Linux Asceticism
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rugu.dev
https://donhopkins.medium.com/bill-joys-law-2-year-1984-mill...
Firefox tells me it had to download 1.9MB, despite that the only graphic in the article weighs just 60kB.
Thankfully modern browsers have 'reader mode'. There's no such simple solution for Windows.
Using Linux, you suffer for better reasons that may even be worth it in some cases.
When you use Linux, your suffering might push you to break and waste a weekend fixing an upstream bug, from which the entire world benefits for free. When you use Linux, your suffering builds positive karma, and next life you get to reincarnate as a cat, released from the hell that is software engineering.
I just started a new job that has forced me to use OSX. It truly feels like a form of asceticism to me. Can't change anything, accept what Apple gives you and suffer quietly.
Having to relearn how to do things less efficiently (and being mostly powerless to improve it) was very humbling for me.
I've been telling everyone who asks that Windows has lost the Laptop market. The market just hasn't realized yet.
Edit: It very much feels like being on a Symbian phone in 2005 or 2006. They were horrifically broken, couldn't load a web page, had no path forward towards even basic note taking, calendar organization, social media, or anything. But the iPhone hadn't shown up yet, so a majority of the world still used Symbian.
It's not just the laptop market. Windows used to be a tool that allowed you to easily use your computer and programs. It no longer does this and is now mostly a vehicle to sell Microsoft's services.
That's why I think a fork that implements the requisite changes would be of value.
I would probably also overhaul the settings app. For example, the whole Appearance & Style group and its two drill-down sections could be pretty easily reworked into a single panel that directly surfaces the most pertinent settings while tucking away the rest under an "Advanced…" button that opens a modal — with themes for example the average user will at most be interested in changing the global theme. Only advanced users even know the difference between window decorations, application styles, etc much less want to be able to change any of those individually.
The two biggest issues I'd have with Linux full time would be audio and video. I haven't even attempted to run Linux audio in like 5-10 years - it was always so titchy with multiple 'standards' to configure. Video was not quite as bad, as I don't game much so I just needed basic functionality. But now I have multiple 4k monitors, high dpi, and all that jazz, I don't know how big a pain it would be. I just run linux in VMs (standard device drivers and setup) or ssh into a linux server for now.
Audio/video has more to do the distribution being used than it does one's desktop environment, though the DEs can do things to smartly design configuration UI and surface the most commonly used A/V settings in the right places.
But I've never had a computer where everything just works, I guess that's because I expect too much, but I could never say this.
If you mean a Linux desktop PC, then no. I have been using a Linux desktop for many years, but not exclusively. I have tried, but I always have had at least a dual-boot with Windows. Yes, you have more control under Linux, but the reason I still use Windows sometimes is that many things just don't work properly.
Just look at here for a list:
https://itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.t...
Or, from a less technical perspective, look at the LinusTechTips video series where he tries to use Linux as a daily driver:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0506yDSgU7M
And I love linux, I have a Linux desktop at home, which is pretty minimal by the way (Debian mini.iso), and that that it doesn't do weird things behind my back is appreciable. But it absolutely doesn't "just work".
super tangential but am I the only one who has an undying love for the Tahoma font?
Think about it from a 5-year-old person's perspective, or an average computer user. Which one do you think is more comfortable to use, Windows, or Linux?
But they get a lot of things right, like their backwards compatibility via statically linked packages and a large "standard library".
Unfortunately it's all proprietary and doesn't work if you can't live with the random updates, or if you need to support small cheap embedded things well...
That said, linux is in a way like processed foods, and windows is organic.
Linux is distilled down to the essential components through chemistry, it's like sugar or table salt, or maltodextrine.
Windows is just a thing that is alive, but not even a single thing, it has a flora that the manufacturer can't even tell you what it is in the ingredient list (can't share source code, they don't have it) they can't put all of the natural bacteria that coats an apple in an ingredient list.
I would have said the opposite.
Linux is organic - you get the bare essentials (whatever grew from the ground), and little more.
