Posts by Jedipadawan

Endless OS 6: How desktop Linux may look, one day

Re: GNOME?

>"Companies are fortunately starting to learn that they will either go woke or they will go broke."

Watch Hollywood.

Re: Yet another distro

Loads of videos on Youtube in shock and awe on the figures. Best I can offer as an accessible source.

This is excluding Chromebooks.

Linux is taking off.

I can kind of confirm that where I am. I now live in a poor rural Area in Indonesia. It's not the middle of the jungle AT ALL but the locals do not have disposable income and if they have any money they spend it on building their house or buying land. Here land and property are deeply associated with status, even personal identity. Many see owning a house a religious duty, and not in a metaphorical sense. I did not know that when I married and I HAD to start building the house a few years ago lest... consequences.

As a result, the locals have neither the money nor the inclination to buy new tech for Windows 10, forget Windows 11 and upcoming 12! They stagger on with 10 year old laptops running broken versions of Windows 7 and, in one case, 8. In order to keep these machines running I have been installing Linux and help fitting SSD's in some cases. That way they can run up to date software and carry on running Google apps which is now firmly the standard for schools and the coming generation. Microsoft Office IS being squeezed out by Google. The parents just use smartphone but the kids need a laptop to run Google apps for school.

So I can confirm people are being forced onto Linux just by dint of the cost of new tech. A lot of people do not have the money now and that is before we start talking 'Recall.;

EndlessOS did come pre-installed on laptops here in SE Asia at one point. I would buy Asus laptops with it preloaded to ensure Linux compatibility.

OK, I would always REMOVE EndlessOS as the gargantuan OS and GNOME did not suit me, but it made a nice start and I was happy to see EndlessOS as an option, especially as wifi access n the deep rural villages is still pretty 'iffy.'

However, that has gone to Dodo land and now all non-Apple Laptops here come with Windows. End of.

Not something I am happy about.

Re: I lost interest when I saw 'Gnome'

To be 'fair' to GNOME, the GNOME foundation is heavily supported by major corporations who have to 'eat their own dog food.'

GNOME makes sense as a dumb user workstation OS for use by office drones where the system MUST be locked down and management want a less a DE and more an app launcher and where the solution to every attempt to do anything beyond run and app or copy a file is "Talk to the IT department."

To my mind GNOME makes perfect sense in that context. No joke. I think GNOME 3 had divergence in mind when being designed and the will of Red Hat and co. to remove features not deemed suitable for staff.

I understand GNOME can be made into a real UI with extensions so there is A Route, though I notice original GNOME were very set on "No extensions, no new functionality" but they had to relent eventually. A bit.

So I do not think GNOME is about always re-inventing the UI as much as Management.

Re: Yet another distro

Weeelllll, Linux desktop use has increased by 300% in the last 18 months.

In the USA Linux now runs on 12% of desktops.

It does seem, despite the mass of distros, Linux is getting traction.

Re: Gnome? Friendly?

Don't worry. I have made the comment on GNOME that WILL get the downvotes, I assure you!

GNOME?

I pray to the Lords of Kobol that whatever the future holds it involves is less GNOME.

Many of us like a Desktop Environment and not an app launcher.

Still, with the new CEO and her plan to solve GNOME's budget issues through appealing to the great Greek God Dieversitee and the Goddess Incluesivitee, especially in hiring new talent, my sacrifices of raisen cakes and 100 first born, unblemished SSD's appear to have been found favour with the Atheanian Lords(TM.)

Disclaimer: I am find with GNOME being GNOME. I know GNOME has a great many fans. I am aware of the many benefits of GNOME and I have a saying A man's desktop is his castle" s o if GNOME works for you then great! I do not wish GNOME to disappear.

But I do wish to the mighty Lords of Kobol it was not this de facto standard. "Oh, if in doubt, give em GNOME! That way the user can't muck it up by doing anything."

KDE 6 hits RC-1 while KDE 5 brings fresh spin on OpenBSD

Okkkaaayyy... TL;DR edition...

KDE's configuration options make it the ONLY GUI I dare give to Linux converts from Mac or Windows.

Only KDE allows me to set up the UI to mirror what they are used to. "See, just like your old Windows/Mac!"

Forget training, nobody wants it. People just want their laptop "to work like it always has." Show them how to use Gnome or XFCE or LXQT or whatever, the eyes glaze over and, next thing, the user has a friend in to reinstall broken pirate Windows 7 behind my back. "Sorry, but I just need to use what I know." Every-frinking-time. KDE solves that problem. "See? It's just like Windows 7!"

"Ooo!"

Plus, any problem at the user end I can say "Go to system setting, go to that screen, click that check box. Sorted." Again, anything else and it's back to that 'friend' who will install Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2007. Fer real.

