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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • Windows and MacOS are “noob-friendly” for those who use them for simple purposes and out-of-the-box. As soon as you want to do something more advanced, you’re back to googling and installing software from a variety of sources.

    Many linux distros are like that too (others are just not noob-friendly at all), but centralized package management and documentation are nice.

    I’m really glad to be away from registry editing, 50 app icons in the tray, and navigating my way through settings to control panel so I can actually fix my audio devices or network options.

    I’m on Arch now, so I still have plenty of configuration and software, but I know the systems and choose explicitly which ones I use. If something isn’t working or is annoying, it’s my fault.


  • I second this advice. Arch is a rolling-release distribution, so most of its packages are updated to the latest releases as soon as they come out, regardless of whether they’re tested to be stable with other software and hardware configurations.

    I have “ubuntu server” installed on an old computer I use for hosting game servers. That thing is incredibly stable and low-maintenance.


  • These type of thoughts are the kind that could only come to somebody when they’re tripping balls and/or in serious harmony with nature.

    In all seriousness, the first principle makes me think of the many religious people who attribute rights to a god figure or figures. In the religion I grew up in, god was the figure who gave specifically white men certain rights. He is also the one who determined what rights many people didn’t have. I personally find comfort in the second principle, that the universe is “self-referent in its being and self-normative in its activities”.

    Principle five seems ambiguous about the “roles” of Earth’s subjects. I think that’s where many people would disagree with one another, since certain roles are subjective (ex: in national conflict, hunting animals, natural resource extraction/usage).

    The last principle really makes me appreciate our relationship with the universe and what humanity is capable of, despite how dire existence in our world often feels.




  • I’m not a hardware dev, but I’ve been following this issue for several months. Nvidia on Wayland does not implement implicit GPU synchronization currently for Xwayland. Other vendors do.

    This issue is related to how/when the framebuffer from the gpu is handed off to be displayed. Implicit sync isn’t a great solution, it’s just what’s been done for Linux in the past.

    Here’s a bit more detail if you’re interested:


    I believe this issue is more specific to Wayland because Wayland relies on the DRM, direct rendering manager, to facilitate communication between the graphics driver and Wayland clients (applications). Whereas Xorg kinda just covered everything along the pipeline.

    Implicit sync sounds like a bit of hack, where software (I assume the client? Or maybe the drm driver?) implicitly checks for the frame to be finished, rather than being signaled when the frame is ready.

    So instead, Nvidia has been arguing for, designing and developing an explicit sync Wayland Protocol (and one for Xorg), which will let the graphics driver explicitly signal when a frame is finished and ready to be displayed. This is how the graphics stack works on Windows.


    Right now on Nvidia, Xwayland clients will show previous frames, incomplete/corrupted frames or will fail to update when a new frame is rendered. Here’s the XWayland Merge Request. The issue is much worse on drivers > 535.xx after some optimizations worsened the issue. For now, rolling back can help!

    There will be benefits in general with explicit sync, but the major ones will be Xwayland functioning properly for Nvidia users, VRR and apps with inconsistent framerates.



  • I tend to agree with this. Linux isn’t one alternative and niche OS, it’s a massive community and ecosystem with loads of options and a deep history of its own. I switched from daily-driving windows to installing arch linux with hyprland and learned a bunch of new systems and ideas. My experience with Linux before this had been Ubuntu and Kubuntu.

    I relearned a lot. Some harder things I adjusted to:

    • vim
    • tiled window management
    • package managers (This is ignoring all of the software systems I had to learn about and install by choosing arch, this is just specific to my daily workflow.)

    Exposing myself to that change and those new ideas gave me the opportunity to learn about alternatives and choose the best option for me. I feel far more productive with my changes.

    Now a counterpoint: many users learned to use windows or macos over time, through their education or alongside its development. Those users may not have the time or desire to relearn key ideas or workflows, especially not in one big plunge. A distro like Linux Mint undoubtedly works really well to ease someone in.

    Another consideration: many design decisions are shared by lots of software, visual and functional. Some are a product of how software and UIs have grown, like a shift towards flat design or common control schemes. It would certainly do more harm than good for Linux users to abandon ALL similarities with existing software; where that line is drawn is probably subjective.

