not-so-debian way of messing about with apt and their software repositories that results in packages missing and/or just being skipped. If you are like me, it will turn out to be packages the system needs to boot and be functional.

    With debian, if you get more than a version behind, you can always upgrade to the next version, and then the next. I have never had a problem doing so. But ubuntu will break your system if you are not careful.



    --- ScorpioWeb v0.22a (Linux/x86_64)
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  • From niter3@21:1/199 to nblade on Sat Mar 28 07:13:41 2026
    It is a sad state to be sure. I was talking to a friend the other day and I was talking about how it use to be fun using a computer. Of course that was back in the 80's and early 90's. To me there was a sense of wonder
    and fun to using them. Now, All I read is how everyone is trying to lock down or restrict how I use them. We have law makers trying to dicitate that the OS should know our age and report it when asked. We have Google and Apple locking down what can and can not be installed on a device.
    Hell even as a consumer, I almost can not write simple things like
    scripts to automate tasks on my phone. Or hell even do things like say only keep the last 500 text msgs on my device to save space like I use
    to. (I recently switched phones and found that there was no longer a setting to auto delete old text message). I guess they figure you have
    a ton of space on you phone why would you do that. And now couple that with AI stuff, where almost every day, I am now being told that if I
    don't use AI, I'm not with it. And if I do use AI I am told, I should be using it as a "trusted companion" not a tool.

    To be honest, I want computers to be fun again, which is why I find
    myself using things like these old school BBS. And why I actually find myself wanting to buy one of those Commodore 64 Ultimates retro clones that are out.

    I guess in the end I find it hard to swallow that something I once
    loved, is now a straightjack of control and surveillance.


    I must agree with your statements.

    It is frustrating, I agree. I wish somebody would come up with a spin off of the Internet.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)
  • From niter3@21:1/199 to Nightfox on Sat Mar 28 07:15:27 2026
    ads, etc.) are a lot less in a Linux distro. It feels like I can just
    do what I want more than I can with Windows.

    Oh most definitely. Depending on what desktop env, you can customize the hell out of it!

    I moved off windows 6 years ago. My daily work is a Mac and my personal computers are linux and Amiga.

    I dislike all the bloat that comes with Windows. Frankly, I'm tired of all these commerical companies trying to tell us how to use our computers and advertising shit all day long.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)
  • From Tiny@21:1/700 to Nightfox on Sat Mar 28 06:42:30 2026
    Hi Nightfox,
    In a message to Mike Powell you wrote:

    Yeah, I generally try to update a Linux distro to the next major
    version fairly soon after it's released, to avoid problems. I've been

    Just don't read any messages from Nick! You'll end up running arch
    like me. I was a pretty big mint user, couple posts with Nick and
    now I run Arch btw.

    For me it's the correct distro as I'm a bit insane with wanting to
    control every single tiny peice of data on my drive. I avoided it
    for years and now I wish I had tried it 20 years ago.

    ... Where does the fire go when the fire goes out?


    * SeM. 2.26 * paranoia: believing this tagline is about you.
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  • From Accession@21:1/200 to Tiny on Sat Mar 28 08:27:58 2026
    Hey Tiny!

    On Sat, 28 Mar 2026 06:42:30 -0500, you wrote:

    Just don't read any messages from Nick! You'll end up running arch
    like me. I was a pretty big mint user, couple posts with Nick and
    now I run Arch btw.

    HAHAHAHAHA! I'm just here to help, brother. ;)

    For me it's the correct distro as I'm a bit insane with wanting to
    control every single tiny peice of data on my drive. I avoided it
    for years and now I wish I had tried it 20 years ago.

    As much as I wouldn't want to add more to your plate, you would probably enjoy Slackware or FreeBSD, too, given your description above. I just happen to use Arch, and don't have enough experience with the other two to pass along any useful information about them.

    Glad you ended up liking it, though!

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20260304
    * Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)
  • From Mike Powell@21:1/175.6 to Nightfox on Sat Mar 28 15:17:44 2026


    Yeah, I generally try to update a Linux distro to the next major version fairly soon after it's released, to avoid problems. I've been running Linux Mint on a secondary PC for 10+ years and have been upgrading it that way and generally haven't had a problem. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, so I imagine Mint may have the same possible issues. I was originally also using Linux Mint on my main PC before I decided to switch to KUbuntu.