KDE is pretty much the only realistic option where I am. The long original post gives more on what KDE can do.

See ya!

OK, I will defend KDE here. Though I do hold that a man's desktop is his castle and each should work as they see fit. I also have great respect for XFCE and it would likely be my next best GUI if I had to choose.

Still, much of KDE's power is untapped and so people do not fully understand just how much KDE can deliver. Consider the following:

1. KDE is so configurable that it be set up to replicate almost any desktop interface. Example: I set up a installation to demonstrate Linux using the MacOS interface for a Mac user. Of course, he is wedded to Mac (Apple users are like that) but he agreed the interface and workflow perfectly matched that of MacOS. You can recreate XFCE or MacOS or Windows in KDE.

2. You can change the workflow. One guy I got on KDE wanted single click to open file and folders. This was not default in MX-Linux but I could flick a switch. User happy. Another user wanted to carry on using Windows 7 ways of working. I switched in a Windows 7 theme. Another use wanted a Mac style launcher but not the full MacOS workflow. (That one comes up a lot! People like launchers!) I added in Latte. Users happy.

This means, instead of trying to train user in 'how to use Linux' which they are not interested in and just want "My laptop to work like it always has"with KDE I just flick a switch or two and user happy! Anything else and it's "I want Windows back." Even if it's broken pirate Windows 7.

3. Between three and five Kickstart menu configurations so... if you like the XFCE way of doing things, or Windows, or Windows 9x, or Gnome route - you have it in KDE! And that's just the 'start' menu.

4. Keyboard shortcut controls are unparalleled in KDE! The amount of time I save with a few user define shortcuts, it's incredible. Yet it seems people prefer to either use mouse or go straight to terminal. Whatever. Still, if people used more of the KDE shortcut system I think they would be impressed. So I can reduce mouse moves and clicks DRAMATICALLY in KDE! Yes, user defined keyboard shortcuts exist in other UI's but KDE takes it to the max!

5. Configuration via GUI. I know people complain about KDE's apparent 'over complex' mass of settings (er, I say, ignore what you do not understand, simple) but the massive array of system settings means, if there is a problem for a user I can fix it with a click. Other GUI's allow for SOME basic settings to be handled via GUI but a great many, even the majority of settings, require editing text files. One sight of that and ALL my converts to Linux will scream to go back to Windows. Guaranteed. As such KDE is the only GUI I dare put them on. Also, there is no way I can get a basketball non-techie kid with Linux on their old Mac (real case) with a problem to fix anything unless the instructions are: "Go to this screen, click that." I dare not put any other UI than KDE on people's laptop here!

There's more, but that's more than enough for me to get Linux converts here in Indonesia. Any other GUI and I am very likely to hit trouble. People do NOT like learning new workflows! Often I win potential Linux users interest by starting with "So it's a lot like Windows, see?"

"Oh yes."

Gnome solves the support issue by making the GUI, in it's default, effectively an app launcher with nigh on no configuration without 3rd party extensions. This is BRILLIANT for enterprise where user configuration settings = support nightmare and I hold is partly why GNOME dominates in enterprise where IT can simply say "No, you can't do that, just run your app and do your job!" But KDE is better for the individual user who just wants their laptop to "work like it always has." Once I can PROVE KDE can be Windows 7 or WIndows 10 or MacOS THEN I get people's attention. Anything else and people will carry on using broken Windows 7 here. No, really.

.NET Core: Still a Microsoft platform thing despite more than five years open source

What about QT?

Ignorance disclosure: I've never been a coder and I have been out of the IT industry for nine years now so I have no real idea about modern coding platforms, hence my questions:

Given QT is A Thing and there are actual apps written using QT that are truly cross platform such as Kdenlive which I live and die by, does .NET bring anything to the party worth anything?

Could it be that the fact QT exists rather weaken the need for .NET which is aligned with a company known for EEE?

[Asking for a friend.]

Linux Mint 20 isn't exactly bursting with freshness but, hey, there's kernel 5.4 and it's a long-term support release

Re: Upgrading Cinnamon has always been pretty easy, however...

Given Cinnamon was kinda, sorta designed for Mint I would have thought that likely. Clem would have much more control over the upgrade path than a distro 'neutral' DE like Gnome or KDE on any old distro. (That's not a criticism at all BTW.)

Hmmm.... thinking about that, maybe that's why Neon upgraded from base line 16.05 to 18.04 so painlessly. Neon is controlled by the KDE team.

Re: Low end machines

Agreed. The KDE team are very careful to optimise.

Re: Form or function?

While I like KDE/Plasma 5, the Trinity UI does exist.

Trying to be helpful...

Re: Linux flavours

My tuition business is in an ethnic Chinese colony in Indonesia. 100% of my students are ethnic Chinese.