Windows is highly processed - you get the food, but also the chemicals and sugars and additives (AI in your taskbar! Candy Crush and political clickbait in your start menu!) designed to keep you addicted and coming back for more.
So windows is pure in the first sense, but linux is pure in the second sense.
You say that with linux you get the bare essentials, whatever grew from the ground, but take a look at the size of a linux distro, linux is actually very distilled, Windows is RAW. You get a binary in there that nobody knows how it got there and there is no source code.
There is source code/recipe/ingredient list/dependency manifest for a vanilla and fudge pastrie, but there is no source code for an apple/windows, you get what it is. For the most part windows didn't have source code in the early stages themselves, it's not like they kept the source code hidden under lock, rather they discarded it or lost it to the ages. It's like compilers, it's just something that grows over a couple of generations from the previous version.
I don’t become less ascetic by wearing fewer hair shirts.
That's why I like macos so much, nothing is perfect but I know that whatever I do there are tools somewhat easy to use .
For instance I wanted to read an epub on my computer that runs windows, believe it or not but finding a good or even descent epub reader is a nightmare. Wasted a lot of time before settling on FB reader.
On mac, you just have the book app. It's not perfect, when you export highlights for instance it always add 'copyright blabla' but it's good enough for my casual reading.
Same for pdf, you want an app that can read pdf and do some basic stuff like reorganize pages or compress them. On Mac there is preview, on windows ? Edge can just read and it's a browser, adobe is paid software and install a lot of junk.
And you repeat that for basically everything it's such a waste of time.
Linux is even worst than windows on that matter.
If you are looking for that kind of 'experience' like the author, i suggest hitting yourself on the balls with a hammer. That would be quicker.
In woodworking and other circles, there are folks who only buy the best-est, most expensive tools money can buy. Then there are folks who take regular tools and modify them for the job at hand, creating a better tool that money can't buy.
Point is, there are many kinds of folks out there and if you need a good ball-hitting hammer - well you won't find THAT at Home Depot, but someone creative could probably put together something better.
Sure, you have to spend some time to find the best tools at first but it's not really something you have to do regularly. This goes for Windows, Linux and Android, I've been using the same few apps for basic computing tasks for a decade now on all of these platforms and I can confidently most are still the community's choice in their niche. Truly, aren't SumatraPDF, Calibere and MoonReader a web search away?
And sure, the app stores on these platforms are a relative mess but it sure does seem the larger useebase they're serving is getting along fine. And not to mention the many other cases where you'll actually have to pay for some basic utility on macOS. Apple products are generally the best in class, don't get me wrong but this is hardly the differentiator the way I look at it.
I already knew about them, but just take a look. Their interface are, to say the least, ugly and no consistency ever. UI is not just about the look, it also helps a user understand quickly and efficiently how to do things.
> And not to mention the many other cases where you'll actually have to pay for some basic utility on macOS.
It's better to have paid app than nothing or lackluster. If forklift for instance was available on windows I would definitely pay for it. Instead you have file Zilla and winscp, that are free, but damn it's a pain going from one elegant software to an ugly, not really thought, one.
You won’t use Linux because calibre isn’t pre-installed?
1. search around the web to find a good program for a given task, crossing my fingers that it's not going to be malware
2. track down the download link for the software, then download the package
3. unzip the installer, open it, then click "yes I'm aware that this is a program downloaded from the Internet and I accept all the risks," thereby making me feel a little nervous about the whole transaction
4. choose the install location, install type, and so on, click "next," "next," "next," then scroll through a seemingly endless legal agreement by which I legally agree to god-knows-what
5. use the program, but inevitably endure an onslaught of annoyances from it: pop-ups that push me to buy the premium version, pop-ups that tell me to download and install an update for the program (for which I need to go through steps 1-4 all over again); the list goes on and on
And to make matters worse, each program asks me individually to update it, meaning that if I'm using 10 programs, I have to handle 10 separate update requests, with no way to batch them all.
