=== ANCHOR POEM ===
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 if I click a .exe link on a website, it should just...
 
 automatically download the file and open it up in wine or the
 whatever-windows-uses.
 
 why is it cumbersome literally just, let me download the source-code
 repository to someone's computer and let them compile it themselves without
 even thinking about it
 
 "you mean like, package manager hooks into a website?"
 
 yes, but, instead of implemented one-by-one, it should use a protocol so each
 package manager only has to implement the downloading scheme once and it'd be
 able to read from any locations that output the correct API calls or whatever.
 
 the developer could even do it themselves. such is the joy of open-source
 computing - if you like a service or product, you can make it work with your
 own. What else is there to work on but the ultimate computing product?
 
 aka... everything that anyone's ever been known?
 
 "girl you are loco what's your plan for the fight you continue to demand"
 
 oh idk um probably just wait until someone asks me to speak
 
 "do that~"
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=== SIMILARITY RANKED ===

--- #1 fediverse/3907 ---
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 kinda wanna make a linux distro that has all the capabilities of a GUI distro
 and isn't so minimal (like screen recording, calculator, screenshot, wifi
 manager, etc etc) but with i3 instead of a desktop.
 
 they could literally just be symlinks (shortcuts) to scripts that are in your
 /usr/bin or whatever directory
 
 seriously it's not like there's THAT many ways to use ffmpeg, why not just
 write a script for them? that's what you're going to do when you use it for
 the first time, anyway, so...
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--- #2 fediverse/383 ---
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 ┌──────────────────────┐                                                         │
 │ CW: linux?           │                                                         │
 └──────────────────────┘                                                         │
 If I'm trying to get a game or piece of software working, I'll pretty much       │
 install any package that some random post from 2017 tells me to. Sometimes it    │
 feels like I'm a Linux grandma clicking on things that say "bored of your        │
 marriage? click here for games!" and I say to myself "well my marriage is        │
 fine, but I enjoy horsing around from time to time" and then I get a virus and   │
 my things break and I go to my niece who's just a darling and say "hello         │
 niece, I can't check my emails anymore because I downloaded some spam, can you   │
 give me some tips on how to fix my computer?" and she just rolls her eyes        │
 because this is like, the fifth random package I downloaded just because some    │
 random forum poster that SAYS it's from 2017 but who I don't actually KNOW is    │
 from 2017 and isn't just some automated LLM output that tells you to             │
 downloaded automatically generated virus packages that are secretly snuck into   │
 the package repositories because nobody can keep track of ALL THIS STUFF         │
 anymore now that the internet is AI                                              │
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--- #3 fediverse/1940 ---
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 @user-579 
 
 Yeah if there isn't a package in the package manager XBPS then I usually just
 install it from source. Which is ALSO something you can automate with a quick
 and easy script! Just put all the notes from the README on Github or whatever
 into a file named "update" and put that one level above the project directory!
 
 For any installed program my file hierarchy usually looks like:
 
 program-name
 - run (script)
 - update (script)
 - files (directory to clone into)
 - configs (point the program here)
 
 I find that this kind of organization makes it MUCH easier to keep my packages
 configured and installed as I'd like. Using a package manager is hard because
 they're all specific per distro, but using this distro-agnostic approach
 always seems to work better 9/10 times I find.
 
 And if another program needs a library that you manually installed, just
 symlink where it's looking to point to where you're installed! Or vice versa I
 guess.
 