They all use Apple products.

Because Apple is expensive. And expensive means status symbol.

And status symbols = Face. And Face = business here. No Face, no contract.

Sooo... I dunno about cool but Apple has serious 'Face' here.

Re: 1) Choice is generally a good thing.

Again I say, how come choice is bad here. Actually, people back in 8 bit days coped with many different BASIC's and low level O/S's. Even the de facto standard CP/M came in many variants and people coped.

Plus, people cope with choices of car - manual vs automatic, two wheel or four wheel drive, electric, petrol or diesel, et al, not to mention the horror of choice for breakfast or toothpaste flavour.

In relation to system settings, as I stated, I do not know what half the settings in KDE do. So I ignore them. I worry about the ones I do know or I need to know. There were masses of config option in Windows for ages (I grant, now reduced as Microsoft have scaled back configuration options) and users coped by... ignoring control panel.

Personally, I am grateful for the fact that if I need to adjust something in KDE I can look up the required system setting online and go into, shock surprise, system settings and click something.

If I look up how to change a setting in just about another other UI in Linux instructions come up on the line you have altered in the buried text file.

I will grant that because people seem oh so overwhelmed by KDE' settings and cannot just ignore things as they used to up to and including Windows XP, (then with Vista Microsoft started hacking options out) I think KDE should have in each category basic settings and 'advanced' to partly hide the mass of options that seem oh so confusing for users... but when the choice is having settings available in the core UI and selectable by GUI as opposed to not being able to configure options save by:

sudo nano ~/.config/share/whatever/thiny ... type gibberish, save.

I am the kind of crazy that says, "I prefer point and click."

Annnndddd... there are defaults. People like defaults. Use the defaults. Point and click if you really need to change something. That just seems sense to me! How come the idea of modifying what amounts to .ini files to configure your system suddenly became forward looking?

Annnnndddd (again,) when I do show KDE off to potential converts - and I have go some here in Indonesia - it sure impresses when I show how KDE can be tailored as they see fit.

In fact, KDE's configuration has saved me a lot of training time. When I do get a convert, when they are getting to grips with the system I am always asked; "In Windows I used to be able to X this way... Can Linux...?"

"Yes." I reply and flick the switch.

So rather than having to retrain one time Windows or Mac users, I just configure KDE to work they way they are used to. Far less training and support.

With KDE the answer is always "Yes" and it can be switched via the GUI. Not so with any other UI.

This is not even an issue of choice, it's just usability and access.

Editing text file vs point and click. Seems a no brainer to me.

Re: 1) Choice is generally a good thing.

I find the tyranny of choice argument a very weak one.

Only in desktop computing have we been programmed to think choice is A Bad Thing. It was Gates that imposed the "One software house to rule them all" paradigm.

By this logic we should have less choice in cars, breakfast cereal, toothpaste, TV stations...

And Linux is try before you buy!

With everything else you can research or run a test drive before you buy and consider "buyer beware."

But when it comes to desktop computing... Choice is bad!!!

Yes, I agree that MacOS is the ultimate in "it's fixed, you can't change it, just use these apps..." but it's a horror when anything goes wrong and you cannot optimise a Mac at all! Indeed, because Apple are a hardware manufacturer MacOS is never optimised. If the code runs slow, Apple ups the machine baseline specs and the price accordingly.

That might well work for you but when I have to have eight laptops running with whatever I can get hold of for students to use (you should see the rush in final exam season) down to a single core atom, the ability to switch Linux distro or optimised to save time and money counts a lot! And saved me a fortune to boot.

Re: Linux flavours

I think science is cool too.

It's Dawkins theology that stinks.

But I have f'd off to SE Asia anyway. I'm cool here.

>"Frustrating to set set up due to so many choices"

I really do not get why people complain about so many options/choices in KDE. Of all the things to complain about with KDE...????

1) Choice is generally a good thing.

2) All the settings are no more really than are available in any UI except KDE gives the options to you via point and click while other UI's require you edit text files.

3. Back in Windows XP days (I never went 7) there were masses of config options available. I didn't look at 90% of them. People like defaults. Just go into 'System settings' to find what you want to change. Internet is A Good Thing when it comes to finding out which switch to flick. (And even then often I had to jump to Regedit to change what I needed to change.)

I do not know what half of the options in KDE system settings does but I do not need to know and so I ignore. Glad to have access to the options, mind, when needed. Turning compositing off was a great speed booster on my aged n2840 laptop. Yeah, I use pretty minimal hardware!

Re: Linux flavours

An interesting question which leads to discussion about 'cool' is, along with other philosophical issues.

In the UK I hated football, beer, was not a believer in 'Dawkinism,' enjoyed anime and all things cute/kawaii.

