Posts by mistergoodbytes1

Huge if true: If you show people articles saying that Firefox is faster than Chrome, they'll believe it

I will admit to using Firefox because it's not Google. However, I do not necessarily have any faith in FF being more privacy friendly, since it checks in with Mozilla each time it loads and does have a unique serial number in every install.

Also, and this is VERY important, I don't know what coding kludge Mozilla follows, but running FF makes processor temperature spike alarmingly, even when number of processes is lowered to 1. I guess Mozilla doesn't care if they shorten the life of the users' computers.

Red Hat defends its CentOS decision, claims Stream version can cover '95% of current user workloads'

Re: How to Switch

There is no installer which will upgrade CentOS to Ubuntu. That said, it's not so difficult. Back up everything before you begin, take the time to set up a similar configuration regarding partitions, and most of your content can be put into Ubuntu. Some adaptation of scripts, etc. will be needed but not so much as you might think. Also note that there is an Ubuntu flavor MATE-Ubuntu which installs MATE instead of Gnome 3 as a default GUI.

Having said that...

If you want more of a pure Linux installation you might want to try plain vanilla Debian rather than Ubuntu. Ubuntu has name recognition and some end user oriented bells and whistles but all things considered, I lean toward pure Debian the same way that CentOS 5 and 6 were pure RHEL.

Having run CentOS 5 and 6, I was so disappointed that CentOS opted for Gnome 3 in 7. That made me bail, but it was their choice to make. I ran CentOS because is did give so much control to the operator, and Gnome 3 kind of ended that.

I will say that CentOS provided plenty of input for RHEL as far as forward looking improvements to the OS. The CentOS model/community was something RHEL could draw upon to fix problems before the next roll out of RHEL. It constituted tens of thousands of free troubleshooters.

Section 230 authors despair of Trump, Barr, Biden, US Congress’ aggressive ignorance of critical tech law

The problem with your position (with which I largely agree), and the attendant 230(2) protection is, like wiretapping laws, the privilege of determining what constitutes “otherwise objectionable” was written in and for another time. At the time this privilege was granted, civil discourse was still the standard. Disagreement was not by its very existence “otherwise objectionable”. It was presumed that the grey area would be handled by and as adults.

They grey areas should be (relatively) easy for adults, educated and mature in a civil society, to navigate. There are some hard questions. The Supreme Court spent years and reams of paper trying to define civil rights. So be it, a civil society matures.

But Big Tech has shown that is no longer the case. If they find something they consider otherwise objectionable Google may block funding as with Zerohedge or National Review (taking your toys and going home), labeling obvious political satire as manipulated media on Twitter (name calling), built in review processes for "otherwise objectionable" speech (telling teacher). These policies and responses are fundamentally childish in nature. Mature adults should have privileges, children by and large do not, and only receive them when they demonstrate that they can handle them responsibly. If a child finds eating vegetables otherwise objectionable the response of the parent is that the child does not have the privilege of defining otherwise objectionable.

When Big Tech shows it can handle privileges, it should have them back. In the meantime, if they choose to behave like children, they may need to have their privileges taken away.

Now go to your room.

Again, we see the examination of the softball question while completely ignoring the elephant in the room. 230(1) was never the problem. 230(2), the part that gets conveniently ignored is the problem. 230(2) is the nanny state provision which completely emasculates First Amendment protections, thus: The argument of Big Tech is that everyone has free speech rights AGAINST A GOVERNMENT POSITION. Big Tech, not being a government, is not bound to recognize any such principle. 230(2) basically lets Big Tech determine the parameters of free speech, and like minded politicians use Big Tech as a fig leaf to limit or slant open discussion, flag political speech they find ungoodthinkful, limit or hide search results, cancel or delist social media accounts or content they disagree with. And Big Tech has really gotten to the point where they're not even bothing to hide it anymore. By all means, keep 230(1), just don't protect Big Tech's openly slanted standards on what's offensive. That raises questions of what is offensive and to whom? Big Tech's totally protected response is whatever and whomever they say.

As a long time computer geek I certainly don't want government in my computer (anyone favor outlawing crypto?). But a Big Tech nanny that feels that no rules except their own preferences and biases apply is equally bad.

Help the Macless: Apple’s iPadOS is a huge update that will enable more people to do without a Mac... or a PC

It's always nice to discover you're ahead of the curve. I was using Bluetooth when Bluetooth wasn't cool, and now I see that I've acquired many of the goodies in this new touted Apple device.

I am apparently of the tech underclass. To wit, I cannot justify dropping $600 on a minimalist ipad. I did find a powerful (Acer Iconia) tablet ($160), 64 GB SD card (Walmart, $20) and folio keyboard (eBay, $20). The tablet has 2(!) micro USBs which means that a keyboard can stay plugged in while charging, Bluetooth, 5gHz wifi, and enough power and speed to stream Netflix. But, I also made a link to the local library, from which I can borrow an ebook, and have it sent to the same tablet as I just borrowed it on.

Pro and con-wise some things do come to mind..

Google spies on me rather than Apple,

China spies on me as well as the NSA,

I have not yet managed to get root on the Iconia, and I will twinge if I brick the sucker trying same,

I have pushed the Iconia, and I can access most of the same information on this (yes, I'm posting on it) as I can with a desktop,

Because it has 2 USBs and I can charge as I type, as the battery ages, I expect I will be able to use this as a mini laptop and thus extend the device life by a couple of years (I will get my money's worth from it)

When I get an ebook, I can flip it and read the book,

I can have Samba access and Google Drive access (and deal with Google bitching that I violated community standards (of my own non-public GD) by trying to use GD to upload a rooting APK, like that stopped me)

Samba access unfettered comes from an Android app called ES File Explorer, which, as geeks know, DEFINTITELY phones home to China

The cat thinks the slightly padded folio makes a good claw sharpener and pillow, and needed to be discouraged from same

Yes, I can use it as a productivity device in the sense that I can access all of my day to day online resources from it,

A few years ago I did an analysis and concluded that I had built the mid-grade Mac (plus extras) for $1,000-$1,500 less than the comparable Mac actual. But I was my own tech support. I was the middle ground between all of this geek ridden setup and Apple class functionality....and to tell the truth, I wouldn't have it any other way. The same rule applies with pushing a mobile device to the limit.

No, it's not my desktop. And since my desktop is a Linux box, that's saying a lot. But I never intended it to be. Yes, I guess that there are some apps for the Mac better written than the Android version, fine.

It is all relative, and I like what I have accomplished.