    Anyways, I still agree that the mindset of ideal Linux distros being “windows replacement” is very limiting. For new users who do have the time and desire to learn and adapt, trying alternative software is a great option to maximizing their computer’s potential. Even users on “beginner distros” can install pieces of software and learn about the ecosystem, since Linux is so modular.




  • I bought a Japanese “new 3ds” system about 2 years ago off of eBay and I’ve been using it a lot! I’ve been loving the Ace Attorney Trilogy lately, but I also played

    • SM64 via a homebrew 3ds port
    • NSMB2
    • SM 3D Land
    • Shantae 1 & 2 (gbc and dsiware, but I wanna play the 3rd, which is a native 3ds game)
    • Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition (dsiware, originally gba)
    • Pilotwings Resort
    • CTGP-7 (great mk7 modpack)
    • So, so much Picross

    My favorite 3ds game is Pushmo! I played it when I was younger, but it’s still fantastic.

    I also loved the 3ds ecosystem outside of strictly games. Mii maker, Streetpass and Nintendo Video were all really fun extras.

    Also the VB emulator Red Viper just recently released, so if there’s ever a time to try virtual boy games, it’s now! 3D baybeeee!!






  • Clickbaity, biased and misleading title.

    The article actually claims that, on average, e-bikers have a higher volume of exercise per week compared to cyclists. (This includes both METs, a measure of metabolism, and duration.) Even this claim seems a bit shaky, though.

    It wasn’t clear in the article how the studies categorized cyclists and e-bike users. I took a look at one of the linked studies and found that they categorized them like so:

    The distinction of e-bikers vs. cyclists was based on the following question at the baseline: “What type of bicycle do you use?”. Respondents stating that they used an e-bike were categorized as e-bikers, independent of whether they also used a conventional bicycle. Using this classification around the half of e-bikers only use e-bike while the other half use additionally a different type of bicycle. Users who reported any use of non-electric bicycle (including city bike, mountain bike or bike-sharing) but not e-bike were categorized as cyclists, those who did not report any bicycle use, as non-cyclists.

    A few issues I see:

    • Cyclists who also own an e-bike are only counted as e-bikers, which is a potential bias, since any and all exercise they do is being included.
    • Other types of biking can (and often are) more strenuous, therefore recovery time may be higher.
    • E-bikes are relatively new, so many e-bikers likely purchased them more recently. People tend to use recent purchases more.

    Luckily, the study didn’t base it solely on “ownership”, so the many people with old bikes sitting dormant in their garage don’t count.

    Also, in this study, cycling was given a constant 6.8 METs and e-biking, 5 METs. These are not constant activities; cyclists going uphill are likely going to be > 8 METS (the threshold for vigorous activity), and e-bikers using throttle-enabled bikes are likely far below 5 METs.

    In fact, according to the other study, pedal assisted e-bikes don’t always break the threshold for moderate activity under low and moderate assist levels:

    Further, while the cardiometabolic responses (e.g., HR and V̇O2) were lower for the e-bike, they were indicative of being at or near “moderate intensity[…]”

    The first study assumes 4 METs as moderate activity and 8 METs as vigorous. 5 seems like a high estimate, then, since the second study showed that e-bikes with assist aren’t always at moderate intensity, let alone throttle.

    Aside from the studies, the article itself mentioned that many cyclists take a lift to the top of trails. I enjoy mountain biking, and none of the trail systems near me have a lift. And a big reason I ride is for exercise, strength and endurance. Just me? Also, throttle e-bikes can damage dirt trails, they are completely banned at one of my local trail systems.

    Anyways, this article comes from a website all about EVs and similar. And there’s an affiliate link at the bottom to buy e-bikes. It’s not a secret that they’re biased.

    All of that said, e-bikes are a really great tool. I’m not against them at all! They make biking far more accessible to people who would otherwise have a hard time doing so. And they’re a great method of transportation, since they make it easier to travel farther than on regular bicycles and are more eco-friendly than cars and motorcycles.

    I think this article just perpetrates the divide between cyclists and e-bikers. They’re both forms of exercise and transportation, and someone using pedal assist for themselves doesn’t change what the cyclist is doing. Do what’s best for you, for you.