This made me deeply uncool. And a heretic.

Out here in Indonesia where I have relocated I am regarded as cool for almost exactly the same reasons.

In the UK I used Windows XP, then switched to Linux Mint KDE in Indonesia and went Neon when KDE was no longer A Thing in Mint. Make of that what you will.

Re: Upgrading?

When KDE Neon rebased itself on 18.04 a couple of years ago I expected HUGE grief. (Note: I use KDE Neon because I find the drivers work. Kubuntu and all manner of distros would keep flip flopping on touchpads while Neon worked every time on every machine.)

I re-installed from scratch on my own laptop but tried the risk of upgrading through 'Discover' on my work machines.

Stone me if the upgrade was painless!! A couple of apps fell over but that was to be expected and updates followed but the OS was fine! I even ran the update process on 'converts' laptops which I took possession to run the process in case I had to re-install and, again, no troubles.

So I can't speak for all distros but it seems in some cases version updating now works.

In my Windows days, it was always re-install from scratch. But then Windows Vista and activation came along and I knew I had to take a closer look at Linux. Glad I did. The kid had grown up!

Re: Linux flavours

Well, I am not a Mint user (used to be until they canned KDE and so I went Neon which works very well for me) but, attempting to answer your question:

1) Cinnamon. For users who say Gnome 3 as a tablet only interface, Cinnamon was Mint's initially rushed answer, essentially Gnome 3 as it could have been. I known many users use Mint just for Cinnamon. If I was not a KDE fan (I kinda need KDE just for the keyboard support leave alone the rest) I would probably go Mint Cinnamon.

2) Mint is pretty solid and reliable. When Mint did KDE it was a storming distro for me... though I could see the Mint crew was struggling with QT and KDE and I knew I would have to switch. Neon came along just in time!

3) Some would say the standard installed packages in Mint are extremely useful, and some utilities really are Mint only and cannot be installed in another distro (I know, I've tried) and since apps are what people use day to day that counts.

4) Suspicion of Canonical which many regard as getting too close to Microsoft style lock in, hence concern over snap - concerns I share, personally.

5) The downsides of snap might be too much to bear particularly enormous installs! I mean, in Neon, if I wanted to use a snap package I could end up having to download and unpack the entire Gnome GUI to run a text editor! This is something that concerns me given I need huge amounts of HDD space for my work.

6) Clem is generally regarded as a good guy who does a good job and is highly regarded in the Linux community as a whole.

I think over time Clem is going to have to distance further from Canonocial as the two distros are not ideologically aligned and the LMDE edition will have to become dominant. I think we're seeing a slow divorce here.

Microsoft unshackles WSL2 Linux kernel from Windows 10 image for future fettling via Windows Update

Re: @bazza - @martinusher - It's not an OS

For what it's worth, I have purchased a number of laptops here with EndlessOS pre-installed. It is illegal to sell a new laptop here but vendors at the local 'Hi-tec Mall' had provided laptops with FreeDOS allowing for a machine without the Microsoft tax.

Having said that, the Hi-Tec Mall is being whittled away and my experiences of buying online have been...poor. In Indonesia you MUST inspect and test before purchase or buy from someone of absolute stirling repute!

Repair store faces hefty legal bill after losing David and Goliath fight with Apple over replacement iPhone screens

Re: Worse than expected, but that's just a detail @AC

I run a private tuition business in Indonesia and my client base is 100% ethnic Chinese. They have totally standardised on Apple products because of 'Face.'

The fact Apple products are expensive makes them status symbols and among the ethnic Chinese (especially in a business centre) that counts. Indeed, if you do not flash an expensive iPhone, Macbook or Rolex watch you could lose a major contract as you could been seen to make the other party lose Face.

I have discussed this matter with my clients and 'Face' is, indeed, pretty much 'status' and you buy status with cold hard cash with which you buy status symbols with and that partly explains the legendary Chinese love of money. Note that while a lot of us may well laugh at a fake Rolex, such items are taken way more seriously out here when not having a Rolex watch could cost you work, contracts and even friends.

So all my students have iPhones and Macbooks and the International standard schools they attend are all using Apple products to run Google online software because of Face.

Free Software Foundation suggests Microsoft 'upcycles' Windows 7... as open source

Re: Do they know an open source Windows would be the death of Linux?

>"And I understand that's the dream of Linux users, a really working GUI OS supporting all device around and all those great applications available, to replace their poor Linux desktops stuck into feature-lacking apps, still without paying a dime for it"

Ok, I probably shouldn't do this but for those here who insist "Linux can't do anything" here's my personal experience for record:

I use Linux with the KDE 'Plasma' UI which I demo to Mac and Windows 7/10 users and how it totally blows their UI's away. Many get interested - I have had converts! For a start, with KDE you can alter the UI to virtually anything you like so there is minimal retraining. "Can I..."

