• Re: ?Want to be a Linux pro like me? Master these 8 skills first?

    From Charlie Gibbs@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, June 03, 2026 18:00:11
    On 2026-06-03, Borax Man <boraxman@geidiprime.invalid> wrote:

    I look forward to the next "new" article on how to use "find".

    In my case, if I'm using Unix-like utilities under Windows,
    the correct usage is:

    \usr\local\wbin\find ...

    in order to keep it from finding Windows' brain-dead grep equivalent.

    Next, an article on how you can put butter on toast.

    Send money to the "butter" utility provider and sign up
    for monthly rental payments.

    --
    /~\ Charlie Gibbs | Growth for the sake of
    \ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | growth is the ideology
    X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | of the cancer cell.
    / \ if you read it the right way. | -- Edward Abbey

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Nuno Silva@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, June 03, 2026 20:18:27
    On 2026-06-03, rbowman wrote:

    On Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:39:53 +0100, Nuno Silva wrote:

    Decompressors will implement decompression of empty strings by
    outputting one of the versions of his articles, possibly randomizing the
    location of the several parts and possibly also their presence or
    absence.

    Isn't that what Claude and friends do? They aren't 'hallucinating'; they were trained on bullshit and spew bullshit. The trend as the AI companies try to monetize the products makes it expensive bullshit.

    I was imagining this being more about hardcoded blocks of text, with
    minimal or no rewording, more hardcoding stuff, no need for LLMs. Just
    Wallen's own articles, nothing else.

    --
    Nuno Silva

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Rich@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 03:45:32
    Borax Man <boraxman@geidiprime.invalid> wrote:
    On 2026-06-02, Lawrence D?Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
    Jack Wallen makes some good points in this list of basic Linux
    concepts worth mastering >><https://www.zdnet.com/article/things-you-need-to-master-to-become-a-linux-pro/>.

    Yes, you can do a lot of things through the point-and-click GUI. But
    that is mostly just a bunch of front-ends on command-line/scripting
    tools that do all the actual work. Also, GUIs vary a lot from one
    distro to another, or even one distro installation to another, whereas
    the core command-line functionality tends to be much more homogeneous.

    I get these people need to make a living, but it annoys me to no end to
    see article after article after article after article which just
    rehashes the same stuff over and over and over again. Slop.


    I look forward to the next "new" article on how to use "find".

    Next, an article on how you can put butter on toast.

    They are playing to "Today's 10,000" <https://xkcd.com/1053/>

    And yes, they are doing this to "make a living".

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From c186282@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 00:56:00
    On 6/3/26 06:40, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 03/06/2026 02:04, Farley Flud wrote:
    Unfortunate aside: Of course, this will be of no concern to the
    GNU/Linux distro slaves who will blindly and blithely accept whatever
    is thrown to them.

    What is the one True Intel or AMD processor that is 'certified', plz?

    Even if there ARE some, new models will come out
    next year ....

    It's always a moving target.

    As for 'accepting distros' ... given the embarassing
    SIZE/COMPLEXITY of Linux distros now you kind of just
    HAVE to go with the flow. Only a VERY VERY few will
    have the skill/energy/obsession to "roll their own"
    kinda from scratch. Cudos TO such people, we need them,
    but they're always going to be the VERY few from now on.

    I could maybe write a basic CP/M from scratch - OK, COULD,
    when I was younger - but not an -IX. That's too "next
    level".

    Note for the hyper-skilled ... as noted in another thread
    it looks like "child protection laws" MIGHT be used to
    ruin Linux/Unix. Expect M$/Apple lawyers/lobbyists were
    busy in all that. Work on ways to FOOL/CORRUPT/MISDIRECT
    such schemes.


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Lawrence D?Oliveiro@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, June 06, 2026 06:32:52
    On Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:00:11 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

    in order to keep it from finding Windows' brain-dead grep
    equivalent.