    It *may* not have the same issues if they use their own repositories and/or the "vanilla" apt package.



    --- ScorpioWeb v0.22a (Linux/x86_64)
    * Origin: Project Scorpio TEST (21:1/175.6)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to nblade on Sat Mar 28 12:25:08 2026
    nblade wrote to Nightfox <=-

    I guess in the end I find it hard to swallow that something I once
    loved, is now a straightjack of control and surveillance.

    We just need to find the next frontier...



    ... A NEW LIFE AWAITS YOU IN THE OFF-WORLD COLONIES!
    --- MultiMail/Win v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Nightfox@21:1/137 to Tiny on Sat Mar 28 18:44:25 2026
    Re: Re: TERMinator
    By: Tiny to Nightfox on Sat Mar 28 2026 06:42 am

    Yeah, I generally try to update a Linux distro to the next major version
    fairly soon after it's released, to avoid problems. I've been

    Just don't read any messages from Nick! You'll end up running arch like me. I was a pretty big mint user, couple posts with Nick and now I run Arch btw.

    :) I've talked with Nick for years, and I seem to recall him mentioning Arch. Years ago I had tried Gentoo (and I recall Nick said he's used Gentoo as well), but after a short while I didn't want to wait for it to build all the software packages from code when it installed. I think there was a noticeable performance advantage doing that, but it was a fairly small advtangage, and IMO not raelly worth waiting so long for packages to build.

    Nightfox
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: Digital Distortion: digdist.synchro.net (21:1/137)
  • From Accession@21:1/200 to Nightfox on Sun Mar 29 08:40:30 2026
    Hey Nightfox!

    On Sat, 28 Mar 2026 18:44:24 -0700, you wrote:

    Years ago I had tried Gentoo (and I recall Nick said he's used
    Gentoo as well), but after a short while I didn't want to wait for it to build all the software packages from code when it installed. I think
    there was a noticeable performance advantage doing that, but it was a
    fairly small advtangage, and IMO not raelly worth waiting so long for packages to build.

    I'm in complete agreement here. Except the only performance advantages of compiling everything from source is if you actually went out of your way to specify optimizations specific to your system. By setting your "CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS" keywords and "USE" flags, you could leave out a lot of bloat you don't need, which may have ended up with smaller binaries and better performance.

    I never really noticed any of that, though.. because I was always too busy !@(#*& compiling. While I enjoyed it for awhile, and it taught me a lot when first starting out with Linux, it got old. :D

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20260304
    * Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)
  • From The Wanderer@21:3/233 to Nightfox on Sun Mar 29 09:07:20 2026
    Re: Re: TERMinator
    By: Nightfox to Tiny on Sat Mar 28 2026 06:44 pm

    build all the software packages from code when it installed. I think there was a noticeable performance advantage doing that, but it was a fairly small advtangage, and IMO not raelly worth waiting so long for packages to build.

    I run Gentoo on desktop and server systems and have on and off for many years. From my understanding and anecdotal evidence I think there's little performance impact *on the whole*. But over time, there's a few things that have kept bringing me back to Gentoo - those being: a nearly perfect rolling release distribution (nearly, in that there have been a few trouble spots in the more distant past), lightweight as appropriate - where many software features are not included at all unless enabled at compile time, but maybe the best feature that I've appreciated more over the years is it's package and build management that allows me to fix minor issues with software versions easily, include my own packages if I am so ambitious, etc. in a much easier to deal with setup than any of the binary packaging systems that I've seen.

    I have never found the compile time issue to be an issue for me on a server deployment - compiles can, by choice, take a long time and use minimal resources in the background on updates, which generally isn't an issue for me. Certain packages I set to compile a little quicker so I'm there once the update is installed to review the new version of the service, be able to roll back relatively quickly, etc.

    Desktop systems I use distcc or a build host, and try to let things roll over night on the big bunches of updates.

    As much as I like Gentoo - I generally wouldn't advocate for others to install it unless they are really looking for this particular type of system that gives much flexibility and control, at the cost of patience around package building.