"Yes."

I use Libreoffice for handling office docs and I have to share data with a fair amount of students [I run a private tuition business] and have to read and write Office standard documents. All read and write well. I find Libreoffice 'Write' a delight to use and I use it a LOT!

Graphics editing/manipulation done by GIMP. Now I know GIMP is not Photoshop and not everyone likes it's UI but it does what I need including producing advertising material. For artists there is 'Krita.'

I do lots of video editing for work and hobby. Kdenlive is glorious! [Though I will accept the recent refactoring has introduced amass of bigs that are being ironed out. I am sticking with reliable 18.04 via appimage. Kdenlive 19.04+ is getting the bugs flattened but it's not 100% there yet.]

VLC, audacious and audacity handle my media needs nicely.

For browsing I use slimjet and Brave.

I also use Virtualbox for test stuff.

I am not really a gamer but I run up Fallout 3 on a 2011 Macbook pro I was given which is running Kubuntu. I run Fallout from Steam.

I think all the above are open source and cross platform (Kdenlive is available for Windows though marked as Beta.) So if you can use those in Windows and they do the job you no longer need Windows.

And those use cases likely cover 90% of users' needs. Furthermore, the low cost of Linux means I can spread it over masses of laptops for students and staff - who all use Linux quite happily, and because I do not need massive hardware to run Linux unlike Windows bloat, I can keep my single core atom machine as a small anime video playing machine.

And all updates free.

Works for me. Saved me a fortune.

Long-term Linux Mint: 19.3 release unchains the Gimp, adds HiDPI, is kind to your older, less-beefy kit

Re: Introduction to Linux for Windows refugees

And yet... I run Linux (KDE Neon in the main) on a mass of laptops from a single core atom to an i5 in a tuition business with the OS and apps used by me and staff and a vast number of kids of various ages with a vast range of software including, as an example of use, multi-track, effects driven video editing using Kdenlive.

And it all just works. Helped a friend junk Windows for Linux and now he runs his business on KDE.

Saved me a fortune in both money and time.

I do wish the various fanbois would engage with how Linux is now and not how it was circa 1999.

Krita or Glimpse might be the answer here

>"Can't be any more than 20 odd years that we have been hearing that same phrase !!"

Well, there is a reason, even if it is just obstiance.

I am not a graphical artist and so I am unable to professionally assess different graphics apps claims but I do know the following:

1.) Artists have been on the GIMP team's back for ages about making GIMP nicer for creators to use but they have refused every time stating that GIMP is, and only ever will be, an image MANIPULATION tool and not an image creation tool! Which is why, to date, no Photoshop like app has ever appeared for Linux. The GIMP have always insisted they will never attempt to go the Photoshop route.

2.) There is, however a new kid on the block - Krita. This is taking the exact opposite approach to GIMP and IS a graphical editing tool with input from artists and designed for the CREATION of images! Any budding Photoshop equivalent in Linux is likely to be found here rather than GIMP.

See here:

https://krita.org/en/

Most Linux users appear to be completely unaware of Krita but it's development has been fast! Indeed GIMP has slowed in terms of feature addition, almost to the point of stalling, Krita has a new release with new features every six months as part of the base KDE app install program!

However, Krita is a KDE/QT app which, with Mint having gone all in with the GTK route would not be suitable as an app in the default Mint install.

Personally, I find the GIMP interface easier to handle but I am not a graphical artist in any way whatsoever and so cannot really comment on the workflow or features.

3.) GIMP has now forked due to naming controversy (of all things!) and now we have 'Glimpse.' At this stage Glimpse is functionally identical to GIMP but there is now room for a new team to develop the code with more of an open ear to artists and Glimpse may yet become what a lot of users have wanted GIMP to be... forever.

Just sayin'.

LibreOffice 6.4 nearly done as open-source office software project prepares for 10th anniversary

Ah, but the next generation...

There was no way Libreoffice was going to knock over whole countries hooked on Microsoft. Once a standard is established it's pretty much established for decades if not forever - see COBOL. Just the issue of in house macros means Microsoft office 'fer eva' in any business with more than twenty staff and business older than ten years old as Office WAS the only real office suite back then.

But all big businesses were start ups once.

I set up my tuition business here in SE Asia three years ago and I using Libreoffice. Zero Microsoft here! Now, I would not describe myself as an in depth user - I am not using macros, for instance. But do I LOT!!! The range of software I have to use is quite wide actually as you are always producing materials for students in one form or another including video editing (thank you Kdenlive!)