    How many hundreds, thousands of hours of your life do you end up
    spending on fighting against a computer system that doesn?t want to
    work with you, but against you?

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From c186282@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, June 06, 2026 02:49:54
    On 6/6/26 02:32, Lawrence D?Oliveiro wrote:
    On Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:00:11 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

    in order to keep it from finding Windows' brain-dead grep
    equivalent.

    How many hundreds, thousands of hours of your life do you end up
    spending on fighting against a computer system that doesn?t want to
    work with you, but against you?

    I worked in an office, 99% Winders. Only ONE other
    guy knew Linux half-ass - and they pissed him off
    so much he quit.

    So yea, *I* spent a LOT of time 'fighting'.

    No really great aprox of 'rsync' in Winders either.
    That's an EXTREMELY useful util.

    Anyway, real world, you're gonna get a thoroughly
    MIXED environment. No getting around it. Didn't
    matter that all MY stuff was Linux/Unix ...


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Charlie Gibbs@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, June 06, 2026 18:52:12
    On 2026-06-06, Lawrence D?Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

    On Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:00:11 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

    in order to keep it from finding Windows' brain-dead grep
    equivalent.

    How many hundreds, thousands of hours of your life do you end up
    spending on fighting against a computer system that doesn?t want
    to work with you, but against you?

    Far too many. But that's what a job is about, sometimes.

    --
    /~\ Charlie Gibbs | Growth for the sake of
    \ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | growth is the ideology
    X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | of the cancer cell.
    / \ if you read it the right way. | -- Edward Abbey

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Borax Man@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, June 07, 2026 11:43:04
    On 2026-06-03, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
    On Wed, 3 Jun 2026 11:07:49 -0000 (UTC), Borax Man wrote:

    On 2026-06-02, Lawrence D?Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
    Jack Wallen makes some good points in this list of basic Linux concepts
    worth mastering >>><https://www.zdnet.com/article/things-you-need-to-master-to-become-a-
    linux-pro/>.

    Yes, you can do a lot of things through the point-and-click GUI. But
    that is mostly just a bunch of front-ends on command-line/scripting
    tools that do all the actual work. Also, GUIs vary a lot from one
    distro to another, or even one distro installation to another, whereas
    the core command-line functionality tends to be much more homogeneous.

    I get these people need to make a living, but it annoys me to no end to
    see article after article after article after article which just
    rehashes the same stuff over and over and over again. Slop.


    I look forward to the next "new" article on how to use "find".

    Next, an article on how you can put butter on toast.

    The gun magazines got a couple of decades of copy debating which is
    better, 9 mm or .45 ACP. I've noticed another pattern in print magazines, regardless of the technology. They start with articles appealing to n00bs. As time goes on the articles become more focused on intermediates, and eventually advanced users. They hit a wall where there is little left to say, so they cycle back to n00bs,


    I don't care that there is stuff for noobs.

    Its that all this stuff is already written and up there. The issue is
    people are rewriting the same thing over and over with all the old stuff
    still there, but buried under the "newer" slop.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, June 07, 2026 13:35:24
    On 07/06/2026 12:43, Borax Man wrote:
    I don't care that there is stuff for noobs.

    Its that all this stuff is already written and up there. The issue is
    people are rewriting the same thing over and over with all the old stuff still there, but buried under the "newer" slop.

    Hear! Hear!

    The number of you tube video recycling old cut and pasted bits used
    several times with random photos and an appalling AI voice-over...

    Really, there is very little need for 'new' stuff at all.

    --
    Climate is what you expect but weather is what you get.
    Mark Twain


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From c186282@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, June 07, 2026 23:11:15
    On 6/7/26 07:43, Borax Man wrote:
    On 2026-06-03, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
    On Wed, 3 Jun 2026 11:07:49 -0000 (UTC), Borax Man wrote:

    On 2026-06-02, Lawrence D?Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
    Jack Wallen makes some good points in this list of basic Linux concepts >>>> worth mastering
    <https://www.zdnet.com/article/things-you-need-to-master-to-become-a-
    linux-pro/>.