    When I get a laptop ready for someone other than me, it's Debian. :)
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
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  • From Tiny@21:1/700 to Accession on Mon Mar 30 05:45:28 2026
    Hi Accession,
    On <Sun, 28 Mar 26>, you wrote me:

    HAHAHAHAHA! I'm just here to help, brother. ;)

    Thanks for that! ;)

    As much as I wouldn't want to add more to your plate, you would
    probably enjoy Slackware or FreeBSD, too, given your description

    I've run them both. Since I do enjoy the odd game and I don't have
    time to play for 6 hours before it launches I think I'll stick with
    this setup. ;)

    Glad you ended up liking it, though!

    Honestly me too. It's the right amount of work for me, can tinker
    or not depending on mood.

    ... When in doubt, predict that the trend will continue.


    * SeM. 2.26 * As confused as a baby at a topless bar.
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  • From Accession@21:1/200 to Tiny on Mon Mar 30 18:48:02 2026
    Hey Tiny!

    On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:45:28 -0500, you wrote:

    As much as I wouldn't want to add more to your plate, you would
    probably enjoy Slackware or FreeBSD, too, given your description

    I've run them both. Since I do enjoy the odd game and I don't have
    time to play for 6 hours before it launches I think I'll stick with
    this setup. ;)

    While I'm not sure about Slackware (I would assume so), FreeBSD has a binary package management system now, too. I gave it a try in a VM and was able to get things going just as quickly as Arch, up to and including a full desktop environment.

    I'm just so used to Arch by now, that while I don't mind tinkering with other stuff, I always delete it and go back to my go-to. ;)

    Honestly me too. It's the right amount of work for me, can tinker
    or not depending on mood.

    Exactly!

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20260304
    * Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)
  • From Tiny@21:1/700 to Accession on Tue Mar 31 05:28:31 2026
    Hi Accession,
    On <Tue, 30 Mar 26>, you wrote me:

    While I'm not sure about Slackware (I would assume so), FreeBSD has a binary package management system now, too. I gave it a try in a VM and
    was able to get things going just as quickly as Arch, up to and
    including a full desktop environment.

    Yes I have used FreeBSD in the not too distant past. I like it however
    it's a bit lacking when it comes to running games.

    I'm just so used to Arch by now, that while I don't mind tinkering
    with other stuff, I always delete it and go back to my go-to. ;)

    I still tinker. But yeah arch just works, I cheat and use the install
    program now as well.... I'm lazy.

    ... If the shoe fits . . . it's the wrong colour


    * SeM. 2.26 * As confused as a baby at a topless bar.
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
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  • From Accession@21:1/200 to Tiny on Tue Mar 31 16:05:40 2026
    Hey Tiny!

    On Tue, 31 Mar 2026 05:28:30 -0500, you wrote:

    I still tinker. But yeah arch just works, I cheat and use the install program now as well.... I'm lazy.

    I can't disagree there, either. I setup a Virtualbox VM just to test the latest install .iso, while using 'archinstall' to install a base system, a full plasma desktop, and some extras (which took all but about 10 minutes or so). I was kind of excited when it was done; it rebooted and came right up into sddm, with everything there and working flawlessly.

    I must admit, the work they've done on that installer is outstanding. Since I've already installed many times via the original way, I don't need to learn any more. That script is the beez knees! :D

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20260304
    * Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)
  • From Tiny@21:1/700 to Accession on Wed Apr 1 05:30:02 2026
    Hi Accession,
    On <Wed, 31 Mar 26>, you wrote me:

    I must admit, the work they've done on that installer is outstanding.
    Since I've already installed many times via the original way, I don't
    need to learn any more. That script is the beez knees! :D

    It really is quite slick! I insalled it the original way twice while
    learning, and once I knew what I wanted I used the installer. If they
    removed it tomorrow I would be able to go back, but I wouldn't be happy
    about it. hahaha

    ... Real knowledge is to know the extent of ones ignorance.


    * SeM. 2.26 * As confused as a baby at a topless bar.
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  • From Vilenihilist@21:1/183 to Tiny on Wed Apr 1 09:17:20 2026
    Re: TERMinator
    By: Tiny to Accession on Tue Mar 31 2026 05:28 am

    I still tinker. But yeah arch just
    works, I cheat and use the install
    program now as well.... I'm lazy.

    I've settled on Endeavour OS
    personally. Arch-based distros just
    feel right.


    --Just Post, World Is A Fuck!--

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