And, I need wad loads of cheap, rather disposable laptops for students - especially during exam season rush when I can end up trying to run five classes at once with ten students!! (OK, that was a particularly bad day...) Linux, Libreoffice and open source have saved me a fortune! Now I have other people using Linux and Libreoffice in their start ups saving them a fortune and I have a student ***begging*** me to put Linux KDE on his old Apple Mac because even he knows MacOS is next to useless thans to Apples "death by a thousand cuts."

Soooo... think; "The Next Generation" in terms of business and users.

"Libre factor 5 Ensign!" [Look, I can't afford high powered hardware here!]

Re: Lost for words

Sounds like you have a busted installation.

I've been using Libreoffice for my business for three years now with not a glitch, and, personally, for must be about seven years now.

One lovely feature LO has is the 'always create a backup.' Yes, I Office has it but it saves the .bak file in with your originals. I can specify another folder and another partition for my backups. That's saved me from my and staff's stupidity a few times.

I do recall the days when Office would keel over when a file went over 32MB...

Re: Choice

Yeah, I have rescued a number of Office documents that Office would not read by using Libreoffice under Linux.

While a business that is already using Office is not going to change direction, I have nudged quite a few users and startups towards Linux and Libreoffice and received much thanks for it.

It woz The Reg wot won it! Big Blue iron relics make it back to Blighty

Re: Big Ideas!

I have a prototype Commodore PET MK II in the attic of my mothers. I checked with Jim Brain. It was not a standard model.

Torn what to do about it.

We're all doooooomed: Gloomy Brit workforce really isn't coping well with impending Brexit

Re: When to move abroad

Well, I moved out to SE Asia years ago.

I now have my own booming business now and live in a 3 bedroom house. I could not afford to rent (forget buying) anything beyond a tiny flat in the old country if only because of the ever increasing council tax! And I was a first line manager in a tech company. It was also a bit of an eye opener when I did the math and added up all the taxes I was paying and over 50% of my income was going on tax.

But I left not because of EU or Brexit, though the endless EU regulations were a factor, but because I have absolutely nothing in common with the modern British. Not religion, not social values, not entertainment tastes especially the soul destroying soaps, I hate football and I hated going to to the pub. I was just becoming increasingly alienated as the UK went culturally where I was not going.

I didn't leave the UK. It was really a divorce. The UK and I had NOTHING in common sans the sense of humour.

Now I am in a country where my anime music videos are popular and Hatsune Miku is A Thing. Oh, and my rubbish is picked up every night and I can put it out to be picked up whenever I like.

Now it's Terrance Dicks' turn to regenerate: Golden-age Doctor Who mainstay dies aged 84

Lords of Kobol, four thumbs down for a genuine offer??

I mean, people might not like anime but there's no reason to down vote something that's not to taste.

I recall why I left the old country...

Re: gold to what....

Personally, I would say it's "Boom time!"

...for anime and other alternatives.

Re: "as we prepare to welcome our 14th Doctor"

Seen it! :-)

But, I swear, Okabe is the Doctor!

"I am... mad scientist!"

Stein;s gate is more 'Doctor Who' than the BBC's "Doctor Woke!"

And I am a HUGE fan of Hatsune Miku!!!! But, the trouble with Miku being the Doctor is...

1) We have the whole problem with the Doctor being female ... again and all the 'wokeness' that is screaming for. I mean, the BBC might just have got away with the Doctor being female, possibly, but it had to go all in with PC messaging throughout... as was predicted.

2) Why Miku has no anime series? Because she is supposed to be undefined and Crypton media will not let her appear in any kind of anime for that reason. However, there is a consensus regarding Miku's personality which brings us to point 3...

3) ...Miku is just too sweet to be the Doctor. Kaito is too jack-the-lad. Gumi is closest to Whittaker, but that's not working!

Regardless, here's my video tribute to Miku!

https://www.bitchute.com/video/t12xYeTUMekS/

:-)

Re: "as we prepare to welcome our 14th Doctor"

Latest I heard, in line with the 'Woke' model of the BBC of recent times, the next Doctor was set be an Asian by the name of Okabe. He (yes - HE!!!) starred in a Japanese Time Travel series based on a light novel series that got a lot of people's attention. Trailer here:

https://www.bitchute.com/video/RdGyxY03Ey7Z/

As I was growing up the 70's I developed my reading skills by devouring T. Dick's "Doctor Who" books! For that I must credit him. People complain I speak too fast... which I do... but it was because I learnt to read through the Target books 2-3 in a single sitting!

However, as "Doctor Who" moved to "Doctor Woke" I moved away. Er, kinda literally to SE Asia.

So, for those that loved the old series and want a supplement or even the alternative I created this just for you... Seriously. I never looked back.

https://www.bitchute.com/video/pstoh9EQo5GS/

Astroboffins have spied the largest star that has gone supernova and it's breaking all the rules

Re: Another..