    Yes, you can do a lot of things through the point-and-click GUI. But
    that is mostly just a bunch of front-ends on command-line/scripting
    tools that do all the actual work. Also, GUIs vary a lot from one
    distro to another, or even one distro installation to another, whereas >>>> the core command-line functionality tends to be much more homogeneous.

    I get these people need to make a living, but it annoys me to no end to
    see article after article after article after article which just
    rehashes the same stuff over and over and over again. Slop.


    I look forward to the next "new" article on how to use "find".

    Next, an article on how you can put butter on toast.

    The gun magazines got a couple of decades of copy debating which is
    better, 9 mm or .45 ACP. I've noticed another pattern in print magazines,
    regardless of the technology. They start with articles appealing to n00bs. >> As time goes on the articles become more focused on intermediates, and
    eventually advanced users. They hit a wall where there is little left to
    say, so they cycle back to n00bs,


    I don't care that there is stuff for noobs.

    Hey, ya gotta start SOMEWHERE ! Not as if the space aliens
    one day just beam code/systems secrets into yer brain.

    9mm-vs-45acp ? "Depends". I tend to think of 9s as pistols
    for people who are really shitty shots :-)

    Its that all this stuff is already written and up there. The issue is
    people are rewriting the same thing over and over with all the old stuff still there, but buried under the "newer" slop.

    Good Old Days ... there was BYTE magazine - lots of GOOD
    and oft DETAILED stuff. Ciarcia branched off with his own
    hardware-oriented mag. Dr. Dobb's Journal ... liked that.
    Fair selection for any level of interest and skill.

    Are or recently WERE some pretty fair ones for Linux/UNIX.

    MOST 'computer magazines' (hardly such a thing now) are
    pretty dumbed-down ... point-n-click guides for Winders
    Joe .... sad.

    Depressing list of what we've LOST :

    https://philharris.co.uk/AllSystems/archive.org/details/computermagazines.html



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From c186282@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 01:59:27
    On 6/8/26 10:02, rbowman wrote:
    On Sun, 7 Jun 2026 23:11:15 -0400, c186282 wrote:

    Good Old Days ... there was BYTE magazine - lots of GOOD and oft
    DETAILED stuff. Ciarcia branched off with his own hardware-oriented
    mag. Dr. Dobb's Journal ... liked that.
    Fair selection for any level of interest and skill.

    I did resubscribe to Circuit Cellar.

    Also did ... still have a number of them stashed around.
    GOOD stuff. If you wanted to know how it REALLY works at
    the low level, Steve would tell you.

    It's about the same as it always was
    with newer technology of course. I used to look forward to Dr. Dobbs but eventually unsubscribed when each month focused on a particular theme and
    I was only interested in a couple issues per year.

    Did get a bit "thematic" ... but still, collectively,
    a great resource. LOADS of great, hyper-detailed,
    journals back In The Day.

    There were a couple of 'professional' magazines I liked but they slowly
    faded out. The subscriptions were free so the income was from advertisers
    who may have found they weren't getting the bang for the buck.

    Well, I was willing to pay for Good Stuff ... but the
    volume of Good Stuff kept getting smaller.

    Motorcycle Consumer News was ad free which gave the the ability to review products freely. It was terminated abruptly, surprising both the employees and subscribers. It was published by BowTie, which I assumed referred to
    the Chevy logo but most of the magazines were about pets, like 'Ferrets Magazine'.

    Um, not my main interest.

    But again, real Hands On info keeps getting less
    and less and pushed further off the mainstream.
    Try page #15 of your Goog or Duck or whatever
    search.

    Somebody somewhere doesn't WANT us to know.

    So they can SELL info to "selected specialists".

    Hey, 'capitalism' DOES have side effects. 'Socialism'
    has others. Both kinda suck. The General Pop just gets
    stupider and stupider.


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)