 I use DWM so I don't have a desktop like KDE or anything like that
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--- #4 messages/1203 ---
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 Programmers are lazy, this is well known. So why would i trust by default that
 anyone would read open source code looking for security exploits or malicious
 code? I trust an LLM for that more than a human. At least your own LLM can
 digest the entire project or library at once.
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--- #5 fediverse/5911 ---
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 I was always fascinated by the Linux way of programming. Need to do something?   │
 write it into a script! You never know when you'll need it again. Then, just     │
 stay organized, religiously so, and understand that you will forget about        │
 stuff. But, you'll come across it eventually, ready and willing and able to      │
 help you.                                                                        │
 if you don't want me using AI, then give me ~20 junior developers. Which is      │
 more efficient, do you think?                                                    │
 "girl you haven't even tested your vibe-coded slop, how do you know if it        │
 works"                                                                           │
 oh I'm sure it doesn't, but it's the thought that counts                         │
 ... I guess I'm just saying, please don't burn the data centers. Computers are   │
 not only bad for the environment when they're burnt, but also we can use them    │
 for all kinds of neat things. Even if it takes a lot of energy, just... build    │
 more solar panels and only use the computers for important stuff?                │
 timeshare-style?                                                                 │
 \@/documents/books/man-and-the-computer.pdf                                      │
 that was my mother's book... I love her. I miss that side of her. She fled       │
 when the cancer came.                                                            │
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--- #6 fediverse/1868 ---
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 whyyyyyy do programs create all these dot-folders in my home directory? It's     │
 sooooo crowded. Why are they always putting things in random directories like    │
 /usr/bin or /lib/ or things like that? I'd much prefer to be able to trust       │
 that all my files are in one directory, so if I need to DELETE or MOVE them      │
 easily I don't have to worry about my config files being lost / sticking         │
 around.                                                                          │
 to that end, I always try and configure software I install on my system to put   │
 all their files into a single directory. If possible.                            │
 Usually for like, a game, this involves having a directory for the project, a    │
 directory for the files (things that are deleted and recreated when              │
 reinstalling), a directory for config files, and usually an update script and    │
 a run script. It's so much nicer to not be clogged up all the time.              │
 industry standards apply primarily to industrial uses, and if they aren't        │
 customizable then they aren't fit for the industry. So why not keep things       │
 simple? I don't need all this junk cluttering up my desktop.                     │
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--- #7 fediverse/4596 ---
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 @user-1707 
 
 hey, I'm working on a project. Might need some python, I tend to prefer Lua
 but it's pretty similar. It uses fediverse software and cheap hardware, think
 raspberry pi's except risc-v
 
 also it might use distributed local LLMs not to generate text, that's garbo
 and lame and stupid. Instead it uses them to transform text, maybe even
 translate text, into a more summarized form. Intentionally losing data, like a
 jpeg compression but for text.
 
 Might need some python for that. To glue it all together. The "distributed"
 part is a whitelist, so we'd need to write that too. Various small little
 utilities like that for connectivity.
 
 oh also there's a one-way ethernet cable that connects two of the boards so
 we'd need to store some information (easy) and send some UDP packets (hard)
 
 anyway it's pretty neat, lmk if you want my contact details and I can tell you
 about it. I might even be able to pay you.
 
 (everything open source, no telemetry, no backdoors, everything private is
 encrypted, etc etc)
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--- #8 fediverse/1871 ---
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 I think all software should have config files
 
 or accept as many command line arguments as necessary to achieve all the
 functionality of a config file without requiring a standardized setup
 
 or accept a config file as a command line argument, to allow for multiple
 different implementations
 
 or whatever you can throw together in your spare time because software is
 either open source or it hates you.
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--- #9 fediverse/4218 ---
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 there are plenty of pieces of linux that are insecure in some way. Including
 x11, if I remember correctly. It is purely convention to not abuse these
 insecurities, and whenever you use someone else's binary software you trust
 that they won't betray you in some way.
 
 pre-built binaries are privacy violations and should be illegal. They are
 security threats because the model they're built upon is necessarily insecure.
 Computers will never be completely secure because of how they are built, and
 so we should use locally compiled software and interpreted scripts.
 
 Unless they're too long, or impossible to read. Who reads EULAs these days? At
 least those are written in english.
 
 maybe computers aren't worth it. Maybe computers will solve all our problems.
 Who can say, maybe you should ask an oracle like me
 
 though do remember that anything you hear can and will be used against you,
 monkey's paw style. So maybe, like... don't? unless you're into magic or
 schizophrenia or something
 
 I wnt 2 be cute and tch cpus
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--- #10 fediverse/707 ---
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 @user-524 
 
 Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed with all the boilerplate I just start coding
 and making stuff. Doesn't matter if it works, doesn't matter if it says /*
 FIXME */ all over the place, doesn't matter if it includes header files that
 don't exist yet, as long as you're hacking out the mechanics of whatever
 operations you need to perform then you can figure the rest of that stuff out
 later. The creative urge doesn't last forever, which is why projects get
 abandoned, but with discipline you can keep bringing yourself back to fix all
 the /* FIXME */'s and the compiler errors.
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--- #11 fediverse/6101 ---
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 oh look at me, cargo-culting wine commands because I can't be bothered to        │
 guess whether the windows software running on my computer is doing evil          │
 microsoft things as part of the drivers or whatever. I mean, there's gotta be    │
 a reason that microsoft's software runs slower on linux than linux software      │
 runs on windows, right?                                                          │
 ... wait I forget exactly where I was going with this, are you saying there's    │
 a keylogger built into the wine / windows environment software? no, but I'm      │
 not NOT saying that. listen I'm too eepy sleepy for hardcore computing like      │
 that! rubbin' bits between your fingers and twiddling the nose of cutie pies     │
 is only sorta my jam - the rest of the time I like to snuggle up with a pillow   │
 shaped like a pillow and then fall asleep to the tune of the tortured souls      │
 being reaped from the afterlife and given new life as seeds and berries in       │
 this one. oh, did you think death had no other homes? all things are defined     │
 in waves, something something samsara but like, different because humans cant    │
 be rite                                                                          │
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--- #12 fediverse/3802 ---
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 what if we got together and adopted a new open source project every month and
 just collectively worked around the clock to learn and work through the
 important problems facing it
 
 or even like, cleared out the backlog of stupid pointless boring tasks that
 would allow the developers to work on something better
 
 call it the wandering parade of development 
 
 could give us some experience organizing small, short-term projects to
 accomplish specific goals and tasks in an ad-hoc way that relied less upon
 procedure and more on "I think so-and-so knows something about that, they were
 looking into those files and posted a breakdown of how they work yesterday"
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--- #13 fediverse/1343 ---
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 │ CW: cursed-chromebooks │
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 technology in it's abstract form represents the collective growth and breadth
 of human innovation.
 
 so why the heck do we make tech products for non-tech people
 
 like... they should be more like us, and we shouldn't compel ourselves to
 apply ourselves for their benefit. If someone doesn't want to learn Linux then
 maybe they don't need a computer?
 
 something something "chromebooks are good, actually" which is sorta true but
 instead of being a generic thin-client for web servers anywhere in the world
 they should be thin-clients for servers that they intentionally connect to and
 trust
 
 ... oh sorta like a chromebook then?
 
 how about a chromebook with a white-list comprised of friends and family who
 run their own servers...
 
 I don't know if disarming people is the right play. I should add a cursed tag
 to this.
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--- #14 fediverse/5784 ---
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 large companies want you to need to download and configure each piece of         │
 software because then it'd mean [wait you got that backwards] oh right if they   │
 force you to download and install software on a "per distro" system, then they   │
 effectively can ensure that there's always a vulnerability on your host.         │
 any amount of space is PLENTY of space for a                                     │
 non-open-source-but-instead-proprietary-or-otherwise-secretive part of the       │
 tech stack to do whatever they want with your host. computer.                    │
 I wonder, if AI was real would it really be guaranteed to expand in growth       │
 exponentially? What if it's nature was confined to it's form, like dinosaurs     │
 not growing bigger because of the lack of oxygen in the airtmosphere?            │
 [girl can you please stop smoking weed]                                          │
 ... no?? that's when I'm most productive.                                        │
 [this isn't productive]                                                          │
 it feels productive                                                              │
 [it isn't]                                                                       │
 WHYYYYYYY not? it could be. just gimme a task and I'll write endlessly about     │
 it instead of daydreaming to myself.                                             │
 yep... pretty all-right-at-it for a start. elentalusCOTE                         │
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--- #15 fediverse/1246 ---
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 @user-883 
 
 hehe if I don't understand how it works it's difficult for me to use things.
 My Linux friends get so exasperated with me because I'm like "cool script
 gimme like 2 days to figure it out" and they're like "bro just use these
 flags" and I'm like "no"
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--- #16 fediverse/239 ---
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 if your computer gets hacked, but nothing was broken or changed... do you        │
 leave it as it is so that anonymous can see you're chill or do you wipe it       │
 because you're afraid it's the feds?                                             │
 ehhhh false dichotomy most people are afraid that their system will get borked   │
 or their bank account will be stolen or their email will get spam or that        │
 random icons will turn inside out and their mouse cursor will turn into a        │
 barfing unicorn or they'll finally have to figure out bitcoin to pay a ransom    │
 for their files including the only pictures they have of their niece. whoops     │
 people are afraid of technology because of what it can do to hurt them.          │
 they're afraid it'll break or stop working, and they'll have to spend time       │
 figuring it out. they like things how they are, but for some reason companies    │
 keep changing things? it's frustrating learning a new system, and every 5-10     │
 years it feels like you have to learn a new paradigm and ugh it's just so        │
 exhausting. technology is not designed for users...  or maybe users get bored.   │
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--- #17 fediverse/71 ---
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 Oh it's compressed on tumblr too. And Reddit can delete my account at any
 time, just saying. I don't trust Facebook to fare any better...
 