You wanna watch the anime "Space Battleship Yamato 2201."

It kinda goes there.

Official: Microsoft will take an axe to Skype for Business Online. Teams is your new normal

Re: Yeah..

I agree the spooks could do it better and things could be photographed. Given the GCHQ 'KARMA POLICE' survallience system such visits are kinda redundant anyway.

So I think it's actually a form of intimidation mind to show "we're watching and we have the power." One guy who spent years in Poland ended up mentally ill obsessing about the surveillance and he WAS a crazy... but I did find out that some of his paranoia was justified when I was given warnings by lawyers and I managed to read MI5 and 6's clear policies regarding surveillance of ex-ex-pats! Among many in the profession the "6 months - 5 years - forever" policy is not unknown.

Then I had ex-ex pats, knowing I was heading out, who told me their tales. "They never stop checking up on you if you return" I was warned. I wonder if MIx just like messing with people's minds a bit, though. I mean, a 85 year old Traditional Catholic who once resided in WEST Germany in the 1970's is unlikely to be sleeper, as one example, and the documents that vanish could be photographed so why take them? Answer: best guess is quiet intimidation. I mean, those security cameras everywhere do not stop actually crime! I know, my wife was assaulted twice in the UK in 18 months where we discovered that the security cameras were no use whatsoever. "Don't have the resolution." That and the police could not be bothered.

As another semi-aside, and why paranoia is justified:

I was working for a company developing LIMS systems for the NHS when Tony Blair implemented his 'NHS spine project' that was a total 'failure.' Now, I hasten to add that we were not involved in the development of the 'Spine' at all. We were just tasked with the process of feeding the LIMS data to it. Which in itself tells a lot about the UK Govt's view on (ha ha) private data.

Anyway, we were told by those associated with the Spine that it was a cover. The money being spent was INSANE!!! We were asking each other at work whether the NHS was buying solid gold PCs. The servers being built were an order of magnitude too large for simple text/JPG store of patient data. The theory was that the Govt was prepping for the National ID card that was all the rage at the time.

Me, in my cynicism, I quietly figured the National ID card was too obvious and the Spine was a central database for the spying on the general public a la the USSR that the UK seemed hell bent on emulating.

Well, lo and behold, after the 'failure' of the NHS spine with all the 'wasted money' it turns out the real project was the GCHQ 'KARMA POLICE' private data sucking system system which is STILL in operation today despite even the EU saying it goes too far and being declared illegal. Which makes it hard not to be paranoid... Note the project was started in 1998 when we were tasked with feeding the monster.

I now live in a land in which such surveillance is impossible, if only because the infrastructure and skills are not in place. The anti-terrorism unit here is really good, mind. Far better the UK despite the total storage of everything. How strange. I am sure that MI6 do an occasional automated scan of my laptop and comms from time to time, mind.

Re: Yeah..

>"They got rid of p2p so any government can get any info they want."

One of the reasons Microsoft got so rich and is currently making more money now than it ever has... is due to it's eager snuggling up to just about every Govt in the world that, as Governments an intelligence agencies always want, to have total access to user data.

Wikileaks gave details on the arrangements the NSA made with Microsoft whereby they would INTRODUCE security holes and pass the details on how to exploit to the NSA. When the hole was found and reported by a user Microsoft woud release the update which fixed that hole AND CREATED ANOTHER after the means to exploit were passe onto the NSA. CIA et al!

So every app under Microsoft's control will have data access built in eventually. It's now a requirement of their operation and pat of the business model that is not talked about.

Linux is better for obvious but the same agencies doing deals with Microsoft have also got the chip manufacturers building in intelligence hacking exploits into the HARDWARE BEFORE BOOT! Impossible to work around.

So you cannot stop the spying now. Personal security is dead. I am waiting for the day proper, affordable, ARM laptops with real hard drives become available that I can put Linux on. The first expensive renderings have appeared but the day I want to come still looks far off. For now, you cannot escape the spying - not from the intelligence agencies. All of Big Tech has been bought out.

[Aside: Now I have been out of the UK for more than 5 years MI6 have probably ceased tracking me specially but they do hunt down everyone how is out of the country for more than six months. If they stay away for than 5 years they are deemed no longer of interest as it is assumed they are not coming back. If such do end up returning they are spied on until the day they die. I know several ex-pats who had spooks on their case until the day they died. One harmless old lady picked up the phone to hear her last telephone conversation played back to her! MI5 had the tape machine playing for some reason. Back in the 80's that was. Documents still disappear from her house and things get moved around. She's totally sane and solid as a rock and I know others who returned to find strange things kept happening.

So, I repeat for MI6 - it's OK, I am NOT coming back!!!