In contrast, how do you install a program on Linux? `apt install some-program` or equivalent. How you upgrade all your software at once? `apt upgrade`. That's it. I don't have this epub problem you have—I just use Foliate. And PDF readers are aplenty, too. If you use GNOME or KDE, most of that is already installed for you. At most, it's one or two clicks away, in GNOME Software, for example.
> I don't get it ... it's such a waste of time
After all, there are indeed more comfortable ways to get from point A to B.
I was surprised going from Android to iOS how iphone are much more open despite everyone saying it's a closed ecosystem.
On Android to sync my calendar and contacts I need to install a third party app called davx that updates every 30 minutes, meanwhile iOS and macos supports natively icloud but also exchange, google, caldav (standard protocol).
Just having the equivalent of macos mail app on windows would cost me 60$ (em client). A pdf app that actually allow basic pdf organization, that's another 60$ with pdf xchange editor, and so on and so on.
I found Sumatra PDF to be great, at least at rendering / reading comfort.
It's all free in macos preview app and it just works.
No one want to spend 30 minutes looking for website that allow to compress pdf because it's a slightly too big to be sent through email...
I do think Sumatra PDF is good for Windows software, it's not bloated and it's fast.
certainly, but 99% computer user never ever opened the terminal. And even then, good luck rotating page 4 of by 270° using terminal, then inverting it with page 5 and filling the form.
Things that would take 5 seconds on preview.
I appreciate your enthusiasm but man you're over complicating stuff. Beside LLM hallucinations, you would have to type to the computer everything you want to do. I can rotate page with one click, move them to another part is doe with a single mouse drag.
Repeatable Builds is something that can be practiced without Linux, but which the Linux ascetic will find pleasingly austere. Working with immutable data send like another. And then there's all the ways one can avoid using a pointing device, or not buying things your can't hack...
It's a path that Linux can teach you to to walk, but it's not Linux's path.
I’ve gradually started using more UX-friendly alternatives to the tools I've used for so long, and I don’t think the time spent learning those lower-level tools was wasted at all.
If I ever switch to a MacBook (since they're easy to carry around and have good battery life), I’d probably feel the same way as you do. But I don't see that happening shortly since I don't see an immediate need or benefit of it.
“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.”
That aside, I've noticed that certain kinds of users spend a lot of time thinking about their operating system. Personally, it's the opposite of what I'd like to do when I'm using a computer.
For most people, I'd advocate that they buy the best hardware they can afford, which during the M1+ era has been a Mac, and Macs run macOS. Some users want something more specialized, like native Docker or Windows-only engineering applications, but those users probably know who they are and don't need to be asking me for advice.
This is why I stopped using Windows; it now negatively forces you to think about the operating system you're using when all I want to do is use the programs I installed on my computer.
Over the years Linux desktop has indeed improved, but still with much problems to use. We should adopt a growth mindset instead of sticking to asceticism.
I do think, though, he’s drawing a slightly artificial line between self-improvement, personal control, and practical concerns. If you haven’t “self improved” to the point where you know how your system works, can you actually control it? If you don’t know how to tell your system to do things, does it gain much practical value?
This was circa 2008 or so and I feel now is the time to dump my regular Debian and go for Proxmox VE... For my desktop. I'm no Proxmox dev but I know some are using Proxmox on their main desktop/workstation.
I kinda feel it's would be pretty ascetic: running an hypervisor and all your other stuff only inside guests requires self-discipline. It's a bit more involved than just installing a Linux OS and all the software directly onto the "main" Linux.
I’ll install stuff from the command line but generally stick to the gui tools. And they work.
I’m able to do my programming tasks with minimal issues.
I have to dig a little deeper. Thanks
But, you can find this attitude pervading the whole linux desktop ecosystem. This post may as well be titled "Why it will never be the year of the Linux Desktop".
I guess this is what survives of the 90s/early-2000s Slashdot mentality where people defend software for ideological reasons and get in Linux vs. Windows fanboy fights, but I think that's anachronistic today. Linux Desktop is never going to take over among average people (increasingly many of whom don't even use desktops at all) and that's fine.
"There will never be a year of minimal GNU/Linux distros on desktop."
Fixed that for you.