 I tried to put it on my neocities website so I could just put a link here.
 Nevermind the fact that most people see a link they don't recognize and
 completely glaze over it. Guess what? Compressed there too. The file is fine
 on my PC, so how about I give a download link? Well, where should I host it?
 Dropbox or Mega I guess, but they locked my account for inactivity. I don't
 really like having other people in control of my data either. Maybe I can host
 it on my website, like a file server? Well, the browser intercepts the file
 somehow and I can't get it to automatically download to the viewer's computer.
 Maybe I'm just completely average and representative of the base population
 but I just can't figure this darn thing out. Alas, if only it was the modern
 era where things make sense and not the ancient days of 2023.
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--- #18 fediverse/3502 ---
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 ... the trick is, depending on how many train-engine-dragons you fight, there
 will be a greater or lesser proportion present in a particular playthrough.
 Perhaps, potentially, people should pay for the original work, and then a
 small sliver for the addition or modification? Why, I do believe that's how it
 works now! Except, on the honor system, as people can download the mods for
 free and pay (or not) through the creator's patreon page or whatever that they
 definitely set up and which definitely shouldn't be able to levy a tax based
 on "transaction fees" for a process which definitely should be handled by the
 government, which claims to regulate our economy and provide the means by
 which we engage with said economy through their de-facto nationalization of
 the banks and other economic entities.
 
 where was I going with this? oh yes software piracy is ethical so long as you
 delete the original. Let's end with that because that's what I originally had
 a dream about and wanted to write about.
 
 she dreams!
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--- #19 fediverse/653 ---
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 there's a difference between designing software and using software. Some
 things can be made, and then saved for another day when their implementations
 may be accomplished more ethically. It's okay to say "let's leave this as
 'okay' and work on the next thing we've chosen."
 
 Check out this piece of C code I wrote last night:
 
 it doesn't compile, it's not finished, but I wrote it as-is
 
 [pretend like it was called "main.c" instead of "main.txt" - had to change it
 because mastodon thinks it's an invalid file]
 
 [actually .txt didn't work, try .png]
 
 [hmmm it realized it wasn't a valid png file, okay try screenshotting the
 code, there's only 300 lines]
 
 [sure glad there's only 300 lines]
 
 [too bad it won't let you send .zip]
 
 [won't let me name it main.png, presumably because they already have a
 failed-verified version on their machine. will rename to main-src.png instead]
sorry, when I pasted the source code in it was negative fourteen thousand, six hundred and thirty one characters. Phew that's too many.  basically it's a C source code file with a lot of comments left in... odd locations. They details ideas the author has had about the tech industry and all of creation, and with it a song is woven of truth and liberation. We'll see where life brings us, but we know it's just ours for a moment, so let's carry forth on our own torms [terms, but pronounced as "dorms" for some reason?]
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--- #20 fediverse/985 ---
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 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐                                   │
 │ CW: cursed-scary-pol-doomer-misinformation │                                   │
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 @user-713 @user-714                                                              │
 the american military is going to be too busy fighting it's far right that it    │
 won't be able to meaningfully contribute to ww3                                  │
 both sides are slavers. we just don't see it.                                    │
 I don't anticipate war taking place on a battlefield, that setting is            │
 forevermore dedicated to video games and kaiju.                                  │
 rather, a silent war where everyone just goes around killing their opposition.   │
 for once, the citizens can't help but be armed.                                  │
 and in the dark of night, for every time we let plight from our sight, another   │
 of us is harmed.                                                                 │
 I don't know many people who've died. but maybe they're just working through a   │
 different part of the social network. It's not like any of their technology      │
 needs to perform as it's been advertised? well, open source does, but open       │
 source means insecure (as long as you don't get caught, then you need to         │
 adjust)                                                                          │
 of course, sometimes corporate software... kinda sucks. so it's not like         │
 theyre very configurable away from what capital wanted.                          │
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