The spooks spy more than people dream off.]

Re: In all fairness

>"My employer has forced us all into the O365 dystopia,..."

I appreciate the pain. I never got over being moved to Vista and the ribbon in my previous employment. :-)

I managed to resolve this kind of problem by:

1) Moving out to SE Asia.

2) Changing my career

3) Eventually setting up my own business

4) Going all in with Linux (KDE)

Best career decisions ever. Though I grant they are not for everyone. :-D

Oh... and..

4a) Going all in with anime as well.

[Yes, teasing...]

LibreOffice 6.2 is here: Running up a Tab at the NotebookBar? You can turn it all off if you want

Re: the UI still feels a little last-decade

Why do I love KDE Plasma so much?

Well, many reasons but one of the biggees is that I make the layout and even the workflow suit me rather than vice versa. Toolbars configurable, apps configurable, kickstart menu - comes in up to five different forms - configurable, etc, etc.

Add in unbeatable custom keyboard shortcut and... wow!

Comic sans = AMVs.

Actually, no. Comic sans is useful for flash cards for language learning and, depending on the material, subtitles for, er, anime music videos.

I have used comic sans on both quite a bit...

...I'll get my coat.

Only plebs use Office 2019 over Office 365, says Microsoft's weird new ad campaign

Alas, while I do appreciate your sentiments (I was around when Microsoft were ruthlessly crushing anyone and everyone who dared to even attempt to compete) Microsoft are not dying out making record amounts of money via the cloud.

However, they are losing traction on the desktop and Office at long last and their monopoly cracking. Open source was the only way to escape Microsoft's clutches and break the monopoly. And it is. Sure, lots of Microsoft loyalists and ignorant - in the literal sense as in just do not know - Windows users but now there are alternatives to Windows and Office that Microsoft cannot crush.

And I'm running them! Yay.

Re: Torn to Ribbons...

And the other thing about the Ribbon, as I pointed out to work colleagues when this 'wonderful innovaton' arrived on our desks, is that it's basically the original CP/M Wordstar menu system.

Because I realised Microsoft were going to go all in with subscription only software... my small business - with five operational laptops and two seeking repair when funds allow - is running Linux (KDE) and Libreoffice.

Single supplier lock in is not normally business savvy but, back in the day, Microsoft were really, really good at ensuring there was no other option.

Re: Price?????

>"But Office365 is 200x more ribbony than Office 97."

And the point where I really, really started to hate Office.

Re: Re Nothing like having your work day extended a few more hours

Agree but.. Open Office is dead in all but name.

Libreoffice is the replacement and works a treat. You couldn't pay me to go back to Office... and I used to love it!

Re: LOL

All true but... buy anti-shock HDD's only.

I speak from painful experience... twice.

Apple: Trust us, we've patented parts of Swift, and thus chunks of other programming languages, for your own good

Re: Hatsune Miku

'Hate' to say this but Miku is over ten years strong and still going.

Personally I prefer her to the mass of under dressed clones of Madonna who only sing about sex, sex, drugs, see, you kids wanna get into sex, more sex, did I mention sex, drugs, try drugs, sex and more sex.

Tedious, predictable and corrupt record company controlled. So predictable, in fact, that I told my wife that the minute Miley Cyrus came of age she would drop 'Hanna Montana,' and become a lewd pop Idol trying to outdo Madonna. I knew it was coming.

I was right on the money. The record industry has something of an agenda these days. Has for a long time.

Miku is the fan drive pop idol who is generally isolated from the 'dark stuff' making her child friendly (there is an 'evil twin' called Zatsune Miku but she gets little attention) and the output of music is VAST and the range enormous... including Jazz which Western clones cannot compete with.

I'm with Miku at least until the Western music industry reforms morally - at multiple levels - which I see no signs of happening. I will also accept that I like 'cute' but, having worked in tech, I know most techies do not so Miku is not going to be popular here and certainly not, generally speaking, among the British. But I now like in SE Asia where cute is valued and Miku counts!

Open sourcerers drop sick Fedora Remix to get Windows Subsystem for Linux pumping

Re: Seriously ...

>"Latest stats say over 90% of PCs and laptops still run Windows. So nope."

I provided the latest stats and they return 83% which is a massive DROP.

And, as has been noted, that ignores mobile devices like smartphones which, I accept, are today's personal computers and used in preference to laptops, particularly in places like Indonesia where I now live.

However, if the Windows fanboys want to believe Windows is still the present and the future then fine with me. The more Microsoft stays in x86 and desktop Windows the more Arm and Linux/BSD can take over quietly. As it stands, however, Microsoft are smarter than the fanboys and making their money more and more form the cloud using... Linux. Windows 10S is probably going to be, will, around but not very popular.